The Eclipsing of Equestria

The medical wing was busy. Doctors and nurses were frantic as they ran around in a panic. Their newest Princess, Twilight Sparkle, was in the ICU in critical condition and worsening.

Iori Yagami. The man who had put the princess into the ICU was outside his room on the balcony overlooking Canterlot. He sighed and put his head down. He knew he didn't feel guilty or bad about what he done, but he did feel ashamed that he was so easily overcome by Orochi's influence. Had he known that the dark god was distracting him, he may have avoided ever entering his, long forgotten, blood riot state.

Iori hadn't known there was a presence behind him until it spoke in a soft voice, “Iori Yagami. I believe now is the time to explain what happened to Twilight Sparkle”.

He sighed and turned to see an expressionless Princess Celestia. Iori quickly looked away and returned to his brooding on the balcony.

“It was not a question. A princess has been badly injured and you are the one to blame. Explain yourself”, Celestia said with a hint of desperation.

Iori merely grunted, but he shuffled to the left to give Celestia some room. The princess nodded and joined the man on the balcony. “It's a beautiful night, isn't it”, she said as she looked towards the moon.

“Orochi”, was Iori's answer.

Celestia's ears perked up and she turned her head to look straight at him as she spoke, “Orochi?”.

Iori nodded and began to explain. “My ancestors had made a pact with a demon who went by Orochi. They say it was created by the Will of Gaia to wipe out mankind. In exchange for our power,” Iori said as he showed Celestia the purple flame within his palm. “We were cursed. Women died in child birth and the men were destined to die young. However, there was an unknown condition. Dominion over our blood.” Iori paused to look at the princess in the eyes, “It has been named the 'Riot of the Blood'. It has been several years since I had succumbed to Orochi's influence, but tonight... tonight it was there. It had managed to distract me whilst dreaming and exploit my curse.”, Iori lowered his head and went back to looking out to Canterlot.

Princess Celestia was silent for a moment as the gears began to turn in her head. “For the first time in my life”, Celestia began, “I am without words”.

Iori looked to the goddess with a questioning gaze. Celestia sighed before she spoke, “This is unknown to me. I wouldn't know where to begin, but perhaps the problem isn't this 'Orochi'.” Iori tilted his head slightly, “What do you mean by that, Princess?”.

The white alicorn looked towards the moon as she explained, “You remind me of the moon, Iori Yagami or should I say my sister.”, she began, “She too was under the influence of dark power, but she had managed to overcome it with the help of others.”, Celestia said as she turned to Iori, “So perhaps the problem isn't Orochi. Perhaps the problem is you”.

Iori glared at the goddess of the sun. He was ready to attack. Celestia must have noticed as she just turned and flew off into the night sky; leaving Iori to cool off and think over what she had said.

Iori entered his room in a fit of rage. He punched the wall many times over and had even burned the small desk to ashes before he was able to cool off.

“I'm the problem?!”. Iori stated to himself, “Hmph....”. He sighed and sat on his bed. 'What if she's right?', he thought to himself. 'The help... of others?', Iori scoffed at the idea. “I'll fight my own battles. I refuse to be a puppet to Orochi!”, he began, “I've overcome this curse in the past. I can do so again... alone!”, he shouted to the world, before laying down and falling asleep.

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Chizuru awoke in a cold sweat. She held her head as he sat up in her bed. “Iori... Yagami”, she said to herself before waking up and realizing the content of her dream. “He's ALIVE! HE WASN'T SEALED AWAY?!”. The heir to the Yata Mirror quickly got out of bed and grabbed the sacred treasure she always kept close. “Mirror, don't fail me now”, she pleaded to herself as she gazed into the glass reflection.

Her eyes went wide with shock. She notices Iori Yagami sleeping in a bed in which appeared to be a large room. Chizuru then notices something behind him. Orochi. The god was standing beside his bed. “I-Iori!”, she screamed, but she knew he couldn't hear, but to her surprise Orochi looked straight at her. Chizuru quickly closed the image and turned away as goosebumps ran up and down her body. “Iori Yagami... is still in danger, and so are those around him!”.

She ran for the telephone and quickly dialed a number only to be greeted with voicemail. 'This is Kyo Kusanagi. You know what to do'. Chizuru nearly screamed into the reciever, “Kusanagi. Yagami is still alive. You need to call me as soon as you get this message”. She sighed as she sent the voicemail and ended the call.

_______________________

Iori awoke in his bed. He sat up and yawned, but nearly fell back when he saw a quick glimpse of Chizuru Kagura standing beside the bed before it disappeared. “What the hell?!”, Iori exclaimed as he stood. What did he just see? Was it really her? Why was she here? Iori's mind swarmed with questions, but his thoughts were interrupted when there was a knock on the door. He quickly gathered his thoughts before saying, “Come in”.

Princess Luna entered, followed by Celestia.

“Sleep well?”, Luna asked with a raised brow. Iori grunted in response and Luna smirked, “I'll take that as a no”.

Celestia moved infront of her younger sister and smiled softy, “There are some mares I would like you to meet”.

“No”, Iori quickly dejected.

Celestia's smile disappeared as quickly as it came. “It wasn't an offer. These mares are 5 parts to what we call “The Elements of Harmony”. I believe they may be able to help you, if at all”.

Iori crossed his arms and quickly turned towards the balcony. Body language that he accepts.

