Eclipse gazed out into the vast expanse of the starry night sky. The moon was at its apex, earlier than normal, as usual since Starlight took control of both sun and moon. The night was calm and peaceful, the only sound coming from the gentle night breeze, which held a cold edge to it that most ponies would only find discomforting if they had been standing outside for a long time. To her, it was nothing. The cool air was relaxing, and the peacefulness comforted her.
The night was so unlike what she was used to, but it was as she remembered from centuries prior. Before she returned to the present, a time filled with peace and harmony, despite the occasional disruption, things had been getting bad. Very, very bad. The nights were long and fraught with danger, the days were short, and dark. Where the day which at present was warm, almost to an oppressive level, before it had been only a brief reprieve from the icy chill of night, but even that did little to stop the cold winds which howled across the barren wastes.
She looked down from the moon, at the planet for a thousand years. One thousand years of absolute solitude, in an environment hostile to life. A thousand years locked away, displaced from time, and away from anypony who she could have befriended. She hadn't even been in contact with Discord during that period. It was so long, so, so very long. It was most of her life, over two thirds of her life she had spent locked away. It was horrible, and she knew what Luna must have went through... But unlike Luna and Nightfall, during those thousand years, instead of becoming lost even further to her anger, it had left her.
One thousand years is a long time for anything, even an alicorn. She sat by, idly, unable to do anything except watch as the world below her shifted and changed under the winds of time. She watched as the results of her crime, her mistake, played out on the world below. She couldn't even begin to imagine how many lives she had cost, how many lives she had cut short, all because of her foolish action. Her foolish mistake, her refusal to move on.
'Celestia... I am so sorry...' Words could not express how she felt. In her absence, the world had changed. The language had changed, as it had with Luna, but unlike with Luna, she had nopony to turn to. Nopony to guide her back into society... Nopony who did not despise her, at least a little bit. Some who had grown acquainted with her knew how much she regretted, but none of them were ever her friends.
She found friendship where she least expected it, Discord. He had experienced far worse than she had... In comparison, she should have had his punishment, and him hers. Discord never injured anypony. At least not physically... their pride on the other hoof... She smiled lightly, then frowned. She had killed her... Her own mentor, in a fit of rage, one which had been brewing for centuries, perhaps from the start of her time as an alicorn.
'Where did I go wrong?' she asked herself. She knew where the mistake happened, and she knew how to fix it. But where, and when, was the cause of it. Her friends passed, and she lived on, unable to find friendship because of her crown and wings. She clenched her jaw. It was hard, it still was, but it was getting easier. Her friends... She smiled, her friends were being there for her. They may not be them, but they were still her friends. And that made her happy.
While she could look back on what happened and fall into depression, she could also see a silver lining, a bright side, her actions led her to a point where she could prevent it from happening again. That silver lining had not been there a year prior, and she had her friends to thank for it. She could not fail them. Not again, once was too much, and doing so again... If she had to witness their deaths here... She shivered, feeling a familiar cold presence in the back of her mind.
"I thought I would find you here."
Eclipse glanced to her left and watched as Nightfall strode out onto the balcony, gazing at the starry sky as she did so. Nightfall inhaled deeply, then exhaled slowly. Eclipse turned her head towards Nightfall, and looked over her. It was fascinating... At least to her, how similar they looked. Where her coat was only slightly darker than Twilight's, Nightfall's coast was a dark purple, the lack of light did not help its appearance any. Their muzzles were identical, save for color and teeth, both looking more akin to Celestia or Luna than Twilight. Eclipse's eyes were different from Nightfall's, it was easy to observe they were different, but it you spent enough time looking at their eyes, you would notice more differences than where apparent. Eclipse's eyes were soft, pained, and filled with regret, while Nightfall's cold, sharp, serpentine slit eyes were predatory. Their manes were different, in color but not style, both looking similar to Twilight's, save for length.
"So I deduce you talked to Fluttershy sometime." Nightfall stated, breaking Eclipse's thoughts.
Eclipse felt a brief flurry of hope, but it faded when she saw Nightfall's scowl. She sighed, "Yes... I did."
Nightfall nodded, "So you told her to be nice to me, is that it? Thinking it held any potential to change things?"
"Does it?" Eclipse asked genuinely.
