Chapters
Chapter One
Oblivion
Twilight sat in the old grove and stared off into the distance, not really looking at anything but merely deep in thought as she sifted through fond memories she had with her friends. She remembered Pinkie's smile and bubble cheer, Applejack's hard working and honest nature, Fluttershy's kindness and compassion to all living things, Rarity's generosity to those who were in need, and Rainbow Dash's unending loyalty to her friends. Truly she had been the luckiest mare in all of Equestria to have known her five closest friends.
"Twilight, it's time..." Rumbled a deep voice behind her.
The princess of magic turned her head as her eyes regained their focus, no longer holding the thousand mile stare. Upon recognizing the large scaly face of her one time assistant she smiled and stood to greet him.
"Spike, you're back!" Twilight said as she walked up and gave the large dragon a nuzzle.
"Hey now... it's only been a few days since I last visited you." Spike said bashfully.
"True, but it can get so lonely here..." Twilight whispered.
Spike frowned and looked at the five graves that sat before him. It had already been a decade since the last of them passed, but the wound of their loss was still fresh. While it was tragic to the adult dragon, it was crushing to the Alicorn.
"Well... Shall we?" Spike said, not wanting to spend any more time near such painful reminders of what he had lost.
Twilight smiled knowingly at the pained look in the dragon's eye, "Sure thing Spike, wouldn't want to keep Celestia and Luna waiting."
The two took to the sky and soared over the bustling town of Ponyville. Twilight was once the librarian of the town when it was but a simple village. Over time as the population grew however, the town had decided that a princess should not have to look over its library, despite the arguing by said princess that she loved it there. After that Twilight had begun staying in a manor she erected with her magic that oversaw the town. The children and grandchildren of her friends still visited her from time to time, but over time the visits grew less and less, leaving more and more time for Twilight to study the arcane. After a mere five years of living almost undisturbed she had perfected every spell known to ponykind.
After that, Celestia had asked her what she wanted to do with her eternal life, whether she had any goals left or not. Twilight did not have an answer for her though. Her goal she had made for herself as a foal was not supposed to be so easily reached in her lifetime, it was a goal she was supposed to have striven for until her end. She had not anticipated becoming an Alicorn when she was a filly however.
A few days ago Celestia had once more sent her a summons to Canterlot, one she was only too happy to accept for it meant enjoying the company of two of her closest friends who were still alive. Celestia had sent spike to tell her that upon the night of the summer solstice she was to travel to Canterlot to speak of important matters.
Off in the distance Canterlot was beginning to come into view, the tall castle spires illuminated by the setting sun. Though she was asked to come in the night, she still hated being tardy to anything and found it better to arrive early. As she flapped her wings ever closer the wind blew her mane back as her purple feathers propelled her faster still alongside the dragon who was now several times her size. The sensation of flight reminded her ever more of Rainbow's love for flying.
The purple dragon and princess landed in front of the city gates earning stares from the guards and ponies of Canterlot. Twilight smiled and waved as various ponies bowed and began chatting about her appearance. The display of the alicorn arriving with a dragon escort impressed the onlookers and immediately identified who she was. The gates of the city were opened allowing Twilight and Spike to go through, though they could have flown straight in, they preferred not giving the guards a heart attack.
"Spike, did Celestia mention what she wanted to speak to me about?" Twilight asked looking to the dragon beside her who was taking up the majority of the street.
"Nothing more than I already told you, she said she had one last mission she wanted to give you." The dragon rumbled.
Twilight adopted a perplexed look at this, Celestia had not asked her to personally do anything since she became a princess. After becoming an immortal, she had simply lived her life as if she were a normal mare until her friends had died off to old age. Fluttershy had been the last to go, passing away in the company of her animals in the secluded cottage she loved and called home. Twilight was with her in her final moments, and held her in a final embrace as she exhaled her final breath with a content smile. Fluttershy was the only one of her friends who had never married, too shy to ever meet her special somepony, leaving Twilight as her only pony company in her final years. Like the other four, when she passed, Fluttershy's fragment of the Elements of Harmony transferred into the tiara that symbolized the element of magic. With the final piece once more together as one, the tiara changed its form to that of a necklace, making one whole element.
Twilight wondered as she walked up to the inner wall of the castle and entered the gates, if Celestia required the power of the Element of Harmony once more. As she made her way to the throne room where her once mentor would surely be, she once more adopted the lonely look she had become accustomed to wearing over the past few years.
"Ah, Twilight, we are glad you could answer our sister's summons." Luna said as she approached the princess of magic.
"Luna! It's been so long!" Twilight said as she hurried to and embraced her old friend.
Luna returned the gesture and smiled as she pulled away, "Truly, it has been nigh a year since you last visited. We understand your attachment to Ponyville, but you should have visited more. Thine time there surely must have been lonely..."
Twilight giggled at the concern Luna showed her, "Oh, it isn't so bad. It leaves me with plenty of time to brew over new spells."
"Truly? We would not have believed it possible for there to be spells the Alicorn of magic did not yet know." Luna teased with a giggle.
"Well, there are always new spells to be made. For instance, I recently discovered a way to enchant your eyes to see through shadows as if the darkness itself was sunlight." Twilight beamed happily.
Luna's eyes widened at the notion, "You mean thine eyes can behold what our night usually shrouds?"
"Yes, in fact, the grassy hills seem even more beautiful at night I find nowadays." Twilight smiled as the two entered into the throne room.
"You will need to show us this one Twilight." Luna said with a smile as the two alicorns and the dragon approached the princess of the sun who sat regally on her throne, multi colored mane flowing in an invisible breeze.
"Ah Twilight, you're early. Though It is not unexpected." Celestia said warmly.
"Hello Celestia, how have you been?" Twilight asked with a fond smile.
"Oh you know, busy ruling the kingdom and getting ready for the mission I have for you, should you accept." Celestia said with a sad smile.
"Celestia you don't look so well, is something bothering you?" Twilight said, commenting on the sad smile the princess of the sun gave her.
"Yes, it brings back sad memories..." Celestia said with a sigh.
"What did you need of me?" Twilight asked curiously.
"First before I tell you that, I must tell you a story. You see Twilight, my sister and I came to this land and freed it from its oppressors with the elements of Harmony. You know this part of the story already, but what you nor any other pony has ever been told, is of where we came from. You see Twilight, when Luna and I were much younger, we became the rulers of a far off land. We came into power shortly after becoming Alicorns, but the king we replaced while willing to give us the throne after seeing the good we could do for the land, had a son who felt cheated of his throne. This young stallion harnessed ancient and evil powers much like Sombra did, and overthrew us, banishing us from the land and sending us across the great sea to Equestria here." Celestia began telling her story.
"You mean there is a continent on the other side of the sea? I only ever heard rumors, but nopony has ever managed to sail the entire way across it. They either turn back after using half their rations, or they are never heard from again..." Twilight commented.
"Those that made it merely never returned... whether sunk or captured I know not, but the journey is not a short one. The only way Luna and I made it across was because he tore open a portal and flung us through to this land. Teleportation over the long distance may be the only safe way for now, until we discover how far it is by boat, and if sailing the waters are safe. We dared not return though, for he would undoubtedly overpower us, and perhaps show less mercy this time if the elements failed to work on him." Celestia continued.
"Why would the elements fail?"Twilight asked cautiously.
"Well you see Twilight, the elements only work when its wielders are in perfect harmony. Much like when Discord disabled your friends from harmonizing, he made sure we could not use it against him in his own way..." Celestia trailed off.
"How?" Twilight asked with a wonder filled look.
"He made us fear him. Before he sent us away he revealed our greatest fears to us, and threatened to turn us against one another with his maddening powers. To this day, though there is no proof he has found a way to persist the years, he alone remains the one thing I fear above all others." Celestia shivered.
"So you want me to go there and overthrow him if he still has enslaved the ponies there?" Twilight asked.
"Not quite, I want you to rule there once any threats are taken care of." Celestia said simply.
Twilight simply stared with her jaw slightly hung open. She could not believe her ears, Celestia wanted her to single hoofedly rule a nation? While it was an honor Celestia trusted her that much, Twilight paled at the thought of living a life so similar to her once mentor.
"Now Twilight, I know what you are thinking but hear me say this, you are more powerful than Luna and I together have ever been. I have full faith that you will be able to defeat him if he is still there." Celestia assured the princess of magic.
The words of encouragement pulled the purple alicorn out of her stupor, "Well, if you think so... I believe it should be a simple matter to teleport there if you have rough coordinates..."
Twilight's voice sounded unsure, but she was not the young mare she used to be, and she was well aware of her awe inspiring mastery over the arcane. Celestia smiled as she levitated a scroll over to her once student. Twilight unrolled the scroll and peered at the contents for a moment before looking at Spike with a frown.
"Celestia, you are sending Spike with me as well?" Twilight commented on the contents of the scroll.
"Yes, I believe he will provide much assistance there, and the rest of the scroll should tell you all you will need to know for when you get there. I have spent many years brewing over my own memories with a spell to make sure I got as much detail as I could for you to go by. Remember though that information is already over a thousand and a half years old. For all Luna and I know the change he made to the country has been undone and it is no longer bearing that horrid name..." Celestia finished with a frown.
"Oblivion... Why would he name a country that?" Twilight asked.
"He named it after what he hoped the land would become, in hopes that our sister and us would forget about it and never return." Luna said, entering the conversation.
"So, does he use the same power as Sombra did?" Twilight asked the two other alicorns.
"No, he does not live off hatred and fear. Though he can command them, they are not the source of his power. He wields an ancient and forbidden form of magic that harnesses eldritch energy. He is truly powerful, but not unstoppable." Celestia explained.
Twilight scanned over the contents of the scroll for a moment before she looked up at Celestia with a confused look, "You don't seem to have a name recorded here..."
"That is because he struck it from our memories with his magic. He was a cruel and wise man, knowing that the unknown is more frightening to what you can name. We can't even remember what he looks like, so be careful to give your trust, he could be anypony you meet over there." Celestia explained with a shaken look.
Twilight rolled up the scroll and placed it into a magical pocket in space and time where she could retrieve it once again at will. After safely storing the scrolls she looked up at Celestia with a resolute look on her face, "I will do it, the ponies there should not have to suffer any longer."
Celestia and Luna smiled and the older sister beamed proudly, but Luna suddenly faltered in her smile.
"Twilight, you know you cannot return to live in Ponyville after you take the throne there..." Luna said with a sorry look on her face.
A sad smile adopted Twilight's face as she answered, "Yes, I know... But honestly, in recent years there is not much keeping me there. Everypony is too afraid to be a bother on me to visit, and I have fallen out of touch with them."
"Well then, here's in hopes of you making new and wonderful friends." Celestia said as she and her sister embraced the purple alicorn.
A magical tear in reality opened up, an anomaly known as a portal to those who practice the arcane arts. After stabilizing it, the alicorn of magic trotted through, followed by a large, but still not yet fully grown dragon. The odd pair glanced around the area they had arrived in.
"According to the landmark Celestia had me go to, the Castle should be over..." Twilight trailed off as she gazed out over the top of the hill she stood on.
A city that dwarfed the size of even Canterlot stretched nearly as far as Twilight could see. The local populace could be seen going about their daily lives from here. Pegasi delivered packages and regulated the clouds, while unicorns and earth ponies bustled around the busy streets. Twilight was expecting a slow moving and down trodden populace like she had witnessed in the crystal empire when it first reappeared. But the ponies here seemed content, a few of them clearly even happy.
"I'm not sure we have the right place..." Twilight said looking up to her old reptilian friend.
"I'm not sure if I can fit in those streets... It's too crowded down there." Spike rumbled with a frown.
"Well, can I trust you to keep a lookout up here and wait for me? If I need, I'll call you for help." Twilight said to Spike.
The purple dragon shrugged and nodded. Twilight then flared her wings briefly before taking to the skies and soaring over the city. With her larger wing span than the pegasi, Twilight moved much faster in the air, and this drew attention to her. It did not take long for the pegasi she was soaring past to realize she was an alicorn. Meanwhile the Element of Harmony around her neck was pressed firmly against her, a constant reminder that even though they had passed, her friends would always be with her to give her their love and support.
Twilight noticed what looked to be an ancient castle keep in the center of the city, and she made her way immediately for it. Her horn ignited and she expanded her magical aura to feel the layout of the castle before teleporting inside where she discerned the throne room was.
As she winked back into existence inside of the large spacious room, she noticed something was very strange about this throne room. There was not a single seat that dominated the presence of the room, there were three. The occupants of these three thrones were all staring at Twilight, frowns adorned on their faces. Twilight then looked around her and noticed a severe lacking of guards, the only ponies in the room other than the three on the throne was a line of what appeared to be citizens. Twilight then looked back at the three who had such a dominating presence and noticed there was one of every pony race here. Upon further inspection she noticed their thrones bore images of their races.
"You know it is considered rude to cut in line..." The one sitting in the unicorn chair said in a droll voice. He was a light blue aged stallion with a long white beard.
Twilight seemed perplexed at how the unicorn not only addressed her as if she were a regular pony. Twilight's ears flattened slightly however as she looked back and saw the annoyed expressions on the citizens.
"Sorry, I'm not sure if I have the right city... I was here to liberate the land from an evil pony. But when I got here things were much different than what I was expecting. Now I'm not sure if I got the coordinates right when I opened the portal..." Twilight said in a sorry tone.
"Tell me, what was the name of the land you were looking for? We may as well help you if your goals are as noble as you claim." The pegasus said, A middle aged white mare with a long blonde mane.
"I was told the land had been named Oblivion by the evil king." Twilight said, perking up slightly.
Silence greeted her, the faces of the three had grown stern as if Twilight had told a joke they did not consider funny. Twilight cringed at the looks she was receiving, "Is something wrong?"
The earth pony sighed and ran a hoof through his white mane, his dark red coat did little to hide the prominent muscles he had, "This land has not been called that for over a decade now."
Twilight perked up at this, "Wait, this is in fact the kingdom Celestia and Luna was exiled from?"
"How do you know the names of the rightful rulers?" The unicorn said sharply.
"Celestia was my mentor, and Luna my close friend..." Twilight began.
"So you are a real alicorn then... This land has seen many impostors hoping to take the throne, but the previous king and long time overlord did not allow their names to be uttered. Only the council is ever told their names..." The pegaus responded.
"Wait, what?" Twilight said in a tone unfitting of a princess.
"The law of the land is that an alicorn is to be the ruler, because alicorns are beings of divine will. Every now and then a unicorn who thirsts for the throne will cast an illusion to appear as an alicorn. But as the legend goes, only the celestial sisters know the secret of creating an alicorn." The unicorn explained.
"So... What happened to the king? Did you manage to overthrow him?" Twilight asked in an impressed tone.
"No." The earth pony stallion said in an angry tone.
Twilight adopted a confused look as if a trick was being played on her. She briefly wondered if these three were there to distract her while the king prepared to do battle with her. She visibly tensed and her eyes darted around the throne room looking for traps.
"Now now, he may not have been defeated but he is no longer a threat, so long as we stay out of his business." the pegasus said in an assuring tone.
"You see, twelve years ago the king suddenly came to us the council, the elected leaders of our races, and told us we would rule the land until an alicorn showed up. He mentioned something about retirement and not wanting to be bothered with leading a country anymore." the unicorn said in a tone that clearly meant he thought it was a joke at the time.
"So, where is he now?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"He still is seen every now and then skulking around the streets in the edges of the city. But we suspect he is hiding out somewhere in the forest to the east." The earth pony said with a frown.
"So, he just grew tired of the throne?" Twilight wondered out loud.
"We believe so, yes." The pegasus answered.
The throne room was silent for a couple of minutes as the citizens and the princess pondered over what they had heard. Twilight then heard the sound of a pony clearing his throat and looked up to the frown the earth pony was giving her.
"If you wouldn't mind waiting a few hours while we finish up business for the day, we can get you started on your coronation then." The earth pony said in his gruff voice.
Twilight nodded and stepped to the side of the room and sat herself down as she watched the daily life resume. A young mare, perhaps only sixteen in age now approached the three thrones and bowed before stating her business.
"The outer eastern districts have been dealt with, the beasts from the forest that invaded have been dealt with and I was hoping to cash in the bounty for them." The young unicorn mare said in a resolute but soft voice.
"That was the wyvern incident if I remember. You will receive the bounty for every poison gland you extracted from them." The pegaus said.
The young gray unicorn flipped her mane to the side, the two tones of navy blue and a black stripe covering one eye. She then opened her saddlebags and levitated from inside both pouches a total of sixteen glands.
"My word, how did you deal with so many of them?" The elderly unicorn on the throne exclaimed.
"My father helped me, and sent me to collect the bounty for him." the young mare said with a smile.
"Impressive, though I doubt you seek our approval more than the reward." The earth pony said with a grin as he motioned for a servant to fetch the reward.
After only a minute the servant returned with several brimming sacks of coins and set them before the young mare who traded the glands for them. After putting the reward money into her saddle bags she bowed and turned to leave, casting a quick glare towards Twilight, causing the princess of magic to frown at the display.
After the hours passed, Twilight noticed that over half of the ponies who attended the court wanted similar things. Almost all of them turning in different parts of monsters for reward money, the display made Twilight wonder where all the money came from to give to these bounty hunters. As the last one cleared out of the throne room however, Twilight heard all three of the council members sigh and stand up as they began stretching.
"So... Why are there so many bounty hunters? Are there that many monster problems here in the area?" Twilight asked out of curiosity.
"Not too bad of a problem, and they aren't bounty hunters." Grunted the large earth pony.
"Then..." Twilight began in a confused tone.
"You have probably noticed the lack of guards in the town, right? That is because of how the old king ran things. He thought why have a force of trained ponies defend the weak, when you could simply tell the weak to rely on themselves and each other. Sounds cruel, yes, but over his rule the ponies of this land have become hearty and strong. When problems occur they are handled by the citizens, and if a problem goes unsolved for too long we put a bounty up for it until it is taken care of." The elderly unicorn explained.
"Amazing, so then the money from taxes that would have gone to guards instead goes to the bounty's you put out?" Twilight deduced.
"Correct, and we even have left overs for not needing an army that go towards roads, schools, and public services." The pegasus chimed in.
"I just have one last question though..." Twilight asked in a serious tone.
The three council members shared glances before the unicorn spoke up, "Yes?"
"I want your honest opinion on the old king. I only recently heard of him, and he was compared to different tyrants I knew that only lead their land to ruin. He seems to have made this land prosper however..." Twilight said in a concerned tone.
Thoughtful frowns adorned every face on the council. The earth pony's turned into a snarl while the other two sighed. The unicorn and pegasus shared looks before the pegasus nodded to her elder.
"He wasn't what I would consider evil, mean at times yes, but he mostly seemed to mope about a lot. Though from what I heard he used to be real quick to anger long ago, he only ever got frustrated from my experience though. Only once have I seen him actually lose it, and it was when one of the neighboring countries broke a treaty and attacked the keep here." The elderly unicorn said nodding sagely.
"That was a mess, Steel Hoof here got in his way in an attempt to calm him down when he went for their embassy to destroy it. We barely were able to nurse him back to health and he was merely brushed aside by the king's magic." The pegasus said motioning toward the earth pony stallion who's face grew even angrier.
"Wow, was he that protective of the ponies here?" Twilight asked beginning to think the monster Celestia knew had changed.
"No, he destroyed them when they made the attempt on his life because he did not want to be bothered by having to deal with the politics that the zebras would have brought up. The crater that used to be the embassy is still there as a reminder and a warning." Steel Hoof spoke up.
"Yes, he was definitely losing the ability to care for much of anything and rathered to laze around and practice his magic." The pegasus commented.
Twilight pondered what was being told to her. She found it confusing that the problem had solved itself, and she briefly considered going back to Celestia and telling her that she was not needed in this land after all. But her thoughts were interrupted as the elderly unicorn cleared his throat seeing the look of thought on Twilight's face.
"You may think you are not needed here seeing as the target of your mentor's vengeance is no longer a threat, but the kingdom does still need you. Several parts of the kingdom are threatening to renounce their loyalty to the capitol here. They view the lack of a monarch as a sign of weakness, and without the other city states, we are at threat of invasion. The zebras still hate us, and the bugbear tribes have begun raiding our borders without the threat of begin decimated by the king." The unicorn told the princess of magic.
"So, you need me as more of a figurehead than an actual ruler then?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"Yes, the council was founded three centuries ago to run the country, the monarch is simply there to make final decisions in desperate times, and to defend the whole of the nation." The pegasus replied.
Twilight thought over this for a moment, perhaps Celestia and Luna would not be avenged, but the land did need her here. She might as well finally put an end to her long period of depression and finally once more serve her fellow pony.
"I accept, but I will need to fetch one of my friends. I left him waiting at the top of the hill that overlooks the city." Twilight said warmly.
"Sure, I am Summer Wind, the big lug here is Steel Hoof, and the old man is Frost Horn" The pegasus mare responded.
"So, who is the friend of yours that you left him behind?" Frost Horn asked out of curiosity.
"He is a dragon that I raised when I was young. We have been friends for over a century now." Twilight said with a smile as she thought of Spike.
"Uh oh..." Steel Hoof said, his stern face breaking into a concerned one.
The council members stared at Twilight, causing her to feel uncomfortable. Twilight had a nagging feeling that Spike might be in trouble by the looks they were giving her. Something then clicked in her mind, Spike was a strange dragon that sat on a hill overlooking a city of ponies who were strong enough to fend off monster attacks, and collected bounty money for slaying strong creatures.
"You may want to hurry to his side, if he has not yet been attacked it is only a matter of time since he did not accompany you into the town..." Summer Wind said in a worried voice.
Twilight flared her wings and her horn ignited with its magical aura. Frost called after her before she teleported, "If he is fine bring him back to the keep courtyard, we should be able to figure out a place for him to stay from there."
Twilight then winked out of existence as she transported her matter over to where she left Spike.
Spike yawned as he watched from the distance the movements of the ponies who went about their daily lives. The city had no protective walls, and Spike could not see any guards on patrol. He briefly wondered if this land was actually more peaceful than Equestria that not even the slightest amount of protection for the citizens needed to be offered. For it was clear from where he sat and gazed over the populace that the ponies moved about as if they had not a fear in the world. Pegasi soared swiftly from place to place, and the streets were busy, not a single pony seemed to peer around as if expecting something to jump out at them.
Spike yawned and rubbed an eye as he set his head down on a forearm as he rolled over to his side. Scratching his belly the dragon then gazed behind him into the dense forest where he spotted a few animals that seemed to be content keeping their distance and attempting to hide from his sight.
"Guess a nap wouldn't hurt..." Spike said, yawning once more as he closed his eyes.
As Spike dreamed, memories began to resurface, memories of Discord. The spirit of chaos had not taken well to Fluttershy's decline in health, and found himself unable to be there for the mare's final moments. A decision he regretted still, and told Spike of often. The dragon and Draconequus had become friends as the two of them took up the role of protecting Equestria from threats as the Elements grew older, and though Discord had made friends among the younger generations of ponies that had not heard the stories of the atrocities he had committed, Fluttershy had held a dear place in his heart as his first friend.
"You should wake up you know." Discord's voice rang through the dragon's dream.
"Huh? Discord?" Spike said into the echoing void that was his dreamscape now.
Two yellow eyes and a toothy grin appeared before the dragon, "I know it's hard to keep ones mind off an entity as entertaining as me, but you will be in danger if you do not awake..."
Spike's eyes shot open and beheld a single young mare standing before him. Spike's mind swam with questions in his confused state of being awoken by Discord in his dreams. The dragon and young unicorn stared at each other, and Spike immediately felt there was something wrong with her however. The mare's eyes held neither fear nor curiosity for the dragon, but rather her eyes were filled with a predatory gleam.
The mare brushed her bangs out of her face so that one of her eyes was no longer covered by her navy blue and black mane. Her horn began to glow with a black aura that caused Spike to bolt upright and assume a defensive stance.
"Woah there, can't we talk this out?" The dragon asked holding up his hands in a non threatening gesture.
The mare lifted an eyebrow and spoke in a soft and gentle voice that did not seem to match her words, "Unfortunately words will not get you out of this. There is a standing bounty on dragons who have been terrorizing the countryside, and you my scaly friend will make me a lot of gold."
"Wha- But I haven't done anything! I came to this land just today with princess Twilight, how could I be the dragon you are looking for?" Spike said urgently wanting to avoid getting into trouble with the locals on only the first day here.
At the mention of Twilight the mare's eyes narrowed and the magical aura that shimmered around her horn grew darker, and blacker. The energies had just reached their peak, sending sparks off of her horn as she spoke, "You are not welcome here..."
Before the spell could be fired the mare's horn was snuffed out of its magical powers in a pathetic sounding fizzle. A large white unicorn with a long black mane approached the dragon and mare. Spike dared not yet sigh in relief, because the mare looked as if she had been caught doing something she was not supposed to, the fear evident in her eyes.
As the white stallion drew closer to the mare a look of disapproval was plastered on his face. The mare seemed to shrink under his gaze, and Spike could only stare at the stallion who had apparently come to his rescue. Though Spike was unsure of what happened, because even Twilight did not know a spell to cancel out another's magic.
The stallion's look softened and a kind grin adorned his face as he looked at the mare, "Now now, I keep telling you that if you treat others like that you won't make any friends..."
The stallion's voice was deep, and his words touched the ear as if music. The young mare seemed unfazed by the words however, and merely put on a pouting face.
"Come now my little shadow... Why do you pout at me when you know I only ever speak to you the truth." The stallion cooed as he walked besides the mare and put a hoof around her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.
"Daaad!" The mare whined as she attempted to push the stallion away.
"I apologize for my daughter, she has not yet grasped the understanding that she cannot treat others like that and expect to have friends." The stallion said turning his attention to Spike as the young mare struggled in vain against his iron grip on her.
"Oh uh, no problem. Thank you for stepping in actually..." Spike said with uncertainty.
"Oh my, and such a gentlemen for a dragon. You must have been raised by a very kind pony. Only dragons raised by ponies ever say thank you." The stallion said with a warm smile.
Spike smiled at the compliment the stallion gave not only to him, but to Twilight as well, "Yes she is very kind."
"Is? Oh my, she is still alive then? Judging by your size she would have to be at least over a century old..." The stallion said in an impressed voice.
"Heh, yeah she is getting on in her years, not that she shows it though." Spike laughed, warming up immediately to the white unicorn.
The stallion quirked an eyebrow at this but before he could comment on it a bright light and a snapping sound filled the air as Twilight appeared. The alicorn looked around and noticed the two ponies by Spike, and tensed. She only relaxed a few seconds later when she noticed the friendly smiles Spike and the white stallion had.
"Oh Spike, I'm glad your safe. I just found out that the ponies here defends themselves and attack any threats on sight." Twilight said sighing in relief.
"Ohh, that explains why there aren't any guards..." Spike commented.
"So that is what you meant, you were raised by an alicorn! Fascinating..." The stallion said in wonder.
The white stallion looked down to his daughter who was doubling her efforts to escape. Twilight frowned in recognition of who the young mare was and how even now she glared at Twilight as she struggled for freedom. The young unicorn mare then ignited her horn with her black magical aura and snapped out of existence leaving the stallion with his arm wrapped around thin air.
The stallion merely shook his head and sighed before turning his attention to the princess before him. Twilight sized the stallion up and down, finding herself unable to judge anything about him yet, but she knew he must be very strong to have dealt with so many feral wyverns. Twilight then glanced to his flank to see if his cutie mark would reveal anything about him, but what she saw only perplexed her further.
"Excuse me if you think my question is a bit blunt... But what does your cutie mark symbolize?" Twilight asked.
The stallion followed her gaze to his flank where a cracked black heart that was held together by thorny vines sat, the cracks and the droplets of blood from where the thorns pierced it were a deep crimson. The stallion chuckled and then turned his attention back to the princess with a warm smile.
"It symbolizes my seemingly superpony knack for falling for mares who hurt me." The stallion said in a joking voice.
Spike and Twilight however were not laughing, Spike had not even noticed the cutie mark before and seemed taken aback by it now. Twilight on the other hand frowned in thought.
"So I take it you and your daughter's mother are no longer together?" Twilight asked carefully.
"I only knew her mother for a single night, but at least I got my sweet little shadow out of that meeting..." The stallion said in his musical voice.
"Oh..." Twilight said in somber understanding.
"Well, I should really go make sure she is keeping out of trouble. Plus with the gold we just received I can afford to take her somewhere nice to eat tonight." The stallion laughed as he turned to leave.
"Wait, I didn't catch your name, I am Spike and this is Princess Twilight!" Spike called after the stallion.
Turning his head back towards them he laughed and rubbed the back of his head with a hoof, "Oh my how rude of me. I am Eclipse, one of the very few ponies in this city who's profession is actually bounty hunting."
Twilight and Spike waved as Eclipse left, and the alicorn grinned as she looked up to the dragon, "It seems like we are making friends even on our first day here."
"Yeah, he is a nice guy, shame his kid is such a brat though..." Spike commented.
"Well come on, lets get to the castle at the middle of the city, we need to prepare for my coronation." Twilight said flaring her wings.
"Coro- wait, you mean you already overthrew the evil king?!" Spike said in wonderment.
"No, he apparently up and quit just over a decade ago. Nopony knows why, but he left the throne open for any alicorn that came to the kingdom here." Twilight explained.
"Wow, lucky us eh?" Spike joked.
"Indeed, but come on, I was told to bring you to the castle courtyard so they could lead you to a living quarters that would be able to handle someone of your proportions" Twilight said, poking the dragon in the belly with a hoof.
"Hey!" Spike said frowning at the weight joke Twilight made at him.
The alicorn then took to the air and flew off towards the center of the town. As Spike watched her go for a moment a smile broke forth onto his face. Twilight had not told a joke or even gave him a true smile in years now. This new land and fresh start was definitely what she needed.
"Come on Spike!" Twilight called, causing the dragon to flap his mighty wings and take to the air after the princess of magic.
Chapter Two
Wendigo
"Isn't this a little rushed?" Twilight asked Summer Wind who was doing a last minute once over on the princess's hair.
"Nonsense, the citizens have been waiting for a new ruler for a long time now!" Summer Wind said as she circled around Twilight and nodded approvingly at the appearance of the alicorn.
"But I just got here yesterday, I'm not so sure they will be very excited to have a stranger ascend to the throne so suddenly..." Twilight mumbled as she looked out to the balcony door where Frost Horn was addressing the citizens.
"Just smile and keep a brave voice as you make the oath. You are an alicorn, they will be eating out of your hoof." Summer Wind said with a smile as she opened the balcony door.
Twilight strode out and looked to the two stallions that occupied the balcony. Steel Hoof gave her a nod as she moved beside him. The door clicked as it closed behind her, and Twilight glanced back at the pegasus who joined her fellow council members and the princess on the balcony.
Princess Twilight looked out over the ponies who had gathered in the streets to witness her coronation. Twilight was amazed that the capital city was so massive, and in all honesty she felt a little overwhelmed by the fact that she was about to become the ruler of a country that apparently dwarfed Equestria. It was no wonder a council was formed to aid in the rule over the land.
"Without further ado, I would like Princess Twilight to say a word before we adorn her with the crown." Frost Horn said with his magically amplified voice.
The elderly unicorn then nodded to Twilight and stepped back, allowing the princess of magic to flare her wings and step forward where all the ponies in the streets below could see her clearly. Twilight cleared her throat as she looked around, once more unsure of what to think of the lack of guards. While their system worked to keep the city as a whole safe, Twilight was left feeling very vulnerable to any dangers that could present themselves. Especially if the zebras attempted to attack her as the new ruler.
"Citizens of Concordia, I am honored and humbled to see so many of you here on such a short notice. I came here, wielding the Element of Harmony, to liberate you all from oppression. But when I arrived, I saw proud and happy ponies who were already free of tyranny. The council will still hold power over the day to day ruling, as I see fit that all ponies should have a voice in how to lead their own lives. I will in turn serve my duty to protect all of you, and work for the improvement of our country." Twilight's voice echoed through the streets, causing a cheer to issue forth from the ponies at the mention that the elected council would still exist.
"I hereby vow to revoke all other loyalties to any other nations or people, and pledge my eternal life to the service and betterment of this land. With this crown, the symbol of my rule, let the pact between ruler and subjects be finalized." Twilight said as Frost Horn levitated forward an ornate golden crown that was placed upon her head.
The ponies that filled the streets once more cheered for their princess, their enthusiasm at having a legitimate ruler who could quell the talk of rebellion and keep the different provinces unified made apparent.
"They seem extraordinarily willing to accept me out of the blue like this..." Twilight whispered to the aged unicorn behind her.
"Why would they not accept you? This entire situation is more beneficial for us than you know. The throne has been vacant for over a decade as you already know, but what you do not know is that because of this the provinces at the edges of our territories are growing restless. Some had the belief that since the throne was vacant, it was up for grabs. Had you come a few years later, you might have witnessed not a thriving capitol, but a scarred and bitter war ravaged city." Frost Horn whispered solemnly.
"Is the situation truly that bad?" Twilight whispered as she waved to the ponies in the street.
"Two provinces in particular are on the edge of causing a civil war. That will be the first issue we will need you to address after the coronation here is over." Steel Hoof rumbled in his deep voice from behind her.
Twilight sighed inwardly as she smiled for the citizens. She was suspicious about the hasty acceptance of the council, but she never would have imagined it was because they desperately needed her to quell the civil unrest in the land. Twilight's thoughts then drifted to the old king, and what could possibly have compelled him to keep a country running for so long, just to suddenly and without warning quit.
Twilight turned and reentered the castle. The council members followed her and closed the glass doors behind them. Twilight then turned to them and asked the question that was on the top of her mind, "What am I to expect from the provinces that have been causing trouble?"
"The southern province will need to be visited so that they can verify that we once more have a legitimate ruler. You will simply need to travel there and meet with the governor there. He is a very patriotic pony, and the only reason he is threatening rebellion is because he feels the council is abusing its powers with the lacking of a monarch. He will submit and cease riling up the ponies there once he has seen you wear the crown." Summer Wind explained as she stretched her wings.
"The eastern province is the troublesome one however. The foolish mare who is the governess there thinks she can take the throne for herself. When she sees you she may grow desperate and may even make an attempt at your life if she feels her plot is in danger." Steel Hoof finished the report Summer Wind started.
"Any suggestions on how I could deal with her?" Twilight asked the council. Steel Hoof opened his mouth to speak but Twilight cut him off, "Ideas that would not cause an outright war with the ponies that support her..."
Steel Hoof huffed and frowned as Frost Horn rubbed his chin in thought before replying, "The eastern province more than any of the others treasure personal strength above all else. If you can defeat her in a duel you would prove yourself more worthy to all but her most loyal followers. Not a permanent fix, but it would make the situation simmer down to a level that can be dealt with over time instead of with immediate and rash actions."
Twilight nodded at this, but then furrowed her brow in thought. Frost Horn catching the look spoke up, "Is there something wrong my princess?"
"If I am travelling into possibly unwelcome territory, will there be any guards that will accompany me? I know we do not employ town guards, but is there not a force that is meant to protect the castle or myself?" Twilight asked in a concerned voice.
"Well, previously an escort was not needed. Though I doubt the case has changed, if it would make you feel more comfortable we can hire some mercenaries as bodyguards for your journey." Summer Wind spoke up.
Twilight considered this briefly but her train of thought was stopped as she saw the look on the large earth pony's face, as if he wished to speak up but was unsure if he should. Twilight smiled as she addressed him. "Steel Hoof, did you have something you wished to say as well?"
"Princess, I believe that hiring bodyguards is unnecessary when you can simply ask for the assistance of your dragon friend. He should be able to offer more protection than mercenaries, and you would no doubt feel more comfortable with him around rather than strangers." Steel Hoof offered, "It would also be a display of power to be seen with a dragon serving as your escort."
Twilight liked the idea of Spike travelling with her, but she feared what would happen should they be attacked in the eastern province. Sure dragons were very resilient creatures, but they were not indestructible. Twilight would hate to see her beloved friend injured while protecting her. However, hiring ponies who made a living off mercenary work could prove dangerous. Those types of ponies sided with where the money was, and could be bought out from under her.
"Very well, I will ask Spike if he would accompany me. Might I get some coordinates for where I am going however?" Twilight inquired.
"Coordinates? The country is vast, surely you don't intend on teleporting there. The magic required to move oneself such distances is straining, but moving a dragon alongside you? That would be tiring even for an alicorn, and you will need to be ready to face the governess of the eastern province when you arrive there." Frost Horn said with an incredulous look on his face.
Twilight chuckled at this before responding, "Don't worry, I am the alicorn of magic after all. Besides, I brought myself and Spike here from half way across the world just before we met."
The aged unicorn's right eye twitched as he processed what he had just heard. The other two simply adopted impressed looks and Steel Hoof even whistled an impressed note.
"Sounds like the duel should be a piece of cake then." Steel Hoof beamed, happy to hear of the prowess of the princess.
"Well, I will tell Spike to prepare himself. If you could have some traveling supplies and a map gathered, I will be able to set out early next morning." Twilight said as she made her way for the hall that lead to where Spike was staying.
"Princess would you please wait for a moment." Summer Wind called as she trotted closer to Twilight.
"Yes Summer?" Twilight asked as the pegasus mare drew closer.
"You should really go out and see the city. There are festivities all through the streets, and I know it would mean a lot to the ponies there if you would spend time among them." Summer Wind said with a smile.
Twilight looked down the hallway that lead deeper into the castle where Spike had decided to slumber. The princess of magic hummed to herself in thought as she stared out the glass balcony door where she could see pegasi zipping around and decorating the streets. Surely enough when she listened more intently she could hear what sounded like music starting to play. Twilight smiled at the cheerfulness of the ponies and turned away from the hallway, Spike could afford to sleep a little bit longer.
As Twilight made her way through the streets the ponies all greeted her warmly as she passed. Food stalls were being set up on every street corner, and lines were already forming of ponies wishing to partake in the food. The entire festival, as Twilight discovered from the council, was paid for from the royal treasury as a method of raising morale and support for the new ruler. A tradition that had not been put in use for over a thousand years.
"Princess, princess!" An excited voice called for Twilight's attention over the noise of the festivities.
Twilight looked around for the source of the voice, and spotted a scrawny pegasus with a camera around his neck. The pegasus hovered over the crowded streets as he made his way towards Twilight. Landing before her and bowing low to the ground the excited stallion then bounced up and began smiling with glee.
"Princess, can I get your permission to write an article for the city newspaper on you?" The scrawny pegasus said, painting as if he'd flown a marathon to get to Twilight.
