//------------------------------// // A new world with new People- er, Ponies // Story: The Night shatters // by Skaltrox Defiance Knight //------------------------------// Eclipse felt like she needed to kneel before Equestria's grand ruler, despite said ruler's knowledge that Eclipse was going to arrive in the castle suddenly. Celestia took notice of Eclipse's facial expression of confusion and acted upon a response. "I see that you are contemplating if you should kneel before me or not" Celestia said, with a hint of amusement. Eclipse was startled by the ruler's words. She was right though. Eclipse couldn't tell if she should or not. All she could do was splutter a response "I-I w-well y-y-you see..." Eclipse was cut off by Celestia continuing her statement. "You do not have to. This time. Any other time you must do so, especially when other ponies are present" she finished. Eclipse nodded at the statement "So, I'm going to assume that you will show me where I'm to go from here?" she asked. Celestia nodded back "Yes. Thankfully, I do not have day court at the moment so I can show you to your quarters. But while I do, is there anything you wish to ask about Equestria or something about it's residents?" Celestia asked as she rose from the throne and began to gracefully walk towards Eclipse; gesturing her to follow. Eclipse takes the opportunity to ask a question that many people would ask in her situation "How do I do magic?" As the two depart the throne room Celestia responded "We will get to basic magic use later on. Your Night shatterer power will need to be touched on slightly too, since you will be using it to protect Equestria from all kinds of threats" Eclipse droops her face into a frown "But what if I don't want to really...fight these...threats? What if I... can't?" she asked losing any enthusiasm she had before. Celestia smiled at the question. To Eclipse, Celestia seemed like a mother, not a mother to her own children (if she had any) but to every resident in Equestria. Celestia replied to the question "Jared, do you think all the ponies that become next in line to obtain this power, really want the responsibility to protect their Friends? Families? All of Equestria's residents?" Eclipse thought for a moment "No, of course not" she replied. Celestia continued "Yes that's right, I've had power wielders who thought they were going to fail constantly to learn to use their powers and use them to defend. And they did. Many a Time. However slowly but surely, they adjusted to their powers and eventually they became very dependable warriors. So basically what I'm saying is, very few that are chosen for this responsibility willingly accept it at first. You just need to adapt" "Okay, thank you, your majesty." Eclipse said. ##### Celestia's face took on one of seriousness "All the Day breakers and Night Shatterers have their own wing that is split into two, one side for the light wielders and one for the Dark wielders. You have the dark power so obviously you shall be in the dark section of the wing..." Celestia paused briefly to give Eclipse some extra info. "Jared, the wielders will be upset about Winter's demise. Since they have this responsibility for -normally- a long time they get close to their fellow wielders. When one dies the others will become upset, so try not to bring it up to them when we get there. Just try to be nice, don't bring up her name and they should be fine with you" Eclipse nodded. As she thought over the pony that she was replacing, Eclipse noticed the sun symbols on the princess's flanks "Um Princess, I have another question?" she queried. Celestia made a gesture for her to continue and Eclipse did so "What is that symbol on your flank for?" Celestia perked up at the question. "This means you haven't seen it on you yet, have you?" she responded, amused again. Eclipse had a look of confusion spread across her face. She was going to have that a lot, she could tell. "What do you mean?" Eclipse asked as she found the nearest place with a mirror like surface and peered through to look at what was on her flank...and sure enough she had a symbol too. Her symbol was an eclipsed moon surrounded by sparkling stars that shone with luminescent power. That's probably how Princess Luna came up with her name. Eclipse had many questions now, but she couldn't figure out which to ask first. Celestia decided to relieve her of her questions before she could ask them, "The symbol that all ponies eventually get is called a 'cutie mark'. This mark details that pony's special talent and calling in life. As you can imagine, it helps them greatly with getting a job. The wielders of the day and night powers, all have a mark that relates to them becoming what they are. Normally a pony gets there cutie mark when they are a colt or filly" Celestia explained. "But I was a human being not very long ago so how do I have one of these marks if I have never been to this world before?" Eclipse replied pointing to her mark. Celestia turned towards the former human "The power you have acquired is most likely responsible for that, since this power becomes apart of that pony's life, it is essentially their destiny to be a wielder without knowing it yet. When you transformed, the power gave you a mark detailing your destiny as a Night shatterer." Eclipse understood Celestia's statement...kind of. She had dodged a bullet, knowing what those marks meant. It would of been embarrassing if she didn't when she met these other ponies. The two ponies walked on, the princess slightly in front, due to her longer stride. They remained in silence for the rest of the trip to the wing. Eclipse made slightly uncomfortable glances at maids and other servants going about their different work and looked away when they returned the glance at her. After what felt like an eternity to arrive at the front door of the wing, Celestia gasped "Oh my, Jared we haven't got an Equestrian name for you