Nightfall's scowl briefly faltered. She turned to face Eclipse, "We both know this ends in one of two ways for us, Eclipse."
Eclipse looked to her hooves, seeing Nightfall so pessimistic hurt. "Maybe... But it doesn't have to be." she stated with a nod and returned her gaze to Nightfall.
Nightfall snorted, "There is no storybook happy ending for us, Eclipse. We both know what we did. There is no point in denying what happened, nor what we did to get here."
"Why not? Don't you want that happy ending?" Eclipse asked softly.
Nightfall faltered, and hesitated several seconds before answering, "It doesn't mater..."
Eclipse looked over Nightfall's face, searching for anything to give her a clue as to what to say, "Why not?" she asked.
"Surely you have not forgot what we have done?"
Eclipse looked back to the stars, "No... I was just thinking about that before you came here..."
"You..." Nightfall snorted. "We... We took our vengeance, Eclipse. For how she wronged us, we took her life. A fitting exchange... What happened after that... Not so much."
Eclipse looked at Nightfall sharply, "We didn't even deserve the mercy of surviving the Elements' wrath. We should have died when we fought Luna."
Nightfall raised an eyebrow, "That can still be arranged, you know."
Eclipse ruffled her wings, "You would threaten me while we still need each other?"
"Consider it a... Reminder, of how things are, Eclipse." Nightfall smiled, showing her fangs. The sight unnerved Eclipse, as it had all those centuries ago when her name was Twilight Sparkle, and she faced Nightmare Moon.
"I can, and will still beat you if it comes down to that, Nightfall. I am willing to sacrifice myself to stop you." Eclipse stated.
"I have no doubts about that... But what would they think of that, knowing you could have avoided it? What would she think, Eclipse?" Nightfall smiled smugly as Eclipse winced.
"I could ask you the same." Eclipse retorted immediately after recovering.
Nightfall glared at Eclipse, "I shall refrain from putting my horn through your throat, for now." she stated bitterly. She stood up a little straighter and looked to the moon, "I am curious, though, as to how our grand battle will go. One one hoof, you're incompetent, and I'm not. On the other hoof, you're foolish enough to use that spell to gain the strength to kill me, while I'm not. And, as you have said, you are willing to die to stop me."
"If I don't stop you, you'll kill everything, even yourself. I may not know what your plan is for doing it, but I know that's what you will do."
"And so you see why this can only end with one of us alive." Nightfall smiled.
Eclipse shook her head, "Not true. If I defeat you, you will die a pointless death, and will have failed your promises." Nightfall's eyes narrowed, an action that went unseen by Eclipse. "If you win... Everypony, everything really, including yourself, dies a pointless death, and for what?"
"An end of misery." Nightfall stated softly, in a voice akin to Fluttershy's, as if the wind whispered it, yet the voice was unmistakable as Twilight's voice.
Eclipse's eyes trailed over Nightfall's face, "There would be no more joy too, Nightfall. You can't just eliminate the bad, with nothing to compare the good to, it loses its specialness."
"You will not convince me to stop." Nightfall looked up, "They are not my friends, and your attempts to use them to sway my opinion hold no edge."
"Is that what you tell yourself?" Eclipse shook her head, "Then why do you delay? We both know the spell that would give us the strength to defeat Starlight, and defeat each other. It would be so simple, yet you delay, waiting, for what?"
"I am not foolish enough to use that spell." Nightfall retorted.
"But does that matter? With it you can end everything, but you don't." Eclipse smiled.
"The same holds true for you, Eclipse. You could use that spell, and defeat Starlight. But then you would have to deal with me, and we both know how that would go. If either of us strike without the other, we would be at a disadvantage." Nightfall shook her head, "Even if you beat me when this is over, how many years do you have left? How much of your life have you sacrificed, just to get here?" she asked mockingly.
"But in truth, neither of us really know, do we?" Nightfall asked after several seconds of silence.
"Do you really want to kill them?" Eclipse asked sadly. "You say they are not your friends, that they are not the ones from before... They aren't, but yet you still hate them for abandoning us, something that wasn't their choice. If they had been given a choice, don't you think they would have chosen to stay with us?"
"We took our revenge on Celestia." Nightfall stated.
"And what did that do for us? We lost a thousand years, and doomed our own realities. If we had not done that, maybe we would have found friends again."