"Why, sure. But how about we conduct the interview another time? For now I would like to partake in the festivities, but how about when I get back from visiting the provinces you come to the royal court and we can have the interview then." Twilight said with a smile.
At the news that he was indeed going to be able to get a personal interview with the princess, the stallion cheered and flew off. Twilight giggled at his antics and waved as he left. She then turned her attention to what was going on further down the street she was on. It appeared that magic acts were going on, flashy displays of illusions and pyrotechnics were captivating the audience who stayed to the outsides of the streets and around a fenced off area where the unicorns performed within.
A large serpent made of ice danced through the sky in an impressive display of control over the elements. The unicorn who was doing the act was a pale blue color with a cropped white mane. His cutie mark was that of a snowflake, making it apparent what kind of magic he specialized in. The serpent then spiraled higher and higher into the air, until it reached the limit of where the unicorn could send it, and then abruptly exploded into a shower of fluffy snow that fell down upon the cheering crowd below it. The unicorn bowed and then exited the fenced off area, allowing another to take the stage.
A shadow crept along the ground from the audience and stopped in the center of the staging area. The shadow then began to bubble and a form rose from within it. A young mare with a navy blue and black mane stepped from the growing shadows and grinned at the crowd. Shadow took a deep breath in and slowly exhaled, a dark cloud appearing before her that was comprised of darkness. The cloud then surged around her, blocking all view of the mare as it swirled faster and faster, pulling the swirling orb of shadow smaller and smaller until it suddenly exploded outwards and dispersed before leaving the staging area. Now in the center stood a tall cat made of solid shadows. The mare who conjured it was standing on top of the shadowy creatures head as the animal looked around. It's eyes glowed red, and caused Twilight to tense up slightly. The crowd however was eating the act up, cheering wildly with eyes wide in wonder. Shadow then slid down the felines back, and onto its tail where it flipped her into the air with a sudden flick. The mare did a few flips as she soared higher, and then straightened her body out as she dove straight down into the feline, whereupon both of them collapsed into a single shadow on the ground that moved back into the crowd.
Twilight had to admit it was an amazing display of magic, even she would have struggled to pull off the necessary spells to control the shadows like that, and the spell to enter she shadows themselves was one that had taken years to perfect, but the young mare took to it as if a fish to water. Twilight sniffed the air as she smelled something that caught her attention and turned from the magic show to investigate what was teasing her nose. But she turned back as she heard excited cheering heading her direction. The crowd had spotted her and many ponies were now approaching her and insisting that she participate as well.
"Oh no, I don't even have anything in mind for what I would do..." Twilight said to the crowd trying to persuade them off, but they kept insisting and even nudging her forward.
With a sigh of defeat Twilight flared her wings and with their help leapt forwards into the staging zone. Applause of encouragement broke out causing Twilight to blush and smile at the crowd. This caused many stallions to whistle at her, and many mares to smack their husbands upside the head. Twilight giggled at the display as she considered what to do. Humming to herself in thought, Twilight finally decided on an idea and her horn was wrapped in her lavender aura.
Twilight was lifted off her hooves as she spread her wings wide, closing her eyes as she began to focus. A void of magic formed around her and began expanding as she lifted herself higher into the air. The void stretched out and in no time resembled the night sky, only the stars sat not in a black background, but a deep purple one. The stars began to then swim around in a synchronized pattern that captivated the audience's eyes. The stars would periodically halt as they arranged themselves into perfect copies of constellations and the sky that would appear around them. Twilight focused on making them flawless, a display that would have made Luna proud of her night sky. After she finished the last constellation, Twilight's eyes opened and she smiled down at the ponies who watched her in shock and amazement. The faux night sky then burst apart, and the stars with nothing to swim in, danced down upon the crowd in a glittery display. Twilight then released her magic and began flapping her wings to keep her aloft. The princess of magic was greeted as she descended to the ground with a roaring cheer.
Twilight blushed once more and waved to the crowd. She noticed one pony that stood stock still among the crowd, Shadow was looking upon her with displeased eyes. Twilight put down her hoof and frowned at the young mare who then slipped through the crowd and out of sight. Twilight would have attempted following the mare, but she knew it would be pointless in trying to to follow a pony who had perfected the shadow walking spell. Instead she sighed to herself and once more followed her nose to where the captivating smell was coming from.
Twilight followed the smell down a few back alleys until she came upon a shady looking street that lead to a dead end. The street was narrower than the other roads, and much less densely populated at the time being. A few shady stallions talked to each other near the sides of the street, and at the end was a food stall. Twilight approached the stall with wonder in her eyes. The scent was similar do doughnuts, but it carried a heavy scent of honey with it in the air.
As Twilight reached the stall she noticed that a fan was being animated, and was causing the air to stir and the smell of the treats to drift on the wind. The idea to use this method to spread the smell to attract customers was actually quite brilliant. The unicorn who was manning the stall had his flank to her as he rummaged for something. Twilight waited patiently as she eyed over the objects that had caused her nose so much desire. They were small golden brown balls of what appeared to be fried dough. They were dripping with warmed honey, and sprinkled with cinnamon. The entire cooking process of the dough being rolled out, pinched into balls, thrown into the fryer, and then covered in honey and cinnamon before being set to cool was done magically. The concentration needed to perform all of these tasks had to be impressive, but the stallion who was doing it was mumbling to himself as he rummaged through a trunk behind the stall.
The stallion exclaimed in glee as he pulled a chef's hat out and flipped it up onto his head. He then turned around and blinked a few times as his eyes locked with Twilight's. His eyes then drifted between the treats and the princess. He then laughed heartily as he addressed Twilight.
"I was not expecting you to be the first customer to wander down the alleyways." The stallion said as he shook his head and smiled.
"Eclipse? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked in a surprised tone.
Eclipse looked down to the treats, and then up to the stall sign before responding, "Isn't it obvious? I'm setting up a stall to earn some extra income."
"Well, I got that. But I meant what are you doing here , you can't expect too many customers in a back alleyway like this..." Twilight said in a concerned tone as she glanced back at the shady stallions who were doing their best not to stare at her.
"Well, as you may not know professional bounty hunters are not really an accepted bunch. For instance, what do you think of those five guys down the alley here?" Eclipse said motioning down the alleyway.
Twilight looked once more behind her and noticed the grizzled stallions were trying their best not to look at her, but they glanced at her every now and then. The display was excessively suspicious, and the scars all over them did not help. Over all they looked like a rowdy bunch who fought a lot.
"They look like thugs if you want my honest opinion..." Twilight said in a low voice so as to not be overheard.
"Exactly, but they are actually very nice stallions who work very hard to put food on the table for their families. They like I are professional bounty hunters, their scars earned from taking down the toughest of foes. But because of our appearances and occupation, we earn a reputation. While technically there is no law against me setting my stall up on a main street, it would only be asking for trouble..." Eclipse explained all whilst working the series of spells as if they were nothing.
"Oh, I didn't know..." Twilight said frowning and looking once more at the stallions before turning back to Eclipse, "So they are trying to avoid staring at me not because they want me to put my guard down, but because they don't want to be rude, huh?"
"Wonderful perception! Tell you what, these festivals are all about food and games. And what game doesn't have a prize? So for answering my question so well why don't you have some on the house?" Eclipse said as he levitated a few of the golden brown balls onto a plate and set it before Twilight.
Twilight smiled and nodded graciously as she levitated one of the golden orbs into her mouth and began chewing. The sweetness of the honey and cinnamon perfectly complimented the rich fried dough. Twilight happily dug into a second only stopping briefly as a gust of chilly wind swept over the street.
"I did not think the weather pegasi were supposed to bring a cold front this week..." Twilight commented as she dug into her prize.
"No... They weren't. In fact it might not actually be them." Eclipse said with a frown.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, a suspicious look growing on her face.
"Are you familiar with wendigos?" Eclipse asked as he watched the sky.
"You mean windigos?" Twilight said in correction.
"No, windigos are the adolescent stage of wendigos. While the young ones can only change the weather, freezing the lands to match the hearts of the inhabitants, wendigos have a special ability. The adult ones can even possess animals or ponies. They generally only possess those who inflict harm upon others though." Eclipse said with a sigh.
"You don't think one of those is responsible do you?" Twilight asked with a growing look of concern.
"Unfortunately they have been a slight problem in these parts, especially since the war with the zebras began. They are rare to come across up close, but they leave quite the trail of misery and destruction." Eclipse said shaking his head in disgust.
The stallion observed the concerned features of the alicorn and smiled as a thought donned on him, "Hey, how about round two? Do you know how to deal with a wendigo?"
Twilight's face lightened up as she thought over the question, her brow furrowing as she hummed to herself in thought, "Well, you said they possess other living creatures, so I would assume that a simple exorcising spell would suffice..."
"Unfortunately no, that is not enough. While forcing them out of their host is good, it will only delay them, not stop them." Eclipse said with a disappointed frown.
"Oh... Then how do you deal with them?" Twilight asked out of curiosity.
"They are beings that lack a physical form, only existing in a spiritual level. Thus forcing them from a mortal body only leaves them vulnerable, but it does not deal with them. You need a magical item that can suck in their soul so that they can no longer run rampant." Eclipse explained.
"You sure seem to know a lot about them..." Twilight said offhoofedly as she popped the last treat into her mouth and began chewing.
"That is my job after all, and wendigos have one of the highest bounties for anypony who can capture one." Eclipse said with a gleam in his eyes at the thought of the money.
"Why would you need anymore money? Shadow carried away a quite hefty bag of gold from the wyverns you defeated. Surely you aren't hurting that bad for funds..." Twilight commented on the greed she saw in the stallion.
"Sure I do not need it, I actually have quite the stash already actually. But why should I stop earning money? I wouldn't want my daughter to think I was a bum or something." Eclipse said with a hurt expression.
Twilight blanched and she started to apologize, but was cut off as Exlipse burst into laughter, "I'm sorry, I could not resist. You are alright in my book though princess, too many ponies who get involved in politics are overly serious and uncaring. Some ponies like old Steel Hoof on the council wouldn't know a fun time if it ran up and bit him."
"You know Steel Hoof?" Twilight asked in a surprised tone.
"Of course I do! Do you have any ideas how many bounties I have turned in over my years of work? Those three kooks still insist on personally overseeing all of the visitors to the castle, when it would be faster and easier to have a couple of clerks do it for them." Eclipse said waving a hoof dismissively.
Twilight shrugged at this and looked at the sky that was quickly growing darker and darker, "I should head back to the castle, I have a busy schedule tomorrow."
Eclipse bowed deeply, his chef's hat falling off causing him to scowl and pout. Twilight however giggled at this as she thanked him for the treats before spreading her wings and flying in the direction of the castle. Eclipse and the other bounty hunters waved her off as she left.
Spike felt something nudging his shoulder, and grumbled as he rolled over to put his back to whoever was disturbing his sleep. He could vaguely hear somepony huffing and he smiled as he slowly drifted back into sleep, surely they would not try to disturb him a second time after he made it clear he was planning on sleeping in.
An electrical jolt surged through the dragon's rump causing him to yelp and bolt upright. As he began to rub the slightly smoking scales where the zap hit him, Spike looked around for his assailant and as his eyes fell on her he swallowed nervously.
"Twilight, why didn't you just say it was you? I would have woken up I swear!" Spike pleaded seeing the frustrated look on her face.
"Spike I have been calling your name for fifteen minutes! I told you last night that we need to leave today to visit the provinces." Twilight scolded the dragon like he was still the baby brother who slept in the basket at the foot of her bed.
Spike stretched and yawned as he looked around the ball room that he was currently occupying. The tall ceilings and spacious walls provided a lot of space for the dragon to call home, the only condition being that he would need to clear out when the room was to be used for holidays and the like.
"Well shall we then? We have a busy schedule Spike!" Twilight said with a smile as she trotted for the large double doors that lead to the courtyard.
"Just like old times then..." Spike mumbled as he followed the alicorn with a smile.
The two of them as they made it into the courtyard were greeted by Frost Horn who was taking a break from council duty to see them off. The wizened stallion however had a slight frown on his face as Twilight and Spike approached him.
"Are you sure you want to deal with the eastern province first? It will undoubtedly be the most difficult of the two provinces you need to deal with. Perhaps if you go to the southern one first and rally some support before heading into the lion's den.." Frost Horn said in a concerned voice.
"No, I believe it would be better to stop the biggest threat first." Twilight said, shaking her head.
The elderly unicorn shrugged at this and motioned for the princess and the dragon to follow him. They walked to the very center of the courtyard where a large marble gazebo sat. Frost Horn stepped up the stairs to enter the gazebo and made his way to the center of it where a small cloth bundle sat. The council member beckoned Twilight forward, but Spike stayed outside of the gazebo, being too large to enter.
"What is it?" Twilight asked as she approached the bundle.
"I believe it is something that will help you on your task..." Frost Horn said with a slight frown.
Twilight approached the bundle and unwrapped it with her magic. Inside there was a golden scepter that held a hefty diamond at the top of it. The gem was perfectly round and gleamed with its own magical light. Twilight had never seen a gem quite like this one.
"Thank you, but what is it?" Twilight said with uncertainty.
"It is something that I believe you should only use for a dire situation..." Frost Horn said in a grave voice.
"What is it for?" Twilight demanded in a suspicious tone.
"It is not my place to say, but I believe it could come in help if the situation turns dire. For now, let us hope it does not come to that..." Frost Horn said with a somber look.
Twilight took the scepter in her magic and set it inside of a satchel that she then handed to Spike who tied it to his wrist. Twilight then exited the gazebo and began to channel her magic to create a portal large enough for Spike and her to enter through. As the arcane energies began swirling and formed, Twilight looked back at the ornate gazebo and the old unicorn who stood within. Twilight waved at him and he nodded at her in response as she followed Spike through the portal.
The arcane forces pulled and pressed at her as she walked through the twisting nether. The transition only took a few seconds however before she emerged behind Spike and walked around him. The protal emitted a loud cracking sound as it pulled itself closed and ceased to exist. Ponies were staring at her in mixed looks of fear and disbelief. Many looked as if they were ready to attack, but only held off their assault at seeing the crown on Twilight's head.
"What is the meaning of all this?!" A mare's voice roared from the distance, causing a cacophony of voices to surge forth from the ponies that were gathered around the town square Twilight and Spike stood in.
A light green unicorn mare with a golden mane and eyes pushed past the crowd, her anger evident on her face, "Wha's all that ruckus? I'll personally tan the hide of the troublemaker that is causing a problem in my town!"
The mare did not take long to notice the dragon, and she looked as if she was preparing a spell to attack immediately, but the spell ceased as her eyes drifted to the purple alicorn that stood next to the dragon. Her eyes narrowed however and a fierce look was plastered on her face.
The look was not lost on Twilight, and the princess frowned at the scene the mare was making. Twilight did not let it get to her however and she smiled and flared her wings as she strode forward with a confident step. The council made it abundantly clear that she could not falter in the face of these ponies, or they would immediately judge her as a weakling.
"I presume you are the governess of this province?" Twilight asked the clearly volatile mare.
"Aye, and who do you suppose you are?" The mare asked with a defiant frown.
"I am Princess Twilight." The alicorn said with confidence.
"Oh you are, are you? How are we to know you are fit to rule though?" The mare said with a devious smirk.
"Will a simple duel suffice?" Twilight offered in a bored tone.
The look on the mare's face and the murmuring of approval from the crowd was all the alicorn needed to know that her ploy had worked. This was going to be a simple matter of defeating the mare at Twilight's game. Magic was without a doubt an area that Twilight could not be beaten at. The crowd even seemed to like the idea of Twilight proving herself.
"You are so on Princess ." The mare said the title in a mocking tone.
"Very well, shall we?" Twilight said, signalling the ponies to back away and clear an area for the two unicorns to conduct their duel.
"I am Dandelion, and know that I am not so much a pretty wee flower as a fierce predator! They call me the lioness from my days in the ring." Dandelion said as she began to circle Twilight.
"So you used to partake in a lot of magical duels then I take it?" Twilight asked as she circled with the governess.
"Nay, I was a boxer!" Dandelion said as she charged with frightening speed and pulled a forehoof back to strike Twilight.
The alicorn flapped her wings and surged out of the way at the last second, the attack having taken her completely by surprise. Dandelion did not stop there though, she fired a magical bolt causing Twilight to dodge left to where she was charging to meet her. This time the blow connected, but the smiling unicorn's face turned into a look of disbelief as she noticed her punch did no damage. The alicorn had managed to snap a magical shield around her in the last second, and the hoof stopped mere centimeters from her face.
Twilight sighed in relief as she addressed Dandelion, "You took me by surprise there. I can't believe a unicorn would be so physically strong. But I warn you to forfeit this match, because I am the alicorn of magic..."
Twilight's eyes and horn began to emit light that grew in intensity as she was lifted off the ground by the power she wielded. Dandelion's face changed to that of fear as she felt the raw power of the princess, but she did not back down. Her pride would not allow it.
"Very well..." Twilight said, seeing that Dandelion would not forfeit.
A beam of light collided with the governess, and caused her to cry out in surprise. No physical damage was dealt, but the mare could feel herself weakening. After a few seconds the beam ceased and Dandelion fell to the ground, panting as if she had just run a marathon. She looked to Twilight with confused eyes, unable to muster the energy to speak.
"I simply removed all of the extra energy your body has stored. If you eat a meal rich with calories you will be back on your hooves by tomorrow. I will need you to run this town for me after all." Twilight said with a warm smile as she beckoned forth a few ponies from the cheering crowd to help the governess back to her home.
"This... Isn't... Over..." Dandelion huffed, gaining energy from her anger to speak.
"Are you alright milady?" One of the stallions who moved to help Dandelion said as he put his head under one of her forelegs.
As a second stallion did the same on the other side and they picked Dandelion up, the governess hissed in one of their ears, "release it."
"Excuse me milady, but is that really a good idea? With the state you are in I don't thi-" The stallion was cut off as Dandelion hissed at him.
"Do it!" The stallion looked nervously to the other pony helping him and then to the fountain that stood in the middle of the town square.
"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked, and then exchanged glances with Spike who merely shrugged.
The stallion who helped Dandelion up channeled magic into his horn and pointed it towards the fountain. Twilight gave the stallion a confused look and was bout to ask him what his actions meant, but suddenly a rumbling sound shook the town square. Most of the ponies in the vicinity held looks of confusion and fear, but a few ponies held knowing and grave looks.
The fountain split into four direction and the water drained below as it made way for something that was coming from under the ground. A large iron cage slowly rose from beneath the fountain, and a dark beast could be seen within. The air seemed to take a dramatic dip in temperature as the beast emerged.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Twilight cried in a demanding tone, glaring at Dandelion.
"You are... going to regret... Wearing that crown..." Dandelion said in a hate filled voice.
Twilight was about to respond, but the beast was now straining against the thick iron bars now that it was out in the open. Twilight saw the grotesque features of it from behind the insanely thick bars. Even Spike looked at the hideous abomination in fear and disgust.
"What is that thing..." Twilight mumbled as the bars began to screech and give way.
The beast with one final slam of its meaty fists burst its way out of the cage. It crawled out, leaving smears of blood from its bleeding fists. Its unnaturally elongated arms caused its knuckles to drag on the ground as it stood on its hind legs. Its back hunched forward, allowing the exposed organs from its split belly to dangle out slightly. It had the head of a deer, a native animal from the forest that stood between the eastern province and Concordia the capitol. The deer's features were obviously twisted and perverted by something however, for they were supposed to be just like ponies and cows in the sense that they stood on all fours and had hooves. This beast however only had hooves on its hind legs, its gnarled hands and sharp teeth seemed alien on the creature. The state of it was appalling too, its skin ripped and torn as if it grew too large for its own skin that was stretched and bare of fur in places where the stretching was extreme.
"Wendigo..." Twilight whispered to herself as she realized what the beast could possibly be. Eclipse had told her they were a problem here, and that they would possess an animal or pony, but he did not say they would be so terrifying.
"That little beasty will make quick work of you..." Dandelion huffed.
"Are you mad? That thing will destroy the town!" Twilight yelled.
No response came from Dandelion though, as the wendigo let out a blood curdling scream as it flailed its antlered head around. It made like it was going to charge at the crowd of ponies, but was tackled to the ground by Spike. The dragon barely had any size on it, though he should have dwarfed a deer. They wrestled each other on the ground, Spike desperately trying to stop it from harming any of the ponies. The wendigo however clawed and gnashed its teeth, managed to scratch and even painfully pull off scales from the dragon in places. Unlike the wounds inflicted onto the dragon, any claw marks that raked across the wendigo's flesh was knitted back into its original grotesque form.
Twilight exclaimed in fear as she watched Spike receive injuries from the monster. Charging her horn with magic she hoisted the dragon into the air and crushed the wendigo into the ground with increased gravity. Blood from the dragon dripped down onto the monster who screeched and roared as it struggled to lift its limbs, cracks running along the ground as it was pressed further and further into the ground.
"What were you going to do if I could not stop this thing?!" Twilight roared at the governess.
Dandelion only held a defiant look on her face, though the two ponies who were supporting her held looks of terror at how things were being played out. Twilight was about to lash out at them in anger but she noticed something she had not before now that her magic was touching the wendigo. There was a spell placed on it.
"No, not on it... In it..." Twilight mumbled to herself as she stepped closer to the thrashing beast. Ponies screamed in terror and fled back to a safe distance as it inched closer to the group of ponies. Twilight approached closer, to get a better look at it and shook her head in disgust.
"You placed an explosive spell on it in case it got loose or out of hand..." Twilight's voice and face were heavy with disgust.
The alicorn of magic concentrated a spell to exorcise the wendigo from the deer. The beasts thrashing increased, and it nearly stood up, before it was once more crushed to the ground by the increased gravity that was placed upon it. Twilight took aim, and fired the cleansing magic into the beast. Light immediately erupted from the wendigo's eyes and mouth as the spirit was driven from the body. The roaring spectre circled over the body it once possessed, until it was suddenly sucked into the pack that Spike had, still tied around his wrist.
Twilight set Spike down on the ground, and immediately looked over his wounds, sighing in relief as she noted that the wounds were minor and shallow. Twilight then diverted her attention to the bag on Spike's wrist.
"Spike, can you get the scepter out for me?" Twilight asked suspiciously.
"S-sure..." Spike said as he moved a hand from a scratch on his underbelly and opened the pack on his wrist.
As Spike opened the pack a bright light could be seen from within. The dragon pulled the scepter out, the large round diamond glowing fiercely with an eerie power. Twilight frowned as her suspicion was confirmed. Frost Horn knew that there was going to be a wendigo here, perhaps even the entire council.
Twilight looked over to the frightened governess and the two supporting her, "You three are coming with me..."
Dandelion merely glared back at the princess as Twilight opened a portal that would lead back to the courtyard in the capitol. As Twilight motioned for it, the two stallions who held the governess nervously approached the twisting purple portal. As they stopped before it and stared at it, Spike groaned and kicked them through it before entering himself. Twilight then turned and addressed the townsponies.
"I know this is a little sudden for a lot of you, but I am now the ruler of this country. I also find the soon to be ex-governess guilty of plotting against the crown, and of sheltering a dangerous creature that could have brought harm to the local ponies." Twilight said to the stunned and frightened crowd.
"Um.. Princess, what of the position of governor?" A stallion asked as he walked up to Twilight.
"As I said, Dandelion will be stripped of her rank, a new one will have to be elected." Twilight explained.
"So we can trust the council will be swift with their decision on a new governor? Normally the consideration for candidates takes a while, but given what has happened... I think we need one sooner rather than later." The stallion said rubbing the back of his head.
"You seem to know quite a bit about the politics of the matter..." Twilight commented.
"Well of course, I was one of the ponies that ran against Dandelion in the election. You see, the council decides the nominees, and then the people can from there vote." The stallion explained.
"Well then, I will personally make sure that it gets done in a timely manner. Though the trial and punishment of Dandelion comes first." Twilight explained.
The stallion nodded at this, accepting the decision of Twilight. The alicorn of magic then made her way over to the corpse of the wendigo and shook her head in disgust. As she levitated the corpse and moved it through the portal, she took one last look at the ponies who had been under the care of Dandelion. They all looked shocked by what had happened, all for a hooffull here and there that Twilight knew had to be loyalists to Dandelion. Shaking her head Twilight stepped through the portal after the wendigo corpse.
As Twilight stepped once more through the portal and emerged into the open air of the courtyard, she was greeted by the sight of Dandelion lying on the ground, struggling to stand up, and Spike holding the two stallions in his hands. Twilight set the wendigo down on the ground as the portal closed behind her with the loud cracking sound and gave the dragon an odd look.
"They dropped her and tried to run." Spike said shaking his head.
Twilight frowned at the two stallions and shook her head. She then turned her head as the doors to the courtyard burst open and the three council members came rushing to Twilight. As they approached they halted and stared at the twisted monstrosity that lay dead on the ground. Frost Horn paled as he stared at the body, while Steel Hoof and Summer Wind merely stared with slack jaws at the wendigo.
"Is that what I think it is?" Steel Hoof said, whistling in an impressed tone.
"Where did it come from?" Summer Wind asked in a disgusted voice.
"I was hoping you all could fill me in actually. The governess there had one captive and set it loose on me." Twilight said in an annoyed tone as she narrowed her eyes at Frost Horn.
"Are you alright then? Wendigos are very fearsome creatures." Steel Hoof said looking over Twilight.
"I am fine, but Spike needs some medical attention." Twilight said waving him off and directing him towards the purple dragon.
"How did you manage to deal with it?" Summer Wind asked, still eyeing the dead creature.
"She sealed its soul in the royal scepter." Frost Horn said with a scowl.
The other two council members' eyes went wide and their heads bolted toward the wizened unicorn. Twilight's eyes drifted toward the scepter that was held in her magical aura and she found herself captivated once more by the round diamond that now held the soul of the wendigo.
"But the previous king is supposed to still have that..." Summer Wind said as she only now noticed the scepter.
"Frost... Why do you know of this. Where did the princess get that?" Steel Hoof asked in a stern voice.
"He must have left it at the gazebo over there. I happened upon it early this morning, and understood that he was leaving it to be found before the princess left for the eastern province." Frost Horn said with a frown.
"You mean the old king knew where she was going, and decided to help her?" Summer Wind said, as confused as the others.
"I do not know what he is planning, but it would appear he wanted Princess Twilight to deal with the wendigo." Frost Horn explained.
Twilight looked behind her to where the gazebo sat in the courtyard. She noticed something sitting there, exactly where the bundle that held the scepter once sat. As she approached it and left the council to bicker among themselves, Twilight could see that it was a box that sat in the middle of the gazebo. As she walked up to it she could smell something from within it, something that caused the fur on the back of her neck to stand up as a chill ran down her spine.
"No..." Twilight said as she stood over the box and opened the lid.
Within the box sat a plate filled with the treats that she had eaten at the festival the night before. There was also a note tucked to the side so as to keep out of the honey. As Twilight levitated the note in front of her she scanned it hastily.
'Dear Princess Twilight,
You may not have won the prize for the second question, but I truly did enjoy chatting with you. So, I instead chose to send your prize to you as a gift. I trust it served you well, and will continue to benefit you should anything else come to pass that you would need it for.
The letter was not signed, but it was clear enough as to who it was from. Twilight folded the note back up and set it in the box with the treats. Her mind was swimming with questions, all of them having to do with the seemingly kind stallion named Eclipse. She almost did not want to believe that he was the one who had ruled the land with an iron hoof. Her mind then drifted back to all the interaction she had with him, and how off it seemed that he could even be capable of doing something evil. Then there was the question of why help her. Twilight wanted answers to this, and she knew exactly where to get them.
Twilight looked back to the council members who were currently calling for servants to tend to Spike as they personally dragged the governess and her two lackeys off to the dungeons. As they were occupied Twilight took this opportunity to find some answers, and she launched into the air with a mighty motion from her wings.
Chapter Three
The Fury of the Sun
Celestia's sun still hung high in the sky as Twilight soared over the city. Ponies were busily going about their days as Twilight sped past them, receiving friendly waves as she went. They did not register to her however, as she was too preoccupied with her task of finding the stallion that she believed held the answers she craved. She did not want to believe it, but she had to make sure. And if Eclipse was the old king, then Twilight had to come to the decision on what to do about him. He had caused Celestia and Luna much suffering, and had ruled the land with an iron hoof, surely he did not expect to never answer for his crimes.
Twilight spotted the narrow street in which Eclipse had set up his stall, and landed with force enough to crack the ground slightly. Twilight was a whirlwind of emotions at the moment, but she was working as hard as she could to at least give Eclipse the decency to hear his side of the story. But thoughts of how he could speak with her, while keeping a straight face kept popping up.
Twilight looked to the building that sat at the end of the street, she had not noticed it before with the festival lights strung up, but the house was covered in graffiti. 'Monster', 'Get Out', and 'Freak' were painted all over the building. Apparently the local residence knew of the occupants of the house. This however only caused Twilight more ire, because the one she had come to enact justice upon was in a known location, and she was not told of it.
Twilight approached the house warily, she could have sworn the shadows in the alleyway were moving, and given the talents of the mare who she knew had to live here the notion was not so far fetched. Twilight stood in front of the door for a few seconds as she calmed herself and readied for what would await her on the other side. Slowly nudging the door open with a hoof, Twilight peered into the house.
Seeing no immediate danger she crept in and eyed her surroundings. The interior of the house was a dramatic change from the outside. The decor was expensive and ornate looking, thick red carpets with ancient looking designs covered the floor, and exquisite paintings in gold frames hung on the walls. Twilight had the feeling she knew where the money he earned went.
She made her way further into the house, cautiously looking around and growing more and more on edge the further she made it. She looked closer at the decor as she advanced, and noticed that each painting while done by a different artist, was of Eclipse. Twilight stopped in her tracks as she noticed this, and compared the different works of art. It appeared as if the paintings were done down the hallway in a chronological order judging by the aging of the paint and methods used. Eclipse in the earlier paintings held a fierce glare, but as they went down the line, the expression changed to a more passive expression. The final two however he seemed to have an almost sad expression, Twilight frowned at this as she thought of what could have caused him to choose different looks for each painting.
"They are beautiful are they not?" A voice said from directly next to Twilight.
"Gah!" Twilight exclaimed as she jumped up and fell on her rump and flailed away from Eclipse who was just standing alongside her as she examined the paintings.
"Oh come now, you should expect to meet a pony if you go into his house..." Eclipse said with a frown.
Twilight's jaw worked wordlessly for a moment, until she finally regained her bearings, "You are the previous king, the one who caused so much suffering in the past!"
At Twilight's pointing and accusation Eclipse frowned as he responded, "Suffering? I would never do anything to harm my ponies... Well, they are yours now, but still."
"Then what of the open dislike and even hatred for you?" Twilight said as she got back onto her hooves.
"They hate me not for what I did, but for what I am. While others grow old and die around me, I alone persevered the ages." Eclipse said with a sigh as he turned and made his way down the hallway.
"Where are you going?" Twilight asked in a stern voice.
"To my living room, one generally entertains guests there, not in a hallway." Eclipse said with a chuckle as Twilight cautiously followed him.
The room Twilight followed Eclipse into was just as extravagantly decorated as the rest of the house, "You seem to have spent quite a lot on decor in..."
"Yes, but to be fair most of the artwork are either family heirlooms or things I grew attached to over the years from the castle. Other than those however I know a few ponies who are still willing to do business with me for the right price." Eclipse commented in a carefree tone as he sat himself upon a plush looking chair and motioned for Twilight to take the sofa.
Twilight begrudgingly sat where she was prompted to and fixated a frown toward Eclipse who merely smiled kindly back at her. Twilight was the first to look away as she took in more of the artwork around the room, one such painting caught her eye, it hung over the fireplace and seemed to be the oldest of the paintings she had seen so far.
"Who is that in the painting?" Twilight asked as she examined the features of the stallion. It looked an awful lot like Eclipse, but the cutie mark was wrong. Where Eclipse bore a blackened and cracked heart wrapped in thorns, the stallion here had a shining gold heart on his flank.
"Ah, that is the once crowned prince Heart of Gold. You know, he had a reputation for being a stallion who could do no wrong, always helping out his fellow pony, and doing so with a smile. He was a good stallion..." Eclipse said with a far off look in his eye.
"Crowned prince? So he never became king?" Twilight asked casting a suspicious eye at the stallion who she knew to have a reputation for dethroning others who got in his way.
"Sadly no, no he did not. Though the throne was never really what he sought after. He was a stallion stricken by love, and that is what lead to his demise." Eclipse said in a somber tone.
Twilight quirked an eyebrow at this, "Was he family then?"
"You could say that, yes. The royal line are all related in some manner. That was long ago though, and I do believe you came for business, not a history lesson." Eclipse said waving his hoof to dismiss further talk of the portrait.
Twilight pursed her lips at the way Eclipse was treating this, he obviously knew what she was here for, but he simply calmly sat there as if waiting to see if she would go through with it or not, "Why are you so calm about this?"
"About what? About the student of the alicorn I banished from this land confronting me? Or is it about being in the presence of the only thing that can stop me?" Eclipse asked in an airy tone.
Twilight looked down to the Element of Harmony around her neck, the six gems sparkling brightly along its surface. Looking back up into Eclipse's eyes she finally answered, "Both, I want to hear your side of the story before I decide whether or not to go through with an act that could either be justice or petty vengeance."
Eclipse quirked up an eyebrow and whistled an impressed note, "Well done at being able to perceive that there is a difference. Already you prove yourself a pony worthy of wearing the crown! But to answer the question, I am calm because no matter what you decide I have come to terms with it. I have lived my life, and I have raised my daughter to the point that she can fend for herself."
Twilight thought over what was said to her for a moment before another question appeared in her head, "Who is Shadow's mother? You told me you only knew her for a single night. Was her conception merely so you could have an heir, or did the mare only wish to get closer to the crown?"
Eclipse's gaze softened at this, no longer holding the bravery his proud statement had brought him, instead switching to a look of sadness. With a heavy sigh Eclipse shook his head, "She... Is not my daughter by birth, but by adoption. You see, I am a loyal stallion and I was married once, though my wife and I were never able to conceive a child. Still, I to this day remain loyal in that I do not partake in pleasures of the flesh with any other mare. She may be gone, but our vows are not..."
Twilight was beginning to feel sorry for Eclipse, he not only lived a life of being hated by others, but he also refused to allow love into his life, that was apparently until he adopted shadow. Twilight found his sense of loyalty touching though, reminding her a lot of Rainbow Dash, though his did seem a bit more archaic.
"Then why leave the castle? Would it not have been better to raise her there?" Twilight asked.
"Children raised in castles tend to lack the knowledge of what is important in this world. Things such as respect and honor are often twisted when one is raised above others. It took many years for me to learn those lessons, and had I known them, there would surely have been many mistakes I would not have made." Eclipse said whilst shaking his head.
"So why did you decide to finally adopt a filly then?" Twilight asked, captivated by the story.
"That is a story better shown than explained." Eclipse said as Twilight's pocket dimension was opened without her will for it to do so, and the royal scepter floated out.
"Hey!" Twilight exclaimed more in confusion than surprise on how Eclipse managed to so easily force open the thing she kept hidden her most precious or important things.
"This scepter, serves two purposes. One is to suck in and devour evil souls that would do harm to ponies. The second is to use the power from absorbing the soul, to cast a powerful scrying spell." Eclipse said as he examined how much power the scepter received from the wendigo.
"You don't mean it can scry into the past do you?" Twilight asked in a surprised tone.
Eclipse merely smiled as he levitated the scepter to float directly between himself and Twilight, "It was originally forged to be a useful tool for the king to watch over the land, and even see what happened to deliver judgement for crimes. So, Princess Twilight, are you ready?"
"How do I use it..." Twilight asked as she stared into the pulsating round diamond.
"Focus on a question about what happened, the scepter will detect your thoughts and reveal to you the answer..." Eclipse said as he allowed Twilight to grasp it in her magic.
Twilight intensified her gaze as she focused her mind on the question, 'What caused Eclipse to adopt Shadow?' The diamond's light began to pulsate, and the vision around the edges of Twilight's eyes began to blur, before her vision completely blacked out. She felt the sofa drift out from under her, and it was as if she were floating in mid air. All at once her vision came back along with feeling of her surroundings, but she was no longer in the living room, but in a dark forest. She noticed she was floating slightly off the ground, and her body was ethereal.
A twig snapped and brought Twilight's attention to it, her head snapping up to see what was approaching. Eclipse stepped out of the shadows, looking no different now than he did in his home. Though he wore the ornate golden crown, and a long black cape with golden trim draped over his back. His white coat gave him away, and his face stood out in the shadows as the rest of his body was either covered by the cape, or concealed underneath the heavy looking black armor he wore. The metal boots that covered his hooves clanked noisily through the forest, and Twilight watched in amazement as he still carried on a quick pace with ease, even leaping over obstacles in the heavy looking armor. Twilight floated after him, to see where he was going, and wondered what he was doing in a forest like this.
They made their way into a clearing, and Twilight gasped in horror at what she saw. Beneath where she floated she heard Eclipse growl in anger at the sight. There was a small village that was built here in the forest's clearing, and it was currently being besieged by feral monsters. Dark beasts dashed through the streets and chased down fleeing ponies, tackling and feasting upon them. In the center of the village however, a large green dragon laughed as it engulfed house after house in flames.
"This forest does not belong to you ponies!" The dragon cackled in its deep voice as the different forest monsters slaughtered the townsponies.
Twilight was about to make a move to stop this at once, but before she could act an intense black beam blasted through her chest, causing her to gasp and look down at herself. She was fine however, the beam had passed through her ghostly body, and Twilight suddenly remembered that she was not really here. Casting a glance up to where the beam was headed, she swallowed hard at the sight. The dragon in the center of the town that was now ablaze, had a gaping hole in his chest. The dragon looked down at himself and let out a confused whimper as he fell over dead, crushing a building as he fell. Twilight looked behind her and saw the murderous look in Eclipse's eyes.
The once king stomped forward and yelled angrily to himself as he began sending arcing bolt after arcing bolt as he picked off the beasts that roamed the streets, "I should have been quicker! Why did the messenger not interrupt what I was doing?!"
A large feral cat hissed and pounced off a roof at Eclipse, but as the king turned his gaze at it, it disintegrated into nothing, having been hit with a dark bolt from Eclipse's horn. Eclipse meanwhile kept ranting as he butchered the forest inhabitants that had attacked the settlement, "I was only Fucking eating my dinner, that is not more important than this! I swear I will have that damned messenger thrown in the dungeons for not warning me sooner!"
