Chaotic Harmony

Chapters

wakey wakey...
Dusted reprieve
The tie in
All aboard
Crystal reclamation
Ball and mug(ger)
Apples to apples
Jailbreak
Desert ambush
And lift-off!
Cave of Elders
Meeting the Tribe
Strafing run
Train jacked
Calm before the storm
The storming of the mine
Star's intrigue
Celestia's message
Eclipse's offer
Royal's stand
Finishing the battle for Appleloosa
*bang* *bang* Up yet?
Quarter to a hundred
Meanwhile, back at the palace...
Surprise!
So, uh... yeah...
Reunion in combat
Yelling at questions won't give you answers
And you are...?
Contact
Entering the Hive (But not the bad one)
The blackest reaches contain the key to the nexus
First rule in fight club: ...Wait, there are rules?
We know there's a secret, we just don't know what it is
Thorn's memory, Dizzo's friend
Where shadows reign
Don't look back
Start a brawl that can't be won
Vangar's Stand (part 1)
Vangar's Stand (part 2)
After Vangar's stand
The current record is 12 times, done by Britney Gallivan.
Existential angst is good for the soul! But it's not going to stay for long, right?
Little details come around
To Braycover
We made it to fifty?
Split
Grinding for XP
Everybody's looking for something
A new arrival
Gift of the Elders
Defending A Major Scientific Facility: A 'How Not To' Guide
It's been a long time since the last update, but you will not have to start over because... (cont. on Author's Notes)
Explanations and services rendered

wakey wakey...

Luna drifted though the darkness. The magical sleep she had induced on the pony had the side effect of being a dreamless sleep, but such a thing actually made it far more interesting for her to visit during the night.

Without dreams spewing forth from the subconscious, the rest of a pony’s mind was left bare. Fragments of memories littered the darkness, everything from still framed photos, to constantly repeating videos not more than a few seconds long, to films that could be watched for days on end without even a fraction of it being seen twice.

Luna was hesitant to intrude, knowing full well that she could stumble upon a more private section of this pony’s life if she wasn’t careful. However, intrude she did, enjoying screenplays and first person movies of everything from pranks that were played on others, pranks that were experienced, reading books, actually watching a movie through the stranger’s eyes, and (Luna’s favorite) several video gaming successes and/or blunders.

She learned who this pony was, and also that he wasn’t really a pony at all.

‘How strange,’ Luna thought, watching as the player character in Mass Effect was gunned down. ‘He’s even younger than Sister and I placed him.’ She listened to the memory, smiling as he fell silent, the controller in his hands squeaking slightly from the pressure he was exerting on it.

“Where'd that banshee come from!? I’d already mowed down two of those mother--” He fell silent again, stewing in his rage. She heard him sigh when she felt the world around her begin to give way under the weight of a rising consciousness.

Eyes opening, Luna looked around her bedroom, a smile creeping up on her face. “He’s awake…”

<><><>

Celestia observed Luna and the maid enter the throne room at the same time, likely to deliver similar--if not the same--news.

The maid--Feather Duster, Celestia believed--bowed. “Princess, the stallion you brought in is awake. However, he is quite skittish, almost as if he were in shock. I recommend being extremely gentle if you were to speak to him.”

Celestia nodded, glancing at her sister for confirmation. Luna smiled and nodded, confirming the maid’s report. Celestia sighed, hiding a smile at the excuse to leave the day court early. She rose, addressing the nobles in the crowd. “I’m afraid that any further complaints and requests shall wait until tomorrow. Please, return home. I have important business to take care of.”

Most of the nobles grumbled their discontent, as was expected of the pompous lot. A few, namely the few who had ever had contact with one or more of the elements of harmony long enough to get to know them (read: Fancypants, Hoity Toity, Photo Finish and absolutely no-bucking-pony else) simply bowed and left while the other end of the spectrum (read: Blueblood) were even louder than the rest.

Celestia couldn't avoid rolling her eyes as the self-glorified unicorn ranted about not getting his turn. Fortunately for him that family beatings would do nothing to help her public image, even if he asked for it so often and so loudly.

Luna trotted over to her sister. “And you are sure that he is related to us?”

Celestia shrugged, beginning to consider changing some of the family records in the Canterlot archive. She let her eyes wander to the great windows in the throne room. Despite not having the decorative and historical nature of the stained-glass windows in the hall of the elements of harmony, they were still breathtaking to behold. She looked out the nearest one, taking in every detail of the city below. Ponies going about their lives, blissfully unaware that Equestria was becoming ground zero for any number of disasters.

Ever since the return of Luna from her banishment as the evil Nightmare Moon, The land had slowly been suffocating on an ever increasing tide of creatures, natural disasters, and even battle. The recent changeling invasion of Canterlot may have been the most famous, but it was far from the only. The first of these was the battle of Appleloosa, when the native buffalo and the settler ponies broke out into a skirmish. That fight was stopped by the intervention of the element bearers, but several similar battles have waged across Equestria.

Celestia turned her head, noticing the now vacant throne room. Her sister stood by the door, patiently waiting for the solar princes to finish her musings.

Celestia sighed, moving to accompany her sister to their ‘guest’.

<><><>

Feather Duster trotted down the hallway, her silver mane catching the sunlight shining through the windows. Reaching a flight of stairs, she spread her wings to quickly ascend to the top rather than walk up.

As she walked and flew to her destination, she couldn’t help but reflect. She had been tasked to act as the newcomer’s assistant by the princesses themselves.

The hairs in her dark blue coat stood on end at that thought.

She was still new to the castle, having only begun her current job a short time ago. She couldn’t understand why the princesses would already give her an individual task, much less when it involved a pony they had deemed to be treated as a special guest.

She soon reached the room he was staying in. She slowly opened the door, letting it creak loudly enough to alert the pony inside the room to her presence.

She stuck her head inside, just far enough to see the pony glance at her, before returning his gaze to a book that was laying in front of him.

Feather Duster glanced at the book, making a light ‘hmph’ as she recognized it. “The first of the Daring Do series. Don’t see many ponies who appreciate a good adventure story.”

The grey and brown pony frowned. “Right…Ponies.” He glanced around at his accommodations.

The room was mostly bare, with a bed, a few furnishings and a small nightstand with several random books on top of it. Feather Duster followed his gaze to a window, where a beautiful view of the Equestrian countryside could be seen, interrupted only by the small village of Ponyville, not too far off in the distance. “Anyway, I thought it prudent to tell you that the princesses will be visiting you soon. You might want to take this opportunity to prepare yourself.”

Of all the things she could have said, it seemed that Feather Duster hit the mark for what would rile him up the most. The pony’s mane all but stood on end now, his entire body beginning to tremble.

Feather Duster sighed. He was about the same age as herself, but he seemed to be so much more affected by nervousness.

Feather Duster took one last glance about the small room before she decided to leave. As she closed the door behind her, she heard a barley audible “goodbye…” from the room.

She smiled to herself. “I’m sure he’ll be just fine.”

<><><>

“This is bad, this is bad, this is oh so very, very bad.” A good figurative phrase would be that he was creating a rut in the floor from his pacing.

The pony glanced down, surprised to find that there was indeed a small rut in the solid stone.

“Ah!” He quickly jumped out the rut, shaking his head several times. When he looked again, the rut was gone, leaving the floor completely smooth.

He heard laughter come from the door. Raising his head he found the princesses standing in the doorway, one wearing a grin, the other, an expression of stone.

Luna covered her mouth with a hoof as Celestia rolled her eyes, a small smile slowly beginning to stretch her lips as well. Shaking her head lightly, the lunar princess approached the pony. “If you wouldn't mind, it would behoove Celestia and I to learn just who--or what--you are. Your cooperation would not go unrewarded in this matter.”

The pony gulped, gaze wandering everywhere except to the two princesses’ own.

Luna, sensing his discomfort, gently placed a hoof on his shoulder. “Firstly: we would like to know your name.” She said this more out of politeness as she already knew this pony’s name, as well as his age.

The pony managed to bring his eyes to match hers, his trembling dying down, but not disappearing. He opened his mouth but paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. “…Eclipse.”

Luna’s smile faded, his false answer catching her off guard. “And what of your world? What’s it like where you are from?” This time, her question was genuine. She hadn't taken time to study up on his home before he awoke.

Eclipse’s nervousness returned tenfold. “You really don’t want to know.”

Celestia’s ears pricked at this. “Oh? And just why not?”

“Look, it’s not like…Equestria." Eclipse replied, gritting his teeth. "Trust me. Just, leave it alone.”

Luna retracted her hoof from Eclipse’s shoulder, her smile completely gone by now. “And just what is the problem?”

Eclipse sighed, finally realizing that there was no getting out of this. “This world. It’s a place of equality, happiness. Peace is a constant here under normal circumstances. Take that, add in a whole bunch of ‘is not’s’ and you have where I’m from. It's not all bad, just not nearly as good. Humans are like that."

Celestia stopped listening to give herself a moment to think.

An idea entered her head. A horrible, stupid, potentially insane idea. One that just might work. She had glanced into other universes before, but lacked the ability to travel to them…so far, at least. This was one of the universes she watched closely, if it was indeed the same universe and not an alternate version of it.

Earth, humans, the fires that blazed inside them all. The planet they lived on was violent, raucous and diverse beyond imagining. It was one of few worlds which could create life from death, capable of turning the wastelands left by a volcanic eruption green again. It could also take a rainforest teeming with life and turn it into a desert.

It’s inhabitants were no different. ‘Humans…’ Celestia mused. ‘A bit on the chaotic side, but they can just as easily cultivate life as destroy it.’

She would need to be careful. He would need molding. Training. Above all else, he would need to be willing. Still, he wasn't going anywhere. And he certainly had the power requirements, if he could learn to control it. It just might work.

“Eclipse…” Celestia began, her unsure expression fading into a grin. Luna seemed to guess at what her sister was thinking. Probably not though, as the only other time Celestia pulled a move this outlandish was in the pair’s desperate battle against Discord, when he still ruled. “I have a proposition for you.”

Dusted reprieve

Three days have passed. In those three days, Eclipse had explained all he could. Hours of nothing but notes and talking had all but bored him directly into an alternate reality. However, several of Equestria’s brightest unicorn scholars had been asked to join in by the princesses, on the condition that only the knowledge gained from this meeting--but not any further details--would leave the room.

The small group drank in every detail that poured out of Eclipse’s mouth. Despite his best attempts to explain that he only knew what barely amounted to a fraction of what humans had discovered, they only seemed to question him with more zeal than before.

Mathematics, science, others. With how the scholars reacted to it, Eclipse was speeding along equestrian science by several decades. That, or they were far too interested in comparing their own advances to another race's. Eclipse thought that he would keep the possibility of an invasion in mind.

One of the stallions in the group mouthed his discontent when Eclipse refused to broach the subject of weaponry at all, immediately stopping any of the group's attempts to pry the secrets from him. In the end, they eventually surrendered, but not before attempting to petition Celestia to force him to tell all that he knew. However, soon the time was up and his real training would begin.

After one more round of questioning, and Eclipse making rather crude insinuations regarding several of the ponies heritages, Luna got to nod politely as the scholars left before bursting into a fit of laughter as soon as they were out of earshot. Eclipse allowed himself a grin, but Celestia soon took command of the now nearly empty room, clearing her throat to speak. “It’s time.” Eclipse’s ear twitched as she continued. “I’ll be the one who trains your mind. Everything from basic survival to biology to history and culture. If you want to serve as the operative I need you to be, you will need to know this and much more.” Eclipse cast his gaze downward, nodding once. Celestia closed her eyes. “When I am not tutoring you, Luna will take command of your more physical training. Her lessons will begin…now.”

Eclipse caught a silver object moving in his peripheral vision. He turned his head, then a medium-sized steel ball crashed into his forehead.

Luna chuckled. “We have not had need of a Special Tactics and Reconnaissance unit since the last one retired almost seven hundred and fifty years ago, so Celestia tells me.” Eclipse groaned, head throbbing from the impact. He shakily stood up, vision blurring into and out of focus.

“They were great warriors, sheltering Equestria back during it’s more violent times of life.” The steel ball circled through the air again, the faint glow of Luna’s magic enveloping it. It swooped for Eclipse, but he managed to duck under it, just to be sent to the ground by second ball. Adding insult and further injury to injury, a third ball pelted Eclipse in the stomach before he could even begin to recover.

“If you are to wear that title, you will need to be faster.” Eclipse tried to rise, but two of his legs were knocked out from underneath him, sending him into the ground again.

“Stronger.” The trio of balls pushed down against him, forcing him into the ground.

“Better!” The balls whisked away, disappearing from view. Luna nodded. “For a first test, that was fairly adequate.” Eclipse groaned, before coughing up a small amount of blood. Luna’s eyebrows rose. “Don’t worry, we’ll start off with something easier tomorrow. This was mainly to test how you would initially handle training. At the very least, you tried. There is very little chance for an average pony to keep track of and evade all of those projectiles at once. Of course, we’re not going to turn you into the average pony.”

<><><>

Now, he had seen a great many things as captain of the guard, but for Shining Armor, this was most definitely a first.

The earth pony’s dull colors were enough of an oddity, but he was also limping into the hallway. Shining Armor heard the pony’s grumblings even at this distance.

“’Pay attention’ she said. ‘Keep distractions out of your mind’ she said. Yeah right! With Celestia almost blinding me with those mother-bucking flashes of light, there’s no way I could--” He stopped for a moment, overcome by a coughing fit. When he finally recovered, he seemed to sway in a nonexistent breeze. “…I should never have accepted. What was I thinking?” He finally seemed to notice Shining Armor, standing at the opposite end of the hall. The pony grimaced, but whether it was from pain or annoyance, Shining couldn’t tell.

“What?”

The question was short, sharp and to the point. Shining frowned in return. “Who are you and what are you doing in the castle?”

The pony was about to respond when a third voice called out from around the corner.

“Eclipse, where are you?” The pair turned to find one of the castle maids wander into the hall. “Oh, there you are. I've retrieved the books you asked for. One copy of ‘A Brief History of Equestria’, two tomes on the study of unicorn magic, one on the study of the enhanced strength and stamina of earth ponies over the other species and the next Daring Do novel, as requested.”

Eclipse nodded his thanks. “Appreciated, Feather Duster. You've been very helpful.”

“Don’t worry about it, but…what’s wrong with your leg?”

Eclipse smiled, but Shining and Feather Duster both knew immediately that it was forced. “Why would anything be wrong?” Shining took note of the leg’s tendency to stay just barely elevated above the ground, as well as its slightly swollen appearance. He glanced at the maid, but Feather Duster was shaking her head.

“If they keep this up, you won’t live through the month! Your ‘training’ as those two put it only just started, and they've already reduced you to a walking wreck! Come with me, you’re going to get cleaned up. You've only ever been in your room or with the princesses.”

Shining Armor’s eyebrows rose to the top of his head. “Well, that would explain why I've never seen you before.”

Feather Duster seemed to notice the Captain for the first time. “Oh, yes. He’s even more of a recluse than Twilight was when she was living here.”

Shining laughed. “I’m sure that’s a bit exaggerated, don’t you think?”

Feather Duster deadpanned. “He’s been here for two weeks and he only knows the princesses and myself. Anypony else and he just shies away or ignores them completely, not that he runs into anypony else very often.”

Shining shrugged. “So? Twilight only knew the names of a few of the guards herself when--” He was cut off when Feather Duster put a hoof to his mouth.

“Not a few of your guards, Captain. The princesses and myself. A whopping total of three.”

Eclipse began to walk away from the other two, limping towards his room. “Yes well, you two have a nice chat while I return to my studies, thank you very much.”

Feather Duster spread her wings and flew over to Eclipse, clamping her fore hooves around his sides and lifting him several feet into the air. Eclipse responded with a sharp intake of air, completely in sync with a wave of pain that hit him.

Feather Duster merely smiled. “My point exactly. Now, come on, we’re going to get you some fresh air.”

Shining intercepted the pair. “Hey, I’m on my break. Can I tag along?”

<><><>

“See? I told you that you’d enjoy it.”

Eclipse pointed his spoon at the pair sitting across from him, a small scoop of ice cream on it. “This does nothing to lessen my resentment of you two.”

Feather Duster quickly leaned forward, snapping the ice cream off of the spoon.

“Hey!” Eclipse cried indignantly. “That was mine!”

“Well you shouldn't have pointed it at me.” Feather Duster replied. “I love chocolate.” she added as an afterthought, though it wasn't directed at anyone in particular.

Shining rolled his eyes. Turning to Feather Duster, he asked, “How long have you been a maid?”

“About a year, now.” She replied. “I started almost immediately after I moved out of my parents place. Still not quite sure how I ended up as a maid at the palace of all places, but whatever.”

The trio was sitting at a table outside of one of Canterlot’s restaurants. Eclipse attracted several surprised stares from other ponies, specifically for his lack of a cutie mark. Shining Armor was listening in on several nearby conversations. While most of them were gossip or just banter between two or more friends and acquaintances, some of them were conjecture about a fully grown ‘blank flank’. Shining armor sighed.

Eclipse glanced at him. “What’s eating you?”

Shining gritted his teeth. “Okay, look. You’re some new student of Celestia and Luna, that I get. But, how? How do you not have a cutie mark? Have you really not found a special talent for yourself?”

Eclipse smiled. Then grinned. Soon he had broken out into a fit of laughter. "You know what? That's the exact same question I've been asked by everyone I've run into. I think that might be why i never stopped to get to know anyone. It was more 'Your ass is rather undecorated' instead of people asking for my name." He chuckled some more, taking a bite of ice cream.

"That, or you're just more timid of ponies you don't know than a wounded animal would be." Feather Duster said, chuckling herself.

"I do have some wounds too..." Eclipse mused. "And I'm fairly sure I fit all the definitions of animal, too."

Shining Armor grinned. "You don't seem that nervous right now. You're telling jokes and everything!"

"Wait until the waiter comes back. He'll freeze solid from the ice that'll go up his spine." Feather Duster replied.

Eclipse paused, spoon in his mouth. After a few moments, he grunted, but made no comment.

Shining Armor coughed into his hoof. "Well, anyway, will you start looking for your talent soon? I'm sure the princesses give you some sort of time off."

"They do. I lay in bed and read."

Feather Duster shifted her seat until she was close enough to put her wing around Eclipse. "You really need to get out more often."

"I know." Eclipse sighed. "I've always been told that." He glanced up, realizing that he had never actually answered Shining's question. He took another bite of ice cream. “I don’t want a cutie mark.”

Shining Armor’s eyes widened in surprise, while Feather Duster choked on her drink. A nearby waiter had dropped one of the plates he was supposed to have been cleaning up, obviously having been distracted by the conversation.

Eclipse took this all in stride. “Look, a cutie mark shows your life’s calling, yes. But there’s one tiny drawback to that: You can’t change it. You are stuck like that. Whether you enjoy it or not isn’t the problem. For me, I like to choose. I like to be free of those restrictions.” He rubbe dhis chin. "That's kind of why I like books and games. You can be anything, you know?"

Shining slowly wrapped his mind around the yarn Eclipse was spinning. “So you’re saying that you, as a blank flank, can…”

“Choose.” Eclipse finished for him. “I can choose what I want. I can be whatever I set my mind too. Want to be a scholar? Alright, grab a book and find an empty desk, cause it’s study time!” He hoof-pumped, almost making studying seem exciting for a second. Shining had an image of him and Twilight standing next to each other flash through his mind. “Feel like you want to try your luck at smithing? Take a hammer and start pounding!” Eclipse slammed his hooves together, a loud clop echoing through out the now silent area, as all the ponies nearby had suddenly--and unanimously--decided to listen in. “Exploring, architecture, fighting: It’s all there! Anything I want! With practice and patience, yes, but those are minor drawbacks for being able to write my own destiny.”

Shining glanced at his own cutie mark. He enjoyed his life as a guard and he could never see himself as wanting to be anything else.

“Now, don’t twist it.” Eclipse continued, waving a hoof. “If you enjoy what you do, by all means keep doing it. It’s your lives, after all. But if you don’t love it, or just want to experiment, go for it! Heck, even with a cutie mark for being a waiter, I’m sure you could learn to be a fantastic farmer if you’re willing to work for it. Or even a shopkeeper. Dressmaker! Really, anything.”

Shining craned his head to get a better view of the surrounding ponies, most of whom had fallen into their own thoughts. Most of them pondered the thought for a moment then quickly dismissed it as they enjoyed their current lives so much, but there were exceptions.

Feather Duster and Eclipse had also noticed. A pair of mares nearby almost immediately broke out into excited chatter. Turns out, one was a seamstress who had always wanted to take care of animals. The other, a jewelry maker who had wanted to know what it was like inside one of the mines her gems originally came from, from the possible dangers of a tunnel collapse to the feeling of success when she found a hoard of fresh gems.

Shining Armor frowned. Almost everyone he met loved their lives too much to change what was seen across Equestria as a vital part of who you were. However, now that he thought about it, there were some, though they were few and far between, who would gladly rewrite their lives if they had the chance.

Thinking back, Shining realized that before he had a cutie mark, back when he was a colt, he tried anything and everything to get one. Nothing was off limits. Eclipse had taken out the goal of finding a talent and was just focusing on doing what you wanted, regardless of talent.

"I have to admit, you make one heck of a case for yourself." Shining said, nodding once. "Tell you what. I'll introduce you to Cadance sometime."

Eclipse raised his hooves. "Slow down, there, Captain. I'm not used to standing next to Luna or Celestia, yet. One more Princess is too much on an already overloaded psyche."

"Are they driving you insane or something?" Shining asked, slightly taunting the other stallion.

Eclipse's ears fell flat against his head. "I can't believe I'm about to say this... To Shining Armor of all the possible..." He fell silent, counting five seconds before opening his mouth again. "Yes."

Feather Duster turned her head to look at him. "What?"

Eclipse sighed. "A few weeks ago, I was normal. Now I'm here, in a body I don't even recognize and who do I get to meet. The the friggin' gods who make night and day work in this world. Oh, yeah, they also decided to put me through some crazy customized training regime. ...I want to go back to my bed and finish my book."

Shining took a moment to formulate a response. "It'll be alright. Look, I won't pretend to understand what you just said about not recognizing your own body, but I can promise you; Luna and Celestia can help you through this. Just talk to them.:

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Eclipse seemed all the more anxious to leave.

“Yes, well…Can we go back now? Please?” He asked, gesturing to the castle.

Feather Duster sighed. “Fine. It’s probably the end of the Captain’s break anyway.”

The tie in

Celestia looked at the empty plate before her, Luna mirroring her from across the table.

“Ever since my return, I do not remember the food being quite this…divine.” Celestia raised her head to look at Luna, who had spoken.

Celestia huffed through her nose. “It’s good, but never this good. Luna, did you replace any of the royal chefs?”

Luna simply shook her head.

One of the royal waiters smiled. “Oh, it wasn't the normal chefs, your highness.”

Celestia turned to face him. “What do you mean, ‘not the normal chefs’?”

The waiter nodded towards one of the guards in the room. The guard he motioned towards had a deep blush on his face, his eyes just barely wider than they should have been for a member of the guard.

Celestia straightened her back. Guards, cooking? She cast a surprised glance at Luna.

The lunar princess shifted in her seat. “I…have noticed several similar occurrences, but they were so rare that I thought nothing of them. Mostly it seems like ponies going outside the bounds of their normal lives. Branching out, as it were.”

“When did it start?” Celestia asked.

“Not a month ago.”

Celestia frowned. “How has Eclipse been?"

"Much better." Luna said, smiling. "It worried me when he refused to let us halt his training -- I must admit that I'm growing attached to him -- but the fact that he managed to approach us with his feelings helped his demeanor greatly. Since we started taking time after training to speak to him about his concerns, Feather Duster has actually managed to get him to leave the castle. He’s showing rapid improvement training-wise, as well. A brief investigation revealed that he has convinced Shining Armor to teach him some guard basics, hence his improved rate of physical enhancement. In fact, he's gone far enough that I'm skipping straight to teaching him how to exercise his magical abilities.

“Be careful sister.” Celestia cautioned, not wanting to rush their trainee. “Even he does not know the extent of his power, so let's not go pushing him to upsetting gravity in half of Equestria.”

Luna nodded. “I doubt he actually has that much power, but he wants to learn and grow as much as he can. We can help him.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes. When he finally got situated into Equestria, he became almost obsessive with learning everything there is to know. He reminds me so much of young Twilight, but he’s a more generic learner, rather than focusing on magic. I also think that he and the maid, Feather Duster, have grown close over time.”

Luna cocked her head to the side. “You do not know? They had been dreaming of each other for quite some time. It was quite cute, actually.”

“Luna, you didn’t…” Celestia began, frowning.

“It was just some unconscious nudging.” Luna sheepishly replied. “I only served as a catalyst, honest.”

Celestia smiled. “I’m more worried about what Cadence would do to you if she found out. You know that’s her job. Now, if you would excuse me, I must return to my duties.”

Celestia excused herself from the table to return to her throne room, where a stack of paperwork sat waiting for her, along with a pair of guards--possibly gardeners in disguise for all she knew--a quill, an inkwell and Celestia’s personal assistant, an older mare whom Celestia had an amount of faith in rivaled only by the element bearers themselves. She sat down, picking up the first paper. No sooner had she finished with it, than a third guard burst into the room.

“Princess! News from northern Equestria!” Said the exasperated guard, still running into the room.

“What is it?” she asked calmly, not quite sure what to make of the interruption.

The guard skidded to a stop, taking off his helmet in salute. “I am merely to tell you that…it has returned.”

Celestia gasped. “Find Princess Cadence and Shining armor. GO!”

The three guards bolted, beginning their search.

Celestia picked up a blank piece of parchment. “Dear Twilight…”

<><><>

“Feel the magic flow into you. Let it seep into your body.”

Eclipse took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. A moment later, he opened his eyes. "Yeah, this isn't working."

“Drat." Luna said, smacking her hoof into a boulder. "That's the third failure in as many minutes! We're missing something, but what?"

"Well, tell me when you figure it out, huh?"

Luna turned to face him. "You should be trying just as hard as I--what are you reading?"

Eclipse glanced at her. "Daring Do, book three. Why?"

"Where did you get it?" She asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

"Didn't I have it with me when we came out there?" Eclipse asked, though his face was scrunching up in confusion. It was clear that he didn't actually remember bringing the book with him.

Luna blinked several times. "What was going through your head when you pulled out the book?"

"Boredom, I guess? Just, I wanted to finish this chapter, but you called me out here for training..." His eyes widened with sudden revelation. "I left this book in my room. I remember leaving it in my room. How did it even get out here!?"

Luna clapped her hooves. "There's our missing link! Imagine something else you want!"

"Like what?" He demanded, shrugging. "I haven't exactly got experience with this."

"Apples!"

Eclipse stared at the Lunar princess. "Really?" He asked. "Apples? Really? That one word cannot be stressed enough right now. Really?" He sighed, covering his eyes with a hoof. "For so long, I respected you. I dreamed of meeting you in real life and when--in some freak twist of reality--I do, this happens. I don't know whether to laugh or cry."

Luna deadpanned. "I just reached through the space time continuum and killed your dog. The large, gray and black fluffy one that was kept at your grandparents house."

"You jackass!" Eclipse yelled, firing several red balls of energy at the princess. "Wedge was the best dog ever! And I was seven!"

Luna swatted away the energy blasts with a large force field, causing them to slam into various locations around the area. Their effects ranged from small explosions to jumping around incinerating whatever they touched. Eclipse took the brief moment it took for the energy to expire to realize that there was no way Luna had actually killed his dog.

Luna raised an eyebrow, waiting expectantly.

Eclipse stared at his hooves, before raising them above his head and slamming them down, resulting in a small tremor that knocked over a nearby statue and left the ground around him cracked and with several inch high changes in elevation. He looked up, his eyes still glowing red. For the first time that day, he actually felt the magic in his system.

Luna nodded once. "You are able to hold a massive amount of power, but it would seem that you take some time to recover it. It is likely that you can expend a great deal of energy with little drawbacks, but an extended bout of such usage will render you as nothing more than an ordinary earth pony for at least several days."

"Not caring, just realized can do magic." Eclipse grunted in return, not even bothering to use effective grammar. Instead, he was too busy juggling several orbs of chaos energy.

Luna beamed. “Excellent! Celestia will be proud of such a success! In fact, if she is not busy, then I shall inform her right away!”

As Luna turned to leave, a guard strode up to them. “Princess! Your sister requests an audience. She claims that it is urgent.” The guard motioned towards Eclipse with his spear. “She also wants to see him.”

Luna and Eclipse glanced at each other, but neither objected.

They found Celestia waiting just outside her throne room, speaking with Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. The three turned to face the two, and Celestia smiled as she saw her sister.

Shining Armor shook hooves with Eclipse. “I see you've been doing well.”

“Thanks to you.” Eclipse returned. “I would still be in the physical part of my training if you hadn't helped out.”

Celestia cleared her throat, grabbing the attention of all those present. “As I was explaining. The crystal empire has returned.”

Shining Armor seemed to be the one most confused by this revelation. “Crystal empire?”

Eclipse was mumbling to himself. “So I've been between seasons two and three this entire time…”

Celestia nodded, having not heard Eclipse. “It will take time to explain it all. Please, while we talk we must also prepare ourselves.”

All aboard

“And you’re sure you’re fine?”

“Yes, Feather Duster.” Eclipse moaned.

Feather Duster sighed. “I’m sorry. It’s just--”

“I’ll be fine.” Eclipse interjected. “It’s just an escort. Quick in, quick out, leave the hard work to them. I’ll be back before I’m even really gone.” Shining armor nudged Eclipse in the shoulder. “Hrm? Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” He said, dusting himself off and turning back to Feather Duster. “Dinner when I get back?”

She smiled. “It’s a date.”

Shining Armor winked at Cadence before using his magic to imitate the sound of a horn going off twice in a row.

“Oh, shut up!” Eclipse said, hurling a random rock he found at Shining.

Cadence caught the rock in her magic, waggling it at Eclipse while wearing a mock disapproving look on her face.

Eclipse slumped. “Of course.” he drawled, rolling his eyes.

Feather Duster gave Eclipse a quick kiss on his cheek before flying back to the palace.

He sighed. “Okay, let’s get going. Geez, you act as if you’ve never had to wait on someone.”

Cadence arched an eyebrow. “You mean somepony?”

“No, I mean someone, pony or otherwise.” Eclipse sighed, explaining for the umpteenth time why he hadn’t reeled in his vocabulary to be more equestrian. “Now, if you would be so kind?”

Cadence and Shining stepped aside to allow him onto their train cabin. The train was empty except for the crew and the three travelers, due to the destination.

The frozen north was not a place many would visit, and none willingly. There were legends of a creature made of shadow which haunted the wide icy landscape, but Celestia believed them to merely be sightings of king Sombra, the evil unicorn dictator who had banished the crystal empire to only he knew where.

Cadence picked up a nearby newspaper. “Hmph. Another scientific breakthrough. Those have been a bit a dozen, lately, haven’t they?” She turned to Eclipse as she finished. "Though I doubt the best ones are so quick to find themselves on the front page of a newspaper."

“So, you were told?” He asked.

Cadence smiled. “Well, I am a princess. And my husband is captain of the guard. He gets to know about anything regarding equestrian security. Even you.”

Eclipse smiled back. “He didn’t know me until almost a week after I arrived.”

Shining armor raised a hoof in his defense. “I had been told about you, I just hadn’t met you yet, so I didn’t recognize you.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Eclipse replied, holding up his hooves.

Cadence bit her lip in anxiety as the train began to lurch forward.

Eclipse frowned. “Now would be a really bad time to say that you get train sick, Princess.”

“No, no, it’s just…” She waved a hoof, sighing. “Is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“That you’re a spectre agent in training.” Cadence blurted, losing tact for a moment.

Shining Armor immediately froze in his attempts to rummage through his pack for a drink. “Excuse me?"

Eclipse held up a hoof. “Hold up. One time Luna said something about ‘special tactics and reconnaissance’, but I really have no idea what she was talking about. It came out as odd blather to me. I just know that they were willing to train me into some sort of peacekeeper for Equestria.”

Cadence sighed. “So it is true. I…I didn’t know that things had really gotten so bad…”

“What are you talking about?” Eclipse turned to Shining armor. “What is she talking about?”

Shining rubbed the back of his head, thinking. “Ever since Luna returned, Equestria has run into one of its infamous ‘periods of disarray’. Don’t bother looking them up, as they don’t exist. Officially. They are points in Equestria’s history when disasters run rampant. Not just in one village, but everywhere. I was afraid of this ever since Discord’s attack and the changeling invasion happened so close to each other. The spectre unit is an elite soldier, trained to maintain and restore the peace. The thing about them is a ‘the ends justify the means’ philosophy. Not always, but typically, if you meet a spectre, you’ve been manipulated in some way to serve their needs to fulfill their mission, whatever it may be at that moment.”

Eclipse paused, taking in the massive amount of information that, until just now, he had not been privy too. “Well, I don’t know about all that, but it does sound really cool to do. Say, what kind of resources did the spectre agents normally have access to?”

“Well…” Shining began. “They took orders directly from the princesses, like you, actually. I think they weren’t exactly lacking when it really counted.”

“Well, I’m sorry to say that I won’t be sticking around for too long.” Eclipse said, switching topic. “Celestia and Luna want me to head back to Canterlot on the same train the bearers of the elements will use to get to the crystal empire. I’m to avoid all contact, if possible. Probably because of my, uh…disharmonic nature. Were you were informed of that as well?”

Cadence nodded. “The chaos magic, yes. I trust you can control it?”

“Hah!” Eclipse laughed. “If I couldn’t at least stop myself from blowing us all up, I don’t think I would be on the train right now.”

Shining Armor pulled a black cloak out of a suitcase. “He’s got a point Cadence, we should trust the princesses judgment.” He handed Eclipse the cloak.

Eclipse accepted the garment. “Uh, thanks, but what’s it for?”

“Consider it a gift.” Shining replied, beginning to pull out various pieces of harsh weather clothing. “It’s going to get cold really quickly once we get to the frozen north. Wrap up as best you can, because you’re going to need it.”

Eclipse held the cloak in his hooves, turning it this way and that during an examination of it. “That awkward moment when you don’t know how a cloak works…”

Shining smiled. “For a spectre, you’re pretty helpless.”

“Humph.” Eclipse snorted, looking out a nearby window. “What? We haven’t even been on the train for an hour…”

Shining looked out a window for himself. Outside, it was a blizzard. Cadence blushed. “Oh, it’s actually been a day…and a half. We’re at the frozen north.

Eclipse and Shining Armor both gave her shocked looks.

“Luna cast a spell to shorten the time for us…” She explained. “I should have mentioned that.”

“Time magic?” Eclipse asked, but his question ran afoul of Shining Armor’s “She cast a spell without informing me?”

The result was the two stallions trying to speak over one another, culminating in a shouting match between them.
Cadence had her attention focused on another thing, but she couldn't concentrate with the two others so energized. “Shut up!” She screamed, trying to get them to calm down.

Eclipse and Shining stared Cadence, surprised. She was scanning the train, her eyes moving frantically about, searching. Suddenly, a black mist made its way into the train car.

“So, you want to see an empire…”

Eclipse gulped. “Actually, I’m not that big a fan of the cold, come to think of it.”

A pair of eyes popped out of the mist. They were quickly followed by a head. A head which lurched forward, turning into a dark mist which encircled and pressed in on the three passengers.

“Come into the crystal empire. My crystal empire. HAHAHAHAHAHA!”

The trio of ponies tried to escape, but the miasma was suffocating. Through the window, Eclipse managed to make out a train stop coming into view, the brakes on the train squealing as they brought the machine to a halt.

Shining made it to the end of the train car and opened the door, startling the train crew on the other side. Sombra caused a pair of shackles to materialize around Shining ankles before he could make it very far and dragged the stallion out of the opened door to the outside.

Eclipse managed to fire single energy bolt at the shackles, forcing Sombra to release Shining Armor.

While this was happening, Cadence had been smothered by the mist until she passed out. The pink alicorn was now being dragged out into the frozen north by Sombra's power. Several of the train crew tried to assist, but they were no warriors. Sombra quickly threw them back into the train and locked the doors, stopping any further assistance they might have provided.

Shining fired several blasts of magic at Sombra, but the bolts did little to stop the shadow that the unicorn was made out of. Eclipse flared his chaos magic, a wave of power blasting away from him as he tried to force the choking miasma away from the himself and Shining Armor.

While he was distracted, Sombra snuck up from behind Eclipse and grabbed him by the head, slamming the pony into the ground and beginning to constrict his airways. Shining fared no better, reeling from several of Sombra's blows himself. As he managed to reorient himself, Shining Armor saw Eclipse begin to lose consciousness. Charging to the pony's aid, he failed to notice Sombra as the unicorn slammed a solid block of shadow into his skull.

Shining fell to the ground, black creeping into his vision. The last thing he saw was Sombra dragging Eclipse off, into the snow.

Crystal reclamation

Eclipse woke up with a start. He rubbed his head, skull throbbing in pain. Cadance and Shining Armor were just a short distance away. Taking the initiative, Eclipse quickly scanned his surroundings.

Dark crystals coated the walls and ringed the door, the corruption in them making his coat stand on end. A softly glowing crystal in the ceiling lit the room with a dim light that wouldn’t have been enough to read by, but was enough to see shapes and silhouettes.

He got up and walked to the door, peeking through the keyhole to see outside. He didn’t see much more than black. Rapping on the door with his hoof, Eclipse sighed when he was met by silence.

“Well,” He muttered to himself. “What else had I been expecting? A pinkie surprise party?”

He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard Sombra’s voice reach into the room through the oppressive silence.

“So, the first one is awake…”

Eclipse’s eyes darted around, quickly double checking the bleak room he was locked in. “Where am I?” he demanded, firing a blast of magic at the edge of the room he was imprisoned in. The blast ricocheted off, zipping through the air with several more ricochets until it finally found a mark on the floor.

“Heh… You’re not the one in a position to ask questions…”

“Sombra!” Eclipse shouted. “I know that’s you! Come out into the open!” Eclipse fired another blast, a much more powerful one, at another wall. This time, he blasted open a hole large enough for a pony to walk out of.

“You’ve got heart. I hate heart…”

The voice of Sombra left on that ominous note. Eclipse, refusing to calm down, scanned the area outside the cell he, Cadence and Shining Armor had been thrown into. He saw the crystal empire all around him, but not as it should have been. All the crystals were black, drained of any love and life they might have had. Crystal ponies were scattered about, alive but trapped in a dark slumber.

Eclipse blinked several times, looking around. “Well, this wasn’t in the show.”

He was about to step outside, but a groan from nearby attracted his attention. Turning, he saw Cadance and Shining Armor start to wake up, both of them shaking their heads to regain their senses.

Eclipse turned back to the hole in the wall, stepping outside. The doom and gloom around him was palpable to the point of weighing him down. It didn’t take long for Shining Armor and Cadance to make their way outside as well.

Cadance immediately rushed over to one of the sleeping crystal ponies, her horn lighting up with a flash of light blue. First one eye opened, then another, and the pony finally managed to turn his head and look at the three around him. He blinked once, a slow blink that took several seconds, before simply laying his head back down with a tired grunt.

“Well, that was helpful.” Eclipse sarcastically commented, rolling his eyes.

Ignoring the look he got from Shining Armor, Eclipse trotted down a nearby street, looking around. He stopped at another sleeping pony, a mare, and used his hoof to try and shake her to wakefulness. When she didn’t respond, Eclipse shook harder. When the mare still proved unresponsive, he moved on, ignoring any sleepers he spotted afterwards.

Cadance and Shining Armor weren’t far behind, stopping only to try and wake the crystal ponies. The most they got for their efforts was an occasional, uncommitted grunt of thanks, and the ones they woke up seemed drained of energy even after beginning to move around.

Some found their houses and went inside, others slowly walked around, heads hung low. No matter what they did, it was depressing to watch.

Eclipse sighed. “Great, we’re here and we have no clue what to do next.”

“I might.” Cadance offered, even while rousing one more crystal pony from their induced slumber. “After a thousand years, Sombra has become a shade of darkness and hate. If we can create a field of the proper energy, it will repulse him and anything he tries to throw at us.”

“Like his shield?” Eclipse asked, pointing at Shining Armor.

Shining shook his head. “No. Sombra’s not a unicorn anymore. I don’t think he even has a physical presence as of now. My shield wouldn’t hold him back no matter how much energy I put into it.”

Eclipse bit his lip. He knew where this went. He had seen the episode, after all. But he couldn’t just out and tell anyone about that. The only ones yet who knew what he was were Celestia and Luna, and of those two, only Luna might possibly know anything about that particular spot of his history. And that’s a big if.

Whatever he was here for, it couldn’t just be to tell the ponies that actually belonged here how to do everything to match the show, could it? Eclipse rolled the idea around in his head. Sombra had a much larger vocabulary than the show let on, but that could be because of anything.

Maybe he could phrase it like a question? Make an idle remark without getting too direct with it. It’d be better than painting a big sign that said ‘McGuffin instructions. Add water and bake for thirty minutes.’

Sighing Eclipse opened his mouth to speak. “Maybe Cadance can -- ”

Before he could finish his sentence, Eclipse felt something large and heavy slam into his side. Flying through the air, he landed on the side of a building, slamming into it heard enough to leave a dent shaped like his body.

“Yeah. That hurt.” Eclipse groaned once he had fallen onto the ground, climbing to his hooves.

He shook his head to clear it, before turning to where the plume of shadow and smoke that was Sombra laughed victoriously.

Shining Armor fired several magical energy bolts, the projectiles flying through Sombra with ease. The roiling shadow turned, two eyes filled with pure hate narrowing at the unicorn. Several tendrils launched from Sombra’s form, swatting at Shining Armor.

One of them caught Shining on the leg, tripping him and sending him sprawling on the ground, where he was besieged by the shadow. A pink sphere of energy blasted outward, driving the shadow away as Cadance moved in, her horn glowing with blue energy.

Sombra let out a chuckle, mocking their attempts at fighting him.

Eclipse, realizing that he had landed near the outdoor section of some restaurant, picked up a chair and flung it at Sombra. The chair passed straight through the living shadow, but it did have the effect of Sombra’s eyes looking like one of his eyebrows was raised.

Sombra looked at where the chair had landed, then back at Eclipse. “A chair? Seriously?”

Eclipse grabbed an umbrella from where it rested in a table, closed it and flung it at Sombra like it was a spear. Were the unicorn corporeal, the umbrella would have passed through his forehead.

Sombra was unamused.

Instead, he huffed, several parts of his shadow body keeping the renewed efforts of Cadance and Shining Armor at bay. “Tyrant king made entirely of shadow…” he was mumbling to himself, watching Eclipse pick up another chair. “And I get the heroes with an idiotic sidekick.”

Eclipse put the chair down. “Hey! I’m doing the best I can! I’m still kinda new to controlling my magic and I'd rather not blow myself to smithereens.”

Sombra ignored the comment, using his magic to grow a cage of crystals around Shining Armor while Cadance took flight to avoid his attacks.

With them held in check, Sombra turned and charged Eclipse.

The pony’s eyes widened with surprise, and as Sombra charged, he simply reacted without any real intent. His right hoof swung in an arc, encountering resistance as it hit the part of its swing that would have collided with Sombra.

The satisfying thwack that accompanied the sudden resistance was a pleasant surprise to Eclipse, who thought that he would have been slammed into the ground by the charging mass of writhing shadow.

“Gah! Crysstallllsssss…” Eclipse looked at Sombra, who seemed equally surprised by the strange choice of wording.

Looking at his hoof, Eclipse realized that he was holding a fairly large stick.

The two opponents took a moment to stare at each other blankly, when Eclipse hit Sombra with a backhand swing.

“Ow! How can that thing touch me? I’m literally intagi-- What are you doing?”

Eclipse gripped the stick with both front hooves, concentrating on the improvised weapon. Slowly, the stick straightened and thickened, becoming a handle as a large metal ball began to grow on the end. Several spikes popped out of the ball, leaving a brand new morning star in Eclipse’s hooves.

The pony grinned. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

Shining Armor broke through the crystal cage Sombra had erected around him, just in time to see the shadow scramble away from a maniacally laughing Eclipse, whose eyes were covered in a red glow.

“Oh, come on. It’ll only hurt a lot!” Eclipse cackled, swinging the morning star several more times. Only a few of the strikes actually hit Sombra, but the effect was obvious.

“Stop that you insolent -- Cryssstaalll raaaaaagh! -- I will enact my revenge upon -- cryyyystaaaall -- soul! Do you understand me, worm? You will -- graaaagh!”

“What’s that?” Eclipse shouted, happily swinging his weapon as he chased the mass of shadow around. “I couldn’t hear you. It’s like you've got a lisp or something!”

Shining watched the spectacle, blinking in surprise. Cadance landed beside him, mouth open in shock. “Should we help him?” She asked, pointing a hoof.

“I think Eclipse has it handled.” Shining said, dumbstruck.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was talking about Sombra.”

Shining Armor watched Eclipse and Sombra some more, thinking the question over before pulling out a coin. “Flip a bit on it?”

Before Shining could flip said bit, Sombra managed to stretch out a part of himself and knock Eclipse away, sending the pony sprawling across the middle of the street.

Shining Armor and Cadance started forward again, already firing bolts of magic at Sombra. Shining Armor’s didn’t do much to Sombra, but Cadance’s seemed to actually do some damage.

Shining noticed this, eyes sparking with an idea. “Cadance!” he cried, attracting her attention almost immediately. “I’ve got a plan, but we need Eclipse to provide a distraction!”

A bout of laughter from Eclipse turned the heads of Sombra, Cadance and Shining Armor alike.

“Woo! Is this how Discord feels all the time?” Eclipse rose to his hooves, grinning like a madman, his eyes burning a bright crimson. “I mean, practicing with Luna was awesome and all, but this! This!”

He raised his hooves, twin balls of red chaos energy in his hooves. “Hell to the yeah!” He swung one hoof down, a crescent wave of energy shooting out and heading towards Sombra.

Sombra moved to the side, but Eclipse raised his other hoof to his mouth and blew on the chaos magic like one would a dandelion. A massive cone of butterflies and small birds flew out, blinding Sombra as Eclipse charged another attack.

Cadance smiled. “I think you’ve got that distraction, Shiny. What do you need me to do?”

“You need to make a shield.” He said, narrowing his eyes. “A big one. Big enough to cover the entire empire. I can get it started for you, but your magic is like anathema to Sombra. One of my shields wouldn’t hold him back, but you can keep him out as long as your magic doesn’t run out.”

“But, I don’t know if I have that kind of power.” Cadance said, worry on her features. “Twilight and her friends will take at least several more days to get here, I don’t know if I can--”

“You kind of have to!” Eclipse shouted as he flew by, having been thrown by another of Sombra's attacks and breaking through a closed door in his flight.

Sombra snarled. “I will enjoy watching you squirm as I crush the life from your--”

“Shut up!” Came the reply, cutting off Sombra as Eclipse jumped out of the building and hurled a plate at Sombra as if it were a frisbee. “What’s with you and the threats?”

The plate smashed against Sombra’s head as it momentarily took form in the living shadow, making it clear that Eclipse had either created it or imbued it with his chaos magic.

“And that voice! I haven’t heard someone that monotone since I listened to a recording of myself. Needless to say, I’ve done some killer robot impressions since then.” Eclipse flashed a grin as Sombra regained his bearings and charged Eclipse, several tendrils of dark magic reaching out from his horn.

Eclipse braced himself, leaning forward to meet Sombra’s charge.

A blue beam of energy lanced out, spearing Sombra’s form as it continued to the edge of the crystal empire

“Cryysstal?” Sombra questioned as the beam widened, driving the shadow back, out of the empire. The beam turned into a cylinder of magic, then eventually a cone that covered an entire section of the empire. Soon, it was a bubble around the entire empire, with an angry Sombra pounding uselessly at the edge of the empire.

Eclipse smiled, nodding to Cadance and Shining Armor. “Now, that was pretty impressive.”

Shining Armor nodded. “Not bad, yourself. But, I have to wonder, doesn’t that hurt?”

“Doesn’t what hurt?” Eclipse asked, still smiling, though he was now slightly confused.

“Uh, nothing.” Shining Armor said, “Nothing at all.”

“Shiny…” Cadance whispered casting her husband a furtive glance.

Eclipse glanced between the two, his smile fading. “Seriously, what?”

Shining Armor, nervously chuckled. “Don’t move, okay? We’ll find a doctor in the empire who can fix you up. Just don’t think about it.”

Eclipse frowned. “Jeez, it’s not like I’m torn in half. I still have feeling in every part of my body. Granted, my left hind leg is a little funny, but I did wake up in an odd position, so it may have just…” He stopped talking, noticing that while most of the limb was static, he could definitely feel a warm liquid running down it.

<><><>

Cadance had actually awoken very few of the crystal ponies in the empire.

The rest came to when a horrible, ear-piercing shriek tore through the air and their heads, so fierce and terrifying that it countered the magic that had been keeping them asleep, driving them to wakefulness.

The source of the horrid sound? Opinions vary, but one popular story suggests that it may have been a small filly that had had a bug placed in her mane, her voice somehow amplified hundreds of times over and carried to the Crystal Empire.

Another, slightly less popular theory named a lone, male earth pony as the true source of the noise, most of them claiming that his hind leg had been twisted, or broken, with a few stories even claiming that some part of his bone had broken through his skin.

Whatever the case may be, we know that we have that sound to thank for the timely awakening of the citizens of the Crystal Empire.

<><><>

Eclipse paced in the crystal castle. Shining armor stood beside Cadence, who looked very unhealthy. The past two days were spent with her barely eating. She had pretended to sleep through the first night, but Shining Armor had found her out the next day.

The door to the castle swung open, a crystal pony walking through.

Eclipse acted as intercept, keeping them away from Shining and Cadence as best he could, despite the fact that he was reduced to hobbling about on three legs, keeping the cast encasing his fourth leg elevated. Luckily, this pony’s inquiries were the same as all the others.

“He’s not ruling over us anymore?”

“No.” Eclipse responded. “We’re going to try and keep it that way.”

The crystal pony slouched. “I should be happy, but…”

Eclipse put a hoof on the pony’s shoulder, almost losing his balance in the process. “I know. Many others have said the same. Please, we’re doing our best to fix this. It’s just…we don’t have much to work with at the moment.”

The shook his head. “I don’t care. Anything you can do…thank you. From all of us.” After saying this he left, wearing the same depressed mask he had when he walked in.

Shining Armor stood. “Eclipse, it’s time. We need to meet with my sister and her friends.”

Eclipse smiled a bit. “You need to meet them. I need to sneak past them and board a train.”

Shining sighed. “Is that really in your orders?”

“Yes.” Eclipse replied, almost casually. “But, even if it wasn’t I’d still do it anyway, as it’s simpler than introducing myself to any of them.”

“Why are you so against meeting new ponies?” Cadence inquired, her eyes still bright and full of life despite the bags hanging underneath.

“It’s not new ponies, it’s ponies I might know something about.” Eclipse replied, gingerly touching the tip of his cast to the ground, wincing when it made contact. “If I accidentally let slip something, I will come off as a total creeper. Don’t want that.”

Shining armor thought for a moment as he gathered his snow gear. “You know, that actually makes sense if you think about it.”

Eclipse grabbed the cloak he had been given. “Thank you. Oh, uh…I still don’t know how to put this thing on.” he waved the cloak around a bit, eliciting a smile from Cadence.

Shining sparked his magic, clasping the cloak around Eclipse’s neck.

Eclipse nodded. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, let’s move.” Shining Armor spun around and began trotting towards the door to the castle. Eclipse followed, waving to Cadence as he left.

Before long they had made it to the empire’s edge, as well as the edge of Cadence’s protective barrier.

“Well, this is it.” Eclipse sighed. “Once we get out there, no stopping until we make it to that train.”

Shining Armor nodded. “Yeah. Let’s just make sure Sombra doesn’t get in our way.”

Eclipse snorted. “He made a mistake bringing us into the crystal empire under his own power. He’ll have no objections to us leaving. It’s when you and the bearers come back that you’ll have problems.”

As soon as they stepped out of the barrier, the wind chilled them to the bone. Another blizzard was raging through the wastes, snow and ice stinging the skin through even the thickest of fur and cloth.

Eclipse pulled the cloak close to him, trying to block the wind with little success.

Shining adjusted his goggles. “Come on.” he urged. “We won’t last long if we just stay still.

They trudged through the snow, glancing about to ensure that Sombra wasn’t trying to be sneaky. Before long, the sound of a train whistle was heard, and the two ponies saw a train-stop fade into view through the snow, seven silhouettes waiting for Shining Armor’s arrival.

Eclipse took a wide berth, coming around from behind the group to enter the train unnoticed. He waited a moment for the distraction he knew was coming.

After a second, Spike lost his hold on several of Rarity’s scarves, chasing after them as they blew away in the wind.

Eclipse took his moment, sweeping past Spike and quickly slipping onto the train, taking a deep breath once onboard. “I hate stealth.”

He glanced over at a nearby member of the train’s staff, a mare who was staring at him dubiously. Eclipse pulled out a ticket and showed it to her, not saying a word. The mare nodded, moving down into another train car.

Eclipse took another deep breath and took a seat, looking out a window to see Shining Armor lead the element bearers to the crystal empire.

As he looked, two eyes suddenly popped into view on the window. Sombra’s eyes.

After a short moment, Sombra left, presumably to strike at the element bearers. “Well,” Eclipse said, sighing. “That certainly wasn’t unnecessarily creepy.”

He settled himself into a seat, trying to make himself comfortable as he thought. “Let’s see…I last watched ‘keep calm and flutter on’, so until Discord’s back I have a pretty set depiction of the future.” He ran a hoof through his mane. “I wonder what happens behind the scenes of the show?”

Ball and mug(ger)

Eclipse took a deep breath as he stepped out of one of Canterlot’s hospitals, a smile forming as his face. One of the doctors on duty had been especially adept at healing magic, allowing him to quickly repair Eclipse’s leg.

Surprisingly, Luna had saw fit to meet him outside of the hospital, alongside three of her lunar guards. Eclipse bowed as she approached him, several ponies on either side giving her a wide berth as they lowered their heads respectively and went about their business.

“And just how did it go?” Luna questioned, beckoning Eclipse to rise.

“Sombra didn’t pull any punches.” Eclipse answered, frowning. “It was different than training. More blood, for one.”

“You confronted King Sombra?” Luna seemed surprised. “He was at the empire, then?”

“And had it completely encased in black crystals.” Eclipse added. “It wasn’t an empire when we arrived, just a depressing--if miniscule--wasteland.”

“What of its citizens?”

“Asleep. Wherever they had lain when the Empire was banished, they still lay. When we forced Sombra out they awoke, but they were still lifeless to a point.”

“Well, I’m glad that it’s all over with now.” Luna said, relief flooding her system. “That aurora that had appeared signaled Sombra’s defeat.” She waved a hoof at the sky, where said aurora was still glowing brightly in the afternoon.

Eclipse sneezed, shaking his head to clear out his sinuses. “Ugh… Forgive me, princess, but I’m going to go for a walk. That northern temperature didn’t agree with me.”

“Very well, perhaps another time.” Eclipse turned to see Luna take off, her wings beating against the air as she picked up speed on her trip back to the castle.

Eclipse smiled as he began to walk. He had never noticed it before, but if he let the magic flow--not enough to make his eyes start glowing or to actually use it, mind you--he could see and hear almost everything around him. The soft clip-clop as hooves hit the cobblestones, the laughter and energy of the ponies around him, even that small ball that was flying right at his--

Eclipse stepped to the side, the ball flying past him until it hit a building nearby.

“Sorry bout that, mister!” A young pegasus foal said, sprinting past as he chased after the object. He was quickly followed by two earth ponies, one filly and one foal. Lastly a unicorn filly trotted by, rounding out a group of four young ponies.

Eclipse blinked, starting to walk away again. He paused when he heard someone crying out for help from an alleyway. Quickly taking a peek around the corner, he spotted two shadows grappling at each other, each vying for possession of a small purse like object. One of the shadows belonged to a large unicorn stallion, the other to a smaller pegasus mare.

‘A mugging?’ Eclipse whistled. “Hey, kids! Mind if I see that ball for a sec?”

The four ponies exchanged glances until one of them trotted over, carrying the small red ball in her mouth. Eclipse took the ball and tested its weight when the five of them heard someone come running out of the alley.

A green and blue unicorn bolted out of the alley, the purse hovering nearby in a greenish glow. Eclipse chucked the ball as hard as he could without activating his chaos magic, the ball catching between the pony’s hoof and the street. The unicorn tripped and fell to the ground, the ball and purse rolling and sliding, respectively, to the side of the street.

Eclipse trotted over, extending his hoof to the unicorn. “You look like you could use some help.” He said, smiling slightly.

The unicorn attempted to swat his hoof away, but Eclipse grabbed the stallion’s hoof and bent it just slightly farther than it should normally go. “Well,” Eclipse drawled slightly. “That was a little rude, dontcha think?”

The unicorn growled in pain. “And just what are you? Some kind of hero?”

“Oh, no, not at all.” Eclipse said, still smiling. “Would a hero do… this?” He bent the stallion’s hoof further, eliciting a yelp of pain from the unicorn. “Before we continue, one question. Did you steal that purse?”

The unicorn charged a spell to attack, but Eclipse used his free hoof to knock the pony’s head around as he fired, resulting in the blast going into the sky and attracting even more attention than the two already had, including a pair of the city guard.

“Answer the question.” Eclipse demanded.

“Yes.” The unicorn growled.

“What was that?” Eclipse asked innocently, pivoting his ear so it faced the unicorn. “Neither I nor the crowd could make that out.”

“Yes.” The unicorn said again, slightly louder but still well below the volume it needed to be for the crowd to hear.

Eclipse bent the unicorn’s hoof back even farther, pushing it near the point of snapping the bone. “Still can’t hear you…” Eclipse sang slightly.

“Yes, I stole the bucking purse!” The unicorn shouted, eliciting several gasps from the crowd, none of whom had seen the crime.

Eclipse glanced at the group of young ponies whose ball he had borrowed. They sat, enraptured by the scene before them. He turned back to the stallion. “Watch your language, there are children present.”

The unicorn glanced at the kids as well, before his attention was returned to Eclipse.

“Now,” Eclipse said slowly, a grin on his face. “I’m going to turn you into the nice guard over there, who’ll take you in for thievery. The best part is that we can skip that embarrassing trial, since you’ve already confessed! Yay!” With this, he punched the unicorn in the snout, a sharp crack echoing through the silent street as hoof met face.

Eclipse put his face up to the unicorn’s and began speaking in a tone as cold as ice. “Once you’re out of prison, follow the straight and narrow, m’kay?” The unicorn nodded, clearly scared by this point.

Eclipse let go of the mugger, letting the pair of guards take over. One of them put a magic dampener over the unicorn’s horn to keep him from casting spells, while the other gave Eclipse a quick nod, before following his partner back to the prison with their captive.

Several grunts were heard from the nearby alley as a pegasus mare stumbled out, several bruises beginning to fade into view on her body and around her left eye. Her dark blue coat was a mess, but her silver mane was even more so. Eclipse jumped when he turned to face her.

“Feather Duster?” he asked slowly, shocked to see her here and in such a state.

The mare smiled a bit as she slumped against a wall. “Hey Eclipse… How are you?”

Eclipse hurriedly trotted over to her, putting a hoof around her to help her steady herself. An earth pony with a pair of crossed bandages for a cutie mark stepped out of the crowd with a doctor’s bag.

He sat down near the pair when he saw Eclipse nod at his approach. The doctor ran through the usual routine, using a small light to check her pupil size and dilation, as well as checking her over for any major injuries.

He sighed. “Luckily I was just heading home from work at the hospital, or you’d have had to get her moving. Also luckily, she’s got nothing more than a minor concussion, the bruises you see and a bit of shock.”

Feather Duster sniffed a bit. “I don’t feel that bad…” She rubbed her eye with a hoof, frowning.

“That’d be the shock I’m afraid.” The doctor replied. “Not surprising. Things like this are rare enough to just hear about, but it actually happening to you? Quite the release of bad karma, this.” He tapped his chin, thinking. “Maybe it’ll put you on the board for some good fortune, at least.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Eclipse smiled, pulling out a bag of bits. “Do I owe you anything?”

The doctor waved the bag away. “Doctor Mercy, and, no. Just happy to help. She will get very tired, very fast and very soon. I’d suggest getting her home, which I presume you know where her home is, if you know her.”

“Yep.” Eclipse nodded.

Doctor Mercy nodded back, then turned to the crowd. “Show’s over everypony. Come on, let’s move.”

“Hey, the show’s not over until I make my exit!” Eclipse said, hoisting Feather Duster onto his back.

The pegasus put her hooves around his neck. “Oh, no…”

“Oh, yes.” Eclipse returned, his eyes lighting up in a blaze of red while similarly colored mist began rising from his hooves.

Grinning wildly, Eclipse took off, charging right for a building. He jumped up onto the building’s wall, continuing his sprint up the building. He started to lean backwards, gravity being the harsh mistress she is. Jumping off of the building, Eclipse twisted in the air, landing on the roof of the building across the street.

He paused, checking on Feather Duster. The mare was holding on for dear life, but wasn’t too shaken. Perks of being a pegasus, Eclipse reasoned.

Glancing back into the street he had just left, Eclipse picked out the four kids who had helped him out. Using his magic, he quickly retrieved feather Duster’s purse, floating it up to him. He then retrieved the children’s ball, floating it over to them. All the while, the ponies in the street seemed to stare at him in disbelief.

Eclipse waved a hoof back.

Taking a few steps back, Eclipse focused his power into creating a long thin strip of black cloud that floated in mid-air. Running to the roof’s edge, he jumped onto the cloud, using it as a base to continue his sprint. Behind him, the cloud disappeared from existence, it’s purpose having been served. Ahead of him, however, the cloud road built itself, creating an ever present “ground” for him to follow as he headed back to the royal palace.

Feather Duster quickly lost energy as the adrenaline from her mugging finally vented completely. Eclipse made a minor adjustment to his running pattern to keep her balanced on his back as she began to doze, sliding down the last bit of cloud path into the castle courtyard, just outside the main door to the palace.

The guardsponies allowed him entrance, but only after briefly double checking their vision.

Eclipse carried Feather Duster up to the servants’ quarters, dropping her off into the care of several off duty maids and cooks. With this done, he decided to retire to his own quarters, but was intercepted by Princess Celestia inside the hallway.

“Well,” Celestia huffed slightly. “I see someone’s back from their assignment.” She cast a brief glance into the servants quarters, her eyes eventually coming to rest on the bed Feather Duster was lying on. “I also see the result of a minor misadventure.”

Eclipse frowned, biting his lip in anxiety.

Celestia slowly began to walk down the hallway, motioning for him to follow. As he trotted to catch up to her, she began to speak. “Luna already gave me your debriefing, but it did not include any injuries on the part of miss Duster. I want a full report as to why and how one of my little ponies was given such injuries, especially in Canterlot of all places. I will also personally look into the matter to ensure the truth is revealed.”

Eclipse nodded slowly. “Yes, Princess.”

Celestia sighed. “I don’t believe that you are responsible, Eclipse, but I do see that you obviously had something to do with it. Full report. End of the Day court, today. It will be an oral report.”

Again, Eclipse nodded. “Yes, Princess.”

Apples to apples

Eclipse trotted down the hallway, anxiously making his way to the hall of the elements, where princess Celestia was waiting.

He heard a door open ahead of him. Turning his head, he saw Twilight Sparkle come running down the hallway.

“Shit.” Eclipse pressed himself against the wall, using a vase for cover as the mare ran past. Once she turned the corner, Eclipse exhaled heavily. Getting back to his hooves, he turned back towards his destination, just to run headfirst into Princess Celestia.

“Ah, there you are.” Celestia said, her standard expression of calm on her features. “I was beginning to wonder.”

Eclipse backtracked several steps. “Er, uh, yes, sorry I ran into you, uh, sorry…” he trailed off, continuing to mumble.

Celestia held up a hoof and motioned for him to follow. Together, they made their way into the castle courtyard just as the element bearers--plus Spike--made their way out, singing about Twilight managing to pass her test.

Celestia hummed along for a bit, casting a sidelong glance at Eclipse.

Eclipse snorted. “Not on your life, Princess.”

Celestia frowned. “Then please explain why miss Duster is in her current state.”

Eclipse briefly explained his encounter with the mugger, adding details whenever Celestia asked him to clarify.

Celestia seemed surprised, marking Eclipse’s first glimpse at her without her passive mask. “I looked over the reports of the two guards who arrested the mugger. Your version coincides with theirs fairly well, once I omit a few of the words they used.”

“Like what?” Eclipse asked, rubbing his leg.

“‘Mercilessly’, ‘shocking brutality’, need I go on?”

Eclipse bowed his head shamefully, not quite sure what to expect next.

“You need to remember, even the criminals of Equestria are not used to such methodology, hence part of why I wanted you serving Luna and I.” Celestia said, causing Eclipse to prick his ears up in attention. “As much as it pains me to say, we can only barely afford mercy.”

Celestia put her hoof on Eclipse’s chin to push his head up. “Promise me Eclipse, promise me that if you can afford mercy, you will use it. But also promise me that no matter what, you will not stop fighting this scourge. The fact that even this small piece has made it to Canterlot speaks ill of the rest of this country.”

Eclipse grimaced, finally realizing just how deeply into this he was throwing himself. And he would not turn back now. He raised his head. “I promise, Princess.”

Celestia looked out towards the element bearers, who were by now out of sight and some distance away from the castle. “How do you feel about hot weather?”

“Depends.” Eclipse answered, a questioning tone in his voice due to her sudden change in topic. “Ever hear of Texas?”

“Some.” Celestia answered, a small smile starting to form on her features. Luna, would occasionally play this game with her, and they occasionally managed to drag Eclipse into it as well. The rules were difficult to explain, but it was an old game. The new player would learn the ropes in time. “A little hotter than that.”

“Eh, doesn’t sound like something I can’t handle.

...Perhaps a little more time. Celestia had to remember that he didn't recognise all of the subtle clues she and her sister had grown so used to using.

“Good, because I already have a mission for you.” Celestia sighed, looking back at the aurora hanging in the sky. “The town of Appleloosa has settled its dispute with the native buffalo, but a criminal element has recently set up a base of operations there.”

“A base of criminals?” Eclipse asked, surprised. “As in, an organized syndicate? Equestria has those?”

“They’ve made multiple strikes against both the townsponies and buffalo, causing tempers to flare.” Celestia continued, letting Eclipse fill in the blanks for himself. “Braeburn and Little Strongheart--two of the beings who played major roles in the first dispute--have been imprisoned by the corrupt sheriff, a foul earth pony who forced the old sheriff into unwanted retirement.”

Eclipse nodded once. “I’ll get there right away.” He sprinted out of the castle grounds.

Celestia turned before he could make it out of the room. "Wait! You do have several days to rest, you know!"

<><><>

Eclipse stepped off the train, the sun beating down on the town of Appleloosa. He attracted surprisingly few glances despite being the only pony to step off the train.

Looking around, Eclipse took in the sight of the town around him. One large main road with buildings flanking it on either side. A number of smaller alleys branched out from the road between the buildings, with very few, if any, of the buildings touching each other. Eclipse was sure that there was more to be seen, but he hadn’t seen it yet, so he opted to not jump to any conclusions. Appleloosa--while it had grown since it was last shown in the show--was still a small settler town.

He made his way down the main road, sticking to one side to keep attention away from himself. As he walked, he caught a piece of conversation, and leaned against a wall to eavesdrop.

“--can’t believe this! Braeburn of all ponies! What did he do to get attention?” A light green earth pony was talking to a dusty brown pegasus. “Pick apples using the wrong hoof?”

“Shhh!” The pegasus replied. “You now what’ll happen if Jango hears you! Ever since he took over as sheriff, he’s been lookin’ for excuses!”

“Excuse me.” Eclipse interjected. “But I’m actually looking for a stallion called Braeburn. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is?”

“Locked up.” The Earth pony said flatly. “And with the new sheriff, he ain't getting out anytime soon.”