yet" she said, panicked. Eclipse would of panicked too if she hadn't already gotten a name. Eclipse calmed Celestia down with her response "Actually I do, thanks to Luna. I'm called Eclipse Nightfall now" Celestia cleared her throat "Ah Luna, of course she would be the one to name one of her own wielders." Celestia pointed to the door of the wing and explained "Okay, this is the wing were the wielders reside, they will show you to your room and get you settled in from here. I must go now and attend to some duties, but once Luna returns we can help you go over some other things you need to know and do." "Thank you, your highness. I'll be...in there if you need me" Eclipse said, bowing and chuckling nervously. "Very well, be calm and don't act silly. But most of all be nice. Goodbye for now, Eclipse" Celestia responded as she turned around and trotted off slowly. Eclipse turned to the door and sighed "Well, here goes basically everything" she muttered as she pushed the door open. ##### The inside of the wing was pretty much like what Eclipse expected. It had two sections that split off, one on the left with a large sun symbol on the entrance and one on the right with a large moon symbol. Eclipse believed that they were the entrances to the rooms of the wielders. Looking forward to the end of the wing, there was an area that seemed to be an entertainment/dining room. One side was a kitchen with a long dining table with room for 12 people -ponies- and then all kinds of sports and other means of entertainment on the other side. The whole place looked inviting and Eclipse managed a smile. Eclipse was about to evaluate that no one was in the main hall, when she suddenly saw a pony sitting down on a couch by the front doors, reading. Eclipse looked at the pony's appearance, she was a mare with golden fur and a yellow and blue mane and tail. She had wings instead of a horn - a Pegasus- and a sun with a flowing wind passing through it as a cutie mark. Eclipse wrestled up the courage to move over to the mare and speak to her, although very shakily. "Hey there." Eclipse said casually to the mare. The mare in turn looks up from her book and smiles at the newcomer. She placed the book down and got up to greet the pony. "Hello, you must be the new dark wielder that's replacing...Winter" the pony said, deflating slightly at the memory of her fallen friend. Eclipse caught on to her mood change and decided to act quickly "Yes I am, nice to meet you. My name is Eclipse Nightfall" she held out a hoof as she introduced herself. "Who are you?" she added. The mare looked back up at Eclipse and returned her original smile "Welcome, Eclipse. I'm Solar Wind but you can just call me Solar" the pony named Solar replied, taking the offered hoof-shake. "How about I let the others know you are here and we can get you settled in? You might want to cover your ears." Solar drew in her breath and shouted "Hey guys, the new dark wielder is here! Come out and meet her!" There was some slight mutter from both sides of the wing and not a moment later 6 ponies entered the main hall. They were all kinds of colours, but they maintained a certain palette that related to what their power was. Eclipse wondered if these colour's the ponies had were like that from birth or if they changed when they got their powers. Solar introduced Eclipse to the group and they returned their own introductions. "Guys, this is Eclipse nightfall. She is our new 5th dark wielder." Solar explained. 5 of the other ponies introduced themselves, "Hi, my name is Dusk rider" a black-coated Pegasus stallion said. "Hey there. I'm Moon Storm" a grey-coated Unicorn mare greeted. "How do you do Eclipse? I am called Nebula skies. Nice to meet you" a purple-coated Pegasus mare responded. "I'm Heat flare. What's up?" a red coated Pegasus stallion said. "Heh hey there Eclipse, The names Burst fire" the orange coated Unicorn stallion piped up. The last of the six, however, didn't give an introduction. He was a yellow-coated Pegasus stallion, that refused to speak up. Instead he looked away with an agitated look on his face. Burst fire spoke up for him "That's Flame Striker. He's been a little anxious to see the new wielder-" Flame Striker cut Burst off, "Anxious? You mean furious!" he shouted. Solar wind came up next to Eclipse and whispered in her ear. "Flame kinda had a massive crush on Winter and when she died, well...he took it the hardest." Eclipse could only pull her mouth into an O shape. Burst and Flame were arguing back and forth as the others watched. "I know I shouldn't be getting angry at this new wielder, she didn't cause her death, but I can't except her! I want Winter!" he yelled in his blind anger. "I...I've got to go clear my head" he said lightly before running back into his room, leaving the others to look at each other awkwardly. Eclipse spoke up first "I'll go after him" the others just nodded blank faced. ##### Eclipse ran into the Sun dorms and found Flame's door open. He was on his bed, sobbing, as he looked at a framed picture, most likely of him and Winter. Eclipse felt like this was a bad idea, but she also felt like it was the right thing to do. So she entered the room knocking as she did. Flame looked up at the mare and gave a look of anger "Go away...and get out of my room!" he shouted. Eclipse didn't flinch, she just progressed forward giving a warm smile. Flame repeated "Get out of my room!" Again she didn't turn away, now she was right next to him and she did something she'd never really done as a guy. She hugged him. And it was actually calming Flame down too. "I know I'm not Winter, but I can try to be like her, if you tell me how. I may not have her same voice or look but I'm not a bad pers-er, pony. Just give me a chance to prove it that I am." She let the stallion go, patting his back gently, before leaving the room. As Eclipse left, she let out a deep sigh "I hope he'll be a little bit pleasant next time"