"Perhaps it served no purpose, but... Making her pay..."
"When exactly did our timelines diverge? Because if I'm right, you remember the feeling immediately after killing her. That brief second when we regained control, even if it was fleeting, I remember that feeling. The cold despair, realizing just how bad of a mistake I had made, knowing that whatever happened, nothing would be right, and that it could never go back to the way it was before. And remembering her pleas, during that brief second, all of her pleas to us, all of the times we shared. We threw it all away."
"Celestia was responsible for her own death. She denied our pleas, so we returned the favor in kind."
Eclipse shook her head, "What about this time? If you succeed, you will be directly responsible for killing them all. What would they say if they could see you now? At least I know they could see I was trying to fix my mistakes."
Nightfall looked down at the floor. In her heart, she knew they would not forgive her actions should she follow through with her plan. She had another chance, she knew it, but she didn't want to think of it as such. Her friends were gone, Celestia had said they would live in her heart and mind as long as she lived. The memories of them that she had, their time spent together, the adventures they went on together, the successes and the failures.
Nightfall turned around, briefly stopping to look at Eclipse, then walked back inside the castle without saying a word.
Eclipse sighed as she watched Nightfall walk back inside, then returned her gaze to the stars. There was a flash of white light from her right, and she felt a familiar chaotic presence. "A beautiful night, isn't it Discord?"
Discord stroked his goatee, "Hmm... Yes I suppose it is, isn't it." He slithered through the air and curled around Eclipse, and looked at her eyes, "So that was the infamous Nightfall... She sure is something."
"How much did you hear?" Eclipse asked curiously.
Discord smiled, "Now now, what would be the fun in just telling you?" Eclipse rolled her eyes. Discord slithered off of her and stood beside her, "The more I hear of your past, the more fascinated I find myself with you, Eclipse. I never, never would have thought it possible for you to do something like that..." he said with an awed look.
"If she kills me, would you intervene and stop her from killing everything?" Eclipse asked.
Discord leaned back and lifted his paw to his chin, "Hmm... That is a very interesting question. It might be fun to just cause her trouble..."
Eclipse spoke seriously, "Discord, if she kills me, and you don't stop her, she will kill Fluttershy. I know you don't want that. You have to stop her if I fail."
Discord stood up straight, "Hmm... Yes well, very well. If she kills you, I will try to stop her." he snapped his fingers, Eclipse blinked from the flash of white light, and stared blankly at Discord. He was wearing a white shirt, with a black tie, and had a black suit on over it, he had dark sunglasses and a curled wire sticking out of his ear. "Of course I might not let her get that far... But of course, I might not be able to stop her anyway."
Eclipse nodded solemnly, "If she does kill me, and you stop her, be there for them."
Discord bowed, "Of course." he spoke with genuineness. He rose from his bow, and snapped a talon, sending his outfit away.
"There is another problem too, Starlight Glimmer."
"Eclipse, I'm not going to take care of all your problems. It could rob you of a valuable experience, a lesson, or perhaps a chance to bond closer to your friends!" Discord spoke in mock shock. "Besides, she could prove quite fun..." he mused.
Eclipse nodded, "Fair enough..." She knew Discord, and figured he probably wouldn't pass up an opportunity to see the chaos Starlight would cause, that said, she had hoped he would help. "Oh hey uh... Question..." 'It couldn't hurt to ask... He probably can't help though.' "Do you know how I would go about... Ascending my friends?"
Discord pulled back slowly, smiling a devilish smile, "Oh hoho, Eclipse... Somepony's looking to move up in the world it seems..."
Eclipse sighed, "Discord, please..." she pleaded.
Discord sighed, "I am sorry, Eclipse. There are some things even I can't help you with, this being one of them. I am not privy to knowledge about alicorns, nor the secrets of immortality. I cannot gift it to others..." he sighed, "Immortals... The few, the powerful, the lonely..." he stroked his beard while he mused.
Eclipse nodded sadly, "I kind of figured that... After all, if you could, why wouldn't you have done it before..."
Nightfall sat on a bed in a dark room, the only light coming from the dark glow of the magic surrounding her horn. She stared at the object she held in place with her hoof. A picture. She inhaled, then exhaled, and looked away, towards the closed window. She couldn't look at the picture for any period of time, it only brought pain and anger. Each and every single one of them left her, one by one, until she was alone. She felt broiling rage growing within her as she thought about each one of them, and knowing she could take her revenge. It would be easy, she could kill them all before Eclipse could stop her. She could kill Cadance, Shining Armor, and Twilight before they even realized what was happening, and they wouldn't be able to stop her. She could kill them for... For leaving her...