“I think I can reason with him.” Eclipse returned.

The pegasus laughed. “Stranger, you ain't met the new sheriff. He’ll probably lock you up for even using a word like reason around him!”

Eclipse grinned. “And you haven’t seen how I reason with corruption. Don’t underestimate me based on looks alone.”

The pegasus was dumbfounded. “Are you serious? You’re really gonna take him on?”

“He’s not my target, just an obstruction between me and Braeburn. But, if he turns into a nuisance…“ Eclipse sighed. “Well, there are no guarantees.”

The Earth pony sighed heavily. “Kid, you’re in over your head. Without the buffalo, Appleloosa will never shake off those gang members. And they’ve all been driven away to Celestia knows where.”

“If she knew, I would have gone straight to them.” Eclipse snapped. “How can I find them?”

“Little Strongheart would know, but she’s been locked up along with Braeburn.” The pegasus motioned towards a two story building at the end of the main road. “That there’s the law office, though law ain’t high on the list of things that go on in there anymore.”

The Earth pony chuckled. “If you wanna get to them, you’re gonna need to do a jailbreak. Good luck with that, Sheriff’s confiscated most anything that could be used for that, straight down to hoof filers.” He leaned against the wall. “Go home, boy. That gang’s got real war weaponry. We would normally have pie or something. Worked like a charm against the buffalo, but fighting spears and swords…” He looked over to a pair of ponies that had stepped out of the saloon. They were holding spears, but weren’t anything a pair of well-trained guards couldn’t have taken on. Of course, guards weren’t in play when it came to a small town like Appleloosa.

The earth pony turned to speak to Eclipse some more, but the grey and brown pony had vanished, not even leaving a trail of prints in the dirt.

The pegasus he was with was turning his head this way and that, trying to spot the stranger.

“Where’d he go?” Dust Demon asked. “Where’d he go, Sage?”

Sagebrush could only shrug.

<><><>

Eclipse followed the pair of thugs until they entered an alley.

“Come on!” One said to the other. “Get it out already!”

“Shut up.” The second (and considerably larger) one returned. “If we get caught, the boss’ll have our scalps.”

The smaller one was a unicorn, but the larger was a Big Mac class earth pony.

“Is that it?” The unicorn asked, motioning at something blocked from Eclipse’s view. “Doesn’t look like much. It really as good as they say?”

“Depends.” The earth pony answered. “Different stuff happens whether you roll it into a cigar or just straight inhale it. There are even rumors about it being a shampoo with psychedelic effects.” He chuckled heavily. “Behold my friend: an entire pound of rainbow dust.”

“Well, we know what Dash has been using.”

The thugs twisted around to face the alleyway opening. They were greeted with an empty space leading out to the street.

Eclipse dropped from above, landing on the earth pony and quickly twisting his neck until the air was greeted with a satisfying crack of bone. The earth pony’s knees buckled, sending his body crashing to the ground.

The unicorn fired a spell, but Eclipse managed to fire a magic bolt at him. The bolt dissipated the meager spell and hit the unicorn in the chest, sending him into the far wall.

Eclipse glanced around, quickly checking to see if anyone had heard the commotion in the alley. He trotted over to the unicorn, pressing his hoof against the unicorn’s chest to keep him down. “Now, then.” he breathed out. “Tell me about Appleloosa’s new sheriff.”

The unicorn gulped. “You won’t get Jango. He’ll take you down. You’ll get yours!” His eyes darted to see something just past Eclipse, but Eclipse just frowned.

“Not what I asked for.” Eclipse muttered. “Who is Jango? Who does he work for?”

“To answer one of those questions…”

Eclipse turned to get hit in the head by an exceedingly blunt object. He fell to the ground, vision swirling.

“Me.” Jango finished, lifting his club into the air.

Eclipse opened his eyes, just for the club to go down on him. As his hearing faded, he could make out the words “Sum’ bitch.”

Jailbreak

Eclipse groaned as he regained his consciousness. His vision was slightly fuzzy and he had a major headache.

“Well, look who’s awake.” Eclipse looked up to see a bright yellow earth pony with green eyes staring down at him. “Howdy, partner!”

Eclipse was pulled to his hooves by the earth pony, who seemed to buzz with barely restrained energy. “Normally I don’t associate with folk who got thrown in a jail cell, but since ya’ll got tossed in here by Jango himself, you can’t be that bad!”

Eclipse shook his head to clear his vision, but it only seemed to amplify his headache. “Braeburn, I presume?”

The pony nodded.

“Good, because I need your help.”

Braeburn’s face fell. “Uh, that’ll be a problem. See, we’re kinda stuck in here…” He spread his hooves out to indicate the cell they were currently sharing. “Besides, what would you need my help with? I’m only an apple farmer, but I suppose if you’re lookin’ for farming advice I would be one of the best ponies to call. Speaking of farming ponies, you met my cousin, Applejack? She lives--”

“SHUT UP!” Eclipse screamed, already driven to his last nerve. This is exactly why he didn’t want to meet Pinkie Pie.

“Appleloosa’s taken over by a gang, apparently part of a much larger criminal element, the buffalo might as well be in Tartarus for all we know and the ponies who live here are scared absolutely shitless of a corrupt sheriff! That’s what I need help with!”

Braeburn had backed into a corner while Eclipse had been yelling at him. “Er, right…” Braeburn said, rubbing his head. “I can only help you with one of those, and even then, I’m more of a middleman than actual help.”

Eclipse sighed thankfully. “Yes, Little Strongheart. I heard she had been locked up too.”

“Uh huh.” Braeburn nodded, beginning to smile again. “In the basement…” he trailed off, his warm smile leaving his face quite suddenly.

Eclipse nodded. “Go on…” he said, waving a hoof as a signal to keep talking.

“The basement is bad.” Braeburn said, speaking very quietly.

“Why?” Eclipse asked, hoping for a clear answer.

“It’s…” Braeburn’s words caught in his throat. “It’s an interrogation room…”

Eclipse stared at Braeburn, the gears of his mind locked up for a moment. He shook his head to clear it. “Is there a way to the basement?”

“There might be a staircase or something of the like…” Braeburn answered. “You’d need to get out of this cell and down to the first floor. From there, just find a staircase leading underground room and that’s the basement. Used to be a place to store confiscated items or criminal evidence.”

For a moment, Eclipse trotted around the cell, stomping to check the solidity of the floor. He flared his chaos magic, causing Braeburn to jump almost out of his skin. Eclipse knew that the glowing eyes were probably what shocked him the most. “What in the name of--” Braeburn began when he was cut off by Eclipse slamming his hoof into the cell’s floor, opening a hole to the floor below them.

Eclipse jumped through, landing in a room filled with three gang members, each staring at him in surprise. Eclipse raised his head, his mouth a thin line on his face as he stared at them, surprised by their presence until he recalled that jails usually have guards. "Right." He thought to himself. "Stupid thing to forget."

Two of the gang members threw spears at him, but Eclipse flipped a nearby table up, turning into a makeshift barrier. The spear tips burst through the wood, but the spears themselves were buried into the table.

One of the gang members--a unicorn--levitated the table away, allowing the two pegasi to charge at Eclipse. Eclipse grasped the table in his own telekinetic grip, overpowering the unicorn and slamming the table down on the two pegasi. One barrel rolled out of the way, but the other was caught between the table and the ground.

Eclipse grinned down at him. “I’m sorry, were you flying there?”

The pegasus groaned from underneath the table. “Go to Tartarus, you bastard.”

Eclipse jumped forward, grappling with the unicorn. When the second pegasus tried to attack him from behind, Eclipse bucked him away, his chaos magic greatly enhancing his strength. The pegasus landed on the table that was laying on top of his fellow, earning a grunt of pain from the both of them.

Eclipse was thrown off by a spell cast by the unicorn, but he managed to grab a hold of the unicorn’s horn in an attempt to stay on top of the pony. The attempt failed, but the unicorn ended up coming along with Eclipse for the ride across the room.

Quickly finding his footing again, Eclipse took a moment to shove the unicorn’s horn into the wall. The unicorn struggled against the wall, but couldn’t pull himself free. Eclipse turned to find the two pegasi working together to lift the table. He dashed forward, but was already too late.

Eclipse grabbed a spear that had been leaning against the wall, setting it into a defensive position. The two pegasi spread themselves apart in an attempt to flank him. One of them stepped directly underneath the hole in the ceiling that Eclipse had opened up, allowing himself to be ambushed by a yellow pony who was less than happy with the accommodations of his cell.

Braeburn landed square on the pegasus’ back, swinging his hooves wildly. The pegasus fell to the floor from the sudden weight, rolling over to try and escape Braeburn.

Eclipse picked up his spear and threw it, missing the other pegasus by several feet. The gang member laughed. “Where’d you learn to throw? The academy for action movie villains?”

Eclipse didn’t answer, too busy using his magic to levitate the spear over to where it was just behind the pegasus.

The unicorn who had been stuck in the wall fired a blast of magic through his horn, blowing a hole the size of a pony’s head into the wall. Newly freed, he turned, firing a spell at Braeburn, who ducked underneath the projectile.

Seeing this, Eclipse brought both his fore hooves over his head, bringing them down in an arc to strike the ground. Several bars of stone rose up around the pegasus Braeburn had been attacking, sticking into the ceiling to create a makeshift cage.

“Oh, come on!” The pegasus whined, trying to push at the bars.

The pegasus Eclipse had been confronting dashed forward, prompting Eclipse to telekinetically pull at the spear, which had gone unnoticed by the pegasus. The spear stabbed into the back of its target, causing the pegasus’ wings and legs to spasm from the unexpected pain. The wing spasm was enough to lift the pony into the air and send him flying into Braeburn.

The unicorn aimed another spell at Eclipse, who responded by causing the ground underneath the mage to rise up, throwing the unicorn off balance and sending the spell into the floor.

Braeburn took this as his chance to shake off the bleeding pegasus and charge for the unicorn. As he reached his target, Braeburn spun and delivered a hard buck to the pony’s face.

Eclipse ran for a nearby stairwell, the same stairwell that Braeburn had told him about. Leaving Braeburn to fight the last gang member--seeing as one of the others was bleeding out and the last was in a cage--he made his way to the basement of the building, bursting through a second door at the bottom of the stairs.

There, he found a young buffalo in a cage, nursing several bruises. As he came into the room, she raised her head and almost immediately pressed herself against the bars of her cage.

“Come back for more?” Little Strongheart yelled at him. “I’ll take everything you have to throw at me, scum!”

Eclipse pried off several of the bars to the cage, grimacing as he opened a hole large enough for the buffalo to step through. “That how you greet everyone who’s trying to help you?”

Little Strongheart stared at him in disbelief.

“Would you like me to put them back?” Eclipse asked, gesturing at the bars he had taken down. “If not then get moving! Braeburn’s at the top of the steps. He’ll be coming with us.”

“To where?” The buffalo asked, slowly stepping out of the cage, obviously still wary.

"At least she's smart." Eclipse though to himself as he answered. “The rest of your tribe, if you can lead us there.”

Little Strongheart sprinted up the stairwell, Eclipse following soon after. Together, they found Braeburn holding a table leg and breathing heavily, the unicorn out cold at his hooves and several spots on his coat red with blood.

Little Strongheart skidded to a stop next to him. “Braeburn!”

He turned to face her. “Oh, thank Celestia.” He smiled, looking over at Eclipse. “At least something’s going our way.”

Little Strongheart had been about to respond further when Eclipse waved a hoof between them. “Talk later, escape now!” He said hastily, looking out a window for any gang member reinforcements. “What’s the safest way out of town?”

“That’d be the alleys.” Braeburn answered. “We’ll need to stick together. If we can’t do that, we might as well lock ourselves up for em.”

Eclipse sighed. “Okay. Keep your heads down and try not to be seen by anyone looking into an alley from the street. Even if you are seen, stay calm. Most of these gang members don’t know our faces.”

“Right, getting overworked will just make this harder.” Braeburn added, smiling nervously.

Eclipse looked at Little Strongheart. “How far away are the buffalo?”

“Not sure.” She said, shaking her head. “I just know a general area. We could spend days searching for my tribe.”

“Days is better than not having a chance to find them at all.” Eclipse responded. “Out the back door. Go!”

The trio quickly made their way into an alley, hurriedly moving to the town’s edge. Together, the three of them stared at the expanse of sand and rocks before them.

“How long can we last out there without any supplies?” Braeburn asked. “We ain’t even got canteens!”

Little Strongheart stepped up. “I can handle most of that, provided you’re not too weak in the stomach.”

Eclipse glanced at the sun, the glowing orb slowly beginning its trek down the sky. “Where’s the nearest river?”

“Just a few miles that a way.” Braeburn answered.

Little Strongheart smiled. "It's also in the same direction as my tribe."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Eclipse asked, their good fortune being greatly appreciated at the moment. “Let’s get moving!”

Desert ambush

They had been running for almost two hours.

They found shade next to a large rock formation, Braeburn and Little Strongheart quickly finding spots to rest. Eclipse had almost given out after the first hour, only lasting that long due to his training by the princess, but he managed to spur his chaos magic to keep up his energy. Little Strongheart had a fit when his eyes started glowing, and even now she took great care to keep distance between the two of them, but had remained silent until they found their current resting place.

Eclipse climbed to the top of the rock formation, scanning the area. In one direction he could see a speck on the horizon, the town of Appleloosa. In another, rock formations towered over the landscape, reminding Eclipse of the famous Monument Valley back home.

“Little Strongheart says that’s where we’re headed.” Braeburn called up, following Eclipse’s gaze.

Eclipse slid down the opposite side of the rock, checking the more immediate area. He found several cacti and a tumbleweed, but not much else. Just as he thought this, he heard the screech of a hawk. Looking up, Eclipse caught sight of the bird as it swooped down and snagged a snake off of the ground.

This startled him, as he hadn’t noticed any animals until that moment. He thought on it for a minute, grinned, then laughed at his own foolishness. Eclipse double checked the area, this time with an eye for detail.

Scorpions, more snakes, several other birds of prey, a spiny lizard… It seems that life did indeed flourish here, if you cared to check. Eclipse circled around the large stone, coming back to where his companions were resting. He sat down close to the edge of the stone’s shadow, turning off his magic as he did so.

Without drawing from his near depleted magical wellspring, Eclipse found himself exhausted, his limbs aching from the exertion. He rolled onto his side, hoping to breathe a little easier without his entire weight on his lungs. Braeburn glanced apprehensively back to Appleloosa. “How do we know they ain’t lookin for us?”

“They’re looking all right.” Eclipse panted. “Which is why we can’t stay here for long. As much as it pains me to say, and believe me it does, we need to keep moving, find the buffalo tribe and regroup.” He coughed into his hoof after accidentally breathing some dust. “We need--”

Before he could finish, a familiar dusty brown pegasus swooped down from the air, a chariot hooked to him. The brown pegasus landed, allowing a light green earth pony to step off, along with a small earth pony filly.

Little Strongheart jumped to her hooves, but Braeburn quickly put himself between her and the newcomers. “Wait!” he said, waving his hooves. “I know them!”

Eclipse got to his hooves as well, walking over to Braeburn. “I recognize two of them as well.”

The pegasus elbowed his friend. “See, Sagebrush? I told you it was him!” He exclaimed, pointing at Braeburn.

Sagebrush grinned at Braeburn then slid his gaze over to Eclipse. “And I told you it was him.” He said, pointing at Eclipse.

Eclipse cocked an eyebrow. “And just what are my little informants doing out here?”

Sagebrush frowned at the word informants. “Saw ya’ll making your exit. Looked like you knew where you was heading so I grabbed my daughter an followed.”

“You’re heading into a war.” Eclipse warned. “Once we get to the buffalo, I plan on getting some more reinforcements by rallying the townsponies of Appleloosa. They can’t be happy about the gangs.”

“If ya’ll get the buffalo, the rest o the town is already riled and ready for a brawl.” The pegasus chimed in. “Sides, I’ve got nothing keeping me in town other than a few friends.”

“No family?” Eclipse asked.

“A coltfriend.” He answered. “Gangs got him though.”

Little Strongheart jumped when he said ‘coltfriend’.

The pegasus glared daggers at her. “I’m sorry, something wrong with two stallions?”

Sagebrush grabbed his friend’s shoulder. “Dust Demon, you know how those buffalo are. Don’t get angry at her. Not even ponies always react well to something like that.”

Little Strongheart was about to reply, when Eclipse slid himself away from the conversation, things quickly taking a turn he didn’t want to go along with. He reclaimed his spot at the edge of the rock’s shadow, when a small voice piped up next to him.

“Why ain’t cha got a cutie mark, mister?”

Eclipse’s head snapped towards the filly, surprise speeding his movements along. He suppressed a sigh, figuring that he should have suspected a question like that sooner or later.

“Well,” He said, tapping a hoof to his chin to make it look like he was thinking. “I’m a special case.” He grinned at the filly as he said this, causing her to become a little more interested.

“But I thought everypony got a cutie mark before they got your age?” The filly prodded.

Eclipse smiled lightheartedly. “They do.”

“Then why ain’t cha got one?”

“I’m not everypony.” He said this with utmost certainty in his voice. If you could fault him for one thing at this moment in time, it wouldn’t be lying to a curious filly. Then again, he wasn’t quite telling the truth, either.

The filly cocked her head to the side. “Are you gonna keep answering like that?”

He leaned in conspiratorially, grinning at her. “Why would I not?”

The filly frowned at him. After a moment, she ran back to her father, who was currently in between Dust Demon and Little Strongheart, doing his best to keep the two away from each other.

Braeburn was laying on the ground several feet away, out cold with a black bruise coming into view around his right eye.

While he had been distracted, Eclipse had missed out on the conversation’s escalation into a full blown argument. With full blows thrown in, based on Braeburn's appearance.

“It’s not natural!” Little Strongheart yelled at Dust Demon.

“The moment love ain’t natural is the moment the dead rise!” Dust Demon shot back.

“Hey, now!” Eclipse said, pushing Dust Demon away while Sagebrush did the same for Little Strongheart. “No need to tempt fate! We already have enough problems with the gang, your infighting--and an army of the undead, depending on how well versed the baffulo are with magic--will not help our cause.”

The two arguers continued yelling at each other, but by now it was little more than a contest to see who was the loudest.

Eclipse was unamused by the two. Soon, he ended up punching Dust Demon in the face, before walking over and doing the same to Little Strongheart.

“Quiet. Now.” he growled. Dust Demon and Little Strongheart shook their heads in confirmation, neither uttering a syllable.

With the two opponents cowed for the moment, Eclipse trotted several yards away from the others. He sighed in relief at the silence that now surrounded him.

Then he noticed the silence that now surrounded him.

He had expected the ponies (and Little Strongheart) to be in a state of quiet shock after his display, but all of nature had fallen silent. He looked around, finding most of the animals he had seen gone, as if they had never been there.

Looking back to his companions, he found that they were looking around as well, including the revived Braeburn.

Eclipse took a deep breath, uttering one quick word.

“Buck.”

A spear landed just in front of Eclipse. He quickly yanked the spear out of the ground and threw it back where it had come, which just so happened to be the top of the stone they had stopped next to.

A pony had made the mistake of poking his head out to see if he had made a mark. A stroke of bad--or good, depending on your point of view--luck placed him right in the spear’s path of flight. His mouth fell open when he saw his own spear flying back at him, a split second before the projectile hit him in the throat and made him fall off of his perch.

The group heard a surprised yelp from the other side of the stone. “Bulkhead? Bulkhead!”

A unicorn ran around the rock, but he was ambushed by Dust Demon. The pegasus wrestled the unicorn to the ground, as an earth pony and a pegasus jumped down from the top of the boulder.

“How did they find us so quickly?” Eclipse yelled.

“I’m more concerned with how they got around us!” Sagebrush responded, throwing a punch which the lighter pegasus managed to avoid.

Eclipse sent a pulse of magic through the ground which caused several stones to shoot up and wrap around the bandit pegasus’ legs.

Sagebrush bucked the pony in the head, knocking him out. The two turned to find Braeburn and Little Strongheart standing over the earth pony, while Dust Demon tied up the unicorn with a rope that the gang member had fortunately decide to bring with him.

The unicorn grimaced. “I’ll just use my magic to get out of here. Might as well just tie yourselves up for me!”

“Braeburn, if you would do the honors?” Eclipse bowed, motioning towards the unicorn.

Braeburn smiled. “I do believe I may.” He trotted over to the unicorn, raised a hoof, and bid him a good night’s rest. With him out, the ambush was over. Eclipse was still wary, but the danger had passed for now.

The filly popped out of the chariot she had hid inside. “Way to go, daddy!” She said, jumping onto Sagebrush’s back.

Eclipse glanced at Braeburn, who whispered in his ear. “Cactus Star’s mother died from childbirth complications. Sage don’t like to talk about it.”

Eclipse nodded respectfully. He trotted around the rock in search of how the ambushers snuck up on them, finding a deflated hot air balloon just on the other side.

He came back around the stone. “I figured out how they found us.” He said, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Really?” Braeburn asked. “How?”

“Let’s just say that we should really start looking up.”

And lift-off!

“Where’s the engine?” Dust Demon asked, checking the balloon over. “Without a source of heat, we won’t be able to lift off.”

Eclipse pressed his mouth into a thin line. “I don’t suppose anyone knows where we can find a--oof!”

Sagebrush retracted his hoof from Eclipse’s ribs. “I know where you were going with that, and no.”

Eclipse rubbed his side, glaring at Sagebrush. “Killjoy.”

Dust Demon glanced at the disturbance, then found himself staring at Eclipse.

“What?” Eclipse asked, suddenly checking himself over. “Do I have something on me? Oh Celestia, it’s on my face isn’t it? GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!” He began waving his hooves around frantically, trying to clear his face of an unseen blemish of some sort, possibly an insect.

Cactus Star giggled at his antics as the gray and brown earth pony eventually decided that his energy was spent and collapsed to the ground, panting overdramatically.

Dust Demon rubbed his forehead as the childishness of the behavior was too much for his brain to comprehend at the moment. “Nothing like that.” He said, sighing. “You’ve got some sort o magic, despite not being a unicorn, right?”

“I pride myself on that fact!” Eclipse said, rising to stand on his back hooves alone and crossing his front hooves over his chest.

Braeburn felt like a group of spiders had clogged his brain up with webbing. Just a few moments ago, this pony had been one of the most serious he had ever met, and now he was…this. On the upside, Cactus Bloom was loving it.

“Can you use that fancy magic to make a fire?” Dust Demon asked, also caught off guard by Eclipse’s transformation.

He got his answer when he had to duck a fireball tossed at him by Eclipse. The little ball hit a small rock and dissipated, not even leaving a scorch mark. Then the rock it had hit suddenly shot a foot into the air before exploding in a dazzling miniature fireworks display, complete with a miniature dragon that flew around Cactus Star’s head before fading out of existence.

“Just call me Eclipse the Gray.” Eclipse said, bowing while he was still balancing on his back hooves. “Or the Great and Powerful Eclipse, if you don’t get the reference.”

Dust Demon stared at him in stunned silence, as did the rest of the group.

Eclipse sighed heavily. “Fine.” He clapped his hooves together, sparking a floating flame to appear in mid-air. The small fire floated over to the balloon, quickly filling it up and causing it to rise.

Dust Demon double-checked the tether on the balloon, ensuring it wouldn’t float away. Next, he checked the basket to make sure there wasn’t any weaknesses.

“Looks fine to me.” A voice interrupted.

Dust Demon peered over the basket to find Eclipse standing, upside down, on the basket’s underside, his mane and tail the only parts of him that seemed to be obeying gravity.

Sagebrush shrugged at Dust Demon. “We don’t know how he got like that either.”

Eclipse circled the basket’s underside. “Seems sturdy enough. I think we should trust it.” As he circled, he spotted a dead earth pony some distance away, a spear in his throat. Eclipse quickly turned away, his face blanching slightly as he hoped Cactus Star hadn’t seen where his gaze had landed. The rest of them were fine, but she was just a little filly.

He dropped back down to earth, his serious demeanor returned to him. “Dust Demon. See if you can hook that chariot of yours to the balloon. One vehicle won’t hold all of us, so we need them both or walk, which isn‘t an option given our increasingly narrow time frame. If you can’t tie them together, pull the chariot and I’ll find a way to take care of the balloon.”

The dusty brown pegasus nodded once, quickly dashing to retrieve the chariot.

Braeburn nudged Eclipse’s shoulder. “Hey, mind explaining what just happened to you?”

Eclipse sighed. “I’ve got an immature side. A very immature side. Need I explain more?”

<><><>

“Sister, I’ve been thinking…”

“Hm? What is it Luna?”

The Lunar princess tapped her hoof. “Have we ever had a good moment of fun with Eclipse?”

Celestia put her tea down. “Like what? Pranks? A food fight?” She rubbed the back of her head. “A knock knock joke?”

“Yes!” Luna said, pointing at her older sibling. “Fun! I believe we had him under a strict regime of all work while he was here. He needs to unwind.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea, little sister.” Celestia cautioned, ever eager to avoid setting off someone who might have no patience for such things.

“It is settled! When Eclipse returns, the fun shall be had!” She finished her statement with a slightly weaker version of the Royal Canterlot Voice, a fact which worried Celestia down to her very core.

<><><>

“An immature side?” Braeburn exclaimed, rather sarcastically. “You don’t say?”

“Shut up.” Eclipse snapped in response. “I can’t always keep it in check.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t.”

“Appleloosa.” Eclipse said. “Gangs. Jango.”

Braeburn blinked. “Uh, that is to say, after we’re through with this here mission of ours. Heheh…” he chuckled lightly, but it was clearly forced as a weak attempt to lighten the mood.

It failed miserably.

Dust Demon circled back around with the chariot in tow. He quickly hooked the chariot to the underside of the balloon portion of their hot air balloon, letting it hang next to the basket. Next, he turned the chariot so the basket could be attached to the end of it, turning it into one large vehicle held together by bits of rope.

Eclipse jumped when he saw the contraption. “I’m not getting on that until we get some duct tape on it.”

The entire group of ponies stared at him quizzically.

Sighing, Eclipse pulled out a rol of large gray tape, the likes of which Equestria had never seen before. Probably. Next, he pulled off several strips and stuck them on the balloon chariot in several spots to stabilize the structure and help it hold together. With that done, he stored the tape in the basket, hopping inside the chariot to test the feel of their new ride.

“Now this,” he said triumphantly, “is red-necked genius!”

Sagebrush stared at Eclipse. “It’s…actually not a bad idea.” he admitted. “The balloon can handle all the problems of actually lifting the weight, allowing the one pegasus hooked onto the chariot to focus on actually pulling us to where we need to go.”

Cactus Star immediately hopped into the vehicle. “I wanna ride with Eclipse!” she said.

Little Strongheart and the two earth ponies climbed into the balloon’s basket section while Dust Demon hooked himself into the chariot.

"Everypony ready?” he called back.

"There’s a buffalo back here to, you know!”

Oddly enough, it had been Eclipse who had spoken up.

Dust Demon rolled his eyes. “Don’t remind me…” he muttered under his breath, lifting off of the ground.

The minutes ticked by as the group quickly approached the large rock formations in the distance, as well as the much closer river that lay between them and the companions.

“Hey Eclipse.” Sagebrush called out over the wind. “Sundown’s approaching awfully fast. What about when it gets dark?”

“We set up camp.” Eclipse replied simply. “Not much else to it.” With this, he leaned over the chariot’s railing, Cactus Bloom peeking out over the railing next to him. “What’s that look like to you, Star?” Eclipse asked, pointing at a large beast on the ground.

Cactus Star gasped. “A manticore!”

“We’re getting into the deep desert, now.” Eclipse replied, nodding. “Those things don’t dare approach settlements. A lot more skittish than the jungle variety.

Various strange land formations and animal sightings were traded between the two, each trying to outdo the other. Braeburn couldn’t help but stare at them as they carried on.

“Hey, Little Strongheart.” He whispered. “What do you make of Eclipse?”

“His powers are unnatural.” She said. “They are nothing like what he should be capable of.” She turned to face Braeburn. “We cannot trust him.”

“Oh, that’s a little unfair, don’t cha think?” Braeburn waved a hoof at her distrust. “What about how you so quickly trusted those two friends of Applejack that followed you to your tribe way back when?”

“That was different.” She spat. “He will betray us. You can practically taste it on him. The ground he walks on twists on itself like a coiled snake. Even the land does not approve. You see it, too. I know this to be true.”

“All I see is somepony who’s done nothing but help us. You need to trust him. He can help get rid of the new sheriff and his group of bandits.”

Little Strongheart turned away from Braeburn. That pony was lying to himself. No good could come of this.

Cave of Elders

The group reached the river, replenished their water supplies and made camp. The next day, they continued their flight to the large rock formations in the distance. Another day passed without any major problems, disregarding Dust Demon’s and Little Strongheart’s refusal to say anything when near each other.

“Honestly, it’s nothing more than an argument over sexual preferences.” Eclipse sighed as they packed up camp on the morning of the third day. “Give it up.”

Dust Demon grunted in response, refusing to give an actual answer. Little Strongheart didn’t respond at all. The closest they came to communicating to each other was onetime when Sagebrush relayed messages between them and even then they had little to say to the other besides more arguments.

Eclipse sighed again as they reached the first of the colossal formations.

“We’re here.” Little Strongheart called. “The Elder’s Cradle.”

“Doesn’t look like much of a cradle.” Eclipse noted sarcastically, staring at the great spires and loops of stone.

“It’s not a literal cradle.” Little Strongheart spat, narrowing her eyes at him. “It’s meant to signify the energy that permeates the area. It is a holy site for my people as a whole, not just my tribe, who are now somewhere amongst the stone.”

Eclipse perked up, suddenly interested. “What energy?”

Little Strongheart waited in silence a moment before answering. “Only shamans can feel it. Only shamans can describe it. Only they will know its secrets.”

Eclipse rolled his eyes, reaching out with his chaos magic in an attempt to find this mysterious ‘energy’. He was interrupted when Little Strongheart lashed out at him, striking him hard on the skull and in the ribs.

“You won’t corrupt it!” She hissed. “Keep your dark magic in check, or I will end you!”

Eclipse shook his head. Once his senses returned, he back-hoofed Little Strongheart, jostling the vehicle they were in. Next, he grabbed her and pinned her to the floor of the chariot. “Ending me,” He growled out, his voice low and guttural. “Is not an option.”

“Much as I enjoy the show, could you two maybe not shake this thing so much?” Dust Demon yelled at them over the wind. “It’s falling apart as it is!”

Eclipse picked up Little Strongheart and unceremoniously threw her into the basket of the balloon. He grabbed Braeburn and hauled the stallion into the chariot, evening the weight out. “Dust demon!” he called forward. “See any buffalo? Preferably nice ones.”

“Sorry, Eclipse.” Came the reply. “Can’t say I do. How do we know they ain’t in a cave or something?”

Eclipse stared down at the expanse of land that made up the Elder’s Cradle. The area was several square miles, at least, but Eclipse knew that there had to be something they could look for to quicken their search.

The screech of a bird of prey sounded nearby, just as an eagle perched itself on the chariot’s railing. The bird moved its vision from one being in the vehicle to the next, taking stock of its fellow passengers.

Sagebrush and Braeburn paid the eagle no mind, believing it to be nothing more than a bird looking for a place to rest, though a moving chariot-balloon was an admittedly strange choice. Dust Demon kept his sight on the ground and in front of him, scanning for the buffalo while he avoided any rocks that came too close. Cactus Bloom gaped at the eagle, curiosity getting the better of her.

When the eagle sidled closer to Eclipse, who was trying to think of a way to not provoke the buffalo when they found the tribe, Little Strongheart tried to shoo him away. “No.” she begged in a whisper to avoid being overheard. “Leave him be. Don’t draw his attention to you.”

The bird ignored her, hopping onto the top of Eclipse’s head. Eclipse glanced upwards to the bird. He waved the bird away with a hoof, watching as it glided away from the chariot.

The bird’s flight brought a large canyon into Eclipse’s vision. The canyon had a large main section which sliced across the landscape like a great mile long scar. Smaller cracks snaked out from it, twisting, turning and spider webbing across the landscape. The main crack was at least a hundred feet wide, more than enough room to allow a hot air balloon entrance.

Eclipse glanced at the sky. Despite it being the desert, several large rain clouds were gathering overhead. Due to their position in the deeper desert, this was obviously a naturally occurring storm. That is to say, pegasi were not involved in its making, so it was unnatural as far as Equestria was concerned.

Braeburn tugged at Eclipse’s foreleg. “Don’t mean to interrupt, but I don’t like the look of that there storm.” A thunderclap washed over them, startling the group.

Eclipse nodded. “We can take cover in that canyon!” He shouted so everyone could hear. “This storm’s got lighting, so the air is the last place we want to be! Dust Demon, make it happen!”

Dust Demon pulled the chariot-balloon into the canyon, taking care to avoid the edges and the canyon walls. Once they had landed, Braeburn pointed out a shallow cave nearby. The group parked their vehicle outside the cave, while they themselves hurried inside, the first drops of rain beginning to fall.

<><><>

The rain had been going on nonstop for an hour. Eclipse sat right outside the cave, making sure that he had been more than obvious with his desire to be alone after several minutes of rest in the cave.

Braeburn sat next to Dust Demon. “Poor fool’s gonna catch his death if he doesn’t get warm an dry.”

Dust Demon snorted. “I’m more concerned with why he wants to be in the rain.”

“I though it was to get away from Little Strongheart.” Braeburn answered.

“Then why ain’t I out there?” Dust Demon questioned. At Braeburn’s confused stare, he elaborated. “This cave is more than big enough for me and her to stay well away from each other, even with the rest of ya’ll thrown into the mix. So why’d he decide to sit around outside?”

Eclipse perked his ear as he heard this, the passive flow of disharmony magic through his system heightening his senses more than enough to hear the question. He got to his hooves, calling back to the cave. “I’m going for a walk.” His tone was more than enough to convey that he didn’t wish to be followed. “If I’m not back by morning, continue the search for the buffalo.”

Cactus Star called his name, but Eclipse was already galloping away at a pace impossible to match without either flying or magic. Little Strongheart frowned deeply as she watched him leave.

He rounded a corner, drifting across the mud as his hooves slid even as he ran. Abandoning the main section of the canyon, he took a side path. Snaking his way through the maze of cracks and rock, Eclipse soon came upon another small cave. Unlike the one where they had taken refuge, however, this one burrowed deeper into the stone of the rock wall.

Eclipse stopped outside the cave mouth, halting his chaotic energy as he prepared to enter. Despite now panting for breath, he trod inside, wary of any potential dangers.

The cave floor was rough, but firm. The walls even more so. Eclipse ran his hoof over several markings he found carved into the cave wall.

The first was a simple drawing of a buffalo, worn down with age. The craft and care put into the carving lent it great weight despite it’s simplicity. Or rather, it’s complexity disguised as simplicity. Even as Eclipse watched, minor details that were not seen before seemed to be added. The horns were more defined than initially thought, and the fur had texture and pattern that could only be noticed by touching the carving. Whoever this buffalo had been, he was a being of great importance in ancient history.

The next image was of a twisted being, his body a mismatch of many different things. Unlike the buffalo, however, the gnashes that made up Discord’s unmistakable image were rough and chipped, as if they had been put into the stone more forcefully. He also lacked the detail and care put into the previous carving. The cave wall itself seemed to darken as Eclipse moved his gaze over the carving, as if it did not enjoy showing its scar.

Despite now being almost a hundred feet into the cave, the darkness did not close in. It was still as bright as when Eclipse had first entered. The air was not cold, as would be expected, but instead warm. Eclipse felt his coat and was surprised to find that it was already dry, the little moisture that remained barely more than a few damp patches.

The next carving Eclipse found was of an alicorn. The lines were smooth once more, flowing into each other and abundant with the same craftsmanship seen in the buffalo. The alicorn’s mane flowed as if in a wind. She stood in a regal manner, as was to be expected of one of the princesses.

“One of the princesses?” Eclipse wondered aloud, his own thoughts catching him off guard.

Eclipse couldn’t tell which of the two sisters it was supposed to depict, but it hardly mattered at the moment. He frowned, unsure what to make of this strange trio. A buffalo of ancient time, Discord and one of the royal sisters.

He continued, plodding further into the cave. When he found the fourth carving, his breath nearly caught in his throat, the connection becoming apparent.

The fourth drawing was of a simple earth pony. She had both pairs of legs crossed and a friendly smile on her face. The first identifier Eclipse found was her hat. Despite it being just as simple as the drawings before, lacking a cutie mark just as the princess had, that large stetson gave away everything Eclipse needed to know.

“Applejack?” Eclipse asked, despite being alone. “With those other three, that could only mean…” He trailed off, the unfinished sentence hanging in the air.

Eclipse looked ahead into the cave and found that the path ended just a few feet away from him.

He gritted his teeth, pondering what he should do. When he finally reached a decision, he was conflicted. Doing so was a great risk, even more so if Little Strongheart found out. Still…

Eclipse sighed. Spurring his disharmony magic on, he goaded it into searching for the mysterious energy of the Elder’s Cradle.

After a few minutes of looking, however, it had found him.

Meeting the Tribe

A trio of buffalo met them outside the camp. The trio eyed the group warily until Little Strongheart came forth, stepping up to them. She whispered something into the ear of the lead buffalo, glancing back at Eclipse several times.

The gray and brown earth pony snorted. “If I end up in a cage thanks to her, we’ll have buffalo stew.”

Sagebrush nudged him. “Relax. They’re smart and fairly peaceful. If ya’ll don’t provoke em, we should be just fine.”

Braeburn tilted his body to the side in an attempt to look past the quartet of buffalo in front of them. “Uh, we have some big shot company…”

“Who?” Eclipse asked, using a hoof to paw at the dirt, a deep frown on his face.

“The chief.”

A buffalo wearing a large headdress walked around the group. Little Strongheart gave him a large hug when he walked into her field of vision, but she continued speaking in hushed tones.

The chief glanced at Eclipse, before turning towards the other three. “Find the shaman.” He requested. “We have a test.”

He turned back to the group of ponies. “You may follow Little Strongheart. All except for you.” He pointed at Eclipse. “You need to follow me and meet with our shaman.”

Eclipse bristled slightly. “Why?” he demanded.

The chief smiled. “Did you not hear? We have a test.”

<><><>

Chief Thunderhooves deposited Eclipse outside a tent, telling him to wait.

Eclipse sat down on the hard packed dirt, more than a little miffed at the trouble he was being given. After a few moments, he heard a voice come from the tent.

“Well, this is the testee, I take it?”

Eclipse turned to find a medium age buffalo step out of the tent. He grinned at the pony.

“So let’s see it.”

Eclipse blinked. “What?” he asked, taken off guard by the vague request.

“Your magic, boy!” The buffalo sighed. “We need to see what kind of wielder you are!”

Eclipse remained still. “I repeat; What?”

The buffalo stared at him for a long moment. Eclipse was about to ask why he had become so still when the buffalo’s eyes began to glow a soft orange.

The shaman charged. Eclipse jumped up and to the side, but the buffalo had somehow known exactly where he would try to go. Eclipse quickly found himself sprawled about on the ground, a trio of canaries flying circles above his head.

Eclipse, unthinking, lashed out with his magic, a spire of rock jutting up and almost impaling the buffalo in the side. The only reason the shaman was still alive was because Eclipse was still too dazed to aim.

The buffalo grunted in approval. “Disharmony? That’s a rare treat. But wait…” he trailed off, taking a moment to pick up his sentence again. “There’s something else.”

Eclipse accidentally spurred the orange energy he had been given into action. An orange phantom of the shaman charged away from him, towards Eclipse, followed only moments later by the actual shaman.

Using the phantom to time his strike, Eclipse managed to trip the shaman and punch him in the side of the head, sending the large buffalo stumbling away.

The shaman slowly turned back towards Eclipse. The orange glow in his eyes returned, and Eclipse found that the one phantom image had turned into many. Dozens of orange phantoms burst from the buffalo, each using a different method to attack Eclipse with blows that would never land, or to dodge attacks that never came.

Eclipse watched for several moments until his head began to hurt from the massive amount of movement. The buffalo chuckled.

Turning off whatever magic had caused the display, the buffalo marched towards Eclipse, an orange phantom leading just several paces ahead of him. When the phantom punched at Eclipse, it gave him enough warning to duck under the shaman’s hoof and strike him in the gut, twisting away to avoid a counterattack.

Despite the pain, the buffalo managed to smile. “And so we see the power of honesty.”

Eclipse frowned. “For the third time: What?”

The shaman cracked his neck. “Call me Fateweaver, but that name is a bit misleading.”

Eclipse nodded as Fateweaver recovered from their brief fight. “Time to get you up to speed on what you were just using, I believe.” He turned to Eclipse, placing a hoof on the pony’s shoulder. “Honesty, the orange magic we were just using? Simply put, it’s ‘seeing the truth’.”

“The truth?” Eclipse asked.

“Lower power makes you a living lie detector.” The buffalo continued. “At higher levels of output, you can see a short distance into the future, as we just demonstrated.”

“The phantoms?” Eclipse asked.

“Exactly.” The shaman nodded. “Did you see how when we both had honesty, I had innumerable futures? I saw the same for you.”

“Because when I saw you in the future, I worked to counter that.” Eclipse mumbled, beginning to grasp the power of honesty.

“And I, to counter that.” Fateweaver picked up. “The end result is an incomprehensible mess of possibilities. But, that’s not all we need to discuss.”

Eclipse swallowed. “There’s more of these powers out there? Each with a different effect?”

“Changeling, unicorn, the six of harmony, chaos and possibly others that I do not know of.” Fateweaver nodded. “To posses one is an incredible gift, but two? Unheard of.” He stopped, tapping a hoof to his chin. “Well, not unheard of, but that typically only occurs with either changelings or unicorns, whose races are built to channel their respective magic. Some of those two have been able to use other types, but it typically came with sacrificing a bit of their talent with their natural magic.”

“And I, as an earth pony--”

“Broke my understanding of these concepts.” Fateweaver finished, grinning broadly. “Changeling magic focuses on deception. Unicorn, manipulating the natural world. Chaos, or disharmony, with altering the laws of reality completely, as opposed to simply bending it like unicorn magic.”

“And the six of harmony?” Eclipse asked, curiosity reaching a boiling point.

“Honesty, you have seen. Loyalty uses such traits as hypnosis and mind tricks to manipulate opponents. In a nutshell: your victims become loyal to you.” Fateweaver chuckled. “Kindness has healing powers, as well as manipulating plants and animals. The element of magic is just that: It enhances your latent magical abilities. Because of this, it may never be noticed by the wielder or any other.”

“But what if you have no other magic?” Eclipse rebutted. “What then?”

“Pegasi control weather, unicorns and changelings are spoken for, earth ponies are natural emitters of a life giving aura, hence their abilities with farming, and each of the other races have some sort of similar trait.”

Eclipse rubbed his head. “This is a lot to take in.”

“Be glad this is the quick version.” Fateweaver replied. “Let’s see… Oh, yes! Laughter. Eh, think scaled down chaos magic. Powerful in its own right, but not as strong as pure disharmony.”

“So, the six powers of harmony are individually weaker than the other known types of magic?”

“Ding! You win the grand prize!” Fateweaver gave Eclipse a wide grin.

Eclipse rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”

“Lastly, generosity involves memory magic. Not mind control, but rather the construction and destruction of memories. It requires patience and care to use properly, or you might end up completely wiping the mind of your target. Think of it as designing a dress. All the pieces must fit properly or the final product is a mess.” Fateweaver rubbed his chin with a hoof. “I believe that just about covers it…” He let out a loud ‘hmph’.

Eclipse frowned. “Why did you tell me any of that?”

Fateweaver sucked in a breath. “That’s a good question, isn’t it? Another one would be, why would you believe me?”

Eclipse opened his mouth, but no words came out. He sat down in the dirt, Fateweaver watching him closely. The seconds ticked by until Fateweaver glanced at the sky. “Come on.” he urged. “You have a meeting to attend.”

Eclipse wordlessly followed Fateweaver as the buffalo turned and left, heading deeper into the buffalo camp. Several of the buffalo had injuries, few of which were serious. More worrying than that, however, was how few of them their were. The camp was two-thirds the size it should have been, the tents having nowhere near the numbers needed to house the entirety of the buffalo tribe. Despite this, there wasn’t any overcrowding, meaning that the tribe itself was also far smaller than it should be.

Eclipse and Fateweaver approached a circle of logs, at which sat the buffalo chief, several buffalo warriors and teh ragtag group that had accompanied Eclipse this far, minus Sagebrush and Cactus Star.

Fateweaver cleared his throat, turning the heads of all those present. The chief motioned him forward, as well as Eclipse. Fateweaver and the chieftain shared a glance before the chief turned back to the congregation.

“As I was saying, we can’t spare you any fighters. We are too few.”

Braeburn ground his teeth slightly. “If ya’ll don’t help, Appleloosa will never be free! Jango needs to be brought down!”

“I understand, Braeburn.” Thunderhooves replied sadly. “If it was my home, I would want to fight as well. But be that as it may, my tribe cannot fight, no matter our personal feelings. Again, we are too few.”

Eclipse stood up. “But it is your home.” he said, a slight trace of anger in his voice. “With Appleloosa as a staging ground, that gang has the better part of this desert in its pockets. Your tribe included.”

The chief frowned. Silence reigned for a few moments until he answered. “There is a train. Not the one that runs through the town. Several of my scouts have seen buffalo being loaded onto it, as well as a group of ponies who have been fighting an uphill battle against this gang in the nearby desert.” He closed his eyes. “I’m afraid that this is all I can offer.”

Dust Demon sprang up. “Ponies? Was Silverstar with them?”

The chief sighed sadly. “I don’t know if the old sheriff was there or not. The scouts wouldn’t dare get closer.”

Eclipse pointed at Dust Demon. “Get yourself strapped in. It’s still midday and we’re not going to waste any time.” He turned to Braeburn. “Where’s Sagebrush and his daughter?”

The yellow pony jumped to his hooves. “They stayed next to the balloon.”

Eclipse sighed. “Good. That’s good.” He glanced at Little Strongheart. “Staying here, then?”

Little Strongheart blinked.

Eclipse took that as a yes and sprinted after Dust Demon, Braeburn on his heels.

Fateweaver snorted. “Didn’t you once have that same fire?” He said, directing his question toward his chief.

Thunderhooves raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I’ve got plans, Fateweaver. Unfortunately, the ponies can’t know them, or they would feel used and manipulated.” He addressed the other buffalo at the meeting. “Get twenty warriors and find me a grindstone! We’ll not sit this battle out!” He stomped his hoof, sending his men running to fulfill their orders.

Fateweaver stared at his chief in shock. “But, you said--”

Thunderhooves cut him off. “I’m not going to explain myself just yet, old friend. Get some of that sleeping gas of yours ready. The tribe will play our part, but first our brethren need to be free.”

Strafing run

Eclipse scanned the train yard.

It was a hastily constructed scrapheap of barely connected tracks and a train with only one car, not including the engine. Somewhere in the numbers of thirty buffalo were crowded in a fenced in area, with about forty guards around the whole complex. Several towers gave the guards high vantage points to keep watch on the surrounding area.

Eclipse and company (Again, with Sagebrush and Cactus Star next to the chariot balloon some distance away) were perched above the view of the towers, at the top of a nearby plateau overlooking the train yard.

Braeburn nudged Eclipse. “Only half of those buffalo are from Little Strongheart’s tribe. That must mean there’s a whole heap of prisoners on the other end of those tracks!”

“But where does the rainbow end, huh Braeburn?” Eclipse grunted. “How far to reach that particular pot of gold?”

Dust Demon shushed the two. “Look over there!”

Following Dust Demon’s pointing hoof, the group saw a quartet of gang members returning from a routine patrol in the desert.

Eclipse squinted. “Why would they send units out into the desert?”

“Why are we spying on this place during broad daylight?” Braeburn snarked, before Dust Demon elbowed him.

Eclipse paid the two no mind, his mind completely focused on the patrol. “What’s that behind them?” he muttered.

Braeburn and Dust Demon crawled forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of whatever Eclipse was seeing.

Six silhouettes rose out of the sand, attacking the gang patrol.

“Well,” Eclipse drawled. “We found our rebel alliance.”

Dust Demon frowned. “If they’re the rebels, then who are we?”

An alarm sounded in the train yard as two more patrols were sent out to assist the one being attacked. The six rebels attempted a tactical retreat, but the original patrol cut off their otherwise easy escape.

Eclipse sent his compatriots a sidelong grin. “Yar.”

Slipping on a hat with a skull and crossbones emblazoning one side, Eclipse dislodged a nearby boulder and jumped on top of it as it slid down the cliff they were on.

Braeburn nudged Dust Demon. “Told ya he’d pull something like that. Now pay up.”

Dust Demon groaned, tossing Braeburn a few bits before dashing after Eclipse.

Eclipse’s boulder hit a rock that jutted out of the cliff face, sending the large stone flying. Using his magic to nudge it a bit, Eclipse managed to use the rock to flatten one of the gang reinforcements.

Jumping off his ride, Eclipse spawned a small black cloud in front of him, using it as a landing pad above the group of gang members. The other seven reinforcements had all been dazed by the boulder’s appearance and didn’t notice him eject.

“What the buck was that?” One pegasus shouted.

Eclipse grabbed a chunk of the cloud he was standing on, quickly turning it into a black dagger. Taking aim, Eclipse threw the dagger at an earth pony before taking the entire cloud out from underneath him and tossing it at the unsuspecting pegasus.

The dagger pinned the earth pony’s hoof to the ground while the cloud turned into a dozen similar daggers, all flying at the pegasus. The projectiles hit the ground in a perfect circle around the pony, who froze when they landed around him. The pegasus waited a moment, then took a deep breath in relief, when the daggers around him exploded like a pack of grenades.

Dust Demon had just about caught up to Eclipse when he was hit in the face by a severed wing, slapping him off-course and into a unicorn.

An orange phantom spear pierced Eclipse’s skull, giving him enough time to duck underneath the real spear and buck his attacker away from him. Turning around, Eclipse found four more gang members facing him.

He cracked his neck. “Bring it on.”

One of the gang members charged. Eclipse grabbed the spear the pony was holding and yanked it out of his grasp, bringing it around and stabbing the pony in his side. Using his hooves as conduits for his magic, Eclipse rapidly punched the ground, causing a miniaturized earthquake around him.

His three remaining opponents stumbled about, the shaking earth too unsteady to balance on. Despite this, one unicorn managed to fire off a spell that knocked Eclipse down.

Eclipse groaned. “That hurt…” He jumped back to his hooves, his body slightly numb from the magical attack.

The trio of gang members circled him, until one of them was hit in the head by a falling rock and consequently knocked unconscious.

Dust Demon called down from above. “How do ya like these apples?” A veritable rain of stone came down from above as Dust Demon tossed more projectiles from his position.

The earth pony who had been hit by Eclipse’s dagger finally dislodged himself, charging at Eclipse with the dagger held high.

Eclipse raised an eyebrow. The dagger exploded. The bleeding pony who had almost put Eclipse’s head on a pike was also caught in the blast radius.

Braeburn skidded to a stop as he reached the bottom of the cliff. He was intercepted by the unicorn Dust Demon had crashed into, but still managed to get close to the rest of the fight.

One of the two ponies who were left fighting Eclipse had been distracted by Braeburn’s appearance, so Dust Demon swooped down and picked him up despite his thrashing, using him as a missile to strike at Braeburn’s unicorn. The two hit the ground, out cold from the impact.

With only one pony--an earth pony--left of the original eight, Braeburn, Dust Demon and Eclipse managed to gravitate towards each other and plant themselves between the one pony and the rest of his camp, which was preparing to send out more reinforcements.

The trio of ponies shrugged to each other, preparing to fight the one opponent that was left.

The earth pony was shaking in his horseshoes, trying to find a way around the group that had lain waste to his comrades. A random spear buried itself into his back, sending the pony to the ground.

The thrower sprinted up to the trio. “We need to move! Silverstar will want to speak to you.”

Eclipse, Braeburn and Dust Demon followed the pony to his five friends, who were scavenging weapons and supplies from the patrol they had ambushed before things had almost gone bad. Once the two groups were together, they all retreated from the scene, hoping to avoid the second wave of reinforcements.

Dust Demon flew back to Sagebrush and Cactus Star at Eclipse’s suggestion, hoping to retrieve both them and the vehicle they were with.

Train jacked

The rebel base was a group of flimsy shelters disguised as sand dunes and connected by hidden underground tunnels. Including the six who had acted as ambushers, there were a total of about fourteen ponies in the rebel group. Eclipse concluded that one of these fourteen must be Silverstar.

Cactus Star hugged her father’s leg, but Sagebrush was no less nervous than she was. Eclipse kept his honesty on a constant burn, his trust of these rebels still low. Dust Demon and Braeburn flanked Sagebrush, Eclipse standing just in front.

The door swung shut behind the newcomers, and with it’s closing came a brown earth pony with a black moustache trotting into view from the tunnels that made up the majority of the base.

Eclipse grimaced as Silverstar approached. “Did you have to pick a place that feels like an old crypt?” He asked, drawing a chuckle from Silverstar.

“And you’d be the assistance my boys got on their raid, I assume?” Silverstar asked, not bothering to answer the question.

Braeburn stepped forward. “That’d be us. It’s good to se you again sheriff. I thought you’d been caught.”

“Likewise, Braeburn.” The sheriff said, nodding. “But no, they ain’t got me yet. Luckily a few of my marshals kept it that way. We came out here, been fighting ever since.” Silverstar glanced past Eclipse and Braeburn, a grin crossing his face. “Is that who I think it is?”

Dust Demon smiled, shaking hooves with the sheriff. “Depends on how far you’ve slipped, old stallion.”

“Heh.” the sheriff grunted. “Finest flyer we had in town. Still need to work on your people skills, though.” He turned to Eclipse. “You’re the only one here I don’t know. Care to explain?”

Eclipse nodded. “I was sent to Appleloosa under orders from Princess Celestia. And I need your help to take out the gang.”

“Ah, if only I could give you that help.” The sheriff sighed. “My men and I are running out of steam. Have you tried looking for the buffalo tribe? Or has the gang sent them all to the mine?”

“Yeah, and we found them.” Eclipse said as the sheriff led the group into the tunnels of the base. “Their numbers are too few for them to offer any help, either. They directed us here, implying that we might find help with the prisoners and a group of freelance rebels.”

“That sounds like advice they’d give.” Silverstar nodded. “The prisoners may be able to help ya. If you can take out the mine.”

“You’ve mentioned a mine twice now.” Eclipse noted. “What are they mining?”

“If only I knew.” Silverstar led the way into a larger area than the entrance, where the rest of the rebels were resting. “I just know that if you follow the rails, there’s a mine with an entire tribe’s worth of buffalo stuck inside with a small army of ponies for guards. Took us a week to get there. Twelve hours if you took a train ride.”

Eclipse ground his teeth. “Everywhere we go we get turned down. Is there no one willing to fight with us?”

Silverstar stopped in his tracks. “Boy, I’d love to fight with you. I’d love to stand for my home. But I can’t!” He pounded his hoof into the wall. “There ain’t enough of us!”

“That’s why we need your help!” Eclipse shouted. “The buffalo are too few, you’re too few and the prisoners are probably too few or too weak! That’s why I’m trying to get all three!”

Sagebrush grabbed Eclipse’s shoulder. Eclipse turned to look at the light green pony when he noticed that the walls of the cave were several shades redder than they should be. He shut off his disharmony magic, returning his attention to Silverstar, who had understandably backed up several steps.

“Look.” Eclipse continued, much more calmly. “I’m not asking you to trust me. Instead, trust Braeburn, Sagebrush, Dust Demon, heck, trust Cactus Star! We need you, Silverstar, as much as my pride is screaming at me for saying that, we need you. We need the buffalo, too.”

Silverstar sighed heavily. “Now, if a complete stranger will fight for my town, then I have no excuse.” He gathered his group of rebels. “The train has about eight guards and five buffalo prisoners all stuffed into it each ride. Not a problem for fourteen ponies, plus the group you got, Eclipse.”

“What are you planning?” Sagebrush asked, keeping both Eclipse and Braeburn from asking that same question.

Sheriff Silverstar grinned. “Boys, it’s time for a hijacking.”

<><><>

All the ponies stood along the tracks, waiting for the train.

Sagebrush sighed. “We’ve been standing here for an hour.” He complained. “Is this thing even gonna come?”

A train engine could be heard approaching on the tracks.

“You were saying?” Eclipse chuckled, adjusting his pirate hat.

“Why in the name of Tartarus are you still wearing that?” Dust Demon asked.

Eclipse shrugged, casually tossing the hat into the air, where it went spinning away, eventually disappearing from view.

The train was now in full view.

“Three…” Silverstar counted down. “Two…” Eclipse charged his chaos magic. “One…” six of Silverstar’s rebels, plus Eclipse and Silverstar himself, spread their legs, preparing for what was about to come. “Now!”

Eclipse fired his disharmony, using several chunks of earth as catapults to send himself and the other seven volunteers onto the top of the train. Silverstar and six of his rebels crawled into the car, taking on the seven guards in that section, while Eclipse went for the engine and the one guard driving the train.

Eclipse popped his head into the window, startling the guard. “Dis is a jacking!” he yelled, grabbing the pony and tossing him out the window. Eclipse crawled inside, pulling the brake for the train and causing everyone in the car behind him to be lurched forward by their own inertia.

He trotted back to the train car, opening the door to peer inside. Rebels, gang members and buffalo alike were strewn about from the unexpected stop.

Dust Demon landed on top of the train car as Eclipse entered. Another moment and the gang members had begun to randomly be thrown out of the train using several different windows.

The other rebels had caught up to the train by now, knocking out any awake gang members as they came to them and boarding the train. Once everyone had boarded, Silverstar joined Eclipse back in the engine. “The buffalo are more than happy to assist.” he reported.

“Good.” Eclipse acknowledged. “Let’s open a can of whoop-ass on that mine!” He sent the train into full speed, sending everyone on board flying back from the sudden lurch.

“Ugh…” Silverstar groaned. “Ever thought about being a little slower with the speed changes?”

“Nope!” Eclipse grinned. “Hey, think we can convince Dust Demon to get out and push?”

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere.” Dust Demon retorted, standing next to a pair of Silverstar’s rebels in the engine car. “And before ya’ll say something, the other car is packed.”

Braeburn squeezed himself into the engine car. “I bear witness to that fact.” He heaved, gasping for breath.

A buffalo popped his head into the car, but didn’t try to come through. “Are you the leaders of this rescue?”

“It ain’t a rescue yet, buddy boy.” Eclipse said, glancing out a window. “But it’s about to be.”

The buffalo snorted. “I am the chief of a neighboring tribe to the one that has befriended Appleloosa. Chief Bloodhoof.”

“Nice to meet ya.” Eclipse greeted, waving a hoof.

Bloodhoof nodded. “My tribe has mostly been captured by these gang members, and we want to take our revenge. If doing so manages to strengthen our ties with our sister tribe and open a gateway for our own interaction with Appleloosa, then it’s a bonus. Will you accept our help?”

“Of course.” Eclipse shrugged. “By the way, do you have any idea what they’re mining?”

“I heard some rumors from the guards. Supposedly, it’s an ancient energy source buried there. One connected to the elements of harmony.”

Eclipse laughed. “Then they’re looking in the wrong place. I stumbled across that energy source myself!”

“What?” The buffalo asked, shocked once more.

Eclipse’s smile turned into a frown. “Also, you’re lying through your teeth. I can tell.” He turned and grabbed Bloodhoof’s horns. “What are they mining?” he spat out, putting pressure on Bloodhoof’s horns.

One of the horns began to groan. This was reflected in Bloodhoof’s face scrunching up in pain. “What are you doing?” he asked, his horns in less than a pleasant position at the moment.

“What. Are. They. Mining?” Silverstar grabbed Eclipse’s shoulder, but the gray pony shrugged him off. “You’re losing time, Cairne.”

Bloodhoof grimaced. “I don’t know! I was hoping to spur you along. Get you to fight even harder for my people.”

Eclipse brought Bloodhoof’s face down to his. “I was already fighting my hardest.” He shoved the buffalo away from him, turning back to the train’s controls.

Bloodhoof fell to the ground while Eclipse turned back to the train controls. Bloodhoof smiled. “Good work.”

He retreated back into the train car, shutting the door as Eclipse turned back around. “Excuse me?”

The door opened again, this time with Sagebrush standing inside it. “Eclipse, one of the buffalo wants to see you. Says he’s a chief named--”

“Bloodhoof.” Eclipse finished for him. “Cairne Bloodhoof.”

Sagebrush blinked. “How’d you know?”

Eclipse stomped his hoof. “Damn it, we’re being watched by something.”

Dust Demon nudged Eclipse. “I don’t think that thing was watching us…”

Silverstar nodded. “Eclipse, once this is said an done, you need to get back to the Princess. Whatever that was, it ain’t going away.”

Eclipse groaned. “Sagebrush, send Bloodhoof in. But I already know what he’s going to say.”

Calm before the storm

Blockade stood at his post, smiling to himself. He could hear the miners toiling away inside, despite being almost fifty feet away from the mine entrance. At least seventy buffalo were trapped in that mine, plus a few Appleloosa citizens that had gotten too troublesome.

He glanced up as a train blared its whistle. Checking his clock, he frowned. It wasn’t due for another forty-five minutes.

The screech of the train’s brakes cut through the air like a knife, causing most of the guards nearby to jump. As the scrapheap of a vehicle finally came to a full stop, Blockade managed to get a good view of the driver.

An earth pony Blockade had never seen before. His coloring was a dull gray and brown. The most striking part of him was his scowl. He didn’t look to happy at the moment, prompting the guard to make a mental note to stay out of his way, regardless of Blockade’s larger bulk in comparison.

The pony turned his head and whistled sharply into the train car behind the engine. A brown pegasus met his whistle, flying out and landing on top of the train.

“We’re ready!” The pegasus called down to the gray and brown earth pony. “Should we unload?”

“Give the order.” The pony called back. “Fly high and keep a watch on the surrounding area. After that trouble with the rebel group, I’m not taking any chances.”

As Blockade watched with surprised eyes, six guards hopped out of the back of the train. A group of buffalo followed, albeit much more slowly. The guards prodded the slowest forward, until one of the buffalo tried to kick one of them. The guard skillfully jumped out of the way and knocked the buffalo on the side of the head.

Blockade tensed. These weren’t the typical gang recruits. Whoever these ponies were, they knew how to fight. They were also much more disciplined than most. Elite members, maybe?

Whatever the case, if their actions didn’t show how serious they were, their faces did. None of them bore the no-nonsense scowl that their leader--as Blockade guessed him to be--wore, but they were stoic in their own right. They also managed to keep their individuality.

One of them bore a grin, seeming to mock everyone around him. A second kept his head low, constantly looking around as if he expected to be attacked by a horde of buffalo at any given moment. A third was much more relaxed, taking most of the background noise around him in stride. This pattern continued, each of them their own stallion, but still a unit.

Having never seen this sort of thing outside of a few mercenary groups with a very strong camaraderie among its members, Blockade tensed his jaw as he set forward, him and a group of five others preparing to take the responsibility for the buffalo from the newcomers.

The grey and brown earth pony jumped out of his spot in the train engine, landing on the ground with a hard thud from all four hooves.

Blockade and another guard shared a glance before changing course, moving to intercept the pony as he trotted to the back of the train and closed its doors. As the pony slammed the train doors shut, Blockade set the butt of his spear on the ground.

The pony tensed, before turning his head and relaxing visibly. “Something you want?” he asked, somewhat harshly. Blockade frowned. This pony obviously didn’t care who he was talking to. He could have been addressing one of the princesses and he would still use that slightly annoyed tone.

“What’s with all the seriousness?” Blockade all but growled back. “Trouble that we need to know of?”

The pony waved him off. “Just some rebels. We think they’re headed by that Silverstar guy, but we aren’t sure.”

Blockade frowned. “The same one we kicked outta the town? He’s still around?”

“Apparently.” The pony muttered. “Some fools just don’t know when to quit.”

The second guard chuckled. “What kinda trouble they cause?” he asked.

“Took out a patrol, for one.” The pony grimaced. “When reinforcements tried to get out there and help, anther group popped out of nowhere. It was a slaughter. Makes it even worse when I saw the whole thing myself and still couldn’t do a damn thing.” He slammed his hoof into the ground, causing several cracks to reach out and away from the impact point.

Blockade snorted. He was having a hard time believing that this character would have been unable to do something. “Who are you and where are the normal guards?”

“Probably dead or dying.” The pony responded casually. “As for me? Name’s Eclipse.”

As he finished, the brown pegasus landed next to the group. “No nearby movement, but there was a pair of buffalo skirting the area.”

Eclipse nodded. “Near?”

“No, they were just passing by.” The pegasus shook his head. “Might be a pair of escapees. Probably just two fools who got separated from their tribe and lost.”

Two of the six guards who had been escorting the prisoners came up. “Buffalo got rowdy, so the others went in with. Can’t be too careful.” They explained, referring to the absence of their comrades.

“Well,” Eclipse yawned. “Now’s as good a time as any. We’ve got our group on the inside, after all.”

Blockade turned to Eclipse. “Pardon?”

He turned just quickly enough to see a hoof flying at his face.

Author's Note

My first chapter with less than one thousand words... The amount of fuck me I'm feeling right now is astounding.

The storming of the mine

Eclipse held the second guard by the neck as almost a dozen other gang members closed in.

Dust Demon and the two rebels stood next to him. The train car was still silent, the ponies inside waiting for either a proper signal or for things to get very bad, very quickly. Whichever came first.

Without warning, a black blur came through and smacked into one of the mine guards. He fell to the ground as the blur ricocheted off of him and into a second guard. Then a third. Soon, the majority of guards were on the ground, mostly out cold, the rest moaning in pain.

Eclipse knocked out the guard he was holding then reached out with a hoof and caught the random projectile as it flew past, quickly putting it on top of his head.

Dust Demon double checked his vision.

Eclipse grinned as he patted his pirate hat. “Because shields are too mainstream.” He swung a cutlass though the air, holding the blade in his right hoof as he once again showed off an uncanny ability to balance on his hind legs alone. “Charge!”

The wall of the train car burst outward, the entire side of the car opening up and spilling out the remaining members of the rebellion, including Braeburn and Silverstar. Cactus Star stayed on board, taking cover from the fight. Her father, however, was a flurry of hoof punches as he decked a pair of guards at once, charging into the nearby barracks not long after.

Dust Demon nudged Eclipse. “Think he needs help?”

A guard flew through the second story window of the building, shattering the glass on his way out. This feat was doubly impressive by the fact that it was an earth pony and not a pegasus that was doing the flying.

Eclipse shook his head. “I think he’s good.”

The entire left section of the building collapsed in on itself.

“Let’s… just stay out of his way.” Eclipse muttered, following a trio of the rebels and Braeburn into the mine proper, where you could hear the inner guards and the prisoners having their own quarrel.

The mine entrance was normal enough. After several dozen yards, however, it opened up into a cavern. It was reminiscent of a quarry, just underground, with a path down just to the left of the entrance. The bottom of the quarry was a blur of movement as miners and rebels fought the better equipped but outnumbered mine guards. The sides of the mine shimmered with several bright, vibrant colors.

Braeburn frowned. “Rainbow dust. Should’ve known there was a load of this stuff.”

Eclipse grunted. “Mining seems like tough labor just for a drug.”

“That’s just it, Eclipse.” Braeburn muttered. “Rainbow dust can be found in a lot of places, needing a lot of different ways of extraction. No matter how it is, it’s rare as rare can be. Stuff is worth… well, too much.”

Finished with his explanation, Braeburn followed the trio of rebels they had come in with down the path, meeting and engaging a retreating group of mine guards along the way.

Eclipse remained at his elevated position to view the battle. Most of the miners were in the fight, beating down the forty or so guards in the mine. A group of five guards had gotten separated from the main group and backed into a corner. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the corner was directly below Eclipse’s vantage point.

