//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 The Exiled 
// Story: Day of Eclipse 
// by Eclipse_Nightstar 
//------------------------------//

It was a quiet night in the dark forest, only broken by the occasional hoot of an owl. A sharp snap of a twig Shattered the silence, scaring the owl from its perch. A hooded figure cursed to himself as his quarry, which happened to be a small turkey, flew behind a tree, startled by the sound. The figure lowered his bow, letting the tension on the string dissipate. 

“Looks like I’m going without a good meal again tonight.” he grumbled, pulling a small package from his pouch “Gods, I’m getting sick of these rations, probably just another part of my punishment.” he unwrapped the small bar of bread, dropping the leaf that had been used to preserve the food. He bit off a small chunk of it, gnawing at the dry bread. “One would think that an Draconian ranger could catch a mere animal.” He turned and walked back to his camp. He scanned the night sky. He shivered, despite being next to the small fire, then looked around. The air was filled with a magic energy that had not been there moments before, it was like a dark cloud, hovering over the small human town to the east. “My,my that’s interesting.” He chuckled as he gave a sharp whistle, a fiery red bird flew over and perched on his shoulder. He handed a small roll of paper to its beak, it snacthed it in its beak and flew off. “Well, better go check it out, hope my little report will keep the council off my back.” he chuckled, “Don’t know why they care about an exile so much, I mean, isn’t the whole point of exile is to not have any contact with where you’re exiled from?” the draconian smiled, shook his head and sprinted towards the disturbance. “Come to think of it, this would be the second time I’ve felt magic of such magnitude.” He thought as he lept into the branches, deftly running from branch to branch, almost gliding. “Albeit, this time seems more like a dark, twisted version of the first.” He shook his head, his mind racing almost as fast as his feet. He stopped, spinning around the trunk of the tree he had stopped at. “Well, here I go.” he said, leaping from the tree and towards the human town. He gave a small smirk as he wove through the shadows. He followed the magic, the power almost pulling him now. As he got closer, he felt the dark magic that he had sensed feed into his own ice magic. He had to stop several times to catch his breath, the waves of energy now hitting him with force. Then, just as he arrived at the source, the school that he had seen when he was first banished. What was its name again… ah yes Canterlot High. He thought, unable to keep a smile from his face, but that faded when he saw six young girls staring at, from what he could tell, was a fallen angel. He shook his head, knocked an arrow, and stepped into view.

“Ahem, look miss, I don’t know what is going on, but I would ask that you stand down.” he smirked as he felt their gazes drift to him. 

“Are you crazy!?” one of the girls shouted, he gave a cold chuckle in reply, spinning the arrow back into his quiver and sliding his sword from its sheath. 

Meanwhile, the phoenix had flown to a tall, clean shaven man, platinum hair and wise face framed by a crown resembling elegant curved  thorns. The phoenix perched on his shoulder dropping the small scroll into his outstretched hand. He opened the scroll, and after reading the  contents, clapped a few times. A robed councilor rushed to his king, bowing. 

“Retrieve a quill and some parchment, chancellor, I believe a few invitations are needed to be sent. ” The king said, kindly smiling and waving to his side. “I am also revoking the banishment of Eclipse, it’s time our prince returned home.”
Back with Eclipse, he had been a little disappointed when the “dark angel” had turned out to be just another girl who was twisted by the dark magic. He panted heavily as he sheathed his sword, and checked for any serious injuries he might have caused.

“Now that I’m not avoiding getting blasted into oblivion, I can figure out whatever caused that corruption.” he thought to himself. Picking up the unconscious girl, and walking out of the dust cloud that was kicked up by the last few blows of the fight.

“That. was. Awesome!” One of the girls shouted, Eclipse eyed the girl, her rainbow striped hair only caused a slight pause from the ranger, after all, he had seen stranger things from the dryads around his old home. Her violet eyes were almost glowing with excitement. Another one of them jumped erratically. 

“Yeah! She was like pew! Pew! Zap!” She shouted waving her wands as if firing blasts of magic. “Then you were like swish! Swing! Pow!” her voice was almost unintelligible with how fast she was speaking, and she was now was swinging a stick, that he was quite surprised, he didn’t see her pick it up, and her posture was perfect as she swung it lightly around like a blade.

“Well, I’ve had a lot of practice.” he chuckled, placing the girl he held in his arms on the ground. “Perks of living..” he continued, but was interrupted by the pink haired girl again.

“For a really, really long time, and you did something bad and you got kicked out because your dad is the one who does the punishing to prove he wasn’t picking favorites. You were put into the forest near here, and you can’t go home until they tell you.” She rambled. Eclipse blinked several times.

“How did you….” He started, his hand subconsciously floating towards his knife on his belt. She shrugged, stating that it was just a hunch. He pulled his hand away from his belt and he began to inspect the violet haired girl for injuries again, just to make sure. The one with light, flowing pink hair, stepped forward. 

“I-is she okay?” she asked quietly, she seemed to shrink back when he looked her way. He silently thanked the stars that his sensitive hearing made him able to hear the quiet girl.

“She’ll be fine.. I’m actually impressed that she took as much of a beating as she did.” He replied, smiling. “You can relax, I’m not going to do anything to you six, and I want to make sure she’ll be okay before I go back to my camp.” He nodded, noting how tense the girls were.  Just then, his stomach rumbled… causing him to chuckle. “I don’t suppose you have any places I could get a decent meal around here. All I’ve had for the past month or so is stale bread.”  the Blonde rubbed the back of her neck.

“Well there’s a restaurant” She said in a southern drawl, before she continued her statement, he stood up.

“I don’t have any money.” he deadpanned.  The pale girl with curled, purple hair about past her shoulder, stepped forward, placing her hands on her hips.

