Act I: Prologue | Prologue

A long time ago...

That's how most stories start. Well, usually start. This one, however, is different. 'How?' you might ask. Well, it’s simple. You see, a long time ago, probably six hundred and sixty-four years, two worlds never meant to be known to each other collided.

Now, before you go away yelling 'This is absolutely ridiculous! How could two worlds never meant to be known to each other could have collided?', let me tell you this: something had changed rather quickly for one of the two worlds, bits and pieces of their world's future fate slipping through the fabric of Time.

Those two worlds you might know of. The first one is Equestria, this wonderful land filled with colorful, talking ponies and other mythical and mystical creatures. However, those ponies and various other creatures were anthropomorphic, and not what you're used to.

At the time of Nightmare Moon's banishment, the veil between Equestria and the Void thinned enough to let a little of the magic of Equestria slip through. It thinned again when Twilight used the Elements to cure Luna. That time, though, the veil was thin enough to permit other universes to take a glimpse at Equestria.

The other world, well... It was Earth, but not the one you know.

That Earth had a significantly different History than the one you're from. Humans there had received great technological gifts, as well as the knowledge necessary to understand the inner workings of those gifts. So, they soon discovered that the universe they inhabited was dying and would end someday, most certainly sooner than later. Gladly for them, they had the gifts bestowed upon them, which contained technology for travelling between universe, and soon came to a general agreement: each nation was to send the same amount of men and women to a new universe, with all the technological knowledge and historical data each nation had, including the knowledge from the gifts.

The first few tries of the inter-universal bridge were far from perfect. At the same time, a new TV show began all over the world. It was called My Little Pony. After fifty years of trial and error, the scientists finallly got what had been dubbed 'The Bridge' working properly. However, the universe they had reached was inhabited by anthropomorphic versions of some of the characters of My Little Pony.

It took three years to prepare everything. The chosen humans took The Bridge and went to Equestria. They arrived a month after Tirek's defeat and were quickly accepted by the ponies and integrated into their nation, much to the other species' dismay. After some time, though, a war broke out between the ponies and several other species.

Thanks to the humans' technology and the ponies' magic, the war was won, but it left Equestria and its beautiful, green hills burnt and scorched in several places, and after the war, the humans were more and more shunned and ignored, causing them to slowly leave the cities and towns, establishing small communities in the wastelands, and adopting the name of 'Raiders'.

The Raiders, true to their given name, often raided towns and cities for food and valuables, sometimes even killing the inhabitants of those towns and cities. They consisted mostly of humans, but there were also several ponies, and seeing human/pony couples among them was not a rare sight, which explained the pony traits some, seemingly, humans bore with pride, those traits being pony ears, a tail and, when born from a pegasus parent, wings. Those pony/human hybrids, often refered to as just 'hybrids', also had magic, just like ponies, and those born from a unicorn parent were able to focus it and cast spells just like normal unicorns.

That being said, I can finally carry on with the real story, a story of sadness, hope, friendship, love, and action, lots of it. So go make some popcorn and grab your favorite drink as you are about to hear the story of Eclipse, a young man with a heavy burden, born from a Raider father and a pony mother, whose father died during a raid and whose mother, despite loving him, had to abandon him. This is his story, his challenges, his struggling, his life...

. . . . .

It was night. The moon, full and beautiful, shone high in the sky as it slowly neared midnight. In one tent of dark grey and bluish pelts came the screams of a labouring mare. With each powerful scream, the night sky itself seemed to experience the pain of the childbearing mare.

Beside the mare knelt a tall man. His skin was dark and his dark blue eyes were almond-shaped. He had short, messy black hair, and a short, strong black beard. His eyes were glued on the labouring mare, a loving care visible in them.

Suddenly, the mare let out an even more powerful scream as she began pushing. Soon, the cries of a newborn baby could be heard, and the woman there to help the mare give birth gently took the human-looking newborn baby.

"It's a boy," she said softly as she gave the baby to his tired mother.

As the moon approached its peak, it slowly took an orange hue before slowly becoming dark. Those just outside the tent of the mare looked up and were amazed at the rare occurrence, as an eclipse was extremely rare.

Back in the tent, the father was hugging the mare close while looking at his newborn child, the umbilical cord freshly cut.

"What should we name him?" he asked, his voice deep and rough, yet gentle and caring.

"Eclipse," the mare answered, her voice tired, "as he is as rare an occurrence as an eclipse, and one also is happening as we speak."

The man and the mare stayed in their embrace, clearly protecting their son from the dangers of the outside world.
. . . . .
Five years later...
. . . . .

Small, dark blue ears perked up from behind a rock some distance away of the camp. Soon, a head rose up from behind the stone as well, the small ears being attached to it. The young boy looked left, then right, then left again, before jumping over the rock.

Then, a hybrid girl fell from the sky right on top of the boy, causing him to groan. The young girl giggled a little, her small, pale blue ears drooping slightly as the girl closed her magenta eyes. Soon, more boys and girls came out of hiding, most of them having small pony ears on their heads.

"Could you please move your butt? I want to get up," the young boy asked the girl sitting on him.

The girl stopped giggling and put a hand to her chin, thinking. Her small, pale blue wings flapped a little as the girl thought. "Okay!" the girl said cheerfully, getting off the boy.

The boy got up and dusted himself. He had, in addition to his ears, short, dark blue hair, a tail of the same color tucked away in his pants, and two small wings covered with dark blue, white-tipped feathers. He had dark skin and almond-shaped teal eyes. He wore a dark hoodie and dark pants.

The girl had, in addition to her ears, long pink hair, a tail of the same color that hung over her pants, round, magenta eyes, tanned skin and a pair of small pale blue wings. She wore a grey t-shirt and sand-colored pants.

The boy smiled at his friends, ready to run off again to play some more. However, the sound of several engines filled the air, preventing the kids to go away and play as the men and women sent in the last raid were coming back.

On the horizon, several black and grey vehicles could be seen despite the distance. As they neared the camp, the sounds of engines grew louder and louder. The vehicles went towards the camp with great speeds, one getting off the ground for a few seconds as they passed over small hills.

When the vehicles finally reached the first tents, cheers sounded throughout the entire camp, telling the kids it was time to rush to the vehicles. They all hurried, and as the young boy and the young girl breached the wall of grown-ups blocking their paths, their eyes widened at the sight in front of them. In each vehicle were six men and women, all clad in a black and grey armor, their helmets covering their faces completely.

The vehicles themselves were quite breathtaking. Each one looked like some sort of turtle mixed with some sort of feline predator. Located to the front of the vehicles, hidden under a piece of metal, the loud engines were still purring.

The men and women coming back from the raid got off the vehicles and took their helmets off, and thus began the heartwarming greetings. The young girl with the pale blue ears shoved the young boy with her elbow.

"Hey, Eclipse. I'm sure your dad has something awesome for you this time," she whispered.

"I don't know, Sky. Maybe..." Eclipse whispered back.

Sky then saw her father, and she ran to him, jumping in his arms with a cry of "Daddy!". Eclipse looked around for any signs of his father, but he still could not see him. Someone then tapped his shoulder. Turning around, Eclipse saw an armored man.

"I'm sorry, Eclipse, but... He didn't... Get out alive," the man said, emotions threatening to break his voice.

"What do you mean?" Eclipse asked as he tilted his head to the right in confusion.

"Your dad... Isn't... Coming back..." the man clarified, tears now rolling down his cheeks.

As the words reached the young boy's brain, tears were already forming at the corner of his eyes. He began crying and yelling, punching the man's armored stomach until his fists were sore. When he finally stopped punching the man, he turned around and ran towards the tent he lived in with his father, tears still falling to the ground while some of the men and women called him.

As the moon slowly crept in the sky, Eclipse was still sobbing gently, arms around his legs. There was a light knock on the tent's frame, and it was soon followed by Sky's voice.

"Are you okay, Eclipse?"

"GO AWAY! I WANT TO BE ALONE!"

The young girl's eyes teared up, her heart broken from Eclipse's sorrow. She was unaware of it at the time, but her heart would forever be Eclipse's no matter what he said or did to her. She left Eclipse's tent, slowly going back to her family while her mind, and her heart, worried for her friend.

. . . . .

It had been almost fourteen years since Eclipse had lost his father. When he reached the age of twelve, and after a daring attempt to run away at night, he got his cutie mark, thanks to his pony origins. His mark was of the night sky, showing his multiple abilities when he was at night and, to a lesser level, when he was in a dark environment.

At thirteen, he began learning the ways of the Raiders, along with his childhood friend Sky. They both managed to 'graduate' at fifteen, becoming Raiders, and thus having their own armor.

Eclipse looked at the night sky and let out a sigh. No one knew who his mother was, except for his dad and his aunt. He had almost no memories of her. the only thing he remembered was that she was as comforting as nighttime. I wish I had known her... he thought. His ears then perked up, turning slightly towards the origin of the sound. He turned around and, upon seeing who it was, he let out a sigh. Sky walked up to him and sat down beside him.

"So?" the now adult girl asked Eclipse, her long, pink hair tied in a ponytail moving slightly in the night's breeze.

"So what?"

Sky glared at the eighteen-year-old boy. "Will you leave the tribe?"

Eclipse looked at the pink-haired girl for a few minutes, causing the poor girl's heart to pound quickly in her chest.

"Of course! I've made up my mind about that. I want to see my mother at least once, and she's not living in the camp, or in any other Raider settlement, according to my aunt," Eclipse answered as he went back to looking at the night sky.

"Then I'll go with you."

Eclipse tried to protest but Sky gave him no time to voice any objection. "I've made up my mind on that. I want to explore the world, see different things, learn more. After all, that's my special talent, learning."

Eclipse nodded and got up. "Fine. I'm warning you, it won't be easy, 'cause according to my aunt, my mother might be in Sun City." With a few flaps of his wings, he was airborne, soon followed by Sky.

. . . . .

Eclipse and Sky were waiting in front of the tent where the several vehicles were stored, ranging from the big transport that could carry two dozen people to the six place V8 quads and the much smaller quad bikes, all of which were black and grey.

A man came out of the tent, looking at the two teenagers. He was in his late forties, his hair already grey. His eyes, however, were still quick and piercing.

"My guess is, you two wanna leave and go away for good. I have no problem with that, but not on MY vehicles," the harsh voice of the man caused Sky's ears to droop.

"However, I already have my own bike, and so does Sky; after all, we are usually scouting the towns before the actual raids," Eclipse countered, much to the man's dismay.

The man looked at Eclipse with a frown, then let out a sigh.

"Fine," the man harshly answered, getting out of the way of the two hybrids.

As soon as the way was clear, Eclipse and Sky hurried inside the tent. In front of their eyes laid a common sight for them. Several vehicles were neatly parked in rows. They made their way around the parked vehicles and eventually reached the bikes.

Two bikes stood out more: the first was dark blue and white instead of black and grey; the second was dark pink and grey. The two teenagers got on their respective bike, putting their belongings into one of the four compartments located near the rear.

They started the engines, their roar filling the air of the tent. They slowly drove out of the tent, and once outside, they accelerated slightly and made their way to the edge of the large camp.

They stopped once they had reached the edge, getting off to put their armor on. When they were both wearing it, Sky approached Eclipse and spoke to him.

"This is the final step we need to take to achieve our goals," she said, looking away in the distance of the barren and dusty dirt desert.

"Yeah. And this is the point of no return. From now on, we can only go forward," Eclipse added, also staring away in the distance towards the faint shimmer over the horizon, where the capital of the Solar Republic, Sun City, was.

Without even looking at each other, the two teenagers got on their bikes, and they took off one after the other, leaving two twin-tire tracks, and kicking up a small cloud of dust.

. . . . .

Luna was taking a walk around the white city that was Sun City. She missed the Royal Gardens of Canterlot, however she knew very well they could never have anything similar ever again, the land having lost its fertility after the war. As the Princess of the Night made her way around, she came across a group of humans led by a pegasus towards who-knew-where.