Eclipse made short work of the creatures, Twilight never even got a chance to see what many of them were before they were blasted into dust. Eclipse was clearly disgusted at the sight of the burning village, but the few ponies who survived were not sure if they had been rescued or not. They cast fearful eyes on their savior, unsure if his anger would be directed towards them. This was not lost on Eclipse though, and he let out a saddened sigh as he extinguished the fires with a spell, and began searching for injured survivors.
Twilight watched as Eclipse examined the bodies of ponies, each one he found dead caused him to look sadder and sadder. He piled their bodies in the center of the town, not with magic, but with his own hooves. Twilight wondered if it was for respect for the dead that he did this, but she was still appalled by the growing mound of bodies Eclipse was making. The few who survived ventured from their homes and from under karts and openly wept now at the pile of their friends and families.
After several hours of searching and gathering the survivors Eclipse told them he would lead them back to the capital where they would be given a place to stay and food to eat. The old king's horn flared a black aura, and his shadow began to bubble and rise, as a perfect clone of himself was formed. Twilight gasped in amazement as she saw one of the spells she thought was only a legend. But here Eclipse had used the shadow doppelganger spell. The clone lead the survivors off into the forest, as Eclipse turned back to the ruined village and shook his head as he approached the mound of corpses.
Something then seemed to catch his eye as he turned his attention toward the house the dragon had fallen on. Eclipse had not bothered to check it before, seeing as it was completely demolished, but he figured he should anyways. Eclipse levitated the dragon into the air, and opened a tiny black hole inside of it, within seconds the dragon had been devoured by the dark void, crushed under the immense gravity, and then eclipse closed it. He then levitated the debris into the air, and looked among its contents. Several more bodies were there, making Eclipse hang his head as he levitated them onto the pile. He then made his way into the ruins of the crushed home as he deposited the debris into the streets, and searched for the basement. Instead of a stairway, he found a collapsed part of the floor, directly under where the dragon had been.
Eclipse jumped down there and his eyes immediately locked into a mare who was shivering under a large wooden beam that had fallen on her. eclipse gasped as he rushed to her, "Oh no!"
Eclipse bucked the beam off of her and examined her wounds, his face turning from elation at finding another survivor, to a grave look at her wounds, "I am sorry, but You have already lost too much blood..."
"Sa...ve... My....Fi...lly..." The mare forced out between spouts of coughing blood as she rolled over and grasped Eclipse's hoof with her own.
Eclipse tore his eyes away from the bleeding mare, and saw what she had been hunched over and protecting. A small gray filly lay unconscious on the ground, shivering now without her mother over her. Eclipse gasped as he took off his cape and draped it over the fragile little thing. He opened his mouth to ask the mother what the filly's name was, but stopped when he saw she had passed on. Eclipse levitated the filly off the ground and wrapped her in his cape for warmth. He then tied the ends of the cape behind his back so that the bundled up filly rested against his chest. Her face poked out and faced up towards him, and Eclipse looked down at her as he left the remains of the house.
As he made his way out of the village he cast one last glance back at it, a somber look on his face as his horn flared up and the town was engulfed and devoured by black flames. Twilight watched the village burn, its deceased residence cremated by the intense flames, and then she cast her gaze towards Eclipse and Shadow as they made their way into the forest.
Twilight's eyes lost focus and blacked out once more. She then found herself lying on the sofa in Eclipse's living room. As she lifted her head she looked around and noticed that Eclipse was still sitting where she had last seen him, reading a book. He looked up as he noticed Twilight stirring, and smiled at her.
"Welcome back." Eclipse said in a warm voice.
"Wha... How long was I out..." Twilight asked.
"Only about twenty minutes, time passes faster in the vision than here." Eclipse said as he set the book down.
"So... You took Shadow in because her mother asked you to..." Twilight said as it all slowly came back to her.
"You wanna know something funny about that whole thing?" Eclipse asked.
Twilight only gave the stallion a confused look in response.
"The damned messenger that was too afraid to disturb my meal, causing me to get there too late to save a majority of the ponies told the story differently. He said that he told me while I was eating, and that I waited to finish my meal before going to help them. So I was viewed as a heartless monster and blamed for the deaths of over a hundred ponies!" Eclipse said as if delivering a joke, but Twilight saw past this and knew that he was saying it in a light manner so as to not get angry.
"What did you do to him..." Twilight asked in a grave tone.
"I found him guilty for the murder of over a hundred ponies by not interrupting me. My last action as king before I took off the crown was to execute that fool." Eclipse said, his smile turning into a fierce frown.
"Is that why the ponies here all hate you enough to grafitti your home?" Twilight asked as she put the scepter back into her pocket dimension.
"Yes, though only about twenty some survived and they all feel that they owe me something, their friends and family believed the story the messenger told them, thinking that I had tricked them somehow, or cast a spell on them to make them take my side." Eclipse said in a grumpy tone.
Twilight observed how the mood of the once king changed as he thought over the past and how he had been wronged. Twilight frowned in thought as she looked at him, "Shadow always treats me as if I am an enemy, what have you told her of me..."
"I told her a couple years ago that she was old enough to survive on her own if anything ever happened to me. She told me that nothing could possibly happen to me, So I told her of the Elements of Harmony, and that it was possible that one day an alicorn would come and enact vengeance upon me for something I did long ago." Eclipse said with a shrug.
Twilight pressed her hoof against her forehead, "So she hates me because she thinks I am going to orphan her..."
Eclipse chuckled, and then laughed heartily causing Twilight to jump slightly, "It seems the irony of being seen as a monster to the daughter of one is not lost on you."
Twilight cast her eyes shamefully away from Eclipse, "I was actually going to use the elements on you before I came here, but all that would have done is enact vengeance upon a pony who served his country only to be branded a monster."
"There is a saying about that, We either die heroes, or live to see ourselves become monsters. Too bad for us immortals eh?" Eclipse asked, a now jovial look on his face.
Twilight's frown deepened as she looked back up at Eclipse and asked him her final question, "What did Celestia and Luna do to make you banish them? Celestia told me that you were angry that she took the throne from you... But she also did mention that you rewrote some of her memories so that she would not know your face..."
"That..." Eclipse said, a somber look donning his face, "What is another long story, but to answer your question shall we say that she betrayed me. I never wanted to take the throne, and I never meant to dethrone her. Things just... Got out of hand, and I rewrote her memories so that she would never return. I caused her to fear me more than anything else, to ensure that the mistake I almost made, never had a chance to happen."
"What mistake..." Twilight mumbled at the now fierce look on Eclipse's face.
"I almost killed Celestia and Luna... I didn't want to fight, and I only meant to protect myself. But I didn't know my strength, I had just become immortal and they attacked me. I was confused and disoriented as we fought, and when I came to my senses I found that they were both beaten to within an inch of their lives." Eclipse said with his eyes cast down to the ground.
"But... They had the Elements of Harmony with them didn't they?" Twilight asked with a confused look.
"I don't know why they did not use them, perhaps they thought they could handle me, and I disabled them before they had a chance to use the Elements." Eclipse said with a sigh as he shook his head.
Twilight frowned as she stood up to leave, having heard enough of Eclipse's side of the story to know that he did not deserve to be punished. Eclipse's eyes brightened noticeably when he saw Twilight was going to leave it at that, and he waved her off as Twilight made her way out of his home. But before she made it out the door, one final thought dawned on her, and she turned towards him.
"Did they have any family here?" Twilight asked with her ears against her head.
"Still do, they are a high standing noble family. Never in line for the throne, but still a branch of the royal family. They won't even speak to me though, seeing as I dethroned their only chance at ever becoming the main branch of the family. They are the Caelus family, though there are only about four of them left in this city now." Eclipse said with a shrug.
Twilight then left, not wanting to impose any further upon Eclipse who had allowed her into his home fully knowing that it was a possibility that she would use the Elements of Harmony on him. As she soared back to the castle she thought over what he had told her, and she wondered if it was okay to let Celestia and Luna know the truth. At the very least she should get in touch with their family that still lived here and tell them of the princesses.
As Twilight drew closer to the castle she closed her eyes and her horn flared up as she teleported into the throne room. All three members of the council were speaking among each other in hushed tones. When Twilight snapped into existence they immediately ceased though and stared at the princess.
"Princess Twilight, you are back!" Frost Horn said with relief.
"Where have you been? We were worried King Eclipse might have attacked you!" Summer Wind said with a worried expression.
"What? Why would he attack me? We only had a long conversation and he answered many of my questions." Twilight said raising an eyebrow.
"Well, we figured he would not be too happy about you being here since you have the Elements of Harmony..." Steel Hoof said with a frown.
"I have decided to leave him alone. He no longer has any interest in politics and simply wants to raise his daughter." Twilight explained to the council.
The council members exchanged confused looks with one another and Summer Wind finally spoke up, "We were unaware he had one..."
"Would explain the sudden resignation he gave us though..." Frost Horn offered.
"I always thought it was because he was ashamed of the rumor that was spread about him when he went to save that village..." Steel Hoof said thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin with a hoof.
"Where is Spike by the way?" Twilight asked in a concerned tone.
The council members seemed derailed slightly by the change in subject and it took a couple of seconds before Summer Wind cleared her throat and answered, "He is back in his sleeping quarters, after we had him patched up he wanted to rest so he went back to the ballroom."
Twilight nodded and thanked Summer Wind before she winked out of existence and reappeared before Spike. The dragon lifted his head and looked down at her before smiling. Spike moved to sit up but grunted in pain and clutched his side where one of the long gashes was.
"Hey Twilight, where ya been?" Spike rumbled as he smiled in embarrassment.
"I was having a nice little chat with the old king." Twilight said with a smile.
"What?! Did he attack you? What did he say?" Spike said, once more trying to get up and grunting in pain as he set himself down.
"Spike you should let that heal better before you strain it! At least try to get up a different way instead of using the muscles that are hurt..." Twilight said frantically to Spike.
Ehh... I should just stay down... But come on, stop being a tease and tell me what happened!" The dragon begged.
"Well, I went over to Eclipse's house an-" Twilight began before being cut off.
"Eclipse is the old king?! But he was so nice..." Spike said dismally.
"He is nice Spike, he was never really a bad pony, bad things just happened that he was blamed for." Twilight said in an assuring voice.
"Oh, and I suppose it wasn't his fault that he banished Celestia and Luna from here, dethroned them, and ruled for over a thousand years." Spike said sarcastically.
"Well, there is a little bit more to the story than that..." Twilight said, flattening her ears against her head.
"Well go on, not like I will be doing anything else until I get better." Spike said rolling his eyes.
Twilight then began to fill Spike in on everything, and after a few hours of them talking back and forth on their thoughts over what Twilight had experienced at Eclipse's house, Twilight yawned and shook her head at Spike.
"I think I should be getting to bed." Twilight said, stretching as she stood up.
"Will you tell Celestia?" Spike asked with a frown.
"I think so, I just don't know how exactly to tell her though. But I know I cannot lie to her. The only thing I worry about now though is how she will react..." Twilight said with a sigh.
"She wouldn't act that drastically would she? I mean, she mainly sent you here to lead the ponies of this land, not for revenge. What is the worst that could happen?"
Celestia sat in her bedroom smiling at pictures of past events. Currently she gazed at a picture that had been taken during the first Grand Galloping Gala that Twilight and the other elements had participated in. Celestia smiled at the fond memory, and all the memories that had followed. Her thoughts were filled with hope that Twilight was doing alright.
A letter then popped into existence next to her, something that had not happened in a long time. Twilight had not had need to send her a note such as this for years, but the fact that she had hinted at good news. Celestia hurriedly opened the scroll with her magic and read the contents.
Dear Princess Celestia,
I am writing to tell you that I have suceeded in taking the throne in the land that was once known as Oblivion. It was changed to Concordia slightly over a decade ago after the old king, Eclipse, abandoned the throne. When I first arrived I was greeted with open arms by the citizens who were glad to once again have an alicorn sit on the throne. They were on the verge of civil war as different parties vied for power and some even attempted to ascend to the throne. However, Eclipse left directions that an alicorn would come someday to rule the land. I was wary of those around me, and even skeptical about their motives for helping me, but I soon came to find that the pony council who helped me since I first arrived simply needed me to quell the starting rebellion. With their aid, I now rule over the land here, and will soon be visiting another province to quell the unrest there. I also came across the fact that you have family that still remain here in the capital city. I have yet to meet them, but soon I will make the time to visit them as well. P.S. I have met with and spoken to Eclipse, the previous king. And I have decided that I will leave him alone. He no longer poses any threat to the ponies here, and he is raising a daughter. He told me he planted memories into you and your sister in hopes that you two would stay away from him, and to be honest I think it is also for the best. If you would be interested in meeting your family, I would be more than happy to bring them over to Equestria via a portal however. Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle
Celestia scanned over the letter multiple times, each time her eyes growing more frantic at the news. She feared the worst, that Twilight had fallen victim to the old king, or even worse, that she had decided to take his side. Celestia's anger boiled within her as she thought over this, her mane beginning to boil frantically instead of its normal billow.
"After over a thousand years of nightmares... He is leading a normal life..." Celestia said in an eerily calm voice as she levitated a picture of Twilight off of her bedside table where pictures of Luna and Cadence also sat. Celestia stared calmly at the face of her once pupil, eyes staring, unblinking at the picture.
"Twilight... I will free you from whatever trick he has you in..." The glass over the picture fractured, and shattered under the force Celestia was putting into the levitation spell, her anger causing her to lose control over her magic.
"Eclipse huh..." Celestia said in the eerie calm voice.
"You will pay for tricking Twilight, and for causing me so much pain!" Celestia screamed as the picture and frame were crushed into a tiny bead that she deposited on the floor.
4 - What Lies in the Darkness
Chapter Four
What Lies in the Darkness
Eclipse rested his head on his hooves as he sat on the bench of the great marble gazebo that dominated the space in the center of the castle courtyard. The ancient unicorn stared at the carvings that decorated the interior of the gazebo, and the story that they told. Often he found himself here when he needed some alone time to think. Though he had not actually needed to come here since he adopted Shadow.
The once king sighed as he made it to the last carving that lead into the start of the story once more. Eclipse let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes as he cleared his mind of all troubles and began to think over what had happened to him in the past, the choices he had been forced to make.
"What are you doing here?" A familiar voice called, causing Eclipse to open his eyes.
The familiar sight of a white stallion greeted him, and Eclipse smiled and gestured for the other stallion to take a seat next to him. The stallion complied and took his place next to the ancient unicorn. For a full minute neither spoke until the newcomer sighed and shook his head.
"You know you shouldn't be here. The council is still sore at you after all." The stallion said with a concerned look on his face.
"You know better than anypony that they will not raise a hoof against me old friend." Eclipse finally spoke as he turned his attention away from the stallion next to him and once more gazed at the gazebo, this time paying attention to the beautiful craftsmanship that had gone into the pillars that circled it.
"What of the princess?" The stallion asked in a concerned tone.
"She has seen fit to spare me from the elements, I do not think she will lash out at me just for being here." Eclipse said, chuckling to himself.
"Hmm, perhaps..." The stallion conceded.
The stallion then seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, casting his eyes around as Eclipse let his gaze wander lazily over the marble gazebo.
"I still wonder what made her do it..." Eclipse said in a tired tone.
"Who?" The stallion inquired.
Eclipse pointed a hoof at one of the depictions, one of an alicorn who stood over the forms of many weeping ponies, "Her, what could have caused somepony so pure to turn out so bad..."
"I don't know why you would ask me that, I wasn't around during her time." The stallion said in a defensive tone.
"True... But you always seem to have good insights on things like this, I was hoping you had an opinion on what could cause corruption like that." Eclipse said turning an expecting gaze towards his friend.
"Hmm, to be honest I would have to say she was afraid." The stallion answered with a shrug.
"Huh, fear eh? Almost seems silly how something so... Primal, could have caused so much grief." Eclipse said with a sigh as he stood up.
"That sounds kinda funny, coming from you..." The stallion said with a small grin.
"Bah, my story is a little different. I did not really have a choice in the matter." Eclipse said with a scowl as he stood up.
"You headed off so soon?" the voice called after Eclipse as he strode out of the gazebo.
"No, I'm going to take a gander at the old history books. I can't seem to recall who it was that did her in. I want to say it was the gnolls from the east, but it may have actually been the northerners. I do seem to recall they weren't too fond of her." Eclipse said with his friend following close behind as he entered the castle.
The two made their way through the empty halls of the castle unhindered for some time, Eclipse kept a carefree stride, unthreatened by anypony that could possibly cross his path here. The other stallion kept a somewhat worried look on his face, a detail that the once king did not let slip past his attention.
"What's the matter? Worried your niece might be stalking about?" Eclipse asked in a teasing tone.
"You should take her more seriously. If she had any interest in politics she could challenge old Frost Horn for the right to represent unicorns." The stallion said in a cautious tone.
"Perhaps, but she seems perfectly happy to just leave me alone as it is." Eclipse said with a shrug.
The two rounded a corner and stopped as they noticed a white pegasus mare with a long golden mane standing before them. The stallion let out a groan while Eclipse smiled warmly and nodded in greeting. The mare's eyes only narrowed at seeing the once king.
"Summer, how have you been? It has been a while hasn't it?" Eclipse said greeting the council member.
"Sure has, sir ." Summer Wind spat the last word out venomously.
"Now now, no need for anger. I am only here to take a gander at a book, they are all mine after all." Eclipse said nodding towards the large double doors that opened into the library.
"Perhaps they once were, but they belong to the crown. And last I checked, you abandoned it." Summer said bitterly.
"I had my reasons." Eclipse said defensively.
"Yes, the filly you adopted. I just recently learned of that... And while I can sympathize with wanting to protect a child, I still cannot allow you in here right now." Summer Wind said in a warning tone.
"Well, I have not been violent to another pony since taking Shadow in... But still, I can get past you without harming you." Eclipse said, his voice laid back, but the threat was still apparent.
"Funny, I seem to recall the moment you returned from that village you killed a stallion... Or had his life meant so little that you had already forgotten?" Summer asked as she lowered herself into a ready stance.
"Hmm, you seem to be correct there. I did forget about him... But never since have I purposefully harmed another pony... Isn't that right?" Eclipse said, looking behind him to where his friend stood, who was shaking his head in a warning.
Summer Wind leaned to look past Eclipse, but the moment she took her eyes off of the once king, Eclipse became a blur of motion and was mere inches from her snout. Her eyes jerked and locked with his. She stared into the pure blackness that was his eyes now, compelled to keep gazing and not look away. She felt something probing her mind, and she tried in vain to look away or scream. Slowly but surely her struggling stopped as the force the probed her mind forced her to calm down, as her eyelids grew heavy.
"Take a break Summer, you work yourself too hard. It is not healthy to go through so much stress..." Eclipse said as his eyes returned to normal and Summer wind's knees began to buckle. Eclipse caught her and set her down gently before turning his attention back to his friend.
"What did you do that for? You could have just come back later." His friend said with a frown.
"I didn't hurt her, in fact I helped her. Poor thing hasn't slept in days she has been so busy preparing for Twilight to meet with the southern governor." Eclipse said waving a hoof dismissively.
Eclipse stepped over the sleeping mare, and pushed open the door to the library. As he entered he lit his horn up and took a seat at a table to read the book that was floating his way. As the book landed before him Eclipse frowned at what he saw.
"What is wrong?" the other stallion asked seeing his expression.
"This was put where the book I wanted should have been..." Eclipse said in a flat tone.
The once king then actually took note of the state the library was in, and was forced to do a double take at what he saw. Books were laying in piles on the floor, stacked to the height of two ponies. And the books that were on the shelves were not where they should be if Eclipse remembered correctly. All in all the place was a complete mess. Eclipse played with the idea if somepony was playing a prank in here. The sound of hooves meeting the stone floor brought Eclipse's attention to the ancient looking mare that was the royal librarian. Upon seeing Eclipse the elderly mare's face lit up.
"Sir, you need to help me! It is a catastrophe!" The elderly mare wailed as she excitedly approached Eclipse.
"Oh wow, Bookie, you're still alive... What are you, one hundred and twenty two now?" Eclipse said his nickname for the mare, amazed his old librarian was not only still alive but still working here.
"That isn't important sir, the new one has made a mess of this place. She just keeps grabbing book after book and piles them up next to her as she starts reading. Then when she is done, she puts it into another pile on the opposite side of her!" The old mare exclaimed, the display of energy frightening Eclipse, as he thought she could keel over at any moment at her age.
"Woah there, sit down and take it easy. I can fix this." Eclipse said in a calming voice as he pulled up a chair and helped the elderly mare onto it.
"Oh thank heavens..." The librarian sighed in relief.
Eclipse's horn lit up as he charged a spell to return each book to where it belonged. He had personally enchanted every book to return to its correct spot if given the right magical prompt. The signal was sent out, and books began flapping, a display much like that of birds as they made their way to their homes on the shelves. As the mess cleared, Eclipse noticed a purple alicorn lying where one pile of books had previously been. Twilight slept soundly, resting her head on her hooves with one last book under her sleeping grasp.
"So, what made you come all the way here by your lonesome sir?" The librarian asked.
"I'm not alone, I came here wi-" Eclipse said as he pointed a hoof at where his friend once stood. At seeing he was no longer there, Eclipse looked around with a confused expression, "Huh, that sly bastard snuck off without me noticing..."
"Hey now, that is no language for one who is raising a filly!" The old librarian scolded.
Eclipse fixed a flat look on his old librarian, and then burst into laughter, "You haven't changed one bit you know that?"
The old mare groaned at the antics of the once king and hopped off the chair, shaking her head as she trotted back towards where her desk was to wait for anypony to check out a book. Eclipse smiled as she left and then turned his attention towards where Twilight lay sleeping on the ground. He slowly approached her and looked down to see which book she held in her hooves as she slept. His eyes widened in recognition and he silently cursed his luck. She held the book he was looking for. With a groan Eclipse set upon trying to wake Twilight up.
"Wakey wakey princess..." Eclipse cooed as he nudged her shoulder with his hoof.
The only response the lavender alicorn gave was to groan something about five more minutes. Eclipse was not known for his patience however. In fact, he had gone to great lengths to insure that the enchantments he implemented in his daily life would make sure he had to wait as little as possible. With a determined look he lowered his face next to the sleeping mare's.
In the voice of the dragon he had met, Spike he recalled was his name Eclipse whispered in Twilight's ear, "Twilight, its time to wake up. You have an important schedule to keep now that you are a princess."
Twilight groggily stood up, "Alright alright Spike, I'm up... Wait, how did you fit in the library?"
Twilight rubbed her hooves to her eyes and blinked a few times to clear them before looking around the now pristine library. She did not see her beloved friend however, instead she only saw Eclipse sitting at the table, happily reading the book she had fallen asleep looking through.
"E-Eclipse?!" Twilight exclaimed, surprised to see the once king.
"Morning princess, I trust you have been well?" Eclipse said not looking away from his book.
Twilight cautiously approached to see what section Eclipse was at, and noticed he was on the chapter dealing with the rule of Princess Persephone. Twilight gasped in recognition, drawing the attention of Eclipse.
"What is it?" Eclipse asked raising an eyebrow.
"I was going over this part and I wanted to ask you about it!" Twilight said excitedly.
"Woah now, this was hundreds of years before my rule. I was not around for it." Eclipse said raising a hoof to fend off the excitement that was directed towards him.
"Oh, well can you at least explain how she died? I though Alicorns were immortal. But this history book says there were dozens of alicorns that have ruled this land." Twilight said with a curious gleam in her eyes.
Eclipse thought over the question for a moment before speaking."Well, there are a few ways to kill an Alicorn. The easiest way however is to remove their heart and burn it. If I recall that is the method used to do in Persephone, but I can't remember wh-"
"The revolutionists cut out her heart?!" Twilight exclaimed and covered her chest with a hoof.
"Wait... Oh right! that was when the revolution happened. And I thought it might have been the northerners..." Eclipse said with a chuckle.
"How can you laugh about that?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Because it's ironic I forgot about that when it was the Heart family that then took the crown into their hooves." Eclipse said closing the book and prompting it to return to where it came from.
Twilight's jaw hung slack for a moment before she shook her head and blurted out her question, "But then why were there two Alicorns after her before Celestia and Luna?"
"Because the Heart family were the caretakers to the secret ritual to create alicorns. If we found a pony who was pure enough to become the new princess, we would see to it that it became so. Gone were the days that and alicorn's heir would inherit the gift of immortality, ponies had to earn it by displaying that they were truly worthy." Eclipse explained.
"Um... There was actually one more question I had now that I think about it..." Twilight said, a look of remembrance dawning on her face.
"What is it?" Eclipse asked, curious as to what other piece of history she wanted insight on.
"This one was more recent, around eight hundred years ago, during your rule so I thought you would be able to answer me..." Twilight began.
"Oh yeah, should be simple for me to answer then." Eclipse said with a shrug.
"There was a section torn out of the official history book, torn from every copy..." Twilight began slowly.
Eclipse froze, he knew exactly what she was referring to, "Oh..."
"When I checked the index, the missing chapter was titled, 'The day the world wept ', can you tell me what happened? The history immediately after that implied that something horrible happened..." Twilight said with a frown.
Eclipse sized up Twilight for a moment before letting out a sigh, "If you want to know, it is better if you see something first. When are you leaving to meet with the southern governor?" Eclipse asked.
"Well, later today actually..." Twilight said uncertainly, not wanting to be sidetracked before getting an answer.
"When you come back, do not teleport back. Fly directly from the city to the capital here. You will know what you are looking for when you see it. You can ask me about it when you get back..." Eclipse said in a sad tone.
"Should I just fly there then?" Twilight asked.
"No, you will be too distracted to do your duty if it is on your mind when you go there." Eclipse said shaking his head.
Twilight thought for a moment longer, "Is the missing chapter the reason everypony here thinks you are a monster?"
Eclipse averted his eyes from the lavender mare, "Yes..."
Twilight stepped out of the portal and was greeted by an organized garrison before her. She briefly wondered if she had the right place, but then an earth pony stallion matching the description for the southern governor stepped forward to greet her. His coat was black and his short dark gray mane was styled into a mohawk.
"Oh my, aren't you a sight for sore eyes... The men and I are happy to see an alicorn at long last. Gives us all hope that the world is getting better!" The stallion said as he drew closer and bowed deeply.
"Oh um, thank you. I presume you are governor Coal Dust?" Twilight asked as she looked around at the soldiers who lined the walls of the city.
"The one and only, proud to serve the crown!" The stallion said eagerly.
"I thank you for your enthusiasm but you must forgive me, I was under the impression the crown did not command an army..." Twilight said in a confused voice.
"Well, not technically. But it is not against the law for us to organize and arm ourselves to fend off a threat. You see, we here on the southern front are right next to the Zebra border. You can never tell when those stripped bastards will strike, so we are always ready." Coal Dust said
"Ah, that would make sense I guess. And I trust by your reaction to me that there won't be any troubles with me taking the throne now? I already had a little bit of a scuffle in the eastern province.
"Hah! Did the lioness bare her fangs at you?" Coal Dust said with a hearty chuckle.
"Yes, and in doing so she let loose a wendigo that I had to take down. Luckily nopony was hurt, but she has been arrested for it." Twilight said with a sigh.
Coal Dust and the nearby soldiers stopped and held still for a moment. The tension grew thick, causing Twilight to sweat slightly, all up until the tension was shattered by everypony letting out obnoxious guffaws of laughter.
"Serves that cold hearted mare right! Never did like her!" Coal Dust shouted out to the soldiers who all shouted in agreement and shared the hearty laugh.
Twilight was unsure of what to make of this, but was at least happy that these ponies were quite friendly with her. Coal Dust beckoned for Twilight to follow him, and she nodded as she let her portal collapse behind her. As the crack of air rushing back to where the portal once stood filled the air, the princess of magic disappeared into a large stone fortress.
"Isn't all this a bit much? It's within the city walls..." Twilight said as she looked around the heavily fortified building.
"This fort here is designed to house all the citizens in underground bunkers if the city were to be under siege. A hoofful of troops can defend this keep alone, and if we all share shifts, it is nearly impenetrable unless under the fire of heavy siege equipment. And if we see any of that we would just send a message back to the capital asking for help." Coal Dust said proudly.
"Wow, are the zebras that aggressive? I knew a zebra back on the other continent, and she was so kind..." Twilight said with a frown.
"If it was on the other continent you met them that would explain it. Story goes that a few hundred years ago, the old king let a few hundred prisoners of war free. Only, after they had spilled their secrets to us, their people would have put them to death for treason. So old Eclipse promised to send them far away, if they swore to never come back. And from what I heard, the fight was all but gone from them. Their weariness of war probably passed down to their children." Coal Dust said with a shrug.
Twilight blinked a few times, impressed at the kindness that was shown to prisoners of war. She knew that no changeling would have been given that luxury from Canterlot, "Wow..."
"Yeah, ponies can say what they want about Eclipse, but he is no monster. Not in my book at least." Thier governor said with a pride.
"About that, why does everypony act like they expect only evil from him? Aside from dethroning Celestia and Luna, I have yet to hear anything too bad about him." Twilight said, fishing for answers.
Coal Dust froze, and then gave a worried glance to Twilight, "You mean nopony has told you yet?"
"No, I was hoping to get the answers from some of the history books, but the important ones were removed. When I asked Eclipse he said that I should fly from here to the capital..." Twilight explained.
"Oh... I would listen to him then... But consider yourself lucky at least. Old Eclipse has hid himself away for a decade now, and you are the first pony to say they have actually spoken to him. That there is a good sign if you ask me, a show of his approval for you to take the crown." Coal Dust said with a smile.
"Well, thank you. But shall we get down to business now? I should head back as soon as possible, and we need to go over some changes I have put in place." Twilight said as she levitated a scroll from her saddlebag.
"It would be an honor to have you inform me your majesty." Coal Dust said as he took a deep bow.
After a couple of hours of going over the official business in the governor's office, Twilight excused herself. Coal Dust took a deep bow, scooping up Twilight's hoof and kissing it gently, bidding Twilight farewell as she strode from the keep. On her way out soldiers saluted and stood at attention, causing Twilight to have nostalgia of Canterlot. Spreading her wings as she made it outside, Twilight noticed it was should only be a few hours before the sun set. Launching into the air Twilight began to make a beeline towards the capital.
The large, alicorn wings Twilight possessed aided her in flying swifter than an average pegasus, and in minutes she had reached speeds that would have made her beloved friend Rainbow Dash proud. The sensation of flight brought a smile to her face, it had been days since she was able to fly like this. Her business was taken care of in a timely manner thanks to the cooperation that Coal Dust had given her. Though she was a little unsettled at how the stallion seemed to worship the very ground she walked upon.
"Huh, what is that?" Twilight mumbled to herself as she saw something off in the distance. Whatever it was, it was different from the sparse forests and farm land that she was flying over. And as she drew nearer, she noticed that less and less life seemed to grow from the land. And as she was mere miles from it, everything had stopped growing.
Twilight found herself flying lower and lower to the ground as she inspected what was now coming into clear view. Piles of debris covered nearly every inch of the ground. And only here and there could stone or brick buildings be seen standing, with their windows and roofs knocked out and in. Nearly all of the wood had decayed, but the masonry and tiles still remained, littering the ground. Twilight was unable to comprehend at first what she was looking at. She walked slowly through the debris, noticing that here and there were clear patches that had demolished fountains in them. Then she realized, they must have been parks. The truth that she was trying to keep from herself hit her like a ton of bricks, and knocked the wind from her lungs.
Twilight shakily turned her eyes towards one of the stone walls of a building and approached it. What she saw looked like shadows of ponies who were simply going about their everyday life. But they weren't shadows, Twilight knew better. These were ash outlines. Twilight retched, spilling the contents of her stomach on the ground. Her mind had already calculated how many ponies could live in a town the size of this. Easily a couple hundred thousand had once lived here. And that was at nearly a minimum use of the land.
"What...Why?" Twilight mumbled as tears began to form in her eyes. This had clearly not been the result of a war, something powerful had happened here. Not even dragons could produce flames hot enough to vaporize a pony, it took a powerful unicorn to cast a spell able to do this, and on a scale large enough to do it to an entire city, she was not positive that even she could do this. Surely it would have taken somepony truly monstrous to be able to not only stomach doing it, but to pull it off.
Twilight did not want to spend another minute here, she only wanted to find Eclipse and confront him for this. She refused to believe that this was done without reason, but at the same time she found herself unable to come up with an explanation for this. What could prompt the destruction of an entire town, was it a rebellion? Perhaps they were made an example for their treason. But that couldn't be it, Eclipse said so himself that he would never harm any of his ponies. Twilight was beyond wanting an answer, she needed it.
Twilight's horn ignited and she winked out of existence, rematerializing outside of the house that lay at the end of the alley that Eclipse called home. Twilight took a deep breath and put on a brave face as she approached and opened the door. The interior was just the same as she had previously seen it, lavishly decorated, the portraits of Eclipse hanging on the walls. His eyes all seemed to watch her as she trekked through the house in search of the once king. As she finally found herself in what appeared to be his study, Twilight found the stallion she was looking for.
"You have some explaining to do..." Twilight said in a stern voice, sniffing back the remnants of her tears.
"Before I explain, I want to hear your thoughts on it all..." Eclipse said, his back still turned to the princess of magic as he looked for something within a weathered old chest.
Twilight calmed herself as she thought for a moment, Eclipse had done this before. He was testing her, judging how worthy she was to lead. For a moment, Twilight wondered what he would do if her answer was unsatisfactory. That thought only lasted a few seconds before she set her mind on what she had seen and heard.
"Honestly, I want to believe that you had a good reason. But I can't think of one... What could justify that? I do not want to believe that you are some heartless monster, but that could just be me being too soft..." Twilight said solemnly in response.
Eclipse made no noise in response, he merely went on rummaging in his chest. Twilight realized she recognized the chest as the one he had during her coronation festival. Twilight waited patiently for a response, but none came. Seconds stretched on into what felt like minutes, and Twilight found herself fixated on the stallion before her. He seemed so calm, so serious, so unlike how she had seen him before.
Eclipse stopped rummaging, and glanced back at Twilight, his eye an ocean of black, no iris or whites of his eyes anywhere to be seen, "Would you choose to let a thousand die, or would you murder the one who would eventually be responsible for their deaths if you were given the chance?"
Twilight blinked in surprise at where the conversation had gone, "W-what?"
"A thousand deaths, or one murder?" Eclipse reinstated, his jet black eye staring, unblinking at Twilight.
"I guess if you had undeniable evidence that you would be saving a thousand lives... Though I would try my best to stop them peacefully..." Twilight said, laying her ears back, uncomfortable with the conversation and still in a tender emotional state from her earlier experience.
Eclipse blinked, a sad look adorning his once serious face as the blackness of his eye receding into a normal sized pupil, his iris and the white of his eye once more visible, "I tried..."
"Wha-" Twilight was cut off as Eclipse tossed a newspaper at Twilight's hooves.
Twilight tore her eyes from Eclipse and stared at the heading of the yellow newspaper. The thing had to be ancient, but it was still in pristine condition. The date on the paper dated back eight hundred years, and the title read, 'Plague Claims Another Ten Thousand'. Twilight skimmed over the front page, her mind reeling from the statistics the paper told of. If it was to be trusted, in just under two years this mysterious disease had claimed entire towns and was suspected to causing thousands of deaths within some cities.
"After discovering the disease, I spent nearly two whole years searching for a cure. I worked tirelessly in hopes of discovering a way to stop it... But after one hundred and fifty million lives were lost, I knew drastic measures had to be taken. The only cure I managed to find, was heat intense enough to eradicate the pathogen." Eclipse said in an even tone, with all the emotion one would expect from a rock.
"So you eradicated an infected town to stop the spread of the plague..." Twilight said in a shocked, quiet voice.
"No..." Eclipse sighed.
Twilight furrowed her brow at this, "What do you mea-"
"I eradicated one hundred and seventy eight towns, some larger than the one you saw." Eclipse stated simply.
Twilight's heart skipped a beat. The look of shock and horror was apparent on her face. To be able to pull off a wide scale destructive spell capable of instantly eradicating an entire city was an unheard of feat. But to be able to pull it off one hundred and seventy eight times, that was monstrous.
"They weren't even all pony towns. All across the continent, I eradicated every town that had traces of the plague. None were spared, for fear that they could be unknowingly carrying the disease. But for every single life that was murdered by me, a thousand more live today that would have been eradicated by the plague." Eclipse said with an odd intensity.
Twilight sank down to the ground, unable to stand any longer. Her knees felt as if they were made of jello, and her stomach felt as if it were swimming. She could not even process, let alone get past how many had to have died. But at the same time, if Eclipse was to be trusted, it was all for the greater good. She now understood however, why he was thought of as a monster, it was because he was one.
Eclipse's stoic look cracked, and a nervous chuckle escaped him as he was no longer able to hold his serious face, "Did you know... We were able to enjoy five hundred years of peace after that? Nopony was willing to strike up a war, after over a hundred cities disappeared overnight. Some actually began revering me as a god..."
"How could you...?" Twilight mumbled.
"I found it easier to accept if you think of it as trimming a dying limb off of a tree... To be honest, I no longer even see the flash of light that lit up the sky in my dreams anymore. I can tell you the names and describe the faces of every single soul I have murdered, all except for the ones I obliterated that day. There were simply... Too many to be able to remember. After a point, they all just became a number to me, a statistic." Eclipse offered.
"No, how could you do such a thing yourself? Even I cannot wield power like that, and I am the alicorn of magic..." Twilight said, voice brimming with confusion.
"Ah, that was quite simple. While working in my labs long ago, I discovered a process to split atoms. Through a process known as fission atoms can release amazing amounts of energy." Eclipse explained.
"But... from what Celestia told me that is a similar process to how the sun works..." Twilight said in a voice brimming with wonder, "How could you create something so devastating in a lab?"
Eclipse scoffed at this, "The most destructive weapons are not crafted in a smithy, they are created in a lab. I made two hundred bombs that harnessed this method, and I teleported almost all of them around the continent to infected cities. They worked perfectly, and because of that I destroyed the last twenty two unused bombs."
Twilight looked at Eclipse with a new light, "How do you live with yourself?"
"I put on a warm smile and act like there is nothing in life that can get me down, all so that my daughter does not have to worry about me. I cannot afford to be depressed anymore, and I will not allow my anger to get the best of me, lest I allow my daughter to see what I once was." Eclipse said in a firm voice.
Twilight mulled this over for a moment before responding in a thoughtful tone, "So in a way, she has saved you as much as you have saved her..."
