Eclipse

Eclipse

Chapter 9

Then it Snapped

Eclipse once again found himself sitting on the old – though less dusty – couch in the living area. Once again he found himself with nothing to do. Once again he found himself waiting for Cadence to return. Once again he found himself panicking. It happened every day; Cadence would leave him alone to go get supplies, she would be gone for the greater part of the day, and Eclipse always felt helpless while she was away. This had been going on for about 2 weeks now, and at this point Eclipse was not the only alicorn with a price on his head. Somepony (Eclipse assumed it was her mother) had ratted her out as a co-conspirator to his prison escape. He would always insist that she stay here, but the fact that they both needed to eat sided with Cadence on the issue.

CLICK

Eclipse's head snapped up and to the door, watching open with agonizing slowness. Time seemed to stop. Eclipse hoped it was Cadence, but still gathered the magic in his horn in case it was not. Finally the door opened  enough for Eclipse to see Cadence's trade mark pink mane and cheerful smile.

“I'm back!” Cadence called, not seeing the last sparks die off of Eclipse's horn as his magic dissipated.

“Where were you?” Eclipse asked, glancing over at a clock on the wall they had bought a few days before with what was left of Cadence's allowance after food.

“No where...” Cadence was a bad liar, and they both new it. Eclipse just looked at Cadence, an expression saying “You know I'll find out” across his face.

“uh-huh.” Is all he said.

“Well, I managed to find a few extra bits on the road.” Cadence said, still obviously lying, but doing her best to change the subject. She put down the bags she was carrying in her magic on ether side of her.

“We both know that's not true, who gave them to you?” Eclipse deadpanned. He didn't want to come across as mean, but he was not the most trusting alicorn in the world.

“Fine, my mohr” Cadence mumbled.

“What was that?”

“My mother” Cadence spoke a little clearer, though still too quiet for Eclipse.

“One more time?”

“Fine, they're from my mother.” Cadence almost yelled, while at the same time staying quiet enough to hear Eclipse's gasp from the other side of the room.

“You wouldn't,” Eclipse said, dashing the the door. He looked out into the hall, looking both ways before slamming and locking the door. “Why did she pay you? Did you lead her here? How could you do this to me? I trusted you, Cadence” Eclipse said, slowly spiralling into a panic as his mind jumped to every worst case scenario he could think of. Tears slowly leaking from his eye at the thought of Cadence doing something like this to him.

“Eclipse, calm down, it's not like that!” Cadence tried to comfort him, but instead he just turned away from her, the anger clear in his voice.

“It's always like that... It's always been like that... I don't know why I thought you would be different. Tell me, Cadence, how much of it was true?”

“Eclipse....” Cadence couldn't bring herself to say anymore. She knew how betrayed he must have felt, but she also knew he wouldn't listen to her, at least not until he calmed down.

“So, none of it, huh? Tell me, why would Luna risk her safety for you? Or was she in on it too? How much of this was orchestrated by my mother?” Eclipse could feel his shoulders heaving as he sat on the floor, facing the wall, sobbing. His brain picking apart every detail of his time with Cadence, poisoning it with his new knowledge. The venom of betrayal filling every last memory he had of the pink alicorn behind him.

“You know that's not true.” Constellation said, managing to tear through the walls he had built around his last safe memory. “Just think about this for a second. Why would she do all that she's done? You know our mother wouldn't go this far, she had you right where she wanted.” It was too late, Eclipse was too far gone in his own depression that he completely ignored what Constellation had said. Instead opting to look at his memories as a reminder to how foalish he had been. He knew now that somepony like Cadence would never like an alicorn like him.

“Worthless”

That one word echoed through Eclipse's head. It shook him to his very core. Years of being told he was nothing, years of being laughed at, they all came rushing back, like a river rushing through a broken and crumbling dam. He felt numb to the world. Nothing mattered anymore. Nothing.

He started to smile.

Nothing mattered, he could do what he wanted. He could finally escape. It would all finally end. End. That one word, it brought a sense of calmness back to the chaos in his head. He could finally end it all. Nothing help him back now. Not his foalish hopes of Cadence coming back, not the promise that things would get better, nothing.

For the first time in his entire life, Eclipse honestly laughed. Not the fake laugh he used to gain his mothers approval or to prevent Celestia from abusing him. This one was honest, and it felt good. With his laugh went his fears of betrayal, the jealousy and envy of other ponies with actually loving families. All replaced with the calming thought of an end.

“Don't do it Eclipse.” Constellation's voice was nothing but a small whisper in that back of his mind. A nagging doubt as to what he was going to do. His mind saw it as the one thought that had not yet accepted that he was free, and instantly latched on to verbally tearing it apart.

“Why not?” Eclipse thought back, still laughing while staring at a blank pink wall. The pink wall that had tormented him in his many sleepless nights. “You always told me you wanted me to be happy, so why are you trying to take away the one chance I have to be truly happy? Why are you still holding me back after all these years? You're the one that stopped me from doing this so many times in the past. That's what it was, wasn't it? You didn't want me to do it because it would also happen to you! Your nothing but a selfish figment of my imagination. I created you years ago when I was alone. Well, I don't need you anymore, GO AWAY!”