The sight made her stomach turn, the nausea quickly manifesting itself on the alicorn's face. Her thoughts often wandered to the human male who, several years ago, had won her heart, and who gave her two children, a boy that stayed with his father, and a girl.

Said girl was living with Luna, Celestia, Cadance and Twilight. The young hybrid, barely thirteen years of age, still acted younger than she really was, especially around Celestia and Cadance. That particular thought brought a smile to Luna's face.

Then, a pony wearing the full-body armor of the Royal Guard stepped in Luna's path.

"Princess. Two scouts just left the biggest Raider camp. They are heading for Sun City as we speak."

Luna's heart skipped a beat. Her mind was rushing, thinking about the multiple possibilities. Was it him and her son?

. . . . .

Speeding across the desert landscape, leaving long dust clouds in their trail as they went over 186 mph, Eclipse and Sky were talking over the comm system of their armor.

"How long before we reach the Sun City?" Sky asked.

"About a day, maybe less if we go fast enough," Eclipse answered his companion.

"Okay," Sky replied. After a short pause, she added, "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did, but go ahead anyway." Eclipse's smug smile could be heard over the comm.

Sky huffed a little. "Do you... love someone?" she asked.

"Not at the moment. Why?"

"Well, I kinda--" Sky began before she noticed something approaching them fast. "What the hell is that?!"

Coming towards the two teenagers, surrounded by big dust clouds, were three big desert tank painted with the Royal Insgnia of the Solar Republic.

"Looks like it's the welcoming party. Evasive maneuvers!" Eclipse calmly said before pulling away from Sky to avoid the tanks' path completely, leaving the poor girl alone with her feelings for the dark blue-haired boy.

Something then exploded on the ground next to her bike, sending dirt up in all directions. The girl swiftly swerved to her left to avoid the tanks. However, the three tanks slowly turned around, still firing at Sky and Eclipse. She gritted her teeth, then punched on a blue button. A small cannon got out of its hiding place and rotated to point at one of the tanks. She fired several times, causing the tanks to let her go.

Sky sped up, coming dangerously close to the bike's 210 mph maximum speed. She looked behind her at the tanks, an almost impossible feat considering the fact that she wasn't sitting on the bike due to the bike's unique design. She returned her attention to where she was going once she was satisfied; the tanks seemed to be slower than what she thought at first glance.

. . . . .

Sky was resting on the dusty ground, her hands crossed behind her head. She was looking at the sky -- she actually giggled at that -- which was almost filled with stars, the night just about to begin. She let out a sigh, content with the sparkling dots of light that were the stars in the sky.

Not far from her, Eclipse had made a fire using the dry shrubs that could be found nearby. The crackling of the fire made the atmosphere calm and relaxed, far from the adrenaline-pumping pursuit of earlier that day. Sky turned on her side, looking at the boy who had won her heart so many years ago.

He is so handsome... I NEED to tell him how I feel, she thought.

During Sky's thinking, she failed to notice Eclipse looking at her. He frowned, not sure whether to talk to his friend or to let her live in her daydream. He chose the former and spoke. "Is something wrong?"

Sky was brutally brought back to reality, the hand holding her head now gone from under her chin, and her ears now straight up on her head. "No. Nothing!" she said too quickly.

"Okay, then," Eclipse said, going back to examining the fire.

"Actually, there is something..." she began before her ears twitched as she, and Eclipse, heard a strange noise coming from behind her.

"Crap..." Eclipse muttered before kicking dust on the fire, extinguishing it.

Why is it that each time I try to confess my love there's something preveting me from doing so?! I hate it... Sky thought. She got up, ready to fight if necessary. Eclipse motioned to Sky, gesturing towards their bikes. She nodded and made her way to her bike, but not before someone saw her.

"THERE!" came a rough, deep male voice.

Sky froze up, fear replacing every other emotion. She turned around slowly, coming face to face with a Rogue, a Raider banished from all settlements. She immediately tripped him with a quick motion of her leg. Two more Rogues joined their comrade, ready to fight against the girl.

Sky cracked her neck, then jumped at the man on her left, landing on him with a punch straight to the face. The man dropped to the ground, unconscious. She then turned to face the woman of the group. She feinted a punch, causing the woman to try blocking said punch. This left her open to attacks, and Sky flapped her wings a few time to help with her jump kick. The woman dropped to the ground.

The first man was back on his feet, a handgun in hand. He fired three green bolts of energy which were all dodged by Sky, all while she slowly went back to her bike. Eclipse, who had taken his sniper rifle from its compartment, shot a warning bolt at the man's feet.

The man fired back at Eclipse, leaving enough time for Sky to run to her bike, jump on it and take off, leaving a cloud of dust behind. Eclipse quickly stored his rifle back and jumped on his bike, driving after Sky, the Rogue firing at him but missing every time.

. . . . .

They rode all night to avoid any more Rogues finding them. The sun was slowly rising up above the horizon. The sky was, for once, free of clouds. In the distance, the outline of the huge Sun City was visible.

Eclipse swerved his bike towards Sky to get himself closer to his friend. "About an hour before we finally reach the city," he said over their comm system.

He heard Sky's sigh over the comm, and he smiled. They kept their pace, the dust clouds they kicked up quickly falling back to the ground.

In the sky, a bald eagle flew over the two teenagers, steering towards a small patch of green visible only from a high vantage point.

Chapter 1 - Sun City

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10 kilometres from Sun City...

A huge cloud of dust rose in the sky as two quad bikes stopped. Sky put a foot on the ground and took her helmet off, shaking her head. Small droplets of sweat flew off from her for head.

"Damn it," she said, "it's hot!"

Eclipse put a foot down and took his own helmet off. "Yeah." He looked up in the cloudless sky, a hand shading his eyes from the glare of the midday sun. "Can't remember a time when it was as hot as this."

"Me neither."

Sky looked ahead at the outer wall of their objective, Sun City.

. . . . .

"COME BACK HERE!" someone shouted.

A young girl came out of the hallway from which came the shout, giggling like crazy. She ran away from the hallway as a tall pony with grey fur and wearing a chef's outfit came out of it, a vein protruding from his forehead and a spatula in his right hand. He look left and right, then went after the girl.

Said girl had round, dark blue eyes, short, baby blue hair, a tail of the same color, small light cobalt blue ears and small wings of the same color. She was wearing a pale pink and white dress, white knee-high socks and black, polished shoes. She was holding a small pastry in her hands.

"YOU WON'T GET AWAY!" the chef shouted.

The girl turned around a corner, still giggling. However, she failed to notice someone standing in her way, bumping into them and falling on her rump on the ground. As the girl had been holding the pastry in front of her, it got squished between the girl and whomever was standing in the girl's path.

The girl rubbed her rump, then slowly looked up. Her eyes widened when she saw who she had bumped into.

"T-T-TWILIGHT!" the girl stuttered.

At that moment, the chef turned the corner and saw the predicament of the girl. He bowed when he saw Twilight. "Pr-princess!"

During the entire time, Twilight stayed motionless and her face, emotionless. "Go back to the kitchens. I'll take care of it." Her voice had a cold edge to it.

The chef bowed lower and nodded, getting away as fast as his legs could. Meanwhile, the girl had a sheepish smile on her face and was rubbing the back of her head. "Heh, heh... S-sorry Twilight," the girl said sheepishly when Twilight looked at her, a vein protruding from her forehead.

"And what exactly do you think you're doing, Soleira?" Twilight asked, bending down to look the girl straight in the eyes.

"Huh... Getting a pastry to eat?" Soleira answered, bringing her empty hands up as if to show Twilight.

Twilight sighed as she regained her composure. "Soleira, not only are you skipping school, but you're also stealing food from the kitchens. You know your mother doesn't want you eating things before lunch because you lose your appetite."

"But I was hungry!" Soleira whined. "Besides, school is boring."

A shadow crept across Twilight's face as a vein popped on her forehead. She bent down once more. "What did you say?"

A shiver went down Soleira's spine. "N-Nothing!"

The shadow left Twilight's face as she straightened up and regain her composure. "Good. You are a princess and should act like it. Now come with me, you have classes to attend."

Soleira whined as she was lifted from the ground and dragged by Twilight to her classroom.

. . . . .

Soleira looked out the window of the classroom. While she was royalty, she still attended normal classes with the kids of nobles. Stupid, boring school... she thought. Suddenly, something hit Soleira's desk.

"Can you repeat what I just said, Soleira?" the teacher asked.

"Huh..."

The teacher sighed. "Please pay attention, Miss Soleira." The teacher went back to the front of the class to resume the lesson.

Soleira put her chin on her hand as she looked towards the front of the classroom. It's boring... I have to go to classes five days a week, and when I go back to my room after class or during weekends, I get lessons from Twilight, she thought as she sighed. What I really want to do is play. She turned her head towards the window. Mom wants me to be a Princess for the ponies, but I'm not sure I am a pony.

As Soleira's thoughts kept wandering, something in the distance caught her eye. Seconds after, a shockwave shook the room.

. . . . .

Sky and Eclipse looked up from their bikes towards the fireball that slowly rose in the sky. The shockwave sent dust and wind at them, forcing them to brace themselves.

"What was that?" Sky inquired over the comm.

"Only one way to find out," Eclipse answered as he hopped on his bike and took off, Sky imitating him seconds later.

. . . . .

Industrial Sector, Sun City

"BRING SOME SAND AND EXTINGUISH THOSE FLAMES!" the firefighter captain shouted to his men.

All around, it was chaos. The explosion had been powerful, and the shockwave alone had caused significant damage to surrounding buildings. There was almost nothing left standing of the factory where the explosion occured. Several ponies were injured in the blast, and they had four confirmed deaths. A crowd had gathered around, mostly of stallions working nearby. There were some kids, probably from a kindergarten nearby, and some of them were crying. In the distance, the sirens of Guard vehicles sounded

A figure stood in the shadow of a warehouse on the other side of the blown factory, looking over the results of the explosion.

Suddenly, the sound of two engines could be heard. The figured looked towards where the sound was coming from and saw Sky's and Eclipse's bikes. Raider quad bikes? What's going on... the figure thought.

Eclipse stopped his bike near the firefighter captain. "What happened?" he asked.

"Something in a factory blew up," the captain answered. As he looked at Eclipse, his jaw dropped.

"CITIZENS OF SUN CITY!" a feminine voice said through speakers. "I AM RAVEN, MEMBER OF THE ROGUE GROUP HORIZON. WE ARE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BOMBING OF A FACTORY IN THE INDUSTRIAL SECTOR. WE WANT--"

"MEMBER OF HORIZON, YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR DISRUPTION OF PUBLIC PEACE. SURRENDER!" a Guard interrupted.

Raven chuckled. "My, my. Aren't you eager to arrest us. Unfortunately, you'll need to fight us to capture us!"

Then, figures dropped from the roof of a nearby building. As soon as they touched the ground, most figures opened fire on the ponies, Guard and civilians. Eclipse gritted his teeth as Sky got closer to him.

"Should we help them?" she asked over the comm.

"What do you think?!" Eclipse replied, enraged.

Sky chuckled over the comm. "That's what I thought. You really can't stand idly by when innocent are getting attacked." Sky's voice was filled with fondness for her oblivious childhood friend.

Before Eclipse could answer, Sky got off her bike. She looked at Eclipse, smiling, not that he saw it through the opaque visor of Sky's helmet. "You take care of the ones attacking the ponies, I'll handle Raven."

Eclipse nodded and Sky looked around for her opponent.

"That's really brave of you, Raider," Raven said from behind Sky. "However, it is foolish." Raven spun kicked Sky's head, causing the latter's helmet to fly off. It bounced on the ground several times before hitting a wall.

Sky's ears stood straight atop Sky's head, now free of the constraint of the helmet. Raven took a step back. "Y-You're an hybrid!"

Raven was a human of around twenty, with pale skin, long black hair and harsh green eyes. She was wearing a black, armored suit. Sky sighed, one head on her armored hip. "So what if I am?"

