Eclipse Of The Sun

"Looks like this is as far as we're getting today," Silver said, dropping what little remained of his and Dusk's supplies. At this point, they only used what they brought when their scavenging proved unsuccessful. The practically empty sack landed on the forest floor without a sound.

"Yep. It's a shame the canopy blocks out the moonlight, or we'd be even closer to Yggdrasill by now."

"Don't worry, soon you'll be able to return to your nocturnality. In the meantime, help me start a fire so we don't freeze out here," the Pegasus replied, gathering up sticks that had fallen to the ground. They all seemed to be dry enough, so Silver began to pile them near where they would be sleeping. Dusk found some larger branches that would serve as the main fuel, and Silver began to lay out their bedrolls. As soon as enough sticks had been amassed, Dusk pulled out his sword and struck the blade with a stone, sending sparks into the soon-to-be fire. After a couple more attempts, the kindling was ablaze and growing in strength. Silver nursed the fire until it spread to the larger pieces of wood.

The two ponies fell onto their rolls, as uncomfortable as they were. A few dying rays of light pierced the forest canopy, and soon the fire became their only source of light. Dusk pulled out and started to eat the last of his rations. "I suppose the Zebras are about halfway to Europa by now," he said.

"Really? It's been that long?" Silver responded.

"Unless I've lost track of time after not seeing the moon in so long. You could give or take a little."

"Ah. Of course."

The sounds of the forest were dying down, now that the light had faded away. Only the crackling of the fire and the soft steps of the midnight hunters remained. Dusk pulled his sword a little closer, looking around.

"You know, don't you think it's a bit odd that we've still not encountered an Elkine patrol this far into their territory?" Dusk asked.

"I told you, they're very reclusive. Possible explanations include a complete withdraw from outside their city, or they are simply watching us now and decided not to act until we get closer."

"I do feel like I'm being watched at times. Getting stalked isn't my fancy, so I would really rather the former be true."

"Same here. Now that we've been at this a while, are you starting to miss the soldier's life?"

"Oh, you know it. Before I came with you on this little adventure, I had never eaten grass covered in mud, not even in boot camp. Now, I have. Twice."

"It was that, or eat berries. If it hadn't been for the grass, we could be stumbling around in a hallucination or dead, maybe in that order."

"Whatever, I just hope this was all worth it. I mean, we don't really need a likely-cursed artifact to win a war, do we?"

"Night thinks we do, and apparently so does Luna, seeing as she's the one who told him about it. Celestia's smarter and stronger than whatever you get told in training, especially since she has the Elements with her."

Dusk tilted his head, staring at Silver in - hopefully - mock suspicion. "And you know this how?"

"Do you ever read the old books? That's how. Trust me when I say that there is very little holding her back from just incinerating the Lunar Mountains. If she ever decided she no longer wants the land to be part of Equestria or loses interest in fighting honorably, we'd be screwed, and that's putting it lightly.

"She still doesn't see the rest of the Lunars as a threat, either. The only pony she truly fears is Night, believe it or not."

The Earth Pony looked confused. "The all-powerful Princess Celestia fears a single pony rather than the army he leads? Why?"

Silver leaned back. "Because, the kind of hatred Night carries for her deserves to be feared. It's the kind that - as I've said - could intimidate gods and demons alike. You are right - we really don't need this weapon to win, but Night doesn't want to just win; he wants to see Celestia stripped of her power, her kingdom, and succumb to a horribly painful death before his eyes, and he'll do anything to make it happen."

"I knew he hated her, but not that much..."

"Well, that's what happens when you banish the love of somepony's life. He was planning on proposing the night it happened, you know."

"In that case, I don't blame him. Hay, after what he did to a Celestial who insulted him over his relationship with Luna, I'm not even sure I want to know what he's got planned for Celestia."

"Not sure I'd want to be there when it happens. Don't want to lose sleep over the death of the sworn enemy of our little country."

The two ponies sat there in the night, the forest now pitch black save for their small fire. 'Well, as much as I'd love to continue discussing the mental health of my closest friend, we need to get some rest or we'll be unable to continue in the morning," Silver said. Dusk nodded in agreement and laid his head on the ground. Judging by his snoring a few minutes later, he had no trouble sleeping despite the discomfort the ground caused.

