Onyx's Origins

by Onyx_Eclissius

Chapter 11

A full day went by before I woke up; now it was dusk. Still tired and groggy from the long journey, I arose to my hooves and started off to the staircase. Looking up I asked to myself

“Would this lead to the watchtower? I need to see what I have to work with”
I walked all the way to the top; I could see from Canterlot to Trottingham from up here! I overlooked the gardens, they need some work. Then I focused my attention to the courtyard, the area in front of the doors. There was a shadowy figure walking from the gardens into the courtyard. They stopped in the middle of the square, looked forward, and then looked up, meeting my eyes. Underneath the hooded robe, I saw them grin.
They continued to walk forward to the castle doors. They stopped and raised their hoof.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
They seemed to wait for somepony to answer. Then knocked three more times and waited. I decided to go down to the door and answer it.

“Who’s there.”

“A mutual friend…”, It was a colt.

“Name!”

“You already know me.”

“What do you want?”

“ Oooh, what a bad host. Are you going to leave me out here in the cold?”

“Fine, enter, but you will stand still once inside!”

“Thank you”
The cloaked figure entered and stood where I directed.

“Now, your name”
The colt pulled off his hood and adjusted his glasses.

“Now do you remember?”
His voice was familiar, his coat was too. The iridescent purple coat. I thought for a moment.

“Pray tell, are you Rayne?”

“Ding! Ding! Ding! Winner winner wheat and hay dinner!”, He replied sarcastically.

“Okay, now I remember you. You were the cocky little spectator at the flight exam.”

“You must’ve gotten me mixed up with some other colt, sir. I’m not cocky, just better. Can we get down to business?”

“What business?”

“I know exactly who you are, Onyx Eclissius. I know all about you and your little girlfriend.”

“What!? Not my girlfriend!”

“You treat her like she is; then again you also treat her like a failed experiment”, I gritted my teeth, “You are the unspoken child of our Maiden, Nightmare Moon.”

“Your maiden? What are you talking about?”

“You surely know of the Children of the Night?”

“Of course. I read all about them in my books.”

“Then my name should seem more familiar to you now.”

“Not really”

“I’m the leader of the Children.”

“Wait” I pondered “you mean you’re the first Child?”

“Yes”

“Okay that makes sense now, but what do you want from me?”

“We want you to bring back your Mother; to bring her back from her exile, to rule on her rightful throne.”

“Where’s the rest of your group?”

“Here, the whole time”
A few moments after he finished his sentence, two ponies walked from the shadows and four more landed from the rafters. There stood six, plus Rayne.

“I never leave home without some…protection.”

“I thought there were more?”

“Yes, there were”

“What happened?”

“Celestia locked them up”

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Let’s get them out!”

“Celestia’s guards would spot us before we got near.”

“I have an idea. Stay here for a minute, I’ll be back.”
I went to get Sapphire up. I walked into the barracks and saw her still asleep. I crept up to her bed and poked her in the face a few times and whispered.

“Sapphire. Sapphire. Sapphire!” She slowly awakened. “Hey! You awake?”

“Mhhh, yeah”

“I need your help”

“Ugh! What now?”

“I need to know if you can use your crystal things to make a suit for me and Rayne.”

“Wait, you and Rayne? Who’s Rayne?”

“Let’s just say he’s a long lost friend with mutual benefit of Celestia’s downfall”

“Okay, now how about the suit things?”

“Can you remove some crystals from your body?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you turn those crystals invisible…like a stealth suit?”

“I could try…”

“Good enough, I’ll wake you later. Go back to sleep.”

“Oh-kaay?”
I trotted back to the Entrance Hall to speak with Rayne.

“Rayne! I have one option open. I want more choices though. I’ll keep working.”

“Good, when you need me, just talk to Atlas.”

“Who’s Atlas”
Then a black unicorn with a dark grey face stepped forward. He wore a dark cloak, embroidered with tribal markings, like the ones on the colossus’s breastplate.