In one swift motion, Sky grabbed her retractable bo staff and swung at Raven, causing the weapon to extend to full length.

Raven blocked the strike with armored forearm, but struggled to keep the bo staff from hitting her head. She pushed the staff away from her and ran at Sky. She threw a punch, but Sky paried it with her staff. Then Sky swung at Raven, and Raven blocked the blow with her forearm. They kept at it for five minutes, exchanging blows at an incredible speed.

"You're not half bad, for a hybrid," Raven said, panting.

"You're not bad yourself, for a human," Sky replied, also panting.

Sky swung again but this time, Raven caught the bo staff in her hands. The two girls struggled with it for thirty seconds before something hit Raven on the head. She lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Sky looked at Eclipse, who had a rock in his hand. "Really?" she asked out of breath.

Then, two bolts of blue energy hit the two Raiders, sending them to the ground. As consciousness slowly slipped away from sky, she saw the legs of a Solar Guard approaching her.

. . . . .

Class had been dismissed earlier because of the explosion in the Industrial Sector. Soleira had immediately run to the throne room, where her aunt Celestia had been going over early reports of the event.

Soon, the two had been joined by Twilight, Luna and Cadance. That had been over half an hour ago. They were currently going to the cells to meet with the captured leader of the group that had attacked the factory, as well as two Raiders.

Soleira felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into her mother's eyes.

"You do not need to do this if you do not want to, Soleira," Luna said.

Soleira looked down, her hand clenching into a fist. "I have to, Mom. If I want to be a Princess, I have to."

Luna smiled gently at her daughter. She reminds me so much of him... she thought.

"Your Highnesses!" one of the cells' guards said.

"We came to see the suspected leader of today's attack, as well as the two Raiders," Celestia said.

The guard nodded and opened the door, allowing the royal group in. In a dark cell, chained to the wall, Raven stood proudly while she glared at Celestia.

"My, my... What an honor you are giving me, Sun Tyrant," Raven said.

"YOU WILL ADDRESS HER PROPERLY, YOU LOWLY HUMAN!" the guard escorting the Princesses shouted at Raven.

"Call back your dog, Tyrant," Raven continued, ignoring the guard completely. "It's you I want to talk to."

"Guard, stand down," Celestia ordered.

"But, Princess--"

"I said STAND DOWN."

All present fell silent. While it was well known Celestia had a shorter temper than before ever since the war, it was a rare event to hear her yell.

"Y-yes, your Highness..." the guard said silently before retreating to the back of the group.

Celestia looked at Raven with a cold stare. "What do you want?"

"Straight to the point," Raven said. "I like that."

"She asked you a question... Raven, was it?" Twilight said.

Raven smirked. "That's right." Her eyes wandered over to Soleira. "Who's that?" she asked with a motion of the head.

Soleira stood straighter and was about to answer when Cadance stepped in front of her. "Nopony you need to worry about," she said.

"Pony?" Raven began laughing. "That's a good one. She looks like a human. If it weren't for the ears, eye shape, hair color, the tail and the wings, I'd have said she was human."

Luna tensed slightly, taking her daughter's hand in hers. Celestia took a step closer to the bars of Raven's cell.

"She is a pony and my sister's daughter," she said wih finality.

"If that's so, where is her fur?" Raven retorted.

Celestia opened her mouth to reply, but a thought crossed her mind. She turned towards Luna. "Who is her father, Luna?"

Luna began to shake as tears fell from her eyes onto the ground, but she didn't answer.

"Answer me Luna. Who is Soleira's father?"

"Shinichi... I'm so sorry..." Luna said with a small voice filled with conflicting emotions.

"Are you okay, Mom?" Soleira asked, squeezing her mother's hand.

Raven's laugh echoed throughout the holding area. "Would you look at that. The royal family is falling apart... Again."

Celestia shot a glare at Raven, but otherwise kept her focus on her sister.

"Tell me. Who Soleira's father. Is."

Luna began sobbing as she failed to control her emotions. "His name... is Shinichi," she said clearly between sobs. "He is a Raider and lives in their biggest camp."

"Did you say 'Shinichi'?" a young male voice, Eclipse's, asked.

"Why would you care, Raider?" Celestia asked.

"Shinichi is a rare name amongst Raiders," Eclipse said. "And back home, in the biggest camp, there was only one man named Shinichi."

Sky gasped. "You mean your dad? Right, Eclipse?"

Raven laughed again. "Way to set the mood, Raider girl."

Luna stepped forward to the front, looking towards Eclipse's cell. "E-Eclipse?" Luna asked with a small voice.

"Yes?"

Luna smiled, her tears now tears of joy. She turned towards the guard. "Free the male Raider," she ordered.

"Don't," Celestia countered.

Luna turned towards her sister. "Celestia... I..." Luna took a deep breath to calm herself. "That Raider, over in that cell,--" she pointed towards Eclipse's cell "--is my son."

Silence fell once more in the wake of the revelation. After a moment, Celestia hugged her sister.

"Please forgive me..." she said, tears falling on Luna's shoulder.

Luna smiled and hugged her sister back. "You're already forgiven."

"Ugh... Can we please get over the super sappy emotional stuff?" Raven said.

"Guard, free the male Raider," Celestia ordered.

"Yes ma'am!"

"What about me?" Raven asked. "I'm the one you should be focusing on! I'm the one who announced we had bombed the factory! Those two Raiders fought us anyway!"

"Is that so?" Celestia asked. "Free the female Raider as well."

"WHAT!?" Raven exclaimed. "Well, that's my luck... I knew I should have refused the offer, but no, I had to take it so I could rub the fact I'm better in Sun Tyrant's face... I don't even care about Horizon's demands..." Raven's eyes widened as a blush crept over her face. "I... said all that out loud, didn't I?"

Everyone nodded. Raven looked down in shame. Celestia took a step towards Raven's cell.

"Maybe we can find a way to get along..." she said.

. . . . .

Eclipse and Sky sat in a room with all four ruling Princesses and Soleira.

"Lemme get this straight," Eclipse said. "You, the Princess of the Night, are my mother and she--" Eclipse pointed at Soleira "--is my sister."

"That is correct," Luna answered.

Eclipse's arms fell to his sides. "Wow."

Eclipse and Sky had gone through a change of clothes and style from their simple Raiders outfit and armor to Sun City fashion. Eclipse wore a simple, dark blue tunic with silver trimmings and the royal insignia on the breast and black linen pants. He was still wearing his boots, though. His messy, shoulder length hair had been cleaned, groomed and cut. His bangs still fell partly in front of his eyes.

For her part, Sky wore a pale pink dress with white trimmings, a pair of white leggings and light grey shoes. Her long, pink hair had been done in a braid and tied with a red ribbon. Both outfits had been made for pegasus, meaning they had holes for wings on the back.

Celestia looked at Eclipse and Sky. "I apologize for my behavior," she said.

"It's fine, your Highness," Sky replied with a smile. "You were just trying to protect your own. That's one of the most important things we were taught."

Celestia nodded. Luna leaned in closer to the two former Raiders. "When do you think I can expect grand children?"

Both Eclipse and Sky blushed deeply. Eclipse fell out of his chair while Sky shook her head vigorously. "W-we're not a couple!!" she said. At least not yet... she mentally added.

Luna pouted as she straightened herself. "Please be swift in your courting, then. I do not think I can wait for too long."

Eclipse groaned as he sat down in his chair again.

"Those things aside," Celestia said, "tomorrow we'll hold a ceremony to introduce Eclipse to the Solar Republic."

Sky tilted her head. "That's great and all, but what about me?"

Twilight put a hand to her chin in thought. "While Eclipse will be an official member of the royal family, I don't doubt there will be attempts made to kill him. Maybe you could help protect him?"

Sky took on a thoughtful expression. "Yeah... That can work. After all, I was always the one to pull his ass out of trouble."

"Hey!" Eclipse exclaimed. "It was that one time!"

"Really?" Sky put a hand to her chin. "I clearly remember saving your ass several times since we were fifteen."

Cadance giggled at the teenagers antics. They'll form such a cute couple, if pushed in the right direction... she thought, then cleared her throat.

"Yes, Cadance?" Celestia asked.

"Why not make Sky Eclipse's Knight?" Cadance proposed. "A Knight's main job is to protect royalty."

"That could work," Twilight said. "While there hasn't been a Knight assigned to royalty in nearly a millenium, it's never too late to continue a working tradition."

Celestia clapped her heands together once. "It's settled, then. Sky will be Eclipse's Knight, if both she and Eclipse accepts."

"Fine with me," Eclipse nonchalantly said.

"YES!" Sky agreed excitedly.

"Good." Celestia got up and left the room, Cadance and Twilight leaving soon afterwards, leaving Luna, Soleira, Eclipse and Sky behind.

"Come Soleira. We should leave them to sort their thoughts," Luna said.

Soleira shook her head. "I want to learn more about my big brother." She had a big grin on her face.

Sky and Eclipse sweatdropped. Please don't say onii-chan... Eclipse thought.

Luna chuckled. "Very well. But remember you have to be in bed by moonrise." Luna left the room.

Soleira looked at Sky and Eclipse with her big smile. "Tell me about you, big brother."

. . . . .

Under the black, star-filled and moonlit sky, a figure stood tall atop a skyscraper of white concrete and clear plastic window panes. He looked down towards the castle at a specific window. Said window had the blinds shut tight, but the figure knew who was in that room.

"You've grown into quite a fine young man, Eclipse," the figure said to no one. "I'm glad to see you again, even with the current situation."

The figure turned around and looked towards the horizon. "With Horizon making its move, it's only a matter of time before war breaks out."

The figure ran towards the ege of the roof, leaping over the edge and down into the darkness below.

Chapter 2 - Allies

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The sun had been in the sky for a few hours. Its rays entered a room of the castle, casting lines of lights on the floor and furniture. Some of the light fell on the closed eyelids of the room's occupant, who was cocooned in the bedsheets. She frowned, the light waking her up even through her closed eyes. With a moan, she turned around, hoping to sleep some more. However, a small songbird landed on the frame of the open window. It chirped silently, tilting its tiny head as it looked at the sleeping form of Sky with curiosity. As if responding to a silent command, the bird began to sing its morning song loudly, preventing Sky from sleeping any furher.

She turned again, her eyes barely open, and she glared death at the songbird. It kept singing, ignoring her completely. Sky sighed then got up, her bo staff in its retracted mode in hand. The bird stopped singing to look at Sky. She slowly crept to the bird, and with a single, fluid motion, she hit the bird with her bo staff like a baseball batter hitting a homerun. Nearby birds flew away when Sky had hit the songbird that had woken her up.

Sky sighed as she returned her bo staff to its retracted mode. She walked to the bed and gently threw her weapon on it. She undressed, unceremoniously throwing the nightgown the castle's staff had given her on the bed, and she made her way to the connected bathroom.

She stopped briefly in front of a full body miror, examining her lithe body. She had small breasts like most pegasus and pegasus hybrids, but that didn't really bother her. Her stomach was toned with the continuous training she usually did. Her hips might have seemed narrow, but it was how she was naturally. Her long legs were smooth and hairless.

She turned around to examine her back. Her long hair stopped short of her butt, and seemed to be longer thanks to her tail seamlessly melding with it. Her butt itself was small and firm.

Satisfied with her body, she carried onwards to the bathroom. She poured herself a hot bath, and while the water filled the huge tub, she grabbed a towel from the rack and placed it near the bath.

She closed the faucet when the bath was full and then got in, her body relaxing instantly. She let out a sigh, sinking slightly in the warm water. "This... is... goooood..."

Then, the doorknob on Sky's room's door shook, as if someone was trying to get in. After a few seconds, the shaking stopped and the door was opened and closed.

Sky straightened in the bath.

She looked towards the door as someone approached it.

She knob turned and the door slowly opened.