Eclipse smiled, "Yes, you could say that..." Eclipse's eyes then grew dark and fierce, "Though I suspect I need not warn you of the consequences of telling her..."
Twilight nodded in understanding, she was at least happy to see that he hid this aspect of his past from his daughter. It showed that he knew it was a difficult choice, one that looked insane and monstrous to those that did not understand the entire story. Without a doubt most ponies thought he was some blood thirsty butcher, not giving him the chance to learn that he did it to save countless others. But the entire story weighed heavily on Twilight's heart, as she sat there, staring into those fierce, passionate eyes that belonged to Eclipse. Did she truly have what it takes to lead? Could she have made the tough decision Eclipse made, or would her unwillingness to act so brashly have caused the deaths of everypony.
Spike yawned lazily as he flapped his wings and glided over the town. He had had a long day of digging up gems to snack on. The land was rich in minerals here, and he briefly wondered why there were not more dragons about. He had only seen a few younger ones lurking about, and all of them fled immediately after seeing him. Perhaps he could ask the council about that later. For all he knew, dragons here were considered evil like the changelings in equestria, and were hunted by the townsfolk.
While the idea made Spike somewhat sick to his stomach, it was not so farfetched. The young mare Shadow had in fact nearly attacked him in hopes of turning in a bounty on him. This only caused spike to worry even more, though he was not sure if it was more centered towards danger for himself, or danger for his fellow dragons. While he understood many dragons were rambunctious and rude, not many were actually evil.
The century old dragon shook the ground as he landed within the castle grounds. He made for the door to the ballroom he was using as a den, but as he made his way inside he smelled something foreign to him. Immediately his senses were on high alert. Something or somepony was in here. Spike's eyes darted around in search of the source of what was putting him on edge.
The sound of a mare giggling caught spikes attention, and he slowly turned his eyes towards where the stage of the ballroom was. Normally this area housed seats and places to store a bands instruments, when not being used for a performance. But Spike had been collecting his leftover gems there for when he felt too lazy to go out for food. The implication that somepony was stealing from his horde caused no small amount of anger to the dragon, but he knew better than to snap.
"Hey, what are you doing over there? Get away from my stash!" Spike said in his booming voice as he approached the stage on all fours to avoid hitting the ceiling with his head.
As he drew closer to the dark side of the room, he noticed that a dark mare was sitting at the edge of the stage, looking over her shoulder at him with a frown.
"Oh, its you..." Spike said with a frown as he looked down upon the young mare named Shadow.
"Back at ya..." Shadow said in an unenthused tone.
"Hey, while normally I am not adverse to company, I would be very appreciative if you returned anything you took from there and left..." Spike said with a frown.
The sound of a gem being crushed bounced off the stone walls of the ballroom, and a more primal part of Spike's brain caused his eyes to narrow in barely contained instinctual rage. His senses sharpened as he felt himself growing on edge. He first smelled the scent of fur, and then he noticed the outline of a bipedal figure crouching in the darkness on top his horde, mere feet from the mare.
Spike had just opened his mouth to shout a warning when the furry intruder leapt forward, its wolf-like face snarling its challenge as it rammed itself, shoulder first into the dragon.
Family Issues
Spike grunted in surprise at the sudden attack from the large bipedal creature. The wolf faced thing stood before the dragon, back hunched as it crouched low to the ground, ready to spring into action again. Spike blinked his eyes a few times as if unable to believe what he saw. The stranger even wore a set of chainmail armor and gauntlets over its dark gray fur.
"A diamond dog?" Spike mumbled curiously as he worked his jaw where the large beast had slammed into him. It was surprisingly strong even despite being twice the size of any pony.
The creature snarled its disapproval as it drew a pair of axes from its belt. Spike's eyes shot open and he glanced over to young gray mare who had a startled look on her face.
"Woah there, why don't we calm down?" Spike said, not wanting to demolish the ballroom just to defend himself.
"You dare call me one of those mutts, and then you want to talk?!" The wolf faced stranger roared.
Spike shot a hopeful glance over to Shadow, whose ears were flat against her head as she frowned at the scene. The large dragon knew then that he was not going to be able to talk his way out of this one, and to make matters worse the bipedal stranger had just adorned a metal skullcap that was decorated with two curved horns, it was prepared for a fight. A frown adorned the dragon's face, he was unhappy about having to resort to violence like this, but with the way the thing was snarling he knew what was coming.
The wolf lunged forward, axe held high and ready to chop, but Spike was prepared and turned his body to slam his tail like a giant whip into his assailant. A high pitched yelp broke from the mouth of the wolf, but it rolled as it hit the ground and quickly found its feet before charging again. This time however, it was watching Spike's tail and slid across the smooth floor right under the tail as it swung by. Leaping onto Spike's back it prepared to begin hacking away at the spots that Spike had yet to grow scales back from his fight with the Wendigo, but Spike was swift with backhanding the thing off of him.
"You brought this on yourself!" Spike roared as he let out a torrent of green flames, intense enough to melt the stone of the floor and walls where they touched.
"Um, you might want to stop before somepony comes along. We aren't supposed to be fighting, and if either of you hurt each other it could be bad..." Shadow said in a worried tone.
Spike turned a disbelieving eye towards her, "You try to stop it now, after I roasted him?!"
"Don't get ahead of yourself lizard..." growled a response from the smoke that was given off by the melted floor.
The wolf stood, among the clearing smoke, a small circle around it untouched by the flames and still in perfect condition. Spike's eyes then caught onto several glowing runes along the wolf's armor. Shock was evident on the dragon's face as he realized that the runes that were glowing a dull red had somehow protected the wolf. Spike turned his attention once more to shadow looking for clarification to this fact, but the young mare simply shook her head.
"Spike, this is the ambassador's son Thorfinn. He came with the rest of the Dire Wolves' diplomatic envoy to meet the new ruler." Shadow said with a hint of sarcasm at the final word, "Thorfinn, this is Spike. Princess Twilight's pet dragon."
Anger was evident on Spike's face, "I am not her pet, I am her frien-"
"You did not stop me from attacking him?!" The wolf cut in with a panicked voice, "Do you know what my father will do if he finds out I-"
"Finds out what pup?" A deep voice rumbled from across the ballroom.
An imposing figure strode forth on its hind legs, nicked and tarnished chainmail armor decorated with dozens of runes and totems. The newcomer was clearly an older Dire Wolf, a long braided beard that swayed as he moved hung from his chin. Standing just under how tall Discord is, fully a head taller than the younger wolf, the newcomer had an air about him that demanded attention. An expecting look adorned his face, and his single eye darted between the three frozen sets of eyes before him. He scratched the scar on his left cheek, just under the eye patch that bore an emblem of two crossed axes.
"Well? I'm not getting any younger you haensa , tell me what ya' did wrong so I can know how bloody I have to make it." The older Dire Wolf said fixing his eye on his son.
Thorfinn gave a sheepish grin as he cast his eyes at the melted stone around him, "I don't know what you mean father..."
"Boy, you must think I am as dense as a glacier if you actually assume I'll believe a word out of your lying skull. Shadow, I know your daddy at least raised you better than I raise my kin, what's going on here?" The wolf said, his voice getting soft as he addressed the young mare.
"It was just a little scuffle Ulf, harmless playfight." Shadow said with a sweet smile.
Ulf cast his eye back to his son, noting the hue of red that the runes were glowing, "Youngsters seem to play rough these days... The runes nearly gave in, takes a lot of magical power to do that."
"Yes well, the big guy here doesn't know his own strength." Shadow said in a warning tone as she shot Spike a look.
Ulf raised his eye to stare directly at the dragon who had taken the hint and had a bashful look on his face as he spoke, "Sorry, guess I got a little carried away."
"Well, no harm no fowl I guess. Though I warn you lads to be more careful. This is my heir after all, pig headed as he may be." Ulf said with a grimace towards his son, "And lass, didn't I tell ya to call me uncle?"
Shadow giggled and leapt off the stage and down to where she could give the old wolf a hug, the elderly warrior getting down on one knee and spreading his arms to embrace the young mare. After a moment, Ulf broke the embrace and patted Shadow on the head as he stood up, grunting as he strained his old knees.
"Now, normally I would just deal with your father about business. But I hear they finally found a replacement for him, so what say you lead me to her?" Ulf asked in a polite tone that seemed offsetting from his grizzled frame.
"Well, I kind of don't know where she is... The council is still running the day to day stuff from what I understand." Shadow said with a frown.
"Huh, well then..." Ulf said with a thoughtful look adorning his face.
"Can you sniff her out father?" Thorfinn inquired.
"How am I supposed to sniff out a pony I've never met before?" Ulf asked as he rolled his eyes.
"She might be with my dad, she has been sticking her nose into his business recently." Shadow said with a scoff.
"Hrmm... Worth a try." Ulf said scratching his beard as he took a whiff of the air.
The giant bipedal wolf lifted his nose into the air as he took a few deeper sniffs to attempt to catch the trail of Eclipse's scent. He smiled and beckoned a finger for the rest to follow him as he lumbered off towards the door. Shadow and Thorfinn followed closely on his trail, but Spike merely sighed and made his way over to his horde that he sat himself upon and began idly snacking in a vain attempt to calm his nerves.
"What happened here?" A stern voice asked from in front of Spike.
The dragon glanced up and saw Steel Hoof standing there with a large frown plastered onto his face. The stallion was staring at the melted patch of the ground, until he looked up and locked eyes with the dragon.
"Two big wolf like things named Ulf and Thorfinn were here, I tried roasting Thorfinn but it didn't work..." Spike said with an exasperated sigh.
Steel Hoof grunted in recognition of the names, but then shook his head as he turned to leave, "Clean this place up, its unbecoming of the palace to be in this state, even if this room is unused."
Spike's jaw dropped at this, "How do you expect me to fix this? I don't have any skills with fixing melted stone!"
"Then I guess you better hire somepony, you seem to have a fair amount of gems there, that should easily be able to cover it." Steel Hoof said with a shrug.
"Ugh, those wolves are nothing but trouble..." Spike grumbled as he set his head down on his gem horde as if allowing himself one last moment with it before it was spent.
"You have no idea..." Steel Hoof's voice was cold as he left.
"So wait, the northern allies I have been hearing about used to be bitter allies before you came into power?" Twilight asked in a confused voice.
"Yeah, was that part not in the history books you were reading?" Eclipse asked.
"No, it just mentioned that a pact was formed between the two countries. I had no idea that you were directly involved there..." Twilight mumbled.
"Yeah, the Dire Wolves are a strange race. They value strength and victory above all else, and when they could not beat me, they gave up and joined me. Something about a prophecy or something, I honestly just tuned them out and accepted the peace and quiet that came with not having to fight them. I tell you though, they were tough to figure out how to effectively deal with..." Eclipse explained.
"Oh? how so?" Twilight asked out of curiosity as she levitated another tart off the tea tray that sat on the table between them.
"Well, they wear anti magic runes on their armor that negates magic from touching them. This disabled many of the unicorns that had the advantage of range on them with their magic. And up close in melee, the Dire Wolves obviously had the advantage of strength. Only the most powerful unicorns could overload the magical runes, and even then it was not a very efficient way to fight them, so I came up with a new idea. I would handle everything myself..." Eclipse went on as he stirred a few lumps of sugar into his tea before taking a sip and continuing.
"I crushed the first few attempts they threw at me by myself, but it took more effort that I particularly cared to use, so I thought of something easier. If they were immune to magic and well versed in close quarters combat, then all I had to do was make something natural that was intangible to fight them. So I created a special elemental being and released it among their third attempt to invade." Eclipse went on, only to pause at the shocked look on Twilight's face.
"You... can create life?" Twilight asked in wonderment.
"To an extent, nothing too complex, but I did manage to create a whole new kind of elemental to combat them." Eclipse said with a shrug.
"What element did you use?" Twilight asked, her full attention on the once king, her tea and tart forgotten.
"I made a chlorine elemental." Eclipse said with a wry grin.
"A... Chlorine elemental?" Twilight said, unsure she had heard right.
Eclipse nodded at this and explained further, "You see, chlorine gas is deadly if inhaled, and they all rushed in to fight it, never making it close enough to find out their weapons would pass straight through without causing any harm whatsoever."
"But if their runes protected them from magic, why would an elemental work on them?" Twilight asked, thinking about how Elementals were highly magical beings.
"Well, Elementals have both magical and natural portions of their elements about them. Sure a fire elemental can chuck magical balls of fire, but the fire it is composed of is completely natural and will bypass the runes the wolves wear. Ergo, the chlorine gasses that my elemental was composed of were one hundred percent natural." Eclipse said with a proud smile.
"What happened to the elemental after you were done using it though? That sounds kinda dangerous to just keep around..." Twilight commented with a worried look.
"I keep it in a mason jar in the cupboard in case of emergencies actually..." Eclipse said before taking a sip of tea.
Twilight blinked a few times before shaking her head, "Honestly, I am starting to not be surprised..."
Eclipse looked as if he was about to make a rebuttal, but he suddenly froze just as he opened his mouth. The once king held a look of concentration for a moment before a smile adorned his face, the one that a father would use to welcome home a child. Twilight noticing this was about to ask what he was doing, but was interrupted as the sound of a door opening echoed through the house. Twilight peered out into the hall and watched as the young mare that Eclipse had adopted, trotted in with a smile on her face.
"Dad, we have company!" Shadow called.
"Yes, I wondered what reeked of wet dog..." Eclipse said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Wet dog? what are you talking ab-" was all Twilight got out before she saw the towering creature that stooped as it walked through the hallway into the study.
It resembled a Diamond Dog from back in equestria, but its fur was longer, and held a more feral look to it. It was also armed, this fact causing the princess of magic to immediately ready herself to attack if she was threatened. The newcomer however paid her no mind as it bowed deeply to Eclipse. Twilight shared a look with the once king who held an apologetic look on his face before he cleared his throat.
"I am not king anymore and you know that quite well Ulf..." Eclipse said in a flat tone.
"True, but this is merely the respect I show for the superior warrior." Ulf said as his single eye glanced over towards Twilight, "And this must be the princess that now rules over this land..."
"Careful there, she is the Alicorn of Magic, and I suspect she could shred through a rune faster than even old Frost Horn." Eclipse said with a sly smile.
Ulf looked impressed for a moment before beaming, "Then she indeed is worthy to be our ally if she is stronger than that beast!" Ulf bowed now to Twilight.
"Excuse me, Eclipse... Who is this?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"This Twilight, is the ambassador from our allies to the north. He leads one of the largest packs among the Dire Wolves, and was chosen as their diplomat by proving himself in both combat and intelligence. Though I sometimes question how hard his competition was for the latter." Eclipse said making a playful jab at the large wolf.
"Hey now, we aren't all that dumb..." Ulf said in a defensive tone, "Sometimes we just lose ourselves to some of our more... 'Primal' instincts."
Eclipse raised an eyebrow at this before shaking his head, "I assume your presence means you are here to discuss business though..."
"Well, actually there's that and one other thing." Ulf said glancing at shadow.
"Ah, right. I had almost forgotten how well you and my daughter got along. Remind me again why you have to pester my child when you have pups of your own to dote over?" Eclipse commented dryly.
"Well, I have nothing but sons... And most little girls are afraid of me just because of my appearance, but not little Shadow. When she first saw me eight years ago, she showed no fear. When I asked her why that was, she said I was 'nowhere near as scary as her daddy could be'." Ulf said with a triumphant smile.
"Bah, she just likes you because you spoil her..." Eclipse said waving a hoof to shoo away the notion that Shadow liked Ulf.
"Hah! Coming from the stallion who offered to travel to tartarus just to get cerberus if she wanted a pet dog." Ulf laughed.
Twilight finding that she had been forgotten completely glanced away from the two males and shared a glance with Shadow. The young mare looked embarrassed by the display the two were making. Twilight offered a kind smile that was returned with a small frown. Twilight looked over to the two who were still arguing over who was better with children, even though it was obvious neither of them had very good parenting skills. She turned her attention back towards Shadow as she stood up and made for the kitchen, before making it to the doorway, she beckoned for Shadow to follow her. The two mares made their way into the kitchen where the arguing in the other room was less overpowering.
Twilight decided to break the ice a little bit, "Those two seem like they know each other pretty well..."
Shadow merely shrugged as she seemed lost in thought for a moment before looking up at Twilight, the frown still adorning her face, "Are you really not going to do anything to my dad?"
Twilight seemed taken aback by this, but composed herself in mere seconds, "No, I have decided that he is a good pony deep down. Even if he has done some terrible things, he always had a reason for them."
"What about Celestia and Luna? Will they forgive him just because you have?" Shadow said in an imploring tone.
"Wha-... Well, I have known them all my life... And they have always seemed as if they were the forgiving type." Twilight offered.
"But has anypony ever done anything as horrible as my dad did to them? He told me that he nearly killed them, and then to insure that they never returned, he tampered with their memories, and made sure that they would have nightmares about him every night." Shadow said with her ears now flat against her skull.
Twilight was about to offer more comforting words for the young mare when the last part hit her. Eclipse had not mentioned that part. Had Celestia and Luna really had nightmares all this time about Eclipse, did they remember the terror of almost dying every night because of a spell he put on them? It would explain why when Twilight on the rare occasion had seen Celestia just as she had awoken, the princess of the sun had a terrified expression. How would Celestia feel if she found out that Twilight had befriended the stallion that had caused her so much fear for thousands of years. Twilight then realized why Celestia had not responded back to her, and she feared for the worst.
"Twilight?" Shadow asked, having seen the princess of magic freeze in place.
"I- uh... Listen, Shadow... I don't know the entire story between them. But for me, that is all in the past. And Celestia and Luna are very far away, and have a country of their own to run. They will not be able to come over here anyways..." Twilight offered with a reassuring smile, one that clashed with the things she was currently thinking of. Twilight dreaded what would happen if Celestia and Luna actually came here. From what she had seen, they did not have the combat experience to deal with Eclipse. Twilight doubted even herself could defeat Eclipse one on one, he simply had too much experience with combat and killing from the stories he had told her of. She wondered briefly if he maybe even had a plan to defeat the Elements of Harmony if he truly wished to.
"There you are, sorry about getting side tracked when I have business with you your majesty..." Ulf said, bowing his head in apology as he entered the kitchen.
Twilight broken from her train of thought put on a smile for the wolf, "No problem, Shadow and I were just having a little conversation."
"Well, I came here to introduce myself and reestablish the fact that the Dire Wolves still have interest in being allies with this land. But I also come with a warning that there is a stray pack that we have not been able to come into contact with. Now, this happens time to time when we have fights among ourselves, but on the off chance that they have split from the rest of us, they may attack your land." Ulf said in a grave tone, his lone eye locked onto Twilight's
"If they do attack, is there any way to identify their pack from yours in case we have to fight back? I would hate to be chasing them and attack another pack by mistake." Twilight said with a frown.
"Yes, their warriors will all carry symbols of their pack. As you can see from my armor, I bear the mark of two crossed axes, that is my pack, the Steel Fang. The rogue clan however, bears the mark of a war hammer, they are the Thundering Howl pack." Ulf explained.
"Aren't they the ones led by your doppelganger?" Eclipse chimed in.
"Yes, they are led by Olaf One Eye... We don't look that much alike do we?" Ulf added in.
Eclipse raised a hoof and shook it in the 'sorta' manner, "To be honest I find it difficult to tell you Dire Wolves apart sometimes. Any similarities and I can hardly tell the differences."
"Bah, well. I need to get going then..." Ulf said as he turned to leave but then a look of realization struck his face.
The old wolf began fishing through a pouch he carried at his belt, and retrieved a golden necklace. The craftsmanship was remarkable, stylized with golden ivy that wrapped around it, and set in the middle was a black onyx gem, cut into a rune. Ulf allowed himself one last appreciative glance at the necklace, before he held it out to Shadow who gasped in shock when she saw it presented to her.
"Uncle Ulf... Its beautiful..." Shadow said in awe.
"It may be a day early, but happy birthday to the only female aside from my wife that is not afraid of me." Ulf said with a smile as he put the necklace on the young mare.
"What does that rune stand for?" Twilight asked out of curiosity.
Ulf tore his eye away from the beaming young mare and set it onto the princess, "That one there holds the meaning of a shield, or to protect. I had it blessed by my packs shaman, it will protect her just as any of my warrior's protects them."
"I have an idea... Ulf you have to leave soon right?" Eclipse asked with a smile brimming on his face.
"Yes, now that my business is done I must return to my pack..." Ulf said unsettled by the grin on the once king's face.
"Why don't we have Shadow's birthday celebration now, while you are here. Seeing as she does like you a lot, not to mention my present to her would be perfect right now." Eclipse's eyes landed on his daughter, silently asking if the idea was acceptable to her.
Twilight noted that the young mare seemed to have forgotten about her earlier worries, now her attention was fully on the prospect of having her celebration. Twilight smiled as she found herself once again forgotten by the three. They all made her feel as if she were just a regular pony again, though that may be because they were all just as different from regular ponies as herself.
Ulf raised his one good brow in a questioning look, "What kind of present did you get her? I would hate to be shown up on my gift so soon..."
"It is not a matter of getting, more of showing her something. Something that the world has not seen in thousands of years..." Eclipse said with a laid back grin.
Three eyes lit up in eager anticipation, but Twilight's own held a look of shock, "You can't mean to... Celestia and Luna would never allow it..."
"Who said I was asking their permission?" Eclipse said with his grin still plastered to his face.
"But, they are specially talented in moving the sun and moon... I know you are powerful but you should not be able to wrench them from their grips!" Twilight argued, hoping that she was correct.
"Perhaps not by normal magic means, but didn't Celestia warn you that I am not confined to using only those means." Eclipse said as his eyes grew pitch black.
Twilight took a reflexive step back as she bit back a gasp as black smoke began to trail from the corners of Eclipse's eyes. Then then sound of bone rearranging filled the room as Eclipse's horn ignited in a pitch black aura, blocking it from view with its solid tar like hue, unlike the translucent aura that normally would engulf a horn. When the aura dissipated, Eclipse's horn was now curved and smooth, its normal white color blending into black as it went higher, reaching a shade at the tip that seemed as if it was absorbing the light. If Twilight wasn't seeing things his teeth were even growing sharper.
"You look like..." Twilight mumbled to herself.
Twilight blinked and nearly had a heart attack, she found herself standing atop one of the castle's towers, looking over the city. The sun still hung in the sky as she gazed over the scenery. Turning around Twilight found that Eclipse, Shadow, and Ulf were up on the tower with her. Ulf however had a worried expression and seemed to be checking his runes, tapping one with a claw with a frown on his face.
"They are fine, they just don't work against eldritch magic." Eclipse explained.
"Eldritch magic? Celestia mentioned that, but she didn't explain about it... Does it draw off of some sort of alternative power source?" Twilight wondered aloud, wondering if it was infact the same type of magic that King Sombra used.
"Well, you could say that. But its power source is unnatural to this world, and thus does not have to follow the rules of magic here. That is why I can sustain my life, and why I can do this..." Eclipse said as he turned his head up towards the sun. The once king's horn then was sheathed in its tar black aura that bubbled and boiled as black sparks flew in all directions around it.
Twilight suspected he was staring directly at the heavenly globe, but it was hard to tell without being able to see a pupil in his pitch black eyes. Twilight glanced up to where the sun sat in the sky, a feeling of unease creeping into her gut as she watched the sky she could hear the giddiness of Shadow, the young mare was fidgeting on her hooves, giddy with excitement at seeing something that nopony had seen in thousands of years, and having it dedicated to her.
"Are you ready Shadow?" Eclipse asked in a fatherly tone.
"Yes!" Shadow said excitedly as she moved up next to Eclipse and nuzzled his side.
Twilight marveled at how odd the two looked together, when a shadow then fell over her. Twilight whipped her head back up towards where the sun hung in the sky, and she noticed that the moon was now moving in front of the sun, casting its shadow across the land. Twilight found herself holding her breath, a deep part of her fearing what ill omen this meant that the sun was being blocked by the moon.
Finally the moon stopped moving as it stood completely before the sun as day turned into night, only a ring of gold light escaped from around the edges of the moon, the only thing keeping the land from being completely engulfed in darkness. Twilight stood there motionless, staring into the sky, unease and fear taking hold of her. She had grown up looking up to the sun's warmth and majesty, knowing how safe she was with her mentor. But now, her world felt upside down. What she once knew as something strong and safe enough to fall back on was now being toyed with by a stallion she had only known for a short time. Twilight finally, not wanting to gaze on it any more tore her eyes from the eclipse, and looked at the company she now held. The large bipedal wolf was transfixed, his one eye gleamed in the shadow of the moon. The young mare stared wide eyed at her father's namesake, in awe of what he had caused for her as she leaned up lovingly against him. Then there was Eclipse, who looked all the part of a monster with his eyes now holding a golden ring where his iris should be, identical to the light that leaked from behind the moon.
Twilight looked back up into the starry sky, and then again to Eclipse. They were completely identical, and now they were focused upon her. Twilight felt frozen in place as the eerie eyes bore into her own. Twilight knew that her magic was strong, most likely stronger than any other ponies. But in the face of Eclipse, in the face of the unknown, she felt uncertain of herself. A feeling she had not felt in decades.
"What is the matter?" Eclipse asked in a concerned tone.
Twilight stared blankly at him, the soft caring voice not matching what she saw before her. She had been expecting a harsher voice, something closer to a growl than actual speech, just like Sombra had. But Eclipse retained his normal voice despite his current display of power. It was so unfitting, she had to actually stop herself from laughing like a madmare.
"What, is there something on my face?" Eclipse asked, glancing down at Shadow.
"Woah, dad! Your eyes!" Shadow exclaimed as she looked up at her father.
"Oh... Right, forgot about that. It has been a while since I have taken off the masking spell..." Eclipse said in an almost apologetic tone as he looked back at Twilight, "Thing is, when I use this power, it blocks out the magic that is natural to this world and any spells I am maintaining shatter.
'He said it again...' Thought Twilight, catching something Eclipse said, "Why do you say from this world? Have you actually managed to come in contact with another world?"
Eclipse's face looked worried at this, "Twilight I want you to know that as long as you treat the ponies of this nation well, and uphold the laws of the land as you rule, I will always be on your side. But do not follow in Celestia's hoof steps when it comes to that question. For if you do, I will be forced to take drastic measures."
Eclipse's words sounded sincere, and his face looked somber, but Twilight felt an edge in the meaning of his words. Ulf clearly caught it too, for he had pried his eyes from the Eclipse to cast a wary look on the once king. Ulf now gripped the head of his axe that hung at his belt, he made no further move to draw it however, just held it as if he expected it to offer him some form of comfort.
Twilight knew she had to look into something now, and she readied her teleportation spell in her horn to move herself into her personal chambers where she could study in privacy. Twilight stood there for several awkward seconds before she attempted once more to teleport away. But the spell never went off.
"Why leave so soon? You are the guest of honor Twilight! Besides, it's not good for your health to sit in your chamber and bury your nose in your studies." Eclipse said in an upbeat tone, the seriousness that was once there was gone as if blown away by the wind.
Twilight then realized the significance of what Eclipse had said, his eldritch magic could jam not only his own, but all other magic that unicorns could use. His power was just like Sombra's, the difference being that Eclipse was older, and obviously stronger. Sombra had embeded dark crystals that emanated his power to stop Shining Armor's magic. Eclipse apparently could just reach out with his own magic and snuff out another pony's.
"Come on, don't be shy. A party is a good way to spend time with your friends." Eclipse said with a carefree smile.
"Wait, you consider us friends?" Twilight asked in a disbelieving voice.
Eclipse frowned slightly, "Aren't we? I wasn't sure to be honest but I thought that we were with the frequent visits you keep making..."
Twilight stared for a moment at Eclipse's face. His eyes were impossible to read with their unearthly glow, but his facial features gave the impression that he had just been slapped across the face. He looked as if he had overstepped a boundary and regretted it, causing Twilight to mirror his emotions. She felt ashamed of herself for saying what she had. Had she not already learned how friendship could be found in the oddest of places?
"Eclipse, I'm sorry for how I said that, of course were friends..." Twilight said with a reassuring smile as she glanced at the Element of Harmony around her neck.
The gem that sat in the center of the legendary piece of jewelry lit up in response and surrounded Twilight in a transparent bubble that shone in every color of the rainbow, lighting up the darkened tower top as the magic surrounded her. As the light touched Eclipse he hissed and then roared in pain as his form seemed to burn in the light. His horn ignited as he screwed his eyes shut and his form shifted back into that of a regular pony, his horn straightening out and losing its black, smooth look. Eclipse gasped in a breath of air as he opened his eyes, their normal blue color once more there.
"Dad?!" Shadow screamed as she checked him over with wide eyes.
"Oh my gosh, Eclipse I'm so sorry! I don't know what set the Element of Harmony off, I didn't try to use it." Twilight babbled in apology.
Eclipse raised a hoof as took a moment to compose himself, "It's alright... They simply reacted to me being so close to them. At least now I can tell for sure that we are friends... Your feeling of friendship awakened their power enough to protect you from me."
Twilight was about to continue to apologize when she noticed the fact that the sun once more shone upon her, looking up into the sky she noted that the sun and moon seemed to once more be in control of the princesses. The two heavenly globes rushed apart, faster than they normally ever moved. Twilight looked back apologetically at Eclipse and even to Shadow for ruining her birthday surprise. The young mare clearly had a confused look on her face, no doubt torn up inside because of the fact that Twilight had just hurt her father, but then Eclipse said it meant that they were friends. Twilight's eyes then drifted over to the bipedal wolf who was stroking his beard in thought as he stared back at her.
"Well come on, the night is still young, and we have a party to throw." Eclipse said, righting himself fully, seemingly already healed from what the Elements of Harmony had done to him.
Celestia caught her breath as sweat dripped down her brow. She had just spent ten of the most strenuous minutes of her life pulling her magic on the heavenly globe that was hers to control by birthright. No doubt Luna was in a similar state as well, but right now Celestia did not want to share this moment with her sister. She did not want her younger sibling seeing her so weak, so tired, so afraid.
"Was it some sort of declaration? Or was he simply giving me a reminder that he is still able to defeat me?" Celestia whispered to herself as she sat down on the large cushion in her study.
The princess of the sun glanced over to where the large cabinet she kept the hundreds of reports Twilight had ever written her. They were a constant reminder to Celestia that she had done right in choosing that young purple filly as her apprentice. And now, the mare that she raised with so much love and attention was in the grasp of the one who banished her and her sister from their home. Though Equestria was now her new home, she had suffered greatly as a result of being sent here. She sometimes even suspected that her sister's rebellion was a result of Luna's contact with the eldritch magic that Sombra wielded, magic that was so similar to the one she hated more than any other.
The thought of the mad unicorn king who had been sealed for a thousand years before brought with it a pang of regret. Celestia had managed to uncover some of her memories a little over a thousand years ago, a spell in particular. One that she could not for the life of her manage to successfully cast. When she shared it with her friend who was the ruling noble of the crystal empire, in hopes of him helping to solve the riddle. She thought at the time if she managed to cast the spell she might uncover more of her missing memories, but she had not anticipated the consequences. Her friend had indeed managed to solve the spell, and had successfully cast it. But when he did, something happened. Celestia never found out the truth of what the spell did, but the results were clear. Her friend was gone, the scene of the spells casting was nothing more than a scorched mess, it looked like the scene of a battle between two very powerful unicorns. But no body was ever found, because there was not one to find. Sombra had stolen the body of her friend, and proclaimed himself king of the crystal empire. The strange dark unicorn brandished powers that were unmatched by other unicorns, and had proved to be a difficult fight for Celestia and Luna, but they still sealed him away nonetheless.
The entire endeavor reminded her too much of the foggy memories she had. But it had managed to knock loose bits and pieces of her true memories. She remembered the spell being cast before, and that the one called Eclipse, as Twilight had recently enlightened her with her letter, ushered forth after the casting of the spell. She could not remember his face, but she knew who the victim of the spell was back then. A tear slid down her cheek as she remembered the wedding band around her horn. The bastard had removed all traces of what he had looked like, Eclipse had hidden himself, and then either inadvertently or purposefully the face of her husband. The only glimpse of Eclipse Celestia could muster was the one that plagued her dreams every night. A pair of jet black eyes, that held a thin golden ring that glowed with power, twin eclipses that stared down upon her broken and beaten form. Sometimes the pain would come back to her, other times the terror was so overwhelming that the pain was forgotten, regardless she always felt how close to death she was. The sight of the shadowy figure with the luminescent eyes staring down on her was all she ever dreamed of, those eyes, not holding contempt or bloodlust, but pity. The eyes looked down on her as if she was no more than an animal that had gotten in the way of a carriage, crushed under a force so greater than herself that she could not even fight back.
That would change however, if she had to take matters into her own hooves for justice, then she would do so. All she needed was more help than she currently had. Discord outright refused to leave Equestria, saying that he did not want to meddle in the affairs of another's home. That left Celestia only to rely on Luna and Cadence for help with this. She would need to extend a plea to other places, call in favors from unlikely sources. All she needed was more time, something that she did not know if she still had judging by the recent events. She only hoped that this Eclipse would not harm Twilight, and merely stick to fooling her for now.
"Stay safe Twilight, I will do all that is in my power to protect you..." Celestia mumbled as she watched her sun finally break over the horizon.
Thorfinn drummed his claws on the cobblestone ground as he sat guard before the house that the legendary king, and killer of countless lived in. He sat guard as his father went in to greet the once king, and the new princess, it was a punishment. One his father knew well would drive him to near insanity, the boredom was already taking its toll on Thorfinn. The young warrior had feared what his father would do to him as punishment, but he was hoping for something a little less cruel. It did not help matters that moments before the entire sky turned from day to night as the sun found itself blocked by the moon. Even after the sun and moon parted, the young warrior could not help but feel that he had been left out of something. Regardless he knew better than to leave until he was told to, his punishment for doing so would be tenfold.
The young wolf's ear perked up to the sound of hooves echoing down the alley. Thorfinn's amber eyes fell upon a lone mare who slowly made her way towards him, her head held high in a dignified pose. Thorfinn already did not like her, even before she made it up to him. The look on her spoke for her as she made her long strides up to him before stopping several feet away. She stood there for a full minute before clearing her throat and motioning a hoof for him to step aside.
"No." Thorfinn said, a frown plastered on his face.
"It is not a request you insolent welp." The mare said in a callous voice.
The dire wolf was standing up, towering above the mare within seconds, "Watch it, I am in no mood for insults."
"Then go chew on a bone and be a good boy." The mare said, venom dripping off her words.
Thorfinn's eyes widened as his pupils shrank to pinpricks. This mare clearly wanted to die, and if she pushed one more time he would be happy to grant her wishes. Drawing his axes, Thorfinn let out a low throaty growl in warning as his hackles raised. Saliva dripped from his mouth in an intimidating display that would normally leave all but the most seasoned foes backing away in fear, this mare however did not even blink at the display.
"Please, make my day mutt. Your kind does not scare me..." The mare said in a low threatening voice.
Thorfinn raised the axe in his right paw high above his head, but that was as far as it got. Within a second of him moving to strike, the mare had unleashed a torrent of icy magic that froze all that it touched. Thorfinn's runes of protection buckled nearly instantly under the immense magical force that hit him square in the chest. He struggled fiercely, but in vain against a thick layer of ice that had formed over his chest, legs, and arms.
"Stay..." The mare said in a mocking tone, "Good boy"
Thorfinn snapped his teeth at her as she trotted around him and entered the house. She paid him no further mind as she closed the door behind her. The young warrior's barks and curses in his native tongue died off minutes after she had disappeared inside the house. The rage clearing from his head Thorfinn now had time to think over what had just happened. The runes were weak from his fight with the dragon earlier, having not had a shaman around to repair them they were still only at half capacity, but they still should not have gone down that fast. As he thought of how strong the mare was a shiver ran down his spine, and it was not from the ice that now coated him. At least he had his thick fur to keep him warm, the ice would melt long before he froze.
"This has been an unlucky day for me..." Thorfinn sighed as he hung his head in shame.
Eclipse waved to Twilight as he departed the party. The two mares were still sharing stories with the old wolf, who loved the opportunity to gloat his life's achievements. The dragon seemed especially interested in the stories Ulf told, but Eclipse felt it was time for him to turn in for the night. It had been a long day, for he had today alone interacted more with Twilight than he had with anypony aside from shadow for weeks.
"She is... Different than I expected..." Eclipse said with a smile as he stared ahead of himself down the street.
From seemingly nowhere strode a stallion who trotted up beside Eclipse and then trotted with him, "She does seem like a very nice mare. Celestia did good raising her it would seem."
"Did you see her dance though? She could really use some lessons there." Eclipse said, trying his best not to laugh, and failing to stop a his smile from growing larger as he remembered the odd movements the princess of magic had made.
"True, though you have to hoof it to her, for a mare who has spent the majority of her life studying she knows how to unwind with friends." The stallion pointed out.
"Yeah... Hey, why don't we do this anymore?" Eclipse asked suddenly.
"Lurk through the streets like a pair of stallions out to get into trouble?" The stallion said in a joking voice.
"No, I mean spend time together and talk like friends should. Until recently you only ever show up to warn me of something big. What happened?" Eclipse asked, stopping in his tracks.
Like a shadow the stallion halted in perfect unison with Eclipse and turned to meet his gaze in perfect sync, "Because you need other friends, I won't be around forever. Twilight is a good start, but you cannot go on with only one friend. You need to allow other ponies to get close to you, open up your heart a little."
"Perhaps, but we both know how dangerous that could be..." Eclipse said with a sad smile now on his face.
"Uh oh..." The stallion said as he looked away form Eclipse.
Seeing the concerned look on his friend's face Eclipse followed his gaze directly down the street. His eyes adjusted to see farther down the street that lead to his house, and noticed that there was a wolf shaped ice sculpture in front of his house. 'No wait, his head is free, he's still alive...' Eclipse thought to himself.
"Okay, maybe not as dangerous as her..." Eclipse jokes as he looked next to him, but his face fell as he noticed he was once again alone.
"Oh sure, make me deal with your family issues...." Eclipse grumbled as he stomped over to his home.
Shadows of the Past
Eclipse's horn was wrapped in his black magical aura as the ice around Thorfinn began to melt. Within seconds the Dire Wolf fell to the ground, his limbs too weak from hours of being frozen in place by the ice to keep him upright. The once king gave an apologetic glance at the young warrior before trotting around him and opening the door.
Glancing back at Thorfinn Eclipse queried one detail he needed to know before advancing, "How long have you been like that?"
"Two, maybe three hours..." Thorfinn managed out, shame heavy on his voice.
