Eclipsed Deceptions

Eclipsed Deceptions Chapter III

Luna awoke to a strange sight. When she had opened her eyes she could see nothing but darkness. It seemed to go on for miles, if not forever. The navy alicorn surveyed her surroundings, beginning to hyperventilate.

“What is this place? What am I doing here? Could… Could this be a dream?” She asked herself, settling her breathing. “No. This… Feels too real to be a dream.”, echoing laughter emerged from a distance but still loud enough to feel as if it was right behind her.

“Smart, smart… You are right. This is in fact, NOT a dream.”
“Who’s there! If this isn’t a dream than… where am I?”, Luna took an attack position.

The voice rang in Luna’s ears. “So many questions. I guess that’s what you scientists do best I suppose. Your current location is to be unknown… for now.”, Luna looked around the dark, empty void trying to spot where the voice was coming from. The voice began to speak again. “Your mind is like a gold mine for me. I have hit the mother load here!”, Luna began to sweat, What could she have meant by that?

“Anguish, fear, curiosity… Oh, and what do we have here?! Would this be… guilt?”, Luna’s eyes went wide. “A good amount of guilt at that too. What is it that you have done, Luna?... Yes guilt is a commodity, simply delicious! Not to mention hard to find, and in such a rare condition too!”, Luna felt something slide across her shoulder. She turned but nothing was there. Luna laid down covering her ears.

“S-Stop! Get out…Get out of my head!!”, She stood lifting her head to the sky and began to scream. Nopony could hear her cries but she had nothing else to do. The noise echoed through the darkness till a familiar voice called out.

“Luna, Luna wake up!”, It was her sister. “Luna please!”, The navy alicorn collapsed once again and blacked out…
The next moment a bright light greeted her as she awoke to find that she was in her room. Luna looked around the room and to her right was Tia.

“Thank heavens!”, Celestia sighed, she was relieved that her sister wasn’t in a comma… or worse.

“Wha… What happened?” , Luna sat up rubbing her head. She had sleep in her eyes and was very groggy.

“You were asleep. You passed out in the Labyrinth. I took you to a doctor and he said to get you in bed, looked at me funny. I’m glad you are finally awake!”

“How long was I out?...”, Luna was rubbing her eyes. Tia paused, looking towards the ground.

“About 3 days…”, When Luna heared this she stopped whatever she had been doing. She was shocked.

“3 days?! “

“Yes.”, Celestia nodded. “ Did anything happen?... When you were asleep?”

Luna opened her mouth to tell her sister about her terrible dream but something was stopping her. She tried again to speak and once again she couldn’t. Finally she sighed, “No. Nothing at all…”

Celestia nodded. “Thank you. Now, I must be off. I have important matters to attend to. My new student, Starswirl and I have our first lesson together. Are you sure that you will be able to get up and ready on your own?”

“Yes sister, I will be fine.”, Luna responded. And with that the white alicorn made her exit.

What could have happened there? Luna had never lied to her sister. She was a generally honest pony and rarely lied. But to her sister?

Throughout the day Luna got out of bed, made a small meal and work around her studies. After a long day she headed to her lab where the pink rock was alone on the table, eliminated by a spotlight and being watched carefully by a magnifying lens. The navy alicorn pulled up a chair to the table and placed a notebook and a pencil to her side. She looked through the lens to get a better look. She did not find anything unusual or different. The rock was clear and had a smoke-like substance dancing inside it. This was usually considered unusual but still not different from her earlier observations. She spent the next 20 minutes staring at the stone until she felt a tug on her tail and turned to see what caused it. A small light blue coated pony stood tugging on her tail. His mane was a white shade and his cutie mark appeared to be a single star. He looked up to see that Luna was looking down at him.
“Oh hello!” He said stepping back and blushing. “ I am Starswirl, are you Princess Luna?”

“I… I am but… young one… How did you get in here?”, Luna was very confused. She had never seen this young colt before.

“I used a teleporting spell to get in. I wanted to meet you. Your sister tells me you like science!”

Luna was astonished. A teleportation spell?! How could a pony so young know such an advanced spell?, “You know my sister?”, Luna asked.
“Yes, she is my new teacher. She tells me I am very talented and special!”
“Well if you were able to perform such a spell as teleportation than I can see why she said that.”, Luna smiled.

Starswirl looked at the table and the equipment atop of it. “Is this what you are studying?”, he asked as he stood up on his hind legs to get a better look.

“Why, yes it is. This stone was found under the castle garden. It is very strange.”

“THAT’S MY STONE!”, Starswirl gasped with excitement.

“YOUR stone?”, Luna was confused.

“Yes, look!”, Starswirl grabbed a necklace around his neck and showed it to Luna. The navy alicorn stared at it in awe. It resembled the stone on the table in every way but one. Instead of a pink it was a dark violet color. The smoke inside the gem like rock glistened and sparkled.

“Where did you find this?!”, Luna asked.

“It was a gift from my mother before…”, Starswirl looked down at the ground and continued, “Before she died.”, Luna looked at the young colt and took one of his hoofs.

“We share the same pain, young one. If it is okay with you, may I barrow this for study? I promise that I shall bring it no harm. It must be extremely important to you.”, Starswirl wiped a tear from his cheek and smiled at the night princess.

“I… would love to help you. Please, take it.”, he lifted the necklace over his head and placed it in Luna’s hoofs.

“Thank you, Starswirl.”, Luna put a hoof around the young colt.

After Starswil had left Luna began to study to violet stone. Hours had passed same as Luna’s tea supply. She wrote down observations. Once in a while she would say ,“interesting” or, “strange” out loud. She took a quick break to raise the moon with her sister yet she would head back to her work. All night she didn’t leave her lab. Seconds, minutes, hours had passed until she noticed something. It was so obvious! She laid the two stones next to each other and her eyes popped. “Oh my…”