"Miss, you should hurry--"

"GYAAAAAAAAAH!" Sky covered her breasts as she got up and punched the guard in the face, sending him flying across the bedroom into the opposite wall. Her scream was heard throughout the entire castle.

. . . . .

Sky sat down on a bench in the armory's smithy, where the blacksmith and a tailor, both mares at Sky's request, would work on Sky's Knight armor.

Her measurements had been written down two hours ago, and she was waiting for the finished product to be presented to her since then.

The tailor approached Sky with clothes in her arms. "If you would follow me." The tailor indicated a seperate room.

Sky nodded and got up, following the tailor. She changed into the new clothes and the tailor began the final adjustments just as the blacksmith came in with the completed armor.

"Once the tailor is done, put the armor on and come see me," the blacksmith said before leaving.

"All done," the tailor said. She gathered her stuff and left.

Now alone, Sky looked around. She found a pair of light grey military boots by the bench on which the blacksmith had put her armor. With a sigh, she put the armor and boots on and went to see the blacksmith.

. . . . .

Sky stood in front of the blacksmith in her armor. The blacksmith looked all over the armor with a critical eye.

"Good," she said once she was satisfied.

"What is the armor made of?" Sky asked.

The blacksmith smiled. "I'm glad you asked. The armor is made of Plastal."

"What's Plastal?"

The blacksmith chuckled. "Plastal is a composite material that is as strong as steel, but as light as plastic." She turned around and grabbed something before facing Sky again. "Here's your weapon. It's based on your extending staff you used, with a few modifications and upgrades."

Sky took the bo staff and swung it, causing it to extend to full lenght. It was moderate violet just like the armor. She swung a few more times before retracting it, satisfied.

"There are also special enchantments on the armor," the blacksmith continued. "The main enchantment is a shield." She handed something that looked like a one-lens pair of glasses. "This is your Vizor. It will show you the current state of the shield enchantment and other important information."

Sky looked at her Vizor. "Why only one lens?"

The blacksmith shrugged.

"I see you are ready," someone said as they came closer. "I am Plentiful Harvest, the Captain of the Royal Knights' Corp."

Harvest was an earth pony mare with dark orange fur, short, blood red hair, a tail of the same color, and mesmerizing golden eyes. She wearing the same armor as Sky, with the exception of a single golden line on the pauldron. She was also wearing her Vizor.

Harvest looked at Sky and sighed. "Turn around."

Sky complied. "If you intend to keep your hair as long as this, at least braid it," Harvest said as she braided Sky's loose hair. "There. Now we have somewhere to be."

"Yes, ma'am!" Sky saluted before following Harvest out of the smithy.

. . . . .

Eclipse stood straight as several ponies busied themselves around him, making him proper for the upcoming ceremony. He was wearing, after a huge struggle with the castle's servants, a dark blue tunic with silver trimmings, loose-fitting black linen pants and black shoes. Upon his head sat a thin silver circlet.

"It wasn't so bad after all, right?" the head maid asked Eclipse with closed eyes and a smile.

"Yeah..." Eclipse muttered.

The head maid clapped her hands. "Good!"

There was a knock at the door. The head maid turned to face the door and her horn lit up, a matching aura appearing around the doorknob.

The door opened and revealed both Harvest and Sky. The head maid smiled at the two Knights.

"Captain Harvest, Miss Sky. What can I do for you?"

Harvest smirked and walked staright to the head maid. She grabbed her by the waist. "First, you can kiss me."

Harvest then kissed the head maid on the lips. The kiss lasted a full minute before the maid broke it, flustered.

"H-Harvest!" the head maid said, a heavy blush visible through her dark grey coat. "N-Not here..." she added in a whisper.

Harvest smirked again and released her hold on the mare, dropping her to the ground. "Sorry, Feather. You know I love you a lot, and I can't help but kiss you to show it."

Feather rose from the floor, dusting her maid uniform. "For the umpteenth time, when at work, call me Miss Duster... or Feather Duster if you really can't."

Harvest nodded. "Okay. As for the second thing, we--" Harvest gestured towards Sky who waved meekly "--are here to perform a loyalty swearing for the new Knight."

Feather's face lit up in realisation. "Right! I almost forgot!" She turned towards Eclipse and the servants. "Alright! We'll take a short break while the new Knight performs her loyalty swear."

All the servants stopped doing whatever they were doing and filed out of the room. Eclipse turned around and saw Sky. A light blush appeared on his face. Why do I feel like this? Why do I find Sky so... attractive? he thought.

Harvest looked at Eclipse. "If you are ready, sir, we'll begin."

Eclipse snapped back to reality with a start. "R-Right." He opened and closed his mouth a few times. "What do I do again?"

Harvest let out a small chuckle. "I haven't even explained yet." She went to stand near Eclipse. "Come closer, Sky, then I'll explain to ritual."

Sky nodded and joined Eclipse and Harvest, stopping in front of Eclipse.

"Good," Harvest said. "Now listen closely, because I'll only say it once." She looked at Sky. "First, you'll say 'I, Endless Sky, wish to swear my undying loyalty and faith to Prince Eclipse. I will be his bodyguard and loyal Knight from this moment forth until I draw my last breath' while kneeling down in front of him. Look at the floor and put your hands over your heart."

Harvest then looked at Eclipse. "And you, once she is done, will say 'I, Prince Eclipse, accept Endless Sky as my loyal Knight and bodyguard, from this moment forth until she draws her last breath.' After that, you will extend you right hand towards her."

"And?" Eclipse asked.

Harvest's ever-present smirk turned dark. "And then, you'll test her loyalty and faith."

Both Eclipse and Sky gulped. With a long sigh, Sky knelt in front of Eclipse, head down, one hand clasped in a fist over her heart as if holding it and the other over it. She closed her eyes as she took a deep breath.

The room darkened, obscuring everything but Sky, Eclipse, Harvest and Feather as Sky began the ritual. "I, Endless Sky, wish to swear my undying loyalty and faith to Prince Eclipse." A magic circle appeared on the ground around Sky and Eclipse, casting an eerie glow over the four beings in the room. "I will be his bodyguard and loyal Knight, from this moment forth until I draw my last breath."

As Sky finished her part of the ritual, the glow from the magic circle intensified. "I, Prince Eclipse, accept Endless Sky as my loyal Knight and bodyguard, from this moment forth until she draws her last breath."

Eclipse then extended his hand towards Sky. As soon as he stopped moving his hand, a sword of magic appeared in it. Comprehension dawned on Eclipse's face as he grasped the handle of the sword. I need to test her loyalty... by beheading her, he thought. But this sword is not any sword, it's made of magic. If I guessed right, and I hope so, if Sky is loyal and has faith in me, she will be fine.

Meanwhile, Sky came to a similar conclusion. Eclipse will have to test my loyalty and faith by trying to kill me, she thought. If I move even one millimetre, I die. She took a deep breath, steeling herself. A small, soft smile spread across her face. But I have faith in Eclipse. I know he'll never hurt me willingly. He might not love me, but my love is as strong as steel, and my resolve to serve him, even stronger.

With a gulp, Eclipse swung the sword at Sky's neck. The sword phased through the neck, leaving it and Sky unscathed.

Suddenly, the magical sword broke into a million tiny fragments as a pink, magical sword appeared in front of Sky. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, though, and the light emitted by the circle became even stronger. A gust picked up as the light reached a near-blinding level.

"You can open your eyes and stand up, Sky," Harvest said once the ritual was over.

Sky opened her eyes and stood up. She looked at her hands, feeling the lingering energy of the ritual on them, particularly on the back of her right hand, where a seal composed of a five-pointed star inscribed in a heart, itself inscribed inside a magic circle. The whole thing was a light pink color. An identical seal, except for its teal color, shone on the back of Eclipse's right hand. After a few seconds, though, both seals vanished, leaving only unblemished skin behind.

"And that, fillies and gentlecolts, was the loyalty swearing ritual," Harvest said dramatically.

"Now, let's hurry!" Feather said as she pushed Eclipse out of the room. "We have to make sure everthing is perfect for your ceremony!"

Sky giggled at her friend's predicament. Harvest then put her hand on Sky's shoulder.

"Go ahead and protect him from my marefriend's clutch," Harvest said half-jokingly.

Sky nodded and went after the head maid and the helpless Prince, leaving the Knights' Captain alone. That pink sword... she thought, frowning. The sign that a Knight truly has faith, but also love... Could it be that those two hybrids will bring back Harmony to ponydom? Could it be that she's the one that will... No. She seems too weak for that... But still... Harvest sighed, then left the room to go prepare her troops for the upcoming ceremony.

. . . . .

As the sun reached its peak in the cloudless sky, the large crowd that had gathered for Eclipse's introduction as the newest Prince cheered loudly. Amongst the ponies were four cloaked figures, each with their own mission.

"FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS! PLEASE WELCOME THE ROYAL FAMILY!" an announcer exclaimed in a microphone hooked to speakers located around the perimetre of the plaza in front of the castle.

Twilight, Luna, Celestia, Cadance and Soleira walked out onto the balcony overlooking the plaza under thunderous applause. All of them wore their royal garment and regalia.

Celestia took a step forward, the crowd becoming quiet. "Ponies of the Solar Republic," Celestia said as camera-bots hovered around her, "today is a great day in our glorious history."

"Today is a day to be remembered by all for generations," Cadance added as she took a step, stopping beside Celestia.

"For today is the day a new Prince walks into the royal family," Twilight said as she mimicked Cadance, stopping beside Celestia on the side opposite Cadance.

"A Prince from the royal family, one to become the symbol of hope," Luna added as she stepped beside her sister. "Please welcome my son, Prince Eclipse!"

As the four ruling Princesses parted to allow Eclipse to step forward, the crowd erupted into loud cheers once more. Eclipse reached the edge of the balcony and cleared his throat, causing the crowd to go silent once again.

As Eclipse opened his mouth to speak, a knife embedded itself in the balcony beside Eclipse's foot. Everyone looked up to see several pegasi dressed in crimson red.

"DIE, FAKE PRINCE!" one of the cloaked figure in the crowd said as they pulled the hood down, revealing pony ears and a horn.

The pony aimed their horn at Eclipse, it lighting up as a spell charged itself.

There was the clicking sound characteristic of a disengaging safety and loading gun sounding in the pony's left ear.

"I would think twice before doing that, if I were you." The owner of the gun had a young-sounding, feminine voice.

"Let me eradicate the fake Prince, you scum!" The pony tried to punch the figure holding the gun, but they only managed to pull the hood down, revealing pony ears and a horn. "Y-You're a pony! You should back us up, not fight us!"

The female unicorn shed her cloak. She looked to be about fourteen years old, and had a light magenta coat, blue eyes, long, two-toned teal and white hair and a matching tail. She was wearing extremely light, pink-colored Plastal armor. "I vowed to protect all beings, including humans and hybrids." She looked around. "Unlike most ponies, I know humans are capable of compassion, and I believe the same goes for hybrids." Her expression turned sad for just an instant as she struck the other pony on the head with her gun's handle.

"Come help us, Nova!"

Nova smiled and turned to face who had spoken to her. "Coming!"

The two remaining cloaked figure shed their cloaks as well. One was a pegasus mare. She looked to be twenty-five years old, and had a burnt orange coat, vivid green eyes, short burgundy hair and a matching tail. She was wearing blood red Plastal armor and had a heavy energy rifle held in a single hand. The other was a man. He looked to be twenty years old, and had pale skin, steel blue eyes and short auburn hair. He was wearing white Plastal armor and held an assault rifle.

The man raised his rifle and aimed at one of the pegasi's wing and fired a volley of bullets. They hit and the pegasus fell to the ground while the crowd dispersed quickly due to the assault rifle's sound.

One of the guards present got out of his daze at last. "P-PROTECT THE ROYAL FAMILY!" he barked, causing the other guards to snap back to reality.

"Oy! About time you got your act together!" the pegasus mare told the retreating guards.

"Cut it out, Gale. We've got a job to do," the man told the pegasus mare as he shot another volley of bullets at another of the flying pegasi.