Silver had a little more trouble; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to be able to close his eyes for more than a few minutes, let alone fall asleep. Something was watching him, and if it was just an Elkine lying in wait, it wouldn't have felt so intense. The Pegasus did his best to ignore the feeling, and to his surprise, it went away after an eternity. Just as he was about to fall asleep, however, it returned, twice as strong as before, and... closer. He dared to open his eyes, and then immediately regretted his decision.

No more than a yard away was a massive black creature, shaped like a pony. Large black spines covered its back and protruded from its joints. A long, almost serpentine tail swung behind it, occasionally touching the fire. It stepped closer, lowering its horned head until it was less than a foot from Silver's face. Its body reeked of death, and the creatures hoarse, almost wheezing breath carried the metallic tang of fresh blood.

Silver remained where he was, petrified by fear. The being seemed to sense his extreme discomfort and let out a sickening laugh that was more akin to a death rattle, and then lowered its head back down to Silver's face, as if waiting for something. Then, with a feeling of intrusion on his thoughts, he realized that the thing was trying to read his mind.

As a former political affiliate to the Princesses, he knew how to shield his thoughts from others to prevent vital information from falling into the wrong hooves, but he never thought he would need it until now. In his mind, he conjured up a massive stone wall, hiding his knowledge behind it. He felt a slight pain in his mind as the being forced itself against the image, prodding the surface for a possible weakness. When it found none, it set about trying to make one.

The beast began to thrash against his wall, roaring in fury. Silver's head began to throb, the effort of keeping the thing back beginning to take its toll. Cracks started appearing in his wall, growing in size with the continued assault. He slowly felt himself beginning to lose as the wall started to crumble, and his mind exploded into agony when it was finally breached, the creature tearing at his thoughts. Every thought that had ever entered Silver's mind - no matter how minute - was seized and examined until it was satisfied with the mental violation it was inflicting upon the Pegasus, who had been reduced to a shivering wreck.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the torture stopped and Silver no longer felt the presence in his mind. His eyes barely opened, just in time to see the thing that had turned his brain inside out fading into the shadows. Dusk was still asleep, oblivious to what had happened - likely for the best, for if he had intervened the same attack could have been forced upon him.

The Pegasus never did fall asleep.

"Ramming speed! Let's show these Celestial bastards what they get for destroying our port!" Admiral Stormwind shouted to his crew. Immediately, his ship - the Night Stalker, as he had named her - had full masts and Pegasi making as much wind asv they could, sending the flagship forward at an impressive pace. A large ram was attached to the end of an underwater protrusion at the bow, lined with spikes to cause as much damage to an enemy hull as possible.

Their first victim - a frigate - was reduced to splinters against the ram and hull of the vastly larger battleship. Its destroyed hull rolled over the waves and quickly sunk, all but a few of the sleeping crew trapped inside.

Shouts rang out ordering the opening of the gun ports. The large, heavy weapons - cannons, as they were named by the Zebras - poked their barrels out, waiting until a Celestial ship got within their range. It didn't take long as they passed the bow and stern of two separate hostile battleships. The weapons spat fire at both of them, their ammunition ripping their hulls apart.

Meanwhile, other vessels serving the Lunars began to fire, decimating the blockade. The Celestial crews were just beginning to awaken, now that it was evident that the Lunars were right on top of them in spite of their watchponies; Lunar ships had been painted a solid black with equally dark masts, and had moved slow enough to not create a wake and barely a sound. This, combined with the clouds that covered the moon's light, kept the fleet unseen. Now, the Pegasi that had propelled the fleet at the very last moment removed the clouds, revealing to their enemies a massive combined fleet of Zebrican and Lunar ships.

Stormwind's vessel pulled up alongside another Celestial frigate and turned it into smoldering wreckage. All around the bay, Equestrian boats were beginning to sink without having fired a shot, the crews barely having reached their weapons. Some made feeble attempts to use their ballistae as they sank, but were quickly abandoned. Others - those who were on the edge of the blockade had been given enough time to react and were starting to make their way towards the fighting, their white hulls standing out against the night.