He raised his cutlass into the air. “This epic slaughter brought to you by,” The group of guards looked up as Eclipse jumped down. “the letter ar!” He swung down with his sword, slicing through the shaft of one guards’ spear.

“Sorry bout that.” Eclipse grinned, back-hoofing the guard on his left. “Couldn’t resist.”

A pegasus guard jabbed with his spear, but a swift deflection sent the weapon spinning away. Eclipse jabbed, catching the pony in his side. He spun, deflecting another spear.

A unicorn fired a spell at Eclipse, but he ducked underneath it, causing the energy blast to go into the wall of the mine. Eclipse kicked, sending the wounded pegasus on a collision course with the guard who had gotten his spear sliced in two.

“What is going on here?!” a voice screamed over the sound of fighting.

The guards paused, turning to look at the source of the voice, as did the rebelling prisoners. The rebels, who hadn’t been as affected, turned when they noticed that the fighting around them had ground to a halt.

Standing just inside the mine entrance stood an earth pony mare with a bright purple coat. Her mane was an electric yellow, contrasting sharply against the dull coloring around her. Guards and prisoners alike shrank back when she ran her gaze over them. Her icy blue eyes twitched a little whenever she saw one of the rebels, easily distinguishable by the fact that they weren’t as intimidated by her arrival.

When she spotted Eclipse, her eyes widened in surprise. “What is this?” She asked, pointing at him. “What is a pony doing on two legs? With a ridiculous hat?”

Eclipse shrugged, a small smile on his face.

“This certainly isn’t something you see everyday.” The mare drawled, waving her mane out of her eyes with a hoof.

Eclipse leaned against the wall. “It isn’t everyday you take part in a minor revolution.” He replied, shrugging again. “Best to make it as memorable as possible.”

The mare smiled a bit. “I like you. Caused a bit more excitement than on a normal day.” She reached into her saddlebags with her head and grabbed a whip from one of the bags. Twisting her neck, she cracked the whip, causing most of the prisoners and a few of the guards to flinch. It was clear that most, if not all of them had felt its sting.

Eclipse grabbed his cutlass and hat, rolling the two together before unrolling an unfilled balloon. Blowing into the end, the balloon expanded into a paper bag with a series of loud pops. Eclipse opened the bag, releasing the smell of fresh popcorn into the mine.

The mare arched an eyebrow as she unhooked her saddlebags, letting them fall to the ground. She leisurely trotted down onto the same floor of the cave that the fighting had been taking place in. By the time she reached the bottom, Eclipse had finished his popcorn, much to the chagrin of the guards standing next to him, as he now shoved them all away and placed each of his legs in a wide circle around him, preparing to jump, dodge or charge as the situation warranted.

She snorted as she stood several yards away from him. “Most ponies call me Royal. Now what kind of name would a gentlestallion like yourself have, hm?”

Eclipse matched her icy blue gaze with his steel-gray own. “Eclipse. Undecided whether it’s solar or lunar.”

Royal cocked her head to the side, not understanding. Eclipse face-hoofed, realizing that an eclipse in Equestria was as possible as a magical talking pony was in his own. Best not to quote that.

Royal cracked her whip again, before lashing it at Eclipse. He grinned, his eyes turning a bright crimson. Before it could reach him, the whip changed size, growing shorter and fatter in Royal’s mouth. The handle of it turned into a rattle, while the end of the weapon grew a pair of eyes and fangs.

Royal looked down to find herself holding a fully grown diamondback rattlesnake. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she simply tightened her hold on the poisonous serpent’s tail and slung it around, slamming it into the ground several times until she crushed its skull.

Royal tossed the dead reptile away, glaring at Eclipse. “Well, that was fancy. Thought it was just an illusion at first, then the taste came on.” She spat onto the ground. “I’ll be cleaning my mouth for a week.”

Eclipse levitated a bag over to her. “Try some popcorn.”

Royal gave him a surprised glance before accepting the gift. “You aren’t taking this very seriously, are you?”

Eclipse stomped his hoof, causing a chunk of rock to jump up and slam into Royal’s stomach. The mare grunted in pain, taking several steps back and dropping the popcorn she had just been given. “You don’t want me to.” he said, smiling.

Several hoof falls could be heard as someone entered the mine.

Sagebrush and Silverstar trotted into view as several of Silverstar’s ponies trotted down the path into the main section of the mine/underground quarry.

Royal spared them a glance, but otherwise pointedly ignored the newcomers. Her outside guards had been defeated and she knew it, but she would at least take down the earth pony in front of her before surrendering.

She charged at Eclipse, who jumped up onto a floating black cloud. There he stayed, simply hovering in the air, like some kind of pegasus with clipped wings.

“Come now, darling.” Eclipse said mockingly, laying down on the cloud. “We both know how this is going to end. After all, it’s already said and done.”

Royal glared at him. “I don’t know what you are, Eclipse.” she spat his name like it was venom. “But you won’t get away with this.”

Eclipse rubbed his chin. “Weird. It’s usually the good guys who say stuff like that.”

Something flashed in Royal’s eyes. “Good?”

“Yeah.” Eclipse continued. “Like, rescuing buffalo from slavery, fighting an evil, drug fueled gang, came here on the princess’ orders… You know, good.”

Royal’s eyes flashed magenta for a moment. Her eyes became unfocused and she shook her head several times. After another moment however, he eyes flashed again and she returned to her previous state. “Good won’t get you anywhere. You need more reason than that.”

Eclipse narrowed his eyes, taking a deep interest in his next choice of words. “All right then. How about, ‘not being a bad guy?’ Maybe, ‘not becoming the face of fear when it comes to these prisoners’. Or your own men, from the way they’re acting.”

Another brief flash. Again, she returned to her scowling, glaring self after a moment. In that moment however, Eclipse managed to see enough to burn an image into his brain.

Same mane, same coat, same eyes. Her expression softened a bit. It was enough to make a drastic difference. He couldn’t get much more before she switched back.

Eclipse frowned. This was unlike anything he had encountered up to this point. After a moment of still silence in the mine, Eclipse heard a voice in his thoughts.

“In a nutshell: your victims become loyal to you.”

Eclipse zoomed his thoughts in, focusing on the word ‘loyal’. “By Celestia…” he muttered under his breath.

Royal glanced back to the mine entrance. Eclipse tensed. She took off, climbing directly up the side of the mine up to the path.

Eclipse charged after her, using his ever constructing cloud-bridge to put himself on an intercept course. Unexpectedly, Royal jumped off the wall, towards Eclipse. She kicked him in the face, using him as a launch pad to get up onto the path to the entrance.

Eclipse shook his head, turning on the power of honesty so she couldn’t surprise him like that again. “After her!” he shouted to anyone nearby.

With his new power, Eclipse saw the magenta aura surrounding Royal, giving away her current state. She dove under or over the majority of rebels, minors and even the remainder of her own guards that she encountered, smacking a few out of her way if she couldn’t get around them.

One of the rebels tackled her to the floor, but she rolled out of his grasp and took off again.

Eclipse landed in front of her, dodging several jabs. He reared back, preparing to punch her, when he saw an orange phantom limb reach out and block his blow. He adjusted, aiming a little over the orange hoof. His blow caught her in the throat, her block having been evaded.

She kicked at him, but this served little more than a distraction while she hit his forehead with her own, a resounding crack echoing through the mine. Reeling, Eclipse backed up several steps as Royal charged past.

By the time he recovered, she was already out of the mine. Desperately following her, Eclipse slid to a stop outside the mine, unable to find Royal or any hint as to where she went. Several rebels moved about, but none of them had noticed the bright purple and yellow mare exit the mine.

Eclipse stomped his hoof in frustration, his blood beginning to boil. “First that thing on the train, now this?” he thought to himself. “What’s next?”

Star's intrigue

Eclipse paced beside the train. His mood was--to put it bluntly--fuck off or get fucked up. After Royal’s escape, he had quickly driven himself into an angry wreck, taking all of his willpower just to avoid lashing out at everything around him. It didn’t help that Chief Bloodhoof had little respect, nagging Eclipse over his unnatural abilities every chance he got. He and other buffalo wanted answers, but Eclipse wanted to not give those answers.

Dust Demon had developed a tendency to hover near the mine entrance, occasionally literally, for who knows what reason. That stallion seemed to get more obscure as time passed.

Braeburn and Silverstar were trying to organize the buffalo, only half of whom were actually from Bloodhoof’s tribe. The rest of Bloodhoof’s tribe was still at the train station that Eclipse and company had spotted, while the rest of the buffalo in the mine had been the missing persons from Little Strongheart’s tribe.

Speaking of Little Strongheart’s tribe, the pair of buffalo that Dust Demon had spotted arrived at the mine not long after the rebel takeover. They were supposedly messengers, sent by the chief at Fateweaver’s behest. The tribe was planning something, but the messengers didn’t have any specifics. They merely said that it involved the train station and that Eclipse’s new ‘army’ would be needed.

Eclipse grumbled unhappily, but otherwise thanked the messengers for the information. He turned, seeing Sagebrush inspecting the group of prisoners that they had captured. Some, but not all, of the guards surrendered or were just knocked out in the fight, forcing the rebels to turn the ruins of the guard barracks into an impromptu prison.

Cactus Star popped up in his field of vision, her lime green form surprising him with its sudden appearance.

“Something you want, Star?” he asked, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice.

“You’ve changed.” she said sadly, her expression melancholy.

Eclipse tensed. “What do you mean?” he asked. “I don’t--”

“You’re always so angry, now.” She cut him off. “Ever since you got here. I thought you’d be happy.”

He sighed. “I am. It’s just… some other things came up.” He glanced at her, not expecting the filly to understand.

“Eclipse?” she asked.

“Yeah?”

“Will we get to go home, soon?”

Eclipse paused mid-stride, as he had continued to pace even while conversing with Cactus Star. “Home…” he muttered. “Maybe… maybe we can get help from the princesses!” He looked to the sky before frowning. “No, no… it wouldn’t be that easy.”

Cactus Star laid her ears against her head, disappointed. An idea popped into her head, causing the filly to straighten her back a bit. “What’s your name mean?” she asked, a bit blatantly.

Eclipse paused again. “What?”

“What’s your name mean?” she repeated, louder this time.

Eclipse swallowed, looking around to make sure that no one was listening. “Star… I’m not from around here.”

“I knew that!” she said indignantly. “I asked what your name meant!”

Eclipse sighed. “That’s part of it. See, I’m not from Equestria. Or even this world at all.”

Cactus Star cocked her head to the side. “You’re an alien?” she asked, eyes wide with curiosity.

“Of a sort.” he smiled. “In my world, there is no one who controls the sun and moon. They are wild things, moving of their own accord.”

Cactus Star leaned forward.

Eclipse frowned. “Remember, you can’t tell anyone what I’m telling you.”

She nodded her head in answer.

He smiled again. “On occasion, neither will be in the sky. Sometimes, they would share. Sometimes, they lined up with my world, in a perfect line.”

Cactus Star swallowed. “What happened then?”

He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “A cosmic event called an eclipse. Their were two kinds, depending on the line up. See, sometimes, my world would sit in the middle, with the sun and moon on either side. This is a lunar eclipse. The moon would have the shadow of my entire world pass over it.”

“What was the other kind?”

“A solar eclipse.” he said, grinning. “Much rarer. The moon was in the middle, casting it’s shadow on my world. If you were in the shadow, which was quite large, you could look up and see the sun and moon, looking like they were one thing. The moon sat in front of the sun, but the sun was larger.” He sat and drew a circle in the dirt, drawing flames around the edge. “In the end, it looked like a great black circle in the sky, with a ring of fire around it. It was so bright that looking directly at it could blind you.”

“What if the sun was in the middle?” Cactus Star asked, taking a seat by the drawing. “What then?”

“It couldn’t happen. The sun could never be in the middle. The way my world works--which is very different from here--wouldn’t allow it. It had to stay on the edge.”

Cactus bloom frowned from where she sat, barely able to keep up. “Oh. So, you named yourself after something that never happens in Equestria?”

“On accident.” He chuckled, laying down next to her. “If Luna and Celestia ever decided to get creative, I might toss a few ideas their way. I wouldn’t count on it, though. Things haven’t changed in so long, I would be a fool to think I could change it now.”

Eclipse and Cactus Star sat in silence for a moment, when Eclipse wiped away the drawing with a hoof and rose to a standing position. “Thank you, Star. I needed to get my mind off things for a moment.”

Cactus Star watched as he left. He trotted over to a group of buffalo, asking for Chief Bloodhoof.

The filly climbed into the train, shuffling about until she found a piece of paper and a box of crayons her father had brought for her. Working from memory, she drew a solid black circle on the sheet, drawing orange and yellow flames stretching out from the edges. She labeled the creation S.E. and folded it into a more manageable size.

<><><>

The train rumbled along, the herd of buffalo thundering along beside it.

Eclipse sat in the car of the train, drawing a graph of his solar system, complete with the planets orbits and the orbits of a few moons, most prominently the moon of Earth.

Ever since his conversation with Cactus Star, he had been restless. In a good way. Somehow, he felt more energized than ever, skipping sleep last night due to how energetic he was. Trying to release the energy in a creative way, he had begun drawing diagrams and charts associated with a theory he had developed.

He paused and checked over a drawing he had made of Equestria, featuring a sun and moon orbiting on opposite sides of the world, which sat in the middle.

Equestria--the world, not the country--was drawn to be much larger than it’s two satellites, with a dwarf star and a rocky moon of equal size orbiting on opposite sides, always in the exact position opposite the other.

Eclipse cast a glance outside. He shook his head. “Still can’t see curvature. I was hoping it was a fluke, but there is no curve to the horizon. You can lay a ruler across it.” To test this, he lifted his pencil and checked the horizon against it. Perfect line. He felt a hoof on his shoulder. Turning, he came face to face with Braeburn.

“Hm?” Eclipse asked, still partially absorbed with his thoughts and theories.

Braeburn looked at him sadly. “Ya’ll need to stop this. I don’t know if your off your rocker or what, but you didn’t sleep at all last night. You’re bouncing around with that paper, writing down who-knows-what. I tried to make sense of some of this by reading over your shoulder, but its throwing me for a loop. Eclipse, you need to calm down.”

Eclipse clenched his teeth. “I know. But if I don’t do something, then I feel like I’ll explode.” He paused, ear twitching. He quickly brought his pencil up to the paper. “There’s no way a rock planet this large could develop on its own. Perhaps it’s hollow? But then the mass wouldn’t be enough to have a star as a satellite. How could a hollow planet develop? Gravity wouldn’t agree with that too well.” He continued to mumble to himself, turning away only to cast a glance out of a window, only to shake his head after a brief thought.

Returning to his small work area, he was startled by the sight of Cactus Star copying his diagram of Earth’s solar system. The filly rolled up her copy, zooming to her small section of the car once she was done.

Eclipse scanned his diagram once she was done. He ‘hmph’ed to himself as he looked over the shoddily drawn picture. Glancing back to Cactus Star, he picked up his pencil, a grin flashing across his face. “Asteroid belt and Haley’s comet it is…”

His pencil scratching across the paper almost immediately attracted Cactus Star’s attention. Eclipse’s grin widened a bit, as he was doing his best to keep the filly in his field of vision.

Sagebrush unknowingly stepped in front of her, blocking Eclipse’s view. He snorted, turning his full attention to his drawing. Once he was finished, he made several notes on the edge of the paper, regarding other objects in space that he had not included. Finally, he pulled out a second piece of paper. “Time for constellations…”

<><><>

Cairne Bloodhoof blanched as he realized how serious Eclipse had been when he described his plan. He glanced over at Eclipse and the other ponies, all of whom seemed to be smiling. Looking over the buffalo, Cairne noted that they were more mixed with their opinions on this plan. Some of them were excited, even more optimistic than the ponies. Others reflected Cairne’s attitude.

Three quarters of the buffalo broke off, circling around the train yard. The rest stayed with the train, slowing slightly so it could charge into the train yard unhindered.

Dust Demon pulled the chariot balloon up above, loaded with Sagebrush, Cactus Star, and a trio of rebels. Eclipse jumped off the train, using his magic to burrow underground and still manage to keep pace with the machine.

Cairne took a deep breath as he continued his charge, watching as the train tore through the gate to the train yard. Already, the guards were in complete disarray.

The rest happened quickly, so out of sync as to have happened in sections that had been glued together by time.

Eclipse burst from the ground, toppling one of the guard towers.

The smaller group of buffalo poured through the hole made by the train, making quick work of the guards.

Dust Demon and the ponies riding in the chariot felled another guard tower, luck causing the tower to fall onto a building.

Several guards managed to order themselves, holding the easternmost section of the compound, the same section the prisoners were in.

The larger group of buffalo attacked the resistance from behind, coming in through a hole torn in the camp wall by Eclipse.

Time righted itself once more, returning everything to its proper place.

What few guards remained were fleeing, running along the path to Appleloosa. They were blocked by fifteen buffalo, led by a face Cairne recognized easily enough.

Fateweaver stood, tossing several vials onto the path between the guards and his group of buffalo. They shattered on the ground, loosing a pink mist upon the guards. At first it had no effect, then the fleeing group fell to the ground, each one fast asleep.

The prisoners were released, the sounds of cheers echoing through the area. Now all they were missing was the rest of the one tribe, and two full tribes of angry buffalo warriors would be able to barrel down the path to Appleloosa, as well as the pony responsible for all of this.

Jango. Cairne frowned as he thought of the pony who had caused so much trouble. But he couldn’t be the only driving force behind this. The ‘gang’ was a full on invasion, meaning someone was supplying the bits required to pay for such a large operation to be built so quickly.

Eclipse walked over to stand at Cairne’s side. “I know what you’re thinking.” he said.

Cairne glanced at him, having little doubt that he did.

“You’re right.” Eclipse continued. “But that’s a war for another time. I’m sure I’ll encounter them eventually.”

He trotted away, leaving Cairne to his thoughts. The chief grunted. “It’s a war I plan on partaking in.”

Celestia's message

“You should be forewarned, sister.” Luna cautioned. “Eclipse’s dreams are many and sporadic. I have rarely seen such… variety in dreamscapes.”

Celestia nodded. “I understand, but I need to speak with him personally and I don’t have the time to fly all the way to the town of Appleloosa.” She took a deep breath. “Are you sure this spell will work?”

“Yes, sister.” Luna answered. “It took only minor modification to make it to where I could transfer another, rather than myself.”

“Then let’s commence.”

Luna’s horn glowed a light blue, the aura around it slowly increasing in size as she continued to pour energy into the spell. After a moment, her horn flashed, and Celestia no longer stood before her.

<><><>

Celestia looked around, scanning the surrounding forest. She turned her ears and eyes this way and that, trying to find a heading. She heard the distinct sound of shouts and metal on metal nearby.

“A battle?” Celestia wondered aloud. “Does he not get enough excitement during his waking hours?”

She trotted for a short distance, towards the fighting. Circling a particularly large tree she saw a sight most… confusing for her.

A diamond dog, but not a diamond dog. Drawing on her own knowledge of humans, she noted how he was much more similar to them he was than the typical diamond dog. He was holding a crossbow, as well as wearing light metal armor.

The dog-thing ducked behind a felled log as several arrows flew over his head.

“Damn it, Lycan!” He called out. “What are you doing over there?”

“Trying to save your ass and mine!” A voice shouted back, when a large explosion rocked another area outside of Celestia’s field of vision.

A black and scaly form jumped over the fallen log, landing in a kneeling position nest to the dog. Two black leathery wings and a slender tail were attached to the figure’s back. He wore armor similar to the dog’s, albeit adjusted for the extra appendages. A pair of amber eyes looked over to their companion. “Keith, how many are left?”

The dog, Keith, glanced over the log. “Lots of smoke from that grenade of yours, but three still standing.” He brought up his crossbow and pulled the trigger, loosing the bolt. “Two.”

“Show off.” Lycan muttered drawing a shortsword. “Any sign of our third member?”

Keith barked out a laugh. “If I knew where she was, she wouldn’t be doing her job!”

Lycan cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening for something. Without warning, a pair of short, sharp cries echoed from where Lycan had just caused his explosion.

“Sounds like things are finished.” Lycan turned to his companion. “You and her should meet back up at camp. I’ll be right behind you.”

“But--”

"Keith." Lycan snapped. "Trust me."

The dog grumbled a response, but obeyed.

Lycan sat back against the log, sighing heavily. He waited for almost a full minute, before he brought himself to his feet and began to approach the tree Celestia was taking cover behind.

The sun goddess took a step back, the more than passing resemblance to a dragon that Lycan possessed putting her in more than a wary state of mind.

She heard a voice from behind her. “I’m a lot more stealthy in these particular dreams, miss.”

Celestia spun around, coming face to face with Lycan.

Lycan grinned, his eyes flashing steel gray before returning to their bright amber coloring. “You’re also lot less subtle when entering a dream than your sister. Completely knocked me into lucid dream mode.”

Celestia frowned at his blatant lack of formality. “Lose your tact, have you?”

Lycan blinked several times before visibly slumping. “Sorry, princess Celestia. ‘Lycan’ is an adventurer and a works-for-the-highest-bidder mercenary by trade. He’s not cut from the same cloth as Eclipse.”

“And yet they’re all part of one quilt.” Celestia said, arching an eyebrow.

Lycan opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out. Instead, he slowly lost his color, becoming a pitch black silhouette. The silhouette changed shape, then began to regain its color. Now, Eclipse stood in front of Celestia, the earth pony pawing at the ground with a hoof.

Celestia gave him a smile. “Don’t worry. We might need Lycan later. However, I’m growing anxious. The Appleloosan mission is lasting far longer than anticipated.”

Eclipse ground his teeth together. “This will take a while to explain, Princess. I trust you came with some time on your hooves.”

Eclipse briefly explained everything that had happened up to this meeting with Celestia, who was listening patiently. When he was finished, she shook her head. “How can such an organization exist?”

Eclipse stiffened, his face expressing mixed emotions.

Celestia turned to him. “I asked a question.”

“Princess?” Eclipse asked, off-guard.

“How can this ‘gang’ be such a force in Equestria?” Celestia repeated. “Is it possible that there are more?”

Eclipse half sighed and half groaned in response. “I… don’t know. What little I have seen since coming to Equestria has surprised me. Appleloosa is about to be a war zone. The final battle in this campaign is close. If we win, I’ll be able to look into this further.”

“And what trail shall you follow?"

“Excuse me?" Eclipse asked, frowning. "I thought I'd--"

"You do not know where they are centralized, nor who leads them." Celestia reasoned. "After Appleloosa is secure, I'll send a contingent of guards to keep it that way, but you will need to wait until your next assignment. With any luck, it will give you more idea of who these raiders are."

Eclipse bowed. "Of course, princess."

Celestia smiled. "Now, tell me about the group of ponies you've gathered. Braeburn I'm already somewhat familiar with, but the others I'd like to hear about."

"Why do you want to know that?"

Celestia gave him another smile. "How long can one stand alone?"

<><><>

Eclipse’s eyes shot open, his sleeping body shooting awake and onto its hooves in less than a second. He glanced around the area of ground he had fallen asleep on, noting a pair of Silverstar’s rebels that were giving him odd glances for his jump to wakefulness.

Looking towards the sky, he found that the moon and stars were still out. The moon was nearing the horizon, slowly preparing to lower itself below the line of sky meeting land.

Eclipse stepped onto a nearby mass of black smoke. When he was situated, the smoke rose as a cloud, bringing him with it. It stopped rising several hundred feet above the ground giving Eclipse a clear view of both east and west.

As the moon touched the horizon, Eclipse looked to the opposite direction, waiting for the sunrise. Once the tip of the sun peeked over the edge of the land, Eclipse turned his gaze back to the moon, catching the last inch or so of the orb sink out of sight.

Eclipse smiled, his eyes looking to the ground as the rest of the train yard brought itself to life. Dust Demon was flying up to him, mere meters away by now.

The pegasus paused, hovering next him in the air. “There a reason you’re up here?”

“The sun and moon.” Eclipse muttered. “If you’re at the right spot--like up here--you can see them both in the sky, for a few moments. At opposite sides and only a sliver of each, yes, but both in the sky.”

Dust Demon sucked in a breath, wings beating a pattern in the air. “Why's that important?”

“It’s not.” Eclipse sighed. “Not to you, anyway. Why did you come up here?”

“Some of the buffalo want to know what the plan is.”

“Storm Appleloosa, kick the gang out on their asses, lynch Jango.” Eclipse flicked his ear, swatting away a fly that had come too close. “Any questions?”

“Sounds good to me!” Dust Demon saluted, returning to ground level.

Author's Note

For the *five* of you who were reading this, the chapter has been revised and a portion of it has been altered for safety reasons.

To the rest of you, you didn't have to read the unaltered version. Lucky you.

Eclipse's offer

Dust Demon stared out over the flat expanse laying between him and his home.

Several hot air balloons--similar to the one they had commandeered and attached to a chariot--were hovering around, keeping watch as the sunrise began to light the land. More than a few of the settlers in the town were beginning to fight back,the sounds of battle echoing across the desert plains surrounding the town. But they were always soon put down.

Less than half the town's populace actually resided inside the city now, most of them fleeing from the gang. One in five of those gone were dead.

The gang itself was in rough shape. Very few, if any of the guards on duty seemed to have slept, they were loading supplies to retreat as fast as they could and they seemed to know what the slowly approaching cloud of dust really was. Looking through a telescope Eclipse had let him borrow, Dust Demon soon spotted Royal, the mare's mane and coat covered in a thick layer of desert dust and grime. From how often she was cracking her whip, she couldn't be pleased. The gang had a large zeppelin resting on the eastern edge of the town, the image of a large lantern with a rising sun painted on one side.

Adjusting the telescope, Dust Demon settled himself against the sands, his natural coloring doing its part to help him blend in and avoid being spotted. In hindsight, it made perfect sense for him to scout ahead. He couldn't suppress a chuckle when remembering how much he complained of wanting a more direct role in dealing with these invaders.

A minotaur stepped out of the airship, coming down a ramp to meet Royal at it's base. He couldn't tell what they were saying, but from the way the pair acted it was a heated conversation. The minotaur pointed at the zeppelin, obviously finalizing the order to retreat and leave the town. Appleloosa was apparently being more trouble than it was worth.

Jango arriving on scene more than confirmed this, as the stallion looked haggard. Dust Demon had to admit, he had though that he and Jango would have traded hooves with each other a while before, until Eclipse came along and whisked him into a trek across half the desert. The 'sheriff' had a large black eye and his spear was covered in blood. From this distance it was impossible to tell if it was fresh or not, but it could easily go either way.

Smiling to himself, Dust Demon thought that Eclipse could fight Royal, but Jango was his and his alone.

Thunder boomed in the distance.

Dust Demon looked over to spot a large group of storm clouds lazily going on about their business, heading in a circle around the town. Returning his attention to the town, Dust Demon took note how many pegasi were prepared to spring into the air, should the situation call for it. Taking a quick breath, he realized how nervous he suddenly was at seeing such a large amount of his fellow winged ponies.

The town hadn't seen any magic wielders until the elements of harmony, and now Eclipse, had come around, disregarding the gang's own unicorn force. As for pegasi, Dust Demon was the town's best flyer, but the best out of five flyers wasn't much to boast about.

Deciding to return and report his findings, Dust Demon jumped when a pony landed on top of him from behind.

"What'cha got?" Eclipse asked excitedly, taking the spyglass from Dust Demon's grasp, but not moving from his new and sudden perch on the pegasi's back. "Ooh, airship. Please let the name 'Hindenburg' be written on the side. That'd be awesome."

"What are you doing here?" Dust Demon snapped. He had been sent as a scout by this very pony and now, this very pony was suddenly--

Eclipse snapped him out of his reverie with the next few words. "I needed to talk without outside ears. I've already talked to Sagebrush and Cactus Star, and you're all that's left on my list."

"List?" Dust Demon asked, eyes narrowing as Eclipse rolled onto the ground beside the dusty brown pony.

"An offer from the royal sisters." Eclipse explained. "Sagebrush was offered to move to Canterlot, join the royal guard and send Cactus Star to Canterlot public school as a reward for helping me here. Also, he'll be evaluated for spectre training."

"Spectre?" Dust Demon breathed out. "As in, you?"

"Aye. That be me message." Eclipse responded, tilting his pirate hat.

"Will you get rid of that thing!?"

"Killjoy." Eclipse rolled his eyes, allowing the hat to disappear in a puff of smoke. "Anyway, you get a similar offer. Come in, get evaluated. Even if you fail, you'll be given a job. Name your job. Weather pony, guard, baker, etc. As well as moving to Canterlot."

"Why?"

"Don't know." Eclipse said, taking a bite out of an apple. "Ask the princesses. Personally, I think it's a really pathetic excuse to keep a few characters or something."

"What?"

Sighing, Eclipse tossed the half eaten apple away. "Just say yes or no."

"What did Sagebrush say?" Dust Demon asked, hoping for a prompt or clue as to what he should say.

"I hate offering red versus blue, so I'm not influencing your decision." Eclipse grinned. "Answer now, and learn what your friend said later. But the choice isn't locked in stone, anyway."

Dust Demon glanced back at Appleloosa, seeing the town he had lived in for so long. Secretly, his mind had pounced on the idea of leaving and joining the princesses. Hell, if he could help stop whatever happened here from happening to other cites, stop the fighting...

He shook his head a little to clear it. Dust Demon was practical, all things considered. If the princesses called for somepony to test if they could become one of their agents, that pony would undoubtedly pass.But why would they call on him? Or Sagebrush? Was it the lack of any major emotional ties to the town? Sure, without a relationship, things didn't weigh on him to stay, but there had to be more to it. How much influence did Eclipse have on the princesses, anyway?

Voicing his final concern, Dust Demon was shocked at the response.

Eclipse had shrugged, chuckling heavily. "Haven't really tested that, yet. I don't like the idea of having any."

Dust Demon slowly rose to his hooves. "When the town is free, I'll go."

"Great!" Eclipse said jovially. "Now, what do you think that image is? The lantern with a rising sun inside of it? Their name?"

"Don't know. Probably."

"Light of the daybreak!" Eclipse said, waving a hoof to gesture at the zeppelin. "Rising flame! Dawn's Light! Sun's glow!"

"I like the third one." Dust Demon said, looking through the telescope again. "It sounds nice. Plus, it's printed underneath the picture."

Pulling out a spyglass of his own--which Dust Demon immediately disliked since it was larger than the one he had been given--Eclipse looked at the airship again. "Huh. How'd I miss that?"

<><><>

Eclipse and Dust Demon trudged into the encampment, talking, but not very loudly. Sagebrush almost immediately wandered over, casting a curious look towards Dust Demon. The pegasus nodded once, the both of them breathing a little easier after Sagebrush's sigh of relief.

Eclipse left in search of Fateweaver, hoping to catch the buffalo shaman wherever he may be.

It didn't take long to find him, the buffalo having also been looking for Eclipse.

Pulling the earth pony to the side, Fateweaver leveled a hard stare at him. "Eclipse, I have something you may want to know. It's concerning our enemies."

Eclipse frowned. "What about?"

"I had a friend of mine scout out the town even while your pegasus friend did the same."

"A friend?" Eclipse asked, grinning. "Have you been keeping secrets from me?"

Fateweaver ignored the playful barb. "The minotaur in the town. He's after you, especially. Him and that mare you fought in the mine."

"I take it they don't want to have dinner with me."

Fateweaver sighed. "Be careful, Eclipse. Even with both disharmony and honesty, you aren't a god. You aren't even particularly powerful compared to some of the players in the field of life."

"I get it, okay?" Eclipse moaned. "Discord, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, very probably Twilight Sparkle, if she's still alive then Chrysalis. But those aren't the people I'm fighting. Let the minotaur come. And make sure he brings Royal."

A sharp whistle caught the pair's attention. Looking over, they found Silverstar briskly trotting up to them. "It's time." The Sheriff gave the two a curt nod when he reached them. "Hope ya'll are ready. The buffalo tribes are both moving out. All that's left is my rebels and the folks you have, Eclipse."

Eclipse eyed him skeptically. "Why so soon? I thought we'd at least have another day."

Fateweaver smiled from behind Eclipse's back. "I believe that you can cope with the surprise."

Keeping a snarl to himself, Eclipse whirled away from the two, taking a quick stride even as he heard the two behind him quickly turn and follow. Bringing his disharmony to a spike, Eclipse grinned to himself. Those storm clouds Dust Demon had seen near Appleloosa would certainly prove useful after all.

Royal's stand

She was surprised at the sudden appearance of storm clouds over the town. Wrinkling her snout, Royal murmured to herself about how this would delay the takeoff of the zeppelin, as well as forcing her to continue taking orders from that infuriating minotaur.

Jango appeared beside her, ordering several pegasi into the air in an attempt to clear the clouds before the rains started. If they worked quickly, they might stop the clouds. Royal smirked at him, pretending to admire him for his quick thinking.

In truth, she knew something was very wrong with this situation. Her scouts had confirmed that the storm would pass harmlessly by the town, not over the top of it. Unlike Jango, Royal did not tolerate poor subordination. They knew well the price of their foolishness, so they wouldn't have dared to err in their reports.

The presence in her skull came back, a soft purr that calmed her and kept her in check. Royal had long since stopped questioning the presence. It told her to keep her eye on the pegasus teams, so she did. Though the clouds were black, no thunder boomed in them, prompting Royal's brain to fire up. Something must have been holding them in check. The flying ponies drew close to the clouds, nothing out of the ordinary besides the lack of lightning and rain, when that suddenly evolved into the opposite problem.

The lightning was like none she had ever seen before. It crackled and bent in mid-air, pulsing with energy. Several distinct bolts came forth, dissecting the pegasi groups and slamming several individual targets back to the ground. One such target landed near her, dead even before his bone shattering impact with the ground.

She had seen plenty of lightning strikes, more often than not due to a careless pegasus or two. Those had resulted in a zap, some pain and a few singed hairs, but rarely caused any serious damage. These lightning strikes were nothing like that. They flew into their targets with precision accuracy, burning flesh where they struck. One pegasus took the brunt of one bolt to the chest, stopping her heart as the electricity passed through her. She fell to the ground, a scorch mark on her chest.

Several other pegasi suffered similar fates, the skies themselves turning against the ponies which once ruled them. Along with the lightning, a sudden downpour began, quickly soaking through most ponies coats and manes to their skin. It wasn't terribly cold, so their wasn't a soul who immediately began shivering, but it wouldn't have taken much more for the rain to threaten with possible hypothermia to these who didn't keep moving.

Within minutes, the flyers gave up, returning to ground. The lightning storm calmed once more though the rain remained. The sudden halt of lightning seemed to send a message that flying units were it's primary-and only--concern. Royal's eyes turned back to the airship.

The minotaur was descending the loading ramp, holding a sledgehammer in his meaty hands. The presence returned to her, tingling her mind as it ordered her to find whatever was responsible for this.

A rumble that traveled through the earth shortened her search considerably.

climbing onto a nearby roof, Royal looked out over the desert and, to her dismay, saw buffalo descending upon her troops, as well as Jango's and the reinforcements that the minotaur had brought. She was dismayed because the Dawn's Light were more than powerful enough to hold their line. If just a small group had been present, that would have changed, but Royal couldn't spot her personal quarry anywhere.

The presence shifted in her mind, bringing memories of her battle in the mine to the surface of her thoughts, along with a name.

"Eclipse."

She'd have him when he showed his face. Then she'd send him to be dissected, to find where his strange magical abilities came from. After that, he would be her personal trophy. Along with those rebels. She felt the feelings of approval emanate from the back of her mind.

A bright dot on the edge of her vision called to her attention, bringing her head around. A group of ponies, one of which had a red glow around him.

Grinning, Royal readied her whip. He would come to her, then they would have a rematch. How fortunate that good things come to those who wait.

<><><>

Eclipse laughed as the pegasi flew back to the ground, unwilling to contend with his conjured storm. "Mother Earth's got more tricks than that, boys!" He promised to the Dawn's Light. "And to think, we haven't even hit the volcano stage!"

Braeburn patted him on the back. "That was mighty impressive, Eclipse. If you ever invite me, remind me to never go to wherever it is you're from."

Bringing another part of his magic to the surface, Eclipse didn't answer beyond a confirming grunt. He motioned with his hoof for the others to advance. His was a special team. While the buffalo contended with the main body of their opponents, Eclipse and his select group would break through and take on the enemy leadership.

Actually fighting through the confusion was easy, most of the enemy mistaking the troop for some of their own. The few who might have realized the truth were too embroiled in their personal fights with buffalo to care much about them.

Putting a spear through an earth pony who had stumbled too close, Dust Demon took cover beside a building on the edge of the town. "I'm going for Jango. Try not to blast me with lightning, you got it?"

Eclipse nodded a response, watching the pegasi take flight in an attempt to sneak up on his target, as nopony expected someone to be flying after the mass lightning storm Eclipse had just caused.

Sagebrush took a step forward. "I'll take care of some of the guards around this area. Give us a place to retreat should things get hairy."

Eclipse sucked in a breath as he prepared to go for his own target. "Sure you can handle it?"

"Hah! I haven't been this excited since our assault on the mine! And not before that since I was in service!"

"You were a guard?" Eclipse asked, temporarily forgetting the battle he was in the middle of.

"Oh, no." Sagebrush shook his head. "I was a berserker."

With a fierce battle cry, the green earth pony pounced on a group of soldiers trying to block the street, exploding with the same burst of strength and speed he had used during his one pony attack on the mine barracks.

Braeburn shook his head. "He always seemed to talk less than the rest of us."

Eclipse shifted his weight, leaning against the wall of the building. When Sagebrush had routed the closest group of soldiers, Eclipse and Breaburn stealthily moved forward, scouting for their own targets as well as watching for the second group that had come into the town.

The second squadron was headed by Silverstar and Fateweaver, with Silverstar's rebels making up the main body of the secondary force.They were tasked with taking out the zeppelin.

Breaburn tapped Eclipse on the shoulder. "They might be in the jailhouse. Jango probably is, anyhow." He pointed to the building in question, just down the street from where the two currently were.

As if to confirm his suspicions, Dust Demon burst through a window in the building's side, tangled up with Jango as the two tried to beat each other down.

Eclipse retreated into an alley. "Help him." He ordered. "I'll keep watch for Royal and that minotaur."

As Braeburn nodded and left, Eclipse activated his honesty abilities. Almost immediately, an orange phantom whip sprung up, aimed at his torso. Bringing up a hoof to shield himself, he wasn't very surprised at who was on the other end of the snakelike weapon.

<><><>

Royal snarled as her whip wrapped around Eclipse's hoof. Even as she was frustrated by his preternatural speed in response to her attack, she felt a twinge of satisfaction that she had caught him off-guard. Pulling the whip taut, she then jumped, pulling again with all her might.

Rocketing towards Eclipse, she reveled in the surprise in his eyes, even as he managed to sidestep out of her path. Holding on to her whip, she swung around, turning her weapon into a cocoon for the troublesome pony. Despite several shouts of protest and heavy struggling, Royal soon had him tied up and on the ground. Perhaps a bow to finish the wrapping?

A lance of pain ran through her head. Not an extreme burst, but enough for her to flinch. Clearly, she had overstepped her bounds. Eclipse didn't notice, or perhaps didn't care. His eyes and hooves started to glow red again, a sign of sure trouble for the mare standing over him. She lifted a hoof, preparing to knock him out, but he rolled into ther legs, tripping her and sending her sprawling to the ground.

Grimacing, she quickly climbed back to her hooves and turned to see Eclipse finish wiggling out of her trap. Jumping at him from the side, she had been hoping to flank him, but he quickly responded with a hoof to her face. Now dazed, Royal danced away, dodging several more jabs from him as he took the offensive.

Clearing her head, she felt more than ready to continue the fight, but a nagging feeling told her to wait for Grudge, the self arrogant minotaur who had come to oversee their retreat. She didn't know how she knew, she just knew that he must be nearby.

Obeying the pressure the feeling was laying on her, she switched to a delaying tactic. Keep far enough away to evade attacks, but stay close enough to keep interest. Her change in attitude didn't go unnoticed however, as Eclipse activated the strange power that allowed him to summon objects and contort the world around him.

This time, he pulled a rubber band out from thin air, firing it at her. Royal avoided the puny missile, but the moment of distraction it caused allowed Eclipse to rush her, his front hooves covered in stone he had pulled from the ground. Dodging his first strike, she realized that the rock gauntlets Eclipse had rapidly constructed were nigh indestructible, as demonstrated by a hole he had punched into the side of a building.

He also seemed to be enhancing his physical strength with his powers. While one part of her mind wondered if that was how he was so quick to react to her attacks, another part guided her back to her whip, lying on the ground nearby. Retrieving the weapon, she lashed at her opponent, hoping to drive him back. Instead, he waded into the range of her strike, deftly ducking under the whip's pitiless form.

A shadow appeared behind Eclipse, large and bulky. Smiling, Royal allowed him another few feet of space, fully aware that this fight would soon be over and she would be justly compensated for her success.

<><><>

Eclipse advanced on Royal, aiming for a one hit victory. The stone gauntlets he had improvised lent his punches weight, while his own magic kept him swinging his best.

Just as he reared back for his next strike, a heavy object slammed into his side. Flying several dozen feet away from where he was standing, Eclipse rolled over the ground, dazed and confused. Wondering what had snuck up on him, he realized with dismay that he could only see phantoms that were approaching from the front, leaving the rest of him without any future warning of an attack.

Climbing to his hooves despite the pain of at least one broken rib, he found Royal standing next to a large minotaur, a mighty sledgehammer in its grasp.

As the two came forward, Eclipse had the pleasant surprise of Jango being tossed at them from the side. Flicking his eyes over, but leaving his head facing the equally surprised pair who had jumped away from the living missile, he breathed a sigh of relief when Dust Demon and Braeburn wandered into his vision.

Dust Demon dashed forward, using his entire body's weight to back his hooves as they slammed into the minotaur's skull. At least, in theory. In truth, the minotaur swung his hammer true, the head colliding with the pegasi's shoulder and tossing him to the ground a few yards away from Eclipse.

A clear "Ow..." escaped the wounded pegasus as he tried to stand but fell back to the ground, clearly finished with the fight.

The minotaur raised his hammer in victory. "None can hold against the might of Grudge!" He bellowed, his voice resonating off the building around them.

Eclipse snarled.

Grudge turned towards him, surprised. "What's wrong little pony? Scared to meet your maker?"

Braeburn took a step back when Eclipse's snarl turned into a grin. "Yep, he's lost it."

Royal looked at him questioningly, but quickly turned her full attention to the pony and the minotaur who were currently engaged in what seemed to be a high stakes staring contest.

His low patience quickly eroding, Grudge raised his hammer in a charge against Eclipse. Eclipse charged as well, but bent low to the ground and slid between the minotaur's legs. Infuriated at the ploy, Grudge turned, hoping to find Eclipse still regaining his footing. Instead, Eclipse had already flung himself at the minotaur, landing squarely on Grudge's face and using the minotaur's horns to hold on.

Grudge grabbed Eclipse and flung him away, barely realizing that he was flinging him directly towards Royal. The mare saw Eclipse land on his hooves and slide along the dirt, continuing his momentum towards her. As he continued across the loose dirt, he grinned and pulled his right hoof back.

Once he was less than a foot away from Royal, he dug into the ground, driving his momentum into the ground and jumping back in a pounce that was assisted by the ground rising up and pushing Eclipse back at Grudge. Despite the massive resistance and pain his body had felt to the sudden stop, reversal and acceleration, Eclipse held his hoof in its 'ready to punch' position.

A cone of fire grew around his hoof as Eclipse began pouring a heavy dose of chaos into his entire front leg. "Falcon..."

Grudge had retrieved his sledgehammer, but even he hadn't expected Eclipse to give up the opening on a surprised Royal that he had accidentally opened. Braeburn watched slack-jawed as Eclipse hit Grudge in the stomach for all either of them were worth, sending the great bull man through the wall of a building. "Punch!"

Despite the obvious drain on his physical and magical energy, Eclipse managed to spin about, launching several large stones from the ground around him and throwing in a cannonball he had found for good measure.

<><><>

Diving to the ground, Royal was pelted by several smaller projectiles but avoided the brunt of the sudden attack. Getting up and readying her whip, she realized that Jango was beginning to stir. Smiling, she lashed her weapon at Eclipse. The trick he had just pulled wouldn't kill Grudge, she knew, but the minotaur would certainly be kept out of field operations for a while yet.

Eclipse jumped back, avoiding the attack entirely. Jango managed to bring himself to a standing position, facing off with Braeburn. Those two would keep each other company.

In the moment it took her to make that thought, Eclipse had fired a small orange energy blast at her. Without enough time to dodge, she brought a hoof up, hoping to shield her face. The ball dissipated upon hitting her, leaving her entirely unharmed.

Surprised at first, it took Royal only a few seconds to start laughing. "Is that it?" She sneered at him. "All out?"

Eclipse smiled, a cocky lopsided smile. Like he knew something she didn't. It was infuriating to Royal. She had always had a weakness for that kind of -- what was she thinking? This was the time for fighting!

Charging forward, she managed a glancing blow to Eclipse's injured side, the same side Grudge had hit him with his hammer. His face contorted with pain, Royal felt a pang of guilt. But... why? She had done far worse than this, she knew.

Off put by the sudden change in her thought patterns, Royal almost didn't notice Eclipse buck her away from him. This was followed by another orange sphere of energy.

Grunting to herself, Royal shook her head to clear it. Something was wrong. She shouldn't be this unfocused. The small presence in her mind buzzed with confusion, trying to reorient her on her goals. But it seemed so much farther away than normal...

She had to end this fight now.

<><><>

Eclipse had to fight to keep the grin off his face. If he could pump a few more pieces of honesty into her system, it would override the loyalty someone else had forced onto her mind. Even now, he could see the magenta aura around her starting to fade. If only the others could see this secondary battle that was being waged.

Breaburn had been tackled by Jango, but Dust Demon had also recovered and was helping the earth pony in his fight. From the looks of things, though, he wasn't able to fly until he got medical attention.

Royal bit into the handle of her whip with her frustrations, twisting her neck to strike at him again. Putting his hoof up in defense, Eclipse let the whip wrap around his ankle. Instead of waiting for Royal to pull at it like she had at the beginning of the fight, he grippe it securely and tugged the weapon right out of her mouth.

Pulling the whip towards him and grabbing the handle with his hoof, Eclipse reacted with a slight panic when he saw the shadow of something loom over him. Twisting around and lashing with the whip, he cut Grudge's face open across the cheek and nose.

Dancing away from the enraged minotaur, he could only watch as the bull charged forward, picking up Jango on his way and making a beeline for his airship.

Turning, Eclipse noticed that Royal had fled as well, deeming the fight unwinnable without her weapon or allies.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief, Eclipse chuckled when he saw the airship erupt in flames, along with a good deal of Dawn's Light balloons. The accompanying howl of rage from Grudge brought him to full on laughter.

Finishing the battle for Appleloosa

"Did he have to make it rain?" Silverstar muttered.

"Is that all you have on your mind?" Fateweaver shot back. "We have an objective."

Rolling his eyes, Silverstar led Fateweaver and the pony rebels forward, closer to the town.

"Friggin' mud..." One of them mumbled to themselves, grimacing when he slipped and fell to the ground. Once they were at the edge of the town, they waited for confirmation that Eclipse had also brought his team into position.

The sight of Sagebrush chasing around a pair of Dawn's Light served as confirmation enough.

"I hope those jars of yours do what you say they will." Silverstar said, adjusting the trio of vials Fateweaver had given to him. Similar sets had been handed to each of the rebels.

"Trust me, Sheriff." The buffalo grinned. "They will provide more than enough to trigger the hydrogen inside the blimp. It's the hot air balloons we will need to be tactical with."

Gritting his teeth, Silverstar motioned his ponies forward, also 'helping' a lone guard who had lost his way. Fateweaver followed, though his attempt at stealth was ruined by the buffalo's natural bulk. So, staying back a safe distance, the shaman kept the rest of his team in sight as they advanced on the airship. Along the way, they encountered sparse resistance, little more than a few soldiers who weren't outside town.

Most of the scattered lot were organizing a retreat, hastened by the sudden onslaught that the buffalo were bringing. Several individual balloons had already taken off, hoisting an above maximum amount of supplies and personnel. This organized retreat aside, there were no cowards in the Dawn's Light. Every one of them were fighting or guarding their supplies. It would have been impressive if they weren't the bad guys.

Lining up behind a building, the group of rebels gathered themselves in preparation. Several climbed onto the building's roof. Others made their way around the zeppelin. Eying several balloons that were grounded nearby, Silverstar gave the order to attack, loosing the smaller strike team on the surprised Dawn's Light.

Charging through the throng of sudden fighting, Fateweaver carved a path through where the opposition was thickest. Scattering a dozen enemies and flattening two, he gave the rebels a large area for movement. Flinging one of his vials, the 'little surprise' bounced its way to a trio of enemies before imploding with extreme force, pulling in its targets. This was followed shortly after by an explosion, sending fire and napalm outward for several meters and charring both ground and flesh.

Jumping to the side, Fateweaver easily avoided the spear that had been thrown at him, an orange phantom of which he had used to time his defense. Knowing that his personal supply of magic was limited, he rarely used it, but this was a special case. Quickly covering the distance between the spear thrower and himself, Fateweaver headbutted the pony, knocking him out cold.

Looking around, he realized that most of the fighting had already been cleaned up. Silverstar was trotting up from his left, but the zeppelin was sitting just on his right. Motioning towards the airship, Fateweaver grunted at Silverstar, who smiled.

Silverstar ordered his rebels to destroy any balloons they could, including the airship. Several short minutes later, each balloon seemed to pull in on itself, seconds before exploding outward. Due to the hydrogen inside of it, the zeppelin went in a particularly large ball of fire.

Trading a hoof-bump, Silverstar and Fateweaver congratulated each other on a job well done. Then a howl of rage hit their ears.

Each turned to see an angry minotaur charging at them, swinging a sledgehammer the likes of which could kill if not avoided in time.

Along with him was Jango, the corrupt pony who had been acting as a pacifier for any Appleloosans who disagreed with the ponies who had taken over the town. Behind him was the same mare that Fateweaver and Silverstar had seen fighting Eclipse in the mine.

A few Dawn's Light rallied around the sudden appearance of their leaders, bringing the fighting back around to the rebels who had infiltrated the town.

Fateweaver distracted the minotaur, doing his best to keep the attention of the raging fighter. Silverstar traded hoofs with Jango, neither of the two seeming to have any major advantage over the other.

Royal slipped around and through the fighting that had re-erupted around her. There was a balloon incoming, if she could just attract the attention of the soldiers on board. Shouting orders at the top of her lungs, she just barely managed to break through the noise and clatter around her.

The balloon turned towards her, lowering a rope ladder for Royal and the other two commanders.

"Oh, no you don't!" Dust Demon barreled into Royal, knocking her away. Behind him, Breaburn brought up a spear, threatening the balloon in the event it came any closer. From where he was fighting, Fateweaver managed to see several buffalo filter into the edge of the area, the sight of them bringing good news from the rest of the battle.

The airship continued to burn, despite the rain that was now beginning to abate. Somehow, this is what reminded Fatweweaver that he still had some of his vials and potions left, not all of which were of the implosion/explosion variety.

Taking a deep breath, he tossed down a sleeping gas potion of his, trying to use it to incapacitate his opponent, though the minotaur showed no signs of slowing down even after a lungful of the stuff. Gritting his teeth, he charged forward, lowering his horns to skewer the bull-man.

Despite being half-blinded by anger at the destruction of his airship, he still had enough thinking capacity to get out of the way, dodging the buffalo's charge.

Unable to do a quick turn while charging, Fateweaver dug his hooves into the earth, softened by the rain. Skidding for several meters, he eventually came to a full stop, turning to find that the minotaur had moved on to Breaburn.

The orange earth pony fled before the approaching mass of muscle, one of the most strategically practical moves anypony would ever make. Grudge chased him a short distance, but allowed the pony to escape. Without him and his spear, the balloon came in for a near landing, once more lowering its rope ladder.

<><><>

Jango brought a board he had picked up and sung it around, aiming for Silverstar's head. The sherrif ducked, bringing his right hoof up in an uppercut. Now bleeding from a split lip and with one tooth loose, Jango gritted his teeth and swung again, trying to bring his improvised weapon to bear.

Silverstar stepped back, a grin on his face. At Jango's questioning glance, the pony laughed. "Turn around."

Turning his head, Jango heard somepony shout, "For Mallet, you son of a--" before his ears were filled by a deafening crack. At least, it was deafening to him.

Somehow, he had ended up laying on the ground, bleeding from the head. Opening one eye, he found a dusty brown pegusus standing over him. "Glad to see you're still awake. Just like he was when I was watching."

Bringing up a broken spear shaft, Dust Demon jammed the broken end into Jango's eye, driving the wood through the stallion's brain and finding purchase in the back of the skull. Jango released a scream, a sound that came out as little moer than a gargle to any who were listening.

Silverstar looked to Dust Demon. "What about the mare?"

Suddenly out of breath, the pegasus had to take a moment before answering. "Ran before I could fight her. Probly' with that minotaur.

"Where's Eclipse?"

A brown blur being flung from the balloon that had just picked up Royal and Grudge answered the question for them. Eclipse landed on a small black cloud, softening his landing. He still bore the bruise that had gotten him kicked off the balloon, though.

He jumped down to the ground, preparing to force the balloon to the ground by any means he could. Charging up a blast of chaos magic, he barely heard someone shouting at him.

Curious, he turned his head in time to see a lone unicorn fire a spell at him, knocking him to the ground. The unicorn fired another spell, knocking Eclipse out before Dust Demon tackled the unicorn to the ground, Silverstar not far behind.

Almost immediately, the rain stopped and the dark clouds above began to clear away, just in time for the buffalo herds to finish the remaining Dawn's Light, though almost a third managed to escape even with the destroyed balloons.

watching as several rebels tended to Eclipse, Fateweaver sighed to himself. "I should have known that he would try to use his own honesty to break another's loyalty. He needs loyalty of his own before he can succesfully break her of her prison."

An eagle landed on the shaman's horn.

"Ah, there you are, my ever faithful friend." Fateweaver chuckled as the bird settled into it's perch. The same bird that had showed Eclipse the canyon in the Elder's cradle. "Take a letter..."

bang bang Up yet?

"What do you mean 'escaped'?" Silverstar asked, his voice a strange, panicky version of calm, if that was even possible.

Chief Bloodhoof and Chief Thunderhooves shared a glance. Bloodhoof was the one to step forward. "Just that. All the prisoners we captured from the Dawn's Light, even before the battle. Gone."

Silverstar banged his head against the wall. Then did it again. And again. This process repeated until Dust Demon popped his head in from the other room. What he was going to say was evident by the disheveled mane and tired eyes he was sporting. "Is there a reason ya'll are makin' so much racket? Or do you just hate the idea of a nap after being up all night?"

Sagebrush's voice echoed from the room about eighty percent of Dust Demon was still inside. "Nopony asked you to personally bury Jango in an unmarked grave."

The brown pegasus grumbled to himself, returning to his previous position in a chair on the far side of the room from where Silverstar and the buffalo had finally stopped with their noise. Sagebrush was reading a book he had stumbled across, his silence the only thing that made Dust Demon able to bear his presence.

Stopping to try and connect the silent figure currently absorbed in his reading with the on-the-edge-of-sanity-and-not-afraid-of-jumping battle lust he had witnessed being used against the Dawn's Light, Dust Demon found it only gave him a headache to think about. It was always the quiet ones. He had never thought that saying would turn out to be true. "Guess it's so popular for a reason." He muttered.

"Hm?" Sagebrush commented, not looking up from his book.

The sound of shattering glass interrupted the pegasus's response, followed by a chuckle from two large buffalo.

"So they told him how much repairs'll cost..." Dust Demon chuckled, using that thought to turn the annoying echo of the glass into a quick path to sleep.

A wave of snoring hit Sagebrush right in the middle of a particularly interesting paragraph. The sudden shock of returning to the world of reality stunned him for a moment, until he remembered that Dust Demon's snoring always abated after the first forty-five seconds or so. That was the only reason the rest of the party had gotten any sleep at all out in the desert.

Another few minutes passed with the only sounds being some muffled conversation between Silverstar and the Buffalo. And so it was when Breaburn decided to arrive on scene.

Despite the yellow earth pony's fairly slim frame, he still managed to work up the power needed to kick down the door outside, which sat directly beside Dust Demon's chair.

Between the loud bang of the door and Braeburn's louder "Ya'll got five minutes before he's out of it! Hurry up and get to the doctor's office!" Sagebrush wasn't very surprised when Dust Demon shot out of his peaceful stupor and reflexively flapped his swings. What did surprise him was Dust Demon flapping so hard he slammed into the ceiling. Stunned, The pegasus fell back to the ground, landing face-first in a tangle of feathers and awkwardly twisted legs. Now stunned from the second blow, Dust Demon tried to untwist himself and stand up, but only succeeded in tripping over himself and falling to the ground. Again.

Sagebrush trotted past his friend, exiting the building. "Smooth."

Dust Demon eventually managed to right himself, but when he started walking and trying to clean the crust from his eyes at the same time, he ran into a wall, temporarily going cross-eyed in the brief span of time between impact and recovery.

Silverstar opened the door to the room he and the buffalo chiefs were in, smirking as broadly as physically possible. "Is there a reason ya'll are makin' so much racket? Or do you just hate the idea of a conversation between a pony and some buffalo friends of his."

Both Thunderhooves and Bloodhoof had to bite their tongues to contain their laughter.

<><><>

Eclipse cracked open his eyes, despite the headache that was telling him no.

The blinding array of blurs that greeted him sent a sharp spike of pain through his skull, making him cry out. Another lance shot through when he heard his exclamation. Unable to see or hear without experiencing a horrid pain and with a major headache that was sitting there passive-aggressively, suggesting but not openly demanding him to stay down and let as much time pass as it wanted, Eclipse decided to just lay in the bed he found himself in, one leg draped over his eyes as a precautionary defense to them opening and letting light in.

"Do you think he knows we're here?" Someone whispered.

Eclipse's ears twitched, which was followed by a sigh. "Well, Braeburn, he knows now. Maybe we should just -- Dust Demon, NO!"

The shout was a warning of what was to come. Despite the pain it caused, it warned that something much worse was rapidly approaching, so get ready. That something was a pan being banged on by something hard. Like a stick or maybe a piece of scrap metal. Then sound mattered very little compared to the spear that lanced through Eclipse's brain.

Eclipse froze, his eyes snapping open and his ears tuning in to the world around him. Luckily the world was quiet, so pain was avoided from that direction. But he still had to contend with the sudden brightness in his vision. Between the blurriness and the floating shapes he had to clear from his sight, Eclipse had to take several moments of blinking to get better than severe nearsightedness for his vision.

Once the respite was over he saw Dust Demon being held down by Sagebrush, Braeburn and Fateweaver standing on either side of the two.

"Well, I had to wake up for him." Dust Demon growled, squirming.

"Well, really that was me." Braeburn quietly said, but it was loud enough to attract Dust Demon's attention.

Sitting still and taking a moment to process this new information, the pegasus smiled. "You're right."

Braeburn sprinted out of the building, Dust Demon following close behind.

Fateweaver acted like nothing had happened, instead just saying, "Lay down, Eclipse. Being knocked out by magic can be very debilitating to the mind and body when it awakes.

"You mean the headache and sensory sensitivity?"

Sagebrush pursed his lips. "What was that you said about phases?" He asked, directing the question at Fateweaver.

The buffalo sighed. "Enter stage two." Eclipse suddenly discovered what it was like to have the whole back half of his body lose feeling. "Numbness."

Eclipse paled to the point his gray coat became a dirty white, struggling to move his back legs but only receiving static in response.

Fateweaver shook his head. "If ever you get hit by a blast of energy capable of knocking you out, expect your nervous system to be scrambled for some time afterwords."

"You are a mother bucking shaman!" Eclipse shouted. "You should know potions, not advanced biology and the effects magic has on it!"

Sagebrush moved to the side of the bed. "I thought you were sensitive to loud noises?" he asked, reffering to Eclipse's rise in volume.

Eclipse flung a baseball at Sagebrush, who took the unexpected projectile in the forehead. Laying on his back, legs pointing straight up, tongue slightly out and with stars dancing around his head wasn't a good look for him.

Eclipse sat up, grunting both in pain from the half of his body could still feel and in surprise mixed with horror from the nothing around his other half. Despite Sagebrush's protests, he sat up and shook away the blurriness from is vision. This was a double-edged sword, however, bringing the pain in his head to a near unbearable spike.

A Doctor came in through the door, ending a conversation with a nurse. "Just make sure he takes his meds. It'll be fine."

Closing the door behind him, the Doctor paused to take absorb the scene in front of him. The room was fairly average sized, featuring two beds for patients. The second bed was occupied by an earth pony who had pulled a few muscles and was now paying the price of not getting medical assistance earlier. He was currently enjoying the spectacle offered by the three other people in the room.

Fateweaver was eyeing Eclipse to make sure he didn't try anything to strenuous, Eclipse was eyeing Sagebrush as the pony quickly began to recover and Sagebrush was somewhere between high and low on cherry street. Eclipse had a much better arm than he would give himself credit for.

Sighing at the sight of a possible concussion, the Doctor moved over to the bed Eclipse was not occupying and began the routine of ensuring the patient was comfortable.

With the doctor's appearance giving the trio some time to calm down, Eclipse turned his head to stare at a potted spiderplant sitting on a nightstand next to his bed. "I would have preferred waking up to a cactus."

With Sagebrush coming to a shaky stand in the background, Fateweaver smiled. "Don't be like that. It makes the place feel a bit more like a home."

Eclipse held up a hoof. "One, I don't have a spiderplant, so that reminds me that this isn't home. Two, like every other hospital in existence, this one has the smell of death all over it."

"Smells like sterilization to me." Sagebrush groaned.

"That's what I mean." Eclipse answered, crossing his hooves over his chest. "It's too clean."

"Cleanliness reminds you of death?" Sagebrush took a step away from Eclipse. "If you ever think that it'll be a good idea to dust or something, I'll be far away. Far far away."

Dust Demon calmly walked back into the room, followed by Braeburn. The two had blank expressions on their faces, each telling a story of something epic happening out of sight but neither of them willing to talk about it.

Eclipse sighed. "Maybe I can get into contact with Luna or something..."

Braeburn coughed. "Now, just how're you going to do that?"

Eclipse cocked his leg back to throw another baseball.

Quarter to a hundred

Luna looked around the dreamscape she had just entered. The floor was a black and white checkerboard style and all around her were massive chess pieces, as if she were in the middle of a giant gameboard.

"Pawn to E-five." A voice called out.

As she watched, Luna saw one of the giant pieces move a space forward, into the designated area. She heard a loud chuckle.

"You have sealed your fate, it would seem." A second voice called.

"Bring it! I've still got one spell card left! You attack and I'll bitch slap you right back!" Hearing it a second time, Luna recognized the voice as Eclipse. Now the question was 'what is going on here?'

"I call your bluff, boy. Bishop to E-five!"

Another large piece slid over the board, vying with the pawn for control over the square known as E-five.

Luna could practically hear Eclipse grin. "It wasn't a bluff, and I'm not your boy. Card reveal!"

The two massive chess pieces slowly faded to a translucent coloring, revealing two cards at their hearts. The card glowed white, before transforming into two monsters the likes of which Luna had never seen.

The bishop released a black dragon with glowing red eyes. The pawn turned into a giant hairball with claws and eyes.

"You think a kuriboh can stand against my red-eyes black dragon?"

"It's not the kuriboh you should be worried about." Eclipse retorted. "Remember my card?"

"Oh please. What card could you have that could possibly--"

"I play the spell card, Black Luster Ritual!"

"...Excuse me?"

"By sacrificing that kuriboh and one other monster--specifically, that Gaia, the fierce knight under my, er, knight over there--" Another chess piece faded and revealed the card underneath. "--I can use this card to turn that pawn into a Black Luster Soldier! Say good bye to your last bishop."

"Bah! You still lose the pawn."

"But open the way to your king. I think the card under my queen should pack just enough power behind it, thanks to not having either your bishop or my pawn in the way."

The Black Luster Soldier charged forward, destroying the dragon but also being mortally wounded in the process.

With that, both pieces were removed from play. Now, Eclipse sent a queen across the board, to his enemy's rook. Another battle played out, with the attacking piece as the victor.

Scrambling to protect his king piece, Eclipse's opponent lost several more pieces and eventually found himself backed into a corner. Conceding the game with a groan, he relented. By now, Luna had spotted the two competitors on opposite sides of the giant board, each sitting with a set of cards in their hands. Both of them were humans.

One of them spotted Luna as the game ended. "Ah! It's about time!" He slipped behind one of the chess pieces, the familiar gray and brown pony coming around the other side. "I was wondering when you'd arrive!"

Luna looked around, surprised to find that the area had turned into a blank void around the two of them. Eclipse was really starting to get the hang of controlling his dreams.

"I believe you'll be happy to know that the situation in Appleloosa has been resolved. However, there's also some bad news..." Eclipse cleared his throat. "You may want to sit down, Princess."

<><><>

"The Dawn's Light are just an old pony's tale!" Luna exclaimed, shaking her head. "Vampire hunters. Nothing more."

"With all due respect, weren't you the same not so long ago?" Eclipse asked. "Who's to say that the Dawn's Light are not also real? Though, they're hardly vampire hunters so much as some criminal element that's gotten way out of hand. Hoof, I mean. Out of hoof." He rubbed his head. "I'll never get used to that. Though I will not start saying 'everypony', under any circumstances!"

Luna nodded. "Return with the new recruits Celestia asked you to gather. As well as any family they bring with them. We must wait for the Light to make their move next, but we want to begin preparing Dust Demon and Sagebrush as soon as possible." She gave Eclipse a small smile. "Though Sagebrush may already be well trained enough."

Eclipse sat down. "So we're stuck waiting? That's it?"

"That's all we can do, for now." Luna responded, her tone shooting down any further objection. "Besides, Feather Duster still wants that dinner you promised."

"Yeah, I remember. But after that incident with the mugger, I just wanted to get right back out and do something, you know? I probably shouldn't have left."

"Tell Feather Duster that and she'll twist your leg off." Luna laughed. "Just get on the next train back. As a bonus, I have something... special planned."

Eclipse blanched. "My stomach just made it halfway through the mantle."

"I hope it brings back some diamonds."

<><><>

Eclipse shook his head as he woke up. Groaning, he stretched, popping several joints in the process. Once this was finished, he noticed an odd feeling coming from his stomach.

"Uh-oh."

Miraculously, a nurse came in with a bucket at the perfect moment. Handing Eclipse the bucket, she backed away to avoid the back splash.

Several moments later, Eclipse and the nurse stared at a bucket that was half full of semi-clear gemstones. Eclipse sighed. "And yet I somehow didn't see this coming." Giving the pile of diamonds another look, he glanced at the nurse. "Know any place I can drop these off?"

The nurse's ears pricked at his question. "You don't want to keep them?"

"Not really."

The nurse immediately grabbed the bucket and left the room. Eclipse heard a loud "Moving to Canterlot!" come from the next room over, then saw the nurse sprint away from the building through a window in his room.

The doctor, understandably confused, came into the room not long after. "Well, there was an unexpected resignation, so I'll handle this situation now." He looked up at Eclipse. "You're free to go."

Eclipse smiled. "In that case... Zim-zala-bim!" Eclipse threw the covers of his bed in front of himself. When they resettled, Eclipse had vanished from the room.

Sighing at the second unexplainable thing that had happened to him in as many minutes, the doctor turned to the room's other inhabitant. "You however, still require two more days off your hooves."

The patient groaned.

"Yeah well, you should have come here sooner." The doctor muttered. "Everypony's a tough guy..."

Author's Note

The odd (and completely made up) combination of Yu-gi-oh and chess featured in this chapter does have rules to it. No I won't bore you with specifics.

Meanwhile, back at the palace...

"Sister, are you certain that we shouldn't send aid to Ponyville?" Luna asked, wondering why Celestia had made such a decision. "Last I checked, being placed under a giant fishbowl with storm clouds at the top was not a natural occurrence. Perhaps it is just that the town's version of natural is a bit skewed, but it still worries me."