“You think that, yet you still know it's not true. I'm not a part of you, Eclipse, you're a part of me, you came from me, you would be nothing if I didn't exist, think about it!” Constellation was growing desperate, he knew he was running out of time before Eclipse did something he would regret, he just didn't know how to stop him.

“I've thought about it. For years I've thought about it, and you know what I've finally decided after all this time? I've deci-”

“Eclipse? What are you doing?” Eclipse was cut off as the timid voice broke through his thoughts. That one voice. That one voice that had started this all. That one voice that had poisoned his entire life with lies of compassion and friendship. That one voice that he wanted nothing more then to end.

Permanently.

Turning back to Cadence, Eclipse slowly stood up, whipping the tears from his face with the back of his hoof. His smile slowly turned into a full grin as he slowly walked over to Cadence. “Cadence,” he thought, “I wonder if that's even her real name, or if that's a lie too.”

“So, Cadence, if that is your name, how's it going?” Eclipse asked. His calm voice unnerving to the pink alicorn.

“E-Eclipse? What a-are you talking about?” Cadence stuttered, suddenly scared for her life.

“Oh, you know, you always were a bad liar... or was that an act too? Make me feel safe, making it seem like I could tell when you're lying. Tell me, what do you get out of this? Money? Or does it fill some sadistic need of yours?”

“N-NO! Eclipse! I-I I would never!”

“It's to late now. I know, and there is nothing you can tell me that will change my mind.” Eclipse slowly got closer to Cadence. Cadence backing up in return. Eventually she felt the wall behind her. Nowhere to run.

“P-PLEASE! E-Eclipse, no. D-don't do it...”

“You know what? You're right.” Eclipse said, his grin returning was again to a slightly crazed smile. He turned away from Cadence once again and proceeded towards the kitchen. “That would be rather... messy.”

“Don't do it.” Constellation was frantic now. He saw what was going on and Eclipse's head and he didn't like it.

“That's enough from you. You've held me back from too many opportunities for me to listen to you.” Eclipse thought back. Constellation had said something in response but Eclipse didn't listen. There was only one thought going through his head. A thought that would no longer be ignored.

Eclipse reached the kitchen, Cadence was still backed to the wall, eyes locked on Eclipse, mind racing in circles, looking for any explanation to Eclipse's behaviour. Her body numb from shock, her legs could no longer hold her wait as she slowly sat back.

“You know. I've plotted things like this before. Though I had many more resources. I would never be caught, you know. I would slip into that shadows, reappearing every now and the to do it again. But this will have to do, I'm already wanted anyway.” Eclipse said, digging around in a drawer for something cadence could not yet see.

“Eclipse?” The fear in Cadence's voice was obvious, and a part of Eclipse still felt sorry for her. “She had no idea what she was getting into” He thought. “No matter, she did it anyway. She knows now what she got into.”

Eclipse found what he wanted; a large steak knife. Slowly, Eclipse picked it up with his magic, floating it slightly behind him so Cadence could not see what he had. He once again wore an insane grin as he walked calmly back towards Cadence.

“NO!” Only a single word in protest made it through Eclipse's head from Constellation, still, he ignored it.

“Eclipse? What do you have? What are you going to do?” Cadence asked, her voice cracking from panic. Still not grasping what Eclipse's had been talking about.

“You'll find out soon enough. Don't worry though. It won't hurt.” Eclipse said, “for long.” He added quietly under his breath so Cadence couldn't here him.

He made his way to the living room. He stood in the centre of the average size room, nothing but a few feet separating him from Cadence.

“I would say I'm sorry, but there's only one pony in this room who owes an apology, and it's not me” Eclipse said, almost sadistically.

“Sorry for what?” Cadence started making her way to the open door. Her legs still felt week from the shock, but she felt she needed to get out. Now.

“Please don't” Is all Eclipse said, before a wave of magic flew out from his horn and into the door, encasing it in a deep red aura. Slowly it dissipated, but Cadence could still sense the magic on the door, no doubt sealing it. She truly was trapped now.

Without a warning Eclipse brought the knife out from behind him, wielding it in front of him, pointy end towards Cadence.

“ECIPSE! NO! IM SORRY! WHATEVER I DID I'M SORRY! Cadence cried out, begging for her life. Finally realizing what Eclipse had been talking about. Somewhere along the way his mind had finally snapped. He was gone. The alicorn in front of her was not Eclipse. Those hate-filled eyes did not belong to the colt she had saved from his mother. His smile was not that of a confident colt after escaping prison, but that of a crazed killer. No emotion was left except anger.

“It's to late for that.” Eclipse said, almost sadly, yet still grinning. Before anypony knew what was going on, he pounced. Easily closing the distance between him and Cadence, knife aimed directly at her throat.

“ECLIPSE NO! AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!”

Then there was silence in the apartment.