Friendly ships turned to intercept them, and there were casualties on both sides - the Celestials had launched a barrage of fire-tipped bolts just as the Zebras let loose a cannon volley. An unlucky ship or two lost their masts, leaving them sitting ducks despite their firepower. Some very unlucky vessels had the fire reach their powder stores, sinking them in a violent explosion.

The Lunar admiral looked towards the port. No doubt the second part of the attack was taking place, with Lunar forces descending upon sleeping or distracted Celestials. A few small flashes of light here and there confirmed his thoughts.

Time to finish off this plague, the admiral thought. He ordered his crew to look for what might be the Celestial flagship, and make an immediate course for it. Many of the surviving vessels were highly decorated with both weaponry and the markings of the Equestrian flag, but none so much as the one of the ships slowly making their way out of Europa, sending wave after wave of burning spears at Zebrican and Lunar combatants. The crew quickly turned to make a pass at the ship, guns reloaded.

It didn't take long to get into position. Just before the Celestial flagship - the name Solstice splashed across its hull - could unload, a sound like thunder rang out from the Lunar guns, tearing through the vessel and unfortunate crew members. Only a couple ballistae managed to return fire, the rest destroyed or without anypony to use them.

Some Pegasi from the Night Stalker leaped to the enemy ship, intent on killing or capturing survivors, and the few Unicorns on Stormwind's side used their magic in support. The pass was almost completed when the Lunars returned to their vessel, a wounded Celestial in tow. The pony may have had the markings of an admiral, but his uniform was so tattered that Stormwind could hardly tell in the night.

The prisoner began struggling as he was brought towards the Lunar admiral. "We found him on the other end of the ship, dagger in hoof; he played dead, and then nearly gutted one of the others," said a fellow sailor, shaking the Celestial quite roughly.

"Lunar scum!" he shrieked. "Unhoof me at once!"

"What is your name and rank?" Stormwind asked, inching closer to the pony, and placed a hoof on his blade in case he managed to shake free.

"I am Fleet Admiral Stargazer of the Royal Equestrian Navy," he proclaimed loudly, just enough for the Lunar crewponies to hear that they had the leader of the bastards who nearly destroyed Europa and its citizens.

"Oh, then General Night's going to have a lot to talk to you about!" Stormwind said cheerfully. He knew how much the Unicorn wanted a high ranking Celestial officer. "Take him below deck so we can start heading into the port."

The Lunars obeyed, dragging a much more frantic Stargazer with them. The battle was now nothing ore than a simple mop-up of the remaining Celestials who hadn't surrendered at this point. A few of their ships were still docked, and would be dealt with later. As they pulled up to an empty dock, Stormwind was able to see the results of the Lunar army's attack. Celestial corpses littered the ground, having fallen from well-aimed arrows and blades. The Night Stalker docked, and its crew pulled their prisoner off the ship.

"I see your side of the battle went well!" Stormwind called out to some patrolling Lunar Pegasi. They were kicking the dead Celestials to ensure that none of them were playing dead.

"Damn if it wasn't much of a fight. We must have killed a third of them in their sleep, the disrespectful little whelps. After they started waking up, they didn't last much longer; most of them tried to start fires to cover their escape. Didn't work too well," he said, poking a dead Unicorn with the tip of his sword.

"Win's a win. Shame on them for not having a night-watch," Stormwind responded.

"What in the name of the moon..." Dusk whispered, staring blankly ahead. Silver looked up at him confused. He quickened his pace to reach the Earth Pony's place at the top of the hill and soon found what he had seen.

Yggdrasill - or at least, what was left of it - lay in ruins. Every last structure had been flattened, and the forest surrounding the city appeared to be dying. Even the massive tree that was the namesake of the place looked withered, some of its massive branches having fallen to the ground below.

"What could even cause such destruction?" Silver asked, almost dazed at the sight.

"I have no clue, but it could still be here. We should probably get the buck out of here before it returns."

"Something tells me this wasn't the result of some massive native creature. I think it was magical." Maybe even connected to that thing that attacked my mind two weeks ago, if we're unlucky, Silver thought.

"I wasn't aware the Elkine could use magic."