"Trust me, sister." Celestia replied. "Twilight will send word if she requires it. I'm sure there's something she's working on right now."

Luna sighed. "If you insist."

"I do. Now, shouldn't you be rethinking your plan for Eclipse? We don't know if he'll appreciate something like this."

"Oh, it's just a bit of fun. It'll be fine. Eclipse won't overreact. In fact, I don't think he's ever overreacted to anything."

<><><>

"Come on... come on..." Eclipse muttered, tapping on the screen of his iPod.

"What're you--" Dust Demon began, when Eclipse suddenly hoof pumped and let out a victory yell.

"Team Inferno wins again! Take that Team Rainbow!" Dust Demon was bowled over in his seat, a terrified expression adorning his face as Eclipse continued. "Soon, we will control all the starforce! Then nothing can stop us!"

Sagebrush looked at Eclipse as if the pony had gone mad, doing his best to not burst out in a fit of laughter. It didn't help that his daughter was giggling at a mile a minute.

Dust Demon's eye twitched unexpectedly. "The hell--" He began, when Eclipse shut him down with another outburst.

"Onwards to the DragonVale! My gemstone and seasonal dragons are nearly hatched!"

"It's gonna be a long train ride..." Dust Demon muttered, his mood improving with finally getting a full sentence out of his mouth.

<><><>

"Luna..." Celestia began, nervousness flooding through her.

"Tia, it will be fine. Half of Canterlot might be blown off the mountain when it's all said and done, but it will be fine."

"You always know just what not to say..." Celestia smiled.

"You just handle the political view of everything and keep the nobles from ever finding out. The rest shall take care of itself."

<><><>

"No way." Feather Duster rolled her eyes at her friend. "After what he caused? There's no way they'd willingly set him loose."

"Why not?" Soap suds countered. "With all the good grace that your coltfriend has been building up for disharmony, should it really be surprising?"

"Good grace?" Feather Duster snorted, remembering how cautious the princesses had been when they first learned of Eclipse's power. "He's only just coming back from his second assignment. That's hardly a reputation, much less enough of a service record to build up any sort of 'good grace' whatsoever."

"But the princesses may think that if he can be a good pony, then imagine if they start thinking the same way about the god of chaos himself! We may be drowned in cherry cola before the week's out!" Soap Suds was waving her hooves around, flailing as if she was actually drowning.

Feather Duster sighed. "They will implement every fail-safe possible, up to and including the elements of harmony."

Soap Suds reigned in her excitement to replace it with a slightly different excitement. "Ooh, I wonder if he'll be there as well!"

"Who?" Feather Duster asked, genuinely wondering who she meant.

"The same stallion who'd be indirectly responsible for Discord getting loose, that's who!" Soap Suds tittered like a filly. "I wonder if it'll come down to a showdown between those two. Imagine the excitement!"

"Just for that right there, it'll end up being just a chess match to figure out who surrenders without a fight..." Feather Duster muttered, recalling something Eclipse had told her about Discord being utterly unpredictable. And knowing Eclipse, he'd likely agree to it just to see who'd win in a chess match. She fought down a shudder at the thought of how similar they suddenly sounded when cast in that particular light.

Finished cleaning the table and vase that Soap Suds had been distracting her from, Feather Duster turned to find the mare polishing a suit of guard armor, much to the annoyance of the guard who was wearing it.

Fighting down an urge to giggle and an urge to sigh at the same time, she merely shook her head with a small smile on her face.

<><><>

"Sir, with all due respect, that's not true."

"You've only been here for a few days private. It's true."

"Sir, really? I doubt it."

The older guard chuckled. "Just give it some time, private. Something will come around."

"We're door guards, Sir. Literally the least exciting guard in existence. Nothing other than a hallway and a few walking ponies will--"

One of their fellow guards zipped by, wearing a slightly stained apron. He was followed by a loud "THOU CALL THIS A CAKE!? THINE PRINCESS WILL SHOW THOU A TRUE CAKE ONCE THEE HATH BEEN FOUND!"

A dark blue alicorn entered the hall, holding a slice of chocolate cake in her telekinetic grip. Her face was an odd mix of rage and excitement. A mad grin slowly stretched from ear to ear as she looked down the hall, spotting the fleeing tail of her quarry. "DOST THOU WISH TO PLAY A GAME? VERY WELL, LET IT COMMENCE!"

She teleported away, leaving the two door guards confused and worried for their comrades' life. Despite this, the older of the pair managed to grin at his much more shocked companion. "Anything else, private?"

A scream echoed from where the cook/guard had run to.

The private turned even whiter than he had been before. "N-no sir." He said with a slightly quivering lip.

"Oh, please." The older replied, rolling his eyes. "I've seen worse. Heard it, too."

A few minutes passed in utter silence.

"S-sir?"

"Hm?"

"Does it happen often?"

"Depends on your perception."

Luna came back through the hall, dragging the cook/guard behind her. He whimpered softly and held a hoof out to the pair of door guards, but the older of the pair put his hoof in front of the private to stop him from reacting.

Forced to watch his comrade be dragged off, the guard almost broke down into tears. "This is not what I was expecting at all."

"Yeah, we see some weird shit while on duty. Part of the package." The older guard thrust his jaw out in the direction Luna had gone. "Right now I'm concerned with what she's going to do to him."

"Theories?" The Private asked, though he immediately wished he hadn't.

"Probably just some duty helping the maids. I doubt she'll do her worst for such a small offense."

The younger guard perked up. That was far lighter than what he had been expecting. "What's the worst?"

"Blueblood duty."

The private let out a relieved sigh. "Well, that doesn't sound too bad."

The older guard simply gave him a thousand yard stare. At the questioning "What?" from the younger guard, he shook his head.

"Rookies..."

Author's Note

Due to not wanting to subject you to a boring-ass train ride with Eclipse, Sagebrush, Dust Demon and Cactus star, I instead subjected you to a boring-ass day at The royal palace, featuring several ponies there. Enjoy!

Surprise!

"Stallions! Oh, and Cactus Star," Eclipse corrected himself, bowing slightly to the filly, who simply smiled and continued walking. "Welcome to Canterlot! Home of nobles, high fashion and noses so high up in the air, they're practically slicing the cloud layer in two!" Taking a deep breath, Eclipse practically absorbed the air around him. "By Celestia, I hate this city."

Dust Demon gave him a curious look. "Why?"

"I come from a small town. Big cities like this..." Eclipse shuddered. "I don't like leaving the palace."

"Nervous in crowds?"

"I like my space."

Dust Demon rolled his eyes. When Eclipse looked up and fired a chaos blast into the air, Dust Demon tracked the descent of a bird as it fell to the ground, dead.

The pegasus gave Eclipse a questioning look.

"He was in my airspace." The pony shrugged. Faintly noticing a pony gesturing for him to come over, he gave his companions a smile. "Listen, you lot go ahead and get to the palace. I'll catch up."

Before any of the other three said anything, he had already vanished into the crowd.

Making his way to the mare who had tried so hard to get his attention, he made sure to stop with several feet between them.

"You looking for someone?" Eclipse asked, half-smiling.

The mare smiled. "Not anymore. Anyway, we need to talk."

"What would we have to talk about?" Eclipse asked, playing along.

"Let's just say that I'm not afraid of getting my hooves bloody."

Eclipse deadpanned. "You do understand that I fight ponies who typically say stuff like that, right?"

The mare sighed. "Oh relax. I'm not going to ask you to rob a train or anything."

"Why the emphasis on 'rob a train'?"

The mare facehoofed. "You're not the brightest one are you?"

"I'm good with puzzles and contain, in my head, a wide array of knowledge both practical and not so much. However, I balance that out with little to no common sense, and a complete inability to read between the lines." Eclipse smiled to himself. "I'm the energy efficient bulb that puts off half the light of anyone else."

The mare arched an eyebrow. "At least you're honest with yourself... Look, remember when the first time you met that Bloodhoof guy, only it wasn't Bloodhoof?"

"Uh..." Eclipse frowned.

"Right before you stormed that rainbow dust mine but after you hooked up with those rebels?"

The gray stallion shook his head. "Sorry. It's a four-oh-four if I've ever heard one."

One eye twitching, the mare slapped him.

"Ow! Chrissakes, woman!" Eclipse held his jaw with a hoof, stretching the muscles to work out the pain. "Just for that, I'm thinking of actually following Silverstar's advice and screaming everything I know about you into Celestia's ear!"

"Thought that would jog your memory." The mare smiled at him.

"Fuck you. I was trying to see if I could annoy you into leaving me alone before I burst out laughing." Eclipse continued working his jaw, trying to drive out the last of the stinging brought on by the slap.

"Anyway, we should really move this conversation along. Besides, this is only the third time we've met so it's not like we'll discuss much."

"I thought we had only met once before?"

"That was only the more recent of the two. The first go round might actually count twice depending on how you look at it." She paused thoughtfully before regaining her train of thought. "Just listen. Shit's about to hit the fan in this town. I can give you where and when, but you can't let anypony know any of the information and you can't tell anypony what I am or about our meeting back on the train. Capiche?"

Eclipse thought it over. "Alright. I won't tell anypony."

"Even if they're not a pony, smart guy."

"Damn." Eclipse was disappointed. Loopholes only worked when they were obvious. If they weren't, he didn't want to waste the effort to find them.

"SIx weeks. Canterlot department of weapons and research. That building contains all but the most dangerous of Equestria's experiments. Those are reserved for the ponyville library."

"Laugh."

"Did... did you just say the word 'laugh' in place of actual laughter?" The mare waved her hoof. "Forget it. Remember: No guards, no allies, no anything. You want a defense around that place, you damn well better set it up yourself."

The mare backed off, wading into the center of the street. Eclipse was about to call after her, but a cart obscured his vision for several seconds. Once it passed, she was gone.

Eclipse sat on his haunches. "Well, that was cliche." He shrugged. "It worked, though."

<><><>

Eclipse caught up with his companions in front of the castle doors.

Sagebrush and Cactus Star were off to the side of the area, along with a guard who had taken off his helmet so the filly could try it on. It completely covered her head and blocked her eyes, as expected. As she wandered around aimlessly in a circle, both the guard and Sagebrush smiled and shared a laugh. All in all, that scene was pretty calm.

On the other side of the area, Dust Demon and another guard were in the middle of a heated argument. At first, Eclipse thought that the guards might have refused entry to the trio. As he got closer, however, Dust Demon whirled around and pointed a hoof at him.

"Tell soldier boy that cupcakes are better than muffins!"

The guard snorted. "Muffins win! Hooves down, they're better!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

Eclipse continued walking past them, his eyes perhaps a bit wider than normal. "Have they been like that long?" He asked the pair of guards who remained at their stations on either side of the palace's entry doors.

The one on the right shook his head. "Not very long." He and Eclipse gave the arguers a short glance.

"Tomatoes are a fruit!"

"Tomatoes are a vegetable!"

The guard sighed. "But they will be."

Eclipse laid a hoof on the door. "Tell me when they've stopped. In the meantime--" He stopped mid-sentence and put his ear up to the door.

"Something wrong?"

Eclipse slowly nodded. "Very."

Activating honesty and slowly creaking the door open, an orange phantom cake splattered onto his face. Ducking his head back, Eclipse watched the real cake fly past, eventually slamming into a column.

Dust Demon laughed victoriously. "If that had been a pie, it wouldn't have been so easy for him to dodge it!"

"And if it was a pie, It would have traveled so slowly that he could have caught it and flung it back!"

Dust Demon gasped. "Ya'll crossed a line there, tin stallion!"

"Bring it, hillbilly!"

Eclipse nabbed the helmet of the guard next to him, despite the surprised "Hey!" of resistance. He held the helmet out with a hoof, but all that came from the door was a shout.

"HOLD THINE FIRE! WE DOST NOT WISH TO COMMENCE A WAR WITH OUR SISTER AS WELL! ECLIPSE IS QUARRY ENOUGH, FOR NOW!"

Eclipse stuck his head into the open doorway. "Luna?"

A moving wall of various cookies came down on him, forcing him back behind cover before he was put into a sugar coma.

"BLAST! HE HAST FOUND TIME TO BEGIN PLANNING! FORWARD, LEST HE GATHER REINFORCEMENTS!"

"Actually, that gives me an idea..." Eclipse handed the helmet back to its owner. "Find me Feather Duster. I've got a plan."

"Already here."

Eclipse turned to find Feather Duster standing with a battalion's worth of the castle staff--mostly maids and cooks, but several smaller corps of the staff as well--behind her.

Eclipse blinked. "Okay! Listen! I need four catapults, three independent squads of food fighters and a whole mess of sugary items!"

"Done." Feather Duster proclaimed proudly, waving her hoof as the group assembled itself into three distinct units as well as showing off four catapults and a whole mess of sugary items.

Eclipse grinned weakly at Feather Duster. "Remind me to marry you sometime."

One of the maids raised her hoof. "Um... aren't we the ones who're gonna have to clean this up after it's over?"

A bowl of ice cream silenced her,

"Any other questions?" Feather Duster announced, tossing another bowl several inches into the air and catching it again.

Eclipse rubbed the back of his head. "So, the wedding may be pushed back a few months due to unforeseen circumstances, but I'm sure that it'll be handled." He forced a nervous smile onto his face when Feather Duster arched an eyebrow. "Please don't hurt me."

<><><>

"They'll break through those doors any minute! Soap Suds, is that catapult repaired!"

"We're going as fast as we can, but the first wave really did a number on her! You're lucky I took those engineering classes not so long ago!" Soap Suds screamed over the commotion.

"I'll thank Eclipse, since he's the thing that inspired you!" Feather Duster yelled back. Tossing a look over the barricade, she smiled. "Speak of the devil..."

Eclipse sprinted into view, followed by several of Luna's guards. The guards were quickly gunned down, but they were far from the last.

Sliding behind cover, Eclipse fought to regain his breath. "Held 'em off as long as I could, but ran out of donuts the third time they marched on me." Panting, he looked to the catapult. "Still broken?"

"Not anymore!" Soap suds proclaimed proudly.

"A shame we couldn't save the other three when we retreated." Eclipse sighed. "They were our only saving grace."

Feather Duster shook her head. "Don't talk like it's over, already! We're not done yet!" She whistled. "Ready the muffin cannon! Get that peanut brittle to the eastern flank! Will somebody please explain to me why we have crumpets!?"

Several moments later, the only sound was a dull, repeating thud coming from the blocked entrance to the throne room. Luna and her guards were almost through. When the door finally blew open, Feather Duster ordered the muffin cannon to fire.

Blueberry and banana blasted out, tearing a hole where the doorway used to be and disabling the guards that had already come through. Even while stepping over their fallen comrades, Luna's guards charged in. Though they met stiff resistance, victory seemed near...

Author's Note

Yep, things that haven't happened since the first several chapters are coming back around. I don't like leaving story elements laying around with no purpose other than to just be forgotten.

So, uh... yeah...

"--so one of the cooks went down right beside me, iced with extra frosting." Eclipse accentuated his statement by slamming his front hooves together. "I'm in the middle of a fucking panic attack, waving my forelegs around like it ain't no thang, tossing everything I could, up to and including that Soap Suds mare next to me; a practice normally reserved for when the mare is actually your wife, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Discord clutched his stomach in his laughter, wiping a tear from his eye with a flick of his talon. The tear turned into a butterfly mid-flight, gently flapping its wings as it made its way to a window. A nearby pony opened the window to let the insect fly free, but it turned and opened a mouth several times larger than the rest of its body, filled with rows of sharp teeth. The insect of your nightmares let loose a terrifying roar, bowling the pony over with both force and fright. Afterwords, it returned to its normal butterfly self and daintily floated right the fuck out of there before someone found some insecticide. Like Raid. Fuck, Raid is scary.

Eclipse hadn't missed a beat in telling his story.

"Eventually, I picked up one of the aforementioned crumpets and slung that little bastard at Luna. One of her guards flew in front of the tea drinker's joy and took the shot, like it would have really made a difference. Crumpet never stood a chance either way. But, I had opened myself up and one of Luna's guys was prepared to fire a pie of perfect preparation at me and put me down for good."

Discord snickered. "Do tell; how did it not go according to plan?"

"Because at that precise moment, Celestia walked in, completely unsuspecting. Now, it would have been priceless if she had just walked though while everyone was still slinging and came out unscathed, but instead of that happening, the guard just kinda... reacted I guess. Celestia's sudden arrival caused him to accidentally toss his weapon at her, so she got a face-full of dessert."

Discord held a black bowler hat against his chest. "May we forever honor the memory of the princess's failed dietary plans."

"I tried that exact same joke and got nothing for it!" Eclipse complained when he heard the guards in the room snicker. "Anyway, Celestia getting hit was punctuated with literally everything suddenly stopping. Food halted mid-air, Ponies stopped in the middle of whatever they were doing and I finally finished reading the Sunday comics. Then, Celestia activates her magic, gently taking every molecule of pie out of her mane and coat, as well as picking up every non claimed piece of ammunition in the room. I blinked and she was gone. Plus, there were some muffled screams coming out from a mountain of food that had displaced itself to the location that guard had been in two seconds ago. And by displace itself, I mean Celestia had buried the poor soul."

"Is...is he alright?"

"He survived, but he'll never be the same again."

Discord nodded respectfully.

"So, Dust Demon and Sagebrush walk in, wondering why Celestia had turned and came back from wherever she was headed. Luna pegged em both. Before she ducked back behind cover, I'm out with a slingshot and a load of grapes, preparing to either take the shot or have everything explode behind me. And nothing was exploding."

"Grapeshot pun, despite grapes only being desserts to freaky vegan-type people and sometimes not even then?"

"Oooooh, yes." Eclipse grinned. "A dozen grapes fired out in a cone. A perfect ten degree angle between the center and any one of the sides. I had gotten close, so every single one of them took Luna right in her side." Eclipse sniffed. "It was beautiful, but it would take more than that to bring Luna down."

"This is my favorite part!" Feather Duster grinned, bouncing in her seat.

Discord glanced at her. "Where did you come from?"

Eclipse cut them both off. "Then, as if out of the heavens themselves, they descended."

Discord leaned in, holding a pen and paper with a name-tag that read 'press' hanging around his neck. "Who?"

"They were using the balloon carriage we had fashioned back during the Appleloosa mission. They said they hadn't been able to recover it yet, but it was just a ruse. Celestia and Cactus Star, here to avenge both diet and father." Eclipse smiled at the memory, eyes misting over. "They rained pudding and chocolate bars like they were going out of style. Sadly, they could only assist for a short time before the return fire almost took them down. Still, they gave us the time we needed to get ourselves back together, rebuilding our defensive perimeter with what we had left. Both sides had taken so much damage that when one random soldier on Luna's side suggested an armistice, everyone jumped at it. Peace has reigned ever since."

"Who was the soldier?" Feather Duster asked.

"I don't really know." Eclipse confessed. "It was one of those weird names though. You know, the ones that have one word in their name then another word that's really just a synonym for the first one? Yeah, one of those."

Discord scratched his chin, a thought bubble popping up next to his head, inside of which was a piece of paper and a pencil. "Every time I hear a name like that, they're almost always a writer in their spare time."

"What makes you say that?" Feather Duster asked, adjusting her position to sit with all her legs pointed in one direction.

"Next time you encounter a pony with a name like that, ask them if they write. Get back to me. Until then," A pair of shades dropped down from the ceiling, landing on his face and covering his eyes. "Deal--"

"Not a chance." Eclipse said as he snatched the shades from Discord's face. Underneath, there lay a slightly smaller pair that had been hidden by the first.

"--with it." Discord finished, walking off and leaving Eclipse with Feather Duster as Celestia walked in.

"Ah, There you are." The princess smiled. "Eclipse, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind doing a favor for me?"

"Shoot." Eclipse shrugged. "Long as you don't try and get me into politics we should be good to go."

"Oh? Plan B, then." She joked, though her ever passive expression never gave way. It had grown especially impenetrable in the last three days, a defense mechanism from Discord's return from stone. "I'm a little busy with an unexpected incident that occurred between several noble houses, so I need you to take my place for my inspection of the Canterlot department of weapons and research."

Eclipse processed the thought. "What exactly will I need to inspect?"

"It's really just a glorified tour." Celestia answered simply. "Just follow the guide and if there's anything that seems to stick out as being morally or ethically questionable, if not outright reprehensible, simply report it back to me."

"Yay!" Eclipse shouted, holding two test tubes of questionable content into the air. "I do science!" He poured one tube into the other, where they combined to form a pinkish liquid. When nothing else happened, Eclipse peeked into the top of the tube, when the contents spontaneously exploded. The opening of the tube served as a release for the energy, sparing the tube itself from any major damage, but Eclipse's face was covered with soot and his mane was blasted back, giving him a unique manestyle that maintained its shape.

Celestia sighed, smiling at his display. "You always inspire such confidence."

Eclipse simply coughed in response, a small black cloud exiting his lungs. It was the spitting image of every cartoon character whenever something blows up in their face.

Feather Duster kissed him on the cheek. "We're gonna need to clean you up."

<><><>

"Six weeks to the day..." Eclipse muttered, standing in front of the building he was supposed to be 'inspecting'. "Kinda hoping shapeshifty-creepo was wrong about this." He tugged slightly at his cloak, the same cloak he had been given by Shining Armor some time ago. Over the past several weeks, he had made a habit of wearing it, if only to avoid the attention he got as a blank flank. Last time, he was sure someone had taken a picture of him.

"Are you the stallion Celestia sent to inspect our projects?"

"Hrm?" Eclipse asked, turning to come face to face with a bright red unicorn with a blue and green mane. She was wearing a white lab coat and a pair of glasses over her bright blue eyes. "Oh. Oh! Yeah, I am. Sorry."

The mare waved her hoof. "Don't worry about it. We were thrown off as well by the Princess herself not coming to visit. She likes to keep out any work that could be harmful to her subjects."

"I can imagine. Now, the inspection?"

"Of course, sir. Right this way." She turned and entered the building, Eclipse on her heels.

"Don't worry about calling me 'sir'. Eclipse'll be just fine."

"As you wish, sir." She replied, giving him a mischievous smirk. "I'm Ray Beam, by the way."

Eclipse smiled, shaking his head. His thought process came to a screeching halt when he recalled Discord's advice on certain names. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to be a writer, would you?" He asked, point-blank and out of the blue.

She blinked, opening the door to their first destination. "How'd you know?"

"I had a feeling." He covered, making a mental note to apologize to one draconequis.

"No matter." She waved it off as they entered a wing of the facility, with several walls and separate sections built into the room to avoid several scientists getting their work mixed in with each other. "This is where we work on some of our newest technology. The exception is any weaponry we are creating, which is in a separate--and much more secure--wing of the facility. Feel free to look around, but please don't enter any of the workstations. This is very delicate work."

Eclipse nodded, slowly walking around the large and slightly cavernous room. It was roughly the size of Walmart, as seen in Practically Everywhere, USA. Its distinct openness--even with the occasional wall to separate areas--surprised him. He had always imagined a research station to be much more locked down and with more barriers between each individual experiment. Then again, Equestria wasn't known for needing to worry too heavily on informants or terrorist bomb threats.

He turned to look into a workstation and saw a stallion carrying off a box of light-bulbs. "Did one of them go out or something?" He asked Ray Beam, eyes following the stallion.

The mare perked up at the question. Upon following his gaze to the stallion, she laughed. "Oh, no. It's just an experiment. We're trying to get light-bulbs working off electricity, rather than simply need a unicorn to place an enchantment upon them. We're hoping that it'll let towns of mostly earth ponies or pegasi have easy access to artificial light, once we figure out how its done. Its actually the first in a large series where we're attempting to harvest electricity as an alternative energy source."

Eclipse nodded to himself, vaguely recalling light bulbs and electricity as one of the aspects of the human world he explained to the princesses (and that group of scientists who tried to grill him on weaponry). "Once you've gotten the kinks worked out of incandescence, jump right into florescence. Bit more complicated, but way more efficient." Before Ray Beam could react to his statement, he had already wandered several stations over, stopping at one which hosted a pair of white rimmed glasses with green lenses as its centerpiece. The researchers themselves were apparently on break.

Ray Beam had trotted over just in time to hear him mutter to himself. "Since when are fashion statements a researcher's domain? Those things had better come equipped with a heads-up-display."

"That's exactly what they come equipped with."

Eclipse stiffened, needing a moment to not cry out in surprise. When he finally calmed down from surprise, he turned to find a green mare with a black mane staring back at him opposite from just opposite Ray Beam. Deciding to try his luck, he raised an eyebrow. "What does the HUD monitor?"

"Various things. It can be changed according to user preference. It can even be turned off." The mare glanced into the station. "We're actually trying to get it so it doesn't come in just white and green."

"What about black with blue lenses?"

"It's an idea." The mare conceded. "We are also looking to do some field testing, but we doubt that any pony actually does enough to really put the glasses through their paces. They're built for full combat situations, but we have no idea how well they'll actually hold."

"Who's your boss?"

"I'm the head of this wing." She replied, though not in the overly proud manner one would expect to come with such a claim. "Each wing functions as an independent cell, but we can talk to each other and cooperate when needed."

Eclipse nodded. "I have to admit. I'm curious. Any idea when I can get a pair?"

The mare grinned. "I'll let you try them on."

<><><>

"For the heavy research you do here, this place is pretty laid back." Eclipse noted, accepting the HUD unit he was being handed.

Ray Beam scoffed. "You should see weaponry. Live fires and explosions are a norm. Typically around once a week, but maybe more when they've thought of something interesting."

Ray Beam and her boss--named Wired Circuit--shared a look. "Scratch that!" The two laughed at their personal in-joke.

Eclipse ignored them, adjusting the glasses. Several small screens and boxes appeared, selecting various objects and naming them. It even named the two mares in the room with him. Eclipse blinked in surprise. "Is this thing connected to a database of some kind?"

Wired Circuit nodded. "It's using your own brain's stored memory and knowledge to give information. This means that the information it provides is limited by the very pony wearing the unit, but it's easier than trying to fit everything that we can into it. It also allows personal touches, like dirty little secrets you may only barely remember. Or just reminding you who your loved ones are."

"That is awesome." Eclipse smiled, the expression turning into a grin as he found himself able to adjust what information showed with his thoughts. Using this, he filtered out all the menial items and kept only names and basic statistics of ponies available. He also found a small corner which used his nervous system to monitor his body, down to injury, stamina and general conditions such as temperature and heart rate. "This is truly amazing. Seriously, I'm going to need a pair of these."

Wired Circuit smiled. "Black and blue would look good with that cloak and coat/mane color scheme you have... Tell you what? I'll make you a deal, Eclipse."

"Alright, shoot." Eclipse shrugged, twisting one of his ears around to face her even while he continued experimenting with the HUD unit.

"Give them a run for a week or two, maybe a month. We might be able to get you your blue and black ones, free of charge. "

Eclipse stared at her, suspicion on his face.

"It's not the stress testing we want, but it'll certainly be better data than anything we can get in a lab. Place is pretty static day to day, so a night on the more mobile town might be just the thing to test processing power. Plus, if it breaks then, we'll know to work on durability for a long while yet."

"Well," Eclipse said nervously. "I do actually end up in hostile situations from time to time..."

"Bar fights?" Ray Beam snickered.

A resounding explosion echoed through the facility, scrambling the scientists in several other stations. A researcher frantically ran into the room, followed by two unknown ponies.

"Help!" The researcher screamed. "We're being attacked!"

Eclipse was out in a flash, bull rushing one pony with his head down. Once he made contact, he reared up, sending the pony flying. He turned to face the second pony, a pegasus who had taken flight. Eclipse fired several small lances of chaos magic into the air, using his right font hoof like a gun. Eventually, he had gotten tired of missing and launched a heat seeker projectile after the pony.

The projectile made contact and covered the pony with a sticky goo, pinning his wings to his body and his body to the ground. Once he had hit the ground, that is.

Eclipse raised the HUD unit, giving the shocked Wired Circuit and Ray Beam full view of his eyes, now glowing red.

"More like fighting an army of evil goons with chaos magic. And I'm the one with the chaos magic, in the event that confused you." He answered Ray Beam's last question, grinning widely.

He turned and fired another chaos blast at the pony he had bull rushed, sending the pony sprawling along the floor with a quickly fading sense of consciousness.

Author's Note

Yay! We're finally to the point where Discord is free! Only half a year late!

If you've got feedback, leave it in the comments below. Please? Maybe? No? Okay...

Reunion in combat

"Go to Tartarus!" The healer unicorn mare was tied up to a wall to prevent escape.

Eclipse hit her head with the flat of his procured spear. "Where is your base?" he repeated for the umpteenth time. The fact that he had continued his interrogation for so long was stunning to the guards, especially the fact that he seemed to never grow bored with bonking the unicorn with the weapon.

"Oh, please. You think you can break me?"

Eclipse slammed the flat of the spear into her skull, rattling her brains. "Where is your base?" he asked again.

"Appleloosa was a fluke. We thought there was no way you'd find us again. But this? Hah, now we know who you're working for. Who the princesses are protecting!"

Despite being very interested in what she was saying, Eclipse simply hit her again, testing a theory that she was only saying this because she thought it's what he didn't want to hear. "Au contrare." he thought to himself. It just sounded so much classier than 'on the contrary'.

"We should have known that it wasn't as secret as we thought. But since we were right, and those two can't even recognize the evil those abominations represent, it's clear now. That's where you get your power from, yeah?"

Eclipse rolled his eyes, desperately hoping she'd get to an interesting part. He raised his spear, silently threatening to hit her again.

"You're no vampire!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "I don't know what you are, but it's not what I signed up to fight! No, you're something worse!"

Eclipse raised his spear, now sure that she was completely insane. And not the fun Discord type, either.

"You're a demon aren't you!? Some spawn of Tartarus! That's why you don't need to go back, because you've already been! The royal sisters too, I'd bet!"

Eclipse lowered his spear, instead placing a hoof on the mare's chest.

"We'll kill you!" She screeched, now beginning to froth at the mouth in her rage. "Every one of you! And the great Blood Moons will get those twice damned ferals, too! Same goes for the mighty Earthshaker Clan and the noble Necrohunters! We will cleanse the darkness, you hear me!? WE WILL WIN FOR ALL OF EQUESTRIA!"

Eclipse sent a single blast of energy through his hoof, putting a large hole where the mare's chest cavity used to be. Turning to the guards, he sighed. "If these idiots get much worse than that, I may quit my job out of sheer want for a much saner surrounding."

One of the lunar guards nodded. "I used to love when my mother read me tales of the Dawn's Light, noble vampire hunters. Now, this group of ponies have taken the name, but they're nothing like the legends."

"Never meet your heroes." One of the pegasus guards said, nodding.

Eclipse shrugged. "Whoever made that quote wasn't expecting something quite like this." he said, giving one more look at the mare. "This is new, in more ways than one. But what about those other groups she was yammering about? Could they be connected to all of this?"

The same lunar guard as before spoke once more. "Blood Moons, Earthshakers and Necrohunters. They each had a target. Were-animals, golems created from rogue magic and the undead, respectively. Though it sounds more like criminals from partner organizations, to me."

One of his fellow night guards nudged gave him a light shove. "Getting a bit heavy with the myths aren't we, Shadow Strike?"

Shadow Strike sighed.

Eclipse grimaced. "Either way, we've got to clean this place out and protect any who make it outside. Lunar guards, find any more ponies who are fighting in the facility and help them, or put them down if they're on the wrong side. Take this one solar guard pegasus with you for additional support. The rest of you solar guards, come with me to the front of the building. We've got to make sure the Dawn's Light don't try anything while the researchers are still being evacuated."

<><><>

"Just keep moving around in the crowd. It'll keep the enemy away and it'll help calm the general populace." Eclipse ordered. Each of the guards saluted, calmly making their way through the crowd while Eclipse himself looked on from an elevated position.

They were in front of the research facility along with the majority of the facility's staff plus a few onlookers who wanted a better view. Some were obviously media, while others obviously had nothing better to do.

A mare who worked at the front desk of the research facility had told him about a group of mares in the crowd who didn't look like they belonged, but they had disappeared by the time she had pointed them out.

No matter, as the guards stayed nearby. They waded far enough into the crowd of researchers and assistants to mingle and calm fears, but not enough to get separated. After a few minutes passed, however, a small pop-up appeared on Eclipse's borrowed HUD. It pointed out a group of five, hey ho, mares that had been avoiding both him and the trio of solar guards he had kept with him.

Along with the pop-up came several notes and recorded videos of the group, zoomed in to focus on them. It was only later that Eclipse learned that these videos were his own memories, simply extracted by the HUD unit's magic to the visible displays. To be perfectly honest, he hadn't even noticed them and wouldn't have, either, were it not for the HUD. Equestria made some fine tactical equipment.

He gathered the guards back up, ordering them to question the quintet of mares.

However when the guards got close, four of the mares attacked while the fifth one made a break for it, presumably to report the incident.

Eclipse brought one hoof up and slammed it into the ground, erecting a wall of stone to block the mare's path.

"Hey!" he called. "Going somewhere? The party's only just begun!"

The sharp clash of metal on metal told him that the mares had hidden weapons on them and were giving the guards grief. 'Alright.' he thought to himself. 'Handle this one, help my men. Bring it.'

The mare stepped forward, preparing to charge him. Amazingly, she wasn't a unicorn. "What? You want to dance without any music?"

Eclipse grinned. Bursting from the ground came a large speaker, situated just behind him.

Without warning, he fired four chaos blasts from his forehooves, ending it with two horizontal slashes of his forelegs, sending out two crescent waves of red energy. At the same time, the speaker flared to life.

Ponies all around him ducked and ran for cover.

The mare avoided the first two chaos blasts, but the third one knocked her back. This had the unfortunate side effect of knocking her away from the fourth energy blast, but the waves of energy were still on target thanks to their long crescent shapes.

They impacted a yellowish energy field.

Sighing, Eclipse saw a unicorn gallop onto the scene, while the other three mares still held off the guards.

If things weren't interesting before, that changed when a voice shouted, "Over here!" and a small rubber ball bonked the unicorn on the head. Eclipse vaulted forward, slamming his hoof into the other mare's face when she turned to see what had surprised her companion. Twisting, Eclipse head butted the recovering unicorn, a sharp crack of bone on bone accompanying the already deafening noise around them.

A pegasus colt came running by, deliberately smacking into the earth pony Eclipse had just punched. Not far behind him came two young earth ponies, each serving as the final thing that sent the mare sprawling to the ground.

Eclipse turned around, raising his back hooves and slamming them down on the Dawn's Light member. He bruised her for sure, but when he repeated the process he felt several ribs break under his assault.

The unicorn had recovered from her daze, preparing a spell to fire at Eclipse. her concentration was interrupted when the ball came back for round two, this time enveloped in a weak magical aura. It hit her repeatedly until she knocked it away, which is when it floated to the side of a unicorn filly, behind which stood a trio of one filly and two colts, each wearing some sort of grin.

A sharp tug at the base of her tail told her why they were smiling so widely.

Increasing his strength with his magic, Eclipse spun the unicorn in the air several times before he sent her flying. She screamed and spun in the air, ultimately colliding with one of her fellows. The guard that had been fighting let out an excited cheer, joining his two brethren with fighting the last two mares, one of which was now bleeding from several cuts.

Eclipse turned to the four children who had helped him for the second time. "Mind if I borrow that ball?"

The unicorn filly handed it over. Cracking it open like an egg, Eclipse allowed a steel orb slighter larger than the ball he had ripped it from to fall into his hoof. He shook the decimated remains of the ball, which soon turned back to its normal self and was returned to its rightful owners. The children 'ooh'ed in wonder, while several normal ponies who were watching simply gawked.

Eclipse threw the steel ball, nailing one mare in the side. The ball bounced back to Eclipse, who pulled out a bat and sent the projectile right back to the mares.

The unicorn picked herself up just to be put back down by several pounds of solid metal. The ball bounced up, hitting a building, then a cart then finally bouncing back to Eclipse, who swung his bat again. The ball sailed through the air, knocking the teeth out of a Dawn's Light before flying away through the air, off to some distant land.

<><><>

"Get out of my way, dirtbag!" The griffin shouted, stunning the pegasus stallion who had simply been reading a paper on a cloud he had found.

"Shut up!" he shouted back. "Being a bully won't get you very far! Especially for something as stupid as this!"

The griffin grabbed him by the mane. "Look, dweeb. I'm in a bad mood so--"

"You're always in a bad mood, Gilda." The stallion accused. "It's getting annoying, as if it wasn't before."

"Why you little--." Gilda the griffin raised a set of talons, but the pegasus was distracted by a glint just over her shoulder.

The object rapidly grew, so the stallion broke free of his captor's grip and flew for it.

"Yeah you better run, bozo, or I'll--what the hay!?"

The solid 'clang' that followed put a smile on the stallion's face. "I love karma."

<><><>

When a griffin landed on the ground in front of him, Dust Demon had the sinking feeling that the gang he had been sent to sneak into and become a mole for Celestia wasn't going to just let him walk into town.

Luckily, he noticed that she was still breathing even though she had just hit the ground. This was enough to make him sigh in relief, but when a metal ball slammed into the ground next to him, he jumped in shock. Waving away the dirt that had been sent flying, Dust Demon stared at the metal orb. On its side was etched the following message.

'Attckng DL. Wat about u?'

Dust Demon shook his head, chuckling. "Eclipse, you random sum' bitch. Ya'll are gonna blow my cover if you start doing this."

<><><>

Eclipse fired a single energy blast at the lone mare who remained. It sent her flying into the side of a building, knocking her out cold.

The earth pony casually trotted up to the four fallen mares and the three gaurdsponies, dragging the fifth mare along behind him. "How's that for a dance?" he laughed, setting the mare down next to her comrades.

One of the guards trotted up to Eclipse, poking him in the chest. "You, me, cider, tonight. I'm paying."

The other two guards looked ready to argue against that, but Eclipse shrugged. "I don't see why not."

The pegasus leaned towards his comrade. "I have more savings."he whispered.

"And I'm the one who had their opponent knocked out by a flying mare." The guard whispered back.

Eclipse sighed, resting his head in a hoof. Instead of bothering to deal with the guards, he turned to the group of young ponies who had randomly come to assist the fight. "Aren't you a little young to be that awesome?"

The pegasus stood triumphantly. "As if! You should check me out when I'm flying! But even then it's got nothing on you! How'd you make our ball do that?"

Each of the four shook their heads in agreement, awaiting the answer. Eclipse opened his mouth to respond, but he was cut off when a pegasus mare waded through the crowd. "Blizzard Blitz? Where are you?"

The pegasus colt sighed and waved his hoof. "Over here, mom!"

The mare sighed in thanks when she spotted her son. "Oh, thank goodness! You are in big trouble when you get home, mister!"

The colt sighed. His friends giggled, but when the mare turned her gaze on them they quickly quieted down, aware that their own parents would soon know where they had run off to. Finally, she turned to Eclipse, who by now had returned to attending to the guards.

"--and make sure those ropes are secure!" He shouted. "If any of these five wake up on the way back to the castle and get loose, we'll have that much more to worry about!" He turned back to the kids and the one grown mare. "Hey, uh, sorry about this whole thing. Just don't be too hard on em, okay?"

The mare raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to be related to that incident where my son came home yelling 'superpony' would you?"

Eclipse clamped his mouth shut. He gave the colt an odd look. "Where the heck did you get that idea?"

Blizzard Blitz grinned sheepishly.

Eclipse sighed. "Whatever. Just promise me one thing, okay kid?"

"Sure!" He yelled excitedly. "Anything!"

"Leave the fighting to the guards, got it?"

The mare repeatedly glanced between Eclipse and her son, until her gaze finally settle on one. "You WHAT!?"

Blizzard Blitz recoiled in fear while Eclipse apologetically winced. That wasn't what he had been aiming for at all.

The mare led the four kids away. "When you get home, there is going to be a lot of chores that need doing, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear..." Eclipse muttered, rubbing one ear with a hoof. The guards traded grins.

Yelling at questions won't give you answers

Feather Duster chuckled, letting Eclipse burn through his rant. He told her she didn't really need to listen, but she decided to anyway.

"The only way this could get more freaky is if the whole mythical creature bullshit actually turned out to be true. And then if we got the changelings involved. Maybe get Discord to turn evil again or something." He muttered, attempting to capture a few stray strands of Feather Duster's mane. "Why not just go ahead and--" Feather Duster's sharp 'ow!' brought him back to reality.

"Sorry, sorry..." he apologized, pulling the mane through an elastic band. "Why'd you talk me into doing this anyway?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're the one who mentioned this manestyle."

"I didn't think you'd nag me over it." He defended. "Though I stand by this over that weird style you had before. Sheesh, I don't know how to describe that other than 'maid style'. Seriously, curls and I-don't-even-knows everywhere."

"I think it looks good on me." Feather Duster insisted, looking herself over in the mirror.

"As your stallionfriend, I am legally obligated to say that everything looks good on you. Even maid style."

"I was referring to this 'ponytail'." She pouted. "But thanks."

Eclipse raised his hoof into the air. "Achievement earned! Successfully earn any amount of brownie points!" He conspiratorially leaned towards Feather Duster. "I still have no idea what those are."

The mare gently facehoofed, but smiled all the same. The two ponies brief moment was interrupted by a loud slam and a small tremor as Luna slammed open the door and walked into the room. "Eclipse! My sister and I have a new... Am I interrupting something?"

The night Princess' entrance had been rather forceful, to say the least. The shockwave had knocked both Eclipse and Feather Duster against the wall, with the latter landing on top and leaving them in a rather compromising position.

Eclipse shook his head, trying to reboot part of his brain in an attempt to compensate for the physical trauma he had just endured. Feather Duster had fared little better, her eyes spinning in circles as she tried to stand. Instead, she ended up falling back onto Eclipse, groaning. Luna's face flushed a bright red and the princess slowly retreated back through the door, closing it behind her.

By now, Eclipse finally pieced together what had just happened. "We have maybe five minutes before--" he was cut off by instantly recognizable laughter. "...Damn it."

Discord pulled himself out of the wall, still laughing. "I must admit, I was genuinely worried about keeping a decent level of chaos around this place when I moved in, but things seem to go along quite fine without my intervention." He slowly clapped, several random items appearing in the room as he did so.

Eclipse groaned. "Something you want?"

"Well, for one..." Discord suddenly appeared right next to the pair, holding a sock over their heads. "You could put one of these on the door. You know, to warn passersby?"

Feather Duster put her snout next to Eclipse's ear. "My right wing. First pinion's loose. It needed to be pulled out anyway."

Eclipse lightly plucked the indicated feather from its position, pulling out a small bow and firing the feather at Discord as if it was an arrow. The dark blue feather seemed to shorten and turned white as it neared the draconequis, who by now had retired to the bed sipping on sweet tea. You'd be surprised how chaotic sweet tea was in its spare time.

Soon, the projectile slowed down and spun its way into the Lord of Chaos' mouth, now a simple cigarette. Discord plucked the cigarette from his mouth, frowned at it and flicked it away into a recycling bin, which spawned a loading screen that said 'deleting file' over it. "Ack. Horrible taste. I knew I should have made a piece of gum instead."

He glanced over at the two ponies, now simply sitting next to each other and his eyes widened as if he was noticing them for the first time. "Say! I should thank you, Eclipse. That 'internet' you mentioned a few days ago really was the best thing over. I simply can't wait to try some of it out. I mean, just look at some this! It's ridiculous even for me!"

He pulled out a laptop and opened it. A few seconds later, he was showing a picture of several people waving around rainbow colored signs with various derogatory messages written on them. "I'm sure that there's some sort of ironic symbolism or something at work there. There's simply no other excuse for something so brilliant! Look, it even says they protest at funerals!"

Eclipse chuckled nervously. "Actually, that's the Westboro Baptist Church. And they're completely serious."

Discord blinked. Turning the laptop back to face him, he squinted at the picture. After a few moments of idle thought, he finally gave Eclipse a very disapproving look. "I've lost all faith in your kind." He then disappeared in a puff a whitish-blue smoke with an accompanying *poof* sound effect.

Eclipse sighed, gathering his cloak and HUD unit. "I should probably go see the princesses."

Putting the glasses on, he was startled when Discord's face popped up on the screen. "Oh, by the way, I was looking up some of the things humans do in their spare time and was wondering--"

"No drugs, Discord."

The draconequis pouted. "Pleeeeeeease? I'll only do it to Miss Sunnybuts."

Eclipse sighed. "Fine." A brief pause to review the conversation revealed one glaring detail he had overlooked. "Wait, why are you asking me for permission on anything?"

Discord tapped his chin in thought, one of his eyes slowly beginning a long march to look at the ceiling while the other remained staring at Eclipse. After a few tense minutes in which absolutely nothing of interest happened, he finally shrugged and disappeared from the HUD.

<><><>

Luna had no idea how to deal with her new situation.

When she had returned to the throne room, Celestia's eyes had turned an odd red. She also claimed to have reached the peak of omniscience. The fact that she had referred to Luna's comment on her red eyes to be 'deep' was proof of anything but.

The fact that Discord was tap dancing in the corner and singing "Lollipop, lollipop, oh lolli, lolli, lolli, lollipop. Ba bum bum bum" was certainly not helping. Especially since several lollipops were dancing along with him.

Just her luck that Eclipse chose that moment to walk into the room. As if she needed to add 'awkwardness due to walking in on two ponies' to her current list of woes.

Call my baby, lollipop.

He took one surprised look around and seemed to instantly piece together what was going on. Before he finally reacted, he glanced at discord and muttered something about sunny buts. Luna was sure it was some sort of slang she was not privy to.

Tell you why.

One crash course on a new meaning of the word high later, Luna had several of the guards escort Celestia back to her room.Her reaction to the golden 'Lights at the end of the tunnel' was to run around screaming. Well, there was one reason to let the guards slack on their armor polishing.

Her kiss is sweeter than a cherry pie.

Eclipse quickly spawned one of his dark clouds and rode it to the ceiling of the room to escape the yellow lances of magic the princess fired at her pursuers.

And when she does her shaky rockin' dance.

Luna had to personally pin down her sister. Luckily, Celestia's fear was soon overridden by forgetting her pursuers altogether. "Lulu? Is that you?"

Luna bit her lip, praying that nopony had heard that.

Man, I haven't got a chance

This time, Luna put Celestia into a magically induced slumber and had the guards carry her to her room.

I call her

"Shut the flying fuck up!"

At the sound of a record scratch, all movement stopped and every head turned to face Eclipse, who was on the ground with a hoof pointed at Discord. Even the guards who were halfway out the door with a twitching Celestia turned, almost dropping the diarch. The black cloud Eclipse had been riding on was laying on the ground nearby, weeping while its ears bled. Luna had not known clouds even had ears.

Discords dancing--and more importantly, singing--screeched to a halt. Even the dancing lollipops around him (which by now had been joined by pies, presumably cherry) stopped and fell to the floor.

Despite this, Eclipse developed a scowl. "The flying fuck, too."

Now noticing the buzzing that was filling the air, Luna watched curiously as Discord revealed a remote control unit, moving a pair of joysticks until a hovering block was visible in the air. The block, with its namesake word taking up both of the larger sides, landed in Discord's lion paw.

"I see how it is." The Lord of Chaos sniffed. "But I'll have you know that I won't be giving it to anyone." With that, he pulled out a small device unfamiliar to Luna. "Beam me up, Scotty." A few seconds later and Discord was gone.

Eclipse took a deep breath, calmly inhaling and exhaling in a manner similar to what Cadence had shown Luna when the latter had almost lashed out at a frustrating noble.

<><><>

"We have received a letter of distress." Luna explained, laying out a map of Equestria and several of its surrounding neighbors. "Here, in the mountains separating Equestria and the frozen north is an independant town roughly the size of Ponyville. Nothing of any major note happens there, other than the town's tendency to keep to itself and the fact that it's such uncommon knowledge that most maps don't even mention it."

Eclipse nodded. "And you think that the Dawn's Light are attacking it?"

"Actually, the letter specifically mentioned changelings." Luna responded coolly.

"Que?" Eclipse asked, temporarily forgetting his ethnicity.

"You needn't worry." Luna assured. "Both Dust Demon and Sagebrush have picked up slack since you ended your last mission and brought them with you. They each have their own missions."

<><><>

The light green earth pony raised his weapon. One half of the weapon's shaft ended with a morning star, while the other had an axe blade on one side and half of a war hammer plumb on the other. "Come you dogs! Taste the wrath of a berserker!"

The hammer crushed the skull of one enemy, while the morning star soon swung around and caved in the chest of another. The axe swung around, separating a third's head from his shoulders.

With a fierce war cry, Sagebrush charged his scattered foes, the weight of his thick armor seeming to have no effect on his speed.

<><><>

Eclipse silently 'ooh'ed, wincing at the thought of what those two might be doing at that moment.

Luna either didn't notice or didn't care. "My sister and I need you to go to the town of Vangar. For this reclusive town to request help is enough to cause worry, but the fact that the changelings have already regained enough power to stage another attack so soon since their defeat at Canterlot is what truly concerns me." She gave Eclipse a hard stare. "Save the town if you can, but do what you must."

The pony saluted, quickly spinning and leaving the room.

Once he was gone, Discord stepped out from where he had been eavesdropping. He had a pipe in his mouth, bubbles coming out the end that wasn't in his mouth. "Aren't you ever going to confront him about it?" He asked, fully aware that she would know what he meant.

"It's entirely possible he does not even know." Luna said, still holding her ground as she had the last several times they had this argument.

"One does not simply get injected with honesty magic and not know." Discord said, his eagle claw forming an o shape.

"Shush!" Luna hissed. "Most ponies are not aware that there are actually six harmony magics rather than just one. Tis knowledge even the bearers do not know."

"Oh, Luna." Discord chuckled, smoking his pipe as several winged insects flew out of it. "Don't forget the changeling and unicorn magics, now."

Luna was becoming increasingly agitated. As if she would have actually forgotten! "Dost thou wish to start a fight with me?" She hissed.

"I believe it's 'Dost thou wish to do battle with me?'" Discord chuckled, though he was becoming increasingly transparent. Literally. Within moments, he was gone from the room, leaving the Lunar princess to brood.

Author's Note

I know what you're thinking right now, so let me just say it.

Yes, I am enough of a malignant, evil stain on mankind to put you through the 'lollipop' song. If you enjoyed it, could you please put in a good word with the devil for me, cause you ain't human and I'm obviously not going to heaven.

Also, Fateweaver's lessons ring true! I hope none of you have forgotten.

And you are...?

"Jade Snakestrike." The red and black alicorn greeted, extending a hoof.

Eclipse glanced up from his salad. It was a small miracle that it didn't make him vomit from its taste, making it better than both train and airline food back on Earth. His eyebrows knitted in confusion. "I didn't ask."

"You were thinking it." The alicorn responded, shrugging. "Yeah, I can read minds. It's not a big thing."

Eclipse sighed. "This is the last time I buy the cheapest train ticket."

The alicorn ignored the comment, simply sitting in silence, watching Eclipse eat.

Finally, the earth pony couldn't ignore him any longer. "What?"

"It's just so rare." Jade said, staring at Eclipse with some curiosity. "Most of the other sues and stus I meet are alicorns, like me. But here you are, without wings or a--"

He was interrupted by a sudden case of being blasted through the side of the train.

Eclipse sighed and ate another bite of his salad, the large hole opposite him paling in comparison to his empty box of givable damns. "The last time."

"Oh, so you're one of the cool antihero types?"" A voice asked.

Eclipse didn't even turn to look at the new voice, instead turning his eyes toward the heavens above. "For the last time. Not. A. Stu."

"You just took out a mind-reading alicorn with your chaos magic."

"Would you like to be next!?"

<><><>

"Fuck fuck fuckity fuck." Eclipse muttered as he slipped down the slope several dozen feet. "They maintain the track to a kingdom that disappeared a thousand years ago, but not so much as a station anywhere near this village. Because of course they don't." He summoned a pickaxe, using it to keep himself from slipping any further. "I had to jump off a moving train to get this close, nearly breaking my neck in the process. And then they didn't even bother to put in stairs. Stairs! I could ask for an elevator but I'd settle for stairs!"

He had stopped halfway between the northern and southern borders of the mountain range and was now at least two hours east of the tracks, translating to around three mountains between him and transportation.

It sucked.

He knew roughly where the town was, but wasn't given an exact location, leaving him to scout the area on his own. Climbing further, he came upon a feathery form sunbathing on a rock. "Hey! Hey you!" He called. "I'm looking for a town called Vangar! Could you maybe give me some directions?"

The form shifted, revealing a griffin with a body of red and orange, the two colors blending in a way that was reminiscent of fire, as well as a white head with several large yellow feathers forming a crown on the top and down the back of her neck. She blinked at him, taking a moment to register him through her apparent sleep daze.

When she plopped down and sighed, Eclipse realized that it had simply been a state of silent disbelief. "We said changelings. Plural. We expected an army to come running and they send one earth pony?" She pinched the bridge of her beak. "Vangar isn't even accessible without flying! It's a pegasus and griffin town!"

Eclipse quirked an eyebrow. "This is information that would have been useful in that letter." Still, he smiled. "Ah, well. Cloud walking it is." Adjusting his cloak and HUD unit so they sat comfortable and securely, he jumped onto one of his black clouds, now officially trademarked. Seriously, don't copy that shit.

Forming a bridge over to the griffin's rock, he couldn't help but smirk at her disbelieving expression. She shook her head to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, then took a moment to point a talon back the way he had come.

Eclipse, not understanding, gazed back as well. "What? Is there something I--" he paused when he realized that she was asking why he hadn't just rode his clouds the entire way. He blushed, the red mixing with his gray coat to form an even darker red. "Shut up."

The griffin rolled her eyes, but took spread her wings and took flight. "I'll show you to town, just don't expect a red carpet entrance."

Eclipse shrugged and followed, allowed to move at the speed of a leisurely but still mobile trot courtesy of the griffin circling him.

"Would you mind not making me feel like a deer surrounded by rednecks?" He asked as she continued to circle him every now and then, simply flying slightly ahead once in a while to indicate the direction the village was in.

"Would you mind explaining the ugly glasses?"

He immediately obliged, eager to get the explanation out of the way. "Experimental HUD unit designed by the Canterlot department of--"

She raised a talon to stop him. "If you didn't want to explain it, you could've just said so. They were a gift from your mother or something."

Eclipse shook his head, following the griffin as she glided to their destination.

About twenty minutes passed, most of which Eclipse spent humming a peaceful tune to himself. After that twenty minutes, they spotted the village of Vangar.

It was built into a large indent of a mountain, with buildings sitting comfortably at the bottom and others that had been built into the walls and even ceiling of the cavity. Outside the solid walls, there were several cloud houses as well, though these were small and stayed huddled close to the rest of the town. Due to its partially vertical nature, Vangar took up less space than Ponyville but was still very much in the same league as the town, albeit in a roundabout manner.

Eclipse let out a low whistle. "Now that's an interesting town. I like the artistic value." He grinned at the griffin, who had introduced herself as Aranna.

She frowned at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

He shrugged, giving her an expression of 'what? is there a big deal?'.

"Just come with me to the town center." Aranna ordered, gliding towards a large building huddled at the back of the town's ground level.

There was a group of griffin and pegasi guarding the building, keeping out a small crowd of other pegasi and griffins, but they parted their spears when Aranna approached. Eclipse jumped down from his cloud mount, opting to stay within several feet of the griffin. He took note of how only Aranna had the red and yellow color scheme, as most of the other griffins in the town simply had the classic brown and white coloration. The pegasi were simply the same sea of colors they were in the rest of Equestria.

The guards were wearing metal armor, covering similar parts of their bodies as the Solar and Lunar guards of Equestria. However, this armor was much simpler, and most bore scratches or minor dents here and there.

The guards gave him curious looks, likely deriving from his odd means of arrival as well as who he was arriving with. Aranna waved them off, gesturing for Eclipse to continue walking with her.

When they entered the building, they were greeted with the sight of at least several dozen faces, both griffin and pegasi. Some were clearly prominent figures in the town, judging by their noble demeanor. Eclipse had to bite his lip to keep himself from turning and leaving right there. Nobles were not his forte.

Scattered among the nobles were several guards wearing slightly more decorated versions of the armor seen on the guards outside, but similar traits of use remained. Whether the scuffs were recent or if Vangar's guard corp simply bore the signs of their past on with them, Eclipse couldn't tell.

One such ranking officer was currently pleading with a griffin who sat atop a simple throne made of wood with some padding on the seat and back. He was a red pegasus with a green mane, speaking to who Eclipse could only guess was the leader of the town, possibly mayor or even king.

The griffin rose slightly when he saw Aranna approach, Eclipse in tow. Perking up, he raised a claw for the pegasus to cease. He obliged, turning to face the newcomers along with most of others in the room.

The griffin waved Eclipse forward. Eclipse, being unsure, pointed at himself while the rest of the room stared in silence. The griffin nodded, beckoning him forward again.

Once Eclipse was standing a mere few feet away from him, the griffin frowned to himself. "Is the rest of your group waiting outside?" he asked, all the while sizing the earth pony up.

"No." Eclipse responded. "It's only me."

"Ridiculous!" The pegasus said, stomping his hoof. He turned to the griffin on the throne. "Sachem Finnis, we ask for reinforcements and they send one pony who can't even easily navigate the area? What kind of joke are these Equestrians playing?"

Aranna stepped forward. "He can navigate just fine, though it may take him a while to remember how." She smirked, casting a glance at Eclipse.

He snorted, smirking back. "Coming from she who was caught napping."

The pegasus took a step forward. "Treat the sachem's daughter with respect due her station."

Eclipse shifted his gaze to Aranna, who simply remained quiet and awaited his reaction, though the edges of her mouth did twinge at the pegasi's remark. He quickly shifted back to the pegasus. "I believe that if she" He enunciated the last word, smiling when the pegasus scowled at him. "had a problem with how I treated her, she would have told me herself. I only just met her and I, at least, hold that much faith in her ability."

Even though his eyes weren't on her, he could tell that Aranna was smiling, if only on the inside. The sachem's smile, on the other hand, was clearly outward bound.

The pegasus took two steps forward. "And you continue to mock us! I should drag you into a cage myself."

Eclipse raised a hoof. "One. I was only mocking you. Two. Just you try."

The pegasus spread his wings, revealing two wing blades that, judging from the reflection, were freshly sharpened.

"Cyclone!" Finnis barked, his voice deep and booming. "Stand down. We know nothing of this newcomer beyond his appearance. He could be the most powerful being we have ever had direct encounters with, for all we know."

"And besides," Eclipse added, moving a hoof in a circular pattern. "I was sent here because of a changeling problem. I couldn't care less about politics and diplomacy if I tried. Just point me at what needs to go up in smoke."

Cyclone took the opportunity to raise his voice. "And he even admits to disrespecting us, without even a hint of shame!" Eclipse felt his eye begin twitching. "You surely must see that he cannot be allowed to simply treat you or your kin in such a way!" Eclipse snarled, his eyes beginning to glow red. Aranna waved a set of talons in front of his face, but he didn't notice. "Sachem, if nothing else, demand that he show proper respect from now on!" Finnis was a bit busy watching Eclipse's annoyance reach new heights, something Cyclone was still unaware of. "I would also recommend that he apologize for his--"

"Would you kindly shut up before I kick you in the face!?" Eclipse shouted, drawing the attention of all in the room, though he already had the attention of most. It probably helped that his mane was suddenly on fire.

A white pegasus with a blue mane quickly blew out the flames.

Eclipse immediately felt the top of his head. "Whoa, is my hair out?"

Finnis glared at Cyclone. "You may be one of my highest ranking officers, but your arrogance has kept you held back for many years. I pray you see why soon." He straightened up, his gaze running over the crowd. "I would like a private audience with the Equestrian." When none moved, his eyes narrowed. "Now."

The room almost instantly vacated, leaving only Eclipse and Finnis.

The griffin rose from his throne, walking around Eclipse. "There is something I failed to mention in my correspondence to the princesses. I have personally visited the changeling hive most of my people blame for the attacks, but I know it is not they."

"So, you said changeling attack, but they aren't attacking?" Eclipse asked. "You seem to follow a strange sort of logic."

"And you follow none, chaos user." Finnis returned, still circling the pony. "But it is changelings that attack us. Just not the one hive we know of."

"You think there is a second hive somewhere nearby."

"I know." The griffin held up a talon. "I also have a request. My daughter, whom you've met, will journey with you to the hive I know of, in order to find this second hive. She holds a special place in her heart for all changelings. But not the kind of special place you want to hold."

Eclipse 'tsk'ed. "The kill on sight spot?"

"The annihilate on sight spot."

"That could be a problem. Especially if she's coming with me."

Finnis sighed. "This may be the one changeling hive that doesn't feast on the love of others. They've lived in seclusion for a long time, with only minor interaction. I know several of them personally. And I want you to show Aranna the truth."

"And if you're wrong?" Eclipse asked.

"Destroy the hive if they are the ones attacking us."

"Can Aranna handle herself in a fight?"

A side door opened, revealing Aranna with a metal helm covering her head, with the exception of her face. A kite shield was strapped to her left talon, the point scraping the ground at certain parts of her step. It widened as it went up her arm, until it reached the halfway mark between her elbow and shoulder. The shield was attached to two straps around her wrist and elbow, meaning that several inches of shield went beyond the uppermost strap. A shoulder plate rested on the same leg as the shield, attached to a breastplate that protected her chest.

On her back was the scabbard for a longsword. The sword itself was grasped firmly in her right talon, shaped like a simple sword, the blade of which was bright and untarnished. The leather around the handle was worn, but still in very good condition. Around her right arm was a simple bracer, rather than another thick shield like her left arm. She had no right shoulder plate, likely sacrificed for mobility and easy swings.

She had guards on her hind legs, but little defense around her thighs or hips. It was clear that she had intended to have allies to group with, meaning that whatever weight was back there would have been useless. Even alone, it still gave her a better mobility than a warrior in full plate-mail.

Metal claws had been placed over her talons, meaning that if she were ever disarmed, she was still more dangerous than most other opponents in close quarters. Shield bashing and protected charges were also viable methods of assault if she ever lost her sword but kept her shield.

She spread her wings, the fire-like pattern of her body making a return in the bright red and yellow feathers, unhindered by wing blades or armor.

She grinned, putting the tip of her sword under Eclipse's chin and using it to close his mouth, which had fallen open somewhere along the line.

"Yep." The pony said, nodding. "I can make this work."

"Ah, but before you go..." Finnis said, stroking his chin. "If you ever run into my friend Fateweaver again, tell him I said hello."

Author's Note

sa·chem
ˈsāCHəm
noun
1. (among some American Indian peoples) a chief or leader.

The more you know!

(But other than that, there is absolutely no native american influence in Vangar or its inhabitants. Any similarities [doubtful there are any] are purely coincidental.)

Also, four paragraphs just to describe some armor and weapons. Damn. Aranna is one of few characters I had wanted to bring into this from close to the beginning and my wishes have finally come true!

Contact

“This is degrading.”

“It was your idea.”

“I didn’t know it’d be like this.”

“Oh, come on. A pony riding around on a griffin. What’s so degrading?”

“It just is.”

“Yeah? Well, cloud walking is slow.”

“It’s not slow enough to put up with this.”

“…It’s slow.”

“So?”

“So, we’re faster like this.”

“It’s sill degrading.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.”

“Okay, which one of use is riding which, because without seeing us, someone would think you were riding me.” Eclipse said, giving Aranna a pointed look.

The griffin shook her head. “Seriously. You should be having the time of your life.”

“Well, the time of my life is killing the tailbone.”

Aranna huffed, decreasing her altitude so she and Eclipse would pass harmlessly under a stone arch. “Oh, please. Ride a buffalo on the ground instead of a griffin in flight. That’ll rattle your tailbone.”

Eclipse paled. “…I’ll stick around up here.”

Aranna smiled, flapping her wings to increase speed.

“Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask…”

Aranna rolled her eyes. “Yes, boys are different from girls. It’s only natural you feel this way, but I’d really prefer you ask your parents about this sort of thing.”

“I was actually wondering why you have the custom color scheme when all the other griffins are normal.”

“Did you just now notice?”

“No, but every time you flap your wings it looks like they’re on fire.” Even as he said it, Eclipse still cringed slightly when Aranna flapped, having to remind himself that she was not on fire and they were not in danger of crashing.

“It’s a ‘last of my kind’ thing, but we’re not really sure.” Aranna shrugged, causing enough of a disturbance that Eclipse panicked and grabbed her so he wouldn’t fall off. “Sorry. Anyway, my dad said I got it from my mom, but there could be others like me out in the world.”

Eclipse leaned over so he could be seen from the corner of her eye. “This goes beyond the looks, doesn’t it?”

Aranna grimaced, but nodded. “Yeah. Look, can we not talk about it? It’s, uh… got some bad memories.”

“Brutal.”

“Yeah.”

They flew in silence for another fifteen minutes, until Aranna finally sighed.

Eclipse leaned down. “Something wrong?”

“I want to talk, just… not about it.”

“Well, once it’s brought up and shot down, the conversation dies.”

“I know.”

Eclipse immediately voiced a question he had been nurturing, despite it being rather tactless. “It’s related to why I haven’t seen your mom yet, huh?”

Aranna took a deep breath, but nodded. “Yeah.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’m in a situation where I don’t know how either of my parents are doing, or even if they’re still alive.”

Aranna chuckled darkly. “It doesn’t, but thanks for trying. I swear, ten minutes and you’ve got me opening up wider than most of the rest of Vangar put together, including my dad.”

Eclipse shrugged, an idiotic grin plastered on his face. “And taken out of context, that sounds way different.”

Aranna frowned angrily, but the slight reddening of her cheeks could still be seen if you looked closely enough. “That hive should be coming up in another couple of hours. It’s almost supper, so how about we set up camp and then move on for a few hours?”

<><><>

They found room to camp next to the bottom of a cliff, a small fire going to cook any food they had, though it was more for Aranna’s sake.

Eclipse, even though he may find it unfair, was a pony and had to eat pony food, which didn’t normally contain meat except for survival’s sake. Fucking herbivorous digestive system.

In an ultimately futile attempt to get his mind off the cruelty of the universe, he turned to Aranna in the hopes of starting a conversation. “Why haven’t you taken your armor off? It can’t be comfortable flying in that stuff.”

“Why haven’t you taken off the cloak and glasses?” Aranna asked, throwing Eclipse’s own questioning against him.

Eclipse blinked, taking a moment to try and find a new question that she wouldn’t turn around on him.

“Why didn’t you mention the Sachem was your dad before we got inside the town hall, or even got close to Vangar at all?”

“Why don’t you explain that incident with the flaming mane?”

“Chaos magic.” Eclipse answered, his expression deadpan. The thrill of always being able to give that answer had long since worn off.

After a moment, Aranna shook off her disbelief. “If you’re saying that you’re Discord, I’m the mother of Celestia.”

Eclipse facehoofed. “Why do people always jump to the Discord thing? Can’t there be just a few random chaos magic users here and there?”

Aranna crossed her eagle claws over her chest. “No.”

Eclipse huffed. “Then I’m breaking at least nine different rules of the universe now. Before, I was only breaking five.”

“How are you breaking any rules right now?”

“Ever hear of humans?”

“Fairy tales.” Aranna scoffed. “If they exist, I’ll believe you are Discord after all.”

Eclipse let himself fall backwards, hitting the dirt with a soft thud. Groaning, he wiped his eyes with his hooves. He almost didn’t notice the soft chittering going on nearby.

He did notice however, and was almost immediately on his hooves. “What was that?”

From the fact that Aranna had her sword out and her shield up, she had heard it too. But she was facing the wrong way.

“Hey, it’s coming from over here!” Eclipse said before he heard another wave of chittering from off to the side.

Both he and Aranna turned to face the noise, seeing three sets of blue eyes staring back at them.

Eclipse looked to where he and Aranna had been facing before they saw the three sets of eyes, noticing two more pairs of eyes in both directions. They were surrounded.

Aranna gripped her sword in both sets of talons. “Changelings.” she said, setting her jaw and lowering her head. Her wings flared, seeming to shimmer in the light of the campfire.