“Atlas at your service!”, the stallion spoke firmly.

“This is my second-in-command. I trust that he will serve you as needed. Anything you need, ask him. If you need any gear that may not particularly belong to you, we will…obtain…it for you. If you don’t need anything now, I will be leaving.”

“Nope, I’m good”

“We’ll be in touch” Rayne finished and turned to walk out of the doors “Oh, and one more thing, darkness is your friend, let it guide you”
As Rayne walked out of the castle, five others followed; Atlas stayed. Once they all left, the doors closed behind them. I turned to Atlas to ask a few questions.

“Atlas.”

“Sir?”

“How many of your…uh… team were captured?”

“Eight.”

“Eight? Did she ambush you or something?”

“No, they decided it was a good idea to go on their own to face Celestia.”

“Those foals; they couldn’t fight Celestia’s army and win!”

“They didn’t listen to Rayne”

“Would they be valuable to us?”

“That is a matter of opinion. They are rebellious and ignorant. They are easily ready and willing to fight Celestia, but will not listen to you. There is also another group that split off from us.”

“Tell me more about the exiled group”

“They are nearly the opposite. They work ‘with’ Celestia and are willing to help us with anything we need, but will not fight for us. They work on the inside for us and that’s how we get most of our information.”

“Do you think they would be able to slip us a key to the cell doors?”

“I believe so”

“Good” I remarked “I’m going to the barracks to rest for a while; go ahead and get comfortable, I’ll come get you when we’re ready. If you would, please send the message to Rayne to get the key.”

“Yes sir.”

“One more thing”

“Yes?”

“I don’t trust Rayne; do you?”

“That’s a hard question”

“How so?”

“I have to trust him”

“I don’t understand…”

“He’s my brother, I have to follow him and trust his judgment.”

“Is he your only family?

“Now”

“Can you explain?”

“When we were young, our parents were taken away from us.”

“Why?”

“We worshipped Luna over Celestia”

“Wait, Luna?”

“That’s who she was before she rose to power under her new name, Nightmare Moon”

“But Nightmare Moon is my mother…”

“Yes, we loved your mother and how she proposed to rule under the New Equestria. Sadly that dream was short-lived…until Rayne found you.”

“What, am I some sort of savior? I’m the one to take you to your sacred lands and bring your oh-faithful lord and ruler back?”

“That’s not how it is at all”, Atlas glared angrily.

“Then explain yourself and be precise.”

“We need you.”

“Why me? Why nopony else?”

“You are her true child, the unnamed child. You have the strength and power to bring her back. There are only a few others that could accomplish such a feat.”

“Name the few”

“There’s Celestia, as you know, Chrysalis, Starswirl, and you.”

“Who is Starswirl?”

“He was a great unicorn, greater than the royal sisters combined”

“Was?”

“He…well, nopony knows what really happened to him”

“He just disappeared?

“You could say that”

“Alright , then, what about this Chrysalis colt?”

“Actually Chrysalis is a female”

“Who is this…Chrysalis?”

“She is the Queen of the Changelings”

“Changelings? Like shape shifters?”

“Correct”

“Interesting, what happened to her”

“We have no information on her whereabouts”

“An extremely dangerous, adversary of Celestia, whom would be an exceptional associate, is nowhere to be found?”

“She wouldn’t be able to help us”

“Why do you say that?”

“She’s power hungry and feeds on love. If she were to disguise herself as Nightmare Moon and take your mother out of the picture, everypony would love the ruler and she would grow to be unstoppable.”

“Okay then I’m the only one left?”

“Yes”
I thought for a few moments and spoke up.

“So, you want me to bring my mother back so she may rule over Equestria as New Equestria? Fine, but I am going to rule by her side, no questions asked.”

“You may do as you wish once she is returned to her throne.”
I nodded and turned to walk off to the barracks. I saw Sapphire standing in the doorway; looking onto me as I approached.

“Go back in, we need to talk”