"It's not her fault if she's so acidic, JP-kun!" Nova replied to the man as she reached her two companions.

"Nova, please stop calling me that!" JP nearly shouted. He instead vented by emptying his rifle's clip into several wings of pegasi.

Five minutes later, all the red-garbed ponies had been defeated and gathered. Quickly, the Royal Knights' Corp surrounded the three beings that had accomplished the feat.

"In the name of the Crown, you are all under arrest!" Harvest said as every Knight pointed their weapons at JP, Gale and Nova.

Gale raised her heavy energy rifle and aimed at the Knights in front of her.

JP raised his hand in a gesture meaning 'hold it'. "Don't, Gale."

Gale gritted her teeth but lowered her weapon.

Harvest took a step forward. "Now come with--"

A figure dropped from the sky in front of Harvest. "Now, now, that isn't the way to treat allies, is it?"

The figure straightened, revealing a tall man with black hair and dark skin.

"Sensei!" "Commander!"

"Hey kids!" the man said to JP, Gale and Nova. "Glad to see you all alive."

Harvest gritted her teeth. "Out of my way, human."

"Stand down, Captain Harvest," Celestia said as she, Twilight, Cadance, Luna, Soleira, Eclipse and Sky approached the circle of Knights.

"Yes, your highness," Harvest growled. "All Knights, lower your weapons!"

"Thank you for protecting my nephew," Celestia said.

"Nephew?" Nova asked, a finger tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Yes, my nephew," Celestia explained as she gestured at Eclipse.

"Ooooh, the cute Prince," Nova stated, causing Sky to grip her bo staff tightly and glare.

Celestia chuckled. "Yes, him. Once again, thank you." Celestia bowed her head slightly at the four beings in front of her.

The man rubbed the back of his head. "It was nothing, really. We just did our job."

The man's voice made Luna's heart bounce in her chest. She looked intently at him. "Sh-Shinichi?"

The man looked at Luna with a loving care in his dark blue eyes. "Yes, my lovely Princess. It is I, Shinichi, and I have returned to serve you once more." He knelt down in front of Luna and kissed her hand.

Gale and JP groaned at their Commander's antics.

"This is so romantic!" Nova exclaimed, hands clasped together and stars in her eyes.

"Shut up," Gale said as she pushed down on Nova's head.

"I think you owe Eclipse apologies, sir," Sky said to Shinichi.

"I believe you are right, Sky," Shinichi said as he got up. He turned to face his son, who was looking down, his hands curled up into fists."Listen, Eclipse, I--"

"Where were you?" Eclipse interrupted his father.

Shinichi tried to explain but Eclipse cut him once again.

"Where were you during all those years?" Tears fell from Eclipse's face to the ground.

Shinichi tried to reach Eclipse with his hand but it was slapped away by Eclipse, who glared daggers at Shinichi. Green energy began gathering around Eclipse's fists.

"You left me alone for thirteen years..." Eclipse's sobs were gaining in intensity, his whole body shaking.

"Listen Eclipse. I'm sorry I left you!" Shinichi explained. "I didn't want to, but I had no choice!"

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!" Eclipse yelled as he lunged at his father, his glowing, green fist pulled back.

Eclipse's punch hit Shinichi square on the nose. For a moment, everything seemed to stop as the energy gathered in Eclipse's fist was freed and channeled through the punch. Shinichi's head rolled back and he was sent flying several meters back. His body hit the ground like a ragdoll.

"SENSEI!" "COMMANDER!" "SHINICHI!"

Gale, JP, Nova and Luna rushed to Shinichi's side as the roar of engines suddenly began overhead. A moderatly sized ship landed nearby and a young human girl came out of it. She looked to be fourteen years old and was wearing a red jumpsuit and flight googles rested on her forehead. She had short, pale blue hair done in twin pigtails and red eyes. She ran straight to Shinichi.

"Are you alright, sir?!" she asked with her juvenile voice.

Shinichi raised his head and looked at the worried expressions over him. "I'm fine." He coughed a bit. "Thanks for asking, Suna. Damn, that packed quite a punch."

JP straightened up quickly and walked away. "Yup, he's fine," he said.

Luna and Suna helped Shinichi up. "Thanks." He turned his head towards Eclipse. "During after that raid thirteen years ago, I left the group to go see your mother." Shinichi sighed. "After our meeting, I left and was on my way back when--"

"I don't care," Eclipse said. "Right now, I can't care. I can't forgive you. Someday, I might, but not now."

Eclipse turned around and went back in the castle. "I'll go talk to him," Sky said before going after Eclipse.

Silence reigned over the gathered beings for a while after Sky had left. Eventually, it was broken by Shinichi.

"I should have seen that coming," Shinichi said with a sigh. "What a great father I am. Never was there for him."

Luna put a hand on his shoulder. "You can still make up for it. Both of our children."

Shinichi looked quizzically at Luna. "'Both of our children'? As in, two kids?"

Luna smiled warmly at Shinichi but said nothing as Soleira approached them. She looked at Shinichi with a quizzical expression similar to his.

"Daddy?" she asked.

Shinichi's eyes began to tear up, but he would deny it was because of the emotion, instead saying he had dust in his eyes. "I think so," he said.

"Daddy!" Soleira leapt at Shinichi's neck to hug him.

. . . . .

The star shone brightly in the moonless sky. A figure stood atop one of the tallest skyscraper of Sun City, their cloak flapping in the strong, cold breeze the altitude brought. They glanced over the sleeping city-state that housed the head of the Solar Republic's government, a wicked smile spread acoss their concealed face. A crow landed on the edge of the roof, cawing ominously.

"Soon, their heads will roll and their blood will drip, my friend," the figure said, apparently talking to the crow.

The crow cawed in an almost affirmative way.

"We will soon be the victors and they will be dead."

Another affirmative caw from the crow. It flapped its wings, taking off. It landed on the figure's shoulder, cawing once more, this time apparently saying more than just 'yes'.

"Indeed, my friend. The gears of our scheme are finally turning. It is only a matter of waiting patiently until the fruit of our labor is ripe and ready for the taking."

The figure looked out over the city once more. The crow cawed again.

"Yes, they might be a slight hindrance, but nothing we cannot handle." Another caw from the crow. "Have faith, my friend. Have faith." The figure then laugh manically as the crow took off, just as a murder of crows passed by.

Once the murder of crows had passed, the figure was nowhere in sight, but their laugh still echoed in the cold night air.

Chapter 3 - Enemies

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Inside the Hikari no fukushuu, Harmony's mobile base, ten thousand feet above Sun City...

The sound of engines reverberated throughout the entire ship. JP, Gale and Nova sat in the briefing room, waiting for Shinichi to debrief them.

Gale let out an overly loud sigh. "What's up with Shinichi-sensei?"

JP looked at his wrist, where an holographic display appeared. "He said he'd be here by five forty," he said. "He still has ten minutes to arrive."

The sliding doors to the room opened in a hiss of hydraulics. Suna walked in, the doors closing behind her. She sat down in front of Gale.

"Suna-chan, what are you doing here?" Nova asked.

"Sensei asked me to come and set things up," she answered.

JP, Gale and Nova looked at each other in confusion. Suna put her hands in front of her, causing an holographic keyboard to appear. She typed something, then an holographic projection appeared over the table.

"Thank you, Suna," the holographic face of Shinichi said. "Members of Harmony, we now face a great threat. The group 'Horizon' has made itself known by bombing a factory in the Industrial Sector of Sun City. Because of this, we had to make a move of our own to counter their bombing, and by saving the Prince, this was accomplished flawlessly."

Gale cleared her throat. "Why did we have to make ourselves known? It's not like the Solar Republic's ponies will ever meet us."

"True," Shinichi agreed. "However, because our main mission is to battle Horizon, we had to make ourselves known to counter their attempt at fear. As such, Harmony will officially become an ally of the Solar Republic, effective immediately."

JP got up and slammed his hands on the table. "Why should we ally ourselves with them?!"

Gale nodded. "Yeah. Besides, they haven't done anything for us."

"I know it's hard to let go of your grudges, but--" Shinichi said before being interrupted by JP.

"Grudge? You mean, the hatred I have towards the Solar Republic for slaughtering my family in front of my eyes when I was eight, including my little sister?!" JP yelled.

"Or the resentment I have towards my own kind for turning a blind eye on me and some other street orphans?" Gale added calmly.

"I know you all had some pretty bad childhoods, but they're not all like that," Shinichi pleaded.

Nova got up, a dark expression on her face. She walked towards the door but stopped short of it, turning to look at eveyone. "No, they're not. They're worse." Nova left the room as silence fell on the assembled beings.

. . . . .

Nova sat on her bed, hugging her legs. Tears fell from her cheeks onto the sheets as she sobbed quietly. Damn... she thought. Why did they have to bring their past up?! I didn't need to remember that!

She tightened her grip on her legs, her sobbing intensifying. That damn fire... Why didn't anypony think of coming and save my family?! And it's all his fault... More tears fell down. But, he still saved me... Mom, Dad, I miss you...
. . . . .
Sixteen years ago...
. . . . .

Nova Starlight, six years old, ran up the path on the green hill leading to her family's mansion. She had a red flower in her hands. Upon reaching the top of the hill, little Nova stopped and looked around. She spotted her mother resting under the shade of a big tree, reading.

White a huge smile on her face, the little unicorn ran towards her mother while yelling "Mama!" all the way. Her mother looked towards Nova, smiling. She closed her book and put it down as Nova approached.

"Mama! Mama!" Nova said. "Look!" Nova presented the red flower to her mother.

"It's lovely, Nova," the mother said. She took the flower from Nova's hands and took a deep breath, taking in the flower's scent. She then snapped most of the stem off and placed the flower in Nova's hair. "But it's even more lovely now."

Nova smiled at her mother, giggling a little.

The rest of the day passed by quickly for Nova. The day soon made place for evening, and dinner was upon the table all too soon for the little filly.

"As always, it's delicious," Nova's father said.

Then, gunshots sounded off in the distance. The stallion's eyes widened at what they implied.

"Raiders," he muttered. He then addressed Nova's mother. "Honey, take Nova and hide."

Nova's mother nodded then took Nova's hand. "Come with mama, sweetie."

Nova tilted her head. "Why?" she asked.

"Because--"

Nova's mother was interrupted by the sound of a broken window. A glass container with a blazing cloth landed on the table and shattered, spreading fire everywhere.

Reacting as soon as she heard the sound of breaking glass, Nova's mother brought the little filly close and protected her from the flames, them landing on her back instead. As the heat and pain became overwhelming, Nova's mother smiled at her daughter.

"Live on, my little star..."

Suddenly, several other flaming projectiles broke windows and spread their fire all over the mansion. Soon, everything but Nova was ablaze.

"Mama?" Nova called out in the inferno. "Daddy?"

Then, something shifted beyond Nova's field of vision. Nova began crying. "Daddy! Help me!"

A figure appeared beyond the wall of flames. Nova's crying intensified as the heat slowly became unbearable for the young unicorn. Then, the figure jumped through the flames and just as they landed, they grabbed Nova and ran out of the mansion as wooden beams fell from the floors above. They came out just as rubble fell in front of the door, sealing the way.

The figure, a man clad in a full body armor, gently put Nova down. He took his helmet off and looked at Nova, the orange glow from the fire making everything seem surreal.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

Nova shook her head in the negative.

"Good." He looked at the blaze that once was Nova's home. "I screwed up big time." He looked back at Nova with a sad smile. "Name's Keith. What's yours?"

"N-No... va."

"Well Nova, I'm sorry for your parents. I didn't mean to kill them, but..." Keith punched the ground.

Nova's crying resumed in full. "Mama! Daddy!"

Keith brought Nova into a hug, allowing the young unicorn to cry and sob for a while.
. . . . .
Present day...
. . . . .

Nova looked at the only picture she had of her savior, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Why did you save me? Why didn't you let me die back then? Why were you so nice to me, even though I was a pony? Why can't I hate you for what you did? She flipped the picture down face-first on her desk. She dried her eyes and made her way to the door when someone knocked.

