//------------------------------// // "He can vanish?" // Story: Rouge Flame: Legend of the Elemental Warrior // by Steel Heart //------------------------------// "Please remind me why we're going to Canterlot?" Eclipse asked from his spot under a shady tree, as he, the princesses, Twilight and Dash waited for the chariot. "Its so we can run some tests on you. You know, physical and magical, that sort of thing," Celestia dismissed. "Ah." "So Clipie, are ya gonna be flyin' in the chariot, or with me?" Dash asked with her chest , as always, puffed with pride. "I do have two arms, two legs, two wings and a heart beat. Of course I'm gonna be flyin' out of th chariot."  Dash rubbed her hooves together in glee at this. "Shame the others couldn't come eh," Eclipse said with a sigh. "Oh well, you'll get ta run some tests on me," Eclipse said over Twilights direction making her look up from her book to see Eclipse flick his eye brows at her, making her cheeks turn scarlet. This of course had Eclipse and Dash in fits of laughter, and even made the princesses giggle. Twilight just huffed and went back to reading her book.  "Hey look. The chariots here," Dash said as she pointed to a growing dot in the sky. "'Bout time too. Now if you'll excuse me I gotta get away from the fan club," and Eclipse took off and again disappeared, right before a certain green unicorn came galloping towards the group. "ECLIPSE, I KNOW YOU LOVE ME!!! I KNOW YOU DO!!! YOU CAN'T DENY IT!!!" And after that, she took off as quickly as she came. "...Whoa..." all four mares said in unison. "Fun fact: Lyra is the only pony to make him take off like that," Dash stated. "I can tell why dear," Rarity said as she walked up to the group with some clothes, and a strange pair of leather containers with thick rubber on the bottom upon her back. "Well it seems that you'll have to give these to him on my behalf. Now can you please tell him that I've made him five sets of clothes and a pair of boots." "So that's a boot?" Twilight asked as she poked one of the leather containers with a hoof. "Why yes Twilight. His father always wore those... Monstrosities everywhere he went, but I will admit. They are fairly sturdy. Well, considering he always called them WORK boots. But unlike his fathers, Eclipses don't have a steel cap." "A 'steel cap'?" "Yes, it was a piece of metal that encased the tip of the boot to prevent his toes getting crushed if he dropped something heavy on them." "Clever, very clever," Twilight said as she put the boot back with the other one next to the pile of clothes. "I'm really sorry ms Rarity, but we must be going," princess Celestia said as the chariot landed in front of them. "Oh no, that's perfectly fine your majesty. I'll be off then. Bye Twilight, bye Rainbow." Goodbyes sorted. Luggage packed. The princesses and Twilight boarded the chariot, and left Ponyville behind them as they made their way to Canterlot. ------ "Dash, I thought you said Eclipse would be following us." Dash flew up beside Twilight and shrugged, "I don't know, maybe he flew on ahead." Then something on a cloud caught Twilights attention, a small black blotch. A shadow. But whose? She looked up to try and find the owner, but saw nothing except for a blue sky. Then out of nowhere a speck formed, which got bigger, and bigger with each passing second. Then a big black bullet shot forth and flew through the small gap between the chariot and the team of pegasi pulling it, shaking the chariot and the passengers. "WHAO, WHAT THE HAY!?" Twilight shouted as she peered over the side to try and see what had just zinged by. Only to find nothing. "OI! Ya lookin' for me?" Twilight whirled around to find Eclipse calmly flying alongside the chariot as if nothing ever happened with a big, smug grin on his face. Ignoring the look on his face, she looked at how majestically he flew. Massive wings out to their full span, with his right one shadowing the chariot, he simply glided. On, and on. Barely even thinking to flap, unlike the three pegasi of the group who continuously flapped just to stay aloft. Luna then joined her to look at this rather awe inspiring feat. Then Twilight noted shading of his wings had changed from their moonlight on water illusion, to that of a starry sky. "Hey Clipie, race ya to that cloud!" Dash shouted before she zoomed off. Eclipse gracefully rolled away from the chariot, and gave an almighty flap. Luna and Twilights jaws hung from their faces as