His ears twitched as he heard five distinct hoof-steps. One was... bouncy. Another was heavier, suggesting strength. He then barely made out a few silent hoof-steps. There was a set that ended, but was replaced with the sound of flapping wings. Iori hadn't bothered to listen for the fifth as he turned to see five ponies looking at him with expressions full of surprise.

Iori gave the ponies a once over. The one flapping her wings and hovering above was a cyan blue color. She had a rainbow colored mane which gave him a headache. The next, right below the cyan mare, also had wings. She was a yellow butter colored mare with pink hair who appeared to be trying to move back, but was unable to due to the princesses being right behind them all. Iori then turned his attention to a horned mare with white fur and a purple mane. This one was inspecting her hooves with an annoyed look in her eyes. He rolled his eyes and turned his head.

“HEY!”, screamed the pink one, now suddenly infront of his face. Iori fell back began confuring his flames within his palm and was preparing to toast the perceived threat immediately, but quickly realized what it was. The pink mare giggled and “ooo'd” at his fire. “What's that?”, she asked as she bounced closer. “Hmph”, Iori replied as the fire disappeared from sight.

“I'm sorry 'bout that”. Iori turned to the voice to see the heavy hoofed mare with a sincere look of apology on her face, “Pinkie Pie loves meeting new and interesting creatures. Pony or not”. Just then, Iori realized she was wearing a stetson. She must've noticed because she tilted it in greeting. “M'name's Applejack”, she said with a nod.

“I'm Pinkie Pie!”, shouted the pink one with a giggle.

“I'm Rarity”, exclaimed the white mare. She had apparently been pleased with the sight of her hooves as she was now looking at Iori.

“I'm Rainbow Dash. THE fastest flyer in all of Equestria!”, boasted the cyan colored one.

The butter colored mare appeared to be moving her mouth, but Iori could not make out what she was saying. The cya-err-Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and pointed right at the pink maned mare. “This is Fluttershy. She's uhh... well, she's shy”.

Iori stood and dusted himself off. He was going to introduce himself, but became silent. Since when did he greet himself? Or rather, since when did he begin thinking of being nice to others?! Iori scoffed and turned away from the five young mares.

“What's his deal?”, he heard Rainbow Dash ask.

“Give him some time. He'll warm up”, Celestia said, “Now, why don't we show you to your rooms?”.

Iori's ears twitched as they left. Rooms? Did Celestia honestly believe he would become chummy with those five ponies?! Iori laughed to himself. 'She has lost her mind', he thought with a smile.

_______________________

Dinner. As usual, it had begun when the moon rose over the horizon. Iori knew the routine, but he hadn't expected to see those five ponies gathered around the long table, even though he knew they would now be staying at the castle for the time being.

“Hey! Yagami! You can come sit beside me!”, shouted Rainbow Dash as she patted the empty seat beside her. Iori merely looked away. As he approached the table he had realized something. The only available seat was beside the annoyingly colored Rainbow Dash. He felt his anger building, but quickly closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he moved to the seat beside Rainbow Dash and sat down.

“So Celestia says you're a human”, the cyan mare exclaimed. Iori looked to the other ponies. All eyes were on him as if they were expecting him to answer.

He sighed and nodded.

Rarity rose a brow. “So, where did you come from?”, she asked.

“Japan”, Iori simply stated.

Rarity furrowed his brows at the simple answer, “Oh, really? And where is that?”.

Iori shot her an annoyed death glare, but Rarity was unaffected.

Just then, the pink one who went by Pinkie Pie, was infront of Iori and sitting on his plate as she pushed her face nearer to his. “Hey! Do you like parties?! I bet you do! We'll have a party when you come to Ponyville! A WELCOME PARTY JUST FOR YOU!”.

Iori was vastly unamused. He looked down to his plate then back to Pinkie Pie. It was then she realized where she was, “Oh”, she blushed, “Oops!”, she said before bouncing back to her seat.

“Again, sorry 'bout that”, Applejack said with a sincere tone. Iori couldn't place it, but he felt that he could trust this mare with his life. He quickly pushed that thought out of his head and focused on replying vaguely. He grunted in response.

“Pinkie means well. Honest!”, she said. Iori was not convinced and quickly turned away to avoid any further conversations, but realized he was now rather close to Rainbow Dash. “Uhh...”, the cyan mare blushed and turned away. Iori furrowed his brows and decided to focus his attention on his plate.

“Oooooo”, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and even Fluttershy said in unison.... Fluttershy. Iori looked up to see her quickly turn away. Shy. 'She lives up to her name', he thought to himself.

“Shut up! I was scratching under my wing!”, Rainbow Dash shouted to her friends with a visible blush.

Iori knew what it meant. She was genuinely angry. His smile was barely visible. Iori knew what it was like to be angry as he was angry at something almost everyday.

Rainbow Dash looked down to see Iori smiling up at her. “Y-you're not helping!”, she yelled.

Iori laughed.

_______________________

Dinner had gone off without any big problems. Iori noticed that he had laughed a good bit during dinner, but he quickly shrugged and pushed that thought away.

He was now in his room on the balcony, but he was no longer looking to the ground; Rather, he was looking towards the moon. It was a crescent moon tonight.

Iori smirked as he silently recited his favorite phrase, “Remember me when you look at the moon”.

_______________________

Kyo Kusanagi paused for a moment in his last minute training. He had gotten Chizuru's message and was preparing himself for another fight.

Just then, he had thought he heard a voice. He looked up to see the crescent moon shining over the city.

He smirked as he punched the wooden post, “Of course. How could I forget”.