"They've been isolated for many years now, a lot could happen in that time," the Pegasus responded. "Anyways, we came here for a reason, and whether the city is a ghost town or not, we still need to complete it. Now, lets go before it gets too dark to see our hooves in front of our faces."

The two ponies descended the hill into the destruction they had found below, and found that it was even more extensive than they had seen earlier. In some places, there were fissures, ranging from small to large enough to take in a house, appearing to all branch out from the center of Yggdrasill. Under most of the piles of rubble, they spotted skeletons of the Elkine, stripped of all flesh, some crushed in two and others lying out in the open.

"It must have been this way for a while," Dusk commented, carefully stepping over the bones.

"Sure looks that way. Never seen bones this white before."

The duo aimlessly wandered the ruined city, trying to find some indication of where their target location might be. Several hours passed, and the sun began to set. They quickly found a few pieces of wood and set up camp in one of the few buildings not enitrely destroyed. They also scavenged some supplies from their immediate area, having been living off the land for so long now. Weary from the destruction and untold deaths they had discovered, both soon fell asleep.

The following morning, they assembled their borrowed items into a series of unlit torches and gathered some surprisingly well-preserved food from what was left of a nearby storehouse, and while it wasn't enough to last the return trip, it would still get them a good ways back to the shore.

"So, where should we be looking for the entrance to an ancient ruin at?" Dusk asked.

"Night's letter said it's somewhere in the city, and my bet is at the base of the tree," Silver replied, pointing at Yggdrasill. "If not there, then maybe under one of these buildings, which in that case we're going to be here a lot longer than expected."

"I'd rather not be here any longer at all. Let's just find a way to the tree, pray to Luna that the entrance is there, get the sword and then get the buck out of this mass grave."

"Agreed."

Silver took off, beating his wings until he was high enough to see any possible path from where they were currently to Yggdrasill. He then looked at Yggdrasill itself, trying to make out any sort of difference of color among the bark, but at this angle he spotted none. He looked down and called out directions to Dusk, leading him through houses and across fissures and occasionally over small ravines. Every now and then, the Earth Pony let out some remark on his path or about his findings on the ground that Silver was too high up to see, including a new-found acrophobia after seeing - or, in some cases not seeing - how deep some of the fractures went.

A couple hours passed without significant happenings, and eventually the two ponies were at the base of Yggdrasill, on the complete opposite side of where Silver had tried to examine the tree. The Pegasus descended.

"Looks like we found our ruins," Dusk remarked, staring at a stone-lined entrance carved into the bark, about twice as high and maybe three or four times as wide as a normal pony. Its surface was covered in what looked to be soot, and massive burn marks on the ground confirmed that some kind of fire had erupted within. The inside of the tunnel was pitch black, having been burned even more severely by the concentrated heat.

"We'd best not take too long down there," Silver, said, grabbing one of their torches and lighting it with Dusk's assistance. They slowly stepped into the abyss in front of them and began their trek down the scorched staircase; and it was one hell of a staircase.

Torch after torch lost its flame as they journeyed downwards, and their supply was soon reduced to almost nothing. They were soon so deep underground that they could no longer see the light at the entrance, which could have been in part to night falling while they walked. "How in the world could something that goes so deep even have been constructed?" Dusk asked, lighting yet another torch with sparks from his sword.

"Who knows? It probably took years to even get to where we are at now, let alone to the end of the stairs, and even longer to make the temple or whatever it is at the bottom of this place," Silver responded. "How many torches do we have left?"

"Two, after this one. We will have to turn back if we run out, I may be able to see in the dark but even in this I'm blind."

"Same here, but I somehow doubt this place can get much deeper. I mean, we're probably miles underground alre-" Silver stopped mid-sentence when he stepped on a cracked piece of stone that immediately fell out from beneath him, causing the Pegasus to fall forward. With a grunt, Dusk grabbed him awkwardly by the hind legs, keeping him from continuing. The torch he had been holding fell and rolled on the stairs, just before it disappeared from sight entirely.

"What the hay..." Dusk whispered, and after making sure Silver wouldn't slide any further, stuck his head forward, just in time to see the torch falling into an endlessly deep pit. Eventually, the light faded out entirely, leaving the Earth Pony to back away from the pit very carefully.

"What, what happened?" Silver asked, slowly rising.

