Eclipse dreamt that he was floating in a place devoid of any light or sense of direction. There was no up or down and there was nothing to see, hear, feel, smell, or taste. Eclipse didn’t know where he was but for some reason it seemed familiar, as if he had been there before. Then, without warning, there was a powerful, steely voice that broke the silence.
The voice boomed with fierce anger that seemed to emanate from everywhere “Freedom, I was so close but it was taken from me. All that remains is you, feeble, weak, and incomplete! But mark my words I will be free!”
The voice faded back and again Eclipse found himself alone in the nothingness of the cold, void like place. The voice was one of horror, something of pure evil that made Eclipse want to escape it any way possible.
He jolted awake; he was shaking and covered with sweat from the nightmare. He could feel his heart thumping in his chest and he was glad that he had not woken up before sunrise. The place in his nightmare was a horrible place where nothing existed and there was nothing but the voice. He was glad that it was only a dream and not real, even though it sure seemed real. Eclipse might not have had the best reputation in Ponyville or Equestria, but it was better than being in that other world from his nightmare.
Eclipse decided that he would try and find Twilight today and set his reputation right with the ponies of Cloudsdale and Ponyville. How would he know what Twilight even looked like though? He would need to ask somepony if he wanted to figure out, but that would be tough seeing as all the other ponies feared him. He decided to try and find a pony that lived a bit farther away from Ponyville, but close enough that they would know who Twilight was. He spread his wings and bolted out of the ruins and into the sky, he was glad to be out of the forest.
Eclipse flew around the outskirts of Ponyville until he saw a small house with a fenced off area that had a large variety of animals in it. He landed behind some bushes thinking it might be a better idea to take a look from a distance before barging in on some unexpected pony that might think he’s dangerous.
He was in luck; it looked like somepony was home. A yellow mare with pink hair came out of the house and was greeting all of the animals that presumably belonged to her. She fed the animals and went over to the birds to start singing with them. Eclipse watched the whole thing from behind the bushes and decided to wait until she went back into her house to talk to her. If he was standing in front of the door she wouldn’t be able to run away screaming and making everyone think that Eclipse was a monster…..again. Some time passed as she sung with the birds, but Eclipse didn’t mind; she had a nice voice and the music was pretty good too. Eventually she decided to go back inside and after the door had shut he decided to make his move.
What Eclipse was doing made him feel totally criminal for blocking the exit if he scared her, but he only wanted to ask some questions and he wasn’t dangerous or evil. He walked up to the door and knocked a few times.
“One minute I’ll be right there” came a voice from behind the door. The door opened a few seconds later and Eclipse was met by the yellow mare. Unfortunately, she had the same reaction as almost every other pony he had met and she cowered back with fear. “P-p-please go away” she said in a voice that was hardly audible.
“Why is everypony so scared of me?” Eclipse asked in return to her statement.
“Be-Because you come down and gobble up ponies during nightmare night unless they offer you candy” said the pony
Eclipse, having read up on the history of Equestria immediately made the connection to Nightmare Moon. “WHAT?? That’s ridiculous? You think I’m Nightmare Moon? How could you possible mistake me for nightmare moon??” said Eclipse, now slightly angry that everypony thought he was somepony he wasn’t. “How could anypony make that kind of mistake? My eye color is different, my hair doesn’t sparkle, I don’t wear jewelry, and I’m a STALLION! Not a MARE!”
The other pony was now cowering in fear even more than she was when she thought he was Nightmare Moon. Her voice almost a squeak and hardly loud enough to hear, she said “I-I-I’m so sorry, but p-please leave me alone”.
Eclipse, now no longer angry had realized that his anger had scared the pony half to death. He sighed heavily and said “Look I’m sorry I scared you, but somepony else also mistook me for Nightmare Moon and it got me into a whole mess of trouble.”
“So that means that you’re not going to eat me?” the yellow pony said, fear still evident in her voice.
“No, I’m perfectly harmless. I won’t hurt you, I promise” said eclipse. “Now do you mind if I ask for your name?
“Fluttershy” said the pony.
“Well I’m Eclipse, nice to meet you Fluttershy” he said.
Now that Fluttershy felt more certain that she wasn’t in any danger she was able to speak easier. “Oh, well nice to meet you too, but why are you here if you aren’t going to eat me?” said Fluttershy.
“Well you’ve heard that Twilight went missing right?” said Eclispe.
“Ya, its awful and I hope she comes back soon” replied Fluttershy.
“Hmm, it’s going to take a minute to explain this, is that ok?” asked Eclipse
“Sure, but maybe we should take a seat. It’s kind of odd having you standing in the doorway like that.” said Fluttershy as she walked over to a brightly painted table with some equally bright stools.
Eclipse walked over to the table and took a seat with Fluttershy.
“First of all I’m new to Equestria I woke up without any memory of my past or who I was. I don’t know where I’m from, how old I am, or anything really. I wanted to learn how to use magic, but when I went to Twilight’s house she was gone. I tried waiting for her but a colt knocked on the door and saw me. He thought I was a monster, probably Nightmare Moon, and ran off screaming that I ate Twilight and now everypony thinks im responsible for Twilight’s going missing. So last night I went to Everfree and looked for her, but I didn’t find her and had to sleep in some ruins. Today I flew over here so I could ask what Twilight looked like.” said Eclipse, out of breath from the long description.
“Oh well that sounds horrible, Twilight’s been missing for a few days though. She went into the Everfree Forest to look for some plants she needed for a spell and hasn’t come back yet. Everypony is worried but we’re all too scared to go into the Everfree Forest to search for her. We all just hope she’ll come back soon” said Fluttershy.
“Well I’ve been exiled from Ponyville so I’ve decided that I have to find her. I don’t like the Everfree Forest, but I guess I don’t have a choice” said Eclipse.
“You went into the Everfree Forest alone?” gasped Fluttershy, “Weren’t you scared?”
“What? Me, scared? Of course not!” Eclipse lied.
“Wow you must be really brave” Said Fluttershy.
“I guess I’m going back in there today if I want to find Twilight. I need to find her or I’ll have to sleep in the forest again.” said Eclipse.
“You’re welcome to spend the night here. Twilight is my friend and if you’re looking for her you’re my friend too.” said Fluttershy with a smile on her face.
“Really? Thanks! I’m glad there’s somepony who sees me as a friend. But I need to know, what does Twilight look like? I’ve never actually seen her and it’s hard to find somepony if you don’t even know what they look like.” said Eclipse.
“She’s a purple pony. She has dark purple hair with a pink and blue stripe in it. Also her cutie mark is a star with more stars around it; it’s very…magic like.” said Fluttershy.
“Alright, I’m going to fly off and look for Twilight. Hopefully I’ll find her and be back soon, wish me luck” said Eclipse as he walked to the door and flew off towards the Everfree Forest.