Eclipse took a step forward, his eyes now glowing a bright red.

One of the changelings stepped out of the shadows, but he was unlike any changeling Eclipse had seen or heard of before.

Rather than one pair of insectoid wings, this changeling had two pairs of long, thin wings, like a dragonfly. He also had a tail ending with a stinger, wickedly curved like that of a scorpion. Eclipse swore that a dark poison was dripping from the tip of it.

The changeling bowed, something that threw Eclipse completely off guard.

“You were expected.” The changeling said, a genuinely happy smile gracing his suddenly much less hostile face. The dripping poison now proved to be nothing more than a trick of the light from the fire, one which seemed obvious in retrospect.

Eclipse almost fell over at how strange the situation had suddenly become. He practically expected Discord to pop up from behind a rock and throw confetti in his face, likely with the aid of a certain pony and her party cannon.

Aranna however, simply adjusted her stance for better balance and gripped her sword more tightly.

The changeling took a step back. “Please.” He urged, trying to calm the murderous look in her eyes. “We just want to talk.”

Eclipse sighed. “Finnis said she had a thing against changelings.”

The changeling twisted his head slightly. “Finnis? So my eyes don’t lie. You are the phoenix griffin, then.”

Eclipse blinked. “The what?”

“Speak my father’s name again and I’ll decorate this mountain with the slime that is your blood.” Something about the way she said that chilled Eclipse far more than the implications of it.

The burst of chittering from around them spurred Eclipse into action.

“Ooookay, then.” He said, stepping between Aranna and the closest changeling. “How about we calm down, stay where we are and not un-alive anyone today, huh?” He turned back to Aranna, but the blaze in her eyes made him cringe and duck his head. “Or we could glare mercilessly.”

At that moment, the dragonfly-scorpion-ling did the worst thing he could have done.

He took a step forward. “I agree with the outsider. We should not fight amongst ourselves.”

Aranna raised her sword higher.

Eclipse paled. “Yeah, from the way you said that, coupled with her angry state, she thinks that you just put her and yourself in the same group.”

The changeling frowned in confusion. “Do we not both make our home in this mountain range? Why should we not treat each other as one and the--”

Aranna’s angry battlecry cut him off, and her sword almost cut his head off as well. The changeling jumped back, but the blade still managed a shallow cut into his chitin. It didn’t break through, but it was proof that the sword could easily slice through the changeling’s natural armor.

Another of the changelings charged, this one similar to the ones that had attacked Canterlot. It sped forward like a bullet, but Aranna brought her shield up and swatted the bug away like a, well, bug.

Another regular changeling caught the first in mid-air, flying beyond the reach of the griffin.

The sound of pounding hooves (or the changeling equivalent) attracted the attention of both Aranna and Eclipse. A large brawny changeling with a thick shell on his back was picking up speed. In addition to the shell, his horn was much larger and thicker than the normal changeling’s or the scorpionfly one that had originally showed itself.

Eclipse clapped his hooves together. “That’s it! Until I get an official name, I’m calling you a scorpionfly changeling!” He pointed at the changeling, who was currently watching as Aranna and the shelled changeling pushed against each other, neither gaining any ground.

The scorpionfly changeling grunted. “That is actually what my kind are known as, but specifically, I am Thorn.”

Aranna planted her sword in the ground, grabbed the leg of the changeling she was struggling against and flung him into a boulder.

Eclipse pointed a hoof. “What about the shelled guy?”

A changeling managed to snatch Aranna’s sword before she could retrieve it. The griffin swiped her claws at it, the metal claws she was wearing only just barely missing their mark.

“Dozer. Both for his strength and capacity for sleeping.”

About to take flight after her sword, Aranna still spared enough time to knock away Dozer, who had recovered from his trip into a boulder. The shelled changeling was struck with a metallic clang, a piece of his chitin chipping off.

“I meant his species.”

Thorn’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh. A beetle.”

Both a beetle and a scorpionfly charged out, counting to a total of six changelings. Only one had yet to show its face. The scopionfly distracted Aranna, but she had noticed the beetle earlier and had backed herself against a boulder to avoid being flanked.

The scorpionfly went low, much to her surprise, while the beetle opened his shell and unfolded two large wings, going high, though he was much slower and clumsier in the air.

Still Aranna blocked the initial tail strike of the scorpionfly changeling with her shield, using her other claw to grab the beetle’s horn and slam him into his fellow. Aranna jumped over the two, her wings flaring as bright sparks flew from them. This time it wasn’t just a trick of the campfire’s light.

Eclipse pointed at Thorn’s tail and wings. “I thought there was only one type of changeling.”

Thorn grimaced. “You must be an Equestrian. Experienced with the hive of Chrysalis. You’ll find Blackreach hive to have no love of her.”

The changeling who had taken Aranna’s sword dropped it at Thorn’s feet and sped off, assisting its fellow normal changeling in a duel attack from Aranna’s left and right. They were accompanied by a third normal changeling and a revived Dozer.

That accounted for all seven sets of eyes that had greeted them.

Thorn shifted his hooves, both in nervousness and to keep the sword at least a foot away from him. “I am… surprised. Are you not going to help your fellow?”

Eclipse shrugged and proceeded to pull out a rather large artillery piece, as well as aiming said artillery at Thorn’s face. “Do you want me to?”

Two normal changelings aided Dozer with a full frontal assault, forcing Aranna to keep her shield raised. Without her sword she couldn’t effectively fight back, even though the slowly building flames around her were keeping the changelings in enough of a check to allow a stalemate.

Not one to give up a victory, Aranna put her shoulder into her shield and charged, bashing one changeling out of her way and sending the other two running. The third normal changeling swept up from behind, clubbing Aranna with a sizeable rock.

Other than knocking her helmet off and filling the area with a loud metallic clang, this accomplished little.

“I’d rather you wouldn’t…” Thorn admitted while Eclipse stowed the weapon.

“I thought you’d se things my way.” The pony said, smiling.

Aranna spun, clawing a trio of gouges into the side of the changeling before it could properly react. The scorpionfly fired a green beam of magic at her, but her shield absorbed the brunt of the attack.

Dozer and the second beetle took the moment of distraction it provided and slammed her between the two of them while the three remaining changelings fired a tri-blast at her, stunning the griffin.

The scorpionfly and two beetles put themselves between the three normal changelings as Aranna got back onto her feet.

“So if I don’t have the card you requested, I say ‘go fish’?”

“Correct.” Eclipse said, smiling.

“What do fish have to do with it?”

Eclipse facehoofed.

The scorpionfly and the regulars charged their magic, bringing four beams to bear on Aranna’s shield. The beetles rushed, knocking her defenses aside so the beams could decommission the griffin.

Aranna hit the ground hard, alive but knocked out.

Thorn quickly trotted over to her, checking her vitals.

One of the normal changelings landed near Eclipse. “Sup?” It asked with a slight head tilt.

Eclipse sucked a breath in through his teeth. “Sheesh, this is weird.”

Thorn rallied the changelings. “Perimeter guard! Detain the griffin, but leave the pony be! He has shown no open hostility yet and we should pray that it remains so.”

Eclipse glanced at him. “Perimeter guard?”

“We patrol the outer edges of the hive’s territory. The hive itself is about an hour due east.”

“Do you have a leader?”

“One who will want to meet you.” Thorn assured, nodding.

Eclipse jumped up, landing on a black cloud and pointing in the direction the changelings had begun traveling in. "Excellent! We'll get this situation sorted out before we know it!"

Thorn stared at the pony. "A wingless cloud walker?"

Eclipse stared back. "A changeling that didn't help his fellow guards fight a hostile?"

Thorn shrugged. "Pacifist."

"How did you get into the perimeter guard?"

"Strategist."

Entering the Hive (But not the bad one)

Only half paying attention to the perimeter guard who was escorting him, Eclipse’s gaze drifted around the chamber of the hive.

The main chamber was huge, as if someone had carved out a giant cave with tunnels running to and from it for the changelings that lived inside. Even after the scare of the scorpionfly and beetle changelings who had greeted him, he found Blackreach Hive to be much more than he expected.

It was dark, even with several artificial light sources scattered here and there and even a large skylight on the far end of the massive cave. However, most of the visible light was a blue glow from fungi that clung to the rock face and cave sides in patches. For the most part, the fungus had been cleared away from the floor, though small groves of it grew, some of which were being tended to by several changelings of all three types.

The fungus ranged from moss with such a dull glow you had to squint to see it--and even then it looked purple rather than blue and was hardly visible--up to massive building sized mushrooms that emitted a bright cerulean glow, bathing a swath of area around them in the bioluminescence.

Changelings marched to and fro, concentrating on their individual tasks. This, however, did not mean that they didn’t occasionally get distracted or wind up in a conversation with a friend for some time. It was more like an ordinary city the longer Eclipse looked. Even so, the fact that it was underground caused major differences. Such as when several beetle changelings scurried out of a cave, followed closely by the sound of falling rock.

A quick head count was taken right then and there, and the lead changeling waved it off when all the excavators had been accounted for.

Gaze still drifting, Eclipse’s eyes took note of a stage set up not too far away, complete with a trio of changelings setting up various instruments on it. One of the beetle changelings was plucking a few strings on a guitar-like instrument, though it was oddly shaped and seemingly constructed out of a combination of chitin and metal.

Nearby, a classically styled changeling akin to the ones that attacked Canterlot was much more excitedly strumming his instrument, hooked up to what Eclipse presumed to be an amplifier as if he was ready to begin at that moment. Based on the buzzing of his wings, he certainly was.

Lastly, one of the scorpionfly changelings was just finishing setting up her instrument, a percussion instrument reminiscent of a drum set, but without cymbals and placing a much heavier emphasis on large bass drums. Along with this was a strange headset. Putting the headset on and checking to make sure it wouldn’t fall off, she spoke into it, causing her voice to echo from several speakers placed around the stage.

“Test, test, three, four…” The changeling turned to her compatriots. “You ready?”

“Yeah, for like, an hour.” The beetle said back, though it wasn’t nearly as loud. He turned to the third changeling. “What about you?”

The changeling simply strummed his instrument before lifting his head, giving Eclipse a full view of a pair of dark sunglasses. Why he was wearing sunglasses in an underground cave, Eclipse had no idea.

Thorn seemed to have noticed Eclipse’s distracted state of mind, as the changeling followed his gaze and smiled. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a band before.” The changeling chuckled.

“Not in a changeling hive.” Eclipse responded. “Nor did I ever expect to.”

A silence that lasted several seconds drifted between the two of them, both of whom had stopped walking by this point. Finally Thorn broke the silence.

“Would you like to stay and listen?”

“That does sound interesting…” Eclipse began. “But wait, what about your matriarch? Not to mention my own companion.”

“The matriarch is already busy.” Thorn answered. “This may actually make things simpler for her. Besides, she expected this sort of reaction from you, which is why she is allowing them to play even with your untimely arrival and… introduction.”

“…And?” Eclipse asked after a moment.

Thorn smiled again. “The phoenix griffin is a creature whose power is well known among us, as we’ve already said. Even had we a mind to cause her harm, none would have the exo to actually do it.”

Eclipse had to accept this as enough for now, even though he still had no idea what ‘phoenix griffins’ were capable of or what it meant that Aranna was one of them. “As interested as I am, I’d prefer to get my business done and over with. Maybe later.”

The perimeter guard nodded. “Very well. Follow me.”

<><><>

“Eclipse. I present you to the matriarch.” Thorn stepped aside, giving Eclipse a full view of the changeling in front of him.

She didn’t sit upon a throne, nor did she have a flock of servants attending to her whims. Instead, she was standing next to a desk, shuffling several official looking pieces of parchment around and doing her best not to drop any. Between the constant buzzing as her wings lightly vibrated from how rushed she was and the frazzled look of her moss green mane, she looked very much like the unfortunate character who had stumbled her way into politics and was doing her best to keep it from falling out from underneath her, with varying results.

She also looked younger than half the changelings Eclipse had seen. Clearly, the title of matriarch was not dependent on one’s age.

In her haste to stow the documents, she had not noticed Eclipse entering the room behind Thorn. When she turned around to greet the newcomer, she jumped in surprise at how he had already made it to the halfway mark between her and the door, a distance that was really only two dozen feet if you were feeling generous.

She quickly composed herself, giving Eclipse the same sort of smile Celestia gives nobles when she wasn’t sure she really wanted to talk to them.

“Please, forgive me. I wasn’t expecting company. Especially not after the incident with our perimeter guard.” She tapped her hooves together, still nervous. “What can I do for you?”

Eclipse couldn’t help but run his gaze up and down the changeling. “You’re the matriarch?”

He could feel Thorn glaring at him, so he clarified.

“When I hear the word ‘matriarch’, I tend to imagine an older sort. The kind who’d be yelling at small children to get off their lawn, but nicely.”

The matriarch laughed, causing the physical force of Thorn’s glaring to lesson greatly, though it did not disappear.

She smiled gratefully, her nervousness wiped away. “My mother is the true matriarch. However, as she grows old, I’ve taken more and more of her duties. As of now, only an official transfer of title is what separates me from any other matriarch.”

Eclipse nodded. “Well, it seems that Vangar believes you to be attacking them. That’s why I’m here.”

The matriarch took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “I should have known. Blackreach should not have allowed Nexus hive to set up a nest here. But I just had to have hope…”

Eclipse shuffled on his hooves. “You allowed them to set up shop?”

“We…I-I thought they may turn out like us. It should have been apparent that something was wrong. So uniform… I should have known they were a hive minded sort. No doubt their sovereign has a solid hold over the will of each changeling.”

Eclipse took a step back. “So some changelings are hive minds while others are free willed, like the ones in Blackreach hive?”

“Yes.” The matriarch nodded, frowning. “Certain hives, mostly ones who are already completely bonded to a singular mind, will have their young brought into the hive mind, though at the cost of that changeling’s individuality and, should the hive mind ever break, their sanity. It is rare for a changeling to escape a hive mind with their own intact, but more common are adult changelings who are forcefully integrated into a hive mind.”

Eclipse shuddered, imagining having his free will stripped away and being forced into a hive mind he didn’t want to join. That thought alone made him prepared to wipe Nexus Hive off the map, even though he wasn’t even sure that Nexus engaged in such practices.

“Does each hive have a unique moniker for their leader?” Eclipse asked, pointing to the fact that he had heard queen, matriarch and sovereign to describe the leader of a hive.

“Yes and no. Time apart from one another can cause differences in one hive from another. The title of their leader is one such possible difference, as well as the emergence of new breeds of changeling.” The matriarch nodded towards Thorn. “We have a very rapid rate of evolution, but may also go an eon without the slightest change. It’s matter of survival.”

Eclipse finished writing his notes, intent on giving them to the princesses as soon as he returned to Canterlot. Stowing the paper and pen, which neither Thorn nor the matriarch had noticed before, he raised his hoof. “One more question: Can you tell me where Nexus hive is?”

The matriarch hung her head. “No, but someone in Blackreach hive might. Also, find a changeling who knows about phoenix griffins. From what I was told, you were just as surprised as the perimeter guard at her true nature. If you need assistance, I, Matriarch Nightwhisper, will do my best to aid you.”

Nightwhisper retrieved her stack of parchment, immediately returning her attention to it. From the lack of dismissal, it was clear that she had wanted to resume her other duties as soon as possible, despite the forgotten formalities.

Thorn led Eclipse out. “Per the matriarch’s orders, I’ll serve as your guide through Blackreach.” He announced, wings buzzing slightly. “First, I believe I will show you to the guest quarters.”

Eclipse realized that it was late afternoon, possibly even nighttime outside the cave. Thorn would likely retrieve him in the morning. If not, he’d happily tear a massive hole in whatever cell the changelings had thrown him in and proceed to beat each of them into a fine, gooey paste.

Author's Note

Yes, Blackreach hive's name and description are based on best Skyrim location.

If you hadn't noticed that or do not understand the previous statement, please move along and pretend you saw nothing in this set of author's notes.

The blackest reaches contain the key to the nexus

Thorn did not know what he expected when he entered the room he had shown Eclipse to last night, but it was most assuredly not this.

From the unsure expression Eclipse had worn upon entering the room, Thorn had thought the pony would have smashed a hole in the wall by the time dawn finally came around.

Based on the pony's unique magical powers, Thorn might have shrugged off any manner of eldritch* abomination or arcane horror in the room, provided Eclipse managed to vanquish it before it caused any serious harm.

The changeling may even have been able to forgive seeing one or both of the Equestrian princesses. Three, including the one at the Crystal Empire.

Instead, the earth pony was listening to a radio in the room, likely by reading a disk with the music on it than actually receiving a radio signal. The peacefulness of the scene is what had surprised Thorn. What really struck him as odd, though, was the stallion's closed eyes and bobbing head as he listened to the song, composed by the very same band of changelings Eclipse had passed on watching in concert.

One beauty of the changeling anatomy was their unique vocal structure, allowing them to imitate any target they chose. The added need of the ability to make the chittering that made up the natural changeling language resulted in the ability to create an astounding array of grunts, chirps, tweets** and other vocal sounds that were impossible for the normal pony, griffin or even minotaur*** to reproduce.

This was used to great effect in various forms of changeling art--when produced by a free-willed changeling, of course--most notably music and singing.

Based on the tapping hoof that was keeping in tune with the song and the mouth that teetered on the edge of movement, wanting to copy the sounds but finding itself unsure how to even begin, Thorn believed that Eclipse was very much enjoying the piece. Not to forget the aforementioned bobbing head and closed eyes.

After a minute or two, Eclipse had turned to find Thorn standing in the doorway. The changeling nodded once, letting a smile creep onto his features. "Enjoying yourself?"

Eclipse shut off the radio, nodding in return. He sighed, mentally preparing himself for the day. "Can we visit Aranna? I'm kinda worried about her."

Thorn shuffled on his hooves. "I believe so. It may work to calm her, at the very least."

Less than a fifteen minute walk had the two standing before a beetle and a classic changeling guarding a cell, one of several in a hall. They were empty, with the exception of one with an angry griffin who was emitting a blistering amount of heat from her body. Her armor and sword were stashed within a chest at the entrance of the cell block. The door out of the cell block led to a small office where one changeling was sitting at a desk. From there, there was a door into Blackreach Hive proper, then a door to another cell block, where the few dis-orderlies that were imprisoned had been moved to when Aranna had come in.

Thorn suppressed a flinch. "We had to enchant the cell to be heat resistant. She has already melted through the bars of one such cell." He gestured towards a cell just two over from Aranna's. The bars were twisted and/or warped, some with chunks melted off.

The griffin shot a look at Eclipse. "Oh? So you're working with them after all?" She snorted derisively. "I thought you might have actually escaped. Guess I was played."

Eclipse gave her a dubious expression. "Do I look like I'm working with them?"

One of the cell guards coughed, making Eclipse realize that he was, in fact, outside the cell with three changelings on his side, while Aranna was locked within. The griffin watched curiously as he applied copious amounts of hoof to his face.

Thorn and the two guards looked anywhere except at the griffin or the pony.

Eclipse raised his hoof, starting again. "What I meant was that I'm not working with them. In fact, I might actually be able to get you out of there if you don't, ah, take off any heads."

Aranna crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at him. "And who's to say that you're not a changeling who's dressed up as Eclipse?"

Eclipse answered immediately, expression deadpan. "When I first saw you in your armor, my jaw fell open. You used your sword to close it. Amazingly, you didn't give me so much as a paper-cut when you did so."

Thorn put a hoof over the cut he had received from Aranna's sword. He wouldn't have let that thing anywhere near his throat!

Aranna blinked. "You... don't waste time, do you?"

Eclipse shrugged. "Not exactly the kind for wasting time. Never really have been. Anyway, can I at least get a promise that you'll stop doing... that freaky... fire... thing. Seriously, how are you doing that? I should have brought marshmallows or something." It was a good thing he had left his cloak and glasses in the office with the desk jockey. The cloth would have kept heat and the HUD would have melted. Even without the cloak, Eclipse was sweating and breathing heavily.

Aranna frowned, turning her head away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Thorn tapped Eclipse, but didn't move any closer to Aranna. "Most changelings only know the legends, but their is surely someone who can separate fact from exaggeration. Plus, you still need to find the location of Nexus hive."

Aranna snapped her head back to the changeling, the heat around her dying down. "Nexus hive? You mean there's more of you?"

"Yes." Thorn confirmed. "And they are the cause of your distress. Not Blackreach."

Aranna slammed her fist into the bars of the cell. "You have to let me out of here! I'll cut those Nexus cretins down where they stand!"

Eclipse waved his hoof. "Clearly you didn't hear. We don't even know where Nexus is at!"

Aranna cooled down, both temperamentally and with regards to actual temperature. The air was almost back to its normal setting. "Then find them! And don't you dare leave this hive without me, you understand?"

Thorn shook his head yes as an affirmative to her statement. "When Eclipse leaves Blackreach, you will automatically be released to join him. For release before then, you will need to maintain your self-control. We only keep you here to protect out citizens."

Aranna's wings twitched, but she didn't answer.

"So, can we all get going?" Eclipse hopefully asked, moving his hoof in a circular pattern.

Aranna grunted an agreement, also promising to keep the heater turned off after some prodding.

Thorn saluted. "Aff, Eclipse. With some fortune, we may send you on your way before any more incidents occur."

The two left, leaving Aranna with her two guards. The normal changeling looked to his beetle companion, making a few quick chitters and clacking with his jaw.

In response, the beetle pulled out a box that read 'checkers' from underneath his large shell.

Aranna had to stop and contemplate the sight for a few seconds.

One of the changelings spared her a glance. "Would you like to play winner?"

<><><>

"Yeah, I can help you out." The changeling said, using a cloth to clean the glass in his hooves.

"See, Thorn? What'd I tell you?" Eclipse asked, leaning back on his bar stool. "You ask around the seedy dives and you'll find what you're looking for. As long as you can pay the price."

The scorpionfly changeling glanced around, a hint of anxiety in his movements. "I still dislike our surroundings, Eclipse. Plus, we have yet to hear a price be named."

Eclipse looked back to the bartender, flashing a grin.

The changeling didn't react other than to put the glass with several others, all freshly cleaned. "In a few hours we open up the ring. Current champion's scaring off all the contenders, plus the gamblers and our profits. Put him down, I'll tell you how to reach Nexus."

Thorn grimaced. "Underground fight club. Just a more advanced dog fight." He turned to Eclipse. "These practices are not illegal, but they are relegated to a lower standing than most other forms of entertainment. Please consider your options."

"Relax." Eclipse said, shrugging. "I knock someone out, we get our info, Aranna and I move out and demolish Nexus Hive. Everyone wins, except my opponent and Nexus. Easy-peasy."

Thorn and Eclipse shared a glance, the former apprehensive while the latter was confident.

The bartender grumbled out a statement. "Two rules: No magic. No weapons. The customers want a straight brawl with no killing, you got it?"

"No magic?" Eclipse asked, frowning.

"Beetles haven't got the magical power of the other changelings. Besides, an earth pony like yourself would be at a disadvantage, yeah?"

Eclipse and Thorn shared another glance. This time, Thorn was the more confident of the two, having been reassured by the 'no magic' rule. Eclipse found himself lacking in confidence now, aware that his chaos magic was strictly off-limits if he wanted Nexus Hive's location.

Their were other places they could ask, but this was the first in a long line of similar places that actually had what they needed. Eclipse sighed, nodding his head. "I'll do it. But if you double-cross me, Blackreach will find itself short one bartender."

The changeling gave a toothy smile. "Beat Whiplash, you won't need to worry about it. Fail, and you're on your own, bloody nose and all."

Author's Note

* eldritch keeps trying to correct itself into the word 'britches'.
** not the kind of tweet most humans make. How the f%ck would Twitter even exist in Equestria?
*** Yeah, go ahead and ignore the cows, buffalo, goats, dragons, sea serpents and other species in Equestria (and beyond!) that are capable of speech. Racist.

First rule in fight club: ...Wait, there are rules?

Eclipse gritted his teeth, returning the glare the scorpionfly changeling across the room was giving him.

A large area in the center of the room had been cleared out, nothing except for a circle on the ground to dictate where the ring was.

The bartender was in the center of the ring, while Eclipse and his soon-to-be-opponent stood on either side. Thorn was standing next to Eclipse, standing tall and proud despite his surroundings.

Changelings were all around, some drinking, some watching the two brawlers stare at each other and some simply trying their luck on other bar-goers, with varying degrees of success.

Eclipse's opponent, Whiplash, was slim, but that meant she had speed and agility. It could also belie a hidden strength. Without honesty telling him where her attacks would go, Eclipse would have to be extremely careful with his parries and blocks. Without chaos to use both defensively and offensively, it left him much more open than he would be otherwise. His only saving grace was that Whiplash was also banned from her magic, keeping the threat of laser blasts to the face at a minimum.

Taking a deep breath, Eclipse shuffled on his hooves, a bead of liquid anxiety streaking down his face. "Okay, Thorn. Like we agreed?"

"Of course." The guard replied, nodding his head. "When I see an exploitable, you will know."

"Fantastic. Let's see if your strategy really is good enough for the hive's perimeter guard."

"And if it is?" the changeling replied with a knowing grin.

Eclipse shrugged. "The princesses might still be recruiting."

The bartender who had set Eclipse in his current position cleared his throat, attracting all attention to his position in the middle of the ring. "Ladies and gentle-lings! Fellow shape-shifters of drinking age and older!" He buzzed his wings, pointing one hoof at Eclipse and another at Whiplash. "Let's watch these two hospitalize each other!"

He was met with cheers on all sides as changelings gathered to watch the show, some inches from the ring and the rest right on top of it.

"No magic, no weapons!" The bartender declared. "You leave the ring, you lose. Brawl!"

Whiplash calmly strode to the center of the ring. Eclipse, giving Thorn an unsure glance, followed suit. The two took a moment to look at each other, before Whiplash flashed a smile. "I'll make this quick."

Her scorpion tail whipped around, the point stabbing for the pony's chest. Eclipse jumped back, using one hoof to bat away the appendage.

Whiplash jumped forward, wings buzzing. Eclipse managed to turn himself around, delivering a hard kick to her face.

She recovered mid-air, sliding to the edge of the ring as Eclipse re-situated himself.

Several 'ooh''s came from the crowd, but it was mostly a confusing mix of shouting and cheers.

Whiplash's exoskeleton showed a small dent, but it was a minor injury at best. She pawed the ground with a hoof, eyes flashing with excitement at the challenge Eclipse had decided to pose.

Challenges were meant to be overcome.

Whiplash dashed forward, eliminating the distance between herself and Eclipse in seconds. He raised a hoof to block her attack, but reacted too quickly and was rewarded with a blow to the gut. Another changeling hoof came around, hitting his jaw and twisting his head around.

Eclipse moved with the momentum from the blow, avoiding the tail swipe that followed not long after. He used a series of jabs and hooks to force Whiplash back, buying him some time.

"Jump over her!" Thorn cried, just barely reaching the pony's ears.

Taking the initiative, Eclipse jumped, somersaulting over Whiplash.

He landed on his front hooves, his back ones primed to kick. Whiplash was no stranger to these tactics, having anticipated him to land behind her, but even she hadn't realized that he was already ready to strike. Her kick met his own, sending equal spikes of pain up the hind legs of pony and changeling alike.

They each took a moment to hiss in pain, putting several feet of distance between themselves in a joint movement. Eclipse stalked around the ring, trying to find the chink in his enemy's armor. Unfortunately, chitin was very high in protection unless you could get something between the plates at a joint or on the back.

Without a long and thin weapon, his options were limited. Whiplash's natural covering would let her take punishment that he simply wouldn't be able to stand. He had to be careful about this.

Whiplash charged him, going low.

"To the side!"

Ignoring Thorn, Eclipse jumped, hoping to go over Whiplash. The point of her tail opened a shallow, but long, gash in his side, a trap she had executed perfectly.

"I told you to the side!"

"You made your point!" Eclipse called back.

Whiplash reversed her momentum immediately, rushing to meet him just before he hit the ground.

She was just slow enough for Eclipse to touch the ground with a hoof and begin spinning, slapping her in the face with his tail and using his second front hoof to land a blow to her stomach.

Whiplash leaped back, front hooves still swatting away at attacks that she was now out of reach of. Eclipse charged, prompting Whiplash to dive to the side. The changeling pounced, attacking him from the air with a wing assisted jump.

Eclipse, never one for boring tactics, jumped up to meet her head on. The two collided in mid-air, spinning randomly as they used their hooves to strike time and time again. They hit the ground with a thud, Whiplash coming out on top and raising both hooves so she could slam them down in one overhead strike.

Eclipse crossed his hooves over his head, feeling what would definitely become a pair of bruises land on his hasty barrier. Whiplash raised a hoof, trying to hold both of Eclipse's hooves down with one of her own as she prepared to attack again.

Eclipse only needed one hoof to handle the distraction, using his second to land a jab on Whiplash's throat. The changeling grabbed her throat, coughing and fighting a gag reflex. Eclipse shoved her off of him, getting to his hooves in record time.

"Bite!" Thorn called. "She uses her tail, don't be afraid to use your teeth!"

"For a pacifist, you sure are good at this!"

"Just because I do not fight does not mean I cannot instruct others to do so!"

"Why can't more pacifists be like you?"

Despite still coughing, Whiplash used her tail to strike. Eclipse, even without his magic, still managed to time it correctly and bit the stinger, holding tight when she tried to yank her tail back.

Eclipse grabbed used his hooves to grab her tail further up, close to where it connected to her body. He heaved, bringing Whiplash over his head and slamming her into the ground. He spun, trying to toss her out of the ring. She kicked her wings into overdrive, adjusting course before she left the fight's restricted area.

Whiplash dive-bombed Eclipse, adjusting herself when he tried to step back and slamming into him full force. They both came out worse for the experience, Eclipse having earned a few new cuts and a bruised rib while Whiplash's chitin had cracked, which was the changeling equivalent of a cracked bone.

"Eclipse!" Thorn's voice called over the rest of the crowd. "Hit the crack! Once cracked, chitin is easily broken!"

Eclipse took a deep breath, nodding to himself as he focused in on the newly made chink in Whiplash's defenses, square in the middle of her chest.

"Use rapid attacks to spread the crack, then switch to power strikes!" Thorn's voice called again, giving Eclipse a reason to smile at Whiplash.

The changeling growled at him, venting her frustration at the realization that she might actually lose.

The two brawlers charged each other, colliding and grappling in a test of one-on-one strength. Whiplash pulled her head back and head-butted. Eclipse craned his own head back as well, avoiding her swipe and leaning forward to grip her horn between his teeth. Whiplash growled, bringing a rear hoof up and forward, kicking Eclipse in the torso. The pony wheezed, the breath having been knocked out of him. He twisted, avoiding Whiplash's tail strike and bringing them both to the ground. He planted a few quick strikes on the chink in her armor, spreading the crack a few more centimeters.

Whiplash uttered a string of clicks and clacks, likely cursing Eclipse in the changeling language.

He stuck out his tongue, the immature gesture clearly riling the changeling up and forcing her to charge. Eclipse reared back, bringing his hoof forward just in time to add her own momentum to the force of his strike.

He felt the chitin give under his hoof, grinning at the shocked Whiplash as she looked at him in confusion, both of them completely frozen in space. She looked down, seeing a slow dribble of green blood creeping down his foreleg. She watched as a lone drop of blood hit the ground, immediately accompanied by a wave of pain from her cracked exoskeleton.

She fell to the ground, gasping for breath and keeping her hooves over her chest.

Eclipse staggered back several steps, breathing heavily and still grinning as the bartender counted down for Whiplash to stand.

The changeling tilted her head to look at her opponent. She grimaced, glaring at him. "I..." she began, as though she wasn't sure she wanted to say it. "I yield."

Some of the changelings around them cheered while others groaned. Clearly, bets had been made.

Thorn clapped Eclipse on the back, then accompanied the pony to get Whiplash standing back on her hooves and headed towards a doctor.

"Well..." Eclipse laughed, rubbing his forelegs where Whiplash and struck them with her overhead strike. "I don't really want to do that again."

From somewhere behind him, a voice cleared its throat.

A beetle changeling stood there, flanked by two standard changelings. "I hope you understand that Whiplash was my investment." The beetle began, clearly having gone through similar conversations before. "I don't like it when some... Equestrian, barges in and--" Eclipse promptly fired a blast of energy into the beetle, sending him flying back.

One of his guards tried to retaliate, but ended up being squeezed between a boulder and a convenient box that read 'caution: really hard' on the side. The third changeling simply raised his hooves and backed away.

Thorn gaped, watching Eclipse crack his neck.

The pony shrugged, stretching his legs as if he hadn't used them in a while. "What? I can walk on clouds I make from my own energy, you should have known I could do stuff like that, too."

The bartender dropped the glass he had been set on cleaning, watching from his position.

Eclipse turned to him. "Right, now about Nexus hive..."

The changeling gulped, nodding.

<><><>

"The northern edge of the mountain range?" Aranna asked. "Where exactly?"

"No idea." Eclipse muttered. "He just did some of that chittering the changelings use as their language and said the translation was unknown to him."

Thorn nodded. "Kisst t'u linok junng draff djol sta. That would be a literal translation of the phonemes and morphemes following the same rules as the rest of the translations between common equestrian and changeling."

"Uh, what he said." Eclipse sighed, pointing at the changeling.

Thorn sighed. "It may sound like gibberish to you, but it is a set of instructions. A map."

"Well, we can't read it." Eclipse grumbled, leaning on the bars of Aranna's cell. The griffin herself was tapping a talon against the ground, thinking.

After a moment of silence, Thorn stood up.

"But I can. I can guide you to Nexus hive."

"Oh, no." Aranna said, shaking her head. "I'm not travelling with a changeling. It's bad enough that I'm letting them keep me in a cell! I'm not letting them keep watch over our mission." She looked to Eclipse for support, but found him slowly nodding in agreement with Thorn. "You can't seriously be considering this?"

"What choice do you have?" Thorn asked, sweeping a hoof around. "There is no proper translation for the instructions."

Aranna slammed her fist into the cell bars, denting one of them. "I am not travelling with a changeling to a changeling hive."

"I have just as much reason as you to fight against Nexus." Thorn declared. "They will likely attack Blackreach if Vangar falls and I will not allow that to happen."

"We'll be fine without you." Aranna shouted back, rather vehemently.

"Oh, you understood that mess of syllables and can lead us to nexus hive?" Eclipse asked, his question shutting down any further objection of Aranna's part.

Thorn bowed his head. "I will inform Matriarch Nightwhisper. We leave in the morning." He turned towards Aranna. "Your equipment shall be returned to you then."

We know there's a secret, we just don't know what it is

Luna gave a small smile, looking at the figure hanging upside down, still strapped to the cockpit chair.

Eclipse had taken many forms in the dreams she had visited him in. Pony, human, fish, dog, at one point a manticore, but for Luna, the crossed arms and scowl he was giving her, despite his current predicament, had given ‘human’ a position close to the top of the list of the best she had seen.

The cockpit he was inside was from one of many fictional universes Eclipse had either read about or simply made up, a large, two-legged mechanized unit, with bird-like legs, rows of weapons and literal tons of metal for armor plating. Most of this was strewn about the current dreamscape the pair were in, having been blown to smithereens, partly thanks to Luna’s intervention.

She may guard foals from nightmares, but she could still have fun with a select few whom she called friends. Granted, Eclipse’s dreams were a preferred target thanks to the sheer variety of them, but that mattered little.

Finally, the human sighed in defeat and chuckled, acknowledging that Luna’s prank, filled with explosions and panic as it was, had actually been pretty fun. The dream blurred for a moment as Eclipse, again a pony, and Luna sat next to each other.

Luna enjoyed the mission reports, unusual as they may be.

She nodded and frowned as Eclipse finished telling her his progress thus far.

“So, there are more changeling hives than Chrysalis.” The princess nodded, understanding. “It makes sense, seeing as Chrysalis actually had a fairly small army. It was her deception that gave her the advantage in her invasion. But, these altered changelings: the beetles, scorpionflies and others. Her hive did not have any of these. If changelings truly evolve in generations as opposed to millennia, as you say, there are countless possibilities.”

Eclipse flashed a grin. “Yeah. Just imagine, as many changelings as there are insects. Scary thought, right? But come on, Princess. Chrysalis could have easily thought her hive was the only hive, that that was he rentire race. Thorn, he deosn’t even feed off of love! H eeats normal food and he said there are other changelings that feed off other emotions!”

“Indeed.” Luna agreed. “Variety is the spice of life. And,” she added with a slight smile. “if the personalities vary as much as the body and means of survival, Blackreach hive could become a good ally for Equestria.”

“I still get to blow up Nexus hive, though, right?”

“They are threatening Vangar. Eventually, they may turn to Equestria. They don’t even care for Blackreach hive.” Luna’s tone grew serious. “Given a week, maybe a few days more, a portion of the royal guard will be dispatched, headed by either my sister or myself. This is not the time to idle while the threat grows. Rally yourself and any allies you have gathered.”

Eclipse blinked. “So, do I still get to blow up Nexus?” He gave her a hopeful smile.

Luna sighed and rolled her eyes, smiling. “If you truly must be so theatrical.”

“YES!”

<><><>

Eclipse rose, hearing some swearing outside his door.

Groaning, he cracked his neck, approaching the portcullis. It slammed open, missing him by inches as it swung past, revealing Aranna with Thorn standing directly behind her.

"Draw a map, for crying out loud! We'll handle it!" The griffin snarled, waving the changeling away.

"I have already pledged myself to aid in this quest. Surely you know something of personal honor."

"Yeah, changelings have none. You assume the forms of ponies and steal love from their families and friends!"

Somehow, neither of them noticed that the door they had opened had an unamused gray and brown earth pony standing in the middle of it.

"Only some hives and several mobile swarms have retained that genetic marker! Blackreach has evolved to feed on food just as ponies and griffins do, as have many other hives! We even made a point to keep our presence outside our caves at a minimum to keep beings like you from breaking down our walls!"

Aranna pressed her beak against the changeling's face "What proof do I have to trust your word?"

"What harm have I caused you?" Thorn shot back. The two growled at each other, and Eclipse was painfully aware that only Thorn's admitted pacifism was keeping them in check. It was fortunate that the griffin was aware of that pledge, or she might have turned the argument into a brawl some time before.

Eclipse raised a hoof, stepping between the two. They each stepped back, cast a surprised glance at him then turned away from each other with a huff. Eclipse sighed. Oh, this was going to be a fun trip to Nexus hive.

<><><>

Aranna blinked, frowning at the pony who was riding on her back as she followed Thorn, the changeling’s wings emitting a light buzz as he flew. “Run that by me again.”

Eclipse sighed as he rolled his eyes. “Okay, look. Phonemes and morphemes are integral parts of language. They’re the teeny-tiny little cousins of syllables, alright?”

“Yeah.”

“They have nothing to do with translation." Eclipse said, his forelegs going wide as if he was unveiling some great mystery of the world. "Translating languages doesn't go by translating the phonemes and morphemes, like how Thorn claimed the changeling language translated to Equestrian.”

“So he lied and is leading us into a trap?”

“What?" Eclipse asked, thrown off by the blunt assumption. "No, no, it’s just--“

Aranna interrupted him. “You just said that he--“

“Stop!” Eclipse planted a hoof into her beak, stopping any further argument. “Don’t kill him. Yet. We don’t know why he’s keeping a secret. For all we know, he might just be trying to use us to save some family that had been indoctrinated by Nexus hive or something.”

Aranna was unconvinced. “And if I’m right?”

“His nightmare comes to life."

The sound of an electric guitar caused Aranna to jump, despite already being in the air. Craning her head, she saw Eclipse mid-rock show on her back.

"Dragged ya down below, Down to the Devil's show, To be his guest forever! (Peace of mind is less than never!) Hate to twist your mind, But God ain't on your side, An old acquaintance severed! (Burn the world your last endeavor!)"

Thorn quickly appeared, silencing Eclipse before he could continue. While the changeling hadn't heard their previous conversation, Eclipse's outburst was clearly heard by any living being within a seven point five city block radius.

Protesting through the changeling's hoof, Eclipse made a very pointed argument for why Thorn should remove said appendage, most of which was made up of some variation of 'mph!' Thorn grimaced. "Silence, you fool! We are not the only creatures in this area..." He trailed off, leaving the imagination to wander regarding what other creatures were there.

Aranna scoffed. "I'm pretty sure we can handle a few tiny creatures."

The deafening roar that split the air a second later said otherwise.

"Mountain manticore!" Thorn yelled, his insect wings becoming little more than a blur as he shot up into the air. His scorpion tail whipped around behind him, becoming little more than drag as he sailed up and away from the creature.

Aranna banked to the side, wings slicing through the air as she narrowly avoided the flying manticore's claw swipe. Eclipse gripped the griffin tightly, almost choking her with his hold.

"Kinda need to breathe, Eclipse! Get over the aerophobia!""

"It's not the flying that concerns me! It's the falling!"

"Use your stupid cloud ability!"

"Oh, yeah..."

The pony leaped away just as the manticore snapped its jaws at the griffin's tail, plucking out a few feathers. After a surprised 'bawk' of pain, Aranna flipped herself around and grabbed onto the manticore's face, her talons gripping its ears and mane as her back legs put their own claws into the manticore's neck and shoulders. The beast tried to pry her off of its face, but quickly pulled its burned claw away from her.

The phoenix-griffin smirked. "Hope you like it toasty!"

She heaved, pulling the flying monster into a sharp descent, the temperature around her rising all the while.

"Keep him on target!"

Looking down, Aranna saw Eclipse prepping a large cannon. Nodding, she aimed the manticore so it went into the barrel of the cannon, where Eclipse was waiting to pull the trigger.

Letting go of the flailing creature, Aranna spun away while the manticore tried to sting her with its tail, followed by another swipe of its claws. The beast roared in rage at Aranna's escape. Trying to slow its descent, the manticore didn't notice it's destination until it was already loaded into the cannon, with Eclipse shoving it in further before launch.

Pulling the trigger, Eclipse waited for the cannon to fire until it exploded instead, leaving an angry, soot covered manticore behind. Realizing that his plan failed, Eclipse switched to staying alive, putting all his power into defensive measures in order to hold off the many claws, pair of jaws and single, poisonous stinger of the manticore.

Aranna was coming in for another round with the creature, this time with her sword out of its sheathe. The manticore saw her coming, swiping its tail at her. She blocked with her shield, the sword in her grip arcing around and cutting off the end of the manticore's tail.

"Ooh..." Thorn muttered to himself as he flinched away, rubbing his own scorpion-like tail.

Howling with pain and fury, the manticore clawed furiously at the griffin, completely forgetting about Eclipse in its rage. The pony took advantage of this by sending a column of rock sailing around and slamming into the back of the manticore's skull. Shaking it off, the manticore continued its furious assault on Aranna, her shield taking a beating from the powerful strikes.

Thorn flew down, attracting Eclipse's attention and pointing to the severed manticore stinger. The pony nodded, going for the poisonous appendage while Thorn released a sharp whistle.

The manticore turned, giving the changeling a powerful stink eye. Aranna stood directly behind it, skirting around the manticore to see what was going on.

Thorn stood unwavering, doing nothing.

The manticore blinked for a moment, surprised. It quickly shook off its distraction, roaring and leaping at the changeling.

"Wazzup!?" Eclipse yelled, hefting the severed stinger.

The manticore turned a goofy smile on it's face. "Wazzu--" It was stung in the face by its own severed tail.

"WaaaAAAAGH! WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS!?" The manticore screamed, while Eclipse, Aranna and Thorn simply blanked on how they should react to the suddenly talking manticore. "I'M JUST TRYING TO PROTECT MYSELF, YOU JERKS!" Eclipse slowly backed away, the scene officially becoming too crazy even for him. "EVER SINCE THOSE NEXUS CHANGELINGS ENSLAVED THE REST OF MY HIVE, I'VE CONSTANTLY HAD TO DEAL WITH BULLSH--"

Thorn was on top of the manticore instantly, the creature pressed against the ground. "What do you know of Nexus hive? What happened to Icewind hive?"

Eclipse groaned. "Another changeling hive?"

The manticore whimpered. "Icewind was wiped out, bro. You just come down from Blackreach? Yeah, sorry to disappoint, but we had only just learned you guys were out there when Nexus swooped in. We were going to contact you, honest!"

Eclipse sighed in relief. "Never mind on the changeling trifecta."

Thorn fell to his haunches, visibly shaking. "Father..."

Aranna had sheathe her sword, but wasn't paying attention to much else other than the recovering manticore, who was really a changeling.

Eclipse tapped Thorn's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Our last conversation was me telling him how much I hated him..."

The manticore sat up, mind clearly at work. "Wait... Could it...? Dizzo, that you?"

Thorn raised his head slightly, both pairs of dragonfly wings twitching. "Shriek. My old friend. How did I not recognize you?"

Eclipse face hoofed. "Oh, come on! this is going in bad sitcom direction!"

The manticore disappeared in a burst of green fire, leaving a large and round changeling in its place. Other than his more rounded shape, he was just another normal changeling akin to Chrysalis' hive. "Dizzo! My man! Where you been, bro? Your pops went nuts after you skipped town, ten, fifteen years back? He was looking everywhere, dude! We all thought you were dead!"

"I... found Blackreach. I was unaware that I was missed."

"Blackreach?" Shriek jumped back. "They got Scorpionflies, too!? What about Fireflies? It's been months since I've seen one of the lamp-butts!"

"No, but there are beetles."

Aranna patted Eclipse on the back as he slammed his head into a rock.

Shriek seemed disappointed at the news of no firefly changelings, but perked up when he heard about the beetles. "Dizzo, bro, you gotta tell me everything!"

"My name is Thorn, now."

"I don't care if you changed your name to Jade Snakestrike, you're still little ol' Dizzo to me, man!"

At the mention of the odd and very specific name, a black and red pony poked his head out from behind the rock Eclipse was leaning against. Aranna frowned at the newcomer. Eclipse stepped between him and her, the two changelings still busy with their own conversation.

"Hey, buddy!" Jade exclaimed. "Haven't seen you since you blasted me out of that train! You ready to admit that you're a stu yet, or are you still in denial about the--"

He was interrupted by a sudden case of being blasted through the side of a mountain.

The two changelings turned, surprised.

Eclipse sighed heavily. "If that guy turns into a running gag, I might hang myself."

Aranna glanced at the ruins that was the previous location of Jade Snakestrike. "You know him?"

"Never buy the cheapest train ticket available." Eclipse muttered darkly. "I think that I might have been cursed. One more run in with bad comedy will prove it."

Author's Note

Bro, that started as soon as you woke up in Equestria.

Cheapest train ticket ain't got jack to do with it.

Thorn's memory, Dizzo's friend

"So, what brings you back here, Dizzo? Thought you would'a left us all alone if you survived. Had no idea you'd end up with another changeling hive." Shriek's form bounced around the small cave that he had made into his home, surprisingly agile for his shape.

Aranna kept close to the cave's exit, while Thorn settled into a sitting position at the cave's center and Eclipse skirted along the walls, looking at the various 'decorations' Shriek had put up. Apparently, a glop of dirt that was a slightly different color from the surrounding wall was decorative.

"You like it? Made it myself." Shriek said. "I don't mean to brag, but I got the talent from the old lady, you know?"

Eclipse simply walked away, slowly shaking his head.

"Pfft. Whatever, bro. Modern art's where it's at!"

"Shriek." Thorn said, driving the conversation back on track with all the subtlety of a hammer. "If Icewind fell, how did you survive?"

"Out collecting 'shrooms for some stew. Have to be careful, don't wanna get any of those wacky ones that mess with your head." Shriek let out a goofy laugh. "Reminds me, we heard that some other guys used 'em on purpose. Minotaurs or something. Crazy, am I right?"

"Mushroom stew." Eclipse muttered. "I can feel my tongue trying to kill itself already..."

"Don't knock it till you try it. Besides, the 'shrooms were on the side. It was cabbage soup."

"I hate cabbage." Eclipse muttered.

"Cabbage hates you." Shriek fired back. "And your ugly glasses, too." He added as an afterthought.

Eclipse rolled his eyes. "It's always the HUD unit."

"And now that we've established the feelings surrounding a certain type of leaf," Aranna said, cutting in. ",can we please get back to what we were talking about?"

Shriek shrugged nonchalantly. "Nexus came in fast and hard, like me." He flashed a grin, seconds before both Aranna and Eclipse gave him death-glares. "By the time I got back, place was a ruin. There might be a few other Icewinders around, but you won't find em without taking out Nexus first."

Thorn stood up, wings spread. "Any hints as to how we can perform such an act?"

"Simply put, you can't." Shriek sighed. "Sorry, bro. Even after fifteen years I still love ya', but it's not happening. If there are other survivors somewhere, they'd tell ya like it is, and like it is ain't pretty."

"Shriek, you have to understand; I was too much of a coward to come back without a good reason. But now, a reason fell into my lap. If there is any chance my parents are still alive, I have to make it up to them."

Eclipse waved his hoof. "Yeah, uh, hey. Can we possibly get some filler for that? Still in the dark, here."

"Another time." Thorn said with a swipe of his hoof, cutting off any further argument. "Help me, Shriek. You may know a backdoor into Nexus hive."

Shriek groaned. "Yeah, yeah, fine. It's your life to throw away. If those two are with you, just take em to Icewind's old cave. I did some investigating when I came back with the shrooms and found a new tunnel. Led right to Nexus hive. I was lucky to get out with my all my chitin."

"Thank you." Thorn turned and trotted back towards the exit, Eclipse following.

"Hey, Dizzo?"

Thorn turned while Eclipse continued on, leaving the cave with Aranna.

"Kindra, your old flame? They got her."

Thorn blinked several times, the name bringing up painful memories.

"She was one of the ones who chased me, Dizzo. Just... just be careful, alright? You already vanished once and I don't want your mindless shell coming after me in my sleep."

Thorn grimaced. "I have no intention of letting them ensnare another changeling in their hive mind."

"You still won't use conjunctions, huh?" Shriek smiled, recalling the day Thorn had sworn against the use of the so-called 'language shortcuts'.

"Not since before I left."

"Never change, Dizzo."

<><><>

Thorn entered the cave system of Icewind hive, Eclipse and Aranna following suit.

The opening was nothing more than a simple hole in the rock, growing darker the further one went into the tunnel.

As the trio delved further into the cave, Aranna leaned over to whisper to Eclipse. "So, your guess about his secret was pretty accurate, huh?"

"I suppose." Eclipse said, frowning. "Besides, Shriek confirmed that Nexus forces other changelings into its hive mind. I understand that Thorn is a pacifist anyway, but if he gets shaken up by his parents showing up under Nexus' command... Well, it won't be good news for us."

The two fell silent when they almost ran into Thorn, standing still where the tunnel opened up into a far larger cavern.

Eclipse trotted past him, seeing patches of glowing fungi growing in patches in the cave, painting the walls a deep blue. Unlike Blackreach, which had carved out rock when it needed a new building or room, Icewind's buildings were made of stone that had been mined out, cut into bricks and laid upon foundations, with some buildings hanging from the ceiling or clinging to the walls of the cavern, which was easily the size of Blackreach hive's entirety.

"Building's from the ceiling. Remind you of home?" Eclipse asked, speaking to Aranna.

The red and yellow griffin let her gaze slide over the area, nodding slowly as she mentally compared it to Vangar, which had similarly constructed buildings. The only thing that was missing was the bustling of pegasi and griffins across the ground and through the air. "Home isn't quite so empty..."

Thorn let out a long sigh. "Once, they would have welcomed any visitor. A warm smile and hot food would be what that they wanted to be remembered for. Now it is a ruin, albeit one that has not yet begun to crumble." He took a step forward, the first step he had made in Icewind for nearly half of his life. "I do not regret leaving, but I also should not have waited so long to come back."

As she looked over the empty windows of the buildings, Aranna's claw slowly edged closer to her sword and her shield arm braced itself. "It doesn't feel right. Something's very, very wrong here."

"Yeah, I feel it too." Eclipse murmured, keeping his voice low.

Thorn's wings buzzed, his tail slowly swinging back and forth. "Wait... Eclipse?"

"Yeah?"

"Why would Shriek have stayed so close if he wanted to get away from Nexus hive so much?"

Aranna and Eclipse slowly turned to face him, shock and realization mixing on their faces. As a unit, the group turned to flee back out of Icewind hive, but found themselves facing Shriek, standing no less than fifty feet down the tunnel's length.

The changeling was no longer round, but emaciated, as if he hadn't eaten properly in weeks, perhaps months. His eyes were hollow and white, his mouth hanging open.

Eclipse's shoulders sagged. "Well, fuck."

Shriek let out a high-pitched wail, rivaling the power of a banshee's scream. The roof of the tunnel caved in between him and the group, burying their only escape underneath thousands of pounds of rock and stone.

Aranna stood up, having fallen down. One of her ears was bleeding, but she was otherwise unhurt. Thorn's wings buzzed sporadically, his vision swirling. Eclipse had turned away from the cave-in, facing the rest of Icewind hive. He checked his HUD, but it wasn't registering any odd movement. Yet.

There was always that one 'yet' hanging around.

It did register that his heart rate and breathing were on the rise, however. Being trapped in a dark cave, with fungus as the main light source and an entire hive of changelings undoubtedly hunting for him did not likely help.

"We have but one choice." Thorn said, swallowing. "We must face the darkness of Icewind."

Author's Note

No seriously. Check Thorn's dialogue if you want, but I have purposefully avoided conjunctions for him.

If anyone thought his speech was a little off, that's probably why.

Also, I know that I've already established the whole 'chaos magic' color as red in this story, but that was before I got this thing to remotely resemble something with a plot line and the color yellow seems to be much more appropriate. So, should the color remain red, or be changed to yellow? This will affect all chapters, both past and future.

Where shadows reign

Eclipse was keeping his magic at a low burn, using up enough energy to turn his eyes into a pair of lanterns, shining light forward so the group would know where they were going. Following him was Aranna, who was bringing up the rear, while Thorn was using his magic to keep a green glow around himself and the others.

They had been trapped and wandering for at least several hours and nightfall was coming. Even if neither the sun or moon shone light into the cave, night was heralded by the slowly dropping temperature.

When a group of loose stones fell from the ceiling, the entire group turned towards the sound, with Aranna brandishing her sword and Eclipse preparing a magical assault. Thorn turned as well, mind already whirling with strategies and combat situations should they be needed.

Eclipse swallowed. "I don't care how many false alarms hit us, I'm still feeling watched."

"Not watched. Searched for." Aranna said, her voice low as she adjusted the grip she had on her sword. "We need to kill the lights."

"How would we know where we are going?" Thorn asked. "It would be too easy for us to get separated!"

"You're just worried about getting sucked into that hive mind. I'd be worried too, in your position, but that won't be a concern if we're ripped limb from limb!"

"The hive mind should very well be a concern!" Thorn hissed. "All the experience of those changelings is working in concert, whether they're willing or not!"

"Will you two shut up!?" Eclipse said in a strong whisper, though it sounded like a yell in the silence of the cave.

The two complied, soon hearing what had spooked Eclipse. The sound of an approaching changeling was coming from just around a nearby building. The trio shared a glance, nodding and muttering "kill the lights" to each other.

The area was bathed in blackness as the three slipped into another building, their way illuminated by the faint blue glow of a large mushroom.

The hoofsteps became louder, until they abruptly stopped just outside. Aranna slowly started to lean back towards the doorway, but Eclipse and Thorn pulled her back just as a bright yellow light shone into the building, coming from the door and every window lining the wall that the three had taken cover behind.

Outside, the changeling buzzed its wings, the light fading into and out of existence every few seconds until it finally shut off.

Eclipse peaked over the edge of a window, just barely making out the outline of a changeling as it approached another house, just across from the one they were in. The changeling bashed the door down, causing a loud crash that echoed throughout the area for some time before dying out.

The yellow light flared again, coming from the changeling's odd tail. It was thick and short, looking like a lantern that had been glued to the changeling's flank. A pair of antennae sprouted from the changeling's head, waving around as they 'smelled' for any oddities in the air. Its wings buzzed lightly as it scanned the building.

the light died for a moment before it flared again, with the changeling looking back at the building Eclipse, Thorn and Aranna were hiding inside. Eclipse ducked, forcibly keeping himself from panicking at almost having been seen.

The changeling began walking towards the building, the light flashing on and off every few seconds.

The changeling almost reached the door, when a small stone fell from the ceiling of the cave, distracting it. Turning away, the changeling investigated the stone before deciding it wasn't worth its time, continuing on its way down the path, occasionally stopping to break down a door or stick its head inside a window.

Once the flashing light and hoofsteps had faded into nonexistence, Eclipse released his breath. "Too close."

"Why not just kill it?" Aranna said. "It'd be easier, that's for sure."

"Hive mind." Thorn said, tapping his head with a hoof. "If even one is alerted to us, or if one suddenly vanishes from the collective conscious, they will know where we are."

The griffin grimaced. "We can't sneak around forever."

"Well, we have to." Eclipse muttered. "I don't like it either. Heck, my entire strategy up to this point as been 'hit it until it stops moving.' But this..." He poked his head back out of the window, motioning to the others that it was clear. "This is something new altogether."

The group quickly filed out of the building, continuing to venture into the depths of Icewind hive. But now, they didn't keep a light source up and running.

Eclipse crept forward, slowly peaking around a corner until he was sure that there weren't any changelings. Motioning the others forward, he rounded the corner, keeping a healthy supply of magic prepared for anything.

Thorn stopped, scanning the houses. "I had a friend who lived in this area. she was... a firefly, I believe."

"Like the one that almost found us?" Aranna asked.

Thorn bowed his head. "Yes."

Eclipse was just a few dozen feet further ahead, his ear on a door as he listened for any movement on the other side. Hearing nothing, he decided that wasn't proof enough that the building was clear and crept over to a window to peer inside.

He couldn't have been happier that he did so, as a scorpionfly was stalking around the room, silent as a ghost as its scorpion tail twitched every so often.

Eclipse slowly ducked his head back below the windowsill, motioning to Thorn and Aranna to keep quiet and stay low.

They crept past the building and continued on their way, skirting along a darkened section of the cave wall as they moved forward, spotting several more hunting changelings silhouetted against the blue glow of the fungi, or the yellow lights of firefly changelings. Sometimes, it would be a group of changelings that entered their field of vision, rather than a singular entity.

The trio broke away from the wall just to find such a group headed directly for them, but not having noticed them yet.

Taking cover behind a partially collapsed wall, Eclipse waited as the changelings moved past them, unknowingly getting within several yards of their prey. One firefly changeling stopped suddenly, it's antenna twitching. It turned, as did every other changeling in the group as the hive mind transmitted the firefly's findings to every changeling connected to it.

Eclipse stopped breathing when he noticed the growing sound of hoofsteps as the changelings drew infinitely closer. Aranna put both sets of talons over her beak and Thorn crouched low to the ground.

With little warning, a small, beetle-like insect scurried out of cover, darting away. It was quickly impaled by the tip of a scorpionfly's tail, before being drawn up towards the changeling's face.

*Crunch*

Aranna fought her desire to gag as the changelings turned away, continuing on their group patrol. Once both the firefly's light and the entire group's hoofsteps had vanished, the group breathed a sigh of relief.

"The search quickly grows thicker." Thorn muttered. "We must be drawing nearer to an exit."

"Thank the royal sisters." Eclipse muttered, leaning against the wall. "The sooner I get out of the cave is all the better."

Aranna silenced the both of them, scanning the area. "You hear that?"

Thorn glanced around, straining. "Is someone... crying?"

Eclipse briefly searched for the sound as well, but once he heard it he almost immediately spun away from it and began marching in the opposite direction.

"Hey!" Aranna said, stopping him. "I'm not a fan of changelings, but I've managed to avoid killing Thorn so far and we need as much help as we can get. If someone survived this, they've got answers."

"Aranna, listen to me." Eclipse said, scared out of his wits. "T-that is not the sound of a survivor."

Thorn stood. "I recognize that voice. It's not a friend, but I still know her."

"Thorn, don't." Eclipse urged, swallowing.

"I have to." He said running towards the sound as fast as he could while still staying silent.

"Come on." Aranna said, following.

Eclipse stared after them, but when he faced the prospect of going through Icewind hive alone, he quickly decided that there was every possibility that he was wrong after all.

<><><>

"Thorn stop." Eclipse said, finally convincing the changeling to stop. The sound of crying was clearly audible now. "We really don't want to do this.

"I know that voice, Eclipse!" Thorn said. "If it were a pony, you'd be helping them in a heartbeat!"

"If we were talking ponies, I'd be turning tail and running several times faster." Eclipse pleaded. "Look, something's not right and you now it! Why would a survivor let themselves alert every hive mind in earshot?"

"Because she reached her breaking point!" Thorn growled. "She's likely traumatized and possibly hurt!"

Aranna frowned to herself. She could swear that the crying was getting louder, even though they had stopped moving.

"Thorn, I need you to trust me. If we keep going, we will fall right into a trap."

"Eclipse, you have no idea--!" Thorn stopped and growled to himself. "Whether you admit it or not, you'd help a pony!"

It didn't make any sense, but it certainly sounded louder. Aranna kept her sword sheathed, but raised her shield just in case.

"Again, I'd abandon the pony making those noises much faster."

"Then you are a heartless fool." Thorn spat.

"I just like to survive!"

"You'd abandon everyone?"

"If I have to, ye--..." He stopped suddenly, blinking several times. "Thorn, what was her name?"

"Excuse me?"

"The changeling." Eclipse clarified. "You said you recognized her. Name?"

Thorn slowly became aware of how silent it was around the trio.

He swallowed. "W-Witch. Her name is Witch."

"Was." Aranna muttered, though Thorn didn't hear. She slowly slid her sword out of its scabbard.

Eclipse widened his stance. "Was she a scorpionfly?"

"Yes. How did--"

"Any unusual traits?"

Thorn tried to glance behind him, but he didn't dare turn his head. "Two tails. She had two tails, but both of them were fully formed and functional, It was a beneficial mutation, if anything."

"Thorn?"

"Yes?"

"When I say three, get down."

"But--"

"One."

Thorn felt his breathing become heavy, sweat dripping down his chitin.

"Two..."

The sound of a single hoof hitting the ground behind him made his body freeze in terror.

"Three!"

Thorn dove for the ground, seconds before a screeching black form sailed over him. She was blasted back by a red lance of energy, but pounced forward again before Eclipse could get another shot off.

Aranna knocked her away from Eclipse with a shield bash, but Witch's two tails swiped at her, almost knocking her sword out of her grip.

Turning back to Eclipse, she struck with her tails, tearing the pony's cloak and putting two shallow cuts into his back.

He reacted with a crossbow, loaded with a flaming woodcutter's ax rather than regular bolts.

Witch easily avoided the missile, turning back to Aranna and attacking with several swipes of her hooves. Aranna blocked as best she could, but every time she tried to get in a strike of her own, the changeling somehow compensated, sometimes before the attack had a chance to truly begin. Eclipse couldn't use his magic without hitting Aranna, but he was of limited use without it.

"Eclipse!" Aranna yelled. "She's too fast! It's like she knows what I'm going to do before I do!"

"Her eyes!" Thorn yelled, pointing. "Eclipse, look at her eyes!"

Turning his head, Eclipse saw that, yes, Witch's eyes were orange. "Well, this is interesting..."

"Screw interesting!" Aranna yelled as one of Witch's tails put a small cut on her cheek. "Help me!" She swung her sword, but it struck empty air.

Eclipse took a deep breath, reaching for his honesty magic.

"Hey, bug girl!"

Witch turned, the hive mind equal parts curious as to what breed of insanity this pony had contracted and shocked when it saw a haze of orange images, as seen through Witch's eyes.

"Come get some."

Having not encountered this situation before, the hive mind put it's effort into observing each of the future images, simply finding ways to counter each. But then, counters for those strategies popped up, resulting in the hive mind countering those, just for the cycle to repeat again.

Infuriated, the hive mind had Witch clumsily charge into battle, forgoing any pretense of strategy and even going so far as to disengage her now useless ability.

With Witch's myriad of possible futures gone, Eclipse easily tracked the one she had left, though her speed was still enough to keep him on the defensive, with but a few short strikes being the only attacks he managed to get in.

Eclipse dove to the side, allowing Aranna to ram Witch with her shield. Less then a second later, Aranna's sword swung around, taking the end off of one of Witch's tails. The second tail struck like a snake, digging itself into the space just below the griffin's breastplate.

Grabbing the tail that had pierced her skin before Witch could strike again, Aranna headbutted the changeling, a loud clang echoing through the area. Eclipse jumped at the dazed Witch, a rapid flurry of hoof-strikes accompanying him.

Thorn turned when he saw several flashes of yellow light, realizing that the rest of the changelings in Icewind were charging their position.

"Aranna!" He screamed, a basic changeling jumping out of the shadows to attack him.

The griffin's sword dug into the changeling's abdomen, creating a wound that it would not recover from. Aranna grinned. "Where's your strategies now, bug brains?"

"Telling me that retreat is a viable option."

Witch sailed past the two, propelled by a red beam of energy. Eclipse slid to a stop between Thorn and Aranna, firing a rocket after Witch just to make sure she stayed away.

"I agree with the shapeshifter!" He declared as he spun around, grabbed his companions, and took off down the nearest path he could find.

Don't look back

Eclipse skidded to a stop, turning a corner and beginning to run again.

Aranna and Thorn were right on his tail, the latter buzzing his wings for extra speed.

They took several more turns before Aranna grabbed the other two and flew up to a building attached to a wall of the cave, quickly moving inside as several changelings came up from behind. Hiding out of view, the trio waited as the initial wave of changelings came to a stop, investigating the area for any clue as to where their prey had gone.

Thorn pointed out a door that lead into a backroom of the building. Following his lead, Eclipse and Aranna ducked inside.

The walls of the room were solid stone, suggesting that this area had been carved out or found and used as an extra room of the house, likely storage.

Lining up against the side of the room with the door on it, the group waited for any sounds to come from the house. Hearing nothing, Aranna looked through the door's lock, trying to check if the room was clear. For the most part, it was empty, though some changeling had already poked his head in through a window and left again.

Thorn shook his head. "We will not escape Witch that easily. She was a tracker."

"So?" Eclipse asked. "We'll switch hiding spots."

"She has likely already found us."

Aranna chuckled. "Not a chance, room's empty." She moved back to the edge of the door. "Give it a few minutes and we'll be clear."

"Then what is that?" Thorn asked, tilting his head to listen.

Falling silent, the trio noted the sound of crying, slowly growing louder.

Clamping a claw over her beak, Aranna pressed herself against the wall, as did Eclipse and Thorn.

The sound lasted for another minute, when a faint yellow glow suddenly burst from the lock on the door.

Eclipse's eyes widened even as he pulled every ounce of his magical power to the surface.

The crying suddenly stopped, as did the yellow glow from the lock. Confused, the trio waited for another indication that the changelings had left.

One minute passed. Two.

Eclipse dared not make a sound, but he did begin to reach out his hoof to touch the door. Before he made it that far, however, the tip of a scorpion tail bust through the wood. Eclipse would have yelped in surprise had Thorn not covered his mouth with a hoof, resulting in the sound being muffled to a barely audible "Mmph!"

Enraged screaming pierced the air as the door was attacked time and time again. The wood splintered, several green beams occasionally burst though and finally, after what felt like an eternity, it stopped as a white changeling eye peered through one of the many cracks in the door, growling.

Since they were lined up along the same wall as the door, Eclipse, Aranna and Thorn were not seen, angering Witch and through her, every changeling in the hive mind.

Giving up with and angry huff, Witch and the other changelings with her stalked away. It was only long after the sound of hoofbeats had faded and the yellow light from firefly changelings had gone that Aranna, Eclipse and Thorn allowed themselves to breathe.

No words were spoken, as each was painfully aware that they would not have lasted long should they have been spotted. Instead, Eclipse, Aranna and Thorn shakily stood up, opened the door and fled as silently and as quickly as they could.

Some minutes later, they came across a cave, allowing Thorn to sigh in relief. "Here. If memory serves, as I pray it does, this is our way out."

Aranna stopped the changeling before he advanced. "Why aren't their changelings around? Some guards to keep us from leaving?"