The rage faded away almost immediately, realizing that killing them was contrary to what she actually wanted... Even looking away, she could still see it in her mind's eye. The graying fur and manes of her friends, how she had draped her wings over all of them, how they each smiled, even if hers was pained. It was the last picture she had of them all together. She almost felt shame for wanting to kill their versions in this reality.
She raised a hoof to her eye and wiped away a tear, and glanced back to the picture. Her eyes lingered on it for a second, then she teleported it back into her pocket dimension. They left her... But Eclipse was right for once, they wouldn't have chosen to leave her if it was up to them. And if they knew what leaving would bring... 'Killing them here... It serves no purpose, they will die when I...'
A flash of light, and she held the Elements of Harmony in her magic. She slowly looked up to the Element of Magic, and viewed it indifferently. The gem glowed with a faint pink inner light. She shifted her gaze to the Element of Kindness, which also glowed with a faint pink inner light. She looked towards the Element of Loyalty, which seemed to glow with a faint red light. Her eyes narrowed. She glanced to each of the other three gems, each glance confirming that the Elements were reacting to her presence. She shivered, knowing what the Elements were capable of, and having felt their power first hoof, both on the sending side and the receiving side.
She sighed, and stared blankly at the Element of Magic.
"And so the protege rose up against her mentor, and student surpassed teacher. The mentor's young sister felt it happen, and grieved the loss of her sister, but vowed to bring justice to the usurper. The younger sister confronted the protege with the Elements of Harmony, knowing that alone she could not restore her, but also knowing that she could banish her for one thousand years. In such time she hoped to find new bearers to wield the Elements, and restore her friend."
"The young sister successfully defeated her friend, and banished her to the moon for a thousand years, the same fate which she herself had once experienced. During those thousand years of absence, the sister mourned, and did her best to maintain harmony, but her attempts were not enough. The world slowly died, and as years turned into centuries, she realized the end was coming. The damage that had been done was too severe, even if she could find bearers for the Elements and restore her friend, it would already be too late."
"As the thousand year displacement approached its end, the sister had not found bearers, and knew she could not wield the Elements again, and that if she delayed for another thousand years, there would be nothing left to save. Steeling herself, the young sister awaited her friend's return, intending to kill her to preserve what little remained."
"The student returned, the sister and she engaged in battle, for a time it appeared either could win, but as night gave way to dawn, it was apparent that the student had the upper hoof. The sister could not hold forever, and eventually the student felled her former friend, in the same way she had her teacher."
"Out of the ashes of that battle, the student emerged victorious, but what she saw... The world was dying, and the misery of life had stolen all joy. The student searched for decades, looking for a way to take her vengeance on the ones who had left her, and a way to end the suffering everypony felt, including hers. In her travels she encountered one of her former friends..."
"In the end, the student... Convinced... Him to help her... He gave her a spell to travel back in time, and when combined with a artifact she controlled, she could enter an alternate reality, one which would have turned out nearly identical to what had happened, and end misery, and life, in one single action..."
"But it became apparent to the student that she was not alone, for an alternate version of herself, with opposite goals went there also. And as time went on, events unfolded. The student defeated her mentor and her sister once more, and took their power, intending to add it to her own. But another had differing ideas, and used their power to bolster hers. The student fought the other, and lost, she was forced to flee, and seek out her opposite. They forged an alliance to stop the other, and the student intended to fulfill her original mission after they defeated their mutual enemy, while the opposite hoped to change the student's heart."
"But you already know this, Harmony." she spat bitterly as she glared at the faintly glowing gem which had abandoned her. "Even if I wanted to change, even if I wanted to... To live... This can only end with my death, we both know this." she finished slowly, a pained expression appearing on her face as she did so. She looked to the red gem, the Element of Loyalty, "I've made my choices, and it's just a matter of time before they take their share of my blood."
"But of course you're not going to reply. You never do." she exhaled sharply, and teleported the gems away. In their wake, she called forth six pictures, one of each of her former friends, and Spike and his family.