"Come in," she said.

The door slid open, revealing JP. "I came to see if you were okay...Um..." JP rubbed the back of his head, uneasy.

Nova smiled softly at JP. "Thanks for your concern, JP-kun."

"S-Sorry for bringing the past up... That was stupid of me," JP said.

Nova walked to JP. "Yes, it was," she said. She then hugged him, causing him to blush lightly.

"W-Why are you hugging me?"

"'Cause you helped me... I needed to come to terms with my past, so... Thanks."

JP hugged Nova back awkwardly.

. . . . .

Meanwhile...

Shinichi cut the communication with Harmony One, their flying base of operations. He turned around to face Celestia, Harvest and the Royal Guard Corps' Captain, Wind Rift.

"They'll do it," Shinichi said. "I know the kids and they'll do it."

Wind Rift huffed. "The two ponies working for you, maybe. But not the human. And even if he did it, I'll never stoop so low as to work with humans!" Wind Rift glared at Shinichi.

"Captain Wind, stand down," Celestia calmly said. "We need their help."

"They have technology we don't, Rift," Harvest added. "We may not like this, but we have no choice in the matter. Especially with Horizon's newest threat."

"About that threat..." Shinichi said. "What was it?"

Harvest added him a piece of paper. "Old fashion, I know, but it's what they sent."

Shinichi read the paper. It went:

On Sunday the twenty-first, the star of Sun City will fall.
-Horizon

"'The star of Sun City'. What does that mean?" Shinichi asked.

"We have no idea yet," Celestia said as she went over to a console. She typed something, and an holographic map of Sun City appeared.

Shinichi looked the map over. "Is there anything in the city that is a symbol of the Republic and at the same time looks like a star?"

"No." Wind Rift's voice was harsh.

"Okay, then. Military targets?"

"Unlikely. All military sites are under heavy guard at all time," Harvest said.

"And it is not governmental either," Celestia added.

Shinichi put a hand to his chin. "So, we have no idea what Horizon is targeting. I'll send a message to the kids so they'll patrol the sky."

"We have several hundred pegasi in the Royal Guard while you only have one. We are better suited for this task!" Wind Rift said.

"Not exactly. The technology Harmony has allowed them to use something similar to the Antigrav bike your forces use," Celestia said.

Shinichi went over to the console and typed something, causing the map to vanish. He then inserted a data crystal in the console's reader, and an holographic image of what could be best described as a flying bike appeared.

"Introducing the Flyer, a flying combat vessel," Shinichi said as every pony present looked at the image. "It has four retractable wings, two on each side, and two stabilizing fins at the back. It has two engines: the first one is a standard, V8 engine used when in Ride Mode, and the second is a prototype, high-energy plasma engine used when in Flight Mode and Combat Mode. It is equipped with varying weaponry, ranging from the tried-and-true M61 Vulcan Gatling-type rotary gun to a heavy, high energy-yield cannon.

"The Flyer can carry up to sixty thousand 20mm rounds, one hundred thousand if there are no other conventional weapons, and it has five energy cells assigned to energy weapons. It can also carry up to four thousand explosive railgun rounds."

"Impressive," Wind Rift said. "But all that seems to be a little on the heavy side. I'm pretty sure it can't be that fast."

Shinichi smirked. "Actually, the Flyer is capable of speeds up to Mach 1 in Flight Mode and up to 189 meters per second in Combat Mode."

"What about that 'Combat Mode'?" Harvest asked.

"Combat Mode," Shinichi said as the image changed to that of a mecha. "The Flyer becomes an easily-piloted mecha in Combat Mode. It is also still flight capable."

The image of the Flyer's Combat Mode vanished as silence fell upon the room.

. . . . .

JP sat on his Flyer, a white-and-black machine equipped with a Vulcan rotary gun, in the hangar of the Hikari no fukushuu. Behind him on each side were Nova's and Gale's Flyers. He was wearing his armor and had his helmet on, the visor transparent.

"Armor Connect," he said.

The Flyer's display screen lit up as JP's back was covered by a portion of the Flyer's armor.

"Armure connectée. Yoroi ga setsuzoku sa reta. Armadura conectada. Armor connected," the Flyer's computer said in its synthetized female voice.

{What are you doing, JP?} Suna asked on the comm system.

"I'm going out for a flight."

The comm stayed silent for a few seconds. {Okay. You're cleared for take off,} Suna said.

The door opened, revealing the blue sky to JP.

"Roger. I'm cleared for take off."

His hands on the controllers and his feet on the pedals, JP took off. He pushed down on the pedals to increase the thrust, resulting in a sudden burst of speed. In seconds, the Hikari no fukushuu was but a speck on the horizon behind him.

Allowing himself to calm down, JP eased his feet, slowing his Flyer down. He pushed a button on the below the display screen, causing his visor to become white and opaque. He let out a sigh.

"Finally alone."

All of a sudden, an alarm sounded in JP's ears.

"Inbound objects, zero degrees from current heading," the computer droned.

"How many?"

"Three objects. Size matches that of the Flyer."

JP's eyes widened. "Open channel to Hikari no fukushuu!"

. . . . .

Suna busied herself in the control room of the hangar. Suddenly, a light began flashing on her console.

"A communication?" She opened the channel. "What's going on, JP?"

{There are three inbound signals heading my way,} JP said, slightly panicked. {They're the same size as a Flyer.}

Suna's eyes widened. "Roger that. Stay out of range of their radar."

{Ten four.} The communication ended.

Suna immediately pushed the alarm button. A second later, the alarm sounded throughout the ship.

"Nova! Gale! To your Flyers! We've got company."

{Got it, Suna,} Gale said. {I'm on my way.}

{Hai,} Nova said.

. . . . .

Ten minutes... JP thought. Ten goddamn minutes! Can't they hurry? Just then, a chime annouced an incoming transmission. "About time!" He opened the channel. "Finally!"

{Oi, JP-kun,} Nova said, {we're going as fast as we can.}

{Enough chatter guys,} Suna said. {Time to engage the objects.}

"Ten four. Nova, Gale, activate Battle System."

JP pressed a light blue switch on the console, and the display changed from non-battle to battle systems, displaying the energy level for the weapons and shield, energy output of the weapons, the remaining ammunition quantity and status of the Flyer's Battle systems. He gripped the handles harder and put a finger on the trigger of his Flyer's Vulcan.

JP looked left and saw Gale's red-and-black Flyer come up and level with him, the G-7K 'Crystal' heavy energy cannon mounted on it glowing purple with energy. He then looked right and saw Nova's pink-and-white Flyer level with him.

{Let's do this, JP-kun,} Nova said.

"Yes," JP agreed. "Let's!"

. . . . .

Sun City Military Command Center (SCMC)

The SCMC had become very busy in the the few minutes after they received word of the incoming objects. Ponies wearing the white-and-blue uniform of the SCMC ran back and forth between stations to set everything up before the battle began. That had been five minutes prior, and Wind Rift stood in the CO's office looking out the glass wall overlooking the Command Center.

"Impressive, Commander Sword," Wind Rift said.

Commander Silver Sword was a middle-aged stallion with tan fur, red eyes, and a greying blond mane and tail. He got up from his office chair and walked to Wind Rift. "Indeed. Those young officers keep surprising me."

"Shouldn't we be out there in the Command Center instead of in your office?" Harvest asked from where she sat on Sword's desk.

"You are right, Commander Harvest," Sword said as he turned to look at her.

Below the office, in the Command Center, the link had been made with Harmony One, and the three Flyer Pilots' conversation was broadcasted throughout the Center, along with a video feed provided by a surveillance drone in the area. The screen displayed the three Flyers of Harmony with tags giving their identification.

{Enemy objects two thousand five hundred meters from your position and approaching fast,} Suna said.

{Ten four,} JP acknowledged.

"The battle begins now," Sword said.

. . . . .

JP checked the display of his Flyer one last time. "Engaging enemy objects in twenty."

{Roger that, JP-kun,} Nova said.

{Acknowledged,} Gale said.

Ahead of the three Flyers were three vehicules similar to the Flyers, the main difference being the open cockpit. They flew in a wide V formation. The one on the right was black with neon blue markings. It had two three-barrel Vulcan guns. The one on the left was black with neon violet markings. It had two AM-3 energy guns. The leader's was black with neon red markings and was equipped with a LC-5 'Katana' energy cannon.

Gale whistled. {There not too bad-looking...}

"Gale, focus."

Gale answered with a groan. {Fine. Let's roast 'em.}

Gale's Flyer lurched forward with a burst of speed. Then, a light on JP's console began flashing, signalling an incoming outside communication.

"Open general channel," JP said then paused for a few seconds. "Yes?"

{Today is the day you lose, Harmony,} a husky male voice said.

"Who are you?!"

{My name is not important to you,} the same husky voice answered.

Nova gasped. {I-Is that you, Marcus?}

{YOU TELL ME, YOU FUCKIN' FAMILY THIEF!} the husky voice said as the neon-red Flyer broke formation and its pilot stood up, taking their helmet off.

The neon-red Flyer's pilot was a young man of about 23 years old. He had a short, black beard and messy, greasy black shoulder-length hair.

{I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BROTHER THIEVIN' BITCH!} he shouted.

The other two pilots also took off their helmets, revealing who they were.

The pilot of the neon blue Flyer was a man of about 25 years old. He was cleanly shaved and had short hair that had been dyed blue. He looked calm despite the situation. The pilot of the neon violet Flyer was a girl of about 18 years old. She had long brown hair. Her skin was deathly pale.

It was JP's turned to gasp. "Sister?"

The white-skinned girl smiled sadly at JP, tears obvious in her eyes despite the distance. JP's arms fell to his side, causing his Flyer to slowly lose altitude. He was completely lost in his thoughts.

Seeing that, Gale brought her Flyer closer to JP's.

"Snap out of it, JP!" she yelled.

She received no response from JP.

Just as she was about to yell again, bullets bounced off her Flyer. She looked up and saw the neon-blue Flyer flying towards her. She grunted and pulled up, hoping to catch the pilot's attention.

Meanwhile, Marcus had rushed Nova, who had dodged quickly. Nova aimed and fired a single burst from her Flyer's J-70 energy gun at Marcus.

"Why are you doing this, Marcus?" She asked. "We're basically family!"

"You got my brother killed!" Marcus answered.

Then, Marcus' Flyer transformed into its Mecha form. The Mecha grabbed the LC-5 in one of its hands, causing a blade to extend from the body of the weapon. The Mecha then dashed towards Nova's Flyer and tried to slash her.

Nova dodged the attack, but barely. She quickly opened a channel to Harmony One.

"Suna, I need to activate--"

{I know,} Suna interrupted Nova. {Working on it.}

A few seconds later, a light on the console, which had been red until now, turned green.

{There,} Suna said. {Good luck.}

"Thanks." Nova closed the communication and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Activate Combat Mode."

Gears began grinding against each other as the Flyer morphed into a Mecha. As the morphing happened, Nova felt herself shift into a vertical position, her hands and feet still holding the controls. She moved her left hand, testing the response time of the Mecha.

"Time to get serious," she whispered.

Nova gripped the controls thighter, then pushed them forward, causing the Mecha to lurch forward in a burst of speed. She moved her left hand as if she was drawing a sword, and the Mecha mimicked her gesture and grabbed the J-70. She aimed and shot several times at Marcus, whom dodged most and blocked the rest with his LC-5.

Nova grit her teeth. "Damn bastard..."

She shot several times again, but with the same results. When she squeezed the trigger again, however, a warning popped up on her heads-up display saying 'overheat'.

Nova swored under her breath while Marcus took the opportunity and attacked. He rushed forward, the blade of his LC-5 pointed directly at the core of Nova's Mecha, which contained the cockpit. Acting out of instinct, she grabbed the arms of Marcus' Mecha and struggled to keep the blade away. However, she was slowly losing the struggle as the blade slowly inched its way forward towards the cockpit.