Eclipse shot away with a deafening 'FWOOMPH'. Three seconds later they heard a "Hey, no fair I wanna rematch!" from Dash. Then a "Hey I did tell ya that I've gotten quicker" from Eclipse. They were nearing Canterlot. Their chariot was descending for the runway on the edge of Canterlot Mountain, Dash went ahead and landed, then the chariot. Eclipse just kept going, before he practically turned on a pin head to face away from the mountain. Now what's he doing? Twilight thought to herself. Eclipse then tilted his wings back and got then caught in the updraft caused by the cliff face where the runway was put, which in turn gently brought him to the ground. Then they were met by the sound of somepony applauding, and up came a dark blue unicorn stallion with test tube and beaker as his cutie mark. "Chemical Analysis. How are you doing today?" Celestia asked as she stepped off the chariot. "I am doing well your majesty. Is this the specimen?" he asked as he gestured to Eclipse. "Pardon me, but I'm not a specimen. Anyhow, names Jacob but everypony else calls me Eclipse," and Eclipse put his hand out to shake. "Likewise, and I'm sorry if I offended you. It will be a pleasure putting you under the preverbal microscope. Do you mind if I..?" "Go ahead. That's why I offered it." Chemical Analysis then grabbed ahold of Eclipses hand, and began to examine it. "Hmmm... Full 360 degree movement in the wrist... Five appendages on each hand, all nimble and dexterous... The smallest and fattest, fully opposable... Knuckles (I'm guessing) skinned and bruised, most likely from---" "Ahem," Celestia interrupted causing Chemical Analysis to look up from his examination of Eclipses hand. "Oh, sorry I thought you meant I could examine it." Eclipse grabbed Analysis's hoof and gave it a shake, making him stare at Eclipses hand in fascination. "Nah it's ok. Your just doing your job." "Wow... Grip, very very strong. No doubt very powerful." "Yeah Twilight can vouch for that," Eclipse said as he thrust a thumb over his shoulder at the lavender unicorn. "How strong?" "Well.. He did crush a ruby and some sapphires in his hands," Twilight said matter of factly. "Impressive. Now standing out here won't get us any data now will it?" "No, I believe it won't will it. Lead the way," Eclipse said with a wave of his hand. "Well, if it's all good with you princess Celestia I'll be in the library." "That's perfectly fine Twilight. I will see you both at dinner." ------ 'wow, what a way to spend the afternoon', Twilight thought as she walked through the corridors of Canterlot towards the science wing, her head filled with new knowledge. She rounded the corner and walked into the lab, which she had spent most of her time when she lived in Canterlot. When she arrived, she found the scientist she had met earlier that day, with his head resting on a table asleep. And Eclipse in another room running on a treadmill, reading a book. "Uhhh. Mister Analysis?" Analysis woke with a start and quickly looked at the clock on the far wall, then Eclipse. "Sweet Celestia. He's still going?" "Excuse me? What do you mean by 'still'?" "Eclipse here has been running non-stop for almost three hours, and he's not showing any signs of exhaustion," Analysis said with awe an interest. "Really? How's that possible?" "Well, I'd say being bipedal has something to do with it. Basically he's only using two limbs for movement, which frees up his chest muscles which in turn allows him to breath better under exertion, which is actually quite efficient. And the fact he has no fur on him, which exposes his skin to the air and he has ALOT of sweat glands. Which combined with bare skin cools him a lot better, even in a hot breeze. Then again his wings could be used as a sort of heat sink. Then he has a larger stride than a quadruped like you or I, further more meaning he doesn't need to run as fast to catch his prey. He's more a creature of distance then speed, meaning he just has to run down his food rather than catch it as quickly as possible, but he is capable of incredible bursts of speed." "How did you know he eats meat?" "He told me he was an omnivore, which I tested. His diet is rather strange actually, he cooks his meat before he eats it, but then again it's probably easier for him to digest I guess". Twilight did not what to know how Chemical Analysis tested that. Then Eclipse calmly walked into the room still reading his book, before he took a seat at the