"Why did you have to ask that question?" Eclipse moaned. "We never need to worry about stuff like that until someone asks the question!"

Thorn paused, thinking. "Guards would need to confront us, make noise for other units to hear and come assist. But a hive mind would merely need one changeling to see or hear us, then reinforcements would come running." He swallowed. "We have mere seconds."

Eclipse turned and fired a beam of energy, but it went wide of any changelings. Instead, a scorpionfly fired it's own beam of magic at him, several yards to the left of where his attack had struck. Aranna jumped between the projectile and its target, using her shield to block the attack.

Thorn scurried to cover, keeping an eye out for any more changeling reinforcements.

His jaw went slack at the sight of the horde.

A basic changeling pounced him, chittering. Thorn recognized the speech, though it was somewhat garbled and raspy.

"We know you. You are in memories of ours."

Thorn snarled, chittering back. "You may know me, but you have no idea who I am."

The changeling laughed, wrestling Thorn to the ground. "Son. Dizzo. Thorn. Coward." The changeling reared up, slamming its hooves down just as Thorn moved his head. "You suffered for failing to fight, once. Suffer again for the same."

The changeling's horn began glowing green, charging up a spell that would either kill, or render unconscious for assimilation into the hive mind.

Eclipse charged through, knocking the changeling off of Thorn. "Outta my way! Chaos pony, comin' thorough!"

An array of fireworks followed him, dazzling and blinding changelings all around. Eclipse himself was holding a pair of roman candles, using them as ranged weapons as several changelings were shot in the face, abdomen, face, out of the air and in the face.

Thorn smiled. "I need not fight when my allies are more than willing to."

Eclipse grinned. "I take it you had a conversation with the gravem-- I mean, hive mind, right?"

"Just threats and bad memories."

Aranna was practically glowing, her body giving off enough thermal energy to heat her armor and burn any changeling that touched it. "Come on!" She screamed, swinging her sword. "I'll impale you, cook you and serve you up like kebabs!"

"Great work, if the human torch is ever decommissioned, the fantastic four will call you." Eclipse said, rolling his eyes. "Exit's waiting for us. Let's go!"

Thorn jumped forward, dodging around several changelings as he made a break for the exit. Eclipse followed not long after, but Aranna was getting bogged down by enemies. She swung her sword a few more times, but the changelings were only kept away from her, not kept from blocking her path. Eclipse looked back, taking a moment to grimace as he fought to make a decision.

"Son of a--" he sighed heavily. "I knew I should have gotten that conscience removal surgery."

Aranna knocked away a changeling that had come too close, when she was suddenly picked up and tossed through the air. Eclipse aimed several energy blasts at the roof of the cave, closing the exit with several tons of falling rock.

Eclipse grinned victoriously. "Now we can get out of here and never come back. Right, Thorn?" He turned to the changeling next to him, chuckling. Then he did a double-take when the changeling's eyes were white instead of blue. Looking around, Eclipse found that he was surrounded by changelings, all of which were staring at him.

"...I am such a jackass."

<><><>

Aranna and Thorn stared at the wall of rock that separated them and their friend, as well as the horde of changelings that had been after them.

Aranna swallowed. "Did... did he...?"

"He did." Thorn stood up. "Come, we should alert Vangar and Blackreach. Prepare a proper assault on nexus."

Aranna grabbed him by the neck. "Hold on. He's still in there!"

"And fighting a horde of changelings, valiantly trying to buy us time to escape."

<><><>

Eclipse's chainsaw claimed another victim, even as it's owner was screaming in fear and running for his life in the closest direction that was the opposite of the largest group of enemies.

<><><>

"Unless you want his sacrifice to be in vain, we shall organize our allies."

Aranna sighed. "You're right." She said with a final nod of her head. "Let's go..."

Thorn buzzed his wings as Aranna took off, flying through the tunnel and eventually emerging into the open air, several hours later. The pair nodded to each other as they began the first leg of their journey to Blackreach. The hive would need to mobilize quickly if they wanted to join Vangar in a united attack on Nexus.

Meanwhile, as the two broke into the chill night air, Eclipse was beginning to stir, trapped in a gelatinous substance and stuck to a wall.

He struggled for a minute, finding that the substance was very strong and that no, you couldn't eat it.

Trying his chaos magic, Eclipse instead felt pain lance through his skull, almost as if his head was being split open.

Soon, a much larger changeling than normal strode into the room, at least as tall as Chrysalis had been. The main difference was that this changeling was male, and as such didn't have a long mane. His tail, however, was a dark yellow.

"Welcome to my home." It said, speaking slowly and clearly. "I am Nexus. Sovereign Nexus. You've already been acquainted with my hive, I believe?"

Eclipse frowned. "You mean your little welcoming party? Yeah, I passed 'em on the way here. Really came for the massages over anything else."

"Of course." Nexus replied, smiling. "However, I thought you'd want to know that I'm letting you live. After all, a perfectly good tool such as yourself? I could challenge any being I desired with you at my command. Hmmm. Even with the spells I had put into place to keep you from your power, I can still feel it. Chaos magic is such a... rare encounter."

Eclipse moved his head away from Nexus. "That's creepy. Let me tell you now: That was creepy."

"Relax. Thanks to some experiments in the field of magic, you'll not need to worry about that much longer."

"Dude. Seriously. If the world were rainbow and mint, you'd be the color flower. That sentence's amount of not making sense is less than your creepiness. Now let me go so I can promptly tear your spine out. My spine-tearing muscles haven't been exercised enough, lately."

Nexus smiled down at Eclipse. “Daughter!” He called. “He’s got fire in him!”

Another changeling appeared, this one younger, female and with a light blue mane and tail.

“Put it out, would you?” The sovereign laughed, slowly leaving the area.

The sovereign’s daughter approached, her horn glowing a vile green.

Start a brawl that can't be won

Sovereign Nexus, controller of a great changeling hivemind, was pacing.

This may not seem out of the ordinary, as anyone may pace for any number of reasons, but Nexus was not one to waste time strutting about a room. He had a massive hive to coordinate, separated as it was into nearly a half dozen smaller hives, one of which was organizing itself in preparation for a fight not only with an unassimilated changeling hive that was slated to join the hivemind, but also with a settlement of griffins and earth ponies.

Add to that the logistics and resource management of all six hives, the fact that the enemy was also preparing for war, possibly in sync with one another, and the increasingly narrow margin of time he had before the sleeping giant of Equestria took notice of him and the time he was wasting on pacing was very out of the ordinary indeed.

Yet pace he did, occasionally stealing glances at the gray and brown earth pony and his own daughter, the two other beings to share the room with him.

They were playing patty-cake with each other.

Nexus sighed, his mind filled with possible outcomes of this event, despite the adverse effects such thoughts had when one occasionally transmitted through his hivemind.

“Calm, father.” His daughter laughed when the earth pony slipped up for the umpteenth time that hour. Unlike most changelings in a hivemind, the pony exhibited a level of free will despite his mental chains, though disobedience was the last thing Nexus could see in the pony’s eyes. However, he seemed to need to re-familiarize himself with his own motor skills, hence his mistakes in such a simple game, difficult though it could be. “You had made a point that I needed to begin a hivemind of my own. Is this not a perfect opportunity to make the best out of a mistake?”

“It is true that the spell went awry when it met his innate chaos magic.” Nexus admitted. “And it is true that managing to salvage the remains of the spell to enslave Eclipse to your will is a feat of magic I would have been hard pressed to perform. But how can I properly command him through you? I needed him to completely ensure my victory in the upcoming fight, especially considering he and those two who escaped are the reason it is approaching so quickly.”

“You need not command him.” The other changeling said. “Tell me a general idea of what you want so I can command him as I see fit. The possibilities are limitless!”

“Indeed.” Nexus still frowned to himself, disappointed that he could not be the first changeling ruler to command a chaos magic user, though he already had several changelings in his hivemind with unique abilities. That double tailed scorpionfly, for instance. But, his daughter’s words rung with truth, and he accepted that the spell that enslaved a will to the hivemind had been meant for changelings, so both the pony’s physiology and his chaos powers had botched the attempt. This truly was a best case scenario. “Very well, Jule, you have convinced me. Use him well. Now, I need to attend my own hivemind: It has been neglected for far too long already.”

“Jule?” Eclipse asked, working his mouth slowly. “I like that name.” He leaned back against the side of the room, just a small cavern in a network of many, like most changeling hives, the exceptions being those focused on one overly large cavern, such as Icewind. “Jule… Jule… Jule…”

“Don’t wear it out.” Jule laughed as Nexus left the room.

As soon as she was sure Nexus was far out of earshot, she scowled. “Bastard.”

<><><>

“What!?”

Aranna grabbed Cyclone by the neck, pulling the pegasus back from Thorn and the small group of changelings with him. Most of the rest of Blackreach sat less than a hundred yards away, awaiting word. Matriarch Nightwhisper stood just behind Thorn, watching one of Vangar’s guard commanders throw a hissy.

Several other groups of guards had been called out by Commander Cyclone, but they were much less gung-ho about starting a war with an army sitting on their front doorstep.

Cyclone himself was fighting through the shock of what Aranna was trying to tell him, even while his wing blades kept making attempts on Thorn’s life.

“The skirmishes were with changelings, Aranna! And now, you’ve brought them here! They’ve cost us five good soldiers, and two more are missing! The Sachem, your father, will hear of this!”

“I already have.” Cyclone turned, coming face to face with Finnis. “And I think that my daughter has yet to finish speaking.”

Aranna let out a relieved sigh. “Tha--”

“But that doesn’t explain how she has managed to maintain her composure with a full hive of changelings around, especially after how she vowed to, what was it again…? Exterminate, right?”

“W-well, that’s, uh, you see--”

“I told you they weren’t monsters.” Finnis said, smiling.

“But, but after--“

He raised a claw for her to stop. “I should have waited to tell you about that caravan and started kicking up relations between Vangar and Blackreach long ago.” He turned to Nightwhipser. “Now we end up coming together like this.”

“W-what!?” Cyclone stammered, at a loss for words. Most of the other guards mumbled amongst themselves, but none actually said anything.

Finnis snapped his talons. “Details! What’s the emergency?”

Nightwhisper nodded to Thorn, who approached. “Eclipse is captured or killed. Nexus hive is riled up and likely preparing an assault.”

Aranna stepped forward. “You can bet on it. We’ve already stumbled across advance scouts on our way here.”

Finnis smiled. “Well, we’ve got no time to waste! Cyclone, rouse the rest of the guard! I want everyone who can hold a sword and ain’t married to the idea of breathing!”

Cyclone jumped, not expecting his normally calm leader to suddenly be shouting orders.

Finnis spun, facing another group of guards. “Escort the changelings to the town center! If any want to fight, bring them along with you when come back!”

Aranna blinked. “Where’s his coming from? I’ve never seen you like this.”

Finnis chuckled. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Aranna. For one: remember the adventure stories I told you when you were little?”

Aranna shared a glance with Thorn, who had remained silent for some time.

Finnis had one more surprise in store for those around him. “Fateweaver! I know you’re there, you walking carpet! Where’s my sword?”

Aranna jumped when a large mass appeared next to her.

The buffalo and Finnis shook hands, apparently well acquainted. “You’re late.” The griffin groused.

“A shaman arrives preci--”

Finnis took a large two-handed claymore from the buffalo. “Cut the crap and hand me my armor.”

“It probably doesn’t fit.” The buffalo said, leaving it up to the listener to glean what he had obviously been implying.

“Wait!” Aranna said, having had more than enough. “What is going on? Who’s he?”

“Aranna, Fateweaver, an old friend.” Finnis replied as he pulled on a set of scale mail armor. “Fateweaver, Aranna, the subject of numerous letters.”

Fateweaver scuffed the ground with a hoof. “You didn’t care to explain anything to anyone?”

“No. Why?” Finnis asked, scoffing. “I’ve been too excited to get back into the gig! Do you know how long I’ve had to play the part of calm, collected leader? I preferred when us and the rest of the crew just rushed everything that we saw.”

Aranna swallowed, feeling her head swim. Finnis clasped her on the shoulder. “Everything you know about me is a lie!” He laughed, seeming to enjoy how much of a slap to the face the knowledge must have been.

Thorn helped support Aranna as the stunned griffin slumped to the ground. “I take it this is new for him.”

“Quite the opposite.” The pair turned to find Fateweaver standing just a few feet away. “Nightwhisper and the rest of her hive are moving to the inside of Vangar, but I have a job for you two. There is a cave just over there, hidden behind that boulder. I need you to help me open it.”

“Why should we help you?” Aranna asked. “And why is my father suddenly an insane, hot-headed…?” she searched for the right word.

“Adventurer?” Fateweaver asked. “He’s kept up appearances for nearly twenty-seven years. It’s had nowhere to go in all that time.”

“But, how?” Aranna begged, still not understanding.

“Thorn, do you remember the strange powers that two tailed changeling had?” Fateweaver asked, calm facade cracking under a growing smile.

The changeling nodded once. “Aff, sir. Eclipse had something similar, plus his chaos magic.”

He put a hoof on both Thorn and Aranna, eyes lighting up in a bright orange glow. The two looked around, finding the buffalo suddenly engulfed in the bright orange glow, while Finnis had suddenly started glowing a bright magenta that was coming off of him in waves, seeming to invigorate the guards he was ordering around.

“Loyalty magic is a powerful thing when not used to corrupt those it is used on.” Fateweaver nodded. “But it’s also a very condensed form of energy. Twenty-seven years, even from his adopted daughter. He should think about acting.”

Thorn was in shock, and Aranna was worried that she had finally lost her mind. Fateweaver cut off his magic, ending the display. “Now, help me open that cave!”

Thorn turned to Aranna. “Adopted?”

“Why I hated changelings until I actually met some and had to cool off in a cage. He found me when I was an infant, in the middle of a raided caravan. As far as anyone could tell, it was a changeling attack.”

“Sounds like Brutalis swarm.” Thorn said, thinking. “They are a mobile hive of mostly basic changelings with a few variants. They pass through these mountains once every decade or so.”

Aranna slowly turned to him. “You know them?”

“They are due in three years, give or take.” Thorn smiled. “They never got along well with Blackreach, anyway.”

“You, me, drinks.”

Fateweaver called over to the pair. “I told you two to get over here!”

<><><>

Sovereign Nexus stood in the middle of a flurry of activity. His daughter, Jule, and her servant stood next to him, watching as he directed the movement of an army of changelings.

Nexus had driven the firefly changelings back, as they wouldn’t be joining in this fight. In exchange, he had summoned a sect of changelings with six legs, sharp mandibles around their mouths, thicker than average exoskeletons and a complete lack of wings or horn.

The ants suffered from low mobility since they couldn’t fly, but their immense strength and thick exoskeletons made them Nexus’s strongest frontline fighters.

The scorpionfly and basic changelings were flitting through the air, preparing for the charge against their enemy, with the exception of one. The changeling the two escapees had referred to as ‘Witch’ stood nearby, awaiting orders. She, along with a basic changeling with the odd ability to perform miraculous heals and take temporary control of wild beasts would serve as the head of the center point of attack.

Two other groups would go around the majority of Vangar’s defenses, outflanking their enemy. The tactic was simple, but would ensure a quick victory if executed properly.

Jule stood by, watching her father closely. Eclipse felt his ears press themselves against his head, feeling some of her anxiety from the link he shared with her.

“Mistress? Is something wrong?” he asked tentatively.

She gave him a glance, but turned back with little answer given.

His gaze shifted to the two-tailed changeling some feet away from him. She seemed familiar, but he couldn’t be sure where he had seen her before. Before he could continue to think in the matter, he felt the pressing need to leave the area, through the tunnel just behind him, down a hundred feet, take a left and then a right.

Following the feeling without question, the small part of him that wasn’t mindless couldn’t help but feel something at the back of his mind, as if it was being blocked.

Meanwhile, Jule was facing her father.

“Why did you send him away?” The older changeling asked. “Hoping distance will keep what he experiences from bleeding over?”

At Jule’s lack of an answer, Nexus laughed. “Nothing can stop it. It is of having a hivemind. To be able to play the part of every changeling at once is a necessary measure. You will grow used to it.”

“I can feel his thoughts, as well.” Jule complained.

Nexus ‘hmph’ed. “That I do not deal with, as my hivemind breaks those who fight it. Are you sure you do not wish to re-perform the spell?”

“I will be fine.” Jule muttered. “But it will take time.”

“We have plenty of time.”

“Yet you do not wish to test my servant’s abilities?”

“They will be tested in the upcoming battle. Besides, I do not wish to waste good warriors on confirming his power.”

<><><>

“We’re running out of time!” Cyclone shouted as he jammed another sharpened stake into the ground. The wall of spikes was meant to slow any ground attack the enemy performed. Some of the changelings that had fled to Vangar were sitting inside the town, but the one’s that could help were reinforcing the defenses as best they could, whether they would actually be combatants or not.

The guard commander had needed time, but when the first wave of enemy vanguard had been sighted by the scouts, he had thrown aside his own thoughts on the matter. The griffins and Pegasi of Vangar would stand with the changelings of Blackreach, and they would be damn proud to do it.

The pegasus both cursed and thanked Equestria, for it was Eclipse who had made it possible for the town to have as much of a chance as it did, but the nation could also have sent a few more fighters to help in the fight.

Cyclone watched Finnis fly by, organizing several dozen fighters into ambush spots. It had taken several clouds, but they had set up a large group of floating hiding spots set up in a seemingly random pattern around the town. If Nexus tried anything, he would find himself facing more than he had ever expected.

Several nearby guards set up a pair of massive ballistae, loading massive bolts into the crossbow-like siege weapons, the only heavy weaponry Vangar had.

“Commander, contact!”

Cyclone turned to see a wave of black come into sight at the top of a cliff, feeling his jaw drop at the sight. “By the sky above…”

<><><>

Nexus took his place atop a cliff. It tapered to a point, facing towards his target: Vangar. The city’s unique construction would provide an interesting battleground, forcing the battle into every possible direction.

The fools had set up a pair of ballista, likely in the faint hope it would make a difference. A wall of spikes would slow the advance of the ant changelings, but there were more than enough basics and scorpionflies to keep the enemy busy while ants filtered in.

Nexus laughed, celebrating his imminent victory. Jule and Eclipse stood by, as did the rest of the Sovereign’s army.

Jule pointed at a large mass, standing among the rest of Vangar’s forces. “What is that?”

Nexus paused, following her hoof. “A buffalo? Why is a buffalo here? Ah, no matter. Let the assault begin! This will be a glorious fight!”

Jule grinned to herself. “It’ll be a slaughter, not a fight.” She lowered her voice so Nexus wouldn’t hear her next words, even as he agreed with her previous statement. “But not how you expect it to be.”

Eclipse cocked his head to the side. "Mistress?"

Jule sent an order along her barely formed hivemind to silence the pony as Nexus sent the first part of his assault force forward. The two side attacks followed soon after, prepared to engulf the defenders. Jule sent Eclipse forward, having him hitch a ride on a basic changeling that Nexus had standing by.

Author's Note

Remember the fight of Appleloosa, earlier in this story? Remember how I failed to provide you with the epic blood-shed, instead opting to go for a side-operation away from the center of the excitement?

Yeah, I'm going to fix that.

To assure you of this, next chapter will be written while the following plays on repeat in the background: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWRuka6I7Ng#t=166

Vangar's Stand (part 1)

Aranna’s shield held against another magical onslaught, green beams launching from seemingly everywhere at once. Swinging her sword, she took out another changeling in the air beside her. It was easy enough to tell the Blackreach changelings from the Nexus changelings, being that the Nexus changelings were the ones trying to kill her, not to mention the completely white eyes compared to Blackreach’s blue.

One pointed scorpion tail made it past her defenses, but it banged uselessly against her breastplate, seconds before it was separated from the rest of its owner. On the ground, several strange changelings with six legs and no horns or wings were slowly crawling over the barricade, though a few slipped and impaled themselves.

Thankfully, the thick shells and massive, curving horns of Blackreach’s beetle changelings formed an impassable wall, driving Nexus hive’s forces back, bit by bit.

Returning her attention to the fight around her, Aranna blocked a changeling’s horn jab. The horn slid down the edge of her blade, letting her spin and plant the sword in the changeling’s side in a lightning quick maneuver.

Kicking off the changeling to free her sword and send her rocketing towards a pegasus and Blackreach changeling that had been pressed back to back, Aranna tore through the group of changelings surrounding the pair. The metal claws on her shield arm raked a changeling’s face, while her sword arced around, splitting another in half.

One changeling attacked her from behind, but it rocketed away quite suddenly, propelled by the energy of the pegasi’s spear. Another changeling went after the now unarmed pegasus, but the Blackreach changeling felled it with a wave of green energy projectiles.

The Blackreach changeling grabbed the pegasi’s hooves, flinging him towards the ground. The pegasus flew by the changeling his spear had hit, ripping the weapon from the bug to the sound of a watery scream. The pegasus banked, bee lining for another changeling. The creature shot away, causing the pegasus to miss by inches, but Aranna bashed it with her shield, opening it up for a buck from the Blackreach changeling which sent it hurtling to the ground, where it hit with bone-crushing force.

Aranna and her two allies went back to back, her blocking enemy attacks with her shield, the changeling firing green beams at ranged foes and the pegasus using his spear to great effect on any that got too close.

<><><>

Thorn huddled with the other non-combatents, changelings, griffins and pegasi alike.

The group had taken refuge in buildings throughout the center of Vangar, but Thorn knew that somewhere, somehow, several Nexus changelings were slipping though the cracks of Vangar’s defense.

The familiar sound of the changeling tongue sounded from the otherside of the door he was sitting near, a clacking and chittering he knew to be taunts. It was an insult against not only Vangar, but the Blackreach changelings as well.

An older Blackreach changeling stood, enraged. He was an beetle, his shell dulled in some areas in a pattern only time could forge. “Those exo-less brutes!” He declared in changeling, staring at the door. “I may be old, but I’ve got one fight left in me.”

Thorn shushed him, but it was too late. The Nexus changeling was pounding against the door, with others of its kind undoubtedly on the way, linked through the hivemind as they were.

Racking his mind for a strategy to use, Thorn called several of the stronger adults of Vangar. Two pegasi and a single griffin that were not guards, and as such did not fight, but were in their prime.

Briefing them, Thorn slowly unlatched the door, letting the changeling outside get a hoof in. Slamming the door on the hoof, Thorn watched as the pegasi grabbed the appendage, dragging the changeling further in until it was stopped by the girth of its body and head. Thrashing, it nearly pulled its own leg out of its socket as it struggled against the trap.

The griffin came forward, armed with a metal pan that he had snatched from the kitchen.

Thorn opened the door, causing the two pegasi to pull the changeling in. The griffin sprung into action, jamming the handle of the pan into the changeling’s eye and, eventually, brain.

Bringing a Blackreach changeling forward, as the dead Nexus changeling was removed, Thorn had it fire a green beam of magic into the air, immediately charging a much more powerful beam afterwards.

When a Nexus changeling came to investigate, Thorn had the changeling next to him fire a beam of magic with all the strength he could muster. The beam lanced through the Nexus changeling, killing it midair.

A group of pegasus guards appeared, having come to drive out the changelings that had slipped into the town. After a quick spell to make sure they weren’t Nexus changelings in disguise, Thorn waved them over, ready to get more protection for the non-combatants around him.

<><><>

Aranna saw the gray and brown pony riding on the back of a changeling, her hopes soaring. But when Eclipse jumped from the changeling and engaged several of Vangar’s guards, she knew that something was horribly wrong.

Flapping her wings as hard as she could, Aranna swerved around several thick clouds of conflict, minor dogfights in the massive aerial battle. Eclipse turned just as she landed, hooves swinging. Aranna blocked one strike with the flat of her sword and knocked another away with her shield.

She was about to ask what he was doing, but a green light flashed over his eyes, accompanied by another surge of energy as he rushed her. Now knowing that Eclipse was no more in control than any other Nexus changeling, she steadied herself. Well, he had been a good friend for awhile, anyway.

She swung her sword, but Eclipse ducked under the weapon, jumped and kicked her in the beak. Staggering back a step, she raised her shield and rushed him, knocking him back. The pony tried to uppercut, but Aranna slammed the hilt of her sword into his forehead.

The pony jumped away and, eyes glowing with red light, summoned as much chaos energy as his controller could make him muster.

Raising her shield just as he fired his energy blast, Aranna peeked over her defenses when a ‘thunk’ signaled something bouncing off of her shield. Before her, on the ground, lay a potato, dented from where it had struck her shield.

Eclipse’s controller must have gone into shock, since he was just staring at the garden vegetable. Trying again, he raised his hooves and tried to fire another chaos attack at Aranna. This time, a marshmallow appeared and bounced onto the ground.

The griffin calmly picked up the soft white puff and popped it into her mouth. The pony rubbed the back of his head, the mind behind it clearly not expecting the way chaos magic behaved. “Third times the charm?” He asked.

Aranna grinned at the pony, who slumped. “This is what I get for not practicing…”

“AUGH!” Jule screamed.

Nexus turned to her. “Is everything alright?” He asked. “I understand the pain felt through the hivemind can be… intense.”

“The chaos magic…” She moaned. “It -- AUGH! -- is fickle.” She paused flinching several times. “I can feel everything!”

“Fantstic. It’s incentive for you to let him go.” Aranna drawled, slamming the flat of her blade against Eclipse’s skull.

“It doesn’t work that way!” He shouted. “I don’t know the counter spell!”

“Eclipse was my friend, but with you in there, he’s as good as dead to me.” Aranna said, picking the pony up with one claw. “I have no qualms about making you suffer for him or the deaths going on around us.” Several shrieks sounded as a group of changelings turned and sprinted or flew towards Aranna, clearly on a mission to free Eclipse.

A single swipe from a large claymore stopped the advance.

Finnis stood defiantly, his scale mail armor glinting, even with the spattering of changeling blood he had earned over the course of the fight. “Hello, there!” He greeted, a faux friendly smile on his face. “Come to our town for business or pleasure?”

Aranna pointed her sword at one changeling, her inner fire being stoked into existence as her sword began to glow red and the heat traveled straight form the blade to her target. The changeling burst into flames, the shock of which sent it skittering about in a vain attempt to douse the fire.

Eclipse raised a hoof and tried to punch his captor, but Aranna easily caught the hoof and began twisting. The pony grimaced, eyes wide. “Owowowow.” He gasped in a pained moan. “Hurts, hurting, please let go, Ow--”

Aranna ‘tsk’ed. “That was a pretty good copy of what he would say. But, again, you’re not him. You have none of his skills, you can control none of his magic. Under your control, he is nothing more than another earth pony.” She grinned. “And an earth pony, I can beat.”

As the griffin twisted her thrall’s hoof even further, Jule had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. “Damnit, you feathery bastard! Put that plan of yours into action already! I can see you standing there laughing at this!”

Nexus stared at his daughter. “What did you just say, Jule?”

The changeling stared at her ‘father’, her mane and tail erupting into green flames that left them a deep purple. “My name is Aurora, you cretin.”

Aranna stared at the pony. “What?”

Finnis’ laughter reached her ears, causing her to turn around and face the form of her father, half a dozen changelings laying in pieces around him, plus one that was still whole but completely roasted. “Sorry. But it is kinda funny.”

“Damnit!” Eclipse shouted, the rage of his controller getting the better of it. “I had to fight some of your own guards to get this close, now my cover’s blown. Six months, Finnis! Six! Months!”

“Oh, you baby.” The griffin said, taking the pony from Aranna and setting him down on the ground. “Try twenty-seven years and an adopted kid.”

Aranna turned at the sound of a massive explosion and caught sight of two large changelings grappling with each other in mid-air. Rocks were crushed by the impact of the two when they hit a cliff, just to bounce off and continue their struggle. Beams of powerful magic pierced the air around them, adding extra threats to the fighting. Luckily, the expense of their hive leader being in combat seemed to have a negative impact on the rest of Nexus, rendering them far weaker.

Aranna spied one of the two ballistae nearby, firing and reloading its massive bolts within a span of a few seconds per shot.

She flew over, taking command of the siege unit. Sitting at the controls, the rest of the ballista team waited for her to take a shot.

“Like fish in a barrel.” She grinned, firing at an approaching changeling.

While Aranna had target practice, Finnis cracked his knuckles. “Alright. Let’s see if I can do this properly…”

<><><>

Eclipse stirred. He had woken up here before, surrounded by blackness. He sighed, though he knew the action was useless, trapped in his own mind as he was.

He had tried decorating, but every time he slept, it seemed to reset. ‘Slept’ was a relative term anyway. His mind rested, but his body was undoubtedly still strutting around, under control of that ‘Aurora’, she called herself.

“At least mine isn’t the only name that’s not original in the slightest…” He mused, wondering if he should take a peek through his body’s eyes. It was a very odd sensation, that. Like looking through a window. “Naw. Probably just more changeling hive.” He decided. He had tried to break out, but the spell he was under kept him contained. Jule, Aurora, whatever her name was didn’t even need to try and suppress him.

“Eh, I’ma build another sand castle.” He hefted a block of sand, a la minecraft. Before he could start, a magenta colored tendril tore a hole into the barrier around him, ripping through the spell. The sand cube fell apart, falling into a pile while his forelegs still hovered where they had been holding the block.

The tendril snaked around and seemed like it was going to head for him, but he immediately started scooting away. “Not a chance. I’ve seen that side of the internet; I’m not going to be a picture on it.”

The magical tendril, for that had to have been what it was, ignored him, focusing on ripping through the spell around him. When more appeared, Eclipse recognized them for what they were.

“Loyalty magic!” He said, recalling Fateweaver’s very difficult to remember lessons. “But, who?”

The remains of the spell dissipated, leaving him without a floor to stand on. Eclipse took the moment to groan before he felt himself fall.

<><><>

Finnis stepped back when Eclipse, for lack of better words, spazzed out. The pony jumped up, legs waving wildly. “Not the bees! Not the--...Oh, wait…” He looked around, noticing the griffin standing several feet away with a claymore in his claws.

Some distance further away, Aranna was looking at him from the controls of a ballista, as was the rest of the ballista’s crew.

The gray pony looked down at his hooves, turning them over. Looking up, he saw a massive swarm of movement above him and around him. Realizing that he was in the middle of Nexus’ assault on Vangar, he cracked a smile. Then began laughing.

He jumped up, wooping in joy. “I’m back, suckers!”

Aranna watched, amazed, as he immediately lashed out with his chaos magic, pulling out a grappling hook and ensnaring a flying changeling. Pulling tight, Eclipse sent himself into the air, swinging up onto the changeling and grabbing its head, steering it into some of its fellows.

He was grabbed by another changeling, but this didn’t seem to faze him. “Lego!”

“Not until you’re paste on the ground!” The bug responded.

“Not what I meant!” Eclipse shouted, spitting a large, brightly colored plastic brick into the changeling’s eye. The insectoid screamed in pain, releasing Eclipse and sending the pony hurtling towards the ground.

He laughed, putting one hoof forward and aiming for a changeling that had cornered an injured guard. As his speed increased, he caught fire, turning into a flaming projectile akin to a meteor.

Alas, meteors tend to burn up when falling fast enough.

A cloud of ash covered the changeling, sending it into a coughing fit. The guard took his chance, spearing the creature before it could recover. The ash cloud swirled together, eventually combining into a slice of watermelon.

Eclipse popped out from a nearby boulder and, upon spying the fruit, began to feast. The guard rubbed his eyes at the strange sight, but when he stopped, all that remained was the slice of watermelon, all of the red flesh gone.

Elsewhere, Eclipse put himself between an ant changeling and a beetle. The ant tried to go around, but the pony blocked him. After several more attempts, it grew annoyed and tried to attack the aggravating pony, but a single black seed shot out and hit the changeling in the face. A split second later, a torrent of black seeds pelted the changeling, forcing a retreat. The ant ran right off a cliff in its haste to escape the onslaught, falling to its doom thanks to its lack of wings.

Before he could continue on, Eclipse found a griffin’s claw on his shoulder. Aranna grinned at him. “Nice to have you back, but I think you have another appointment.” She pointed at a large form standing next to a cave.

Eclipse followed her claw, frowning. “Fefvever?” He asked, several black seeds coming out of his mouth. He spat out the few seeds that remained, having planned on strategically using them on other changelings and not just because he thought it was funny. “Fateweaver?” He asked again. “When did he get here?”

Aranna shrugged. “Dunno. He just wanted us to help him open up that cave.”

“Why would he, oh no.” Eclipse slumped, remembering his time in the cave that had ended with him gaining honesty magic. “Not this again.”

“Again?” Aranna asked, a changeling creeping up behind her.

“Seven-thirty. Long story.”

Aranna swung her sword, separating the changeling from the weight of its own head. “Tell me after the fight’s over. Six o’ clock.”

Eclipse bucked, sending the changeling behind him flying away. “Agreed.”

<><><>

“Not a chance.” Eclipse said to Fateweaver as he wrestled with a six legged changeling.

The buffalo didn’t seem fazed. “You are going into that cave and that will be that.”

Eclipse picked up a sizable rock. “The last time I went into a cave that wasn’t a changeling hive,” *thud* “I had to learn an entire new type of magic when I hadn’t even” *thud* “figured out chaos magic yet. I still haven’t figured it out.” He picked up a fish and tossed it at another changeling, which was soon swarmed with a flock of white birds, all of them repeatedly shouting ‘Mine?’ “But I’m getting better!”

Tossing the rock aside, Eclipse stepped away from the bleeding and out cold changeling. Fateweaver frowned. “If Finnis can get at Nexus, the two of you might be able to work together and upheave the hivemind at its source, freeing countless from its bonds. But to do that, you have to go. In. That. Cave.”

“No!” Eclipse shouted, blocking a scorpionfly’s tail when it struck.

“You could end this fight right now! Save lives!” Fateweaver stomped a hoof. “This is for the greater good.”

“The greater good can suck my -- oof!” The scorpionfly changeling threw him against a wall. He quickly regained his footing, hefting a large boot which was quickly covered in bug paste. “I don’t need any of your ‘chosen one’ crap. Chaos magic is more than enough, yet I still got stuck with honesty magic on top of that! Plus, How the hell did you even get to this place? I only got here thanks to my chaos magic.”

Fateweaver stood his ground. “That is unimportant! Would you really allow hundreds to slaughter each other to spite me?”

Eclipse used a well-timed crowbar to break the jaw of the next changeling that attacked him. “Frankly, yes!”

Everything stopped. Fateweaver stared at Eclipse, who completely froze when he noticed the silence around him. Aranna, Finnis, and the Vangar guard corps were all giving him surprised stares. Changelings all over the battlefield, Nexus and Blackreach alike, had stopped fighting in response to his answer. Even Guard Commander Cyclone and his division of the guard had turned to gawk.

“What?” The pony asked, part angry and part genuinely confused. “I never claimed to be an upstanding member of society!”

A changeling appeared just out of Eclipse’s field of view, saluting the pony. “Sovereign Nexus would like to offer a formal apology for his actions. Seeing as you are not an acceptable target for integration into a hivemind, he would instead like to give you an offer on behalf of his benefactors.”

“Benefactors?” Eclipse asked, frowning. “What? Like sponsors?”

“Of a sort.” The changeling replied. “In exchange for his assistance, the Dawn’s Light provided him with the location of several changeling hives for his conquest. You could easily gain rank within their organization.”

Eclipse gave the changeling the best calm-yet-angry stare that Vangar had ever seen, complete with twitchy right eye. “The Dawn’s Light? As in, ‘attacked Appleloosa’ Dawn’s Light? The ‘nearly wiped out the Canterlot research facility’ Dawn’s Light? The ‘I’ve spent most of my time in Equestria fighting them every step of the way’ Dawn’s Light?”

Fateweaver let out a soft ‘ooh’.

Eclipse turned and marched directly into the cave Fateweaver had been trying to force him into for the last fifteen minutes. “I’ll see you lot on the other side.”

Aranna scratched the back of her head. “Well, that was a backfire if I’ve ever seen one…” She eyed the still-frozen battlefield around her, raised her sword and quickly decapitated the changeling she had been fighting.

Suddenly, the sound of metal on metal and screams filled the air again as the fighting resumed, as if it had never stopped.

Author's Note

It's one thing to write a crappy story-line. It's another to write a character who hates that story-line.

I probably should have toyed with 'Eclipse under mind control' some more, but he's protected by the shield of main character-ness. Plus I had no friggin' clue how it'd go much further than this.

Vangar's Stand (part 2)

Aranna swung again and again, her sword edge surely dulling from the sheer amount of air she was slicing through, not to mention the changeling chitin throughout the battle. She had ended up fighting an all-too familiar changeling with a twin pair of scorpion tails.

Witch released an angry screech, dashing forward, the stingers of her tail lashing out. They bounced harmlessly off Aranna’s shield, brought up just in time despite Witch’s unnatural speed and ability to respond before Aranna had even made a move.

The only way to land a hit without Witch dodging or blocking needed some sort of area of effect, but Aranna’s phoenix-griffin abilities weren’t up to snuff when it came to throwing fireballs. So, she did as best she could, her frustration and anger radiating off of her through her limited powers, the heat helping just enough to keep Witch from impaling the griffin on a pointed tail.

The changeling came in close, her hoof arcing up and slamming into Aranna’s chin with a loud crack.

Her helmet shifted a bit, but otherwise stayed on her head. Still, the hit was enough to confirm one fatal truth: Aranna was losing.

Slowly, but losing nonetheless. Finnis was preoccupied with his own woes, the buffalo had vanished as soon as Eclipse entered that cave and even combined with Blackreach hive, Vangar’s guard force was slowly being overwhelmed.

Rubbing her chin as Witch recovered and prepared to strike again, Aranna looked beyond the changeling to see one of Blackreach’s thick-shelled beetle changelings get picked up and tossed into one of his fellows by one of Nexus’ six-legged ant changelings. Over her head, griffins, pegasi and flying changelings fought together, but the horrid unity of the hivemind gave Nexus an undeniable tactical edge.

Guard Commander Cyclone streaked through the air, his spear flashing as it struck. His portion of the guard had lost some units, had some injuries and even picked up a few stray changelings to help fill in the gaps, but with their enemies’ pressing forward without fear, they wouldn’t stand forever.

Without fear. Heh.

What fear did Nexus have, since he wasn’t in the thick of it? That large changeling, the size of a queen, which had taken Eclipse’s mind had turned out to be some sort of ally. Aranna wasn’t sure how the changeling knew her father, but if Finnis’s sudden change of attitude to a near reckless fighter after over twenty-seven years of playing the part of a calm and patient leader was any indication, there was much to Finnis that Aranna didn’t, and may even never, know. Maybe she had never really known the griffin that had raised her in the first place.

Aranna brought her shield up, blocking Witch’s tail strike. She swung her sword, but was too slow, as always.

Charging forward, sword pointed ahead of her, Aranna was almost unsurprised when the changeling jumped over and pushed off her back.

Almost.

Somehow, Witch knew exactly what she would do and how to counter it. From her memories of Icewind, it had something to do with that freakish orange glow in her eyes, but she had never found out what.

Another explosion sounded overhead, signaling that the fight between Nexus and the changeling that wasn’t his daughter was still going. The look on everyone’s face when they saw that purple maned changeling toss Nexus into a cliff was worth framing. It even provided a short stun on the hivemind, but Nexus had plenty of experience with his hive, so it wasn’t enough time to take a sizeable advantage from.

Without lowering her guard for Witch, Aranna steadied herself, her rear lion paws edging out their claws and digging into the dirt with them. Her sword was held in an even tighter grip and her shield was braced against her forearm. She adjusted her helmet back to a perfect spot on her head and she wiggled her body to make sure her sword arm bracer, rear leg shin guards and breastplate were still snugly attached.

She was losing this fight, just as the battle around her was being lost. Even Nexus’ personal battle was slowly tilting to his favor. But she would be damned before she would go down easy.

<><><>

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Eclipse muttered to himself. “Friggin buffalo. Thrice-damned rag with legs, that’s what he is. Who does he think he is, chucking me into random magical caves?” He huffed, looking at the wall of the cave. “Oh, joy, here’s the first carving, just like the first cave! Who didn’t see that one coming? Is it another buffalo, like cave number one?”

Getting closer, Eclipse could see that it was, in fact, a griffin instead of a buffalo. He was leaning on a large sword, waving and grinning at something that wasn’t depicted. Like the first cave, this drawing was full of small details that could be easily missed, down to the individual feathers on its wings and the scrollwork on the sword. It actually looked like Finnis’ two-handed sword, but that weapon didn’t have any of the decoration that the sword in the carving did.

Drawing number two actually was a copy of the first cave. There, looking blasted into the stone rather than carefully carved, sat a rough depiction of Discord, doing… chaos-y something-or-another. He’s been reformed since then, so who knows?

The first cave had a drawing of one of the royal sisters, but drawings of the two were so alike that they were hard enough to tell apart as it was. Since their wasn’t really any color in the cave carvings, it was next to impossible to tell them apart, so when Eclipse reached this cave’s third carving, he gave it its due glance and moved on.

Honesty cave had a carving of Applejack as number four, and Fateweaver had been more than obvious as to what this cave would ‘gift’ it’s current visitor. With this in mind, it didn’t take Eclipse by surprise when he saw a pegasus adorning the wall.

Rainbow Dash was in mid-flight, her mane and tail whipping about behind her while she held both front hooves forward, doing her absolute best to cut though the air like a super-heated, razor sharp sword slicing through butter. Eclipse had to admit, the carving was just about perfect. Every strand of her hair was depicted like it was caught on the world’s best camera, past, present, future and alternate universes included.

Eclipse sighed as he reached the end of the cave. “Let’s get this over with.” Reaching out with his chaos magic, he closed his eyes. “I wonder why I couldn’t end up as the partner to some other idiot who had to put up with this.”

<><><>

Thorn ducked under the green beam of magic.

Standing up, he barked an order at the changelings around him, his training as a guard kicking in, making his voice a bit harsher.

“Return fire! Return fire or so help me I will have you filled with more holes than you already have!”

Just a bit.

The scorpionflies and basic changelings around him fired green energy beams in unison, knocking the enemy changelings out of the sky and off their hooves, depending on whether they were flying or not.

“Beetles!”

The selected changelings rushed forward, forming a wall between their fellows and the approaching land enemies.

“They came to the town through the fight, but we will not let them have the non-combatants! Die if you must, but keep those hiveminds back!”

The two dozen or so changelings Thorn had gathered squared off against the equal amount of Nexus changelings. A few members of the Vangar guard that had followed those changelings were attacking the flank, but Thorn and his small squadron would provide the rock to the guard’s hard place. Or spear, if you want to be accurate.

Thorn was not a fighter. He had made a promise to stay that way long ago, when Icewind was still alive and beautiful and the thought of a hivemind was a faraway nightmare long thought to have no concern with a small hive in the mountains.

But he was a strategist. A tactician. And he would use those skills to crush the many who tried to oppress the few, as was his duty as a perimeter guard captain of Blackreach.

As was his duty as a friend.

As was the duty he had failed at as a brother.

“FIRE!” He screamed, as green lances of energy shot forward.

<><><>

There was screaming.

That was different from the cave of honesty.

When he had been given that power, that orange sphere of magic inside of him had shocked him, as if a bolt of lightning had shot through his body.

But this…

Loyalty burned. It burned a lot.

It felt like his skin was on fire. It felt like his insides were slowly burning away.

Honesty’s pain had been quick. It had been almost unnoticeable and it had been quick. It left him sore but that was only barely and it had faded not even moments after.

Eclipse’s eyes shot open, a magenta light filling them. He could see his bright red chaos magic, a smaller sphere of orange honesty floating around it.

Near them, a magenta colored sphere was filling in, its light pulsing as it grew inside of his body.

It was then he realized something…

Loyalty showed itself as magenta. It showed itself as calm and forgiving, and were it corporeal, it would be soft to the touch. But if you knew it better, you would know the truth.

Loyalty was blood red, so red it made Eclipse’s scarlet chaos magic seem brown by comparison.

It looked like the soft purplish pink that most called magenta, but at its core, it was a nigh divine bond of blood and kin, all but impossible to break and should it be broken, it will lash out and scorch those who dared to break it.

Still screaming at the intense pain, Eclipse felt one more truth enter his mind.

Nexus had used magic to force a corrupt, twisted mockery of loyalty on countless changelings. He had enslaved them, driven them against their own kind and even their friends and families.

He had not shattered their loyalty, oh no. He had done something far worse.

He had openly used it to torture them.

Inside the hivemind, buried deep down, those changelings saw the ones they were loyal to being killed and enslaved by the same one who had taken them.

They had watched, even as their souls wept at what they were being forced to do.

Stopping his screams despite the slowly subsiding pain that still burned on his skin and inside his body, Eclipse felt his mouth twist down, turning into an angry snarl.

Nexus shall pay.

He shall pay in blood, the color of that which he had scorned.

The color of that which shall be his undoing.

<><><>

Aurora panted, sweating with exhaustion.

The plan was failing.

She dove, Nexus’ blast going high as she closed in on the ground.

Aiming her wings, she shot back up, slamming into the larger changeling sovereign.

Aurora was no weakling. While she did not lead a hive, she had the blood of a queen, the strength and magic of which was being tested now.

Her old friend and trusted companion, Finnis, fought down below, but he couldn’t assist her; to embroiled in his own fight as he was.

His adopted daughter, however…

Aurora sighed. The plan had called Fateweaver away, and Finnis was of no help. The rest of their party was still spread thin across the world, preparing and planning as they had for so long. This would have to do.

Grabbing Nexus’ legs in a telekinetic hold, Aurora suffered an energy bolt to the chest to fling him at the ground, just for him to recover some twenty feet above it.

The griffin near him had seen her chance, though, so it mattered little.

Flapping her wings, the phoenix-griffin launched away from her twin-tailed assailant, sword flashing as she attacked the hive leader.

Nexus grimaced as the sword bit into his exoskeleton, but pierce it the blade did not.

Twisting his body, the changeling sovereign knocked the griffin away, forcing her to quickly come to her senses and raise her shield as she fell under a merciless pummeling from the two-tailed scorpionfly.

Aurora bit her tongue, trying to find a way past Nexus defenses. The more she kept him occupied, the less his mind could direct his horde. But it was very likely he was simply taking control from one of his several other hives, bringing them and their resource production to a halt in exchange for more utility here.

“Fucking hivemind.” Aurora hissed, preparing her magic.

Her magic dissipated, however, in the wake of what happened seconds before she fired her energy.

The ground erupted, a small circle of earth spiking upward as cracks formed in it and waves of magic escaped from the confines of the earth. Bright red beams of magic shot out, soon accompanied by an angry shout.

“NEXUS!”

A gray and brown earth pony stood up amongst the rubble.

The plan had not failed after all.

Despite his call for the sovereign, Eclipse dashed towards the Pheonix-griffin and her enemy, grabbing the changeling by both of her tails and flinging her at Nexus.

Nexus’ eyes widened, the changeling impacting him with a crunch of crushing chitin as they were both carried by her momentum into the ground.

Aurora turned and left, following Fateweaver’s example. Once Finnis played his part, the battle would be over and he would do the same.

<><><>

Aranna and let out a cheer as Nexus and Witch slammed into the ground. She raised her sword, inspiring the guards who heard her cry to fight even harder.

Meanwhile, Eclipse shot forward, hoof cocked back.

Nexus rose, dazed. He realized that Witch had been knocked unconscious and that trying to order her to rise would be a wasted effort. Turning back to confront the pesky chaos pony who had caused his plan to go so haywire, he hadn’t even processed the fact that he had been hit when he found himself trying to rise once again.

Firing several beams of energy, he looked on with glee as Eclipse was knocked back. Surprisingly, the pony was still standing.

Eclipse lowered his head, his eyes slowly gaining a red glow over them.

Nexus prepared another magical assault, but the pony raised his fore hooves, the two appendages taking on a remarkably metallic look.

Realizing that he was staring into a twin pair of barrels that had sprouted where legs should go, Nexus raised a magic shield, a flurry of red energy beams raking the shield and threatening to break it.

Eclipse clapped his hooves, disappearing in a flash.

He reappeared just inside Nexus’ shield.

“What the--?!” The changeling said, the pony waving at him.

“Hi! Have you ever shopped at Macy’s?” He grabbed a large stick, one end of which was capped with a metal head.

Nexus ducked the mace’s first swing, but Eclipse soon changed its course and had it slam into his skull with a loud crunch. Backing up several paces, Nexus shook his head and quickly teleported further away, just barely avoiding a flurry of attacks.

He cleared his vision, watching Eclipse turn around to face him.

Nexus was a good fifty feet from the nuisance, having teleported behind the pony at a safe distance.

“Ahem.”

As he was turning, Nexus felt rather than saw a metal shield slam into his side.

The red and yellow griffin was back, and she was radiating an intense heat that was making her armor impossible to touch without getting burned.

Likewise, her sword could likely cauterize the wounds it inflicted.

Realizing that Eclipse’s mace had opened a crack in his chitin, Nexus wiped some green changeling blood off of him, firing several magic blasts at the griffin.

Even with her shield raised, she couldn’t stop the kinetic force of the blasts and was thrown to the ground.

“Strong winds, incoming.”

Nexus turned, seeing Eclipse not ten feet away.

Growling at the pony’s insolence, Nexus prepared to fire another blast of magic, but felt the hard impact of a hoof in his side, knocking the wind out of him.

“That will teach you to mess with my town!”

The red pegasus landed, his green mane unkempt and his helmet lost somewhere thanks to the battle.

The armored guard lifted his spear. “Feel the fury of Guard Captain Cyclone, you worthless insect.” The pegasus charged, swinging his spear with the skill brought on by years of training.

Even so, he was still easily kept at bay by Nexus.

“But all that changed when the Fire Nation attacked.”

With that odd sentence, Eclipse hefted another contraption pulled from seemingly nowhere. Cyclone backed off, just in time for a wave of fire and fury to wash over the changeling sovereign.

His flamethrower doing its work, Eclipse watched Nexus try to fly off to escape the scorching fires. Aranna appeared above him, happily knocking him back onto the ground.

Using his hivemind to call for aid, Nexus was shocked to realize that despite being outnumbered, Cyclone’s contingent was keeping his swarm at bay, the knowledge that their Captain, an equestrian and their powerful phoenix-griffin were all hammering the controller of the horde with every passing second giving them strength they had never known before.

Still, their defense was not perfect and a hole opened, allowing several changelings to come through and aid their master.

Nexus’ grin turned into a startled gasp when he felt those changelings vanish from the hivemind, dead, dying or unconscious.

A group of changelings from the inside of Vangar came out, led by a scorpionfly. Despite never fighting himself except for dodging several attacks, the one known as Thorn was leading his small cadre of units with brutal efficiency.

Reinforced by the aid of several griffins and pegasi guards recruited while fending off small amounts of hivemind changelings inside the town, the small group was fighting with the power of a much larger army, each unit compensating for another’s weakness and reinforcing their strengths.

Nexus tried to teleport, but his magic fizzled. His energy was running dangerously low after his fight with the purple maned changeling and he was best by multiple opponents at once. A number which steadily grew, it seemed, as one more griffin wielding a two-handed sword approached.

This new griffin and Eclipse shared a nod, the importance of which Nexus couldn’t comprehend, and charged, their eyes blazing not with a bright magenta, but with a deep, dark red.

The color of most species’ blood.

Author's Note

Sorry about the long wait, but hey, this may be my least terrible chapter yet!

After Vangar's stand

Thorn helped the groaning changeling to its feet.

All six of them.

The changeling shook its head and stumbled, having lost some of its finer motor control from years of being controlled like a puppet. “Ack, my head feels like it was in a vice.” The changeling stopped for a moment, looking down and around as it, no, he made sense of his surroundings.

“I… I’m me.” He said, tentatively testing his hooves. He looked to the changeling just in front of him. “Am I dead?”

Thorn placed a hoof on the changelings shoulder. “On the contrary, my friend, you are alive once again.”

Thorn pointed to the rest of the battlefield, scattered with the fallen, yes, but also dotted with newly freed changelings, being helped by Blackreach changelings and Vangar townspeople alike as they felt their way back into their own bodies.

There wasn’t quite as much happiness as one might expect in the scene. Instead, the air was filled with surprise and wonderment from the changelings that had been under Nexus’ control. Several questions floated around, coming from what few freed changelings weren’t simply looking around, marveling at even the most boring and dull things around them, if only for the novelty of being able to do so.

In a prime example of this, the ant-changeling Thorn had just helped picked up a rock, examining it thoroughly.

Using telekinesis, Thorn took the rock away from the changeling, using it to point towards a gathering of some of the battle’s survivors. Several small campfires had sprung up, a few even with small amounts of food cooking over them. “I believe you may find that to be a bit more exciting than a simple stone.” Thorn said, though he offered the stone back to the changeling anyway.

The changeling set the stone on the ground, a smile on his face as he went to join a small group of changelings that was heading towards the larger crowd.

Turning, Thorn buzzed his wings, taking off and flying towards where Nexus had been defeated.

The changeling sovereign was impaled upon a two-handed sword that had had its blade driven through him and into the ground.

As he landed, Thorn took note of the gray earth pony nearby.

Eclipse was being tended to by a pegasus doctor from Vangar, as well as a basic changeling from Blackreach. He had suffered a major energy drain during his last few rounds with Sovereign Nexus.

Finnis, the one who had actually dealt the killing blow and finished the sovereign off, had vanished soon afterword. Aranna had been less than happy about the news when she realized he had gone missing.

The changeling doctor turned to Thorn, said something to the pegasus and began trotting his way.

She took a breath before speaking. “I used a few spells to double-check, and it seems he’s suffering from extreme magical depletion, something I thought only unicorns and changelings could get. From what I can tell, it’s chaos magic, which would explain his abilities, but still…”

“Hm?” Thorn turned to the doctor, frowning. He had already known about Eclipse’s chaos magic, but he allowed the doctor to explain it anyway. However, she seemed troubled. “Is something the matter?”

“Well, he had more than one font of mana inside him. In fact, he had three. I ran a few tests, and these other two fonts aren’t quite like any magic I’ve ever seen. At least, outside of certain diluted unicorn magic.” The doctor swallowed. “The mana depletion seems to stem from his chaos mana font and one of the two secondary fonts, with the third about halfway depleted, but nothing near what could cause magical depletion.” She cleared her throat, her voice lowering to a whisper. “Permission to speak freely, Captain?”

“You are not a member of the perimeter guard.” Thorn noted. “Why would you need permission?”

The doctor swallowed the lump in her throat. “I checked that two tailed changeling as well. Her name was Witch?”

“Yes.” Thorn confirmed.

“She had a secondary font of mana as well, alongside her changeling magic. It was similar, if not exactly the same as, the third font I mentioned in Eclipse. Sir, this is something I’ve never heard of before. Multiple magical fonts could, in theory, occur naturally, but the varying natures of the fonts make it very unlikely that that is the case. Plus, Eclipse has three fonts, all of different magical wavelengths and all in an earth pony, of all species! It simply isn’t statistically possible.”

Thorn took the information in. He wasn’t too technical on the hows and whys of magic or the innumerable theories surrounding it, but even he understood that the Doctor’s findings were significant.

“Very good, Doctor.” He said, nodding. “Never mention these findings to another soul.”

“W-what!? But, Captain, this could break limits we had never known existed! Eclipse is an Equestrian, so if we could set up a pact to freely exchange knowledge, I could use their findings on magic, coupled with our own knowledge and these new findings, to perform--”

“--Miracles and advances the likes of which have not been seen in millennia.” Thorn finished for her. “I know. I did not say abandon this, Doctor. I may not be your superior, but I still request that you hold off telling any others about this. Not your colleagues, not your loved ones. I will ask Eclipse about this and, failing that, will attempt to confront the Equestrian princesses themselves. When I send word back, all I know will follow, as will permission to actively resume this study.”

“But, Sir!” She said, panicking. “If Eclipse refuses to answer, what makes you think that the princesses, who need I remind you are thousands of years old, will respond to… your… questions?”

Thorn waved away the fact that she began to trail off as she finished, but as he was going to answer he heard a voice from behind.

“Oh, I’m sure he will find a way.”

Turning, Thorn faced a large, white equine, her mane billowing in a non-existent breeze. Several squadrons of golden-clad guards were there as well, but all of them had begun assisting the efforts of several Vangar guards, who were gathering the deceased and injured, as well as waking any living changelings who had been knocked out by Nexus’ defeat.

Celestia walked around the pair of changelings, heading towards Eclipse, who had just dropped a cup of water the pegasus doctor had given him. Just as she was about to scold Eclipse, the pegasus realized who he was looking at and quickly bowed, though she also took the opportunity to begin edging herself away.

“This is the second time in as many assignments that you have caused full-scale warfare, Eclipse.” The princess said, frowning.

Eclipse crossed his forehooves over his chest. “This time, it wasn’t my fault. The armies got together while I was under mind control, so I can’t be blamed.”

Thorn reeled. Eclipse was talking to the most powerful being in several hundred miles, if not the entire world, yet he was acting completely normal. Half-expecting the pony to burst into flames, Thorn almost fell over when he saw Princess Celestia smile.

“Indeed. That would explain the oddities Luna encountered the last time she tried to enter your dreams.”

Eclipse chuckled. He deflated a bit, turning solemn and losing some of his joking demeanor.

“It’s, ah, coming back. Memories of time spent in that hive mind.”

Celestia questioningly raised an eyebrow.

“I wasn’t under Nexus’ control.” Eclipse explained. “There was some sort of other group with plans of their own. Fateweaver was with them.”

“The buffalo from your Appleloosan report?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what’s going on with all of that, Princess, so don’t ask. Anyway, my point is, if I can start to remember my time in that hive mind, what about all of them?” he gestured to the masses of changelings nearby, some of which were buzzing through the air or testing their magical abilities.

“I don’t know.” Celestia answered. “But if these changelings are truly friendly, my sister and I will do all we can to help them. “Oh, and Feather Duster sends a message.”

Eclipse blinked, surprise evident at the thought of his marefriend. “Is something wrong? I didn’t miss a holiday, did I?”

The princess leaned down, eyes narrowing as she grinned conspiratorially. “She said that if you don’t come back, she’ll drag you back out of tartarus and throw you to Cerberus as a chew toy.”

Eclipse visibly paled, his pupils turning into pinpricks.

“Her words, not mine.” Celestia chuckled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me; I need to speak with whomever is in charge. The sooner, the better, so adequate supplies and rations can be spread to the survivors.”

“Wait!”

Celestia, Thorn and Eclipse turned to find a six-legged changeling running towards Thorn at full speed. The ant dug his hooves into the ground, bringing himself to a sliding stop. It was the same changeling Thorn had helped some time earlier.

“I-I remember!” The changeling cried between breaths. “There - There are other hives. They, they probably don’t know what happened, but after Nexus--”

“Calm yourself.” Thorn ordered, raising a hoof. “Speak slowly.”

The changeling nodded, taking a moment to gather his senses. “Nexus had his hivemind split up. I remember where some of the other hives are at. I … “he paused, mouth opening and closing as he searched for the right words. “I remember where they are. But those hives aren’t permanent settlements. They can’t keep changelings alive for long. If -- if we can get to them before they disperse--“

Thorn frowned, already thinking. “Very well.” He turned to the Equestrian Princess. “If you could forgive me for delaying your efforts, I will need to speak with my matriarch. Afterwards, however, you could have your meeting with her and any others you require.”

Celestia smiled. “I would be most thankful.”

Thorn took to the skies, scanning for his matriarch. Celestia followed soon after, leaving Eclipse alone as the remaining few around him dispersed, including the Pegasus and changeling doctors, who were even chatting and comparing medical knowledge.

He sighed, leaning back onto a rock. “Well, that’s one way to end a day.”

An odd squelching sound drew his attention.

Looking up, Eclipse saw that the body of Nexus was laying on the ground and that Finnis’ sword had been removed.

Looking around, Eclipse found no sign of the griffin. Sitting back down, he crossed his forelegs with a huff. “First Fateweaver and now him. Not to mention that changeling. How many more of these people am I going to run into?”

<><><>

Celestia nodded and thanked the changeling matriarch. To be honest, with a title like matriarch, Celestia had expected someone older.

“Eclipse said the same thing, Princess.” Matriarch Nightwhisper chuckled, smiling kindly.

Celestia nodded. “He has a tendency to speak his mind. I can recall the names of several Canterlot nobles who have him on a sort of blacklist. Needless to say, I usually drag him out of his room when there is a party at the palace for that very reason.”

Nightwhisper nodded. “Should Thorn decide to go with you, please treat him well. He’s been a loyal guard for years to my hive, and a personal friend.”

“It will be as if he is among family.” Celestia promised, turning to leave the scene.

Outside, Thorn and a griffin Celestia had learned was named Aranna were arguing with an armored Pegasus. Eclipse was standing nearby.

Cyclone had inadvertently wound up as the leader for Vangar when Finnis had fled and Aranna showed no signs of taking the reins. He was less than pleased about it.

“What is going on here?” Celestia asked, leaning down to whisper in Eclipse’s ear.

“Politics.”

“Ah.”

The two watched the trio hash it out, Aranna and Thorn arguing that the griffin had a right to refuse leadership and Cyclone arguing that Vangar needed someone to take command. Half of his argument was filled with reasons as to why he couldn’t do it himself. Eclipse thought the pegasus simply didn’t like the idea of being the one to negotiate with the Princess, though he wouldn’t admit how intimidated he was.

Whatever the case, they at least kept it civil. At least, no biting was involved.

It took several minutes, but Cyclone eventually conceded the point, turning to find Celestia already waiting. Turning to give one last look at Eclipse, and point a hoof skyward, the princess turned to leave and negotiate with the pegasus guard. Celestia had begun with the hope of opening Vangar as a more open and less isolated neighbor, mostly for trade. After Matriarch Nightwhisper broached the idea of her hive becoming a protectorate of Equestria, even to the point of being bound by the nation's laws -- a deal so in Equestria's favor that Celestia had almost thought it was a joke -- she had slightly higher hopes than when she had come to aid the town.

Turning his gaze to where Celestia had pointed, Eclipse was surprised to find that a dusty brown Pegasus attached to a combination chariot and hot-air balloon -- the old one had been thrown away. This new one was one whole piece, rather than being held together by spit and happy thoughts -- flying nearby.

“Howdy!” Dust Demon said, touching down a few yards away from Eclipse.

Eclipse gestured to the vehicle Dust Demon was pulling. “What the hell is this?” He asked, shocked.

“Pretty, ain’t she? The Princesses gave it to us. Said we’d be working together for the next assignment, some time from now.” The pegasus nodded to Thorn and Aranna. “They’d be coming too, along with Sagebrush.” Dust Demon grinned. “Guess we’ve got some downtime till then, right?”

Eclipse scratched one of his ears, watching as Thorn and Aranna took in the odd vehicle that was the successor to the pile of (s)crap he and several others had used in Appleloosa.

“I find it very fortunate to have been born with wings.” Thorn muttered dryly.

Aranna tugged at her breastplate like one would an uncomfortable shirt. Clearly, she had similar thoughts.

Dust Demon pawed the ground with a forehoof. “Heh. Don’t be too scared, now. You did get picked up by the most outright crazy stallion I’ve ever seen.”

“Excuse me?” Eclipse shot back. “I’m more mentally stable than you!”

“He’s also a big, fat liar.” Dust Demon grinned, punching Eclipse in the shoulder. “Anyway, you heard bout the big event?”

“What event?” Eclipse asked, genuinely at a loss as to what Dust Demon was referring to.

“The coronation!” Dust Demon excitedly said. “I understand that you’ve been kinda busy,” He looked around at the battlefield around him, still being cleaned up. “,but a unicorn called Twilight Sparkle just earned herself a pair of wings.” The pegasus flapped his wings, emphasizing his statement. “Before our next big mission, the princesses’ll want us to attend the ceremony. Heck, maybe we’ll get to meet the new Princess, too!”

Eclipse opened his mouth to speak, but closed it immediately after. After thinking it over for several seconds, he raised a hoof and began again. “I need to talk with Discord. He has internet access.”

Eclipse jumped into the chariot-balloon Dust Demon was still harnessed to. “When do we leave?”

Dust Demon frowned. “Whenever you’re ready, I guess.” He turned back to Aranna and Thorn. “What in tarnation is an internet?”

“I believe it to be some sort of series of tubes.”

Aranna simply shrugged, going along with Thorn's answer for lack of a better one.

The current record is 12 times, done by Britney Gallivan.

Eclipse stared at the slip of paper he was holding, jaw hanging open and eyes wide with disbelief. The paper contained information pertaining to his recently discovered checking account. In the background of the bank, several ponies were respectfully giving him and the two next to him a wide berth, mostly due to Princes Luna being one of Eclipse’s two companions.

Across the help desk, the mare who had been assisting the group access the account was taking advantage of the lapse in activity to reorganize her workspace and swallow a lump that had been forming in her throat from having a large alicorn staring her down.

In reality, Luna had paid the mare little mind, but still. Royalty sitting within a few feet of you on an otherwise normal day was a surefire way to cause stress to go through the roof.

Luna raised an eyebrow. “I grant that even military pay stacks up over a period of months without a drain from the account, but even that does not explain the state you are in.”

Still in his pegasus disguise, Thorn -- who had been inadvertently dragged along to the bank when Luna and Eclipse had barreled into him while trying to find the palace exit -- stretched his wings and eyed the paper. “Perhaps you should imagine this from his point of view, Princess. How much money did he have before today?”

The princess scoffed, still wrapping her head around the fact that Eclipse had no idea he was being paid. “He believed he had none.”

Thorn chuckled. “And now?”

Nodding, Luna managed to work out that completely missing information like this was exactly how Eclipse’s mind worked. But no doubt that he knew how many times you could fold the average piece of paper before it would not fold anymore. “Considering that absolutely broke wouldn’t have done his situation justice, it does seem like this development is actually rather tame compared to what could have been.”

The two glanced at Eclipse, who was still frozen in place.

Thorn waved a hoof in front of the pony’s face. “He does seem to be completely broken, as if his mind snapped. Has this happened before?”

Luna rubbed her chin with a hoof.

<><><>

“Why do I have to go? These ‘parties’ are boring!”

“You’ll go because you won’t go to a nightclub either!” Celestia chastised as Luna watched, using Eclipse’s lack of social engagement against him.

Eclipse rolled his eyes. “Oh, great. I need to choose between hot and stuffy clubs filled with sweat, drugs and drunks where absolutely no one will leave me the hell alone, or primpy, equally stuffy snoozefests with a bunch of snobby nobles that’ll almost surely cause my brain to completely deactivate. Fantastic.” He huffed, tugging at his cloak where it was fastened together. “I really need to get into drinking cider or something, that way I can make you happy by going out and still be left alone by being that mysterious guy in the corner you see in every other bar.”

Celestia chuckled. “Oh, come now, Eclipse. It won’t be that bad.”

Five minutes later, all three of them were in a chariot heading back to the royal palace. Eclipse’s eyes were completely blue, with white lines of letters and numbers running across them every so often.

Luna was doubled over laughing while Celestia was doing her best to make the comatose Eclipse comfortable, not that it mattered much.

“If only I had known that Blueblood was going to make the opening speech.” Celestia moaned. “Eclipse, I am so sorry for this.”

<><><>

“I’m sure he will be fine.” Luna said, waving Thorn’s comment away.

“This coming from the mare who did nothing but laugh when my mind melted at that party.” Eclipse muttered, forelegs crossed over his chest.

“Eclipse!” Luna jumped, having not realized that he had come to. “You’re back!” Looking around, she realized that she, Thorn and Eclipse had moved towards the bank’s waiting area, giving the next group in line the chance to work with the mare that was still having trouble breathing after being so close to a princess.

“Yeah, for a while now, actually.”

Thorn nodded a confirmation. “You were lost in thought for almost seven minutes.”

Luna’s head dropped slightly, letting her mane fall over her eyes as she laughed nervously.

“Okay…” Eclipse turned to Thorn. “So as I was saying, possible name changes, go!”

“Dragoon?”

Eclipse stuck his tongue out. “Too military.”

“Nova? Burst? Some combination thereof?”

“Too likely to be mistaken for a fighter.”