As the blade came into contact with the cockpit's canopy, cracks appeared as the sound of cracking glass caused Nova's eyes to widen. Desperatly, she aimed and hoped to get lucky as she squeezed the trigger. The bolt of energy flew away from the J-70 and hit the engine of Marcus' Flyer. Black smoke rose from the impact point, the the Mecha became limp as all the power was suddenly removed. It began to plummet towards the ground.

. . . . .

Everyone in SCMC cheered as one of the enemy markers disappeared from the holographic display.

. . . . .

{You win today, Harmony,} the other man said.

The two remaining Flyers did a one-eighty turn and began to fly away. "Not so fast," Gale said as she switched the G-7K to 'EMP' mode. She aimed and fired without waiting for the system to properly lock on. The computer of Gale's Flyer shut down for a second due to the electromagnetic pulse before rebooting while the emp travelled forward, frying the black-and-neon-purple Flyer's systems before dissipating.

As the fried Flyer fell from the sky, Marcus' own flew back up in Flight mode, black smoke still oozing out of the engine. It sped after the only intact Flyer of his team.

Gale let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding. Nova pulled up beside her, her Flyer now in Flight mode.

{We did it, Gale.}

"Huh? No chan this time?"

{Too tired for that.}

Gale chuckled a little. "So am I." She then opened a channel to the Hikari no fukushuu. "Suna, send Salvagers to our location. We have some things that need to be picked up."

{Way ahead of you guys,} the voice of Suna chirped in Gale's ear. {You can come back home, now.}

"Acknowledged."

Gale's and Nova's Flyers made wide turns and headed for Harmony One to get some well-deserved rest.

. . . . .

In a dark and damp cave somewhere, a tall, shadowy figure stood still, transfixed by the setting sun. Another figure, this one shorter by merely an inch, walked up to the shadowy one.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" shorter figure said.

The tallest simply nodded, although it was nearly imperceptible. "How are your plans going?" Its voice was deep and masculine, emitting an aura of darkness.

The short figure smiled a wicked smile with teeth seemingly too sharp. "Perfectly, on schedule, and as planned."

The tall figure snorted. "Nothing ever goes according to plan, trust me."

"Only when you are not prepared for everything, my friend," the short figure replied with its youthful voice.

"You are not my friend, merely someone who happens to have the same goal as myself," the tall figure said. "Besides, today's attack was useless. We didn't even win it."

The short figure smiled its wicked smile once more. "Au contraire, it went exactly as I planned. We even got a little extra."

"At the cost of one of your pawns," the tall figure snarled back.

"Today was just a show anyway. Our next attack will be far more meaningful."

That got the anttention of the tall figure. He turned his shadowy head towards the shorter figure, not that it was easily noticeable. "How so?"

The short figure's smile grew even wider. "You'll see."

Chapter 4 - Revelations

View Online

With the battle against the three Horizon Flyers behind them, but with a member MIA, Harmony's members were torn between joy and sadness. Well, most of them.

Nova lay on her back on her bed, hugging a pillow and slowly levitating a small, purple Alicorn plushie in a lazy orbit above and around her as she silently sobbed. Where is JP? ...I hope... truly hope... he is fine... JP... she thought.

A soft knock on the door snapped Nova out of her thoughts. "C-come in," she said, still sobbing.

The door hissed open on Suna. The young teenager leapt to Nova's neck as soon as the door had opened enough to let her in.

"I am soooooo sorry for you, Nova," Suna said as she hugged the unicorn tightly.

Nova smiled softly at the young girl and returned the hug. "Thanks."

Suna suddenly broke the hug. She stood straight, hands on her hips, a serious, frowning face plastered on. Nova flinched a bit at seeing the usually-cheerful girl so serious.

"Nova," Suna began, "you know I think of you as a big sister. And like any good little sister, I can't bear to see my big sister in such a mood. Cheer up!" Suna then reached in her jumpsuit's pocket, taking out something. She offered her closed hand to Nova expectantly.

Unsure about what to do, Nova stared at the young mechanic. Said mechanic sighed as she grabbed Nova's hand with her free hand. Nova felt something touch her palm as Suna opened her hand. "There," she said, satisfied.

In Nova's hand was a small, grey orb. It felt cold and smooth to the touch, like metal, but was light as a feather. On the top of it, if an orb could have a top and bottom, there was a small indentation that ran around the orb a few millimetres away from the top, almost like a button. Nova felt her finger run across the indentation, tracing its path around the orb. Slowly, her finger climbed to the top and applied force, gently pressing down.

The orb gave an unexpectedly loud 'click' as the top lowered, making the indentation disappear. "So it was a button after all..." Nova muttered under her breath.

Slowly, gently, lights appeared all over the surface of the orb. They shone in different colours, red, blue, yellow, purple, pink, orange, cyan, white. A small holographic picture floated aboved the orb. In it was Shinichi with Gale on his left, Suna crouched down in front of him, JP to his right, and Nova to JP's right. Shinichi had an arm around Gale's and JP's neck while JP and Nova were holding hands. All of them were smiling, Shinichi's grin the biggest and most stupid one in the picture. They all seemed so happy with their lives.

Nova put her free hand over her mouth, covering a smile.

"You're welcome," Suna said without being prompted.

Suna turned around and left, leaving a smiling Nova behind, all sad thoughts forgotten.

"Thanks..." Nova muttered as the door to her room closed on Suna's retreating back.

. . . . .

Inside an interrogation room of the SCMC, the girl they had captured sat in a chair in the middle of the white-walled room. On the see-through side of the see-through miror, Captain Wind Rift, Commander Silver Sword, Shinichi and the four ruling princesses all looked at the deathly pale girl.

"Y'know," Wind Rift said, "she doesn't look all that good."

"Indeed," Luna agreed.

Everyone went back to looking through the miror as an interrogator walked in the room. They watched as the unicorn looked at the girl.

{Please state your full name and age for the records,} the interrogator said.

The girl remained silent, looking almost blankly at the miror. No, everyone thought, through the miror. Then, suddenly, the girl spoke, but not to the interrogator.

"I'm Jessica, seventeen." Her cold, empty eyes stared intently at Twilight through the miror.

"What is wrong with her?" Silver Sword voiced everyone's thoughts.

Twilight felt a shiver run down her spin. That feeling... It can't be, can it? she thought. Celestia looked at Twilight and saw her distressed expression.

"What's wrong, Twilight?" Celestia asked.

Twilight gulped, staring at Jessica, who was still answering the questions she was asked. "The... How to say? I guess feeling describes it best, I get from her is something I felt once, a long time ago."

Celestia tilted her head slightly, the others now listening to Twilight.

"When, pray tell, was it that you felt this... feeling?" Luna asked.

Twilight's gaze hardened as she remembered the moment very clearly. "When me and my friends fought against King Sombra."

The other princesses gasped at the revelation, leaving the three males confused. "Who's King Sombra?" Wind Rift asked.

"He was a tyrant that lived long ago," Celestia explained. "Luna and I fought against him nearly two thousand years ago. He was defeated, but he managed to survive by turning into shadow smoke and running away while the curse he had put upon the Crystal Empire caused it to vanish."

Twilight picked up the explanation. "A thousand years later, give or take a few years, The Empire came back, along with Sombra. He was then defeated by the Crystal ponies through them powering up the Crystal Heart."

"He was shattered to dust and scattered by the wind. We all thought he was gone for good," Cadance added.

"Sombra was an accomplished user of the dark arts. He could make curses stronger than anything ever seen before. He was also a user of Necromancy, to keep his slaves, the Crystal ponies, longer," Luna finished the explanation.

"So you think this Sombra guy put a curse on the poor girl?" Silver Sword asked.

Shinichi cleared his throat. "What is it, Shinichi?" Cadance asked.

"I highly doubt Jessica was cursed," Shinichi said. "When I found JP, and after he explained his whole family had been slaughtered, I investigated it. No one in his family, save for him, survived. Not even his sister Jessica."

"If so, why is she willingly talking and answering the questions?" Wind Rift said. "If I recall what I've been told properly, she's either a puppet corpse with no soul, or she's a zombie slave with no freedom."

"There exist a third form of revival."

Everyone turned to Luna. "How do you know, Luna?" Celestia asked.

Luna looked down. "I... ah... may or may not have tried casting the spell for the third kind of revival."

A round of shocked gasps answered Luna. "How could you do that?!" Twilight practically yelled.

"It was long ago, shortly before I became Nightmare Moon!" Luna defended herself. "I was hardly in my right mind back then!"

Silence fell in the small observation room, broken only by the speakers that allowed those in the room to hear what was said on the other side of the one-way window.

"Sooooooooo... What is the third kind of revival?" Twilight asked sheepishly, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Luna chuckled halfheartedly at that. "Twilight Sparkle, always eager to learn more about magic. You haven't changed at all." Luna sighed. "According to the book I had read upon the subject, the third kind of revival is more akin to ressucitation. The deceased person gets their soul back, as well as their freedom, and their body, while not exactly in good shape, will regain all of its functions that it had while alive, including healing."

"So, somepony who was beheaded could still live?" Wind Rift asked.

"Yes, given the head is sowed back on and the death occured recently, within a maximum of three months, but preferably during the first week after the death," Luna clarified.

"What happens after three months?" Twilight asked, morbid curiousity driving her.

"Once the spell is cast, if the death occured more than three months prior, the body begins to rot at an extremely fast rate, leaving only bones after a week or so, I believe."

Everyone shivered in disgust.

"Then she's that?" Silver Sword asked.

Luna nodded. Everyone looked out the mirror, silence falling heavily.

. . . . .

Suna was sitting at her desk, a picture of a family in her hands. The father had greying, shoulder-length black hair tied in a ponytail and golden eyes. His skin was tanned. He was wearing what looked like a military uniform with several medals pinned over the left side of the uniform. To the man's right was a woman with long, flowing pale blue hair and red eyes. Her skin was pale. She was wearing a flowing white dress with gold chains tying what looked like wings made from the dress to gold bracelets on each of the woman's wrists. In front of them were two kids. One of them looked like a younger Suna, and the other was a boy a few years older than his sister. He had black, spiky hair and golden eyes, and was wearing casual clothing.

On younger Suna's right shoulder, a strange animal was perched. It looked like a mix between a small dragon and a bird. It had feather-like blue scales on its body, except for its wings, which had scaly-looking feathers instead. Those feathers were mostly the same blue as the scales on its body, and the colour gradually changed to purple closer to the tip. It also had a long tail of the same scaly feathers. The creature had beady, green eyes and a black beak filled with small, sharp teeth. Where the creature's wings ended, there were three clawed digits forming some sort of hand. Its talons consisted of three forwards-facing, clawed digits and one smaller, backwards-facing, clawed digit.

Suna let out a sigh of longing. "Mom, Dad, I miss you. I miss you as well, Juka. But not you, Eru, you dumb brother."

She set the picture back on her desk, where various tools and pieces lay. Again, she sighed. "Maybe a little trip outside would help."

She got up and left her room to go in the secondary hangar, where something she hadn't used in ages waited.

. . . . .

Eclipse sat down by his bike in the Barrack's garage, where the Royal Guard's vehicules were stored when not in use. He had foregone his royal clothing, judging them to be a royal pain, and wore the clothes he had arrived with. Around him, tools were strewn about everywhere, and his hands and face were covered in grease from his bike's engine.

He wiped his brow, spreading more grease on his forehead, not that he noticed. He put the tool he held down and stood, admiring his bike.

"Good," he said out loud to himself. "Everything is in order. Now, to test those upgrades..."

Eclipse looked to the side and grabbed his helmet. He put it on and sat on his bike, starting it up. The engine roared to life and then settled to a low purr. Eclipse grabbed the handles and positioned himself properly before give the throttle a gentle twist. The bike slowly crept forward.

As it reached the dark runway leading to the outside world, lights came to life on the ground, on the ceiling and at the top and bottom of both walls. Eclipse stopped, putting a foot down on the ground. He smirked.