"Oh, nothing, you just nearly stepped into quite possibly the largest hole in existence," Dusk replied. "One that we can't really get over."

"A hole? Maybe you can't get over it, but I can. Light me another torch and give it and the extra to me. I'll continue ahead and you return to the surface, or stay here; your choice." Silver said.

"I'll be heading back up, but if you haven't shown up there with me a couple of days after I reach the surface, I can only assume you died down here, however cold that sounds," the pony said, pulling out the last two torches and lighting one of them after a few strikes of his sword against his flint. "There. They won't last long," Dusk continued. "Good luck."

Silver took the torches and placed the extra in his bag. Nodding to Dusk, he stretched his wings as much as he could in the tunnel and took off, slowly gliding over the pit. He soon found, however, that it was much larger than expected, almost as if the stairs had been interrupted by one of the bottomless ravines on the surface.

After a couple more minutes of flight, the Pegasus decided to see if it was a better idea to just descend entirely rather than continue to search for the other end of the stairs. He began to spiral downwards, slowly at first but steadily gaining speed until the musky underground air was whipping past him, his torch's flame waving and flickering madly.

Only when an impenetrable black fog fell upon him did Silver think of slowing down. Hard stone flew upwards to meet him as the pony landed, tripping and falling over. He lost his grip on the torch he had carried, and saw it roll forward into the black, beginning to lose its fire. Silver quickly recovered and galloped forward, picking it and his extra up with shaking hooves.

The dying flame was just enough to ignite the lifeless stick in his other hoof. He dropped the extinguished torch and gripped the other, holding it up and burning off the fog that surrounded him. AS he did, a vast work of stone was revealed, easily larger than the city he was underneath. Silver began stepping slowly towards it, cautious. Is this it? he wondered.

The ruins wasn't just in front of him, as he soon found. They were all around him, some crushed under massive piles of rock and dirt that had likely been the rest of the stairs a few years ago. Some of the still-standing buildings appeared to be homes of some sort, covered in thick soot and scorch marks, not unlike the tunnel he had entered through. What the hay could have caused a fire that could do this much?

Unlike on the surface, there were no bones of previous inhabitants; just the barely-standing walls of homes and other buildings. Silver continued to explore on hoof until he located an ancient brazier at what could have been the very center of the city. He approached it, hoping for the chance that he could light something inside. He briefly few up, just to see that the thing was empty, save for the tiniest pile of ash and a hole at the bottom. Silver shook his head and landed, continuing onward.

Need to find that damn sword soon, this torch won't last as long as I'd like, he thought, looking at the slowing failing light. Before long, it would just be embers too small to provide visibility in the darkness of the cavern, and he would be forced to resurface, assuming he could find an exit.

After some more hastened exploring, he finally found what looked like a temple, differing in shape from the other buildings as it had not only a massive exterior and entrance but multiple oblique spikes. He found himself vaguely reminded of the creature that entered his mind two or so weeks ago.

"Alright, let's go in and get this whole adventure over with," he said to encourage himself. He trotted inside, going along a linear path until he found a new set of stairs. He went down them without hesitation, until the dying light of his torch illuminated various scrawling on the walls that appeared to be either a history of the Elkine, or, if they didn't inhabit the underground, the species that did. At one point, he found a picture that displayed various figures being forced downward at swordpoint, immediately followed by a cavern underneath a tree and a city. So, the Elkine did live here, just not like the ones on the surface...

As his torch grew ever weaker, Silver ignored the remainder of the images, but every now and then, something would catch his eye. A series of pictures depicted some kind of transformation from a common Elkine to something from a nightmare, only slightly less menacing. An unexpected gust of chilling air struck him head-on, putting out his torch to the point that only a few weak embers remained. Before long, he would be plunged into complete darkness and likely end up trapped, so the Pegasus made it a point that he needed to hurry.