"Fuck." Eclipse spat out making the young warrior flinch.
If she had been in his house that long she was going to be even more of a hassle than usual. If it wasn't one thing with that mare it was another, and for some reason it always fell on him to smooth things over. Worse yet, his hooves were sometimes tied with her for not only political reasons, but because of family reasons. As Eclipse made his way into his dark house, he noticed that the door to his study was open, the only light in the house bleeding out of there. As he trotted towards the open door, he could hear the sound of somepony taking a sip of their drink, and Eclipse's eyes shot open.
Bursting into the room Eclipse saw what he feared, the mare had already made her way through half of the glass bottle that always rested on his desk. It was a special whiskey, his favourite, and he had been saving it for a celebration. Now well over half of it was gone, all because she felt the need to spite him for making her wait.
"Noooo!" Eclipse cried out, a forlorn look on his face.
"You should really cut back on your drinking, sets a bad example on your kid..." The mare said icily as she cast a glance at the cabinet that held row upon row of assorted spirits.
"And YOU," Eclipse said nearly spitting out the word, "Should respect other ponies belongings."
"Come now, would you really have enjoyed this by yourself? Such an exquisite drink should be enjoyed with company." The mare said, raising the glass to her lips.
Eclipse frowned as he watched her take a short sip from the glass. His frown only grew deeper as a second glass was levitated over to the armchair across from hers. The once king made his way over and sat himself down, quickly levitating the glass to his lips and gulping the drink down without looking, never tearing his glare from the white mare. She raised a hoof and brushed a lock of her blue hair from her eyes, giving him a thin smile.
"Better?" She asked in a voice that did not hide the fact she didn't really care.
Eclipse merely grunted in reply.
"Good, because I need to talk business with you." The mare pressed on.
"My answer on that remains the same." Eclipse said raising a forehoof to his temple as he began massaging it gingerly.
"Not that business, I have come to accept the fact that it is better off safe in your hooves..." The faux smile was gone, a serious look on her face now.
Eclipse was silent for a moment as he contemplated what she could be after, "You wouldn't by chance be making another scheme to gain power would you?"
"It is merely something that I believe would be best for the family..." The mare said in a hurt voice, but the venomous smile on her face betrayed her.
Eclipse hated this part, their conversations always came down to this. Every time she needed something from him it ended up like this, and if it weren't for the promise he made, he would have killed her a long time ago. But as he listened to what she had to say now, his rage got the better of him. What she was plotting was going too far this time, she had finally crossed his line. As he stood up from his seat his body changed, horn and teeth sharpening as his eyes turned an inky black color, golden rings surrounding his oily iris giving the only indication to where he was looking. He approached her, smoke trailing behind his eyes that bore into her own with the force of his anger, and she just kept talking. He was almost upon her, a few seconds more and he would have ended her, but that was when her words cut through the fury, what she said made him stop. She smiled when she saw she had him right where she wanted.
"And in return for that small favor, it will be yours." The mare cooed to him.
That was why she had gotten into his spirits, she needed the courage to confront him with this. This close he could smell the whiskey on her breath, and he saw now the subtle hints as to how intoxicated she was. It would have been impressive for a normal pony to even stand with that much in them he realized. But what she had just pitched to him was bordering conspiracy against the nation, and sounded so calm and collected about it. She was insane, but she offered what he wanted. He had one chance to get out of this, Grasping her by the throat with his magic he hauled her in front of his face and stared into her eyes. He bore into her mind, searching for what she had just offered to him, hoping for her to be bluffing, or to at least have been careless enough to reveal where it was. But she was a cautious mare, she had erased from her own mind where it was, locked herself off from the knowledge of who she had trusted to remind her. But she had left a mental image of first seeing it, there in her mind he saw what he had spent almost his entire life looking for. There, was the Heart of Gaia.
With a roar of rage Eclipse flung the mare, screaming into the ceiling. He then slammed her into the floor, eliciting groans and creaks from the floorboards. The mare attempted to raise herself onto her hooves, but Eclipse increased the pressure he was exerting onto her, forcing her back down with a surprised yelp.
"You play a dangerous game girl..." Eclipse said in an eerily quiet voice.
"The more you wager, the more you can win." She grunted from the floor.
"What makes you think after I have what I want, I won't simply kill you and be done with it?" Eclipse asked, eyes narrowing.
"Because I know better than that, you will be too happy with me once it is over. You will finally be able to undo your greatest sin." Even as she struggled, the mare showed a victorious grin.
"Perhaps... But for now..." Eclipse's voice was steady as he moved forward to loom directly over her, "You are on thin ice. I need not remind you if you even think of double crossing me, you will die. And I WILL know, if you think about it..."
"I'm telling you, somepony was there with him. I didn't get a long look, but it was definitely a Unicorn stallion." Summer wind exclaimed in an exasperated tone.
"You don't suppose he still has contacts within the intelligence agency?" Steel Hoof offered.
"No, he never dealt with them, remember they were only established ninety two years ago. Eclipse washed his hoofs of ruling one hundred and four years ago." Frost Horn said waving a hoof dismissively.
"I think it was a member of the Heart Family, he looked similar to Eclipse, but the mane and the eyes were way off. Same colors though." Summer Wind explained.
"What was he doing in the castle then? The Heart family has kept its distance from the capital for decades now. Ever since the old Matriarch lost her duel for the council seat." Steel Hoof said glancing over to Frost Horn.
"Yes, she was truly a gifted Unicorn, but it would seem my years of experience was worth more than being a prodigy." The wrinkled Unicorn commented.
"Hah, you were once known as a prodigy in your youth were you not? And that was over a hundred years ago." Summer Wind said in a teasing tone.
The door to the council room creaked open, and the Princess of Magic trotted in, yawning slightly as she rubbed an eye with a wing. As she drew closer the council members all gave a courteous bow of their heads upon seeing her. Loose papers were shuffled as the council members prepared to give their reports, and propose important matters that were on the agenda.
"Did I hear that correctly? Frost Horn, you are over a hundred years old?" You sure don't look it. Twilight asked with an impressed look on her face.
"Well, yes. I am one-hundred-twenty-one actually." Frost Horn said in a bashful look on his face from the compliment.
"Yes, you would never guess he was a day over ninety with his spry youthful stature." Summer Wind said, stifling a giggle.
"Wait, you are the same age as me?" Twilight asked, cocking her head.
"It would seem so, I would not have guessed you were that young though." Frost Horn said thoughtfully.
"Before we get down to business there was something I wanted to ask before I get sidetracked however." Twilight said, her face adopting a more serious look.
The three council members exchanged glances before nodding toward Twilight. The Alicorn cleared her throat and opened a hole into her pocket dimension where she kept items for safekeeping. From the rift, she pulled a rolled up piece of canvas. The council members eyes this warily as she unfolded it, and upon seeing it Summer Wind gasped.
"That's him!" The pegasus exclaimed.
"Who?" Steel Hoof inquired.
"That was the stallion that was with Eclipse!" Summer Wind said excitedly pointing a hoof at the portrait.
"Wait, he was WITH Eclipse? I was going to ask if this WAS Eclipse." Twilight's voice was full of confusion as her mind set to the implications.
"That is a portrait of Heart of Gold..." Frost Horn said sagely.
"Wait, THE Heart of Gold, the pony said to wield the flames of justice?" Steel Hoof had perked up to the name.
"Yes, the one and only, Steel Hoof. What do you know of him princess?" Frost Horn asked quirking an eyebrow as he questioned Twilight.
"Well, I know that he was a member of the Heart family, and was crowned prince long ago. Eclipse said he died because of somepony he loved. But he looks so similar to Eclipse..." Twilight said casting a glance at the portrait she was levitating.
"Well yes, Heart of Gold is dead. He was murdered by his wife if the written accounts of it can be trusted." Frost Horn explained.
"By his wife?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Yes, though it is only the accounts of a pony who claimed to witness it, story goes his wife was attempting dark magic. He tried to stop her, but ultimately fell. After that his wife completed the magic ritual, and summoned something dark, and eternal." Frost Horn said forebodingly. "Or so the story goes."
"You don't mean she summoned Eclipse do you?" Twilight was not sure if she liked that implication.
"Well, it would explain why they look so similar." Steel Hoof commented.
"Yes, I had not heard that story before. But it would explain where Eclipse came from and why he has a connection to the Heart family if he wears the body of Heart of Gold." Summer Wind said thoughtfully.
"Then what about the stallion you saw though?" Steel Hoof asked with a frown.
"Perhaps it is Heart of Gold's ancestor. The written account was made by Heart of Gold's younger sister. It would not be too farfetched to assume he would look like his uncle from a millenium past." Frost Horn reasoned, "Otherwise we would need to believe in ghosts."
"Wait a moment..." Twilight said, as something important donned on her.
"What is it?" Steel Hoof asked, noticing the color drain from Twilight's face.
"Eclipse said that after becoming immortal, he was confronted immediately by Celestia and Luna." Twilight's voice was full of thought.
"Yes, Celestia and Luna were Heart of Gold's wife and sister in law. He was the one who made them Alicorns in the first place." Frost Horn explained.
An image of Celestia showing Twilight dark magic a century before popped into her head. Twilight blinked a couple of times to clear the image from her thoughts, but to no avail. She did not want to, and refused to believe it. There had to be something else that happened to cause Celestia to do it if indeed she did. Twilight turned and galloped from the room, dropping the portrait from her magical grasp as she left.
"Princess wait, we haven't gone over this yet!" Summer Wind called lifting a scroll into the air with a wing.
"This is most troublesome, we need immediate action to this..." Steel Hoof said with a worried expression.
"Yes, we need to discuss our plan of action in regards to that..." Frost Horn cast a tired glance at the scroll that was sealed with a mystical swirling pattern.
Spike's talons dug easily into the rocky surface of the mountain. The large purple digits worked at revealing the dragon's next meal, whilst the stomach of said dragon growled greedily. He could have easily sated himself off the horde he had amassed back at the castle, but he smelled a more favorable meal under the rock here. With one last swing of his claws, Spike revealed a massive cache of diamonds. Smiling the dragon looked up at the top of the mountain, where in the past smoke may have once poured.
The volcanic diamonds in hand, Spike stretched his wings to take off, licking his scaly lips before popping a few into his maw.
"My my, what a delectable cache you found there..." A feminine voice said from behind Spike.
The century old dragon whipped around to confront who it was, and nearly choked on the gems in his throat at the sight. Turquoise scales seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, her head was adorned with pale gold spikes that ran down the length of her back. Her eyes were a blue, as deep as a sea, and they were locked with his. Spike gulped down the gems that had almost lodged themselves in his throat.
"I haven't seen you around these parts before..." The female dragon spoke in a sultry voice.
"Oh well, uh... I'm actually new to these parts..." Spike said meekly as he slowly lowered his wings.
"Mmm, I can tell. A big handsome dragon like yourself? I would have remembered if I had seen you before." The dragoness said as she crawled closer to spike up the side of the dormant volcano.
Spike nervously edged away slightly, he had not actually spent that much time with other dragons, least of all female dragons.
"Aww, don't run away. I won't bite..." The female said with a toothy grin.
"W-well, uh... What do you want then?" Spike had learned long ago most of his kind were territorial and violent towards each other. Spike knew that if he angered the dragoness he would be forced to fight her.
"Aww, don't act so cold. I just wanted to know how you found that little cache there. This volcano has all but been picked over." The dragoness said putting on a pouty face.
"Oh, I just kinda... Sniffed it out." Spike chuckled nervously.
The dragoness was on him in an instant, Spike was unable to react with the smaller dragons speed, her lithe body moving like lightning as she sprung. Her claws grasped him by the shoulder and the side of his face, as the dragoness instead of attacking seemed to be looking him over. She roughly tilted Spike this way and that, eyes darting over him as she inspected him more closely. Spike meanwhile, held his breath hoping that she did not decide to dig those sharp talons into his exposed soft neck scales.
"My my, I was right. You are a fine example of dragonkind... Your scales are so vibrant, and your spines so sharp..." The dragoness commented as if she were a judge at a dog show.
"Thank you?" Spike said with a worried expression.
"You will do." The dragoness finally said after a moments more deliberation.
"Will do for what?" Spike asked, a hint more of concern etched into his face.
"A dragon your size with the ability to find quality gems will be one of the better catches around for sure." The female had a triumphant look on her face.
"For what?" Spike reinstated.
"For mating season of course." She answered with a predatory smile.
Twilight found herself once more experiencing a feeling of leaving her body. The world was dark around her as her will forced the magic to do its work in answering her question. One sentence ran in her mind as the inky blackness began to swirl around her, preparing to show a time long past. Twilight found herself having to strain harder and harder as time rewinded further. But she pressed on, beginning to mumble to herself.
"How did Eclipse come to be..." Twilight muttered with her eyes screwed shut in concentration.
The swirling of the darkness seemed to grow in intensity, becoming almost violent around her as it sped back, before suddenly stopping. Twilight was left feeling as if her head was spinning from the sudden halt in movement. As she opened her eyes she noticed that all around her the darkness was giving way to a dim light. The light slowly grew in intensity before finally settling into a normal nighttime scene. Luna's moon hung in the sky, and the stars glittered, casting light upon the cobblestone road that Twilight currently floated over. Looking around she found that the city she was in was completely alien to her. The architecture was so foreign, and the few ponies who were out this late at night seemed to be nobility, though their noble clothes were something she never had seen before.
Looking up she noticed a familiar sight however, her castle stood on top of the hill where it belonged. Looking around again, Twilight realized this must be what the capital city looked like all those years ago. She wished she could have spent more time studying the architecture, but she was here on a mission. Twilight began scanning the passing ponies for signs of Celestia, Luna, Eclipse, or even Heart of Gold. It did not take long however for Twilight to spot her former mentor. Celestia was flying overhead, directly for the castle. Twilight sped after her, flying despite the lack of moving her wings, she simply had to will herself to follow after Celestia.
It did not take long before the two of them made it to the castle, meanwhile Twilight was observing Celestia. She was younger, her mane while still the flowing pastel colors although was shorter, and she was still the size of a regular pony. Twilight also took note of an opulent saddlebag Celestia had on. As they landed in the castle courtyard, Twilight took note of the lack of the gazebo. Instead a large marble statue of an Alicorn with her wings spread wide, who looked up into the sky with a serene look dominated the courtyard. The Alicorn the statue depicted had a cutie mark that appeared to be some kind of spherical object, but she was uncertain what it was supposed to be.
As Twilight marveled the statue, Celestia in the meantime had opened a trap door at the base of the statue. A dim light illuminated the stone walls that lead into the ground, beneath the statue, and Twilight watched cautiously as Celestia descended. The stone slab that Celestia had raised lowered itself gently, barely making a noise as the entrance was once again hidden. Twilight floated over the slab, and looked around one more time before floating through and descending the passage after Celestia.
The passage opened up a ways down, and lead into a circular chamber where a large granite altar stood, a golden idol of an Alicorn sat, its eyes closed and its hooves together reverently, as if in prayer. In front of the idol was a large onyx basin. Luna sat before the idol, seemingly just finishing up drawin a magic circle around it and turned at the sound of Celestia approaching, and greeted her sister.
"Tia, there you are! What took you so long?" Luna asked in a relieved voice.
"This was harder to get than you might think..." Celestia said in a wavering voice.
"You didn't get cold hooves did you?" Luna said with a frown.
"No, I want this as much as you. It was just... Harder that I expected..." Celestia seemed distant.
Celestia opened her saddlebag with her magic, and levitated out a brown bag of sorts. Twilight had to move closer to get a better look at it, and she gasped as she realized it was a leather water skin. Celestia uncorked the top and drained the contents into the onyx basin, and Twilight immediately felt sick. Blood poured from the skin, and filled the basin. Twilight backed off slightly, and took note of the princesses' faces. Celestia looked ready to vomit, and even Luna now in the face of the blood looked squemish.
"W-well... Let's get this over with..." Luna said, swallowing hard.
"Get what over with?" A voice called from the passage behind them.
Twilight turned her head and for a moment thought she saw Eclipse, but the white Unicorn had a softer expression, and wore a wedding band around his horn. This was Heart of Gold, and Twilight could see that his cutie mark was a golden heart that seemed to gleam in an unseen light. The shape was just like Eclipse's but it was not wreathed in thorns as the once king's was.
"D-darling! Whatever are you doing here?" Celestia stammered out.
"Celestia, I know you think I may just let you get away with this... But you have crossed the line here..." Heart of Gold said in a sad voice as he looked at the contents of the onyx basin and the spellcircle around the idol.
"Goldie... Don't make us fight you. We are more powerful now that you know..." Luna said in a warning tone.
Heart of Gold closed his eyes briefly as he laughed softly to himself, "Luna, you don't seem to understand something. I, am a monster."
Luna and Celestia simultaneously fired magical bolts at the white unicorn, the twin beams of blue and gold soared true. But they never met their mark, instead vanishing without so much as an explosion or sound of impact. Both bolts were devoured by a circular shield that was erected instantaneously before the unicorn. Heart of Gold's horn bathed the room in its light, and Twilight was dumbstruck by what she saw. No Unicorn she had ever seen had magic like his, the golden aura his horn let off seemed more like rippling liquid than light, and it let off a metallic sheen, as if his horn had conjured a pool of liquid gold around it. Even the shield before him was strange, where most magical shields were transparent, his was solid, and rippled with the liquid gold that swam freely around it.
"Come quietly and we can look past this though, I may need to detain you but I can make it a simple house arrest under my watch. We don't have to kill each other my love..." Heart of Gold implored with a hopeful expression as he let the shield melt away.
"That won't work... They will demand my head if they knew about this..." Celestia said meekly.
"They will have to go through me!" Heart of Gold said passionately.
"And what of when you are gone? What then!" Celestia screamed, tears streaming down her face as she began to sob in frustration.
"Sister no, we cannot let it go like this!" Luna screamed as she fired off shot after shot at the white Unicorn.
The bolts were once again devoured by the odd golden magic that the crowned prince conjured. Heart of Gold slowly approached the princess of the night, a sad frown on his face. The rippling liquid gold magic that encased his horn changed suddenly, and in seconds the golden magic no longer moved like a liquid, and had begun to dance as if it were fire. Golden flames leapt out around his horn and licked the air hungrily. Likewise the shield he held in front of him now burst into the same golden flames he had coming from his horn.
"You cannot defeat me in a fight Luna, not together, not with an army. I am the sole pony capable of upholding absolute justice." Heart of Gold said as he drew ever nearer to the princess of the night.
"Stop! Wait, we give up..." Celestia said urgently.
Heart of Gold halted in his hoofsteps, but Luna cried out, "Sister!"
"No Luna, he is right..." Celestia said as she hung her head in defeat.
Heart of Gold perked up at this, and let the magical shield and the fire around his horn die off. He trotted up to Celestia and nuzzled her cheek affectionately, "I thank you my love. I do not know what I would have done if I had been forced to harm you..."
Celestia drew Heart of Gold into an embrace and buried her muzzle into his neck as she nuzzled back, "I am so sorry darling... But you were right, I can't possibly hope to oppose you..."
Twilight jumped as the magical bolt from Celestia's horn cut straight through the unicorn. Heart of Gold's mouth hung open and his eyes were wide in shock. He tried to speak as Celestia moved her hooves to his shoulders and pushed him away slightly so she could look into his eyes. His mouth moved to make words, but his lungs had been torn apart by the magical blast, and with no air he made no noise.
"You always trusted me so much, and you loved me more than anything else... Thank you for the time we spent together. I promise I will never forget you, even after I achieve my true immortality..." Celestia's eyes were blurry with tears as she spoke, and she leaned in and gave Heart of Gold one final kiss before gently setting him down on the hard stone floor, where his blood and tears joined in a pool beneath him.
"Tia..." Luna said solemnly.
"Let us be done with this Luna... I don't want his death to be in vain..." Celestia said, wiping a hoof across her eyes as she tried to compose herself.
Luna set about the incantations, and Twilight watched with a sick feeling in her stomach as Celestia removed the wedding band from her horn, and let it rest on the unicorn who still now struggled in vain to breath without his lungs. The ring that now set on his cheek seemed to only spur him on, as he struggled where he lay, limbs thrashing about him.
"It is done..." Luna said finally.
A dark mist seemed to pool in above the basin now, before the golden idol of the Alicorn. The mist began to congeal together until it was a rippling orb of darkness. From within something seemed to sit, as if a snake lying in the darkness, ready to strike. This did not go unnoticed by the Alicorn sisters who began to edge away warily. From within the inky black, a pair of eyes gleamed.
"Tia, what is that?" Luna whispered.
"I don't know, there was no mention of this..." Celestia mumbled in return.
Black tendrils leapt forth, ready to claim its prize. Both Alicorn sisters screamed and shot out magical bolts to defend themselves, but it was to no avail as their magic was seemingly absorbed by the the black appendages. Their hooves scraped the floor as they attempted to push themselves away from the swirling darkness they were being pulled towards. Luna whimpered weakly while Celestia cried for help. A golden flash nearly blinded Twilight who was watching the entire thing in mute horror.
The tendrils evaporated, sizzling upon being touched by the golden light. Celestia looked up to the source of the light that was standing over her now. Heart of Gold smiled down at her as blood seeped from his chest and mouth. Wordlessly he turned and projected his magic at the darkness, the swirling black hissing and fighting against his magic's touch. Heart of Gold's magic was too strong however, and he pulled the otherworldly being into himself. The glossy black eyes glared daggers at Celestia and Luna who sat on the floor, cowering before the display. It knew that it was being robbed of its true prize. But it finally turned its attention towards the dying pony, and decided that it needed to settle on this host if it wanted to survive.
Heart of Gold trapped the darkness within himself, and it filled the gaping wound that went through his chest. The other worldly being began to merge itself with its host, working quickly to ensure that its new body did not die and leave its essence vulnerable to the harsh elements of this strange world. Within seconds it was done, and Heart of Gold stood there, with a blank look on his face as an internal battle ensued.
Twilight was unsure what kind of struggle could be happening, but she already knew what sort of outcome there would be. A small part of her still rooted for Heart of Gold however. Glancing away from the unmoving Unicorn, Twilight inspected the shivering Alicorns.
Luna glanced over to her sister, "Tia did-"
Celestia silenced Luna by raising a hoof, "Goldie, are you okay?"
Heart of Gold made no attempt to answer, he merely stood there, staring off into the distance. But his Cutie mark was beginning to darken. The golden heart was becoming black, and thorns began to wrap themselves around it. His horn was next to change, darkening at the tip and curving ever more by the moment. Finally were his eyes, they grew pitch black until thin golden rings appeared around where his irises should have been. Celestia and Luna slowly stood up as the transformation seemed so cease, uneasiness etched in their faces.
Celestia tried once more, "Darling are you o-"
Celestia was silences as Heart of Gold turned his head to look at the sisters with an eerily slow pace. Celestia and Luna froze under the strange gaze of those eyes. All was silent, as Heart of Gold cocked his head slightly, seemingly trying to remember who they were. He then looked down at his chest where the wound was beginning to close itself. Black tendrils wriggled from within him, grasping on to one another and forming bonds that sealed the wound, skin and fur then grew rapidly over the now closed wound. Once the display was over, the stallion looked up and locked eyes with Celestia once more.
"You were the one that did this..." Heart of Gold spoke in a strange voice, one that Twilight knew was Eclipse's.
"Wh-what?!" Celestia exclaimed, hearing a stranger's voice from her husbands mouth.
"Do not deny it, I saw it... In his memories." The otherworldly stallion continued.
Celestia and Luna exchanged glances at this, it was now clear to them what had happened. They were thankful that they themselves had avoided this fate, but they were still in danger as it was. Neither of them dared move, lest they draw aggression from the stranger who now wore Heart of Gold's body.
"He felt something for you..." The stallion mumbled, "He... 'Loved' you?"
"Yes... We loved each other." Celestia said warily with a smile.
"Then why did you try to kill him?" The question was hostile, and the Unicorn was frowning now.
Celestia cast a hopeful glance at Luna who merely shook her head, "Well, that is complica-"
"This love, is so strange... So foreign..." The stallion cut in, "Until the very end all he thought about, still thinks about is your well being."
This caught Twilight's attention, and Celestia apparently caught it as well, "Is he still there?"
Heart of Gold's body seemed to sag for a moment, as if its host vacated its attention from the physical world for the time being. Celestia tentatively began to move closer, but only made it a few steps before she jumped at the sudden movement of the Unicorn.
"He is here, with me. I am holding on to him for now." The stallion finally replied.
"Can I talk to him?" Celestia asked.
"No." The answer was almost immediate.
"Why not?" Celestia said with no small amount of hostility.
"Because I do not think you deserve to speak with him." The stallion's face darkened.
"He is my husband! How dare you deny me from him." Celestia was no longer afraid, her fury overcoming the lesser emotion.
"You forfeit the right to call him that when you murdered him and removed the sign of your vow!" The rage in the stallion's voice shook the chamber. Twilight eyed the ceiling warily as dust fell.
Celestia seemed taken aback by this, "You do not understand, th-"
"NO , you do not understand. Every second that passes I gain more clarity of his memories. And all I am seeing is a foolish whelp who meddled in something she was warned not to. A self centered mare, who murdered her husband, and worst of all you used his love and trust against him to do it! In every definition of justice and law that I have gleaned from his mind, you should be put to death for what you have done. But he begs me to forgive you. Why does he defend you, why does he still love you?!" The stallion looked furious.
His body sagged again, and Twilight guessed that the being that would come to be known as Eclipse once more withdrew himself to converse with Heart of Gold. Seeing this however, the two Alicorn sisters made their move. Both began firing spells at the Unicorn, but to seemingly no avail. The bolts hit true, but the damage they inflicted simply sealed up and was healed within seconds. After a minute of futilely blasting him with magic, they decided to instead attempt to impale him on their horns. The sisters rushed with desperate looks on their faces, for they feared what would happen if this being decided to enact what it viewed as justice upon them.
Before they could reach him, he perked up again. Seeing that he was under attack, black tendrils exploded from within his body, and lashed out in defense against the charging Alicorns. The stallion seemingly didn't know his strength, because where each tentacle landed upon the sisters, bones were snapped. Seeing the two sisters crumple immediately to the ground the stallion's eyes shot wide open.
"No...." He whispered as he tentatively stepped forward.
Now standing above the bleeding and moaning sisters, the stallion frowned with an apologetic look on his face. He reached a hoof down to Celestia and touched her cheek softly. The Alicorn of the Sun struggled to look up at him, tears of pain and regret filling her eyes. Fear was there too, Twilight could see the fear.
"He wanted to look at you one last time..." The stallion muttered.
"You... A-are going... To kill me?" Celestia asked between coughs.
"No, we have come to an agreement. I cannot let your actions go unpunished, and he will not see you die. So we are exiling you and your sister from this land." The Unicorn stated in an even tone.
"C-can... I talk to him... One last time?" Celestia's eyes pleaded.
"No, you do not deserve that favor from me. You do not deserve to remember such a stallion. And before I send you off, you will forget everything about him." The stallion's voice was filled with contempt.
"Please... No..." Celestia begged, coughing up a mouthful of blood due to a lung being punctured by a rib.
"On the off chance that you ever regain your memories... Remember my words now. If you ever come back to these lands... If you ever cause this stallion this much pain again. I will destroy you. Heart of Gold belongs to me now..." The Unicorns said, murder filling his eyes.
Twilight stared on in disbelief as the scene began fading to black. She felt sickened with the knowledge she now possessed. Her entire world felt as if it had been turned upside down. Her childhood mentor, and the savior and founder of her homeland was once like this. In a sense, Twilight had to thank Eclipse for what he had done. Because whatever he had done to Celestia's memories seemed to have changed her. The mare Twilight saw in the vision was so different from the mother figure she knew.
Twilight opened her eyes, and sat up in her bed. She glanced at the scepter that lay beside her, almost wishing she had not seen what she had. With a sigh and a sad shake of her head Twilight moved to get out of bed, but stopped as she noticed she was not alone in her room. Crawling in the window now was a zebra, in his mouth was a viciously curving dagger. Twilight stared at him with wide eyes, and he stared back.
The princess of magic screamed as the Zebra leapt at her, too drained was she from using the scepter to ready a spell this quickly. The zebra stopped moving inches away from Twilight, seemingly stopped mid swing. Twilight blinked a few times, as she noticed a layer of ice had seemingly instantly formed over him.
"Phew, that was a close one..." Frost Horn said as he stepped in the open door.
"Frost horn... What is the meaning of this?" Twilight said, adrenaline now pumping through her veins.
"This is about the letter we wanted to show you." Frost Horn replies as he levitated the letter over to Twilight.
Twilight cast one last wary glance at the frozen zebra, and then unfolded the letter. Scanning the contents quickly her face fell at what she read. She looked up at Frost Horn as if to ask if the letter was serious, but the only reply Frost Horn gave to this was a simple nod.
"Why would they do this at a time like this? We are stronger than before now that I am filling the once vacant spot as ruler." Twilight asked as she rubbed a hoof to her temple.
"It is more because Eclipse has once more let himself be known to the public. Their problem was never really with our nation. They seek to eradicate him." Frost Horn explained.
Twilight glanced at her would be assassin, "Then why try to kill me?"
"They most likely ended the armistice and want you dead because you have been seen with him. Rumors already have spread that you are friends with him. And the Zebras hate Eclipse more than anypony else." Frost Horn said with a sigh.
"Why?" Confusion was written on Twilight face.
"That is because of a prophecy of theirs that is over two thousand years old now. A prophet of foretold the invasion of our world by evil spirits. The land was supposed to be consumed in a sea of fire, and the moon was foretold to fall from the sky into the sea, causing a tidal wave that would then wipe out the land. This was supposed to be done by an immortal being. And well, the only true immortal being is Eclipse." Frost Horn explained, taking a seat on a chair next to Twilight's bed.
"But Eclipse would never do something like that..." Twilight said with a worried expression.
"Perhaps not, but perhaps he may. Ponies do stupid things in anger. All we can do is hope that nothing happens that angers him enough to end our world. Anyways, let us get back to the council room. We have a few other matters to attend to. And don't worry, we will send for a few servants to clean this up." Frost Horn said, gesturing a hoof towards the zebra assassin.
Twilight hopped off her bed, following Frost Horn. She took one more glance back at her bed, where the scepter sat, and shivered at her recently attained knowledge.
Dragon's Heart
"How did he get into the city without anypony noticing him?" Steel Hoof asked, a scowl painted on his face.
"Probably an invisibility potion, we all know how advanced their alchemy is in regards to potions." Frost Horn offered.
Twilight frowned as the council members seemed to go off on a tangent here. Summer Wind now voiced the question of why the zebra didn't prepare enough invisibility potions to get the job done and get out if that were the case. The three of them had been going over this for a quarter of an hour, since Twilight and Frost Horn had come back and explained about the failed attempt on her life. She was beginning to wonder how anything got done around her, and coughed gently to attempt to get the three back on track.
"Wha- oh right. Well, more importantly there is the matter of the end of the armistice. I suspect soon the southern province will be attacked. No worries there however, they still have yet to let their guards down since the moment the armistice was signed." Frost Horn said, addressing the princess.
"From what we saw here though, we may need to employ some more mercenaries as sentries." Steel Hoof said rubbing his chin with a hoof.
"About that, would it be alright to get some actual guards around the castle? I understand that the staff are all well versed in combat, but it is easy to sneak past maids and butlers." Twilight said, voicing her concern on the matter.
"Well, while I would be all for increased protection of yourself princess, it may be somewhat a waste of money. There are not many ponies around that are qualified to be a royal guard. It is hard enough for our banks to find ponies who are masters in the field of combat that are willing to stand around in one spot. Most ponies who are qualified much prefer moving around as they like." Summer Wind explained with a frown.
"I could set about conjuring magical protections if you wished. I would not be able to do anything as close to what Eclipse had, but I think I could manage something sufficient." Frost Horn said stroking his beard with a hoof.
This made Twilight perk up, "Eclipse used his own magic to secure the castle?"
"Why yes, it was all astounding actually. He somehow managed to weave magical webs that could sound an alarm if an unfamiliar pony passed through them." Frost horn explained.
"How did he make them differentiate?" Twilight's face lit up showing how intrigued she was.
"No idea, he never showed me..." Frost Horn's face was suddenly sad.
"Do you think he would show me? It would definitely be beneficial to know that..." Twilight said suddenly deep in thought.
"Though even if we are alarmed, that still does not guarantee the princess' safety." Summer Wind interjected.
"True, we will need a plan of sorts..." Steel Hoof said thoughtfully.
"What about the dragon? Spike would no doubt be more than enough to deal with any assassins. Plus it would be a deterrence from them even trying." Frost Horn offered.
"So what? Move Spike's room to next to mine?" Twilight asked as if it were a joke.
"I was thinking more along the lines of having you move to his, for the time being of course. Until we can think of something better or easier." Frost Horn said with a shrug.
"Speaking of dragons, its getting to be about that time again isn't it?" Steel Hoof said rubbing his temple with a hoof.
Twilight blinked in surprise as all three council members groaned, "What time?"
"Dragon mating season..." Summer Wind said with a huff.
"What is so bad about that?" Twilight asked with an uncertain smile.
"I don't know what dragons are like where you are from, but around here dragons have come to have a specific mating ritual, one that was born out of what I can only assume was their hatred of us." Steel Hoof explained.
At the confused look Twilight held, Frost Horn elaborated, "The female dragons of these parts, in hopes of catching a male's attention if they have yet to find one, will go on a destructive rampage. It is seen as a sign of strength and that they are able to produce strong children if they can destroy a pony town."
"Why would they hate ponies that much?" Twilight's voice was laced with concern.
Frost Horn perked up at this, "Well, that had actually been a matter of speculat-"
"It's said to be traced back to the founding of this city as our capital. The Heart family is said to be responsible for it all as well." Steel Hoof cut in, not wanting to listen to a long winded explanation from the wizened Unicorn.
"What did they do?" Twilight asked, her face now showing her feelings of concern.
"This used to actually be the spot for the dragon migration. However, in a matter of days and with the combined efforts of the entire Heart family, the entire area's dragon population was moved, or exterminated. Before then our relationship with the dragons was tenuous at best, after then though its just been a history of bloodbath after bloodbath." Steel Hoof explained.
"Why did it need to be this spot then?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"That would be because of what this castle is built over. Nopony knows where it is aside from Eclipse now, but apparently somewhere under this city is the tomb of the very first Alicorn, Gaia. It is a sacred place for us, and after the dragons refused to relocate the Heart family, who were a clan of religious zealots at the time, 'purged' the dragons, as they wrote it in the history books." Summer Wind butted in.
"Has the Heart family always held a history of murder?" Twilight asked, her ears lying against her head.
"No, there have been many notable figures that even our enemies have written about positively. Heart of Gold's father for example is remembered as one of the fairest rulers to ever sit upon a throne. Why, when I was but a colt I remember reading about his military exploits. He even lead the charges into battle himself, always on the front line and inspiring courage within his troops." Frost Horn said with a smile.
"Hmm, interesting. Could you recommend some good titles among those for me later?" Twilight asked, getting caught up in the old Unicorn's pace of being off topic once more.
The large double doors burst open as a panicked pegasus mare burst into the room, and skid across the floor, stopping feet from Twilight before coming to a halt. The council members and princess of magic eyed the mare as she caught her breath. After a brief moment the pegasus bowed deeply to the floor in respect before procuring a scroll from her saddlebag and opening it.
"The northern province has sent this message for the eyes of the princess and the council only." The mare said as she turned the scroll so that the four could read it.
"Attacked? By who?!" Steel Hoof roared as he read the scroll.
"By Dire Wolves, they came in with the blizzard and were gone before the storm cleared. Only twenty casualties, but the food stores were ransacked." The messenger said as she rolled up the scroll and placed it back in her saddlebag.
"Olaf..." Twilight whispered in realization.
"How do you know of him?" Steel Hoof asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Ulf told me that Olaf's pack has broken from the others. He warned me that he might attack, but I never would have guessed so soon..." Twilight frowned in thought.
"This is most unfortunate..." Frost Horn said stroking his beard.
"A war on two fronts then? If I remember correctly Olaf's pack is the largest of any of the Dire Wolves." Summer Wind said to Twilight.
"The timing seems to perfect if you ask me." Steel Hoof muttered.
"You may be on to something. Two different forces attacking on opposite sides, during the dragon's mating season. We will be stretched thin if we are forced to deal with all of this." Frost Horn commented.
"What if we used Spike as a means to speak with the dragons, perhaps he could at least hold them off for this year. They might listen to him long enough for us to strike up a barter." Summer Wind offered.
Twilight's horn lit up and her face scrunched up in confusion, "Speaking of Spike, I haven't seen him since this morning. I can't seem to find him within the castle either..."
The council members shared a glance before Summer Wind spoke up, "We may be in trouble..."
"What?" Twilight asked in surprise.
"If mating season has started and he is out of the capital..." Summer Wind began as she rubbed a hoof against the table in front of her, not wanting to say what was on her mind.
"No... He is not a pheromone crazy teen anymore. I'm sure he will resist any dragon trying to seduce him." Twilight said, waving the notion off.
"Well, if it is a dragon younger than him perhaps. But the older females have been known to capture younger mates and keep them in their lair until the mating season is done." Frost Horn said with a scowl.
"Spike was in very good shape. A female would most likely take a pass at him if they thought they could overpower him." Steel Hoof said shaking his head.
Twilight's face was a mask of shock and horror, "What is wrong with the dragons here?!"
"Well, given the conditions they have, the dragons around these parts have been forced into a barbaric lifestyle to survive. Think of it as a form of Social Darwinism." Frost Horn explained.
"Social what now?" Twilight asked, not sure if she caught what she heard correctly over her internal screaming.
"Ah, perhaps you wouldn't know that term. I will have to recommend you some more books on the subject." Frost Horn said with a shrug.
"I can't believe I'm saying this... But now is not the time for books, Spike could be in danger out there!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Nonsense, at worst he will be gone a few months until the female finally manages to lay an egg. You are the one that is in danger right now." Steel Hoof cut in.
"Steel Hoof is right, without Spike around we need to find another plan to keep you safe. We may need you to seek out Eclipse and either have him reinstall the magical security, or have him show you how to do it." Summer Wind said, nodding in agreement with Steel Hoof.
"What then about the Zebras and Olaf?" Frost Horn asked rubbing his temples with his hooves.
"Well, it will be hard to deal with Olaf right now, all we can do is employ mercenaries to hunt down Olaf's scouts so that we can at least tell what areas he is in. As for the Zebras, its a little more straightforward. We will merely need to send supplies to the south and let them do their thing." Summer Wind explained.
