Darkness of the Eclipse

by Silverstream233

Chapter 9

Twilight

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked the mysterious pony.

"Hmm, let me think." he said. "The eclipse is happening, Princess Celestia is gone, and...why isn't Luna lowering the moon?" He glanced over at Luna.

Twilight narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to respond, but Luna stepped in front her and faced him.

"If I could, I would have. Just like I would have saved my sister as wel," She stared sadly at the ground. The ponies began talking to one another.

"You mean, Princess Celestia is still stuck in Canterlot? In there?" Mrs.Cake pointed towards the black crystals surrounding the castle. Luna did not respond. Twilight glared at the mysterious pony again.

"You might as well tell us your name," She said.

"Fine, my name is Black Ember." He said, throwing away his hood to reveal and black flame as a cutie mark. He had an unicorn horn as well

"I don't know if I believe this! But why would Princess Luna run away like that?" Lyra Heartstrings stepped forward nervously. Twilight glanced expectedly at Luna, but she had turned and walked away towards the Everfree, with her head bent towards the ground.

"Didn't she always wanted to be the only princess?" Black Ember soothed.

"Do you really think we'll turn against the Princess just because of your assumptions? You're nothing, but a stranger here." Rainbow Dash said angrily, flying straight into Black Ember's face.

"If Luna ran away, Princess Celestia must have told her to, because Luna was probably capable of defeating the monster.," Applejack said confidently.

"I think we should go after the Princess. She seems really upset," Fluttershy pointed a hoof towards the Everfree forest. Twilight narrowed her eyes at Black Ember.

"Perhaps it's best if you leave if you're asking for trouble." She warned him and began running after Luna, her friends following. Luna was crouched in front of a statue of her. The Nightmare Moon statue had been replaced by a statue of her during her birthday a couple of moons ago. A small group of nocturnal animals were cuddled up around her, but there was also a mysterious rain cloud over her head

"Do I really have to bear the burden of making so many ponies suffer?" Luna said quietly, staring down at the ground.

"Luna, just because one pony doesn't support you, it doesn't mean the rest of Equestria doesn't. Black Ember is just a stranger. There's no way he can convince ponies who've been loyal to you for so long to turn their back on you." Rainbow Dash said, trying to push away the cloud.

"The only thing thing that Equestria thinks of me now, is that I did the same actions as I did when I was Nightmare Moon." She said sadly.

"Princess Celestia would have sacrificed herself, because she must have known that you were the one to stop the darkness." Rarity pointed out. Luna stood up and sighed.

"If my sister couldn't even fight off the darkness, how could I?" She began flying towards the old ruins. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash followed behind her slowly, while Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie watched Luna with worried and concerned eyes.