table. "Jus' lettin' ya know that your treadmills buggered." Analysis just stared blankly at him. "H... H... How did you manage that? That was a top of the line treadmill, and you've just, literally, run it into the ground!" Eclipse just shrugged his shoulders, and continued reading. "Anyhow, Mister Analysis. What else is he capable of?" Twilight asked, genuinely intrigued. "Well.. He can lift almost twice his own weight. As to how I don't have the foggiest idea, but he can lift up to 1.5 metric tons if only just." Twilights jaw hung limply from her head, while her brain was working overtime to comprehend this new information. "And I (and a few guards I borrowed), found out that he can simply vanish into thin air if he wants. It was during an experiment of how well he would do in a stressful situation. Results were... Very conclusive". Analysis walked over to a monitor and beckoned Twilight over. "This is the footage of that test." --- "Ok boys, here's our task. The good doctor has asked us to harass his little specimen that he's running some tests on. So to make things clear, just piss it off as much as possible". The squad leaders instruction was met with mutters of agreement. The camera mounted on the leaders helmet turned in time with him, to come to a stop on a lone steel door. "We're ready!". The door opened and Eclipse walked out into the room. He looked about and obviously noticed the boxes strewn about the place, then the group of six guards. "Uhhh.. Doc? What is that?" "That..." Analysis said over the PA, "Is my.. 'experiment', his name is Jacob or more commonly known as Eclipse".  "He's an ugly one," said one guard. Eclipse held a blank stare, and tilted his head to one side in mock stupidity. "And from the looks of things, not very bright".  Eclipse then flicked his wrist and the lights cut out for a second before they came back to life, to reveal that Eclipse had vanished. Then there was a high pitched scream, followed by a loud thump from the rear of the group. They all whirled around to find the guard that insulted Eclipse, gone. Vanished. Except for his helm that now sat on the ground staring blankly at the group of now five gaurds. "I think I forgot to mention that he CAN understand you".  "QUICK, GET INTO A CIRCLE. EVERYPONY FACING THE OUTSIDE!!!".  This did not help, whatsoever. The lights cut out again, and there were another three muffled yelps in quick succession. The two remaing guards were now facing each other both, presumably from the second on the camera, were struck with terror. "Back to back, and keep circling," whispered the leader. Again. This did not help in any shape or form. There was a shriek of terror from the second guard, but when the leader turned around, the last he saw of his comrade was his hind quarters getting dragged behind a large box. The squad leader started to hyperventilate, and he started looking in aimless directions. And before long he was starting to babble incoherently. After a few moments of this he took off, and rounded a particularly large box near the edge of the testing room, and he ran smack into something hard, yet soft. As he started to look up a pair of long, clothed legs, an audible gulp came from the squad leader. Eventually the camera came to rest on the rather unamused face of Eclipse, with his beefy arms crossed over his chest. Eclipse then bent towards the squad leader and tapped him on the head. "Tag.. Your it".  --- Although that was a somewhat serious test, Twilight was in near agony with laughter. "Oh Celestia, you just made her guards look like idiots. You didn't hurt them though?" "Nope, just scared them into silence. A couple fainted," was Eclipses reply. Twilights laughter only increased, till she turned a darker shade of purple and started gasping for air. "Ah, Twilight, Mister Analysis. I trust the tests were successful?" asked princess Celestia, as she came into the room. "My faithful student, whats so funny?" "Eclipse... Made... Your guards... Look like... Complete and utter... Imbeciles," She managed through her laughing. "I'll admit it. I did go a teensy-weensy bit to hard on them, but it was worth it. After all, it's not everyday you make a squad of royal guards squeal like little fillies at a slumber party," Eclipse said nonchalantly, with his stout nose firmly stuck in his book. "I see. Anyway, I've come to collect you three for dinner. Rainbow Dash is waiting for you, and if I'm not mistaken she's rather impatient".