"If we can pinpoint where the Dire Wolves that follow Olaf are at, we could try to deal with them quickly and then move our attention towards the Zebras, and see if they will negotiate peace once more." Frost Horn offered.
"How will we deal with an entire army of magic resistant Dire Wolves?" Twilight asked skeptically.
"Well, we could always utilize different methods than magic. Eclipse once made a chlorine elemental to deal with the Dire Wolves." Frost Horn said with a shrug.
"Hmm, I could ask him if we could use it..." Twilight said with a frown.
"Wait, you know of it?" Steel Hoof asked in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, he actually told me where he keeps it... Would you believe its under his kitchen sink in a jar?" Twilight said with a nervous laugh.
"He keeps one of the most devastating creatures to ever see a battlefield... In a jar under his sink..." Steel Hoof said in an unbelieving tone.
"Why does this not surprise me? He always left dangerous magical items lying about the castle when he was still living here." Summer Wind said rolling her eyes.
"Look at them in his perspective. They couldn't harm him. He was like a child leaving his toys strewn about him." Frost Horn said in a defensive tone.
Twilight cocked her head at this, "Frost Horn, do you look up to Eclipse?"
The wizened Unicorn seemed to freeze at this for a moment, but then let out a sigh, "Yes, I suppose I still look up to him. He did teach me most of the magic I know after all. I was a prodigy, and he saw me as holding talent that needed to be honed. I spent many hours of every day growing up under his tutelage."
"He never mentions you though, if he spent so much time with you then why wouldn't he?" Twilight asked with a frown.
Frost Horn seemed to deflate at this, "I... Don't know. While he never seemed to be too attached to me, he still showed pride in my early years when I accomplished something others could not. But around the time I reached adulthood, he grew less and less enthused with my achievements. I thought it was to make me strive to better myself even further. But after I reached the top, he almost seemed... Disappointed... I never had the courage to ask him why though..."
"I had never heard of this..." Summer Wind said in an apologetic tone.
"There must have been a reason though..." Twilight said.
"Perhaps there was, but it is in the past now." Frost Horn said, regaining his composure.
"Yes, we need to set about with preparations. Messenger, send word back to the north that we will be employing mercenaries to hunt down Olaf's pack." Steel Hoof said in a commanding tone.
"Yes sir!" The messenger said before speeding off.
As Twilight watched the Pegasus she had almost forgotten was even there leave, her thoughts drifted back to Spike. She trusted what the council said, in that he was not in danger. But she was not so much worried about his physical well being, she knew he was hardy enough to survive on his own. What she worried about was how his mind would take it. Because he wasted his adolescence chasing Rarity in vain, he never managed to form a relationship. She hoped that he would return without any mental scarring. With any luck though, He would not be spotted by a female stronger than him.
"And ye' are sure this be safe? I would rather not lose any limbs here. Being a bounty hunter is a might bit hard when ye' be missin' a hoof." The grizzled stallion asked with a frown.
"Oh come on Rusty, you don't trust me?" Eclipse asked with a faux insulted expression.
"Nay, I don't. I still dunno' how ye' got meh into this." Rusty Nail said shaking his head as he stared at the white mare with icy blue hair.
"Eclipse, why am I practicing against him?" The mare asked impatiently.
"Because Rusty here is a special pony. He was born with a natural resistance to magic." Eclipse explained, patting the stallion on the back.
"I would appreciate it if ye' stopped blabbin' meh secret. Sometimes th' surprise be the only thin' 'at keeps meh breathin'." Rusty was still nervous about the mare, because he knew who she was.
"She will be careful not to aim for any vitals, and as long as you aren't dead I can fix you up good as new. Or at least as good as you currently are." Eclipse said, shrugging as he added the last part.
"Was 'at supposed t' be a jab?" The stallion said raising an eyebrow.
"He smells of whiskey..." The mare commented.
The two stallions shared a glance and Eclipse whispered to Rusty Nail, "If you beat her unconscious I'll give you a thousand gold coins on top of what I'm already paying you."
Rusty's eyes widened at this, and the grizzled stallion charged, his orange mane billowing behind him as he leaped at the startled mare. To her he seamed like a green blur aside from the orange mane, and she barely managed to teleport out of the way. Before he could turn around and face her, she fired several magical bolts. Each of them bounced off, freezing what they came into contact with.
"No no, you are doing it all wrong! Put more feeling into it, feel your emotions burn deep inside of you and release them!" Eclipse yelled.
"I don't work well with fire spells!" The mare yelled back as she narrowly evaded a green hoof.
"It's a metaphorical fire, feel it freezing your damned icy heart for all I care. Just FEEL" Eclipse returned shaking a hoof at her.
The mare screamed in disbelief at how Eclipse was treating this, and in that instant, Rusty landed a blow. The mare spiraled away from him, but never hit the ground, firing off another teleportation, and appearing above him. She rained down magical bolt after magical bolt, each one growing in intensity, but all of them bouncing off the stallion's green coat.
"Closer, but it doesn't necessarily have to be rage you use. Any emotion will do as long as its strong." Eclipse yelled, trying to speak over the profanity the two fighting ponies were slinging at each other.
"What does this prove?! Why do we start with a field test before you teach me how to use it?" The mare screamed as she galloped away from Rusty Nail.
Eclipse chuckled to himself here before responding, "Because unless it works against him we won't know if you are doing it right."
Eclipse looked away as he felt somepony approaching him. He smiled as he saw the flickering of the shadows around him. A dark gray mare stepped out of his own shadow, and before she could say anything Eclipse wrapped her in a hug.
"My little Shadow, how are you doing?" Eclipse asked as he nuzzled his adoptive daughter.
"Daaad!" Shadow whined as she tried in vain to push him away, "We are in public."
"Bah, not like anyone will notice." Eclipse said gesturing behind him.
"Is that... Heart of Ice?" Shadow asked warily.
"Yes, I'm just teaching her something in exchange for something else." Eclipse said releasing his daughter.
"Teaching her how to lose to a stallion who is immune to magic?" Shadow asked with a smile.
"She is only losing because she won't follow my directions." Eclipse said with a shrug.
"Rusty looks really into it..." Shadow commented.
"Well I may have told him I would pay him handsomely for knocking her out..." Eclipse said innocently.
"Think she stands a chance?" Shadow asked laughing as Heart of Ice tried once more in vain to land a magical bolt.
"Depends, if she can get over herself, she is actually a talented Unicorn. Nowhere near as talented as Frost Horn, but she has the benefit of lineage on her side." Eclipse shrugged.
"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked, as she flew down next to Eclipse and Shadow.
"Princess, what a pleasure it is to see you. What brings you to this side of town?" Eclipse said bowing deeply.
Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "I can hear them yelling and see magical bolts flying around all the way to the castle..."
"Busted..." Shadow said in a teasing tone to her father.
"Well, to answer your question, Twilight, I am teaching Heart of Ice there how to harness magic in the way the Heart family has for as long as they were royalty." Eclipse explained.
"A specific way to harness magic?" Twilight said in thought.
"Yes, it is actually surprisingly similar to how eldritch magic is channeled with your emotions, but only those of the Heart lineage seem to be able to use it. Not sure if it is a bloodline trait or if the family is blessed, but no matter who I try to teach it to over the years, only Heart family members are successful in learning.
"So I take it you tried teaching Frost Horn how to do it?" Twilight asked quirking a brow.
"Yes actually, he had so much promise. He was the most gifted Unicorn I had seen in centuries... But he failed to do it. Having nothing else worth teaching him I let him be on his own so that he could live life like a normal pony, and not the student to a tyrant." Eclipse said offhoofedly as he watched the two ponies fighting.
Twilight's face fell at this as she thought for a moment, "So, you distanced yourself on purpose? You do know Frost Horn still looks up to you, don't you?"
Eclipse put on a difficult to read expression at this, and glanced over to where Heart of Ice was now freezing the ground, causing the stallion she was fighting to lose balance and tumble past her, "I know..."
"You still hadn't taught him everything though, he told me about the intricate security spells you used to set up around the castle. That is actually why I am here, I need to learn how you made them differentiate between allowed ponies and trespassers." Twilight said with a small smile.
"I will show it to you, but it will be better for everypony if I continue my distance from Frost Horn. Trust me on this Twilight, neither of us will be happier in the long run." Eclipse said, causing Twilight's smile to turn slowly into a frown.
Rusty Nail in the meantime had regained his footing, "C'mon lass, I 'ave had near 'bout 'nuff out o' yeh.'"
Heart of Ice huffed at this, her anger seemed to be draining from her face. The steady light blue glow of her horn brightened slightly, and began to jerk about more sporadically. Eclipse turned away from Twilight, his full attention on the white mare. Rusty Nail was not deterred by this, and charged the mare, slamming his hooves hard enough with every step to crack the ice and grant him the traction he needed. Heart of Ice simply stared with a level expression as she sent a single magical bolt at the stallion. The bolt however, connected at the same time that Rusty struck out with a hoof. The mare spun in place from the strength of the blow, and slid on the ice a ways after collapsing. Rusty Nail huffed as he watched her spin away. Eclipse approached the stallion here, the ice melting around him as he made his way.
"Well well, would you look at that..." Eclipse said as he stared at the the stallions front right leg, which was covered in a thin sheet of ice.
Spike carefully pushed the female dragon away from him, but to his dismay she simply grabbed a hold of his wrist and moved back in closer. She was letting off heavy pheromones that Spike was picking up on now, and at this proximity it made his mind feel fuzzy with its intensity. A primal urge stirred in him, in a deep part of his mind that living with ponies had almost sealed off. The dragoness was in heat, and Spike could see she was not ready to take no for an answer.
A roar from above shook the volcano that the two dragons were perched on, Spike looked up and his face fell at what he saw. A large yellow dragon had spotted them, and had her eyes locked on Spike. While Spike was sure that he could at least overpower if not evade the smaller dragoness that was clutching him, the older female would no doubt prove too much for him to handle.
The smaller turquoise female that was clutching onto Spike hissed and snapped her jaws at the larger female in a warning. The yellow dragoness dove immediately at the sign of the challenge, causing Spike to duck and tense himself as the two female dragons collided and began rolling down the side of the dormant volcano. Spike seeing his opportunity now spread his wings and bolted. Glancing back he saw that they had not yet noticed his departure, causing Spike to sigh in relief as he flew on. He was only a few hours flight from the capital, he could easily make it there before being spotted by another dragon.
'Hell, I hadn't even met another dragon all the way out here before now. I should be in the clear.' Spike thought to himself.
As if he had just challenged some sort of god to take action, Spike noticed that a shadow had just fallen over him. Looking up slowly he saw a dragoness that was as large as the yellow one he had managed to give the slip earlier. This one however, sported jet black scales, and had large white horns that curved around her face like a rams. She flew in place, watching Spike with calm crimson eyes, seemingly weighing him as if he were an apple on a market stall. Spike then glanced at her arms and legs, and noticed that she had what looked like abnormally large and thick scales protecting her limbs, and ever her pale yellow belly scales looks tough. Everything about her screamed danger at Spike, and muttering a quiet curse Spike set his attention back to escaping. Behind him now, and unseen to him, the black dragoness smirked as she watched Spike fly away from her.
Spike flew as fast as his wings would take him, hoping that the female had deemed him not worth the effort to chase, surely a dragon as mature as she looked could find an older, more suitable male. Spike worried more about living through an encounter with her, than being captive. As Spike flew he noticed that a large city he had previously flown over was drawing nearer, perhaps he could seek refuge there for a moment. Surely no dragon would chase him into a city as well garrisoned as that one.
As if she could read his mind, a purple orb of fire sped past Spike, faster than most Pegasi could fly, and it collided with the thick stone wall around the city. Immediately a raging purple inferno tore a gaping hole in the wall. Spike flew in place there, eyes wide at what he had seen. He had never seen a dragon breath fire like that, turning his head back to once again look at the female that had followed him. He now noticed that he could not hear her wing beats, she had followed him unheard because of this.
"Your move pretty boy." She said in a husky voice.
Spike glanced back at the city, the ponies within it were hurriedly dousing the odd flames as best they could, and a line of unicorns seemed to be preparing to launch a defense if the need be. But Spike had the feeling they were in over their heads. Turning his eyes back to the female he briefly wondered if there was a way to talk her out of it, to point out that she could easily find better than him.
"You will need to do something other than talk to get away from me." She said narrowing her eyes.
Spike eyes shot wide. Fear crept into him as he slowly understood what was going on. The female licked her lips in response to the fear he was feeling, and it confirmed what Spike suspected. She was in fact reading his mind.
"Are you going to destroy this town?" Spike voiced his concern.
"You know the answer..." The female purred in a victorious voice, "Say it."
"Only if I don't go with you..." Spike whispered.
"Pretty and smart. See? You are a catch worthy of me." The dragoness laughed.
She beckoned him with a claw to follow her, and with head hung low Spike complied. The two of them flew in the same direction Spike had just come from, flying higher than Spike usually cared to. Glancing down as he followed the black dragoness, he noticed that the two females who had previously been fighting over him sat next to each other and watched him fly by. They merely watched though, not even considering fighting for him now. Spike's unease only grew at this.
Within an hour of silently following the black dragoness, Spike saw that the geography changed dramatically. Gone were the rolling hills and plains with the occasional mountain, replaced with a dark marsh. The female then began to descend and Spike followed her into a cave that had been dug into the ground. Spike noticed that it looked as if it had been dug recently, and judging by the size of the talon marks, it was dug by her.
"Like it? Took me a week to make our new home." She said, glancing back to Spike with a proud smile.
Spike flinched at the word 'our', but kept following her into the darkness of the cave. Spike could only see sixty feet ahead of them, even with his incredible vision in the darkness. With how deep they were getting he was amazed it only took a week to dig out. The path however, finally widened out into what he assumed was a massive circular chamber, but he could not see the ends of it, just the oddly smooth walls near him.
The dragoness blew one of her strange fireballs towards the center of the room, and Spike found himself staring at the effect the fireball had. The purple flames raced along the ground instead of exploding. It followed a track that had been dug into the ground, and spread around the room, the trench followed the walls from its track in the center, and within seconds the entire chamber was lit in the purple light. Spike's eyes then fell on a great mound of gold and jewels that was piled high on the far side of the chamber. Beside the small mountain of riches, where the trench began in the center of the room, was a glass construct that Spike could only imagine was meant to incubate eggs within, heated by the fire from the trench.
"What do you think of it?" The dragoness asked.
"Don't you already know the answer?" Spike returned.
"It is no fun if I read your mind all the time." She laughed as she drew nearer to him, "I want to hear it from your mouth, not your mind."
Spike frowned at the game she was playing, but felt it safer to play along, "It is impressive, though I can't help but wonder how this only took a week."
Her face lit up at this, "Impressive then? Maybe I will tell you if you be a good little boy."
"I have to get this out of the way though..." Spike said in a frustrated voice, "Why me?"
The dragoness took a moment of thought before replying, "Purple is my favorite color."
Spike's face fell at this, "What, so you saw me and immediately thought 'hey, he looks like a good mate' just because I am purple?"
"Not quite but close." She said as she put a hand behind his head, and another behind his back and pulled him into her, embracing him passionately.
"What else then?" Spike asked as he tried in vain to pry himself from her.
"Because of what I saw in your mind." She whispered next to his head before trailing a talon across the green fin next to Spike's ear.
"How do you read minds anyway? I have never heard of a dragon doing that." Spike commented, hoping to throw her off her current course.
"Secret!" She exclaimed happily as she licked along his jawline.
"Ahh, fine! I'll bite, what did you see in my mind?" Spike said urgently pulling his head back now that her hand was no longer holding it.
"I saw a dragon who cared for more than fighting and fucking. I saw a male who could think and reason. A trait all too lacking within our kind these days... A trait I want to see in my children. If we dragons are ever going to retake our rightful place in the world, it will be with might AND wisdom. Like it was in the old days my mother told me of..." She explained with a far off dreamy look.
"Rightful place?" Spike asked face screwing up in worry as alarms went off through his mind.
"Shh, this is our first night together. We are mates now, and we should consummate our joining. Is that not how your precious ponies do things?" She asked as she began planting small kisses along his neck as she worked her way back towards his face.
"Wait, we- er, they get to know each other better first!" Spike exclaimed.
"Hmm, true enough... But I want you now..." She said in a pouty voice.
Spikes primal urges were trying to wrestle control of his actions with his reasonable mind. Every single thing she did sent chills down his spine, she was attacking his resolve in all the right places, in a way only a female that could read his mind would be able to. She knew what would work before she tried it, but Spike still held his urges in. He needed to derail her, and soon.
"What is your uh... name?" Spike asked trying not to look at her.
"Oh, how rude of me." She said with a frown, "I am Dusk."
"Dusk? That's a... pretty name..." Spike said, with a nervous smile.
"Flattery won't get you out of this, though I suppose I could delay it for a while." Dusk said planting one last kiss on Spike's lips.
Dusk's tongue invaded Spike's mouth entwining itself around his before darting back out as quickly as it had entered. Spike caught himself before his tongue followed after hers, and he swallowed hard as she pulled herself away from him. She laughed to herself at the sight of the barely contained lust.
"You will be a fun mate, I can already tell." Dusk said as she dragged Spike over to her horde.
"I thought you said you were going to delay it!" Spike exclaimed as he was pinned under the larger female.
"Don't worry so much, I am. But in return you need to keep me company still. You wanted to get to know each other better, what better way than this?" Dusk said as she nuzzled Spike.
'My my, you seem to be in a pickle.' Discord's voice echoed through Spike's mind.
"Who was that?!" Dusk shrieked as she crouched defensively over Spike and glared around the chamber.
'Can she hear me?' Discord asked in a shocked tone.
"Discord, a little help buddy?" Spike asked with a nervous chuckle.
"Where are you? He is mine!" Dusk began spitting fireballs against the cavern walls, as if hoping to land a hit on some invisible foe.
'Sorry about the intrusion, I was unaware you two love birds were having a moment. I will come back another time, I was just a little bored. Celestia is having some meeting with the Gryphon King about some Eclipse guy.' Discord said from within Spike's mind, groaning at the mention of Celestia.
"Wait what? What is she talking to Arion about?" Spike said urgently.
"Spike who is that?" Dusk asked with a frown.
'Ooh, Celestia is glaring daggers at me. Tata Spike, I will check up on you another time.' Discord said before his presence was gone from Spike's mind.
Spike's face fell, and he met Dusk's worried gaze. The black dragoness was not amused, and looked a little hurt. With a sudden look of determination Dusk stared at Spike for a moment, before a confused look replaced the worry. Dusk seemed to be doubling her efforts at something, but judging by the frustration he saw, Spike guessed she was failing to read something in his mind, though he had no idea what it could be. She read him like an open book before, but now she was struggling with something?
"Who is it that is able to block me from finding them? Why can't I find out who this Discord is from your mind?" Dusk said as she grasped Spike by both sides of his face.
"He... Is a friend of mine from the other continent. He is the Spirit of Chaos." Spike explained.
"I don't like him..." Dusk said in a quiet voice.
"Well, not like anypony can stop him. He just kinda... does what he pleases." Spike said nervously at the dragoness's anger.
"I don't want him around." Dusk said firmly.
"Wha- but why? He is harmless, I promise." Spike said, glancing at the sharp talons on either side of his face.
"Because when you don't know what another is thinking, they can cause great harm to the ones you love..." Dusk said as she slowly settled down, no longer hunched over Spike defensively.
The larger dragon then curled herself around Spike, resting her head next to his, and pulling him against her. Spike sighed in defeat as he found himself stuck in Dusk's iron grip once more. He suspected this was going to be a recurring thing until he found a way to escape.
"You won't escape, because you aren't the type of dragon that would abandon his children. Once I lay them, you will be mine..." Cooed Dusk as she fell asleep.
Sweet Dreams
"Twilight..." Eclipse said suddenly as they walked together down the city streets.
Twilight glanced at the ancient Unicorn beside her who was carrying an unconscious Heart of Ice on his back. He had already given Twilight the basics of how to use the security spell she had come to him for, but then he offered to cook her something for lunch if she was interested. Twilight was going to turn him down, but she caught a hint in the way he asked her that there was something else he wanted.
"What is it?" Twilight asked, slightly nervous at the way his eyes bore into hers.
"There was something I have been meaning to bring up, but I keep forgetting..." Eclipse said casually, while his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Oh?" Twilight asked, not sure where this was going to go.
"When you saw me using my eldritch powers, you seemed to recognize something... Can you elaborate on this for me." Eclipse's words were careful.
Twilight's eyes widened in realization of what he wanted, "Well, you kind of... Looked somewhat familiar to somepony I met in Equestria..."
"Similar how?" Eclipse asked rubbing his chin with a hoof.
"Well, he had a curved horn like yours, and smoke billowed out of his eyes as well... I assume it has something to do with the... uh..." Twilight started before catching herself.
Eclipse raised an eyebrow, "You used the scepter to see what happened between those two and I didn't you?"
Twilight rubbed a hoof into the ground, "Well, yes... But-"
"No worries. I would not have given it to you if I worried about you seeing my past. But more importantly is the implication of there being a pony who looks similar to me. Can you tell me a little about him?" Eclipse said shifting the mare on his back slightly as he trotted beside Twilight.
"Well, his name was Sombra and he used what Celestia described to me as dark magic. But I assume his dark magic is the same as your eldritch magic?" Twilight asked.
"Most likely, it is powered by emotions however. What emotions did he use?" Eclipse returned.
"Hatred and fear... And he used those powers to rule over the Crystal Empire before Celestia and Luna used the Elements to banish him into a glacier." Twilight explained.
"How sad..." Eclipse sighed.
"Well, he was pure evil. He was nothing like you, he cared only to rule over and command other ponies with an iron hoof." Twilight said defensively.
"No, I mean its sad that a being would use those emotions to power their magic. Eldritch magic is utilized the same way as the Heart family's special magic you saw me teaching Heart of Ice here. With your strongest emotions. For a pony to use hatred and fear, that would mean that it is almost all that they have known in life.
"But... Celestia was able to use that power, and I even used it a couple of times..." Twilight said with a frown.
"Well, its usable with any emotion. But only a fool would use emotions they did not often feel. The strength of ones magic matters not when using eldritch magic, it is the strength of the emotions. Can you honestly say that when you used it, your spells were near the strength of his?" Eclipse explained.
"No, they were no where near as powerful as him with it. It took almost all of my willpower to conjure a few crystals, where he made massive spires almost effortlessly..." Twilight said in thought.
"Twilight... Can you tell me where he is now?" Eclipse said after a moment of silence.
"Sombra attacked the kingdom that my brother Shining Armor and sister in law Cadence ruled over. Last I saw of him he was being blown apart by the powers of the Crystal Heart. Bits of him went flying around, I'm pretty sure he is dead..." Twilight said with an apologetic look on her face.
"He should be just like me though. He should still be alive." Eclipse said shaking his head.
"What?! Sombra is still alive! I have to warn Cadence that he could atta-" Twilight said urgently.
"Woah there, he is most likely dormant. Most likely his consciousness is in the largest chunk that is left of him. He will be like that until somepony frees him." Eclipse said putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder to calm her down.
"Oh, still though. I did not see where all the pieces flew, so aside from telling you it should be around the Crystal Empire I don't know what to tell you." Twilight said with a frown.
"Then I will have to go looking. Can I ask you for some directions though..." Eclipse said with a shrug as they arrived at his home.
As Eclipse unlocked and opened his door Twilight was trying to work out why Eclipse wanted to find Sombra. Sure they were very similar, but Sombra was perhaps the only pony Twilight knew who did things simply for the sake of being evil. As Twilight followed Eclipse into his living room and watched him set the unconscious mare on the sofa she decided to voice her concern.
"Do you want to ask him how the pony he possessed learned the spell? Or do you just feel bad for somepony from the same place as you being trapped like that?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"Neither, I do it for the same reason you helped Shining Armor defend the Crystal Empire. It is because he is my brother." Eclipse said with a sad smile.
Twilight nearly choked on her own tongue at this, and her wide eyes made it apparent to Eclipse what she wanted to ask but was not saying.
"We are all one in the Other Place, there is no sense of individuality. It is simply a swirling chaos of essence, and it is not until we are separated from our home that we get a sense of self. We learn emotions and free will for the first time. And we learn it from our hosts. Most likely the explanation for Sombra is that the pony he took control of fought against him when he first appeared before him, and the emotions he felt then were reflected upon Sombra as a whole. Perhaps in his hatred and fear he consumed the soul of his host before learning the other emotions... Like I said before, it is sad." Eclipse explained.
"So, Sombra was once a part of you?" Twilight asked, trying to wrap her mind around this.
"And I was a part of him, along with the whole of the Other Place. In a way that makes us related, and makes him my brother." Eclipse said with a shrug.
"But still, I don't think it is a good idea." Twilight said shaking her head.
"Don't worry, I will keep an eye on him. Besides, if it actually comes down to it and I am forced to act against him I can do the dirty deed to put him down. You will not have to use the Elements to banish him." Eclipse said waving a hoof dismissively.
"What will you be able to do against him that will put an end to him if he is immortal? Will you blast him with enough power to reduce him to what he is now?" Twilight inquired.
"No, if it comes down to it... I will consume his essence and we will once more become one. His consciousness will be no more, and his power will be mine." Eclipse said sadly at the thought.
Eclipse stepped through Twilight's portal, and looked around the the rolling green hills that surrounded him. Twilight sent him a ways south of the Crystal Empire, so as not to scare anypony with his arrival from the portal. Eclipse doubted his entrance went unnoticed regardless.
Glancing to the south, he saw in the distance a mountain with what appeared to be a large castle built into the side of it. Twilight had explained to him that it was Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Eclipse furrowed his brow as he gazed over the castle in the distance, and he glanced down as he felt his shadow tugging at his hooves.
"No old friend, you mustn't..." Eclipse said sadly to his shadow, which he was currently stopping from materializing on its own, something he had never done before.
"She must not know we are here, and she must especially not see you. Her memories would doom this world if she mishandled them." Eclipse said to his shadow with an apologetic look.
The shadow undulated in response to Eclipse and seemed to calm down.
"Thank you Heart of Gold, I apologize for bringing us this close to her. I know it causes you great pain to be able to sense her magic after all this time and not see her..." Eclipse said as he turned towards the north where his destination lie.
As he made his casual pace towards the Crystal Empire, Eclipse did his best to hide his own discomfort. He knew what Heart of Gold was feeling even without digging into his mind, but he had to make sure that his own discomfort was not known.
A sharp pain exploded in his chest, and Eclipse felt as if his lungs were filled with hot coals. Looking down at his chest he noticed that blood was dripping and forming a pool under him. Raising an eyebrow at the arrow that had pierced him he looked up towards where it should have come from. Standing atop a hill a figure of a pony that was silhouetted by the sun behind it turned and bolted from his sight.
"What the fuck kind of a welcome is this? Twilight said this land was peaceful!" Eclipse said angrily as he yanked the arrow out of himself with his teeth.
Eclipse winced as the bubbling black magic sealed his wound. He cursed under his breath as he made for the direction the silhouette had went. As he crested the hill he saw what appeared to be a small camp, set on the side of a cliff wall. He glanced up the sheer wall, then back down to the iron cages that the tents were posted around. Eclipse frowned in realization of what was happening.
"Strayed too close to a slaver camp then?" Eclipse said more to himself than to the other pony within him.
Ponies and griffons alike hurried among the camp, gathering up weapons and strapping on armor. They probably suspected he was some kind of magical construct that was sent to deal with them, for their unicorns were preparing what looked like a sealing ritual. Eclipse frowned and considered turning and leaving, but then a thought struck him and a wicked smile spread across his face.
"You should be proud of me for this one..." Eclipse said to his shadow as he made a slow but deliberate pace towards the slaver's camp.
A hail of arrows were blocked with a black magical shield that Eclipse snapped into place before him. While he feared not their attacks, there was no need for unwanted pain. He then answered by retrieving the arrows in his telekinetic grasp, and hurtling them towards their owners with the force of meteors. The arrows tore ruthlessly through their armor with the force behind them, inflicting damage more akin to cannon fire than arrows. The panic was evident then, and Eclipse almost felt bad for how one sided the fight was. Reaching out with his eldritch magic he snuffed out the Unicorn's power, halting the ritual they were hurriedly performing. Horrified stares met him as he marched into the middle of the camp, and smiled warmly at the cowering slaves as he set flame to the remaining slavers. Black fire engulfed and devoured the dead and dying ponies and griffons who had taken up arms against him.
Eclipse shook his head at how poor the defenses were here, and moved on to the cages. What he saw made him stop for a moment and just stare, unsure of what to do about his situation. He looked at every cage from where he stood and in each one he saw the same thing, empty cages.
"Why were so many defenders here if there was nothing to defend?" Eclipse asked his shadow with a frown.
A glint of metal caught his eye from within one of the tents and Eclipse immediately lashed out with a tendril of shadow that caught the Unicorn pony who was holding a crossbow and drug him before Eclipse. The stallion was missing an eye, and was from the looks of how well dressed he was the leader of the camp.
"Why are there no slaves here?" Eclipse asked lifting the stallion to meet his gaze.
"W-what are you?!" The stallion screamed in response and tried to struggle, finding his magic blocked by the shadowy tendril that was wrapping itself around his horn.
"Tell me what I want to know or I will drain every last vestige of magical power from you. You will never recover your magic if I drain it all..." Eclipse said narrowing his eyes.
"Please no!" The slaver pleaded.
Eclipse's frown deepened as he began to slowly draw the magic from the Unicorn. The minty green aura of the slaver's magic flowed down the shadowy tendril into Eclipse, and the stallion had the sensation of broken glass being rolled around inside of his head. With a moan the stallion nodded weakly complying with Eclipse who abruptly halted his draining of the Stallion's magic.
"Speak." Eclipse commanded.
"They haven't arrived yet..." The stallion said weakly, his energy gone along with a large portion of his magic.
"So you have a group that is yet to show up, and they will have slaves with them?" Eclipse asked for confirmation.
The stallion nodded, a short jerky motion of his neck as he fought to stay awake.
"When?" Eclipse asked shaking the stallion slightly to jolt him back awake.
"Now..." The stallion wheezed before passing out again, the migrane from losing so much magic proving too much for him.
Eclipse abruptly turned and was greeted by the sight of a few dozen ponies and about eight griffons who were pulling two caravans over the crest of a hill to the north. Eclipse could see that inside of the caravans were roped up ponies, most of them mares. The slavers stared in mute horror at him and the smoldering corpses around him. The sun was behind them, making it hard to distinguish what they looked like, but he practically smell the fear coming from them. A deep and primal part of Eclipse stirred at this, but he quickly quelled it and strode towards them. He had a plan to set into motion, and he needed to work fast.
Cadence had a grave look on her face as her chariot raced down the rarely traveled road. The group of slavers had recently terrorized the countryside, and had always been so careful and elusive. Rarely leaving a trace and only taking ponies who were so isolated that it would take a day for anypony to notice they were missing. But this time they messed up, this time they not only raided a more lively area, they raided her families personal summer home. Above all else however, they had foalnapped her granddaughter. Though her father had grown distant, Sonata meant the world to Cadence, and the Alicorn of Love would do anything to save her. And currently she was doing just that, she was in pursuit of where scouts had trailed the slavers to.
Cadence dared not think of what they would do to her granddaughter if they had her for too long. They were a mere hour behind the slavers, but a lot of damage could be done to a mare in an hour. Cadence bit back tears as she issued her orders.
"The smoke from their camp can be seen over that hill, ready yourselves, and attack immediately!" Cadence's voice was authoritative and in response her soldiers let loose a battle cry as they crested the hill ahead of Cadence.
Cadence frowned as the battle cry trailed off, and the stallions pulling her chariot halted, their bodies tense and alert at the sudden silence from the ponies who had disappeared over the top of the hill. With a frown Cadence spread her wings and took to the sky, what she saw however made her vomit.
The entire encampment was littered with corpses of ponies and griffins alike. Around two thirds of them were scorched where they had stood, statues of ash and bone. The rest, had met a far more grisly fate. It looked like an example had been made of them, because extreme brutality had been used in mangling and lacerating them. Their blood pooled around them, and their bodies were either twisted in sickening angles, or heavily dismembered. There were at the edge of the camp two caravans that were other than being spattered with blood and gore, undamaged. A single stallion with a white coat and black mane was poking his head inside of one of the covered caravans. He pulled his head out, and Cadence could see that he was a Unicorn. Seeing her and her soldiers he smiled and waved.
Cadence cautiously landed and approached him, her soldiers and guards following close behind her, all of them wary of this stallion who stood among the carnage as if he belonged there.
"Who are you?" Cadence asked, her eyes boring into the stallion.
The stallion raised an eyebrow as he looked Cadence over, his searching gaze making her shiver, "I was not aware there were three Alicorns in Equestria."
"Do not dodge my question, I am in no mood." Cadence said, her eyes narrowing at the stallion's foolish ploy. Everypony knew she was the leader of the Crystal empire, he would have to live under a rock not to know that.
"I am called Eclipse, I am but a humble traveler in search of somepony." The stallion said with a chuckle as he took a regal bow.
"Humble huh?" Cadence said raising an eyebrow and glancing at the bodies strewn around.
"grandmother, is that you?!" An excited voice called from within the caravan Eclipse had been previously looking into.
"Sonata?" Cadence called, the strange stallion forgotten.
Cadence hurried past Eclipse who was giving her an amused look, and she leapt inside of the caravan, and gasped at what she saw. There were a dozen dead ponies among her blindfolded granddaughter, they all bore slashes across their throats, upon the unarmored necks. This was the guard detachment that was with Sonata. The sight made cadence sick, and she was very glad her granddaughter was still blindfolded.
"Grandma Cadence, I don't know where the others are but when I woke up from a griffin hitting me I was all alone in here. You have to make sure the rest are safe." Sonata pleaded still in her blindfold.
Cadence only hesitated for a moment glancing once more at the corpses. "Alright, I will go check the other caravan..."
Exiting the covered cart Cadence felt a knot in her stomach as to how things could have gone so wrong. This was not the only great crime to happen recently, it was as if the peace and harmony of Equestria itself was being thwarted by something. Cadence glanced over to where one of her soldiers was struggling underneath Eclipse who was sitting on his back with a bored expression on his face. The soldier looked as if he was being nearly crushed under Eclipse's weight causing Cadence to raise an eyebrow and glance at the other soldiers and guards who were keeping their distance.
"For the record he started it." Eclipse said with a shrug.
"What did you do to him?" Cadence demanded with a scowl.
"Gravity spell, I am currently four times the weight I should be." Eclipse explained.
Cadence frowned at this and glanced over to the other caravan.
"That one is full of living ponies, all bound and gagged. Their cutie marks lead me to believe they were servants of sorts." Eclipse said ruffling the guards mane playfully.
Cadence could feel a gnawing sense of unease being around this stallion, something about him brought fear, like some memory she had forgotten. Cadence shook her head to shake off the feeling, "I want to know what a Unicorn as powerful as you is doing here, especially one I have never heard of."
"I think I deserve a little more gratitude for what I did." Eclipse said in an offended tone.
"What, murdering a hundred ponies and griffons?" Cadence asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Saving your granddaughter..." Eclipse stated in a firm voice, "Just remember that you owe me one..."
With that Eclipse vanished from reality, the air sucking into the empty spot he previously occupied causing a loud snap to fill the air. Cadence glared at the spot Eclipse had just occupied. She could not spare much time to think this over however, she needed to make sure that she got the captive ponies to safety. It was going to be a long day for her, sending so many letters to families of the deceased. Cadence allowed herself one last glance at the carnage that had befallen the slavers, and though it was easily the most horrible thing she had ever seen. She could not help but feel they deserved it for taking her granddaughter.
Discord's tail swished in annoyance as he sat before Fluttershy's grave. His first and best friend could not even visit him here in spirit form because she had traveled to that other continent with the Elements of Harmony. Discord would go to visit Twilight and Spike in person for a chance to talk to Fluttershy's spirit, were it not for the monster that also lived there. Discord had learned long ago to avoid that ancient land that predated himself. Even if he did want to risk angering the monster, there was still the whole matter of Eclipse who had until recently ruled that land with an iron hoof. Discord had only ever made one attempt to visit those lands in the past, and the ancient being in the body of a stallion had warned him that he was not welcome in those lands.
A magical pulse hit Discord like a ton of bricks, causing the spirit of chaos to nearly topple over in surprise. Something had just cast a powerful spell, and while he doubted any other creature in Equestria could sense it, he knew that kind of magic. Sombra had once used similar magic, but not to this scale. Discord blinked in wonderment at what this implied.
"Eclipse is here?!" Discord said in a surprised tone.
With a snap of his fingers Discord found himself near the area where the magical pulse originated from. He quickly took the shape of a snowflake, albeit one with tiny red eyes. As he floated across the icy fields north of the Crystal Empire, he searched for the stallion he had not seen for nearly two thousand years.
"Ah, there you are. I was wondering how long it would take you to show up..." Eclipse said as he stepped from the edge of Discords vision, the snow whipping about him.
Discord silently cursed at being found so quickly and resumed his natural form, "Might I ask what you are doing here Eclipse? I am surprised you dare come so near to Celestia and Luna."
"They are not my concern for being here." Eclipse said sternly.
"Oh? What may I ask then is your goal for coming here. It is not very nice for you to forbid my presence in your land if you are going to just waltz all over mine." Discord said in a slightly annoyed tone.
"I merely warned you that Chaos is not allowed in my land, a rule not instated by me but by the great one who dwells there." Eclipse said with a sigh.
Discord seemed to contemplate this for a moment, "But it is true that you never liked me, so why not just let it destroy me had I set foot there?"
"Because I was asked to." Eclipse shrugged.
"Who would care for the well being of me, the aspect of chaos?" Discord laughed at the audacity.
"I would." A stallion said in a voice identical to Eclipse's if slightly softer and kinder.
Discord blinked, unsure of what he was seeing when a second stallion stepped from behind Eclipse. His eyes then widened in realization, "You never consumed your host like Sombra did..."
"No, I did not." Eclipse confirmed.
"Why?" Discord said, unable to think of a quip.
"Because he taught me how to love. Instead of fearing or hating me for taking his body, he showed me kindness and love. They can change somepony, can't they?" Eclipse asked with a small smile.
Discord lowered his eyes as he thought over this, "What are you here for?"
"My brother of course, I just learned of him." Eclipse said sadly.
"Sombra! But, he is dead." Discord said with a frown.
"We beings of the other place can never be truly killed, he is hurt and weak somewhere, and I cannot let him suffer like that for all of eternity." Eclipse said shaking his head.