Eventually, he found what he thought he might be looking for; the tunnel opened up something that was more than likely a cavern. Silver stumbled around a little, still moving forward until he found a brazier of sorts, and unlike the original one, this had something that looked like wood at the bottom. He plunged the remains of his torch into it, causing a small flame that was barely enough to light a room appear in the bottom. He then noticed what looked like a lever or some form of switch, and pulled on it. There was a faint hissing noise, and then the pony had to jump back as a sizable pillar of fire erupted from the center of the brazier, briefly reaching the ceiling before retreating to something more natural. He felt a faint rumbling beneath his hooves, but thought nothing of it

Silver noticed something shiny, courtesy of the fire. A sword sat impaled into the earth a few feet away, a stone on what looked like the pommel - from this distance - glinting madly. The Pegasus rushed over to it, beginning attempts to free the weapon and return to the surface. He wrapped his hooves around the hilt and pulled with all his might, but to almost no avail; it had maybe budged half an inch, if at all.

He tried again and again, each time doing little or nothing to free the weapon, until he pulled again with his remaining strength, even using his wings help. The sword twitched, one, twice, and then came free all together, nearly sending Silver flying into the ceiling. He gazed at the object he and Dusk had journeyed over mountains and through the largest forest known to ponykind to retrieve. It was slightly larger than a normal shortsword, and the blade was pure black, boasting serrated edges and intricate carvings. The hilt was ornate and had similar engravings, and the pommel appeared to be some kind of dark but highly reflective stone.

This thing had damn well better be worth all the trouble we went through to get it, he thought, putting the weapon in the bag that he'd been carrying, silently hoping the thing wouldn't cut through the fabric. Now, how the buck do I get out of here?

Silver turned back and left through the same tunnel he had entered through, and was surprised to see that most of it had been it up by some other source. He thought nothing of it until he reached the outside of the temple, upon which he saw dozens of braziers - just like the one inside - spewing out fire. There was, however, a noticeable difference; they all produced a low rumble, and every now and then one of them would briefly increase in intensity, roiling and exploding upwards before receding, and each sudden expansion seemed to get more and more violent.

The air felt heavy with smoke and some foul odor, and the Pegasus sometimes found himself struggling to breathe. He did his best to take off, trying to find a point where he could breathe normally. As he did, one of the braziers - he didn't know where exactly, just that it was below him - exploded into a massive pillar of heat and light, the very air around it becoming so immensely torrid that it burst into flames as well, racing to other pillars of flame and repeating the process. Silver could see the ruins of other buildings crumbling under the heat and force of the explosions, and even the temple he had visited earlier fell onto itself.

So this is how the city was destroyed... and now it's happening again, the pony thought, flying higher and higher in an attempt to escape the rising flames. The place was consumed entirely, but the flames were not yet satisfied. They clawed their way through the air, intent on reaching the surface. Sections of rock and dirt began to loosen up and fall, just as they had done before. Through this, an opening to the early morning sky was created. Silver pushed himself further to escape, exiting just in time to see multiple of Yggdrasill's remaining homes fall into the fiery abyss. The massive, dying tree at the center began to shift, slowly lowering before falling straight down. Fire shot up the ancient trunk, the blistering heat utterly annihilating the wood.

The previously seen fissures and cracks widened before falling downwards as fire shot through them. The flames attached to Yggdrasill spread to whatever they could find, be it homes, dying grass or even other parts of the forest. Suddenly, a thought seeped into Silver's mind. "Dusk!" the Pegasus shouted, looking around. The Earth Pony had, after all, said he would be waiting for him.

The Earth Pony was nowhere to be seen. Silver took it upon himself to fly through the smoke and burning sky to look, anywhere the pony may have been; by the base of the tree, in one of the homes, on the edge of the city clearing, but all were ultimately failed endeavors.

The remains of the city slowly started to fall into the pit, each section of earth smaller than the last, until the majority of the area had sunken inward and suffocated the fire, or at least stop it from being visible to the surface. Silver looked for a spot to land, just a little ways into the forest, still untouched by the fire. He set down and gave himself time to think; maybe, just maybe Dusk had started heading back early, or had gone into the forest for some reason or another. He had no means of contacting the Lunar, however, and thus no way to confirm the idea of his death or escape. His only option now - save for trying to individually search a forest that covered an entire continent - was to return to Wavebreaker and his ship, and hope that the Earth Pony miraculously showed up.

The Pegasus turned around to look at the smoldering remains what could have very well been his friend's grave. Then, he took off in what he prayed was the right direction.