“You are a fighter.” Thorn muttered.

“So?”

“Horizon?”

Eclipse mulled it over. “Eh. I’ll put it under ‘maybe.’ Just as along as it seems slightly more original than ‘Eclipse.’”

This time, Luna stepped in. “You named yourself after a solar phenomenon that’s not even possible in Equestria unless control of the sun and moon is taken from my sister and I. That seems original enough.”

Eclipse waved his hoof. “No, no. It’s not anyone in Equestria that I’m… you know what, forget it. We’ll come back to this later.”

The trio left the back, Eclipse still holding the paper with his account information on it.

Thorn gave Eclipse a sideways look. “What is wrong with your name?”

“I had all of three seconds to come up with it. I could do much better if I actually tried.”

“Oh?” Thorn said, smirking. “In a world filed with countless inhabitants and countless names, you think you can come up with something not already taken?”

“Shut up, Thorn.”

As the trio meandered along the street back to the palace, Luna had a thought enter her head. “Eclipse, with your powers, could you not simply will your desires into being? You could still have almost anything you want, within reason.” She stopped, considering how far chaos magic could bend the rules, provided it didn’t outright break them. “Or even not. That’s where you got your astronomical clock from.”

Thorn frowned. “Why do you have an astronomical clock?”

“It’s more the principle of the matter.” Eclipse said, answering Luna first. “With actual money, I can actually be greedy by refusing to give for a reason other than ‘no cash.’ Or I could actually be generous. Or I could actually buy something.”

“You could ‘actually’ do all of that by spawning a pile of bits whenever you needed it.” Luna replied.

“Yeah, but then I feel like I used a hack or something.” Eclipse frowned. “It gives me this weird ‘you should feel bad’ sensation and makes me hate seafood. And I have an astronomical clock because it looks badass. Makes my room feel all sciency.”

Eclipse dug his hooves into the ground, coming to an abrupt halt. Thorn ran into him shortly afterward.

“How many times will you have us collide before the day is over?” Thorn asked, scowling at his companion.

“Science… Oh, crap.”

Luna shared a glance with Thorn. “What’s wrong?”

Patting his head to make sure he wasn’t wrong, Eclipse turned and grabbed Thorn. “Those glasses I was wearing. When we first met. Where are they?”

Thorn blinked. “You lost them sometime between your capture by Nexus hive and your return. I see no great loss. They were hideous, anyway.”

Eclipse fell to his haunches. “Those scientists are going to kill me.”

Thorn frowned, not understanding, but Luna quickly clarified. “They were an experimental HUD unit. Eclipse was supposed to be giving them a live test. Instead, it seems he, ah, ‘misplaced’ them.”

Luna nudged Eclipse a smile curling her lips upward. “Come now, we don’t have time to waste. Twilight is being brought to Canterlot as we speak. Tomorrow, there will be a celebration, complete with parade. More than that, it shall all be concluded with a display of the new Princess taking to the skies and soaring, before a grand night of drinking and feasting at the palace.” Stopping, Luna blushed as she continued. “There's but one, small detail my sister and I were hoping you could help with.”

Eclipse chuckled. “I’d think that it was the fact that just getting wings would be a problem for the ‘taking to the skies and soaring’ bit, but if that was it you’d probably just get one of your guards or, honestly, anyone who was a pegasus to help her.”

“Actually, you were spot on.” Luna confessed, happy that he had caught on quickly.

“Hubaduhwah?” Eclipse sputtered.

Thorn cocked his head to the side. “Forgive me, but that makes absolutely no sense, Princess.”

“Which is why we came to him.” Luna said, nodding towards Eclipse. Before either of the other two could further object Luna silenced them with a raised hoof. “There is nowhere near enough time for Twilight to learn flight before tomorrow, normal magic is too detectable, and being carried is not an option. Whenever Eclipse uses his magic, there is the glow around his eyes and the effect of the magic itself. Nothing more. We need him to magically carry her through her flight.”

“Why not get Discord to do it?” It took little more than Luna’s stare for him to realize how utterly stupid that would be. Hilarious, but stupid. “Okay, fine, but why not just have, oh, I don’t know, a normal party? You know, balloons, streamers, possibly thrown by she made up of bubblegum and cotton candy? That seems fairly obvious.”

Thorn snorted. “This is a coronation. If any stops are left unpulled, the press would take to it like a swarm of rabid piranha to a bloody carcass. I can see why the princesses are concerned.”

Eclipse was quick to give Thorn a death glare. “Pain lies in your future.”

Luna nodded. “Besides. Pinkie Pie is an honored guest. She will not have any participation in the coronation proper, unless she wishes to liven up the party at the palace.”

Eclipse sighed in defeat. “Okay, fine. Just sit on the sidelines and make her float. I can do that. Maybe.”

“Excellent!” Luna declared, frightening some of the surrounding ponies. One poor stallion choked on his drink. “My sister will be most pleased upon her return later today. Once Twilight is in Canterlot, we’ll go over the specifics with her and--“

“Hold on, I don’t need to meet Twilight, do I?”

Thorn let out a short chirrup which could only have been some changeling expression of shock. “Do you honestly expect her to trust someone enough to let them float her through the air without at least meeting them first? Frankly, I wouldn't let you do that to me, and we’ve fought together.”

Luna sighed. “Honestly, you must get over this phobia of meeting Twilight and her friends. It is completely ridiculous, and not in the way that can be waved away with a simple declaration of chaos magic.”

"I have a very valid reason to fear meeting them!" Eclipse said, defensively.

“Such as?”

Eclipse froze, clearly not expecting such a thorough questioning.

Thorn sighed, an exasperated look on his face. “Truly, he is a wealth of logic and forethought.” He muttered.

Luna picked up the sarcasm, but forwent laughing to quickly bite Eclipse’s tail and begin dragging him towards the palace.

“Youff wiff mmph Twilimph.” She said with a determined look on her face.

“What?” Eclipse asked, not understanding.

“She said ‘You will meet Twilight.’” Thorn answered. He was very fluent in the languages of mouthful, gagged and mumbling.

Eclipse snarled. “Not a chance.” With this, he twisted his body, attempting to reach around and pull his tail from Luna’s mouth. Luna’s left hoof came up and sent him spinning. Luna released his tail and brought her hoof back down, slamming Eclipse into the ground and cracking the pavement.

The lunar princess leaned down. “You will meet Twilight and this will be the end of it. Be glad I did not mistake your attempt at pulling your tail free as you trying to punch me in the jaw.”

“Yes, princess.” Eclipse responded, though it was through a daze and a flock of small birds. His eyes were rolling around randomly and a grin adorned his face.

Thorn raised his eyebrows, but showed no other signs of shock or surprise. “Very impressive.”

Existential angst is good for the soul! But it's not going to stay for long, right?

Sagebrush sat outside the front gate of the palace, sitting on a bench. He hadn’t taken off any of his plate armor, but wasn’t very affected by how uncomfortable it would be for almost anyone else.

In front of him lay a book, the pages crisp and--

“Sagebrush!”

Covered in dirt, apparently.

The pony looked up at his new guest, responsible for knocking his book to the ground and placing a dent in the otherwise pristine bench. Eyes wide, breathing ragged and mane disheveled, Eclipse was finally coming into his role as a chaos mage.

“What’ve you gone and done, now?” Sagebrush said, chuckling lightly.

“Luna, meeting, forced, hide, creeper, graaagh!” Eclipse was bouncing slightly, obviously in a rush.

Sagebrush sighed. “Did you try talking in complete sentences? Sometimes, that helps problems go away.”

Stopping his bouncing motion and spreading out his hooves so as to have a better balance, Eclipse started again. “Luna is gonna make me meet someone, but I don’t want to have a meeting with them, but I’m not getting a choice because Luna forced me to agree so I’m gonna try to hide because if I meet the person I’ll let something slip because I’m a big fan and know a lot about them and I don’t wanna seem like a creeper and that last thing I said was a long groan of desperation and other emotions and I don’t think I can recreate it for another few minutes.” After he was finished, Eclipse took a massive breath.

Sagebrush blinked. “You’re asking me to help you hide?”

Eclipse nodded.

Another blink. Sagebrush mulled the thought over. “Hmph. Fine. Follow me.”

Eclipse gawked in disbelief. “I was not expecting that.”

Sagebrush grinned. “Under a few conditions.”

“Damnit.” Eclipse scowled to himself, hopes dashed.

The armored pony sat up, grabbing the saddlebags that were near the bench and used his mouth to grab the massive hammer that was his weapon. “Come on. I’ll explain while we get to the training area.” He spoke clearly, despite the wooden handle in his mouth.

“Training area?” Eclipse asked, following Sagebrush.

“The guard barracks is right under the royal sister’s noses.” Sagebrush responded. “Plus, I think you’ve been misunderstanding my role as a berserk gaurdspony since I brought it up in Appleloosa.”

Eclipse chuckled. “What, seriously? Dude, it’s in the name. You fly into a frothing-at-the-mouth rage and inflict lots of damage. That’s literally what berserk means.” He frowned to himself, still keeping pace with Sagebrush. “Though I have to admit, it kind of came out of nowhere. Seriously, just randomly popped up didn’t it?”

Sagebrush didn’t comment.

“You don’t seem the type, honestly. You know, being all smart and well-read and everything. Plus, why haven’t I heard of any other berserker guards before? …You’re ignoring me aren’t you?”

Still not receiving a response, Eclipse rolled his eyes.

After a few minutes, Eclipse broke the silence again. “I’d like to know. It came completely out of left field. I get it, you know. My entire skill set can be defined as ‘deus ex machina,’ but it still kinda puts me off when other people do it.”

There was still no response from the armored stallion. Eclipse sighed.

Soon, the pair came to the guard barracks, near the royal palace. Sagebrush led Eclipse through it, nodding at several off duty guards along the way, most of whom waved or said a greeting in return.

“You hang out here?” Eclipse asked, hoping to get an answer this time.

“Lived here for a week or so, with Cactus Star.” Sagebrush said, smiling at the thought of his daughter. “Celestia got us a small house in west Canterlot a little later. Said it had a good school nearby.”

“Huzzah! The silence has been broken!” Eclipse cheered.

Sagebrush chuckled, walking for a few more yards then turning to go out a door. Eclipse followed, coming out into a rectangular area of dirt and a few sparse patches of grass. Several dummies were set off to the side and a trio of off duty guards were passing the time throwing spears at a target, with a few bits being exchanged every few tosses.

Sagebrush had Eclipse wait while he left, returning about a minute later a second warhammer like his own. He tossed the second hammer to Eclipse, the weapon landing at the gray pony’s hooves.

“First, berserker guards do not ‘fly into a frothing-at-the-mouth rage.’ It’s much more complex.” Sagebrush narrowed his eyes. “Though that’s not the only thing.”

“What do you mean?” Eclipse asked.

“Not wanting to come off as a creeper?” Sagebrush laughed. “I’ve seen you rattle off details about ponies even the press doesn’t know without even giving a single thought as to how it makes you look. Fancypants will never be the same. What’s so special about this meeting?”

Eclipse scuffed the ground with a hoof. “Oh, come on. It’s not a big deal. Everyone has their thing, okay?” he said, trying to dodge the question.

Sagebrush snorted. “Pick up the hammer.”

Eclipse’s ears fell back, a frown edging onto his face. “Excuse me?”

“We’re in a training ground. We’re going to train.” Sagebrush took a step forward. “No magic, no tricks, no chaos. You’re going to learn to fight like a berserker.”

“Eh?” Eclipse didn’t really know how to respond.

“Pick up the hammer.” Sagebrush repeated. “Unless you want me to fetch the princesses and bring them here.”

Eclipse reached down with his mouth and grabbed the hammer. He wasn’t really used to picking things up with his mouth. Chaos magic could levitate things just as well as any unicorn magic. Plus, the handle tasted like wood and the hammer was really, really heavy. His neck was already started to rebel against him.

“Greath. Now whath?” Eclipse asked.

Sagebrush trotted over and wiggled the hammer in Eclipse’s mouth. “Try now.”

Not really feeling any difference, Eclipse rolled his tongue around a bit and tried again. “Now what? Holy-- I can speak normally!?”

“Just go with it.” Sagebrush said, returning to his position several yards away from Eclipse. “Swing it a few times. Get used to the weight.”

Eclipse slowly turned his head to the left. He almost got to the point where the hammer touched his side. Deciding that was more than far enough, he tried to swing to the right with all his might. The hammer swung just fine, but when Eclipse tried to stop the swing, he was dragged along by the hammer and ended up sprawled on the ground, the hammer lying a foot away from him.

The trio of guards that had been throwing spears shared a laugh at Eclipse’s fall. They were idly watching the display and had even moved their target out of the way so Sagebrush and Eclipse had plenty of room.

“Eclipse, this isn’t a sword, it’s a hammer.” Sagebrush said, chuckling. “You can’t just stop it. When you swing like that, it just keep going. Turn in a circle and try to slow to a stop or just push yourself into a second swing.”

“Heh. Just go with it, huh?” Eclipse said, laughing at himself.

“Exactly. Most wouldn’t believe this, but fighting with a weapon as heavy as this requires either a minotuar’s strength or a hell of a lot of agility and just enough power to lift it.” Sagebrush nodded. “I figured your go with the flow attitude would be a good compliment, as that’s half of what fighting with a hammer is when you’re as small as a pony.”

Eclipse dusted himself off and grabbed the hammer again. This time, he swung and spun in a full circle, going directly into another swing at his imagined target before slowing to a stop.

“Good.” Sagebrush said. “Now, things get fun.” He clenched his jaw, spreading his legs out for better balance.

“Whoa, whoa! I can’t fight you yet! Not without magic.” Eclipse said, backing up a few paces.

“Relax, it’s training.” Sagebrush smiled, easing Eclipse’s worry a bit. “Now, the thing about berserking is that going off the handle is exactly what you don’t want to do.”

“What?” Eclipse asked, widening his own stance to match Sagebrush. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Then you should understand perfectly.”

Eclipse gave Sagebrush a disbelieving stare.

The armored pony laughed. “Losing your head gets it chopped off. Being a berserker of old, now those were the days of mindless rage. But the berserker guards were different, back before they were disbanded thanks to a lack of major threats to the world.”

Eclipse straightened, ears directed forward as his attention was piqued by this new information.

“We need to get angry, yes.” Sagebrush nodded. “It gives us the extra strength we need in a fight. But we need to be collected. A calm fury, if you will. To do this, it takes a very difficult mental trick. You need to take your enemy and identify them with everything that makes you angry. Bullies, insults, long lines, whatever it takes. They become the source of everything you despise.”

Eclipse tried, but didn’t understand how such a feat could be accomplished. “You can’t just draw connections where none exist.” He thought to himself.

“If it helps, pretend to be a conspiracy theorist.”

“Oh. Well, there you go.” Eclipse muttered.

“But remember: Don’t let yourself lose control. It’s a little abstract, I know, but if you can do it right--” Sagebrush rushed forward.

Eclipse stepped to the side, but Sagebrush swung his hammer low and swept Eclipse’s hooves out from under him. Eclipse lost his grip on his weapon as he slammed face first into the dirt.

Now he didn’t need a mental trick to get angry. Eclipse quickly got up and grabbed his hammer again, rushing Sagebrush and swinging in a wide arc. Sagebrush ducked, letting Eclipse’s swing fly overhead. Since he was still running, Eclipse’s path was altered by the hammer’s weight and he found himself about to run into a wall with no chance to turn in time. Slamming the hammer into the ground, Eclipse used it as an anchor and quickly slid to a stop, hitting the wall but at a much lower speed than he could have been going.

Sagebrush nodded. “You found a way out of some serious hurt. Good work.”

Eclipse grumbled something incoherent and rubbed the pain out of his jaw, but Sagebrush seemed unfazed.

“Focus now. Keep calm, but keep me in your sights.” He widened his stance again. “I’m everything you’ve ever hated. I am everything that has caused you pain.” He lowered his head and pawed the ground menacingly.

Eclipse and Sagebrush both rushed forward, swinging their hammers as they were just about to pas each other. The weapons collided with each other, sending both ponies spinning. Sagebrush adjusted almost immediately, but Eclipse was still out of control.

“Stop fighting! Put energy into the swing and not against it!”

Eclipse managed to stop himself, shaking some of the dizziness out of his head afterwards.

“Why are we doing this, anyway?” Eclipse asked.

Sagebrush snorted. “What’s the real reason you want to avoid this pony so badly?”

Eclipse took a few breaths, gritting his teeth in annoyance. “I just don’t like meeting my heroes, alright?”

Eclipse charged, ducking his head in an attempt to bull rush Sagebrush. Sagebrush charged as well, but he planted the head of his hammer into the ground and jumped, flying over Eclipse as the latter stared in shock. Eclipse forgot to look where he was going and ended up running into one of the guards’ training dummies.

The trio of guards watching the ‘training’ started laughing again, drawing the attention of another pair of guards from inside the barracks.

“Come on Eclipse.” Sagebrush goaded. “You can’t run from this forever.”

“I didn’t even know I was running at all!” Eclipse responded, getting back to his hooves and grabbing the hammer again. “Why are you suddenly so interested, anyway?”

“Everyone’s got demons. Even the happiest of us.” Sagebrush’s eyes darkened. “Especially the happiest of us.”

Eclipse grunted.

“Remember,” Sagebrush said. “Agility. Even without chaos magic, you’re fairly fast and flexible. Your hammer isn’t your only weapon.”

Eclipse lowered his head, charging again. Sagebrush repeated his earlier maneuver, using his hammer to help him jump over Eclipse. However, Eclipse twisted his neck and swung the hammer over his head.

Sagebrush felt the wind get knocked out of him, but managed to land back hooves first, followed by his front hooves. Eclipse came around quickly, swinging high.

Rather than ducking, which Eclipse had expected, Sagebrush jumped back and let Eclipse’s swing continue. Having little choice, Eclipse tried to go full circle, but was still heading forward and found himself well within reach of Sagebrush’s attacks. Sagebrush swept Eclipse’s two left legs out from under him with a good hammer swing before he could counter.

Since his right legs were still usable, Eclipse pivoted on his forward leg, using his rear to plant one good kick on Sagebrush’s head before regaining his left side’s footing and jumping away several feet. Sagebrush’s helmet was sent flying, leaving him one armor piece short of a full set.

Laughing, Sagebrush gestured Eclipse to attack again. “Just like that! Keep a calm fury. We all have plenty of strength, but we have subconscious blocks to keep us from using it. Anger helps weaken those blocks.”

Eclipse regained his composure, as did Sagebrush. “What do you mean, mental blocks?”

“Our muscles are much stronger than we suspect.” Sagebrush responded, stretching and popping his neck. “But our bones can’t handle lifting hundreds of pounds over our heads or punching through brick walls. It’s an evolutionary thing.”

Eclipse swallowed, mouth starting to dry out from being kept open thanks to the warhammer he was holding. He took a deep breath to steady himself and prepared to keep fighting.

Seeing Eclipse stopping to gather himself, Sagebrush took the initiative and charged.

He swung his hammer a few times, but Eclipse readily dodged or fell back, out of reach. Huffing, Sagebrush narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out Eclipse’s strategy. If nothing else, he could try to distract his trainee.

“Come on, Eclipse. So you don’t want to meet a certain someone. You’ve got to have a valid reason.” Sagebrush adopted a defensive stance, in the event he got Eclipse as worked up as he was hoping. “You said you don’t like meeting your heroes. Most of the time, ponies say that because their heroes turn out more like a person and less like the figure they envision atop a pedestal. But if you already know so much about this person that you think you’ll come off as a creeper, then you idolizing them surely can’t be it.”

Eclipse gritted his teeth. “Oh, come on! Sure, I idolize her. She’s smart, powerful, even a goddamned actual hero. What’s not to idolize?”

“So you don’t see her with faults at all?” Sagebrush asked, head down.

“Well, she’s got a thing with over organizing and panicking…” Eclipse shook his head to clear his thoughts. He charged again, running in an arc to attack Sagebrush from the side.

Sagebrush was able to quickly change his footing and defend, blocking the attack with ease. “Well, you certainly would come off as a creeper. Maybe that was a good reason, after all.” He grinned. “I don’t suppose Feather Duster has competition?”

“Oh, come on!” Eclipse sighed, exasperated. “I told you the story. The princesses told you the story. You know what I am, where I come from. It was a show for crying out loud! I didn’t think I’d actually end up in the middle of it.”

“Well, more off to the side, really.” Sagebrush chuckled.

The two traded a few more blows while they were still next to each other, before jumping away to put some space between them.

“Is it really so similar?” Sagebrush asked.

Eclipse ignored the question, charging and swinging the hammer in his mouth. Sagebrush jumped back, but Eclipse kept his forward momentum, rotated on his front hooves and smacked Sagebrush with his tail. The attack didn’t do any actual damage, but confused and flustered Sagebrush enough to let Eclipse swing his hammer low and swipe Sagebrush’s front hooves out from under him.

Sagebrush caught himself before hitting the ground and dashed forward while pushing himself up, causing his forehead to smack into Eclipse’s jaw.

Eclipse staggered back, all his teeth still in his mouth but with the metallic taste of blood trickling in.

Sagebrush grinned. “You’re panicking a little. Can’t say I expected that from you. Fear is even better at removing those mental blocks than anger, but it’s harder to control yourself when running on fear. I suppose any emotion connected with adrenaline would do the trick, but anger and fear are at the top.”

Eclipse’s jaw tightened around the handle of his weapon. “I think this is the most I’ve ever heard you talk.”

“You finally got me to talk about something I find interesting.” Sagebrush grinned past his weapon. “But you ignored my last question.”

“What?”

“Is this Equestria and the one you saw then really that alike?”

“Well…” Eclipse began. “It… I mean, the texture is way up, I guess. Everyone’s… fluffier, I suppose? Seeing individual hairs in everyone’s coat took a bit to get used to. The princesses don’t sound quite the same, but it’s pretty darn close.” Eclipse shook his head. “Why’s it matter anyway? Will you just explain why you keep pushing this?”

Sagebrush nodded. “Seeing something through a glass screen and then taking that screen away can show two very different things. Listening to a recording of something can be very different from the real thing.”

“But it’s still so close!” Eclipse said, scowling. “It’s so damned close that sometimes I almost feel like I’m just watching it through that screen again. It feels like… like…”

“Like you’re home?” Sagebrush said, putting down his hammer and gesturing at the group of guards that had been watching to leave.

Eclipse dropped his hammer, leaned his head back and screamed at the sky. He laid down when he was finished. “Why is this happening?”

“Because you’re homesick?” Sagebrush suggested.

Eclipse shook his head. “No! I mean, why is this happening now? I already went through an existential crisis. I relearned how to walk, (granted, that took all of three hours, as walking on all fours is surprisingly easy) I learned that I had magic, I already had to deal with the fact that I’m in Equestria! Talking to the princesses took forever to get used to. Why am I suddenly having this breakdown? I arrived in Canterlot earlier today. Today! This is the second time this has come up and slapped me in the face, today. I’ve been in Equestria for over half a year now, why is this only now happening!?”

“No idea.” Sagebrush conceded. “But you can’t let this stop you from talking to someone, regardless of who they are. I think you’re too stubborn for that.”

“Damn straight.” Eclipse muttered. He sighed and climbed to his hooves. “Fine. I’ll meet Twilight and get past this… whatever it is.”

“Too late.” Sagebrush grinned, pointing at an empty section of the training area.

The air shimmered for a bit, until the illusion faded and the royal sisters stood there, side by side. Around them were six very, very familiar looking mares.

Eclipse cast a glance at Sagebrush, then back at the group that he had inadvertently spilled his heart to.

Eyes glowing red, Eclipse punched Sagebrush through a wall of the barracks. “I’ll will murder you for this, you bastard!”

Sagebrush quickly climbed through the hole, armor barely even scratched and a spear in his hooves. “Come taste the wrath of a berserker!”

As the brawl began (and the surrounding area became a disaster zone) Princess Celestia sighed happily, sparing a glance at each of the six shocked mares in turn. “This was a good plan, don’t you agree, sister?”

Luna remained silent, stoically watching as Eclipse tried to drop a small mountain on Sagebrush as the latter hammered his way through everything Eclipse sent at him.

Celestia kept her knowing grin to herself, as the guests with them were the only things keeping Luna from cheering the two on.

Little details come around

Eclipse hiccupped mid-drink, spilling a small amount of cider on the table.

“Urg. Damn it. I think I’ve had a bit too mush.” He slurred out, the gray fur on his cheeks having turned red some time ago.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Hah! What a lightweight! Only three ciders in and he’s already going to forget all about this in the morning.”

Feather Duster slid Eclipse’s glass away before he could refill it, ignoring his own comment in favor of making Rainbow Dash’s prediction come true. “This is the first time I’ve seen him touch anything with alcohol in it.” She said while fending off Eclipse’s attempts to claim his cirrhosis. “I’m actually more surprised it took him this long.”

Rarity’s faux smile gained a genuine edge when she heard that bit of information. Until that point, most of Eclipse’s personality -- especially his disdain for etiquette, which had actually made Rainbow Dash and Applejack warm up to him much more quickly -- had been consistent with everything she did not aspire to be. “Well, every pony has a good side. In the right light, that is.” She expertly avoided the side glance Eclipse gave her while trying to liberate his glass from Feather Duster. Drunk or not, he knew when he had been slighted in some manner.

With a bat of her eyes, Rarity continued speaking. “I must admit, I’m curious: what about him makes you stay in your relationship? Forgive me for sounding rude, but Eclipse doesn’t seem to be the most… romantically inclined.”

“Oh, Eclipse can be a sweetheart when he tries, honest.” Feather Duster responded, scooting Eclipse’s mug further away as the stallion strained to reach past her. By now, he was half lying on the table and his head was even with her torso, but she still kept his mug out of his reach. “He’s just not very good at trying.”

“S’not my fault.” Eclipse said, his face flushed with a mix of alcohol and effort. “The restaurant was top notchsh. Shtupid robot sky pirates.”

Rainbow leaned in, ‘robot sky pirates’ having caught her attention.

Rarity chuckled. “I take it something went wrong? Perhaps something a bit more realistic, though?”

“Oh, no. He remembers it perfectly.” Feather Duster said as Eclipse returned to his seat, brooding. “We call it date zero, though it was technically our first. Some crazy unicorn made robots and airships and went on a crime spree. Instead of a bank, he picked a restaurant. Three guesses as to which one.”

“Le Restaurant de Fantaisie?” Rarity guessed. “A wonderful choice for first dates, I hear.”

Eclipse burst out laughing. Feather Duster snickered as well. “That place over on the northwest side of Canterlot? By that big hotel? No way!” She said, waving a hoof. “Something Eclipse and I share is a hate for places like that. I’d go crazy in minutes, though he’d probably only last a few seconds. It was actually that small diner down on Quagga Avenue. The one by the ice cream shop with thirty-seven flavors.”

“You mean the Sesame Foyer?” Rainbow said, almost jumping out of her seat. “And Deluxe Cones? I love those places!”

“You would.” Rarity mumbled, disappointment visible on her features.

Feather Duster glanced up to see Eclipse’s mug slowly drifting through the air to its owner, though it froze when Eclipse realized she had seen it. It slowly drifted back to where she had placed it, while Eclipse tried to put on the most innocent looking smile he could.

The sound of quill on paper signaled the return of Twilight’s note-taking. The newly minted princess had been devoutly studying every example of Eclipse using his magic that she could, ever since she had been introduced to the stallion. In fact, if it weren’t for her, he’d probably only be halfway through his first glass of cider.

Eclipse looked around, hoping to find something to use as a distraction to get away from the group he was with -- or just Twilight, really -- or a new mug, seeing as his other one was out of reach.

There wasn’t much, to be honest.

The ‘party’ was of the noble sort, taking place in the royal palace just a scant few hours after Twilight’s coronation. The sun was starting to set outside, and Fluttershy had quickly left the room in an attempt to tread the castle’s gardens.

As mean-spirited as it may seem, Eclipse was praying she wasn’t having much luck with the animals. Nothing against her, it was just the only other groups in the building that were worth hanging out with were nowhere to be seen.

Celestia had made the absolutely brilliant decision to try to introduce Thorn to Shining Armor and Cadance. It was quiet now, but there had been several flashes of light, loud booms and at least one scream so incredibly feminine that Eclipse didn’t have the heart to tell Twilight that it had probably belonged to her brother.

Elsewhere, Aranna was getting to know Dust Demon and Sagebrush, as well as Sagebrush’s daughter, Cactus Star. Last Eclipse knew, Applejack and Pinkie Pie had gone with them. It was a wonder that Rainbow had stuck around with Eclipse, Rarity, Feather Duster and Twilight, rather than going with the previous group. Eclipse was only here because he had hoped to drown his senses, seeing as how Twilight would have probably followed him wherever he went.

At least Discord wasn’t around to make it worse.

Celestia had hired Eclipse to get rid of the draconequiis just before the coronation. It had been accomplished by showing the god of chaos a double pendulum, and the wonderfully chaotic movements it made. After that, Eclipse showed Discord an equation that explained the movements of the double pendulum using math. The chaos of the device’s movement being explained in a logical manner had sent Discord into an existential crisis, and he left to take an “incredibly long shower.”

Eclipse giggled at the memory, drawing a few glances from the mares around him.

Princess Luna was… somewhere. Eclipse honestly had no clue where she went, other than that she, Celestia and a royal guard had whispered with each other for a few minutes before she disappeared. This was immediately before Celestia had taken Thorn to be introduced, and Luna had disappeared not long after that. As for the guard…

Eclipse looked around at the guards in the area. Sometimes they would shift positions or switch to another room, but they were indistinguishable from each other. Eclipse couldn’t even remember if the guard that had spoken to the princesses had been gray or white, not that that would have made it any easier to find him.

The only other character of any import in the area was Spike, but Eclipse doubted that he’d be of any assistance, especially seeing as he was --

“Right here, Twilight!” The small, purple dragon announced, dropping off another stack of parchment, quills and ink. Twilight took very detailed notes.

So he clearly wasn’t going to be helpful to Eclipse.

Casting one more forlorn gaze about the room as Rarity and Rainbow Dash began arguing over which restaurants were best (even though the Equestrian House of Pancakes was clearly number one, as Feather Duster was repeatedly voicing) Eclipse was beginning to consider just knocking himself unconscious when a loud bang echoed through the room, causing a hush to fall over the crowd.

“What in the hay was that?” Rainbow asked.

Before Rarity reprimanded her friend for language, another bang cut her off.

“Oh, dear.” Rarity said, nervousness in her voice. “Rainbow, you don’t think it could be…”

Bang.

“No way!” Rainbow declared. “She’d never do that twice!”

Bang.

“I don’t think thash Fluttershy…” Eclipse said, slowly rising from his seat.

Rarity gave him a suspicious look. “How do you know about that?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “What, you think that there was a newspaper that didn’t have a headline about that?”

“Fair point, dear.”

BANG.

Eclipse whipped his head towards the door, which was now showing visible signs of strain. He didn’t even try to suppress his grin. “Thish gone be good.” Several objects in the room either lifted into the air or bent into various shapes as Eclipse’s chaos magic began to spike.

Twilight’s instant return to note taking almost snapped him out of his good mood.

Almost.

With a loud crash, the door burst inwards, bits of it blasting out from the force of the spell that had blown it open. Two guards fell into the room, alive but clearly in need of medical attention.

‘ECLIIIIIIPSE!” Came the enraged cry, the voice of a mare that sparked some forgotten memory in Eclipse’s slightly intoxicated mind.

She stepped through the opening, into the room of terrified nobles and it was then that Eclipse realized that he was completely, totally, utterly screwed.

Ray Beam practically bounced through the door that Short Circuit had opened, cheerily singing that “Someone’s gonna get it! Someone’s gonna get it!”

Short Circuit flared her nostrils, quickly finding her target. “You LOST it!?” She bellowed, the anger in her voice rattling the very stones the palace rested on. “I labored for years, perfecting that device!” She marched up to Eclipse, jabbing a hoof into his chest. “Do you know how hard it was, layering all the spells needed for that thing to work, without them interfering with each other? I had to design a brand-bucking new spell, no, three brand-bucking new spells, just to get that thing to work without blowing up and taking the user’s face along with it!”

Short Circuit backed up several paces, just to come back and place the tip of her horn right between Eclipse’s eyes. “That HUD unit was supposed to be the crowning achievement of my life. There were countless applications for it, from civilian to military! And you lose it? So, tell me this: What do you have to say for yourself, and you had better not suggest just building another unit, or you’re a dead stallion walking.”

“Uh…” Eclipse stared, mind completely blanking on him.

Ray beam stopped in her tracks, observing the scene, but Short Circuit never moved her horn even an inch further away from Eclipse, who managed a nervous chuckle.

Short Circuit’s nostrils flared a bit, before she noticed the scent on his breath. Breathing in again, she realized that Eclipse was somewhat mentally hindered at the moment. She withdrew her head and, for a moment, just returned the surprised stare Eclipse was giving her.

After a moment, she sighed, and leaned her head forward until it was resting on a very confused Eclipse’s shoulder.

“Because of course you are.” Short Circuit mumbled to herself. “Ray Beam, do you still have that antidote you were working on?”

“But I haven’t worked out the last few kinks, yet.” Ray beam warned, though she handed over a small vial, filled with a slightly greenish liquid.

“That’ll be fine.” Short Circuit replied, taking the vial in her magical grasp and levitating it towards Eclipse. “Drink.” She said, though her voice sounded more tired than demanding.

Eclipse glanced towards the others sitting at his table, but the only two who gave responses were Rainbow Dash and Feather Duster, and the pair of them simply shrugged.

Taking a deep breath, Eclipse opened the vial and chugged the contents. Surprisingly, it tasted like cherries. Taking a moment to ponder if it broke any laws of nature to have delicious tasting medicine, he soon became aware of a slight burning sensation in the pit of his stomach. The sensation quickly spread, as if racing along with every pump of his heart, as well as increasing in ferocity until it almost felt like he were sitting next to a huge, roaring flame, just barely not catching fire himself.

Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he suffered this near burning sensation for nearly a full minute before it faded, leaving him sweaty, out of breath and laying on the ground.

Ray Beam was looking down at him with stars in her eyes. “He didn’t scream, so it must be getting better!”

“Getting better?” Eclipse said, quickly climbing to his hooves and raising his voice. “What, did everyone who tried it before spontaneously combust? If this is ‘getting better’ what the hell would I have gone through if it had been…” He stopped aware that he was not slurring and that the world was not slightly blurred.

“I’m sober.” He realized. “I’m sober!’ he repeated, enthusiastically slamming his hoof into the ground. Several sparks flew as his hoof hit the ground, followed by the scrit-scratching of quill on parchment. “God damnit, I’m sober.” He said for a third time, lowering his head.

He looked up, remembering the two scientists in from of him. “Oh, yeah, you two. look, I’m sorry about the HUD unit, okay? I kind of had a moment where I got captured by the bad changeling hive, the one that was fighting both the good hive and the town of pegasi and griffons, and maybe ended up being mind-controlled a little. I’m sorry. Believe me, it was not intentional and that incident has been resolved.” He scratched his chin, mistaking the surprised stares from everyone around him as a sign for more of an apology.

“If it’s any consolation, I loved the HUD unit. It’s just, more than one person commented on how friggin ugly those things were, so if you two could fix that, I swear it’s shelf ready, okay?”

Rainbow Dash leaned over the table to Feather Duster. “Did he just say he was mind-controlled by evil changelings?”

“Maybe? I don’t really know.” Whispered Feather Duster. "What's this about good and evil changeling hives?"

"Explains that Thorn guy." Dash muttered.

“He is being truthful.” The group of mares, plus Spike, at the table jumped as Thorn appeared, not disguised. “I am not completely certain of all the details, but I can confirm that he is no longer under outside control.”

“Well, that’s a story I’d like to hear.” Cadance added as she and Celestia trotted up to the table as well. “What do you think Shiny?”

Shining Armor, face green with something other than envy, could only continue his rapid breathing into a brown paper bag.

Eclipse trotted over to the broken door and the pair of guards Short Circuit had decimated in her entrance. “I promise, the device worked like a charm, though I didn’t really pay much attention to it.” The door reassembled itself and closed, though it was now a single large door that rotated around a central point, but fixing things with chaos magic was a science where you took what you can get. “If I had some more practice, I could come to use it more actively. But beyond being easy to ignore, which is not a flaw, I swear, I couldn’t really say anything that wasn’t exactly how its supposed to work.” He looked at the guards on the ground, blinking a few times. “Is anyone a doctor?”

“I am.” Said one mare as she raised a hoof.

“Well, what are you waiting for, an invitation? Get over here!” Eclipse shouted, prompting a quick response from the mare, who dashed over. “The last time I healed someone I accidentally made her kidneys perform mitosis. Lucky for me she had actually been a kidney donor, so the docs just needed to move one of the extra left ones to the right. First time they’d ever seen a green kidney, though.”

“Anatomy doesn’t work like that…” Twilight began.

“Welcome to my life!”

Rainbow dash grinned. “I’m liking this guy more and more. It’s like if Discord worked for Celestia and didn’t try to take over the world.”

“I never understood that.” Eclipse muttered. “Taking over the world is too much work. And if you want to destroy it, just wait a bit and let petty differences incite wars.”

Everyone in the room stared at him.

“What? It works like that where I’m from.”

Several minutes of awkward silence followed until Luna reappeared.

“Eclipse,” She began. “we have something to--“

Eclipse cut her off. “No forays to the crystal empire until one week after whatever diplomatic shenanigans that happen there are resolved. Discord shot me a warning about that when I got him to stay away from this party.”

“Actually, several groups that swept through the remains of the Nexus changeling hive found this.” She produced the HUD unit. “Apparently, it had been thrown in a wastebin and were only recovered thanks to an order to look for an item matching their description.”

Ray Beam and Short Circuit snatched the unit and fled the scene.

“What insolence! Those two should be--“

“Inventors.” Eclipse interjected.

“--admired for their proud protection of such hard work and dedication.”

Luna waited for several moments as a few ponies in the room coughed lightly.

“There is also the slight matter of Canterbury’s excellent development rate, but I’m sure you’ll see that in a few days.”

“What’s Canterbury?”

<><><>

“Sweet mother of Celestia!” Eclipse blurted after the minute long silence it took him to process what he was seeing.

“Hah! He has finally taken my sister’s name in vain.” Luna cheered. “This is a momentous occasion!”

“I find it hard to be surprised.” Thorn said. “It makes logical sense. After the discovery that Nexus had several other hives under his control and the fact that there are none in their right mind who would willingly live in any Nexus hives, all the excess changelings had to go somewhere.”

“What about that hive you said you were from!? Couldn’t you stick them in that and Blackreach and dig more tunnels? And I thought Vangar was your friend now.”

“All valid points, were it not for the sheer bulk of the changelings in question.” Thorn replied, not missing a beat. “Besides, the threat of them being discovered prematurely is diminished by not using the crystal mines. I understand that they have become something of a tourist destination.”

“Canterlot. The city that was attacked, almost taken over, in fact, and is still filled to the brim with ponies who are terrified of your kind.”

“Hence the precautions against discovery by placing the entrance at the base of the opposite side of the mountain.”

Eclipse pointed to Shining Armor and Cadence. The first was sitting next to a pool of his own bile and struggling to breathe, while Cadence had been completely paralyzed in shock.

Luna pondered the two for a moment. “Hm. Perhaps it was best to give them time to get used to Thorn, then bring this up.”

Thorn rubbed his head. “Do they not control the Crystal Empire? Blackreach had records of an offshoot of changelings that lives in the northern wastes. Their exoskeleton has evolved to become white, from what I can recall. They likely still live there.”

Shining Armor started retching again. Cadence was still motionless.

Eclipse turned back to the mass of changelings before him. Most were busy digging, some were exploring a cave network they had busted into, checking for stability and size, but a small group of younger changelings was returning the surprised stares from the visitors.

“This is going to end in disaster.”

Luna grinned at him. “Only if you stay here too long, Eclipse.”

“Everyone still thinks Chrysalis represents the whole changeling race.”

“Part of why this is so important.” Luna pressed. “It will be quite a long time until they may be revealed publicly, but it will come eventually.”

“There will be rumors. People will come to investigate.”

“Hah! Rumors. Few will put enough stock in them to come so far out of the way.”

"The ones that do?"

"Meh."

“What about those guards Celestia had with her when she went to Vangar?”

“Rumors of changelings that aren’t evil?” Luna pondered the thought, tapping her chin with a hoof. “Yes. That could be somewhat troublesome.”

“Take this seriously, would you!” Shouting at her now, Eclipse barely noticed that Luna’s tail was currently soaking up the attentions of several of the young changelings.

“Perhaps you should be more calm.” Came the inevitable reply, as Luna shooed a few of the changelings away. “You are the chaos mage in the room, after all.”

Eclipse angrily pointed a hoof at her before hanging his head in defeat. “I’m done. That’s it, I’m out. Come get me when you want to destroy one of Equestria’s smaller neighbors.” He turned and left the cave. “I’ll be in my room until then.”

To Braycover

Luna knocked on the door several times.

Twilight wondered why the princess would need to knock on any of the doors other than Celestia’s bedroom, seeing as it was the royal castle.

While she was pondering this, the door slammed open and small plastic bag filled with ice cubes slammed into Luna’s face, stunning the princess.

Not two seconds later, Eclipse was standing in the doorway, another pack of ice resting on his head and even drooping over his eyes.

“Who the fuck is--“ He began, just to be cut off by a loud thud as something heavy hit the ground.

Eclipse clicked his tongue twice in rapid succession, processing the sound, then slowly nodded. “That was one of the princesses, wasn’t it?” He didn’t even wait for an answer, instead lifting the ice pack far enough to reveal one poorly dilated pupil. “Shit.”

Twilight was aghast. “You just assaulted the Princess!” She screeched, in shock.

Eclipse lowered his head and gritted his teeth. “Yeesh. Not so loud, you blasted banshee. That gunk I was injected with last night cured drunkenness, not hangovers.”

“You just assaulted the Princess.” Twilight repeated, this time as more of an angry hiss than a surprised scream. “Why are you being so calm about this?”

Chuckling, Eclipse picked up the insensate princess and half dragged half carried her into his room. “She and I have hit each other with way worse than some ice. You take a few exploding magic missiles to the face and flying ice ain’t so bad. Besides, considering she’s suffered more damage from pastries, I think she’ll be just fine.” He laid Luna onto his bed, but he didn’t bother to put her in a comfortable position, letting her limbs sprawl out as they please.

“Pastries?” Twilight asked, before she caught herself. “Nevermind. Tell me you have something that will wake her up?”

Eclipse mulled the thought over for a moment, soon coming to a conclusion. Stepping over to a desk and several drawers, he began rifling through the area until he pulled out a pair of large, pink and very fuzzy earmuffs. “They look funny, but they’re the only muffs that are one hundred percent soundproof.”

He slipped the ear muffs on and shifted the ice pack around so that they peacefully coexisted on his head without falling off. Then he pulled out an air horn and fired away.

Luna jumped up. Or she would have, if she had been in anything resembling a standard sleeping position. Instead, she kind of just had a body spasm and fell off the side of the bed.

“Luna!” Eclipse cheered, taking off the earmuffs as the Princess slowly got back on her hooves. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

Luna turned her head to the left then to the right, popping her neck several times. “Indeed.” She muttered when she was done, rubbing her head with a hoof. “Is there a reason that Twilight and I were assaulted by ice?”

“I’m just fine, Princess.” Twilight answered, speaking up.

Eclipse chuckled. “And I wasn’t expecting a royal visit until some minor nationality pissed off you or your sister. I did mention that the last time we spoke, right? It was just after Shining Armor made his third attempt at upchucking his stomach.”

“Much as it would please us to watch you rain destruction on several of the--“ she coughed into her hoof. “less than respectful nations Equestria is forced to engage in politics with, my sister and I have something else in mind.”

With a grin on his face, Eclipse nodded. “You and Celestia. Meaning it probably doesn’t come from Cadence or the newly crowned Twilight. So you have to know that I am really going to put up one hell of a fight against doing anything that has anything to do with guarding nobles, joining in a parade or public speaking. If it were anything like that, you’d just skip straight to dragging me out by my ear.” He glanced up, single revealed eye twinkling slightly. “I’m either about to go on another mission likely to end in a small war, or I’m about to laugh my ass off.”

Luna nodded, noting to herself that Eclipse was much more observant when suffering from a hangover. Perhaps less energy to put into maintaining a check on his anger and/or displeasure resulted in increased focus and precision.

…Somehow?

No matter, Luna already had something on her mind.

“A medium sized town, similar to Vangar, except it isn’t a self-sustaining town without any outside connections. Braycover sits on a minor trade route. It is another largely self-ruling village, but is also part of a coalition of similar towns and cities on the border of the minotaur lands. They bow to no known ruler aside form each town’s elected officials.”

“Heh. Democracy lives in the world of technicolor after all.” Eclipse couldn’t fight the smile on his face, so he didn’t even bother to try.

Twilight shot a questioning glance Luna’s way at the word ‘technicolor’ but the princess just winked. “The reason it’s even on the map is that the coalition has successfully rebutted attacks from the griffins, minotaurs and at one time, Equestria itself.”

Eclipse frowned. “You want me to walk into a town that kicked Equestria’s ass? Or, to be a little more open with why that sounds terrible, kicked our asses, seeing as I’m kind of part of Equestria now?”

“We were given false reports that they were planning to take over towns on the edge of Equestria, complete with minor attacks and raids. Only later did we learn that it had been orchestrated by a rogue group of griffins, in an attempt to draw Equestria into what was already a three way bloodbath. I hear that my sister’s response was less than pleased.”

“Celestia’s response?” Eclipse asked. “I’m sure you couldn’t have been any hap -- oh.” Eclipse’s ears slowly descended until they were laying flat against his head. “Oh.”

With a roll of her eyes, Luna laid Eclipse’s concerns to rest. “I am well aware that many things happen in one thousand years, Eclipse. Surely you have more faith in me than this?”

Twilight’s ears shot up when she heard this, realizing why Eclipse had gone quiet. She nervously smiled when Luna gave her a questioning look.

Luna sighed in disappointment. “It’s as if I’m made of glass. Anyway, back on topic. The griffins are testing the coalition’s strength again, focusing on the north side. Braycover is the southernmost town in the coalition. As such, it has had most of it’s guard sent north to reinforce the cities that are more threatened. Only a token force remains to deal with any bandits or crimes in the town. Normally all information from that area of the world comes by the traders who stop to do business in those towns. Of, course this makes the rumors of Braycover being attacked by a necromancer difficult to confirm.”

“Necromancer?” Eclipse’s ice pack slid off his head and fell to the floor with a plop. “You had my curiosity. Now you have my attention.”

Luna nodded. “The problem is that while all reports agree that undead are attacking the town, there are some where a necromancer is summoning the creatures to burn and pillage and others that say the necromancer is fighting fire with fire. That is, protecting the town from an undead horde by using another undead horde. Whether the necromancer is a hero or a villain, you undoubtedly need to stop whatever is going on there before it spirals out of control. If the necromancer is a hero, then there is something else creating and directing the other undead. I pray that this is not the case and that it is just some powermad fool playing with foul magic. Either way, with this incident happening so close to a brewing warzone, it could turn into a much larger disaster than it already is, otherwise Celestia and I wouldn’t have thought much of it. Sadly, the griffin threat overshadows a few undead in the minds of the rest of the coalition.”

Twilight whirled to face Luna. “What? You would have just let a dark magic user walk around doing as he pleases?”

“Incidents of evil magic users are distressingly common, Twilight.” Luna said, some sorrow in her voice. “Also, necromancy doesn’t even fall under dark magic. It is more of an offshoot of summoning magic.”

“It’s not dark magic?” Twilight pulled out a book, seemingly from thin air and started flipping through the pages. “But, surely that can’t be? It’s almost nothing like any summoning spells I’ve ever seen.”

“The rituals and spells are vastly different.” Luna agreed. “But that is mostly due to the differing nature of the undead versus other conjurations. Unlike demons, certain golems or shadow creatures, undead won’t direct themselves, so a large autonomous legion is actually quite impossible. They need orders, otherwise they’d simply stand still and continue to rot away to nothing. Of course, if one were to tell them to guard an area, they’d maintain a constant vigil for countless years, since the magic that maintains them is much more stable than a summon spell of equal magical power. Of course, undead are also generally weaker than a purely summoned creature as well.”

Finished with the explanation, Luna turned back to Eclipse, who had also been listening with his full attention. Guessing at his next question, Luna quickly countered. “Yes, you need to be a unicorn to use necromancy. No, I don’t know if chaos magic can be substituted. I would be grateful if you didn’t try.”

“Awwww.” Eclipse whined.

“This time, the four you’ve managed to drag back to Canterlot will be going with you, so you won’t need to recruit any new comrades in arms.” Frowning, Luna mumbled to herself. “Though, I do have twenty bits riding on you dragging back even more recruits.”

“What was that?” Eclipse asked.

“Nothing.”

Twilight frowned, but didn’t really say anything.

Several seconds of silence ticked by in utter silence, until Eclipse finally broke the spell.

“So why’s Twilight here anyway?”

“Happenstance. Twilight saw me and came over for a brief conversation before I knocked on your door. If I hadn’t been knocked out cold, she likely wouldn’t have lingered.” Luna gestured to the still open door. “She’s staying at the end of the hall until she returns to Ponyville.”

<><><>

“Come on, Featherbrain!” Dust Demon cheered. “It’s ice magicked up by the princess of the sun. It’s literally the one thing she doesn’t excel at!”

Aranna dug her talons into the ground, trying to not get blown away by the blizzard spewing from Celestia’s horn. She ignored Dust Demon’s shouting to the best of her ability, flapping her wings in an attempt to create a heat wave of her own magic to counter Celestia.

Her success was limited, since Celestia’s unrelenting blizzard blew away every attempt she made. Feeling frost starting to grow on her feathers, Aranna instead focused on going up as quickly as she could, flapping her wings with all the strength she could muster.

Once she managed to get several dozen feet of distance between herself and the ground, Aranna found herself running through every evasive maneuver she knew as Celestia started firing shards of ice at her.

Sagebrush let out a soft whistle. “Getting hung out to dry, ain’t she?”

Snarling, Dust Demon redoubled his cheering efforts. “You can do better than this! Show her everything you’ve got!”

“I honestly cannot tell if you are supporting her or jeering at her.” Thorn said, a hint of a smile on his features.

Sagebrush chuckled. “Demon’s had it out for Celestia since she bested him by making a mini sandstorm and using it to blind him. Taking his own namesake and beating him with it, hah! I like her style.”

Catching a moment of peace as Celestia readied another barrage, Aranna gathered some of her power into her open talon. A small blaze started, hovering over her open hand as she tried to create a fireball.

Thorn smiled. “She was listening to me.”

Throwing the sphere of flame at a surprised Celestia, Aranna could only stare in disappointment as the fireball dwindled to a small pinprick and eventually went out just a few feet away from her. It hadn’t even come close to Celestia, who quickly returned to firing shards of ice at the airborne griffin.

“But she was not listening very well.” Thorn sighed, catching Luna, Eclipse and Twilight approaching from the side. “Company.” He said, catching the attention of both Dust demon and Sagebrush.

Celestia also turned to greet the newcomers. When Aranna tried to take advantage of the distraction, a half dozen shards of ice flew back, twisting and turning in the air to follow the griffin as she tried to shake the homing missiles. It was an exercise in futility, as the griffin quickly found out.

Celestia smiled as she let Aranna safely land with the knowledge that she was still just toying with them when she engaged in combat practice.

“We get to fight undead!” Eclipse cheered as he met his group of four companions.

Dust Demon shivered. “Now, there’s something that’ll turn your stomach upside down.”

“What’s wrong, Dusty? Scared of a few walking bones?” Aranna joked, patting the pegasus on the head.

“Naw, just a little nervous about fighting something that’s already dead. How do we kill that, anyway?”

Nodding, Celestia smiled. “A common misconception. Undead can be defeated just like any living opponent. The magic animating a body will be expelled if the body takes enough damage.”

Dust Demon shrugged. “Alrighty then. Guess I get to try out those fancy wingblades you had me training for.”

Slinging an arm around Dust Demon’s shoulders, Aranna gave him a large grin. “Sword and shield’s better.”

“We don’t all have talons to hold them with.”

With a thoughtful chirp in the changeling language, Thorn stepped forward. “Slashing and piercing is all well and good against living targets and even most undead, but they would be ineffective if we have to fight skeletons. It would be a good idea to invest in a few extra bashing and blunt weapons, like Sagebrush’s hammer.”

“Shield bash?” Aranna offered.

“I still have my ground pound attacks.” Eclipse suggested.

Twilight glanced at him. “Ground pound?”

“Oh, yeah. See if I punch the ground with a some chaos magic in my hoof, then -- I’ll just show you.” He turned and reared up, pulling a hoof back as far as it could go before he slammed it into the ground, causing a wave a sharp rocks to erupt from the earth in a line in front of him, tearing through a pair of trees that had been caught in the blast zone.

Twilight’s jaw dropped.

“Oh, yeah. I can make random stuff explode, too. It’s like everything’s a grenade!”

“Presenting Eclipse, master of humility.” Thorn sarcastically muttered.

“I love being an oxymoron.”

<><><>

Several days later, the group clambered off of the train, leaving behind the nervous stares of the train's other passengers and into the nervous stares of other people at the station.

There were minotaurs, griffins and ponies of all three species milling about en masse. Outside of those major groups, there were several zebras and a pair of diamond dogs. Only a handful of guards were about, mostly just to keep the peace. There was an earth pony, a unicorn and two minotaurs that Eclipse could see, with more likely to be just outside of view and around town. All four of the gaurds were paying attention to the group that had just arrived.

Eclipse nodded. “Culturally diverse. I like it here already.”

Behind him, Aranna rolled her shoulder. “I think my arm fell asleep on the train.”

“You didn’t need to sleep with all your armor on. That shield probably cut off blood flow or something.” Dust demon answered, tugging at his own breastplate. It was a silver version of what many royal guards wore. The pegasus version was lighter and allowed for wings at the cost of a minor amount of protection. Unlike most suits of guard armor, this one came with a pair of bracers rather than horseshoes and had no helmet. It also came with a pair of sharp blades to be attached to the wings for a weapon.

Dust Demon had opted to not wear the bracers, leaving them to be snatched up by Eclipse, who gleefully strapped the bracers onto his forelegs with some excitement at the prospect of finally getting actual armor for himself.

Adjusting the clasp of his black cloak, Eclipse chuckled. “Oh, come on. Like Sagebrush wasn’t doing it too.”

“Sagebrush probably has padding or something.”

Sagebrush’s hammer was resting in a rack on his right side, running the length of his body until he felt the need to turn his head and grab the weapon in his teeth. “Only in a few places. Mostly so it doesn’t chafe.”

Thorn was now the only one not wearing any personal defenses, aside from his own natural chitin. He hadn’t felt the need to ask the Princesses for any, seeing as he was mostly here for tactical support rather than more combat personnel.

Aranna sighed. “Are we going to get stared at everywhere we go?”

Eclipse shrugged. “Well, we do look like a group of mercenaries or something, not to mention the changeling." It was then that Thorn sheepishly realized that he hadn't worn a disguise the entire train ride. "Just relax and don’t cause trouble. We’ll be fine. Peace and quiet like this doesn’t last long when I arrive, so calm down and enjoy a breath of fresh air.”

“Attack!” Eclipse turned to see a griffin in a Braycover guard uniform fly overhead, trying to muster the guards at the train station. “Another wave, coming from the east!”

All four guards that Eclipse could see rushed out, plus another unicorn and a pegasus that had been out of sight.

“Me and my mouth.” He grumbled.

Aranna chuckled. “Never a dull moment with this crew, huh?”

With a nod, Dust Demon agreed. “I’m liking my choice to stick around more and more.”

“Let’s just hope that zombie-ism doesn’t spread like it does in the movies.” Eclipse said, sticking his tongue out.

“That was disproven long ago.” Thorn said, buzzing his wings as he took to the air, Aranna and Dust demon following suit. “We three will find the exact location of the battle. For now, just head east as best you can. I’ll return and direct you to the fighting.”

“Right.” Eclipse agreed. “Aranna, Dust Demon, support the Braycover guard and keep an eye out for that necromancer until Sagebrush and I arrive. Then the five of us start doing some heavy lifting.”

We made it to fifty?

Heading east was unexpectedly easy. Rather than checking for a direction every now and again, Eclipse and Sagebrush simply kept running in the direction that townspeople were coming from. The town itself was filled with buildings that varied between one, two and three stories tall, occasionally with some business or store at the bottom with the upper floor or floors being the owner’s living space. The roads were either dirt or cobblestone, depending on what street you were on.

As for the people who lived in Braycover, there wasn’t a mass panic, but a smooth, slow progression away from the action taking place. Either it was ridiculously easy to get used to being attacked by undead, or the Braycover Guardsmen were really good at their jobs.

Hearing the sound of buzzing overhead, Eclipse glanced to Sagebrush, who nodded in response. The two looked up, seeing Thorn accompanied by a pegasus guard.

“We have found where the Guard and the undead have met.” Thorn relayed, landing as the pegasus he was with trotted forward. “The guard is setting up defensive locations while fending off the first few undead.”

The pegasus took a step back. “Can’t say we were expecting more mercs to arrive. If you’re as willing to lay the hurt on the undead as the last two are, the commander’ll likely give you some reward for the help.”

Eclipse nudged Sagebrush. “Maybe we can get some info about all this from those ‘other mercs.’ I don’t doubt that they’ve gotten more personal with the dead guys than most of the regular guard.”

At the pegasus’s glare, Eclipse raised a hoof. “Relax, I said ‘most.’ If you’ve fought them and are still standing, more power to you.”

The pegasus scuffed the ground with a hoof, looking away from Eclipse. “…Right. So, Thorn, which way to get there?”

The changeling took off, leading Eclipse and Sagebrush through the streets while the pegasus tailed them.

After several turns and streets, they finally came to the side of town. A handful of damaged or destroyed buildings looked as if they had been randomly dropped onto the area, and otherwise flat portion of land stretching away from Braycover. The guards had set up several quick defenses, ranging from palisade walls to short towers where crossbow firing members had been plying their trade. Two of the ruined buildings had also been turned into makeshift forts, with bows, crossbows and magic users taking residence on the roofs and poking out of the upper windows while ponies, griffins and minotuars guarded the lower levels with spear, sword and axe.

By rough estimates, there were around forty to fifty Braycover guards, with a only a handful more, if any, due to arrive. The undead horde outnumbered the guards almost two to one, relying on numbers where they lacked skill.

The undead were rather stereotypical in appearance, ranging from shambling, half rotted corpses to full fledged walking skeletons. They were of every species that seemed to populate Braycover, possibly even from the town’s own cemetery, if it had one. A few were grotesquely misshapen or sewn together, likely experiments of some twisted sort as their creator tried to enhance their power.

The first few undead had only just reached one of the makeshift forts the guards had made, most of them falling to ranged attacks while the few that survived were held off by the melee guardsman. Close to the edge of the emergent battle, Aranna and Dust Demon were hacking through the undead that were still shambling about, though the larger horde was beginning to close in.

It only took a few minutes to for Eclipse and Sagebrush to arrive, just in time for Aranna to lop off the head of a zombie pegasus that had already taken several stab wounds without falling. “Not going to lie, they like to struggle.” Aranna grunted, turning to the two earth ponies. “Watched a skeleton I killed put itself back together. As if it wasn’t bad enough that my sword barely did anything to it.”

Sagebrush turned to the approaching horde. “That doesn’t sound fun. Eclipse, think you can even the odds?”

“Pssh, easy.” Eclipse chuckled. “Wide scale destruction is way easier than just locking onto a single target. The only problem is that I don’t have the power to make a blast big enough to wipe out all of them, just small clusters. They’re way too spread out.”

Dust Demon threw off the zombie that had latched onto him, giving it a few good slashes with his wingblades before letting a pair of guards finish it off. “I remember Appleloosa. You made an entire storm appear over the whole town. You were using lightning to knock out pegasi like it was nothing.”

“Yeah, and afterwards I passed out. Only a few days later and five different people were giving me hell about it. Using magic until you feint can have serious consequences, both for the user and everyone around. Considering what I dish out, unless the people of Braycover would like to take a chance on their town either being replaced by a crater or turned into Discord’s wet dream, dropping a magical bomb on those guys shouldn’t be something I do.”

“We would like to avoid both of those situations.” A nearby minotaur said, raising a hand.

“Yeah right.” A unicorn scoffed. “Nothing against earth ponies, but last time I checked, magical talent isn’t one of their -- what happened to my armor!?”

“It’s a clown costume.” Eclipse said, stating the painfully obvious. “I thought you’d like being a clown, now.”

“Turn it back!”

Eclipse gave the idea some thought. “Hmm… no.”

As the guard ran off to replace his armor, Eclipse looked around. “Didn’t I hear that there were mercenaries around here? Why is it just us?”

The minotaur from earlier pointed towards the other building that had been turned into a fort. There, a heavily armored unicorn was wielding a massive lance on their right side. Swinging the weapon in a wide arc, the unicorn scattered the last remaining skeleton. They were fully covered in armor from head to hoof, including a small plate over the front of their horn, with a metal spike over the tip. It was impossible to tell the gender of the warrior from here. The pitch black armor did little to help.

After the warrior was done, another unicorn stepped out. He was white with a dark yellow mane and a tattered brown cloak covering most of his body. Casting a few spells, the unicorn gathered what salvageable remains he could of the undead and reconstructed them, turning them into support for the Braycover guards. All the guards put some distance between themselves and the new undead, but they had obviously been fighting alongside them for some time.

“The necromancer is a good guy!” Eclipse said, hoof pumping up, into the air. “Dark isn’t inherently evil and light isn’t always good! Now we just need to find out where the evil undead are coming from. My money’s on some priest gone crazy, who’s with me?”

“Might want to grab that cash back, before someone else snatches it up.” The minotaur said, pointing to the far side of the undead. “Whoever they are, they always sit and watch the show, but we’ve never managed to take them down and nobody’s come back from tracking them to their lair.”

There, sitting behind the horde of walking corpses sat a figure obscured by an unnaturally thick shadow from a tree. Some few hundred feet behind the figure stretched the forest that bordered Braycover, as well as serving as a natural barrier between the Coalition and the Minotaur Kingdom.

“They’ve been using that forest to hide out in.” The minotaur grunted. “Who ever they are, they spent some time learning the area. The one time someone got close, they damn near got gutted. Still a gamble on whether they’ll survive.”

Eclipse scratched his head. “I have an idea. It’s simple, but…”

“You’re going to just charge right through the undead, aren’t you?” Aranna deadpanned.

“Indubitably!”

Thorn opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it.

Eclipse glanced at the group around him. “Just gonna go charging in…”

“Kay.” Sagebrush said, rolling one of his shoulders.

“Uh… no one’s got any other ideas?”

Thorn shook his head. “None I would like to share at the moment.”

“Just going to let me go, huh?”

None of the Braycover guards dared say anything.

“Are you guys sure about--“

Aranna pointed at the horde. “MOVE IT!”

“For Narnia!” Eclipse screamed, sprinting full tilt towards the horde. He was pumping magic energy forward, turning himself into a very powerful bulldozer.

Several bones, severed limbs and even a full zombie minotaur were sent flying as soon as Eclipse hit the first ranks of the horde, plowing a path by trampling what he couldn’t bash out of his way.

“I want to meet Narnia.” One of the guards muttered.

“Sounds like a hell of a woman.” Another agreed.

Aranna frowned. “Who is Narnia, anyway?”

Dust Demon shrugged. “Heard him yammering about it to Feather Duster a while back. I think it’s a game or something.”

“He told me about it.” Sagebrush added. “It’s a book series that later got a few movies.”

Aranna turned to Thorn. “You were going to say something earlier?”

Thorn smirked. “Our observer is not sitting under that tree. Eclipse is charging into a trap.”

The guards jumped. “What!?” One screamed. “We have to help him!”

“He will be fine.” Thorn said, motioning for the guards to take a seat. “Stay and observe.”

<><><>

“That has got to be the craziest fool I’ve ever seen.” The necromancer muttered to his lance wielding companion.

The darkly armored paladin shifted on her hooves, grumbling under her breath.

“I can get behind the black armor, but giving someone the death glare I can feel you giving that stallion isn’t very fitting for someone so heavily focused on light magic, now is it?”

“Don’t give me that rot.” She responded, a minor threat underneath her words. “You’re a necromancer devoted to protecting life. You have no room to judge.”

“Maybe.” He chuckled. “Doesn’t change the fact that you tried to kill me a few days ago. 'Something something, all who desecrate the sanctity of life, blah blah, die in holy fire.'”

“I do not sound like that.” The mare indignantly decreed. Though she added “…and it was ‘be purged in holy fire.’” as an afterthought. “Besides, do you not feel the energy roiling off of him?”

The stallion cast a brief glance towards the charging stallion before returning his gaze to the paladin. After a second long pause where he processed what he had seen in that glance, the necromancer turned back to the stallion currently tossing aside every undead in his path as he made way towards the figure behind the horde.

“Stars above!” He muttered, saying a short incantation and firing off a magical detection spell, instantly finding the energy the paladin had been speaking of. “…Chaos magic. That must be fun to have.”

The Black Paladin shivered in her armor. “First a necromancer, then a changeling and a chaos user show up with three other mercenaries, and they all seem to have good interests at heart. This world has truly gone mad.”

“Take a close look at that griffin.” The necromancer, Vitamort, replied.

Sacred Lance, a.k.a. ‘The Black Paladin,’ fixed Vitamort with an angry glare, then turned her attention to the griffin. It was difficult for her at first, but when she finally felt it, she jabbed her lance into the earth and loosed a stream of curses and obscenities.

Vitamort rolled his eyes. “Pure of heart my tail.”

<><><>

Eclipse charged forward, ramming a skeleton and scattering it’s body from the impact. He was almost through to the other side and hadn’t even broken a sweat yet.

“Just gotta make this quick.” He grunted, blowing aside a pair of undead that had ended up in his path. “Just be smart, yeah? Don’t scream about inevitable victory or you’ll embarrass yourself. That’s the rule.”

A skeletal griffin appeared in front of him, firing a bow just as Eclipse registered the undead. Having no time to dodge, Eclipse crossed his forehooves over his head, lowering them only when he heard a sharp ptang as the arrow bounced off of his bracers.

“Wow. These things just immediately started earning their keep.” Continuing his charge, Eclipse knocked the skeleton archer’s head off as he passed.

He broke through the last few ranks of walking corpses, turning just slightly to make sure he was headed directly for his target as he continued forward with only a few dozen feet to go.

He pulled a hoof back and leapt forward, jumping the gap between himself and his target, still obscured in the unnaturally thick shadow. His back hooves touched the ground first, digging into the dirt as best they could while Eclipse sent his upper body into a twist as he punched, hoping to maximize force.

His hoof passed cleanly through the target, dissipating the illusion it had been composed of and sending Eclipse off balance, as he had been expecting resistance. He tumbled and fell to the earth, coughing and shaking his head as the dust he had stirred up settled.

Standing up, he had only a split second to notice the glowing runes that had appeared underneath his hooves before the ground erupted in a deafening explosion.

His eyes blurred and the world went silent for a moment, followed by a flash of pain through his body as he presumably landed on something.

When he came to enough to make out shapes and colors, Eclipse realized that he was laying in a pile of wooden debris. It was the remains of a section of palisade wall the guard had set up, now in splinters across the ground.

Eclipse groaned as the pain returned, his body slowly recovering from the blast. He made out someone waving something in front of his face. Shaking his head, his vision eventually cleared enough to see Dust Demon standing over him, waving his hoof in an attempt to get Eclipse’s attention.

The stallion’s lips moved, but it took some time before Eclipse could make out any words.

“…out of …You can do it. Just listen … ya hear? You ain’t dead yet and you ain’t gonna be.”

Eclipse groaned loudly. “Painkillers. Ice. Soft bed. Hot nurse. All of them. Now.”

“He’s fine.” Dust demon chuckled.

“The hot nurse may be any gender of any species.”