"I am truly sorry then..." Discord said, for once in his life with no sarcasm or joke in mind, "I do not know where he can be found."
"I did not expect you to, I am going to make Cadence show me." Eclipse said with a shrug.
"Then why summon me all the way out here?" Discord asked, eyeing both of the stallions cautiously.
"To let you know that from what Twilight told me, you may be able to visit Concordia. You have calmed down compared to your past self and reek a lot less of chaos. So long as you don't get too wound up and crazy you will be allowed to visit."
Discord perked up at this but then his eyes narrowed slightly, "What is the catch?"
Eclipse merely gave him a sad smile for a moment before finally giving him an answer.
Cadence did not know what Eclipse had spoken to her granddaughter about, but she found it better to keep the entire matter to herself and not ask the poor mare. She may be eighteen already, but she had lived a somewhat sheltered life and was still so innocent to the world. And Cadence would do anything to keep that innocence intact. In a way she thanked Eclipse for keeping Sonata blindfolded and not making her see what he had done.
"Where have I heard that before?..." Cadence said, frowning suddenly.
Cadence let out a frustrated sigh as she found herself not able to recall where she had heard that name before. Her thoughts however were interrupted as the doors to her throne room burst open and her son marched into the room. He bore a grave expression and looked like he was actually going to confront her about something, a rare occurence with her quiet son.
"Mother, is what I heard true?" Shielded Heart asked with a furious expression.
"Shielded, everything is alright." Cadence said in a soothing tone.
"I don't care that by luck things turned out for the better, I am furious that they were allowed to happen in the first place. How did a group of slavers that large even manage to form, let alone kidnap my daughter?" Shielded heart said stomping a hoof.
"Shielded, you haven't ever been so angry, what has gotten into you? I understand you are distressed that your daughter was attacked, but you should be overjoyed that she is safe." Cadence said with a frown,
"What has gotten into me?! What has gotten into you? You let auntie Celestia walk all over us and 'borrow' half of our standing guard force and three quarters of our military force. We cannot let so many of them go and not expect a crime rise." Shielded Heart huffed.
Cadence laid her ears back slightly at this, "You don't understand. Our country was founded upon using the Canterlot Royal Army to guard it for nearly three decades. We owe much to Aunt Celestia and Luna for keeping us safe for so long. The request was something I could not simply ignore."
"And what if they ask for your aid in whatever ridiculous campaign they have planned? What if they ask you to lay your life on the line for them?" Shielded Heart said narrowing his eyes.
"Then I would... I owe them everything, and I love them very much." Cadence said softly.
Shielded Heart's eyes widened at this, before he collected himself and coughed into his hoof, "If that is what you truly think is for the best... Mother." The final word was said with a slight edge to is, but the rest was as passive as the prince had ever been.
"Should I come back another time?" A voice called from the entrance of the throne room.
Cadence's head shot up from where she had just been pressing a hoof against her temple, and Shielded Heart jumped slightly at the intrusion, before turning and giving her mother a look.
"This is why we can't let our guard force get so small, a stallion was able to just waltz into the royal palace." Shielded Heart said with a frown.
"I don't know if the guards could stop him..." Cadence said sitting up slightly, her back rigid.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Shielded Heart said raising an eyebrow.
"Well, he waltzed into a slaver camp and killed all of them before we could even arrive..." Cadence said quietly as she stared at Eclipse who looked back with an expectant expression.
"I can come back later if this is a bad time." Eclipse said with a frown.
"No, we were just finishing." Cadence said shooting a glance at her son, "What is it you wanted, as you said. I owe you one..."
"Ah good, I want you to share with me a little piece of history nopony has been able to fill me in on. And from what I have heard you were there when it happened." Eclipse said with a smile as he approached the throne.
As Eclipse stopped beside the prince, Shielded Heart looked the stallion next to him over for a second before clearing his throat, "Thank you..."
"Hmm?" Eclipse said, for the first time acknowledging the prince.
"For saving my daughter." Shielded Heart explained.
"Ah, your welcome. Cute kid by the way, doesn't look that much older than mine" Eclipse said in a friendly demeanor.
"You don't look a day over thirty though..." Cadence said with a frown.
"Thank you, anyways I wanted to inquire about the time when you liberated this empire from its previous ruler." Eclipse said with a smile.
Cadence and Shielded Heart shared a glance before the princess spoke up, "Why would you want to know about that?"
"Call me a fan of history." Eclipse lied, "Besides, us magey types always love old and obscure history."
Cadence knew the last bit was a joke, but if she didn't know better she would have sworn it was a jab at Twilight.
"Well, I would be happy to fill you in if that is all you want to know, but first can you answer me a small question?" Cadence said quirking an eyebrow as she stared under Eclipse's hooves.
"Oh?" Eclipse questioned.
"Where is your shadow?" Cadence said pointing a hoof under Eclipse.
Eclipse cocked his head slightly at this and looked under him. Immediately he swore as he realized what that meant. Eclipse glanced in the direction of Canterlot and a scowl adorned his face, "It means I let my guard down..."
Cadence eyed Eclipse suspiciously, but began to fill him in on the history of the Crystal Empire.
Celestia stirred in her sleep, the fitful nightmares she was prone to have haunting her like usual. Guards new to the force were always panicked when they could hear their princess struggling in her sleep, but the veterans knew that it was only nightmares, and not some threat that Celestia was wracked with. Tonight however, something did stir in the Alicorn of the Sun's personal chambers.
A shadow crept across the walls, surveying its surroundings before sweeping across the floor towards the bed. As it drew nearer, it solidified until Heart of Gold silently approached his wife. He crawled into bed beside Celestia, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Celestia immediately stopped struggling in her sleep, and nestled down into her covers. Her nightmares were no more, and Heart of Gold fed directly into her mind soothing dreams.
"I have not seen you in so long my love. My only regret now is that you cannot see me." Heart of Gold said as he nuzzled Celestia.
Heart of Gold crawled off the top of the bed and soundlessly crept across the floor on his shadowy hooves. He trotted over to where a large mirror sat, and many pictures were stuck along the sides. He saw many pictures of Celestia smiling with different ponies, most of them being Twilight or Luna. In truth Heart of Gold was amazed that Celestia had managed to successfully create a nation like this. Though he suspected a fresh start was all that was needed to break the cycle of hatred that plagued his homeland.
Heart of Gold glanced back at his slumbering wife, and smiled as he whispered, "You have made a good life for yourself here..."
This made Celestia the oldest living Alicorn, and Luna the second. Previous Alicorns had always fallen as a toll of war, or revolution. They usually only lasted a few hundred years, before a replacement had to be made to lead the ponies. Eclipse had ended that cycle however, and Heart of Gold now seeing the results of that thanked him for doing so.
The door to Celestia's chamber burst open as Luna charged in and her eyes darted around every corner of the room. Luna usually did her best to lessen the burdens of her sisters dreams, but she had not even gotten the chance to stop her sister from dreaming at all before another had actually managed to give her pleasant dreams despite the curse. Luna knew of only one pony who could do this, but she did not know why he would. Questions flew through her mind as she slowly approached her sister's sleeping form. Why would he lessen her suffering now? Did he want to make peace? Or was he taunting her?
"You really are out of it Tia... Normally if I were to rush in here like this you would have been on your hooves in an instant, alert and ready to attack thanks to your night terrors." Luna said shaking her head.
A shadow moved, causing Luna to jump as she caught the dark form of something creeping out the balcony window. Luna hurried over to where it had left, and scanned the skies and ground. What she did not see however, was the shadow that moved into her own, and through that departed.
"Wait wait wait, let me get this straight. You blew Sombra into a hundred directions with this... Crystal Heart?" Eclipse asked, confused about what he had just been told.
"Yes, the Crystal Heart harnesses the power of love. Sombra was weak to it because of his evil nature and was ultimately destroyed by its power." Cadence explained.
"Where did you keep the pieces of him?" Eclipse asked with a frown.
"I... Beg your pardon?" Cadence said, taken back slightly.
"Well, you couldn't just let pieces of him litter the streets. What did you do with his corpse?" Eclipse pressed on.
"Well, I originally planned on just burying them. But Celestia told me Sombra could come back again if he ever managed to rally his powers. So we sealed his remains away in the one place they could never escape from." Cadence said with pride.
Eclipse waited for Cadence to go on for a moment, an expectant look on his face, "Well, where did you put him? You have me hooked into the story, don't tease me now."
"I... Honestly don't feel comfortable sharing that with you..." Cadence said with a frown.
"Aw, come on. What am I going to do?" Eclipse said with an innocent smile.
A shadow darted out from within Cadence's and attached itself underneath Eclipse. The immortal blinked a few times, taken by surprise that his shadow had returned so quickly, along with the fact of where it came from. Cadence held a stunned expression of having a shadow leave hers and join with the pony before her. Slowly Cadence's eyes narrowed as she suspected foul play was at hoof.
Eclipse suddenly widened his eyes in realization before covering his face with a hoof, "Sombra is near the Crystal Heart. Isn't he?"
Cadence frowned as she felt her suspicions were confirmed that her mind had been read for the answer by Eclipse's shadow, "Guards!"
Eclipse turned to see several Dozen guards burst into the throne room. They quickly surrounded him, and leveled spears and horns in his direction. Eclipse raised an eyebrow as he looked over every guard, and finally settling his eyes back on Cadence.
"I thought your son said something about you being low on guards." Eclipse said with a frown.
"Yes, well I had him gather some more here from around the city after you arrived." Cadence said standing from her throne and spreading her wings menacingly.
"That is not very nice. Do you do this for every pony that asks about the history here?" Eclipse asked in a mock hurt tone.
"No, just for the ones powerful enough to threaten the peace of the country." Cadence said, her horn glowing with her magic as she charged a spell.
Eclipse sighed as he extended his eldritch magic, blocking the power of Cadence and the Unicorns among the guard. Horrified expressions adorned them as they realized their magic had failed them. Eclipse then cast a gravity spell, causing them to collapse to the floor under their own weight. Shaking his head at the display Eclipse readied his own teleportation spell.
"This is why I abolished guards. You can't trust them to do a damned thing." Eclipse said shaking his head as he winked out of existence.
Appearing before a floating crystal that issued forth an immense power, Eclipse cringed at being within the vicinity of such an artifact. Had he not an attunement to love, he might have actually just gotten himself destroyed. First order of business, remove the damned thing. Eclipse reached out with his magic, but found it only caused him to recoil from the shock of touching the Crystal Heart. Eclipse frowned at this.
"This thing may not be as powerful as the elements, but it sure as tartarus packs a punch..." Eclipse said as he tried in vain to move it with his eldritch magic now.
"Hey, Heart of Gold, lend me a hoof here." Eclipse said turning to his shadow.
"I can't manifest from there with the aura this artifact is giving off." Heart of Gold spoke from Eclipse's mouth.
"Whatever then, can you move it?" Eclipse asked.
Eclipse's horn glowed with Heart of Gold's magical aura, as the Crystal heart was torn from its position. As it left the aura it was projecting dissipated. Eclipse could still feel the power it held, a century of love from an entire nation was in there no doubt. Eclipse then turned his attention to the floor below where the Crystal Heart had stood. He walked up to it and began stamping a hoof around on each stone block. Within a short time he managed to find a hollow one, and with his own magic, popped the stone up revealing a red and black horn.
"That must be it..." Heart of Gold said from Eclipse's mouth.
"Yeah, took long enough. This was supposed to be an in and out thing." Eclipse said shaking his head.
"Stop! You don't know what you are doing!" Cadence yelled as she galloped towards Eclipse.
"I am freeing somepony I love very much. You should be able to sympathize with me." Eclipse said with a frown.
"How can you love that monster? How would you even know Sombra?" Cadence asked in a pleading tone.
"He may be a monster, he may need some work on his manners. But I have to love him. You have to love your family, even if they do things that you don't approve of." Eclipse explained.
Cadence's eyes went wide, she now remembered where she had heard the name Eclipse. It had not donned on her because she had put the information so far in the back of her mind since she never suspected she would ever meet him. Eclipse was the evil Unicorn king who banished Celestia and Luna from their home.
"Oh no..." Cadence said with a shocked tone.
"I will give you this promise however, I will leave now and take my brother with me. You will have my word that he will not return to this land." Eclipse said with a firm tone.
Eclipse levitated the horn over to him, and tucked it into his pocket dimension before opening a portal to Concordia. As he approached it he turned and shoved Cadence with his magic as she began to charge him.
"You don't want to go there, you have a nation to rule here. Just live your life happy knowing that the threat of Sombra is forever gone from your land." Eclipse said as he turned and went through the portal, closing it behind him.
Twilight jumped slightly as a portal cracked into existence. She had never actually been on the receiving end of one of these, and she suddenly had a lot more sympathy for all of the ponies she had done that to now. She watched as Eclipse strode through and closed the portal behind him. She studied his portal in the seconds it was there however, because it differed from her own. Not only was it smaller, but it seemed to have more control. Twilight could only anchor portals to the ground, but from what she saw she suspected Eclipse knew how to make a portal appear in the air. Possibly he could use it to drop ponies from heights.
"That Cadence really has trust issues..." Eclipse said shaking his head.
Twilight was snapped out of her thoughts by Eclipse's words, "You met Cadence?"
"Yeah, I saved her granddaughter, and then when I asked her to tell me the history of the Crystal Empire and where Sombra was she called the guards on me." Eclipse said with a frown.
"Well, she has had a bad history with shapeshifters. I would understand if she did not trust somepony as powerful as you showing up out of nowhere. Did you do anything do demonstrate your powers beforehoof?" Twilight asked.
Eclipse's face went blank for a moment before he let out a small chuckle, "Right, almost forgot about that. Never mind."
"So what do you plan on doing with Sombra now?" Twilight asked, changing the subject.
"Well, I am going to need to lay down some ground rules with him. This may take a little time and space however. I am going to take him into the wilderness to the east, and deal with him where we can... Discuss things." Eclipse said with a shrug.
Twilight frowned at Eclipse, "You are going to fight him to make him submit to you, aren't you?"
"The process to rehabilitating a family member is sure to be long and full of danger. But I have the utmost certainty that I will succeed." Eclipse said with a determined smile.
Twilight let out a sigh, "Hey, just make sure nopony gets injured. I am going to be very unhappy if I get reports of two immortal monsters causing havoc around a town somewhere."
"I promise, by the way. how is Heart of Ice doing?" Eclipse asked expectantly.
"She awoke and went home to have her wounds treated there about three hours ago." Twilight said with a shrug.
"Good, by the way don't let her give you any lip. You have my permission to punish her for her insolence." Eclipse said as he began channeling his magic to make another portal.
"You seem really excited..." Twilight commented.
"Of course I am. This is the first time I get to meet my brother. Would you not be giddy about meeting yours?" Eclipse said as he opened and left through a portal, not waiting for a response.
Twilight sat there for a moment, thinking about what Eclipse had said to her. She had not thought much about Shining Armor after he died. She really did not want to think about him before, rather she was content to let that wound scab over and fade. But now that she thought about it, she realized that there were a lot of things she had yet to learn. She had almost let herself forget about her brother, in fear of the pain it had caused her to lose him. Losing the girls had been tough, but they at least were still with her in spirit. Shining Armor however, who was her B.B.B.F.F. was gone forever from her life. Twilight then reflected on how she had changed since meeting with Eclipse. She thought of things in ways she had not before. She now realized that she had been thinking of ways he could weaponize his portals. But there was something else as well. Watching Eclipse strive to achieve more love in his life stirred something in her. Was it... Envy?
Twilight frowned as she shifted uncomfortable on the sofa where she sat at that thought. She realized that she had never taken the time to find a special somepony, and while she always had many friends to keep her going, and many of them she loved a lot. Twilight found she knew very little in regards to love. If only Cadence were here, nopony knew more about love than she did.
"Well, nopony except for maybe Heart of Gold..." Twilight mused as she shook her head.
"You called?" A voice asked from the kitchen.
Twilight froze. She turned her head to look at the door that lead to where she could now hear the sounds of cooking. She got up and moved towards the kitchen, when she saw Heart of Gold cooking a meal. a pan sizzled, and he was chopping up vegetables to throw into it as he looked back at her.
"What... But Eclipse just..." Twilight said wide eyed.
"I am letting him have some time alone with Sombra. It is important to do things on your own when it comes to family issues." Heart of Gold said with a smile, "Besides Shadow had planned on coming over for dinner tonight. You are welcome to join too if you would like."
"You can be this far from him with the doppelganger spell?" Twilight asked in wonderment.
"I consumes a lot of magic, and weakens our magic immensely." Heart of Gold explained.
"Is Eclipse going to be alright then?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"Believe it or not, Eclipse actually uses little to no magic at all on his spells when he fights. It is really quite ingenious really." Heart of Gold chuckled.
"How is that possible?" Twilight was intrigued by the concept.
"He has spent thousands of years perfecting and studying how magic effects things. Where I always used to throw around my raw power, he uses a control I could never achieve to do things. Eclipse once killed a dragon by using a levitation spell to pop a blood vessel in its brain. The amount of power needed to do it was minuscule, but the focus required was amazing." The stallion went on as he turned back to cooking.
"How is that even possible? Nopony should have the ability to use that fine of a control. There are too many things you need to concentrate on!" Twilight exclaimed.
"There's the thing, Eclipse is not just a single pony. He was enough essence from the other place to fill two Alicorns." Heart of Gold explained.
"Wait, so... He has enough capacity to think as if two ponies were one?" Twilight asked, stunned.
"Actually, I am not one hundred percent on how the rules apply, but Eclipse has a three track mind." Heart of Gold said over his shoulder as he set the vegetables in the pan to fry as he poured some more oil over them.
"So... He can think of three different things at once?" Twilight wondered out loud.
"Mhmm." Heart of Gold nodded as he stirred the vegetables to make sure they cooked evenly.
"What would happen if he has to consume Sombra's essence?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"He would achieve not only more power, but another track to his mind. But enough of that dreary topic. I believe you had something you wanted to ask me..." Heart of Gold said with an expectant smile as he turned from the cooking and looked at Twilight.
Eclipse stepped through the portal, the horn of Sombra levitating next to him. He took in the sight of a dimly lit cavernous rock walls that surrounded him. This place would be perfect, first he just needed to make sure that nopony was around for him to accidentally include in the little scuffle he was about to have. You never knew when one of those Dire wolves, or their misbegotten cousins would dig out a cave like this to live in, and these walls looked like they had been semi recently dug.
Eclipse turned and saw the sight of two dragons tangled up with one another. The female was on top and was asserting her dominance. Eclipse hated how barbaric these creatures were, and wished that more of them would behave like Spike. They did not live with even a shred of love in their lives, their mating was nothing more than carnal pleasure and destruction.
"Eclipse, is that you?!" Spike called from underneath the black female dragon.
"Oh my, is that where you have been Spike?" Eclipse said raising his eyebrows.
Eclipse studied the dragons for a moment, then smiled, "Make sure you raise your children with love Spike. You could do a lot of good for the dragons as a whole if it was you who raised them. I am counting on you!"
Eclipse then teleported out to give the two lovers some room, he had not pinned Spike as being into the rough kind of love though. After he left however, Spike yelled after him.
"Damn you Eclipse! I needed your help!" The purple dragon bellowed.
"Hush now, your friend told you to raise your children Spike... He even siad he was counting on you." Dusk said with a sultry smile.
"Nooooooooooooooooooo!" Spike screamed in vain as he tried once more and failed to overpower the dragoness.
Death in the Family
Shadow stretched out on the sofa, casting her eyes around the familiar room. Her father had kept everything the same ever since she moved out of his house, insisting that she was old enough to live on her own now. She still felt nostalgic as she looked around the room, her eyes lingering on the many pictures of Eclipse and her. She smiled as her eyes settled on a certain painting. It was the first painting her father had gotten of them together. She was still just a little filly in the painting, and Eclipse wore his armor he had on when he rescued her.
The front door opened, and Shadow perked up from where she lay. Pushing herself to sit upright she smiled as she saw the pony enter the room, and her smile faltered for a moment.
"Good Evening Shadow, how are you?" Heart of Gold asked with a warm smile as he took a seat on the armchair her father usually sat in.
Shadow did not meet him very often, her father had told her that he was the pony whose body he had taken over. His first and until recently only friend. Still, the amount of times she had actually seen him emerge was in the single digits.
"Where is dad?" Shadow asked in a confused tone, they were almost never far apart when he was out.
"Not sure, he should have been done by now..." Heart of Gold said as he hummed in thought.
"Done with what?" Shadow asked, perking up slightly.
"He found another immortal, basically his brother. He was going to fight him and lay down some ground rules to start living here." Heart of Gold said as he began eyeing the kitchen.
Shadow had not heard of this before, it was an interesting thought that she could have an uncle. She mused what he would be like as Heart of Gold rose and headed for the kitchen. A smile came to Shadow's face as she wondered what it would be like to have a pony exactly like her father around. Eclipse attracted a lot of fear and hatred from the ponies around him as it was, would there be even more with two of them? It would be funny to see the shocked look on a lot of the neighbors faces when they heard how Eclipse was not a unique being.
Heart of Gold came back and sat down with a steaming cup of tea. As he took a sip he closed his eyes and smiled.
"Wait... I thought you couldn't eat or drink... What with the whole, being a shadow thing..." Shadow pointed out with a frown.
"Actually, I have a body of my own again. And it has been too long since I have tasted something..." Heart of Gold said with a content smile as he sat across from Shadow.
"Huh..." Shadow said not sure if she fully understood what he meant, "Any idea when dad will be home?"
"I do not know, but I will wait with you for him." Heart of Gold said taking another sip, "I don't think it will be too long."
Dusk sighed dreamily as she drew a talon across the tough shell of one of her eggs, caressing it tenderly as she stared into the pattern of light purple and black spots on the eggs. Five in total had been laid, and they now sat in the incubator she had made for them. She had waited many years for this, for a chance to find a suitable mate. And now, that mate was sitting across from her, on the other side of the incubator, a look of wonderment on his face. Dusk need not peer into his mind to know what was on it.
"They are beautiful, aren't they?" Dusk purred.
Spike glanced up at her, the edge of his mouth twitching slightly before he gazed back down at them and spoke, "They are the most beautiful things I have ever seen."
Dusk's grin seemed to nearly split her face in half at this, she knew she had made the right choice in Spike. He was the kind of dragon who would love his children no matter what, and in time he may even grow to love her despite what she had forced him into. She just needed to be patient, and she had already waited this long to start her family. What was waiting just a little longer?
"Spike, did you know dragons used to be the dominant race in this land?" Dusk asked suddenly.
Spike seemed to be broken from a spell as he looked away from his future children, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing actually, just that once before the ponies rose to power dragons actually had order. There were laws, we had cities, and we had a government..." Dusk said as she seemed to be somewhat lost in thought.
"What happened to all of that?" Spike asked, interested in the thought of a country being run by dragons.
"Well, back then in the time of my grandmother, Ponies lived scattered about on the western edge of the continent. They were not well organized, and they were ruled by the Unicorns. The Dire Wolves kept to themselves in the north, fearing the retribution of the dragons if they attacked. The Zebras had not yet crossed the sea to the south and we left them to their own devices. Things were peaceful, everyone respected the each other's space. But as time went on, when my mother was young, the ponies had a revolution. It was lead by a mysterious pony who seemingly sprouted out of nowhere, and rallied the two subjugated races of ponies against the Unicorns. This was Gaea, the first Alicorn." Dusk began her story, Spike enraptured by the history lesson.
"The revolution almost failed though, the Unicorns were powerful, and the Earth Ponies and Pegasi were poorly armed. But the tides of war changed when one of the royal families of Unicorns defected and joined sides with Gaea. They were the most powerful family, and with their aid Gaea led a crushing victory against the next largest Unicorn kingdom." Dusk continued.
"The Heart Family..." Spike mumbled.
"Yes, we don't know why, but they joined sides with Gaea because they thought of her as a goddess. After they overthrew their brethren, and gave away almost all of their riches to the ones they had previously suppressed, they became the religious leaders of the ponies. At the time we dragons thought little of it other than it was nice to see a change in the way the ponies regarded each other. We did not see however just how far those damned zealots were willing to go for their 'goddess'." Dusk said the last word with a disgusted look on her face.
A look of recognition dawned on Spike's face, "I think I heard something about what happened next... They attacked the dragon's capital... Didn't they?"
"They had somehow gained control of a strange magic, something that could harm us dragons like nothing else could. It only took a few dozen of them to march through our land and destroy everything we had built for ourselves. After they destroyed the capital we had only lived in for a century, the other races saw their chance to take what was once ours while we were weak. We were forced into strange and desolate lands... And over time we degraded to what we are now. Practically animals who live in caves, and horde what little wealth we can." Dusk said sweeping her arms about gesturing to her cavern.
"But... they attacked long after Gaea was dead, didn't they?" Spike asked, a look of confusion on his face.
"They did, almost a thousand years after their revolution. There had been almost a dozen Alicorns to take her place since then. I still have no clue what could have caused them to seize our land. They weren't even interested in any other city, they merely took our capital and said it was their's... I guess I'm just lucky my mother got out of there alive." Dusk said with a sigh.
"Wait, how old is your mother?" Spike asked, knowing that dragons lived a long time, but shouldn't be that long.
"She was just a little over two millennia when she laid me. And she passed shortly after." Dusk said with a frown.
"How did she manage to make it that long?" Spike asked with a frown.
Dusk was silent for a moment, before her playful grin came back to her face, "You should know by now, I am a special dragon. My mother was no different than I."
Spike huffed at this but shrugged, "Not sure what kind of answer I expected."
Dusk chuckled to herself as she crawled around the incubator, and nuzzled against Spike, "You are so cute when you are frustrated..."
Spike blushed slightly but still frowned, "Yeah, yeah. Keep the compliments coming, see if they get you anywhere."
"Perhaps they won't... But how about you go out and find us some tasty treats..." Dusk whispered into his ear with a smile.
Spike perked up at this, "You are going to let me go?"
"You will come back, eventually at least." Dusk said with a shrug.
"What about the other females?" Spike asked after a moment of hesitation.
"You have my scent on you, they will leave you alone." Dusk said stroking a finger across Spike's jawline lovingly, "Now go, say hi to your friends, but don't take too long. You wouldn't want your lovely new mate to get hungry..."
Spike glanced over to the small pile of gems at the edge of the mountain of gold, "You have enough there to last you at least a few days..."
Dusk smiled and winked at him as she blew a stream of purple flames around the eggs' incubator.
"Sounds like we are going to be able to have a bit of a bachelor's party." Discord's voice rang around the chamber as he stepped from thin air behind Spike.
"You!" Dusk exclaimed as her eyes narrowed in on Discord.
"Don't you worry about precious Spikey here, I will personally make sure he comes back on time and stays out of too much trouble." Discord said with a smile as he placed one hand over his heart and hid the other behind his back.
Dusk shot forward and grabbed the draconequis's hidden eagle talon, and pulled it into view. Discord gave a nervous smirk at his crossed fingers being revealed. Dusk looked like she was about to attack the Spirit of Chaos before Spike pushed himself between the two.
"Hey! Hey, it's alright. Discord is a friend of mine, remember? Besides, I promise I will be back." Spike said grabbing and holding Dusk's hands with his own.
Dusk frowned and looked torn as to what to do, but finally conceded after looking into Spike's sincere eyes, "Fine, but I still don't like you." Dusk said jabbing a talon at Discord's chest.
"Well that is alright, few do anyways. It takes a special kind of caring being to find any sympathy in their heart for a Spirit of Chaos like me." Discord said giving Spike a noogie.
Discord then stuck his tongue out at Dusk who immediately began seething in anger at him, "Spike, dearest... Get him out. Now."
Spike smiled apologetically at his mate, and dragged Discord out of the cavern, through the tunnel.
"Ooh, feisty one." Discord whispered with a chuckle as they progressed through the exit tunnel.
"She means well, and always thinks of the children I guess." Spike said with a shrug, "At least there's that."
Discord gave the dragon a scrutinizing look "You have no idea what she is... Do you?"
This made Spike halt in his tracks, "What do you mean?"
Discord smiled like a maniac, "Ah ah ah, spoilers..."
Spike groaned at Discord's antics as he lead him out into the light of the setting sun.
"What do you mean he is free?" Luna said sharply, causing Cadence to wince at the tone of her voice.
"Like I just told you, Sombra was taken from beneath the Crystal Heart by Eclipse." Cadence said casting a pleading glance at Celestia to get Luna to calm down.
The Alicorn of the sun was not making any movements to quell Luna's anger however. She was simply frozen in place, wide eyes staring directly at Cadence. Celestia's eyes had both fear and, was that regret? Cadence bit her lower lip as she shifted her gaze to the fuming Luna who let out a frustrated groan as she turned away and began to pace in a circle as she thought.
"If Sombra joins with Eclipse things just got a lot worse for us." Luna said with a frustrated sigh.
"Eclipse said he promised not to allow Sombra to come back here though. Perhaps it is fine that we just leave them be?" Cadence said with a hopeful look.
This snapped Celestia out of her shock, "No! We can't just leave Twilight alone over there like this. The fact that Eclipse was bold enough to intrude on Equestria shows that Twilight has no control over him. I dare say we can assume he has some sort of control over her. Tartarus! Things are worse now since Sombra is alive again, who is to say he wont kill her even if Eclipse forbids it from him."
Cadence gasped and cast her gaze down at this, even more ashamed that she had allowed Sombra to escape from what was to be his eternal prison. Cadence feared for the mare who she had once foal sat, and wouldn't know what she would do if her sister in law was killed because of her folly. Luna in the meantime perked up as a thought struck her, and a grave look adorned her face as she addressed the two other Alicorns.
"We will need to look for allies in places that we perhaps had not previously considered. With Sombra alive again, I fear what his wrath could bring if he manages to regain his full strength." Luna said, her gaze shifting between Cadence and Celestia.
"You have somepony in mind?" Celestia asked quirking a brow.
"Yes, though it pains me to ask I fear we may need their help. The price they will ask will be high, but I believe we may be able to negotiate something acceptable." Luna said with a nod.
"Go then, I will continue preparations here." Celestia said nodding back to Luna who departed from the conference room. Celestia then turned her attention back to Cadence, "I feel partially to blame for taking so many of your guards to fill our own gaps. Understand though that Luna had a special connection to somepony killed by Sombra. She is not taking the news of him being back very well..."
Cadence's ears laid back against her head as she grimaced, "Oh... I didn't know."
"It's okay... But she is right to be afraid of what will come of his resurrection. Sombra was driven to insanity by the thousand years of imprisonment in the ice we put him through. I can only imagine how he is now after a century of being imprisoned under what destroyed him." Celestia said with a shiver.
The guilty look came back to Cadence's face, "I still feel bad about torturing him like that, even if he deserved it..."
Celestia looked as if she were about to say something in response, but stopped and merely let out a sigh as she shook her head and moved to gaze out the window. Cadence in the meantime took this as her sign to let herself out and get preparations done on her end. Celestia would send a messenger for her if she was needed back here in Canterlot, but for now she needed to get back to quelling the unrest Eclipse had caused in the Crystal Empire.
As Cadence left, Celestia cast a tired eye towards the doorway the Alicorn of Love had just departed through, "It is good to see you are still so innocent Cadence..."
Three sharp knocks sounded from the entryway of the house that was previously owned by Eclipse. Shadow perked up and bolted to the front door, throwing it open with a big smile. The smile held, but the look in her eyes showed her disappointment at not seeing her adoptive father standing there. Instead it was the large Dire Wolf who had not long ago returned back north to his home. Seeing the disappointment on the young mare's face Ulf's ears laid back against his head.
"What? Did I come at a bad time?" The elderly warrior asked with an apologetic smile.
"No, sorry... I was just expecting dad to be coming home." Shadow sighed in response.
"Isn't that him right... No, that is an unfamiliar smell... Who are you?" Ulf asked with a surprised look at the stallion standing behind Shadow.
"Heart of Gold, pleased to make your acquaintance." The stallion said with a smile.
Ulf's eyebrows shot up at this, "Isn't that the name of the pony Eclipse..."
"The one and only, newly in the flesh." Heart of Gold said with a chuckle.
"Come on in, we were just waiting for dad. I suspect you have something important to tell him?" Shadow asked as she gestured for Ulf to come in.
"Yeah... Something has come up concerning Olaf that I need to make sure your father is informed of." The Dire Wolf said as he stooped down to make it into the doorway.
"Oh?" Heart of Gold asked leading the old warrior into the family room.
"Well, I won't go into too much detail before Eclipse gets here. But some evidence has come up that there is another that is pulling the strings. Olaf and his tribe have been paid to attack your northern province." Ulf said in a grave tone.
"What kind of proof do you have of this?" Heart of Gold asked raising an eyebrow.
"This..." Ulf said fetching a gold coin out of the leather pouch at his waist.
"That is... The currency that is only minted here in the capital..." Heart of Gold muttered.
"What does that mean?" Shadow asked with a small frown.
"It means young one, that this coin could not have been pillaged from the northern towns who use a different mint. If what my shaman informed me is true, then the different regions use different mints to easier tell where a pony is from." Ulf said, casting his gaze towards Heart of Gold looking for confirmation.
"You are correct..." Heart of Gold said with a nod.
"Why would we care where a pony is from?" Shadow asked, having only now heard of this.
"You have lived your entire life here in the capital so you wouldn't know Shadow, but there is always a little competition between the provinces. The province who gets to mint more coins proves that it is doing better economically than the other provinces. And if you have currency that is from a better province, you can brag to other ponies when traveling." Heart of Gold said with a shrug.
"That... seams like a terrible waste of effort, and is extremely arrogant..." Shadow said with a look of disgust.
"It is, but to each their own. The idea was brought before the council a hundred years back, and it was approved after a little bit of debating."
"While I don't understand why you ponies would bother, it has come in handy here, because this coin could not have made it so far north. Perhaps at the border between provinces, but this was at the very northern edge of your territory on one of Olaf's scouts." Ulf said with a grimace.
The conversation was interrupted by a set of knocks on the door. The house fell silent for a moment before the young mare adorned a smile on her face and approached the door with the intent of letting her father in. When the door swung open however, she was instead greeted by a lavender Alicorn, with something bundled in a white cloth on her back. Shadow frowned as she saw the tear stains on Twilight's face, and the disheveled state of her mane. She backed out of the way and let the princess stride into the house, closing the door behind her and following close as Twilight silently entered the home.
"Twilight, what's wrong? You look like you have been crying." Heart of Gold said with concern evident on his voice.
In answer, Twilight gently laid the bundled white cloth on the ground with her magic. Ulf scrutinized the size of what was inside the bundle with a sullen frown, and Heart of Gold's eyes narrowed as if he already knew what was inside. Only Shadow seemed uncertain as to what was inside the cloth, her mind could not even comprehend what she was seeing as the lavender Alicorn opened up the cloth to reveal what was inside. Shadow did the only thing that she could think of at the sight of Eclipse lying there with a serene look on his face, his smile frozen and stiff like the rest of his body.
She screamed.
It had taken nearly an hour for the young mare to stop sobbing after the initial shock of seeing her adopted father dead. The entire time Twilight tried her best not to make eye contact with the mare as Heart of Gold rubbed her back comfortingly. Ulf had almost immediately left upon seeing Eclipse's corpse, not even saying a single word to the mourning mare. There was something in his dark expression that set Twilight on edge, but for now she decided to pay her respects once Shadow could be rationally spoken to.
As the mare quieted herself down to soft sniffles Twilight couldn't help but notice that she had taken the death as hard as Twilight had that of her brother and friends. Looking back Twilight realized how childish it was for her to expect her friends to live alongside her forever, but Shadow had fully expected to be outlived by Eclipse. Twilight shook her head at the thought of Shadow outliving her immortal father.
'Funny how little that word means anymore...' Twilight thought to herself as she sighed and approached Shadow.
Twilight cleared her throat before speaking, "Shadow, I-"
"No! I don't want to hear it. Not from you... You are the reason this all happened. He would have never known about Sombra if you had never come here. If you had just left us alone father would still... He would still..." The furious look on the mare's face threatened to crack into one of despair as she choked back a sob.
"Shadow, Eclipse cared for Twilight very much as a friend." Heart of Gold interjected.
"And look where it got him!" The mare screamed.
"Shadow, please!" Twilight nearly whispered, her ears flat against her skull.
"What? What more do you want from me? Father was so wrapped up in learning friendship from you that he had little time to spend with me of late. But was that not enough for you?" Shadow asked accusingly.
"Shadow! Your father simply wanted you to spread your wings and make some friends of your own. He felt that keeping you so close to him was causing you to lead a lonely life." Heart of Gold said, putting a hoof on the young mare's shoulder and meeting her furious gaze with his calm one.
"I didn't need anypony else! We were fine on our own..." Shadow muttered the last words.
"Listen shadow, I will make sure things are set right here. I am going to find Sombra, and I will make him pay for what he has done." Twilight said reassuringly.
Twilight offered the young mare a kind smile as she looked into the tear stained eyes of Eclipse's heir. Twilight tried her best to offer support and comfort to the grieving Shadow, trying her best to remember how Cadence and Celestia had treated her when she was upset in her younger years. Nothing seemed to work however, those defiant anger filled eyes stared back with their very own firm belief that Twilight had somehow caused Eclipse's death. Twilight opened her mouth to say something else, but her words died off as she saw Heart of Gold give her a look.
"I would like to ask something about Sombra." The stallion said, a frown on his face.
"What do you need to know?" Twilight offered, glancing down at Shadow who seemed mildly interested in where this was going.
"What kind of magic does he use? I am a little perplexed at how Eclipse lost." Heart of Gold inquired.
"Well, he uses crystals to siphon the energy around him and from others to power his own magic. At least, from what I saw when I faced him over a century ago." Twilight answered.
"Hmm..." Heart of Gold looked lost in thought.
"He also harnesses hatred and fear to fuel his magics" Twilight continued.
"How was he stopped before? I remember that crystal under which he was contained. Was that it?" Heart of Gold pressed on.
"Yes, the Crystal Heart. It channels the happiness and hope of the ponies around it to protect them from evil." Twilight said, glancing down at the mare who looked to be contemplating something.
Heart of Gold let out a sigh, "Old friend, I wonder if you would have prevailed had I not been using so much of your magic to manifest myself so far away..."
Twilight's eye twitched as she felt powerful magic being channeled so close to her. She glanced down at Shadow, who was wrapping herself in darkness and melding into the shadows at her hooves. Twilight moved to stop her but found that by the time she tried, Shadow was already intangible and speeding along the floor and out of sight. Twilight stared wide eyed at the spot where the crying mare previously sat. Heart of Gold shook his head and stretched before walking in the direction of the front door.