Twisting the throttle to the max, Eclipse's bike's rear wheels skidded for a few seconds as the engine roared loudly before the tires propelled the bike forward with a burst of speed.

It took seconds for Eclipse to reach the end of the tunnel, exiting into daylight just outside of Sun City. The bike kicked up a cloud of dust as it sped away from the city in a straight line.

Eclipse drove for five kilometers when he reached a large canyon filled with stone formations standing straight towards the sky like the teeth of a great predator. Grinning, Eclipse pressed a button, causing small stabilizer wings to open. He began to tightly swerve around the stone formations at an incredibly high speed. The bike shook dangerously from the treatment, never meant to swerve at such a high speed or that tightly.

Stabwings seem to be working properly... Eclipse thought. Time for upgrade number two. Eclipse pressed the stabwings' button again, and the wings retracted. He slowed down and made his way to the cliff. He pressed a second button. This time, it caused small claws to come out of the wheels. Eclipse sped up, heading straight for the cliff face.

The front wheels collided with the cliff, and began going up it. When the back wheels it the cliff, however, the bike jumped off the surface and flipped back, sending Eclipse careening into the ground. With a grunt, Eclipse got up.

"Damn."

. . . . .

It took Eclipse half an hour to get out of the canyon. He had tested all the other upgrades, but none worked. He sped back towards the plains around Sun City for some training when a strange vehicule rushed by.

The vehicule looked a lot like Eclipse's bike, except it had two wheels instead of four and was sleeker. Its design was simplistic and old-looking. It was white with glowing, light blue lines that seemed to pulse and flow like a liquid. The driver was protected by four, wing-like protrusions, two on each side, and the engine gave off a strange sound, like a mix between a high pitch whine, a low hum and a dragon's screech.

Eclipse shook his head as he recovered from his surprise. He put the throttle to the max and sped after the strange bike. Pulling up beside it, Eclipse opened a channel. "Nice bike," he said truthfully.

The other driver turned their head towards Eclipse. They wore a complicated armour that seemed to be made out of scales. The helmet was shaped like a dragon head, and the visor was in the dragon's mouth.

{Thanks,} a young, female voice answered.

It sounded familiar to Eclipse, but, no matter how hard he tried to remember who the voice belonged to, he couldn't remeber who it was.

{Wanna race?}

The proposition took Eclipse off guard. Back when he was still training to become a Raider, he would often race against other kids on his bike around the camp. He remembered he won most of the time, and he also remembered the scoldings his instructor would give him when he found out.

With a grin, Eclipse nodded once. "Sure. First to the south Desolation Plains wins."

{Desolation Plains?} the girl asked. {Aren't they close to Sun City?}

"Yeah?" Eclipse answered, unsure why the girl had asked.

{Okay then,} the girl said, looking forward again. {But try not to get caught by ponies.} With that, the link closed and the girl sped off, leaving Eclipse literally in the dust.

Eclipse frowned as he pushed his bike to its limits, the vehicule shaking violently. He activated the stabwings and the shaking subsided; the bike lurched forward in a burst of speed from the added stability.

Eclipse brought up a mini-map of the region on his helmet's HUD. He found the green dot indicating his position, as well as a yellow dot a kilometer ahead of him. Crap... Less than three kilometers to the Desolation Plains... Eclipse thought. I won't catch up in time!

Desperate, Eclipse pressed a red button. A warning message popped up on his HUD, but he dismissed it. Suddenly, the bike sped up, the speed gauge going way past the red zone. The sudden acceleration caused Eclipse to yelp as he gripped the handles harder. The scenery blurred past, and Eclipse had to fight hard to keep from screaming.

Eclipse caught up with the girl just as she reached the Desolation Plains south of Sun City.

{First to the city!!} the girl said in her comm, overly happy.

Eclipse just nodded, his voice unable to leave his throat. The girl sped up to keep up with Eclipse, causing the glowing lines to shine brighter for a second or two.

{WOOHOO! THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!}
. . . . .
Later...
. . . . .

Eclipse and the girl were still head to head. The city gate was coming closer, and a small part of Eclipse's brain, the part not affected by the euphoria of going fast, was wondering how they would stop before the hurt people.

The two racers crossed the city gate, the girl slightly before Eclipse. {YES! I WON!}

Eclipse was about to contest when he saw something that made his blood freeze. "WE'RE GONNA CRASH!"

The girl's head jerked forward as she saw the wall they were headed for. The two applied the breaks, trying to slow down enough to at least turn the corner, but their speed was to high, and the breaks were glowing white with the friction.

Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes, then hours. The wall slowly got bigger, and Eclipse closed his eyes, bracing for the impact, when something collided with him and threw him off his bike. He opened his eyes and saw his former opponent laying on top of him. He felt himself heat up, thankful for his helmet.

Eclipse heard the sounds of a crash, and he felt himself let go of a breath he was holding.

"You okay?" the girl asked.

Eclipse was about to answer when he heard a voice that made his blood freeze again.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Eclipse gulped as he slowly got up and turned to face Sky. Behind the Knight were Celestia, whom had an amused expression, Shinichi, Luna, Twilight, and two dozen Guards.

"I can explain, Princess Celestia," Eclipse said, lowering his head and forgetting she was his aunt. "You see, I went out to try some upgrades I made to my bike when she--" Eclipse gestured at the girl "--sped past me. I caught up to her, and we... raced... Sorry."

Luna slowly stepped to the front. Her expression was neutral, but she emitted an aura of fury that made even the Guards tense up. "Now, Eclipse," Luna said, slowly, "what made thou thinkest racing somepony thee dost not know in the city at extreme speeds was a good idea?"

"I didn't?" Eclipse said, his answer more a question than a statement.

"YOU FOAL! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF! HAVE YOU NO SENSE OF SELF-PRESERVATION?!" Luna bellowed in the Royal Canterlot Voice, something she did only when pushed too far.

"I... I... I'M SORRY! I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE FUN!" Eclipse wailed, afraid that if he irritated his mother any more, he would be banished somewhere far and never be heard of again.

Luna sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "While what you did was beyond stupidity, at least you are well." Eclipse let out a breath of relief, only to gulp again when he felt the glare of his mother. "Do not think you will not be punished, Eclipse." She turned to the other driver. "And who might you be?"

The girl gulped as she slowly took off her draconic helmet. "I'm Suna, your Highness," she said with a bow.

It was Shinichi's turn to step forward. "Suna, what, in the name of Harmony, possessed to do this?"

"I was bored, and the mopey atmosphere inside Hikari no fukushuu was getting at me," Suna answered.

Shinichi sighed as he struck Suna's head. "Baka. You'll have to clean the ship all by yourself on top of your other duties," he said.

Suna sighed as she hung her head low. "Yes, sir," she said out loud. Then, to Eclipse, she muttered, "Totally worth it, though."

Eclipse nodded as he and Suna followed the group that had come to investigate the disturbance as they returned to the castle.

. . . . .

Suna sat down at a table in one of the many dining rooms of the castle. The one she was currently in was one of the smallest, and was still big enough to house a long table that could seat about twenty beings.

Along with herself, the room had six other occupants. Eclipse sat down diagonally from her, and beside him, and right in front of her, sat Princess Luna. On Princess Luna's other side sat Shinichi.

On Suna's side of the table to her left was young Princess Soleira. Beside her was Princess Twilight, then Princess Celestia. Everyone ate in silence, until Soleira looked at Suna.

"How old are you?" Soleira asked.

Suna looked dumbfoudedly at Soleira. "How old... am I?" She paused, genuinely thinking about it. "I'm fourteen, your highness," she said with a wink to the young princess, whom giggled at being called 'your highness'.

Everyone stared at Suna, save for Shinichi whom simply tried his hardest not to laught lest he awakened Luna's ire.

Twilight was the first one to say what everyone had on their mind. "You're FOURTEEN?! But you act so--"

"'Mature'?" Suna interrupted Twilight. "Yeah, but that's because of how I was raised."

Twilight opened her mouth to ask something else when Soleira interrupted her. "What's that? It's so pretty."

Twilight glared at the young princess, whom mouthed an apology to Twilight. She crossed her arms over her chest with a huff.

Twilight's antics made Suna giggle. "You're real funny, Princess Twilight. I like you." Suna then looked at Soleira as she grabbed the pendant around her neck. "This is something my mom gave me."

The pendant was simple. A length of string was tied around an end of a crystal. That crystal was a pale pink, and it seemed to hold a light inside.

Everyone around the table just took notice of the crystal and 'ooh'ed' collectively.

"What kind of crystal is that? I can feel a strange energy from it," Celestia asked, now realising where the strange energy she'd felt for a while was coming from.

Suna looked at the crystal, a smile of longing on her face. "It's Love Crystal."

"'Love Crystal'?" Luna asked. "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Me neither," Twilight agreed. "Celestia?"

Celestia had a look of deep thought on her face. She snapped back to reality when Twilight called to her.

"I thought they were only a legend..." Celestia trailed off, lost in her thoughts as she looked at the pink crystal.

Luna looked at her sister. "You know of something about it, don't you, Sister?"

Celestia looked at Luna. "Yes." She turned her head back to Suna, but spoke to everyone. "The Love Crystal is one of the Dragon Gems of old."

"Dragon Gems?" Eclipse asked. " What're those?"

Suna closed her eyes and spoke. "The Dragon Gems are special crystals. They hold a form of energy, often seen like either a light or a flame." Suna opened her eyes. "There are eight types; they are Fire, Metal, Wood or Life, Earth, Water, Light, Shadow, and Love."

Celestia took over. "Only dragons, or those who have the soul of a dragon, can harvest those crystals. What I'm wondering is, how did your mother come across such a rare thing?"

Suna giggled. "Simple. She bought it."

Celestia looked at Suna like she had sprouted wings. "What?"

Celestia cleared her throat. "The Dragon Gems can only be found in the Badlands."

It was Suna's turn to look at Celestia like she'd grown an additional pair of wings. "That's were I'm from."

. . . . .

Sombra looked over a map of Equestria from just after his defeat to the hands of Princess Cadance and the Crystal Heart. On it, a single yellow dot slowly blinked in the middle of nowhere, indicating the position of the girl he'd brought back to life.

"That map is useless nowadays, my friend."

Sombra turned around, pushing the map off the desk on which it had been. "For the umpteenth time, I am not your friend. I am merely an ally of yours that happens to have a similar goal. Once I have the Crystal Heart in my possession, I will stop working with you and rule my Empire once again." Sombra tried to bang his fists on the desk, but his semi-corporeal form didn't take violent actions very well and he fell down to the ground, phasing through the desk.

"I am well awar of that," the figure told Sombra.

Sombra got up, growling. "And why are you sticking to the shadows?"

The figure chuckled. "That is a good question, one with a simple answer." The figure leaned towards Sombra without leaving the all-concealing shadows. "I do not want to spoil the fun of my great reveal!" the figure whispered loudly, the smirk he had on his face dripping into his voice.

Sombra shook his head. "You are completely insane. I understand why she dismissed you," he said venomously. "And I am sure the power you stole isn't helping."

The figure waved a dismissive hand at Sombra. "Yes, yes, call the main villain insane... That is not a stereotype at all." The figure cleared their throat. "Anyway, I came here to inquire about your puppet."

Sombra turned away from the figure. "She is not a puppet. She is my slave." He looked at the wall. "She has been captured by our enemies, and she has yet to reveal anything."

The figure clapped their hands together. "Good!" The figure made to leave, but stopped. They looked back at Sombra. "Ah, yes... Before I leave... For our next move in this game... We'll attack the Gardens." The figure left, leaving Sombra behind.

"The Gardens?" Sombra scowled. "What are you after?"

Salvation of the Heart

by The master of the game

Act I: Prologue | Prologue

Chapter 1 - Sun City

Chapter 2 - Allies

Chapter 3 - Enemies

Chapter 4 - Revelations