Dust Demon pulled Eclipse up, much to the chagrin of the latter.

“Auuuuugh. I won’t be walking in the morning.” Grimacing, Eclipse felt his back pop several times as he stretched it. “Might not even be moving at all.”

To one side of him, Eclipse saw Sagebrush, Thorn and Aranna, while at his other side stood the necromancer and armored warrior he had seen earlier. Members of the Braycover guard were scattered around, though most of them were watching the undead horde fall back, into the forest.

The necromancer was struggling to contain a fit of laughter, but the warrior standing next to him seemed to just seethe quietly.

“Any gender of any species, he says.” The white unicorn guffawed. “You could learn something form this one, Lance.”

“I told you to call me by my full name or first name only.”

The necromancer mockingly saluted. “As you command Paladin Sacred Lance.”

Eclipse had been too preoccupied with rolling his jaw to check for damage to notice this exchange. Luckily, he had caught the tail end of it as he had finished and heard the paladin’s name. “H -- Oh, fuck ow that hurts… -- hey. I’m -- I think I have a splinter in my spine -- Eclipse.”

“Vitamort.” The necromancer greeted. “And Lance.”

The paladin gave Vitamort an angry glare, but otherwise ignored him. She stepped forward, taking off the armor on her lower forelegs. This exposed a pair of light gray hooves that were crisscrossed with darker skars. “Where is the pain greatest?” She asked.

Eclipse grit his teeth. “It’s, uh, pretty even all around. A perfect confection of hurt that any baker would be proud of.”

Vitamort started laughing again.

Sacred Lance gently pressed down on Eclipse until he lowered himself to the ground. She muttered a few words under her breath and her horn briefly lit with a light blue aura. The energy traveled from her horn to her hooves, before it slowly faded into Eclipse’s back, where she had made contact.

Eclipse shivered, feeling like the magic was tickling him as light blue streaks stretched over his body and faded to nothingness, leaving only a chilled sensation in their wake.

Stretching his hooves and body, Eclipse was pleasantly surprised to find that the only pain he felt was a dull throb, though it still covered most of his body. “What was that? I’ve had a few healing spells cast on me but that was something different altogether.”

Sacred Lance didn’t say anything, just put her armor back on and started walking into town.

Sighing, Vitamort shook his head. “She’s just like that, I think. Haven’t known her very long and she isn’t gonna make small talk with me anytime soon.”

“Why?”

“Necromancy, even for a good cause, isn’t something she holds in high regard.”

Eclipse frowned. “Then why’s she treating me the same way?”

Shaking his head, Vitamort chuckled. “Your chaos magic. I actually think she has it out for almost any kind of magic that has a bad reputation. Might just be paladin training or something. Don’t let it get to you. Instead, come with me to the hotel I’m staying at and maybe we can talk some more.”

Sagebrush shrugged when Eclipse looked at the group. “It’s not like we have anything else to do.”

Nodding, Thorn voiced his agreement. “I concur. This could be an excellent information source for us.”

Seeing that Aranna and Dust Demon didn’t have any input, Eclipse nodded. “Hotel it is.”

Vitamort grinned. “It’ll be nice to have someone who doesn’t look at me funny just for the magic I practice.”

Dust Demon chuckled. “With the stallion we’ve got as the closest thing to our leader, we can’t really judge anyone, now can we?”

Author's Note

Seriously, chapter 50. And with a 3/1 like-dislike ratio.

Honestly thought I'd end up shutting it down before chapter ten. Whelp, now the plot's gone convoluted and I'm still pretending it all makes sense. Let's see how many give up when the big bad of the story finally gets face time in a few chapters. (Hint: they technically already have and Eclipse is going to have a fit when he realizes who it is. No, not Feather Duster.)

Split

Eclipse let his gaze wander around the hotel lobby. “Not too shabby. Looks like it’s in decent repair without giving that ‘high and mighty’ vibe Canterlot hotels do.”

Aranna chuckled. “You really hate that city, don’t you?”

Eclipse slumped. “Why do they have so many prissy nobles living in the same place? The haughtiness per square inch is unbearable! At least the eastern side of the city has some regular people living there instead of a bunch of gaudy mansions.”

“Says the guy living in the royal castle.”

“Shut up, Aranna.”

A third voice spoke up. “But the conversation’s just getting good.”

The pair turned to find Vitamort strolling up to them. “Welcome to the hotel I've called home since I arrived in town.”

“They let you rent a room here?” Eclipse asked. “I would have thought they’d be too scared, considering your… occupation.”

“They let me in on the condition that I didn’t do anything or have any experiments that caused too much damage or ungodly smells.” Vitamort chuckled. “Truth be told, I don’t really have an interest in that sort of thing. I just read and try to learn a new spell every now and again. I just accepted because it’s easier than arguing the point.”

The mare at the desk looked up, waved and returned her attention to her work.

“See? They realized that I’m decent enough.”

“Only because your bits were decent enough, too.” The mare responded.

Nodding, Vitamort turned back to the duo in front of him. “I’m glad you accepted my invite. But where’s the rest of your party?”

“They went down to the marketplace.” Eclipse said. “I think they’re just looking out for more information.”

“Is the changeling disguised?”

Aranna shook her head. “It’s not like the town doesn’t already know he’s here.”

Vitamort frowned.

<><><>

Thorn laid the menu down, confidant in his order. “I will have a coffee.”

“W-w-would you like c-c-cream or s-sugar with that?” The terrified waitress responded.

“No, thank you.”

“R-r-right away.” The mare turned and moved away from the table as fast as she could without running.

Thorn gave his menu one last glance. “I wonder how the rest of Blackreach is doing.”

His reverie was broken by Dust Demon nudging his with a hoof. “I think she likes you.”

“Because barely contained terror is equivalent to love? Hmph. Please use your brain before jumping to conclusions, Dust Demon.”

Dust Demon smacked the changeling in the side of the head.

When the waitress returned with the coffee, she was greeted by the sight of a brown pegasus trapped in a spherical bubble of green magic. He was currently shouting obscenities at the changeling powering the shield, but his words were muffled.

Thorn turned to look at the stunned waitress, who, with mouth hanging open, set the coffee on the table. “Ah, my drink has arrived.”

The waitress screamed.

<><><>

Blinking slowly, Vitamort grunted. “I suppose that’s true.” The stallion coughed into his hoof, took off his cloak and sat in a nearby chair.

“Listen… to be honest, I don’t know what the deal is with this evil necromancer. I’ve tried to find out, but I’ve never gotten close. A guard did, once, but he’s still hospitalized. Comatose, from what I’ve heard. Any leads I could dig up are dead ends. The one that might not be is still too far out of my reach to investigate.”

“So you want us to help you?” Aranna asked. “Great.”

“I want you to help this town.” Vitamort replied. “Something I suspect you are here for, anyway.”

“Guilty.” Eclipse chuckled, raising a hoof.

Vitamort nodded. “I am here solely to stop this menace. But the lead is in the next town over and leaving too long would endanger Braycover.”

“What about the paladin lady?” Eclipse asked. “She seems like she can hold her own.”

“She is trustworthy enough, but she doesn’t trust me. If I try to leave, she’ll insist on coming with, to make sure I’m not actually going to lend a helping hoof to the other necromancer. And, she wouldn’t dare venture off on her own.”

“Why not? She could investigate and you’d be here to protect… Oh, yeah. She doesn’t trust you enough to let that happen.” Aranna grumbled, rubbing her chin. “Unless the two of you went off on this little quest of yours… and left us here to keep mister villain from stomping the town!” She pumped her talons, excited at the excellent plan she had conceived.

“That could work.” Eclipse agreed. “Instead of having to be the guy at the center of the adventure, I can just sit back and give the main crew the time they need to find the bad guy’s weakness, or whatever. It’ll be a nice change of pace from leading the charge.”

“One slight problem.” Vitamort said, an apologetic smile on his face.

“Oh, come on!” Eclipse moaned.

Aranna nodded. “Seriously? There’s more?”

Nodding, Vitamort grimaced. “Sacred Lance has it out for Eclipse almost as badly as she does for me. I can’t blame her. Every fiber of my being is telling me to be more cautious with you and the group who follow you. Sadly, I feel that I have to trust you if I want this threat to end.”

Eclipse frowned. “Well, then. I guess at first glance I’m evil, then.”

“Chaos magic, for one.” Vitamort began. “Not to mention the rather muted color scheme. Heroes are usually brighter. Though, I suppose the black armor Lance goes around in is an exception, as well.”

“What the fuck does color have to do with it?” Eclipse said, checking himself over. “Gray happens to be my favorite color. I can be gray if I want to.”

“And language, too.” Vitamort chuckled.

Aranna ruffled her wings. “Okay, so there is just about nothing to do. Now what?”

“On the contrary, I believe there is something to the benefit of all.” Vitamort, Eclipse and Aranna all turned, surprised to find Sacred Lance standing there. Behind her was Sagebrush, Thorn and Dust demon, the last of which was currently tied and being carried by the paladin.

“I hate all of you.” Dust Demon muttered.

“You did attack me.” Thorn returned. “Even after I released you from the holding sphere.”

Sacred Lance unceremoniously dropped the stallion onto the ground. “I’m just surprised that it was the changeling that was trying to keep the situation from escalating.”

Thorn smiled. “Stick with us a bit longer, Paladin. I promise that you will be truly surprised rather soon.”

Sagebrush nodded. “Anyway, we’ve been here for a while. Heard some of those ideas you were tossing out, at any rate. I don’t know what she’s planning, though.” He motioned towards Sacred Lance.

The paladin smiled. “Actually, it’s rather simple. Vitamort is correct in assuming that I wouldn’t trust him or the chaos mage with this town, and I wouldn’t want to let them out of my sight. But, we also can’t leave the town undefended. So, I propose that the changeling, griffin and Sagebrush stay here, while the three of us, along with Dust Demon, investigate this lead of yours.”

Vitamort blinked once. Then twice. Finally, he opened his mouth to speak. “So you have some trust in the changeling, then?”

“In light of recent events…” Sacred Lance replied, unsubtly glancing at Dust Demon.

“Screw you, lady.” Dust Demon grunted.

Eclipse sighed. “Front of adventure, here we come.” He turned to Vitamort. “I don’t suppose you’ll handle all the actual investigating, at least?”

Vitamort smirked. “I think you’ve been stuck in a role, like it or not.”

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.”

Author's Note

The other branches might bash on it for not being as hardcore, but Air Force basic training was still two months of absolute suck.

Grinding for XP

“Can’t say I understand why I’m here.” Dust Demon groused. “The three of you would’ve been more than enough for this dumb errand.”

Sacred Lance scoffed. “What reason do you need? You are with us now.”

“I swing the other way, darling.”

With a nudge, Eclipse winked at Vitamort, who frowned. “Even if I did prefer stallions, if you play matchmaker, I will turn the both of you into pet projects.”

The group fell into a silence at this, trudging along as they left Braycover behind them.

The buildings didn’t take long to fade out of sight, leaving nothing but trees in one direction and wide plains in the other, with the road they traveled marking the boundary between the two.

Eclipse let his mind wander, thinking over the details of this incursion of theirs.

Vitamort said that he had heard that someone in the next town over could point them to learning more about the necromancer that besieged Braycover, but little else. Rumors were questionable at best, something Eclipse had mentioned earlier, but he had been shot down by just about everyone else, seeing as there were no better alternatives.

The wind picked up, whipping Eclipse’s black cloak around, at times making the stallion lean forward slightly to counter the drag it created. Dust Demon spread his wings and took off, circling overhead for a few cycles before landing again. He was repeating this process every fifteen to twenty minutes they traveled, checking to see if he could spot anything on the road, be it a bandit ambush or just other travelers. With the exception of a few merchants with carts and some protection, there was very little traffic.

The urge to ask if it was going to be a very long trip crossed his mind, but Eclipse pushed the thought away, knowing full well that it likely wouldn’t be a well received comment.

Vitamort’s cloak seemed to be giving him even more trouble than Eclipse’s was, the wind displacing it whenever he tried to pull it back over him. Eventually, Vitamort gave up and let the garment hang awkwardly off one side of his body.

Sacred Lance was especially quiet, though that was no great surprise. Her armor didn’t seem to weigh her down in the slightest, and now that he had a chance to look at it, Eclipse could make out all the small dents and scratches that covered it. It didn’t detract from the armor’s impressive looks, but instead amplified them. Each mark was testament to the fact that it was built for war, not decoration.

Dust demon came down from his latest ‘scouting run’ with a hard thump as his hooves hit the ground. “Looks like another traveler, just up ahead. We’ll run smack into them after a few minutes.”

Eclipse chuckled. “No, really? It’s not like the terrain is completely flat, allowing us to see for miles every which way.” He spared a glance for the forest edge to one side of the road. “Except for, you know, over there.”

With a short grunt from Dust Demon, the group continued their march, soon coming upon said traveler. It was four ponies, two earth pony stallions pulling a cart, one pegasus mare riding in it and another mare, a unicorn with a sword hanging at her side and pieces of metal armor covering her vital areas, trotting alongside it.

One of the stallions seemed to be arguing with the guard.

“But if it’s anything like they say…” The stallion began.

“It’s not.” The mare interjected. “Griffinstone’s a dump. I was there a few months before Silver Lining hired me. No decent jobs and no decent people.” As the stallion began to open his mouth, she added, “No decent trading, either.”

The stallion frowned. “There’s got to be someone with some bits to spend living there.”

“Considering how desperate they were for my pocket change, I doubt it.” The mare’s gaze snapped forward and she lowered her head. “Company.” Her horn glowed slightly, as did the hilt of her sword as she prepared for the worst.

The pegasus in the cart sat up, checking over both her small caravan and the Eclipse’s party.

Dust Demon lowered his head and spread his wings slightly, a reflex for quick escape to the air in case things went south. This had the unintended effect of causing the sun to flash off of his wingblades, which must have alarmed the unicorn as she drew her sword from its scabbard.

The next thing either side knew, the unicorn had fired a spell and Dust Demon had dashed forward, the two of them charging at one another with almost identical battle cries. It was nearly impossible to tell who had actually made the first move, as before that point they were simply throwing up their guard. Whatever the case, one of them became spooked, startled the other one and now they were throwing everything they had at each other.

Dust Demon weaved this way and that, avoided the rapid casting of the unicorn as he closed the distance and sliced with a wing.

The mare deftly blocked, her telekinesis giving her fine control over even the most minute movements of her blade. As the clashing of their steel continued, the rest of either group slowly seemed to realize that, with the exception of the two ponies in the middle of a death-match, they actually meant no ill will towards each other.

Dust Demon jumped, his wings pumping as he gave himself some altitude over his opponent. She wasn’t making it easy for him, with magical beams of energy and fireballs peppering the air around him.

The mare jumped back as Dust Demon dived, slamming his hooves into the ground where she once stood. He shot forward, quickly coming next to her and adding another flurry of slashes from his wingblades. She couldn’t cast spells, needing all her concentration to fend off the flurry of attacks. When an opening presented itself, she kicked, just to have Dust Demon grab her hoof and twist, pulling her over his head and slamming her into the ground.

The mare deftly spun and kicked Dust Demon when he tried to take advantage of her grounded state, giving her the time she needed to get back on her hooves and mentally berate herself for falling for his trap.

The two glared at each other, preparing to charge again when they finally noticed the cheering. Turning, they found all six of their companions cheering and clapping, with the exception of Sacred Lance, who seemed thoroughly unamused with the entire situation.

Dust Demon worked his jaw. “Truce?” he asked, not entirely sure what was going on.

The mare groaned, shoulders slumping. “You have got to be kidding me…”

<><><>

The pegasus and caravan master, Silver Lining, was still smiling about the whole ordeal long after the situation had calmed.

She had turned her caravan around after she had learned that the rumors surrounding Braycover were true and that the town truly was under siege. She had also invited Eclipse, Vitamort, Sacred Lance and Dust Demon to tag along, hoping to have strength in numbers in the event that actual conflict arose on their journey.

“Do you know anything about who you’re looking for?” She asked, her soft voice somehow carrying past the sidebar conversation being held between the two stallions pulling Silver Lining’s cart and Sacred Lance.

“Yes.” Vitamort replied. “Or at least, someone who can point us in the direction of who we’re looking for.”

“Hooray, quest chains!” Eclipse feigned joy. “My experience bar should be filled up real soon.”

Vitamort ignored him. “I don’t suppose you know a unicorn by the name of Cane?”

“You mean Card Deck? He took forty of my bits in just a few rounds of cards. What’s worse, he’s genuinely a good player and hates cheats, so I can’t even get mad at him for it.”

“Er… Card Deck?”

“Pfft.” Silver Lining stuck out her tongue. “People call him Cane because of the cane he carries around. I’ve never seen him pull it out, but they say he can take down ponies twice his size with that thing. Of course, they say a lot of things. Hard to tell what’s true these days.”

Eclipse huffed. “Why do we need to find someone to give us directions, anyway? Can’t we just ask anyone?”

Vitamort shook his head. “We’re looking for a hermit. Some stallion spook who lives all alone, in some run down cottage, doing nothing but reading and writing books. They say he writes about everything in the world, constantly, recording history as it occurs. That’s our best chance to find out how to take down the necromancer in Braycover and Cane’s our best chance of getting to him.”

<><><>

Elsewhere, eyes scanning the page as the quill automatically flowed across it, a stallion with a stark white coat frowned to himself.

“My cottage isn’t that run down.”

Scanning the page again, Scribe suddenly realized exactly what he had just read, as well as what was being written out at that very moment.

“…Well, shit.”

Everybody's looking for something

Sacred Lance turned, watching Eclipse until he finally settled.

The paladin let out a breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, continuing with her spell preparations. Silently wishing she could have worn her armor or at least brought her lance with her, though she knew the noise would have woken Eclipse if she had done that.

A part of her hated the thought of doing this. Sneaking around, performing spells under cover of nightfall… It was supposed to be the sort of action she condemned. The thought of it sent chills up her spine.

But still, she had her own reasons for accompanying the chaos mage and the necromancer. The same reasons that had, in fact, sent her to Braycover in the first place.

Simply put; her sister had vanished.

Sacred Lance had tracked Royal Lance, though she preferred Royal in much the same way as the paladin herself preferred Sacred, all the way to Appleloosa. The westernized town had been recovering from an apparent invasion that had left the townsfolk wary of outsiders.

With a bit of luck and persuasion, she managed to learn that a pony called Royal, who also matched the description of Sacred Lance’s sister, had been through, but that she had been aiding the group that had caused the damage.

Sacred balked at the idea, certain that the event must be misremembered. While Royal was not as morally strict as the paladin, she was certainly not the kind of pony who would have had a part in the damage to the town that had taken place.

Sacred sucked in a breath as Eclipse shuffled around in his sleep some more. While it was fairly obvious that the stallion was a heavy sleeper--he still had his bracers on, yet despite the metal plates had managed to successfully use his forehooves as an impromptu pillow--his constant movement did not dispel the worry that he would wake and be less than happy to find Sacred crafting a small spell circle between them.

Letting her breath out through her nose as she finished her work, Sacred recounted what else she had learned in Appleloosa.

Apparently, the eventual success in routing the group that had taken over the town was due in no small part to a stallion by the name of Eclipse. Needless to say, when sacred Lance heard the name come up again--attached to a chaos mage, no less--she had struggled to contain her surprise.

Running into him in the same town that she had tracked her sister to, and which was currently under undead assault, was by no means a coincidence. Sacred Lance had resolved then and there to find out the truth directly from Eclipse, which led to her preparing to cast a spell that would allow her access to his mind.

Sacred Lance sighed softly, finished with her prepations.

Vitamort and Dust Demon were currently under the effects of a spell that would keep them asleep until they were awoken by an outside force, which could be anything from a simple shake to a sword in the gut, depending on what stumbled across them.

Sacred Lance was discontent that she couldn’t use the same spell on Eclipse during this procedure, but the spell had a chance to disrupt any dreams or thoughts the victim had, which could have scrambled her attempts to enter his mind.

With no sound other than a few grunts from the sleeping Eclipse, Sacred Lance activated the spell circle.

<><><>

She was under water.

Sacred Lance gasped in surprise as the taste of salt coated her tongue, liquid rushing into her mouth.

She struggled to gather any air she could around her head, but her spell couldn’t latch onto anything.

What kind of pony had a dream with no air in it?

Struggling to get her bearings, Sacred Lance had to remind herself that it wasn’t real. Calming herself with that knowledge, she let out the last of the air she had been holding in, watching the bubbles as they rose to a surface despite the fact that there wasn’t one to be found.

Despite the infinite depth she must be in, the pressure wasn’t bone crushing and there was plenty of light to see by, as if she were no further than several dozen feet under a calm surface with a clear sky and bright sun overhead.

Now that she wasn’t drowning, Sacred dove down to the floor, finding it mostly flat with some gentle rises and falls. Plants and corals dotted the area, though there were also wide patches of barren seafloor.

A few aquatic animals and fish danced around a few areas of the dreamscape, though Sacred Lance paid them little mind. They were merely aesthetics to the dream, and she had to find her way to a part of the dream where she could access Eclipse’s memories. Preferably somewhere that the dream was weakened enough to allow some information to slip between the subconscious and upper levels of thinking.

Prepared to begin her search, Sacred Lance instead ducked behind a patch of seaweed when she heard voices approach, as clear as if they had been speaking through air instead of water.

“Are you sure?”

“Quite sure.”

Eclipse’s voice was easily recognizable for the paladin, but the second one was unfamiliar.

Two larger fish swam into view. One of them was a gray barracuda, which was almost seven feet long and darting to and fro, clearly looking for something.

Sacred Lance cursed, wondering how Eclipse could have possibly realized that she had invaded his dreams, until she got a good look at the second fish.

It was a massive tuna, easily several feet longer and much larger overall than the barracuda. The tuna was blue and had a black splotch around a crescent moon on its side, far enough back and down to be roughly where a cutie mark would be on a regular pony.

Sacred Lance had a feeling that she was not the only visitor that Eclipse was hosting.

The barracuda grumbled something before turning to its larger companion. “Would it help if we weren’t fish?”

“If you didn’t want to be a fish, perhaps you shouldn’t have had this dream.”

“Oh, yes, because we can preselect what we dream every night before I go to bed.”

The tuna seemed to smirk at the barracuda, though it was hard to read fish expressions. “The intruder is near. Check any possible hiding places.”

The barracuda frowned. “I get interrupted in the middle of a clownfish egg buffet for this? Oh, screw it.”

The water around Sacred Lance swirled as the plants, corals and animals were all sucked into the floor. The ground itself leveled out, becoming a perfectly flat plain while the water drained out, leaving empty air where there once was none.

The conversion was swift, almost instantaneous, and left Sacred Lance sprawled on the floor from the surprise of it. By the time she managed to regain her bearings, two shadows had fallen across her, despite their still being no clear light source in the dreamscape.

“Sacred Lance?” Eclipse asked as the paladin finally managed to look up at the two forms near her. He was now in his regular body. “Normally when a mare is in my dreams, they’re here under entirely different circumstances…”

“So you know her?” The second voice asked.

Glancing over at the second shape, Sacred Lance had to suppress the shock that went through her system. Even if she had never laid eyes on her before, it was almost impossible to not recognize Princess Luna, standing before the paladin in all her glory.

“She’s the one we were just talking about when you, you know, ‘felt a disturbance.’ For a moment there I was honestly about to dream up some energy swords.”

Princess Luna nodded once as she looked over to Sacred Lance, who was giving Eclipse a bit of a questioning look at the seemingly random change in topic. “I do not like intruders in my domain.”

The paladin babbled a response, losing her bearing for what felt like the first time in years. “I-it would not have allowed me to i-interact with his dream, your highness.”

“Holy crap, is she stuttering?” Eclipse asked.

“T-t-to even make the attempt c-could break the dream and the spell. I could, at m-most, be an observer.”

Luna raised a hoof, silencing the mare. “Eclipse.” She stated, getting the stallions attention.

“Yes, Princess Tuna?”

“Please save your jokes for later. I will be taking Sacred Lance to her own mind and speaking to her in her dreams.”

Eclipse rolled his eyes. “Personal privacy, yadda yadda. Will you be coming back, or is this the last I’ll see of you until you want another report?”

“I’ll visit again in several nights. Perhaps by then you will have the solution to Braycover’s necromancer problem.” Luna smiled. “Oh, and tell Vitamort that my sister would like to meet him one day, should he ever find himself near Canterlot. She is most curious about him.”

“Will do, Princess.” Eclipse nodded. “But, listen, I do have a few--“ With a flash, Eclipse found himself standing alone in an empty dreamscape. Luna had whisked away Sacred Lance so the two could have a private conversation, likely involving layer upon layer of questions and answers.

“Well, that was rude. She just cut out right in the middle of my sentence!” Eclipse huffed. “…Still best Princess.”

A new arrival

Celestia experienced a small jolt as the wave of magic reached her. She looked out a nearby window, her brow furrowing as she noticed the statue of Discord, still frozen in place. But what she had felt could not have been a mistake. No, she was far too familiar with this type of magic to believe that what she had felt was anything else. She stood, calling for a guard.

“Yes, my princess?” The guard asked, not noticing anything wrong as he stepped inside the throne room.

“Please retrieve my sister for me. I believe that we--” She was cut off as said sister burst into the room, startling several maids who had been cleaning.

“Celestia!” Luna began, short of breath. “We need to speak with you! It is a matter of--”

Celestia held up a hoof, silencing Luna. “I know. You felt it as well?”

Luna nodded, casting a brief glance at the guard.

Celestia turned towards him, taking a deep breath. “Gather five full squadrons. I want no less than forty soldiers with us.”

The guard started, nearly dropping his spear at the princess’ grave tone. “Of course, but if I may ask, why?”

The solar and lunar princesses shared a glance, then Celestia answered. “I fear that a powerful magic has just come into Equestria. One of chaos.”

The guard seemed to stall for a minute as he flashed back to discord’s brief return. Celestia nodded, thoughts of cheese raining down on Canterlot returning to her. She was eternally grateful that nopony had been hurt, but she was losing track of herself. Returning her attention to the throne room, she found that the guard had departed, as had several of the palace staff in the room.

Luna had returned to her room, likely to brace herself for a fight. Celestia opted to leave Shining armor out of this, the unicorn currently sleeping through the night with his wife.

She made her way to the front of the palace.

She had expected the guards to be prepared in just a few minutes. Instead, Celestia found that the changeling invasion had turned her entire guard force into minute-ponies, prepared to fight at just a moments notice. Luna walked into the corner of Celestia’s vision.

“Should we--er, I gather any of my Lunar guard?” Luna asked, her anxiety showing through with her near relapse into archaic speaking.

“No.” Celestia answered, a touch of sadness in her voice. “If forty soldiers isn't enough, then the entirety of the guard force won’t make a difference.”

“What of the elements?”

“We cannot rely on them to protect Equestria forever. You know as well as I do that there is enough going on already.”

Luna nodded, her hard gaze as unwavering as ever. “And if we do need them?”

“Then flee.” Celestia said, frowning. “You are a faster flyer than me, by far. Get to the bearers and seal whatever threatens Equestria in the bowels of Tartarus.”

<><><>

It had proven easy enough to locate the disturbance. Even so, Celestia and Luna were not prepared for what they found.

It was a clearing close to the edge of the Everfree forest. A perfect circle of grass had been completely incinerated, turned to ash by the energy release. In the middle of the circle, lay an earth pony. He had a gray coat with a brown mane. Very dull and drab compared to most ponies’ bright colors and radiance.

Despite being an obvious earth pony, he wasn't built like one. Most earth ponies were well muscled, built for work. This one had a thinner frame, more akin to the magic driven unicorns. Another major distinction was his complete lack of a cutie mark. While most ponies got one during early adolescence, this pony lacked one entirely, despite young adulthood.

One of the guards took a step forward, before turning towards Celestia for confirmation. She nodded, confusion managing to show itself though her normally passive mask.

The guard edged towards the pony, who was showing no obvious signs of life. He lowered his head, putting his ear against the stranger’s chest. “No heartbeat." He reported, picking up his head. "Not breathing, either. He’s dead." The guard set the butt of his spear on the ground with a soft thud. As soon as the sound reached Celestia’s ears, the pony’s eyes snapped open. The guard jumped back in surprise at the princess’ warning cry.

The sky was clear, but a lone bolt of lightning arced through the air, touching ground for just a fraction of a second before it dissipated. That fraction however, was all it took for the pony to rise from the ground, facing the contingent of armed guards.

Celestia wasn't paying attention, as her mind was riveted on an image that had been burned into her retinas by the lightning. That of the pony who was now laying on the ground, eyes glowing a dark red. That pony laying waste to everything around him, including misshapen silhouettes that she could not identify. The silhouettes shifted and faded in and out, some rising to fight alongside him while others took the forms of various ponies or creatures that were trying to fight against him.

What shook her most, however, was Canterlot.

The city was constantly shifting, just as the silhouettes were. Sometimes, it was a battered and scorched ruin, towers and buildings falling to the ground. Other times it was pristine, serving as nothing more than an onlooker over the battle. It's location also changed, as the pony either fought to get at the city, laying siege on the structure, or to defend it, the walls guarded by him.

The silhouettes around him and Canterlot's appearance constantly shifted, changing from him standing with or against a battalion of ponies, a few of which appeared to be in royal guard armor, to a conflict involving beasts of so many different possible sizes and shapes they were too numerous to clearly recall.

The only constant was the battle and the pony himself.

It was clear that this was the future, as near as Celestia could tell. The circumstances would be decided in time, as the pony etched a place for himself into Equestria. The question, then, is what will he end up being?

A guard, savior, or destroyer? A thief, murderer, or protector? Will he have allies or will he stand alone?

And why was he here, in Equestria, to begin with?

“Sister. Sister! Celestia, wake up!”

Celestia shook herself out of her daze. “Who--what?”

She saw several of her guards trying to apprehend the stranger, who was busy avoiding them with a look of panic in his eyes. Eventually, a group of five guards managed to encircle him, slowly closing in.

The pony screwed his eyes shut, apparently having given up. The guards prepared to apprehend their quarry, when the pony’s eyes snapped open. While his eyes before had been a gray-blue, they were now glowing a dark red over the entirety of the eyeball, just like in Celestia's vision. The pony picked up his fore hooves and slammed them into the ground, releasing a blast of chaos magic in a wave away from him that knocked away the nearby guards.

The pony shook his head, the magical attack having drained him considerably. He glanced around, obviously confused as to how he had done whatever it was that he managed to do.

Celestia looked on at the pony who was ever so slowly backing away from the remaining guards. He was terrified. He was shaky on his hooves as well, as if he wasn't used to walking on four legs.

Surely, this could not be the warrior she had seen? The fact that he wielded the magic of chaos was undeniable, but it was also unlikely that he had ever had any contact with it before now, given his reaction to it.

She looked at Luna, who was also trying to make a judgment on what she had just bared witness to.

The gray and brown pony ended up being backed directly into a tree. He glanced back for a split second before returning his gaze to the large group of guards. His eyes began to glow red once more, terror on his features.

He wasn't controlling the magic, Celestia realized. His emotions were driving it out, forcing it to the surface. That was something that only occurred when a unicorn had just undergone a burst in the growth of their magical ability, before their body adapted to compensate. Such occurrences were typical of a pubescent or even prepubescent unicorn, but an earth pony of any age? Regardless of this being chaos rather than unicorn magic, that could only mean that he had either acquired his power extremely recently, or it had been unnoticed up to this point in time.

The guards closed in again, readying their spears.

“Enough!” Luna called, ordering the guards to back off, but not to lower their defenses.

The threat growing further from him, the gray pony’s eyes returned to normal. He swayed for a bit, shaking his head as he regained control of himself. Luna stepped though the line of guards, slowly approaching the disoriented pony. He eventually turned to face her, but his reaction upon seeing her was one of sheer disbelief, as if he thought he was going mad.

“Princess…Luna?” He began, when the lunar princess touched the tip of her horn to his forehead.

“Peace.” She stated, as the pony’s pupils dilated first to encompass most of his iris, then reversing and becoming little more than pinpricks. His eyes closed, his body falling to the ground. A light snore escaped him as several guards picked him up, preparing him for transport back to Canterlot.

Celestia nudged her sister. “Do you think that this is a good idea?”

Luna sighed. “I don’t know for sure, but I do know what you saw when the lightning struck.” Luna’s face turned grim, her eyes darkening. “When I put him to sleep, I also performed a magical sweep of the area. There is something here, watching. Possibly whatever brought him here.” Luna smiled, her eyes filled now with a mix of determination and amusement. “Whatever it was, it is gone now, and left this pony behind."

Gift of the Elders

Power buzzed through him, energizing his body like a massive electric shock. Eclipse fell to the floor of the cave, the unexpected jolt hitting him like a punch to the gut.

As if sensing his pain, the energy seemed to retreat, giving Eclipse time to clear his swirling vision. He took a deep breath, slowly using his chaos to reach out again. This time, the massive energy source waited patiently for Eclipse to find it.

As his probing continued, Eclipse felt himself pulled into the energy he was using to reach out, feeling everything they touched, if that was the proper terminology. As his senses tried to make sense of this new information, his vision went black and white. For a time, he stayed like that, barely able to see. His vision seemed to get darker, but then his own energy came into view.

Eclipse saw his disharmony magic swirling around him. He moved some of the energy, watching as it slid through the space that he could see.

That’s all it was by now. A black void, inside of which he sat. Eclipse reached out again, this time finding the energy he had been searching for.

While his own magic was a dark, yet somehow bright red, this energy was orange.

It was also massive.

If Eclipse’s power had been a pond, this glowing orb was an ocean. The power was also sentient, it seemed, as it interacted with Eclipse’s own power in a way no random magical font would have naturally done.

Tendrils of orange slid across and occasionally even blended with red, the two colors swirling around Eclipse. He sighed as the orange energy reached down, enveloping him in a bubble. Relaxing further, somehow sure that he was in no danger, he felt as if he was being moved, perhaps even dragged to a destination.

An electric tingle traveled down his spine as the magic around him pulsed slightly, bringing Eclipse further into it.

A small orange orb broke out of the main wellspring of magic. It floated to Eclipse, coming to a stop a short distance away. It was perhaps a quarter of what Eclipse’s magic would be if he was at full strength. The main font of magic retreated, as if waiting for the next movement to be made.

Eclipse tentatively reached out, a tendril of red snaking through the black void, towards the small bubble of magic. As the tendril brushed against the orb, Eclipse felt a small jolt run through his system. He hastily pulled back, feeling that he had had more than enough when it came to electricity.

The glowing orb did not move. It did not react. The large bubble that had spawned it reached out and tapped Eclipse, pointing at the comparably tiny power with a tendril of its own. The small bubble was completely separate from the larger font. It was independent and it did not share in the ability to think for itself that the larger power had.

The energy of the Elder’s Cradle continued to prompt Eclipse until he finally reached out again. As the red tendril stretched towards the orb, the larger energy retreated again.

This time Eclipse expected the jolt, biting his tongue as the feeling washed over him. As Eclipse watched, the energy orb seemed to diminish, steadily decreasing in size until it disappeared.

He took a deep, gasping breath. Eclipse couldn’t see himself. Just the energy of his own magic, the orange orb and the void around them.

Realizing that the smaller orb could not have simply burnt out, Eclipse tapped into his own energy reserves in the hopes to draw out more of his power in an extended search. He found his red disharmony magic, but it now had a smaller orange energy source orbiting it, pulsing with its own power.

Stifling a gasp, Eclipse pushed and pulled with the energy, exercising to try and see if he could control it. It quickly molded itself into his own pattern, saving him from trying to adapt to it.

Eclipse sent out an orange tendril of magic, waving it about like he would with the red. It certainly had a different feel to it and even from this minor exercise, Eclipse knew that it had a much different set of effects in the active world than his chaos did.

He turned to confront the larger magic power, preparing himself to question it. As he turned, the orange magic reached out towards him, unexpectedly tapping him in the center of the forehead. Eclipse pulled back, away from the orb, but he slipped and fell. When he hit the ground, his vision snapped back to normal and Eclipse found himself just a few dozen feet away from the chariot-balloon that Dust Demon had scrapped together.

The sun shone bright overhead in a clear sky. Eclipse struggled to his hooves, stars busting in his vision. He heard someone call his name, just before Braeburn jumped into his vision, grinning.

“Where’ve you been?” The excitable earth pony asked. “We were about to leave!”

“Oh, you know.” Eclipse said, rubbing his eyes. “Here and there.”

Braeburn sighed. “Well, you’re back and that’s all that matters right now. Dust Demon went scouting earlier this morning and found the tribe. We were just now heading their way.”

Eclipse nodded. “Excellent. And where are the others?”

At that moment, Little Strongheart trotted out of the cave. “Brae--” She began, when she saw Braeburn and Eclipse standing next to each other. Her face darkened and she scowled at Eclipse, who merely waved back.

“Well, I see you missed me.” He laughed, much to her chagrin.

At the sound of his voice, the rest of the group poked their heads out of the cave.

Dust Demon handed Sagebrush a small pile of bits, the latter grinning at his friend. After the exchange, they trotted over to Eclipse, welcoming him back.

“Seriously?” Eclipse chuckled. “How long was I gone?”

“We thought you were dead.” Sagebrush muttered. “Figured a manticore or desert hydra got you.”

Eclipse fell silent after that, not quite sure how to respond.

Cactus Star stepped out from behind her father. “You… look different.” She said, taking a seat in the dirt.

Dust Demon shrugged. “Looks the same to me.”

Eclipse glanced at the filly for a moment before returning his attention to the group. “All right, that’s enough. We need to get to the buffalo before they decide to move camp.” He turned towards Little Strongheart. “I want no mention of Dust Demon’s ‘preferences’ to the rest of your tribe, understand?”

She nodded once before stepping into the chariot-balloon.

Defending A Major Scientific Facility: A 'How Not To' Guide

"AaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaah!"

*Zap* *Fwoosh* *BOOM*

"AaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaah!"

*ptew* *swoosh* *avada kedavra!*

Wired Circuit and Ray beam glanced at each other.

"At least he made a good entrance." Wired Circuit said, sighing heavily.

<>*super-wavy flashback effect*<>

Eclipse burst through the wall, a police battering ram in his hooves. "Wazzup bitches?"

No less than a dozen members of the Dawn's Light stared back at him, at least half of which were unicorns who had already armed various spells of less than pleasant intent.

Feeling suddenly hot under his cloak, Eclipse felt the HUD glasses slide down his snout a few inches.

"Shit."

<><><>

"That wall would have come out of our paychecks." Ray Beam complained, rolling her eyes.

"Naw. Just the budget."

Considering that a pair of earth ponies were currently detaining the two scientists with spears, they were oddly calm at the moment.

Eclipse ran by again, accompanied by an "AaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaah!" scream and closely followed by the horde of ponies he had wandered into.

This time, he managed to duck into a doorway leading down another wing of the facility. A swarm of magic blasts followed, ranging from fireballs and pure energy blasts to telekinetically thrown pieces of debris from Eclipse's 'entrance'.

The entire wall crumbled, leaving only the door still standing. Soon, that fell forward, revealing Eclipse sitting on his haunches. His ears were tucked back against his head and his expression was quizzical, as if wondering how he had been found. Three Dawn's Light approached, assured in their impending victory.

Eclipse panicked, loading several rubber bands and firing them all at the approaching Dawn's Light. Taking this and repeating the process several dozen times, he soon opened his eyes to see one pony tied up and incapacitated by the rubber bands and another with several whelps covering her body, including an eye that was swollen shut. The third was affixed to a wall, attached by staples. Since he had only fired rubber bands, Eclipse wondered for a brief moment where the staples had come from before shrugging it off.

Most of the other Dawn's Light had taken cover, none of them willing to face the sudden wall of rubbery (and staplely!) pain. Deciding to wait for his enemy to make the next move, Eclipse decided to wait, leaning against the wall and flipping a coin.

A unicorn had crawled out from his cover and charged up a massive fireball. Eclipse noticed too late, catching it only from the corner of his eye. With no time to run, he turned and flung the coin at the oncoming projectile.

The fire engulfed Eclipse in a cone, the tip of which was where the coin had impacted the fireball. The orange flames swirled around him and dissipated several seconds after, their fuel expended. Eclipse had hidden underneath his cloak, as if cloth would give him bonus fire resistance. Also, he had managed to come out of the endeavor completely unscathed, so he might have actually been onto something.

Cracking open first one eye then the other, Eclipse managed to find no major burns or injuries on his person. "Yes!" He cried out in surprised victory. "From now on, you'll call me Lord Of the Flame!"

"Hey, Lord Of the Flame!" Wired Circuit shouted. "Your tail's on fire."

"What?" He looked down at his tail, which did indeed have a small fire at the very tip of it. Screaming again, he ran around for several moments before tripping over a large piece of rubble. Taking the once-a-wall rock, he slammed it onto the tail fire, snuffing out the flame.

"Hah! Now I can really start to fight ba--" His announcement was cut short when he tried to stand and walk away, resulting in an incredible pain from his tail. Falling to the ground, Eclipse turned his head to find the source of the pain. He found that his tail was now trapped under the rock he had used to put out the fire. "Oh, come on!"

A unicorn leaned out of her hiding spot. "Did he really just do that?"

The pegasus beside her shrugged. "I thought the was the same pony we saw back in Appleloosa. Maybe not?"

Eclipse put his hoof around the unicorn. "Actually, I am."

The unicorn slowly tuned to where he had been just a few seconds ago. Turning back, she saw the debris which Eclipse had pretended to trap himself under just before it smashed into her skull.

Turning to the pegasus, Eclipse raised the bloodied stone. "Did you really fall for that?"

The pony sighed. "Just hit me, already!"

Shrugging, Eclipse obliged. Dusting himself off, he grinned. Five down with seven to go, including the douche who decided to sling a fireball at him. Time to get shit done.

Only a few moments later, a squadron of golden clad guards poured into the room, following the trail Eclipse had left since he entered the facility. Most of the attack was centered around the weapons labs, so this wing of the facility was much easier to get through.

They found Eclipse calmly pulling a rope which led up to the ceiling, though a loop and straight down to where an earth pony was unsuccessfully trying to untie himself mid-air. Wired Circuit and Ray Beam were both nearby, both of which were trying to piece together the scene they had just witnessed in such a way that they could describe it without coming across as raving mad. It was harder than it looked and from the expressions on their faces, it looked pretty darn hard.

<><><>

"Okay, so it's centered on weapons..."

The guard nodded, confirming the statement.

"Well, we know what they're after." Eclipse turned to the two scientists. "Wired Circuit, I need you two to help these guys out." He said, gesturing to the guards. "Take them to whatever part of the facility they need to get to. If need be, help orchestrate the evacuation of this entire facility. Ray Beam, go and get even more guards here than there already are. If they ask why, Echo-Kilo-Five-Sol. Got that?"

"Y-yeah. Echo-Kilo-Five-Sol." Ray Beam turned and ran, making a beeline for the facility's main entrance. Wired Circuit merely saluted and made off with a detachment of the guards.

Eclipse eyed the four that remained. "Why didn't you lot go with the others?"

One guard stepped forward. "direct orders from Celestia. We were to follow your orders specifically, Sir."

Eclipse chuckled. "Just like her. I never even read the leadership manuals she gave me. Okay fine, but be prepared for a fight. These chucklefucks don't just lay down and wait for you to arrest them."

The guards nodded.

"To the weapons facilitory!"

"Facilitory, Sir?"

"Shut up and follow me, damn it!"

<><><>

Eclipse and the quartet of guards were split along two sides of a T in the hallway. The Dawn's Light were attacking from the perpendicular hallway, having attacked just as the troop were in the middle of the T and at their most vulnerable.

Eclipse and a single earth pony were on one side, while the other guards had been stranded on the other side.

Eclipse leaned around the corner, firing a hoofful homing mini-missiles.

Two of the missiles were shot down and the rest exploded against a hasty, albeit effective, magical barrier. The Dawn's Light had practically choked their ranks with unicorns while Eclipse was leading two earth ponies and two pegasi.

Now see, this is what playing a hefty amount of real-time strategy games gets you when you find yourself in an emergency real-life strategy situation.

A unicorn's spell slammed into the corner Eclipse was taking cover behind, sending small chips and dust flying. Choking on the debris, Eclipse pointed back the way they had come from. "Pegasi! Their was another path a few minutes that way! With any luck you can follow it and get the drop on these guys! Flank em!"

Eclipse leaned out and slammed his hoof into the ground, erecting a wall of stone so the two pegasi could safely cross the no-man's land.

The Dawn's Light's continued assault soon made the barrier crumble, but the pegasi had made it across. The earth pony on the other side flung his spear when an opening presented itself. When Eclipse heard the yelp of pain, he spun out of his hiding area and hurled a small black orb at the Dawn's Light.

The orb unfurled itself over the head's of the Light, turning into a black storm cloud. The cloud fired a single thunderbolt at one of the ponies before dissipating. The electric shock killed the pony almost instantly, and burned into his side were the words 'ride the lightning'.

Eclipse's laughter earned his corner another volley from his enemies. After the fire had died down again, Eclipse leaned out, letting his shiny new HUD unit get a reading on his remaining enemies.

Most were unicorns, as expected, but the last third were earth ponies, resulting in a complete lack of air-power. That, plus they were starting to get some wear and tear of their own, even though the fight had only been going on for a few minutes.

Unfortunately, Eclipse was faring no better. His heart rate was through the roof, as was blood-pressure. Also, while he was able to contain a massive amount of magical power (chaos magic took up very little space) It would take him a week to restore what a unicorn could gain in a day, so he hadn't even fully recovered from Appleloosa before finding himself here. If he could accurately tell where his enemies' attacks were going, then he might be able to throw something back at them even with all the confusion.

Clicking his tongue, he turned to the guard next to him. "Can I have your spear?"

Needless to say, the guard gave it to him. Jumping out, Eclipse's eyes shifted from their customary red glow of power usage to an orange one, allowing him to dance around the oncoming wave of projectiles thanks to orange phantom projectiles only he could see, pick up a spear one of the Dawn's Light had thrown and toss the one given to him at a unicorn.

The spear hit the unicorn in the horn, chipping a small piece off and cracking the bone-like protrusion. Snarling in pain and anger, the unicorn prepared another spell, but the energy started to backlog, unable to fulfill the task it was originally assigned without a proper medium to travel through. Since the unicorn was casting, he was using his horn as a 'magic wand' but since it was damaged, the energy built up with nowhere to go.

Eclipse was glad he used his entire body as a magical medium by default, making him next to immune to that sort of thing unless he tried to weave a spell with a broken leg, the pain of which would stop him before it was too serious.

For the unicorn, however, the energy build up resulted in an explosive release, turning him into a living bomb. The end result was a bloody mess.

Taking the moment of distraction the pony-splosion provided, Eclipse threw the spear he had picked up, nailing an earth pony in the stomach. He ducked behind cover on the opposite side of the hallway intersection from where he began. Peeking out, he saw a unicorn remove the spear and use magic to seal the wound, presumably repairing what internal damage she could in the process.

Eclipse ducked back behind cover as another wave of magical blasts came at him. If one of them was a healer, this fight was going to take a while.

<><><>

The two pegasi turned another corner. They had picked up several extra spears along the way, likely dropped when another set of guards and Dawn's Light clashed in the halls. Still, they'd be useful for the mission Eclipse had given them. Stopping at another intersection they hoped would get them to where they need to go, they were more than surprised to see two darkly armored earth ponies and a unicorn.

They were members of Luna's half of the guard.

Landing in front of the trio, the two day guards asked what the night guards were doing.

"Luna sent us." The unicorn explained. "She wanted to send immediate aid to one Eclipse, supposedly here in the research facility."

"We're under his command." A pegasus answered. "He ordered us to try and find a way to flank some opposition that has given us trouble."

The night guards glanced at each other. "Count us in."

<><><>

Eclipse would have kissed Luna had she been there when he saw purple armored night guards wade right into the Dawn's Light, the two pegasi he sent providing air support with an array of spears.

With little cover and nowhere to run from the unexpected second attack, the Light was forced into covering two flanks at once, leaving them weakened and giving Eclipse's team all the opportunity they needed.

"All right!" He shouted. "Let's get in there! But if one of you two so much as whispers Leroy Jenkins, I'll make your worst nightmare seem like a wet dream!"

The two earth ponies rushed their side of the Dawn's Light, one clashing with an earth pony and the second closing on a unicorn before he could finish his spell.

Eclipse followed, gunning for the enemy healer.

It's been a long time since the last update, but you will not have to start over because... (cont. on Author's Notes)

Author's Note

(Cont. from chapter title) ...this chapter comes fully equipped with a super short rehash of all (most) major events thus far. If anyone would like to start over, that's you putting yourself through hell, not me. If you try to blame me, pretend I responded with a "Fuck this shit" type of reply becuase I HAD BEEN STUCK WITHOUT INTERNET FOR (checks date) SIX GODDAMN MONTHS (plus a few weeks to make up for lost internet time) and will likely not spend time to reply to you. I might though. There's more, but you ain't here to read about me, so here's

It's been a long time since the last update, but you will not have to start over because... (cont. on Author's Notes)

At the chariot landing area of the royal palace in Canterlot, a pair of golden armored guards noticed a buzzing sound emanating from a nearby stone.

“…Sir, should we investigate?”

The older guard looked at his younger companion. “Damn rookie. All right, fine. Thanks for volunteering.”

The younger guard jumped back a few inches. “Wait, what? Why me? You’re the superior officer!”

“Exactly, Private. Now pick up the rock.”

Nervously, the Private picked up the stone and held it in his hoof. Both he and the older guard leaned in as the stone stopped buzzing.

“Hello?” A voice from the rock asked. “Anyone on the other side of this thing?”

The guards shared a glance before the older one responded. “Yes. This is the royal palace landing area. Who is this and how are we speaking?”

“Eclipse. Magic.”

The older guard nodded while the younger frowned. “Sir, that’s not a very--“

“Shush, Private. Is there any reason you contacted this particular rock?”

“Yes. We are on approach and are requesting permission to land like a dainty butterfly.”

“What?”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Thank you.”

Nearby, a chariot pulled by a single pegasus landed softly, hooves touching the ground with a perfect amount of force so as to not cause any jumps to the chariot’s passengers.

It was as dainty a landing as was ever made.

The Private sighed happily. “Nice. That was nice.”

“That wasn’t him, Private.” The older guard replied, scowl etched onto his face. “No way in tartarus are we getting off that easy.”

A few seconds later, the two guards caught sight of an approaching fireball.

“Private.”

“Yes?”

“Run.”

“Wh--“

“RUN!”

The fireball landed with a loud crash, a brown pegasus that had been in front flying forward and rolling until he came to a stop on his back.

An earth pony came out next, riding a sheet of scrap metal as it skidded along the ground. “Woo!”

The pegasus got to his hooves. “Aw, man. I just got that thing. We’ll be lucky if Celestia makes us another one.”

A griffin in armor and another pegasus landed nearby, the pegasus shaking his head slightly. “The decision to fly under my own power was a very prudent one. Perhaps even the best decision I have ever made.”

The griffin nodded. “Got that right. By the way, nice work, disguising yourself like this. Guessing it’s because of that invasion that happened not too long ago?”

“Indeed. The wounds Chrysalis inflicted may never mend, but if they ever do, I will happily walk the streets of Canterlot in my own skin. Disguising myself is something I have never been a fan of.”

The earth pony shrugged. “Ah, whatever. You’re under the princesses’ roof!” He turned and began striding towards the palace. “Now where’s that god of chaos? I have something to discuss with him. Mostly about how the bloody fuck is he able to transform himself? Seriously, I need to learn how to do that.”

The pair of guards wordlessly stood by, the older one having grown numb to situations like this and the younger too shocked to respond.

“Sir?” The Private finally asked.

“No, you never get a proper explanation.”

“Well, there was that one time…”

“You mean when we saw Princess Luna dragging a guard with a cooking apron on through the halls? A prime exception to the rule, that. Who would have thought that the palace had so many desserts in it when that food fight started? Someone must have been baking more while that was going on.”

“Why?”

“Just to feed the fires.”

<><><>

Eclipse was pacing just outside the room that had served as his home during his time in Equestria. Every so often he would stop and give the doorway a sorrowful look, just to return his gaze to the ground and continue his circular march.

Feather Duster stood nearby, having been brought to him by Discord after the chaos user and chaos god had talked with each other for a time.

Discord hadn’t gone into great detail, but mentioned something called the internet and the fact that Eclipse was dealing with the confirmation that his world was continuing its march through time. Immediately realizing the implications, and the guilt Eclipse was feeling if this meant that his family was suffering for his presence in Equestria, Feather Duster was quick to offer a comforting wing around him. Eclipse barely noticed, mumbling to himself about his exploits in Equestria up to this point, clearly trying to make peace with himself by rationalizing the situation and identifying the fact that there was no way he was to blame for this, as he had no way back.

It went as well as one could expect.

Still, the fact that he was processing it as all was a very good sign. When Luna entered the hall and began approaching the pair of ponies, Discord having disappeared some time earlier, she took great care not to jar Eclipse too much when she blocked his path, ending his repetitious pacing.

Luna waited for Eclipse to acknowledge her presence, a response that took only a few seconds to be carried out, but which seemed to stretch for an agonizingly long time. Once she knew that he was paying attention Luna cleared her throat. “Forgive me, Discord explained your situation when I pressed him for an answer. I realize this may seem rude, or callous, but I’m afraid that a full debrief is in order.”

“Yes, Princess.” Eclipse began, taking a moment to clear his thoughts. “It took some doing, but I managed to arrive in Vangar without too much--“

“Not of your mission, Eclipse.”

Now thoroughly confused, Eclipse raised his head. “Then, what do I need to be debriefed on?”

“Everything since you came to Equestria.” Luna answered, sternly. “And this time, do not spare the details of how and why you came to possess Honesty magic in Appleloosa, or this new Loyalty magic development in Vangar.”

“Y-you know?” Eclipse asked, genuinely shocked. He hadn’t told anyone. The only ones who knew were Fateweaver and Finnis, and Eclipse didn’t even know how they were connected with it.

“My sister and I sensed the magic as soon as we came within a certain distance. Do not be fooled by the fact that she did not confront you at Vangar. She is well aware.” Luna glared at the increasingly nervous pony before her. “However, we do not appreciate secrets, especially ones that could bring harm to Equestria. We trust you Eclipse, but gaining power such as this is not something that we will not treat with suspicion.” Her glare softened and she let out a sigh. “Please, do not retain any information. The more we know, the less likely it will be that we will have to take drastic action.”

Feather Duster, silent until this point, spoke up. “I-I don’t understand. Honesty magic and Loyalty magic? This doesn’t make any sense.”

Luna turned her gaze to the maid. “Indeed. However, I’m afraid you’ve been dragged into things. Perhaps… perhaps if Celestia allows, you may be told. Until then, Eclipse,” Eclipse snapped to attention at the Princess’ sharp tone. “Hall of the elements. Now.”

A few minutes later, Eclipse was explaining everything he could, though his lack of answers annoyed the Princess greatly. She discreetly performed a lie detector spell, but found no falseness in his words.

He was retelling certain things, most of his missions were unchanged. He went into more detail about a pony named Royal who was apparently enslaved to a being with Loyalty magic, a detail he hadn’t shared before, and her minotaur ally, Grudge, both of whom had been leading the Dawn’s Light takeover in Appleloosa.

The few things he had to say that were completely knew to the princess were just as confusing for her as for him. Fateweaver the buffalo and Finnis the griffin, somehow tied to Honesty and Loyalty, respectively. The shape shifter who had been first met on a train in Appleloosa, to later turn up in Canterlot and strike a meaningless conversation for no discernible purpose, then again to warn of an attack on the Canterlot research facility, which Eclipse later proved instrumental in helping fight.

There were the caves where Eclipse had gained his new powers, one for Appleloosa and one for Vangar, the latter of which was tied to the defeat of Nexus hive. The presence of a friendly changeling hive, as well as an unaffiliated changeling that had been posing as Nexus’ daughter, just to reveal herself and strike at him during the battle for Vangar. Nexus’ real duaghter’s location was unknown, but she was presumably dead or left long before that situation came about.

Lastly there were the details of Nexus’ ties to the Dawn’s Light, which brought the conversation back around to the prisoners taken after the Dawn’s Light’s thwarted attack on the research facility.

After the several hours of explaining it took, it required yet another several hours for Eclipse to complain about how little he actually knew. While him repeatedly banging his head against the wall was amusing to watch, it did little other than bring about a massive headache for the stallion.

“Eclipse.” Luna said. “Are you quite sure about all of this? It has the makings of a conspiracy theory gone mad. Or perhaps, really poor story-telling that’s soon to catch up to its maker and collapse.”

“Luna, look at me.” Came the reply. “I am a god damned alien that got transmogrified into a freaking earth pony, I woke up the next day with chaos powers I still don’t fully understand, and I’m gaining new powers every time I step outside. If I don’t blow up from overload within the next few weeks, it will be a miracle. If I manage to retain my ever fraying pieces of sanity, it will be a godsend. If I ever manage to work this all out, the universe will blow up from the unlikely hood of it all.”

He went back to banging his head against the wall. “And we still have not made progress on the possibility of me ever getting back home! Hell, by this point, I should just stay here! I’ve got friends, including a marefriend in Feather Duster, a place to sleep, even a damned job. Granted, it’s a job that involves more fighting and explosions than normal, but that just makes it so much more fun. How fun? I’m not even paid for this shit!”

Luna took several seconds to work through her immediate confusion. “Yes you are.”

“…Beg your pardon?”

Explanations and services rendered

“That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard!” Sacred Lance huffed, her helmet held underneath her foreleg.

“It makes sense to me.” Vitamort said, stepping forward. “Eclipse, even if he seems soft in the head, seems to know his way around when it comes to stuff like this. I know he’s a chaos mage, but we should trust him.”

The paladin snorted. “I trust him as much as I trust you, necromancer.”

“For a holy warrior, you don’t see very much good in the world, do you?”

Eclipse, for his part, remained mostly quiet, disinterestedly watching the exchange from his place next to the entrance to the bar.

Silver Lining and her caravan were unpacking their cart just down the road, but Sacred Lance and Vitamort couldn’t decide where to start their search for Cane. When Eclipse had suggested that they check bars, pubs and inns first, they had spiraled into a debate that was now stretching on towards the fifteen minute mark.

“At least that makes it easy to defeat the enemies of peace! It doesn’t take me long to find them.”

Before Vitamort could utter a response, the door to the bar slammed open and Dust Demon stepped out. The sounds of several ponies groaning in pain came from inside the establishment.

A deep voice called out after Dust Demon. “Thanks for handling the rabble!”

“My pleasure, Barkeep.” Dust Demon closed the door and turned back to the trio that had been waiting outside. “Cane’s favorite hole happens to be a few minutes over, just that way.” He pointed his hoof further down the street. “Tavern called ‘Wayfarer’s Stand.’ Sounds like a nice place.”

Eclipse stretched his legs. “Great. Let’s get going everyone. Before I leave some of you behind and finish this myself.”

Sacred Lance frowned. “Is… is he mad at us?”

Vitamort rolled his eyes. “And mother wonders why I didn’t become a cleric.”

He ignored the pointed glare from the paladin as he trotted forward, looking to catch up to Eclipse and Dust Demon.

Sacred Lance frowned. “I’ll admit that he does have a good idea of what to do, but I still say we should have found town hall and started there.”

The paladin stood in place as she watched her companions continue forward. Dust Demon and Eclipse had begun chatting amiably, though the words were lost to the distance between them and the paladin’s ears.

Holding a hoof up to her breast, where a small medallion hung, hidden by her armor, Sacred Lance uttered a small prayer. “Let this decision help me. Please, let me find Royal.” She looked up surprised to find the trio ahead staring back at her.

She gathered her resolve and trotted forward. “I know she’s close. The spell tracked her to Braycover. I know she’s close…”

Vitmort frowned as Sacred Lance caught up to the group. “You seem a little… off, today.”

Sacred Lance scowled back.

“Nope. She’s fine.” Vitamort drawled, shaking his head.

Dust Demon chuckled as they started walking again. “Reminds you of our group, doesn’t it?”

Eclipse shrugged. “I just want to get this over with and put that necromancer’s head on a spike.”

Vitamort glanced at Eclipse.

“You know damn well I’m not talking about you.”

Vitamort chuckled, speeding up his walk into a trot.

<><><>

The Wayfarer’s stand was a stereotypical tavern, filled with stereotypical drunkards whose minds were clouded by stereotypical levels of alcohol.

Eclipse groaned. “I already hate this place.”

Dust Demon stepped to the side, avoiding a flying mug that banged against Vitamort’s head before it found a place on the ground.

Vitamort rubbed his head as most of the tavern turned to stare at the group.

“Hey, ain’t those the ones tha’ old coot wanted us to look out fer?” Someone in the crowd asked.

It didn’t take long for an older unicorn stallion with a gray coat and white mane to step forward. He glanced at a note that was in his hoof, rubbing his chin in concentration.

Eclipse frowned. “Was someone expecting us?”

Dust Demon laughed. “That can’t be right. We weren’t even expecting to come here until a few minutes ago.”

The older pony in front of the crowd nodded, stuffing the note somewhere out of sight. “Despite what that colt wants…” He grinned, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “I’ll tell you exactly where to find Scribe.”

<><><>

“You bitch!” Scribe cursed, slamming his hoof against the table as the quill continued its scratching along the parchment. “I sent you that note so you’d do the exact opposite of that!”

<><><>

“Poor lad doesn’t even realize how much he needs to get out of that cottage.” Card Deck finished. “Needs to get a marefriend, too.”

<><><>

“Screw you!”

<><><>

Eclipse sighed. “I’m sensing a ‘but’ in there…”

“Well, I was going to just give you directions and send you on your way, but if you insist on being helpful…” Card Deck smirked.

“God damnit.”

“I’m not gonna mince words here; I’m no cheater.” The stallion’s smile was gone, having vanished as he idly shifted the cane that was strapped to his back. “But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t sore losers.”

Sacred Lance growled underneath her helmet. “We are not here to play games, stallion. Explain what you want from us and we’ll get it done.”

“Tch. Stay awhile and listen, hm? You might learn something important by paying attention to the details.” Card Deck chuckled as his horn lit up, closing the tavern door behind the group. “Come on in. I’ve got a table for us.”

By then, the tavern’s normal activity had returned and the patrons were paying no heed to the newcomers. Eclipse and Dust Demon were first, taking seats at the table Card Deck had led them to.

The unicorn had started shuffling a deck of cards, masterfully flitting them from hoof to hoof in an indiscernible pattern. “I’m not the greatest, but I’m damned good at a round of poker.”

Vitamort remained standing beside the table as Sacred Lance took a seat next to Dust Demon, opposite Eclipse.

“I played with Scribe’s mother all the time. Helped her pass the time when he and his father had started to reorganize their library.” The stallion chuckled. “I go back every few months, but Scribe himself isn’t that much of a player. Enjoys blackjack well enough, at least.”

He sighed. “Few weeks ago, I played a few rounds against some pompous stallion called Pin Drop who heard about me and decided to prove his skill. Hrph. Skill my ass. He cheated in three different ways and I still beat him. Anyway, he hired some thugs, I started moving around a lot more. Turns out Scribe caught wind of it with those books he keeps. He’s been helping me keep track of some of Pin Drop’s movements, but I’m getting annoyed with it. If you can clear the thugs that have tracked me to this town, it’ll send a message of ‘leave me alone’ to him that he can’t blow off. After that, you get to meet Scribe.”

Eclipse leaned forward. His ears had perked up when Card Deck mentioned Scribe’s ability to keep track of events that he wasn’t actually a part of. “And just how does Scribe know where the thugs are looking?”

Card Deck laughed. “Pin Drop’s found himself in the role of the antagonist in one of the books. A certain mare’s family has been on the receiving end of his terrible rent rates for a while, so she’s been trying to dig up dirt on him, get him imprisoned and buy the house cheap enough that they won’t go bankrupt. She ended up stumbling onto a whole racketeering shebang. She’s been halfway down to Trottingham and back again, fighting and avoiding Pin Drop’s thugs the whole way. Now, she thinks they’re going after Card Deck, a stallion who’s been in Pin Drop’s side for years. Instead, she’s going to get a gambler who got nicknamed Cane for being good at hitting people with a stick.”

Eclipse frowned. “But that doesn’t explain how Scribe knows all this.”

Card Deck stopped shuffling his cards. “True enough. His family developed a spell that essentially keeps tabs on anything interesting happening in the world. Sort of like a crystal ball that automatically zooms in on the entertaining stuff. Adventures and the like, with maybe some other oddities mixed in. Except, it just makes quills record everything in books.”

Dust Demon leaned back. “Like with this whole thing involving Pin Drop? His spell writes down what that mare does until it ends, one way or another?”

“It doesn’t record all the details.” Card Deck shrugged. “You won’t find anything about someone in the restroom, unless something adventure related happens while they’re in there. But yes. That’s about how it works. While we’re on the subject, you should know that he’s been a big fan of you. Last time I stopped by for a visit, Chaotic Harmony was all he could talk about.”

“Chaotic Harmony? What kind of lame name is that?” Eclipse said, crossing his forehooves.

“He likes to name every story. It helps every one be a little more unique than if they just had a bare cover, or something.” Card Deck shrugged.

“Well, that’s dumb.”

Vitamort stepped up to the edge of the table. “How does he keep each story separate? And what if two things happen at the same time? What happens?”

Card Deck sighed. “I don’t know how it actually works. The one time I tried to make heads or tails of it, Penline, Scribe’s father, nearly talked my ear off explaining it.”

<><><>

“Heh, serves you right.” Scribe said, as his eyes looked over to a second book and quill, which had begun moving. Reading what was going on, Scribe gathered a piece of parchment from his desk.

“Ready or not, here they come.” He said, as the words magically appeared on the note. “Let Eclipse and co. handle the lifting. She’ll be in right after the thugs.”

Scribe sighed, sending the note along in a quick item teleport spell. “…I guess life is full of surprises.”

<><><>

Eclipse noticed the note first, barring Card Deck himself, as it popped into existence. Card Deck took hold of the note in his magic, eyes scanning it before he nodded.

“They’re here, if you want to accept my offer.”

Eclipse nodded. “Just tell us who to pounce on.”

The tavern door slammed open and a trio of burly stallions stepped inside. The first raised his head. “CARD DECK!”

Card Deck sighed. “They’d be--“

“I figured it out, thanks.” Eclipse jumped onto the table and launched himself over the crowd, landing between the trio of thugs and the rest of the bar.

“Who the hay are you?” The thug leader shouted.

Card Deck came through the crowd not a moment later. “Gentlecolts. Give Pin Drop my regards.”

“Card Deck.” The thug sneered. “Who’s this punk?” He asked, gesturing at Eclipse.

Eclipse grinned, eyes lighting up in a blaze of red as he charged his chaos magic. “His regards.”

Eclipse sent himself rocketing forward, slamming into the thug shoulder first and sending both of them flying out into the street.

The thugs friends followed them out, but they only arrived in time to see Eclipse throw the first thug into the wall of a nearby building.

Eclipse turned and slammed his hoof into the ground, a line of spikes erupting forward and slamming into the second thug, knocking him out cold. The last stallion turned tail and ran.

Before he could get very far, Dust Demon crashed into him from above, sending the stallion down into the dirt.

Card Deck followed Vitamort and Sacred Lance out of the tavern. “Hell of a show, Eclipse. Hell of a show. Here’s the directions you wanted.” He handed a map to Vitamort, with a mark where Scribe’s house was.”

Eclipse rolled his shoulder. “No problem. Hopefully, he can help us out with our problem.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it.” Card Deck said with a curt nod. “Now unless you plan on leaving right away, you could always--“ He paused when he realized that they had already begun to leave.

“Sorry, but we’re kind of in a rush. Braycover’s counting on us!” Eclipse said, waving.

Sacred Lance turned him around, Dust Demon and Vitamort leading the way as they set off once more.

Ear twitching, Card Deck turned to find a young mare wearing a cloak and staring at him in disbelief. “Not what you expected, I know.” He said, fully aware of who this mare was. “Come on in. I’ve got some explaining to do.”