"No point trying to follow her now, she just needs some time to blow off some steam." Heart of Gold said with a shrug.
"You sure?" Twilight asked, eyeing the last place she had seen the shadow escape to.
"Yes, she just went through a lot, give her some alone time." Heart of Gold said reassuringly.
Twilight let out a sigh as she let her head hang under the weight of the recent happenings. She mused with herself over the old saying about the weight of the crown, and a sad smile crept to her face. But quickly it was replaced with a resolute look as shook her head and locking eyes with Heart of Gold
"Should I have stopped Eclipse from rescuing Sombra?" Twilight asked, wanting to hear what the calm stallion felt about all of this.
"You should have done exactly what you thought was right at the time. You are the princess of an entire nation Twilight, do not falter in your actions because of something as trivial as doubt." The stallion said shaking his head.
"Shouldn't a leader be willing to consider everything, and even admit their own fault if they were wrong?" Twilight asked in return.
"No, that was where Celestia went wrong when she took power so long ago. She showed weakness to her enemies, and because of that was threatened. I don't mean for you to be cold hearted and callous either. Just be true to your heart and make sure not to falter off your own path. If you can live with both love and courage in your actions, you will be a wonderful ruler. Just know that it is important to have both if you want to be a benevolent monarch." Heart of Gold explained, turning to face Twilight.
"Is that how Eclipse ruled?" Twilight asked.
"No, Eclipse ruled with a different method. One that would insure that not only all of his ponies remained safe from danger, but that danger would be hesitant to arise." Heart of Gold said shaking his head.
"How did he manage that?" Twilight inquired, tilting her head slightly.
"By taking on the mantel of the tyrant. Evil will ever arise to face the forces of good. You should expect to find more plotters and villains now that you are on the throne. But Eclipse... He was the villain back in those days. He made the populace respect and fear him. And because of that, few would dare stand against him. Those who did were made an example of. Even the Zebras who hated him and feared what their prophecy said he would do, rarely ever made aggressive actions towards us."
"Oh..." Twilight mumbled as she cast her eyes down in thought.
Heart of Gold gazed around the house, a small frown on his face as his eyes lingered over the many paintings of Eclipse. Shaking his head he moved towards the stairs that lead to the second story of the house and left Twilight's view. The Princess of Magic was left standing alone for several minutes as she waited for Heart of Gold to return. While waiting she contemplated what her next move would have to be. With Sombra on the loose, the Zebras intending to invade in the south, and Olaf's clan raiding in the north she would need to find a solution to not have to fight on two fronts. Twilight also could only pray that the dragons did not get too out of hand this mating season.
The sound of hoofsteps approaching told Twilight that Heart of Gold was done with whatever he was doing upstairs. Turning to address him she couldn't help but widen her eyes at the large pile of gold bits and jewelry that Heart of Gold was levitating near him. He seemed to be scanning among them until he found one to his liking and slipped an ornate golden ring over his horn. A smile adorned his face as he then retrieved a burlap bag from a nearby drawer and stuck the rest of the golden pile inside.
"Did... You just rob Eclipse's house?" Twilight stammered.
"What? Heavens no, this is all mine. It was all kept upstairs in a safe for an emergency use. See the date on this bit?" Heart of Gold asked raising an ancient coin from the bag.
"And the jewelry?" Twilight said with an eyebrow raised.
"Precious family jewels." Heart of Gold stated simply.
"And what do you intend to do with them?" Twilight asked as she followed Heart of Gold who was making his way out of the house, locking it as he left.
"Well, I am going to need a place to stay. This house now belongs to Shadow, along with everything else that was Eclipse's. There may not be a will but by law it then goes to his next of kin, and I was merely a friend." Heart of Gold explained
"You could always stay at the castle." Twilight offered.
"I may take you up on that for now, but one cannot live their entire lives as a loaner." The stallion stated with pride.
Twilight nodded at this, and the two of them made their way towards the castle. As they trotted onto the main road and out of the back alleys however, stares were drawn to them. Ponies murmured to one another as to who the stallion was. At first Heart of Gold received hushed jeers, but soon the ponies noticed that he was not Eclipse. Confusion was the next response as the citizens tried to figure out who he was to be walking with the princess.
"We could always teleport to the castle if they are bothering you..." Twilight offered with apologetic eyes to how the ponies were reacting.
"No, it is quite alright. Let them gossip, its good for them. Life in the city can sometimes be boring, let this be their amusement for the day. Besides I would not want to have to ask you to cast the spell for both of us." The stallion replied as he smiled and waved to a few staring foals.
"What do you mean for the both of us?" Twilight asked raising an eyebrow.
"I mean that I cannot teleport myself." Heart of Gold replied simply.
"But I heard you were a prodigy in magic." Twilight said slightly too loud, drawing the attention of the few who were not already staring.
Heart of Gold gave apologetic looks to the merchants and passerby's that had looked over to see what the shout was about, "I am a prodigy in death. Nothing more."
"Wait... You don't mean..." Twilight asked with a concerned look on her face.
"My father specialized in defensive magic, and he used it to protect those he cared for. Meanwhile I was born with a cursed horn, aside from the most basic spells like levitation I can only cause harm." Heart of Gold said bitterly as he gazed at his own horn.
"About that... I had heard that you killed your father. I wanted to ask you why." Twilight asked in a hushed tone as they continued to trot down the road towards the castle.
"Hmm, that was quite a long time ago. The conflict seems to trivial now..." Heart of Gold said with a distant look.
"Patricide is a trivial thing?" Twilight asked, a look of concern on her face.
"No, murder is never trivial. The reasons are, and my reason was to stop a war. My father and the Zebra High-chief, Zulu, were bitter enemies. They would stop at nothing unless the other were to die. Thousands died because of their feud, and it had to be put to a stop." Heart of Gold explained with a sad expression.
"So why kill your father, and not Zulu?" Twilight asked with a frown.
"Because had I murdered Zulu the zebras would all see me as no different than my father and peace would have been impossible. So I killed my father, it was a duel on the place where a battle was soon to be held. And with the mighty Lion Heart's blood on my hooves, I demanded an armistice else I would kill Zulu as well." The stallion continued his story without missing a step as he made his way through the city.
"Did peace at least last?" Twilight wondered aloud.
"It did actually. It lasted until over a decade later when Eclipse came into power, but that was because the Zebras all felt their prophecy may come true." Heart of Gold explained.
"Well, here we are. Feel free to stay as long as you want, I will personally be taking my chances to learn anything more that I can from you while you remain." Twilight commented with a smile as they came upon the outer gate of the castle.
Twilight greeted the guards at the gate of the castle and informed one of them to take Heart of Gold to one of the guest rooms. The Princess of Magic sighed as she parted ways with Heart of Gold. A lot of things had come up recently, and her old problems had yet to be solved. With any luck nothing else would pop up until she could get a few things sorted out first.
"Hey Twilight." Spike commented, sticking his head out of the large doorway that lead to the ballroom.
"Hey Spike... Wait, Spike! Where have you been?" Twilight nearly yelled as she stared at her draconic friend wide eyed.
"Lover boy here has gotten himself hitched. He even already has little eggs being incubated back at home." Discord said mockingly as he pinched the dragons cheek and shook it like a grandmother would.
"Discord?!" Twilight exclaimed, never expecting to see him here.
"The one and only Twilight, and might I say it is wonderful to be in such an interesting place. Canterlot was getting to be so dull, and Celestia kept summoning me back there to keep me in her sights. But jokes on her, she can't reach me here." Discord said in a sing song voice.
Twilight's eye twitched, and a thousand and one questions popped into her head. She wanted to smack herself in the face for jinxing herself earlier. The problem of where Spike was had gotten solved, and though she was happy for him finding a mate, she was amazed that he was already a father. That was one problem down she guessed though. And with it, that multitude of problems Discord would bring was added into the mix.
"Don't give me that face, I can be of real use to you here." Discord said proudly, snapping his fingers and manifesting a suit of armor upon himself as he gave a mock salute.
"You... Want to help me? Usually we need to nag at you to get you to do something." Twilight commented warily.
"That is because Equestria can get so tiring on one such as myself, what with all the order and rules. Here though... Why, I feel a millennium younger with all the chaos that is about. And it is only going to get better!" Discord said with a giddy expression akin to a child about to receive a treat.
"What do you mean it's only going to get better? Discord, tell me what you know right now! I am not in the mood for games!" Twilight said in realization that Discord knew something she did not.
"Twilight you know better than that, just play along with his games. It will be easier that way." Spike offered with a weary expression.
"Hah! Well spoken Spike! Well, as wonderful as it was to visit, we should really be heading back to your old lady now, shouldn't we?" Discord said with a chuckle as he cast his eyes toward the large purple dragon.
"Yeah, I suppose..." Spike said as he exited the ballroom, arms laden with gems.
"Where are you going so soon?" Twilight asked with a small frown.
"Back to Dusk, I was supposed to go find food for us. I gotta get back soon or she will get mad." Spike said with a sigh.
"And everything is... fine?" Twilight inquired.
"Well... Yeah, everything is alright. It is kind of happening a little fast, but I guess its just the way dragons do things..." Spike said scratching the top of his head with his tail.
"Well, see you again then?" Twilight asked with an uncertain smile.
"Of course, I will have a little more free time once they hatch. But I really need to get back to Dusk now." Spike said in an apologetic tone as he took off into the sky, Discord in tow.
Twilight watched Spike fade into the distance for a minute, before turning back to the castle and wondering out loud to herself how she had missed the dragon's arrival. She would need to double check the ward spells she had put up around the castle to make sure she was doing them right.
"Wait... Dusk?" Twilight said with a frown as she turned her head to look at the purple speck in the distance that was Spike, "Isn't that the same as twilight?"
The Princess of Magic made a mental note to joke about that to Spike, and headed inside of the castle to consult her council about recent happenings.
A Shadow No More
"This place should do..." Eclipse mumbled as he looked around the cave system he had found his way into.
The dimly lit cavern was bare save for the once king and the floating horn of Sombra. Eclipse closed his eyes as he focused his essence, and began to funnel it into his fellow immortal. The reaction was immediate, and bubbling oily black liquid began to pour from the base of the disembodied horn, as it began to expand and take form. A head was shaped first, its eyes closed as it floated there, then the liquid began to seep down and form more and more of Sombra's body. Before it had reached much past forming his chest, Sombra's eyes shot open. Glowing green and bloodshot, They locked onto the stallion who was concentrating as he fed Sombra the power necessary to revive. Eclipse cracked an eye open, and smiled at his brother from the other place. Sombra smiled back at him, and his gaze slowly turned more menacing as he smirked.
Two black Crystals erupted from the ground on either side of Eclipse who jumped at their sudden appearance, and the once king ceased siphoning his essence into Sombra. Eclipse gave Sombra a questioning look before the crystals began to forcefully suck the essence from him. Eclipse attempted to cut off his flow of essence into Sombra, but to no avail as the flow of his life only increased as Sombra pulled on him.
"What?!" Eclipse roared, eyes wide with disbelief and rage.
"Hehehe..." Sombra chuckled as he began to form even faster than before, Growing strong off the stolen essence.
Eclipse roared as he lashed out with his magic, shattering the crystals. He bared his teeth at Sombra, who merely kept laughing as more and more crystals sprouted from the ground and began sucking away at Eclipse's exposed essence. Eclipse's body shifted, and within seconds his horn was curved and his eyes released their black smoke. His black aura enveloped his horn, and he let loose several shock blasts to shatter the crystals that surrounded him. For every crystal that was destroyed two more sprouted as Sombra gained more and more power.
"Fine then, if you are that consumed by hatred and your own madness I will show no mercy!" Eclipse screamed.
Eclipse's magical aura abruptly changed. His horn looked like it had been set aflame, his magic danced like black fire as he channeled a spell. The ground around his hooves burst into flames that devoured light instead of letting it off. The fire spread out, and destroyed all the crystals. The now fully formed sombra snarled as his legs were left charred and blackened by the attack.
"Give up, you are no match for me." Eclipse said in a warning tone.
Sombra's face seemed to darken, before a vicious grin full of pointed teeth formed on his face. Sombra's body became a mass of writhing darkness, that launched itself at Eclipse who widened his eyes. Sombra sunk his teeth into Eclipse who was writhing in vain against Sombra's shadow body. With a burst of his black flames, Eclipse fended Sombra off, forcing him to unlatch himself from Eclipse's neck.
Black blood dripped down Eclipse's neck, and Eclipse could feel himself weakening. Looking at the wound on the base of his neck, he could see that purple crystalline teeth were embedded there, and sinking their way deeper into his body.
"What kind of damned magic is this?" Eclipse said in frustration as he decided it would be better to lop off a section of his neck to make sure the crystals were gone.
Sombra readied to attack again, and Eclipse scowled as he prepared another spell. The two locked eyes, and both understood that the other had to die for them to live themselves. Eclipse let out a yell as he released his spell at Sombra who was once more diving at him.
Twilight bid Heart of Gold farewell. She had had a long talk with the ancient stallion, and felt like she should heed some of the advice he had given her. She had always been afraid of letting anypony too close to her, more so when she learned that she would outlast any lover she would find. Friendship was as far as she had ever delved into love, and in recent years she had even been hesitant to allow herself too many of those, the pain of losing her five best friends was like a festering wound on her heart. But Heart of Gold implored her to reconsider her stance on this. He claimed that it did not matter if you outlived those you loved, as long as you remembered them always.
It was with a small smile at the thought of how similar both she and Heart of Gold were. Though, he had experienced a lot more of the pain of loss than she had, and Twilight realized just how much like Celestia, Heart of Gold was. Both of them wore that calm parental look when dealing with anypony, and they had the same calm eyes. Twilight had seen Celestia show fury and hatred as well however, in times such as the changeling invasion. She wondered if Heart of Gold also could wear a fearsome look as that.
Twilight stopped in her tracks, her train of thought momentarily lost. She had been strolling through the town, feeling around with her magic for any sign of more Zebras, but something else caught her attention. There was a Unicorn of immense power in the mansion a ways down the road. The building was walled off by weathered gray stones that had been mortered together, eight feet high. Trotting near the gate Twilight noticed that there was an emblem that decorated the center of the golden barred gate. The emblem itself did not look familiar to Twilight. But beneath the depiction of a starry sky on the emblem, was the engraving of the word Caelus.
"That was Celestia's family name..." Twilight said raising an eyebrow and glancing through the bars at the mansion.
A set of eyes stared back at her, causing Twilight to jump slightly at the stallion who she had failed to notice before now.
"Anything I can do for you princess Twilight?" The stallion asked with a low sweeping bow.
From the way he spoke, and the way he held himself, Twilight knew he was a noble. Not surprising from whose house she was apparently at. The stallion who looked to be in his forties was a light blue color with a combed back pink mane. His eyes were turquoise, the same color as his magical aura that opened the gate as he motioned for Twilight to enter.
"You are here to see the Patriarch I assume?" The stallion asked with a smile as he lead Twilight towards the double doors that lead into the entryway.
"Umm... Actually I was just strolling by when I stumbled upon your home." Twilight said with a light chuckle.
"Ahh, then it is merely fate that has brought you to us. My mother may like to see you then, she is a firm believer in such things." The stallion chuckled.
Twilight gave the stallion an apologetic look as he opened the door for her, "I am not going to be interrupting anything am I? I don't want you to go out of your way just because I am the princess..."
"Nonsense, the Patriarch is done with work for the day, and mother is retired." The stallion said with a warm hearted chuckle, "I am Lumen by the way."
"Well then, I shall accept your offer to meet your mother then Lumen." Twilight said as she entered the mansion.
The interior decor was ancient in style, but well kept and most likely restored when the need arose. Twilight suspected this may have been the style that it had originally been built in. The curious thought of whether or not Celestia had lived here crossed her mind. Lumen then lead her up the flight of stairs the sat at the middle of the entryway, and wrapped along either side of the back wall as it split into the second floor. From here Twilight could better see the majestic chandelier that hung above the entryway. It was a work of both gold and silver that were formed into suns and moons. Gold and dark blue crystals decorated the piece, and represented night and day, the silver moons and blue crystals on one side, with the golden suns and golden crystals on the other half. The entire piece turned ever so slowly , and if Twilight guessed correctly, the enchantment that held the chandelier up also kept track of the time of day, and rotated it accordingly to face the double doors of the entryway.
"That is an old piece that has been in this house since the royal sisters rule." Lumen explained as he opened a door for Twilight.
"It's beautiful, I will be sure to tell Celestia and Luna about it next time I write them." Twilight said with a nod as she entered the room Lumen opened to her.
Lumen frowned as he quirked an eyebrow, but then shrugged and smiled as he followed her.
Twilight could see a Unicorn Mare with a pink coat and a light blue mane. She looked the inverse of her son, but had the same turquoise eyes. She sat, sipping a cup of tea as she used her magic to knit something. Twilight cast her gaze around the room and noticed that there were different books strewn about, over half of which were spell books. Somepony was studying something, and Twilight felt a slight pang of nostalgia as she thought of how often she left her home looking like this.
"Pardon the mess, the Patriarch has been trying to locate something." Lumen said apologetically.
"Lumen dear, who is it that you have brought in? I can't see that far without my glasses..." The mare called.
"Mother, the princess was strolling by and I invited her inside." Lumen said warmly.
The mare seemed to jump slightly from shock, as she hurriedly dug into the pocket of her bathrobe and retrieved a pair of glasses. With the spectacles on her nose, she blinked a few times as he eyes adjusted and Twilight became clearer for her.
"Your highness! what an honor for you to come here." She greated warmly.
Twilight approached the mare with a smile, and took closer note of her appearance. she looked to be in her late seventies, leading her to believe that Lumen was not the first of her children.
"Thank you, I was just strolling by when I noticed a powerful Unicorn nearby. Following that I came upon your home, and recognized the family name on the gate." Twilight said as she took a seat on a chair and accepted a cup of tea that Lumen poured for her.
"Ahh, did one of the royal sisters tell you their family name?" The mare asked.
"Actually, they have no memory of their lives here. They have been magically suppressed." Twilight explained.
"Hmm, that would explain a few things then..." The mare said with a frown, "But it is so nice to meet you. I am Stella, and I believe the Unicorn you sensed was my grandfather the patriarch. He is practicing right now in the back garden."
"Your grandfather? He must be quite old then... No offense." Twilight added in, a small blush on her face for her blunder.
"No offense taken, I know well that I am old, but more so is he." Stella laughed.
"Lumen looks like he is very well versed in magic as well however. He has extremely well controlled magic." Twilight complimented the stallion who blushed slightly at this.
"But of course, the Cealus family is host to some of the strongest Unicorns in Concordia. Only one other family can compete." Stella said with pride.
"The Heart family?" Twilight inquired.
Stella cringed slightly at this, "Yes, unfortunately they are just as promising a family as ours. But their family is currently in ruins after a small dispute for power broke out among their main branch."
"I heard that Heart of Ice is the current matriarch, despite being so young." Twilight offered as she took a sip.
"Truly an unfortunate mare she is. Killed her own parents to take the title of matriarch." Stella said shaking her head in disgust.
Twilight was slightly taken aback by this, but she was getting more and more used to things working this way in this land, "I assume then that your family chooses a different method to decide who holds authority in the family?"
"The same principal of the strong leading for us, but we decide it with tests and challenges to show your strength, not mortal kombat between family members." Stella said with a weary sigh.
"Have they always been like that?" Twilight asked, not sure if she believed that Heart of Gold became the heir to the throne in that manner.
"Actually, it all started with King Lion Heart. Heart of Gold's father. He believed that the only way to prove you were better at protecting the ponies of this land was to best the current defender. Heart of Gold killed him and then immediately ended a war we had been having. Ever since then the Heart family has followed in his hoof steps and dealt with disputes in such a manner." Stella explained.
A surge of magic swept through the mansion, causing Twilight to tense slightly. She felt as if whoever cast that spell could have easily destroyed the entire manor with a single spell with that kind of raw power.
"Oh my, he fears that he is getting rusty with his age so every now and then he pushes himself to his fullest." Stella said shaking her head.
"Mind if I go meet with him?" Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued.
"By all means, don't let me keep you your highness." The mare said waving a hoof as Twilight left, following Lumen.
Twilight took note of a few peculiar art pieces as she followed Lumen back down the stairway and towards the back of the mansion. Portraits of hundreds of ponies, most likely past patriarchs and matriarchs decorated the hallway she was being lead through now. As she drew closer to the door at the end of the hallway that she suspected lead out into the back garden, Twilight felt a chill pierce the air. It was like she was approaching a frigid tundra, and as Lumen opened the door, Twilight was greeted with the sight of crystalline flowers, and intricate crystalline arches and sculptures. The ground had a fine powdering of snow, that stood in defiance to the fact that it was towards the end of the summer season. In the middle of the massive walled garden was a swirling tempest of ice and snow, that occasionally shot out a light blue beam of magic from within that would form more crystalline structures. As Twilight drew closer to the pony who was in the middle of the tempest, she saw just how detailed the ice flowers were, seemingly perfect icy duplicates.
The tempest of ice magic suddenly halted as a surprised stallion gazed at Twilight from within.
"Twilight? What are you doing here, did something urgent happen?" Frost Horn asked in a surprised tone.
"F-Frost Horn? You are related to Celestia and Luna?" Twilight asked in a surprised tone that she had not been told by him yet.
"Well, no... I married into the family." Frost Horn said with a shrug.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Twilight asked, as she continued to gaze at the different ice sculptures.
"I don't like to brag about my family status. Besides, it's not like it was that important really." Frost Horn said with a chuckle as he drew closer to Twilight.
"Your spells were beautiful." Twilight commented as she walked beneath a crystalline archway.
"Thank you, I practice daily to make sure I do not lose my touch. I find it helps keep me spry." Frost Horn said with a chuckle.
"Sir, I shall be taking my leave then." Lumen said with a bow to his great grandfather.
"Call me grandpa please Lumen. How many times must I remind you." Frost Horn said with a frown.
"You will need to remind me more often than mother reminds me to address you as sir for me to get away with that." Lumen said with a chuckle as he left.
"Confound Stella and her sense of tradition..." Frost Horn said shaking his head with a scowl.
Twilight couldn't help but laugh at how Frost Horn now acted like a crotchety old stallion. He always seemed so full of vigor and power when he was with the other council members. But here at home, Twilight could see that he was still a very old stallion.
"You may be powerful, but please don't push yourself too far Frost Horn. There are always others who can take your place if you are risking your health to do your duties for the council." Twilight said, her voice full of concern as Frost Horn grumbled about his family.
"Nonsense, I may be as old as dirt but I still have at least another decade in me. My magic keeps me healthy, and I know a few spells to elongate ones life." Frost Horn said with pride.
"Well, as long as you don't keel over on me in the middle of a tax meeting we should be fine then." Twilight said teasingly.
"Don't tempt me." Frost Horn said, before smiling and shaking his head.
"Stella seemed to be very cross with the Heart family by the way... Is there something I should know about that?" Twilight asked as she took a more serious tone.
"No, that is simply the old feud the Caelus family has with the Heart family. My granddaughter is just as much a traditionalist as her late mother and my wife was. I fear it is something that most of the family shares in however. The only thing keeping the streets safe from our feud is my stance on keeping it non violent." Frost Horn said bitterly.
"Would it really be so violent? How much hatred could there actually be between two families over a feud so old?" Twilight inquired as she tried not to slip on the ice bridge she was on.
"You would be surprised how willing some ponies are to drawing blood when they feel like they are the best, and another claims to be better. Luckily however nopony is near my magical strength. So while my family dare not disregard my word, the Heart Family also fears me should they provoke a fight." Frost Horn explained.
"Were things like that before you married into the family?" Twilight inquired as she finally decided on sitting on a bench made of ice instead of continuing her tour of the ancient stallion's work.
"Yes, in fact my wife was arranged to marry me in hopes that I could bring about peace." Frost Horn said with a sigh, "I remember being reluctant to marry somepony I did not know, but I came to love her so much..."
"I am sorry for your loss then." Twilight said, giving her condolences.
"It is alright, we had many happy years together, and I will remember and cherish her always..." Frost Horn said sagely.
Something struck a chord with Twilight, and she tilted her head questioningly towards Frost Horn, "Did you hear that from Eclipse?"
"Yes actually, he taught me that long ago." Frost Horn said with a smile.
Twilight doubted it was Eclipse that had said that. Eclipse only recently started learning the deeper meaning of love from what Heart of Gold told her. That meant that even back then Heart of Gold used to manifest and take Eclipse's place to deal with some things. Twilight would have to remember that, because it may actually explain a few things.
"Princess... may I confide something in you?" Frost Horn asked suddenly.
Twilight was broken from her train of thoughts by the somber tone Frost Horn now had, "Sure, what is it?"
"I do not know when I will pass. With the war we are now engaged in, I daresay my life is in danger constantly. I will not abandon my post as a council member, but I would like to have you look over my family when I die. Stella is the next in line to be the leader of our family. She is very strong, but believes too firmly that our family has been cheated out of many honors by the Heart family. Please, make sure that no civil war breaks out if she decides to instigate Heart of Ice." Frost Horn said, a sad look on his face.
Twilight frowned as she thought for a second, but then smiled at the old stalloin, "I will do my best... But would it really result in a civil war?"
"The ties of our two families go further than you may think. All the unicorns either stand or will be pulled to one side from family or business obligations, and at least half the other ponies will be involved as well if the feud gets violent." Frost Horn explained, "I want you to know, if it is for the sake of peace... I want you to show no mercy to any instigators, even if they are related to me."
Twilight cast her eyes down at the thought of how hard it had to be for him to ask her to kill his family members if it meant keeping peace, "I promise I will do my best to keep the peace between my ponies."
Frost Horn stared into her eyes for a moment, "Thank you..."
Heart of Gold yawned as he watched the mare before him practice her new found power. Heart of Ice's horn seemed to be ablaze with a pale blue fire, but everything her magic touched froze on contact. She was slowly learning better how to utilize it, and was even capable of blocking and consuming magic with her icy flames.
"Hey Eclipse, have any other tips? This is impressive, but I feel like it could do so much more."
"Try making a shield or a sword, just envision the object and let the magic do the rest. The magic of your heart is different than normal magic, you don't need to pour so much focus into it."
Heart of Ice squinted as she focused, but the rippling blue flames only managed to form a billowing wall, not the tower shield she had envisioned in her mind. With an angry huff she let go of her magic and turned her attention towards the ancient stallion.
"Can I get a demonstration?" The mare asked with frustration lacing her voice.
"Sure, fire a bolt of magic at me." Heart of Gold said with a smile.
Heart of Ice gave him a scrutinizing glance before shrugging and firing a bolt of blue magic at him. Instantaneously a kite shield made of golden flames broke into existence and devoured the magic. Where a normal magical shield would have caused the icy bolt to burst upon the shield, no explosion happened as it was destroyed by the golden flames. Heart of Ice gasped at the golden shield as her eyes widened in realization.
"Heart of Gold?!" The mare exclaimed, realizing that Eclipse was not the one teaching her.
"The one and only my dear niece." Heart of Gold said with a warm tone.
"I... I had my hunches, but to know you still live within Eclipse..." The mare stammered.
"Oh? We both thought you knew. You sure did a good job acting like it." Heart of Gold said with a shrug.
"What's with the disapproving look?" Heart of Ice said defensively.
"The family magic is supposed to show your truest inner feelings, and reveal what kind of a pony you are." The ancient stallion said with a sigh.
"Your point?" Heart of Ice asked with a frown.
"My father, Lion Heart, utilized his undaunted courage. My sister utilized her righteous anger, and I use my love to power the magic." Heart of Gold said as if lecturing a child.
"Get to the point..." Heart of Ice groaned.
"You utilize contempt, a poisonous feeling." Heart of Gold explained, "I do not like seeing a family member using such a tragic emotion."
"Hmph, I thought you just said it shows our true selves. So how can you hate me fore that? According to you, it is merely who I am." The mare said with an icy tone.
"I do not hate you for it, I feel sorry for you. Because despite thousands of years separating us, you are still my family and because of that I love you. It pains me to see you use it, but I will not stop you from being who you are. I would be a hypocrite if I did." Heart of Gold said with a sigh.
"Oh... Well..." Heart of Ice mumbled.
She had never actually had a pony say that they loved her before. Not even her parents had said such a thing. Whether they knew that she was such a cold mare even when she was born, or if they were merely too stuck up in their ways to give her the attention she wanted, Heart of Ice had never heard them say it. Though she could not claim to remember if they had ever said it during her foal hood. They had definitely never said it when she was old enough to speak.
"Thank you..." Heart of Ice said quietly.
"You are welcome. I understand your parents were rough on you, but do not let their lack of love cause you to live a life without it. You are still young but you should look to marry to carry on the family." Heart of Gold said in a teasing tone.
"Wha-" Heart of Ice said in surprise that the conversation had taken such a sudden direction.
"Oh come now, you are a very competent Unicorn. In time you could be one of the most powerful Unicorns in Concordia. It would be good for the family if you had offspring just as competent to keep the family safe." Heart of Gold said as he stood up from where he was sitting and stretched his back.
Heart of Ice frowned in thought as she watched Heart of Gold stretch his limbs. She wondered if she should give him the reward now. She was basically done with learning how to use the magic, now it just came down to fine tuning it. If she kept progressing the way she had been, it would be a matter of weeks before she had all but mastered the magic. It took her only a few moments to decide however, and she lit up her horn and teleported away from the park the two were in.
Heart of Gold gave a questioning look to the spot where she once stood, but he then shrugged and decided to wait for her. She looked like she wanted to get something. Though he was more of doing Eclipse a favor right now in tutoring the mare, he felt that Eclipse's magic may be getting taxed too much with the distance the doppelganger spell was currently being utilized. From the way he felt his own magic being drained by the spell, Heart of Gold had to guess Eclipse was half way across the continent.
A flash of light and a crack in the air disrupted his musings, and Heart of Gold raised an eyebrow as Heart of Ice now stood before him, a small mahogany chest levitating in her magic.
"I feel like you deserve to have this now, despite my training not being quite complete yet. Though I know not why he seeks it so badly. He has no use to raise an army." Heart of Gold said as she floated the box over the the ancient stallion.
"You couldn't possibly mean that..." Heart of Gold started as he opened the box, but as he gazed at the ornate treasure within the box, "Oh my, you did..."
"So what does he want with that any way?" Heart of Ice asked, "Is he planning to raise an army with it and finally crush the zebras?"
"No, he only wants to make one pony with this..." Heart of Gold said softly as he raised the treasure from its box.
The Heart of Gaea was shaped like an egg, but as large as that of an ostrich. It was encased decoratively in gold, with the green magical gem sparkling between the golden designs it was encased in. Heart of Gold could not see magic as Eclipse could, but he knew that if he could he would most likely be blinded by the magical aura this artifact undoubtedly gave off. Heart of Gold half expected Heart of Ice to have been bluffing, or to have acquired a fake, but this was undoubtedly the real deal, he could feel the power coming off it.
"Why haven't you used it?" Heart of Gold asked in surprise.
"I have no need for an army. Only a coward would rely on the strength of another to win their battles." Heart of Ice said as if she had been insulted.
"Then it is good for the world as a whole that it was you who found it..." Heart of Gold said with a smile as he trotted forward and gave his niece a hug.
"Wha-Hey!" Heart of Ice said, unused to such direct displays of emotion.
"Heh, sorry. I am just too happy." Heart of Gold said as he rubbed the mares head playfully.
"So what are you two planning with that?" Heart of Ice asked as she collected herself.
"With this I will be able to live again." Heart of Gold said as he set the Heart of Gaea before him.
"What do you mean, live again?" The mare asked as she eyed him suspiciously.
"I am nothing but a soul within Eclipse who took over my body. While like this, I am merely a shadow. I can not feel, nor taste, nor smell. But with this..." Heart of Gold began.
Magical energy leapt forth, and covered the Heart of Gaea. Immediately a stallion was brought into existence in a matter of seconds. The skeleton was the first to form, then muscle, sinew, and finally flesh. The fur took only a single second to grow in, and the mane and tail formed then after. The stallion stood motionless, a mirror image of Heart of Gold, though it lacked a cutie mark at all. The ancient stallion smiled as he walked toward the newly formed stallion, and he touched his horn to the copy's horn. Immediately a cutie mark of a golden heart formed on the flank of the copy, and the shadow of Eclipse turned back into merely a shadow as it shot away. The stallion opened its eyes, and breathed in a refreshing breath.
"I am once more alive." Heart of Gold said with a smile that seemed all the brighter than it had before.
"So... you..." Heart of Ice stammered at the implications.
"I am once more able to live my own life." Heart of Gold said simply.
"This is what Eclipse wanted with the most powerful and dangerous artifact to exist?" Heart of Ice said in a deflated tone.
"The power to create life, may be a dangerous and wonderful thing. But it is not the most powerful. That title still lies in the absolute power of the Elements of Harmony." Heart of Gold said as he put the Heart of Gaea back in its box before tucking it into his own personal pocket dimension.
"So... Does this mean you will be leading the family?" Heart of Ice asked warily.
"Heavens no, I am finally free of all that dreaded politics... I am older than anypony else in the world, don't you think I deserve to retire?" Heart of Gold asked as he laughed merrily.
"What do you plan to do then?" The mare asked as she watched the stallion closely.
"I plan on helping those I love. Twilight will undoubtedly need a helping hoof with this whole war business. And you need to get the family straightened out... After all that is done and over with, I want to go see my wife..." Heart of Gold said with a sad smile at the end.
"You seem... More lively." Heart of Ice decided to say, in hopes of leading the conversation away from the state of disorder the family was in after her hostile takeover.
"I was getting burned out within Eclipse, I do not know how much longer my mind would have lasted. Mortal ponies aren't meant to live so long. But now, I feel full of life. I feel young again." Heart of Gold said as he took a deep breath and for the first time in more than a thousand of year, smelled the world around him.
Twilight sat down upon her throne, and let out a sigh. It had been a long and eventful day, and she had learned a lot of things. She smiled sadly as she thought of how in her youth she would have been able to write multiple letters on the things she had learned. She now only needed to figure out where Spike was. She had hired a few ponies to gather some information, and to do some scouting to find him, but it would take some time.
A strong surge of magic came to her senses, and Twilight quirked an eyebrow as she started to scan the city with her own magic. She found the source to be the now familiar Heart of Gold's magic. He seemed to have used a powerful artifact, nearby was Heart of Ice as well.
"I wonder what those two are up to..." Twilight said to herself as she contemplated what Heart of Ice was planning.
The mare had apparently made a deal with Eclipse, who was teaching her a very powerful magic that only the Heart family could use. While normally Twilight would highly encourage the betterment of ones self in terms of their magical ability, she had heard that mare was nothing but trouble.
"I guess I should go check on th--" Twilight began before a crack filled the air and a large mass of blood and flesh formed within her throne room and landed with a wet, sickly sound on the stone floor.
Twilight's eyes widened in horror as she took in the writhing mass of flesh before her. It was easily as large as three ponies, and its bloody, skinless flesh was covered in gnashing mouths and darting eyes. Tentacle appendages slammed upon the floor and began turning the monstrosity where it sat. As it turned, Twilight could see several dark purple crystals embedded into its flesh, the flesh around them covered in black oozing liquid. Twilight then nearly fainted as she noticed a partially formed pony face pressing its way from within the mass of flesh. It was Eclipse's face.
"Twi...Light..." The amalgamation of flesh spoke in the voice of many ponies overlapping each other.
Twilight wanted to scream, but the pained look on Eclipse's face within the monstrosity caused her to steel her nerves, "E-Eclipse? What happened to you?"
The face pushed harder, and a wet ripping sound filled the throne room as it tore partially from the rest of the flesh, "I was cocky... Sombra had such strange... Magic..."
Twilight then remembered where she had seen crystals like that before, and though she did not think it possible a moment before, she felt even more sick now, "Eclipse, where is Sombra?"
"He escaped me... He ran away... After putting these in me..." The voices spoke in unison.
"What is... Wrong with you?" Twilight asked, her concern apparent on her face.
"Dying..." Some voices sighed, while the others spoke.
"What?! How?" Twilight said, hearing something she thought she had been assured she would never hear.
"These... Crystals..." The voices wheezed, "Tear at my essence... I have lost... Ability to control form..."
Twilight then glanced back to where the crystals were embedded into Eclipse's flesh. The black ooze that was seeping into the floor and mixing with the blood there had to be what he was talking about. Twilight wanted to try to remove the crystals, but it looked like they were holding back a great flow of the ooze. Twilight then took note that any of the liquid that dripped away from him, dissolved immediately.
"I will... Scatter into the wind... Like my essence... Losing... Memories..." Eclipse's voices said in a pleading tone, "End me... While I am still... Me... While I can still... Think... Feel... Love..."
Twilight's expression was grim, "Eclipse, hold on now. Maybe we can figure somethi--"
"Let me die as a pony! " The voices roared.
Twilight sat there for a moment, as her eyes brimmed with tears, "O-okay..."
Twilight stood, and descended from her throne. She stood before the gnashing mound of mouths, eyes, and blood, and she gave it a hug. Her fur became matted with the black ooze and red blood, but she bore through it to see off her friend. A tentacle patted her on the back of the head, as Eclipse's face turned towards her, eliciting more ripping so it could do so.
"Learn... From... This..." Eclipse said solemnly, "Just Because... You love... Somepony... Doesn't mean... They wont... Hurt you..."
Twilight wiped a hoof across her eyes to clear her vision, "What about Heart of Gold? If you die won't he as well?"
The face of Eclipse smiled, "He... is... Free..."
Twilight smiled at this, and once again hugged what was now Eclipse as she readied the Elements of Harmony.
"Watch... Over... My... Little... Shadow..." Eclipse managed out.
Twilight nodded as she bit her lower lip, "Goodbye..."
"Bye..." The voices whispered as the Elements of Harmony shot out their power, destroying Eclipse's body. Twilight had never seen the elements do something like this before, it was as if they could sense that something did not belong in this world as they cleansed every last scrap of Eclipse's essence. From within the mound of flesh, the body of a pony was now visible. Eclipse smiled at her, and Twilight sobbed as a large hole opened up in his chest. The same wound that Celestia had inflicted upon Heart of Gold all those years ago.
"Thank you." Eclipse said in his own voice, a feat that could only have been done with his last scrap of magic before he collapsed upon the floor lifelessly.
Twilight scooped the cooling body up with her hooves, and held the first friend she had made in over a decade.