“That, Dear, is obvious. The state of your clothing is simply dreadful.” She said, she placed her hand on her forehead, faking a swoon. The draconian rolled his eyes, giving a quiet scoff.

“Well, when you get literally get pulled from your home and thrown into a forest with nothing but the clothes on your back and a few assorted tools, let me know if you’re still worried about how fancy your clothes are.” he retorted, it looked like he struck a nerve. “I’m sorry, that was out of line.” he hung his head, then hit it, as if he had remembered something important. “Again, I apologize, I forgot my manners.” He said, bowing “My name is Eclipse Nightstar.” he added, looking up slightly. He let his voice take a more noble tone, his straight face and piercing, icy blue eyes locking on each of the girls. When nothing happened, he straightened up, frowning in annoyance. “I believe it’s your turn.” he growled. Pink lept into the air, landing within arm’s reach, she shook his hand with such enthusiasm that he was afraid that his arm would fall off.

“Hi! I’m Pinkie! Pinkie Pie.” she said, in the enthusiastic manner he guessed was her normal way of speaking. Although, he did wonder if she had ingested a little too much sugar or some other substance. He forced a smile and nodded.

“Charmed.” he said dully. Rainbow smiled, gave him a thumbs up and winked.

“Rainbow Dash.” she said, her posture visibly straightening up. Prideful Eclipse thought, nodding in acknowledgement. 
Inwardly chuckling at how accurate his nickname was. Curly Purple did a small curtsy. 

“Call me Rarity dear.” she said, almost echoing the tone of his own introduction, albeit slightly less authoritative, and more kind. He smiled, bowing in reply. Blondie walked up to Eclipse, eyeing him carefully.

“Apple Jack.” she said bluntly, he let his smile fade, she didn’t trust him…. And for good reason. 

“A pleasure.” he could have spat the words, but he held himself back. Wouldn’t do to lose self control now, not after that fight. Little Pink shuffled towards him a little, and with each little step, she seemed to try to shrink back.

“Ummm I’m Fluttershy” She squeaked, obviously terrified. Quiet little one isn’t she. Eclipse thought.

“Hello Fluttershy.” He smiled softly, she shied away, although he couldn’t complain, shy was in her name after all.The last girl, who had striped yellow and red hair, her face told him all he needed to know. She was angry, the anger almost shining in her eyes. Her posture seemed to scream I’m not going to give you anything. “My, my, aren’t we hostile.” he said, giving her a slight smirk. She gave him an annoyed sigh, throwing her hands up into the air. The tense silence that followed was broken by the one that he had fought stirring. “Well, someone's awake.” Eclipse said quietly, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He knelt down, offering his hand to help her up. When the girl did nothing, he shrugged, If she didn’t want his help, he wouldn’t blame her, after all, he did beat her within an inch of her life. He felt a hand firmly grab his shoulder, too big and the nails too sharp for his new acquaintances. Eclipse took a deep breath and turned around, keeping a calm expression. He looked at the thin, angry woman with plum colored hair and a suit that matched the shade. “How can I help you?” Eclipse asked kindly, his eyes locking with hers. 

“How dare you!” she shouted, Eclipse wanted to wince, but that would show weakness, and this faculty member felt like someone that he needed to meet even with her authoritative posture. He blinked, using his magic to subtly look through her mind. “You not only interrupt this competition, but you attack one of the competitors!” She said, not lowering her voice. 
That was when something snapped in Eclipse, he gave a mild chuckle, which grew into a maniacal laugh. The Headmaster let go, obviously surprised by his reaction.

“Well, I didn’t see anything that looked like a competition, and I’m not aware of any display that requires you to rip holes between dimensions.” He said, giving her a venomous smirk. “If I may, Headmaster Chinch, what about this little feud will force Canterlot to close it’s doors?” he asked, his smirk becoming a full grin. Chinch raised her eyebrow, her posture visibly shook, she took a step back. Give me an inch, I’ll take a mile, witch….. Heh, rhyme. He thought, sighing in frustration and satisfaction. “Your school, it’s won several of these beforehand. Yes?” After a moment, she nodded, the fear growing in her eyes. “So, what about you using magic to cheat changes this situation?” He growled, his eyes were now practically glowing with his wrath. They were in fact, glowing slightly, it took all he had to not tear her apart with a frigid wind right then and there. 

“C-Cheating!”  she gasped, Eclipse chuckled, raising his arm. A thin mist that had clustered  and floated just below his hand. Sharp, splintering crack tore through the air. In just a few moments small, crystalline orb shone in his hand. 

“Also, I believe something such as blackmail is illegal.” He smirked, holding up a small piece of paper he had procured from the headmaster’s pocket when she turned him around. “I, however, will be turning this over to the authorities regardless.” he gave a snicker, throwing the letter into the air before catching it again between his index and middle finger. “But before someone misjudges my character, I’m no knight in shining armor.” He sneered again, throwing the orb into the air and snapping his fingers. The orb shattered in midair, the shards floating back down just above his hand and hovered threateningly. One shot forward, flying past The headmaster’s ear, the sharp edge barely missing, it in fact, had made a small cut on her cheek, but it wasn’t deep enough to break the skin, she gave a small yelp in surprise as the shard circled back and flew past on the other side, avoiding causing damage. “I certainly hope I don’t have to say anything else.” Chinch sneered, giving him a sharp slap across the cheek. What little control he had left snapped, Eclipse chuckled darkly as he let energy course through him. He felt himself grow a few feet, biting his lip in pain as a tail forcibly sprouted, though it was hidden by his cloak.  “THAT’S ENOUGH!”  He shouted clutching his head, trying to wrestle control back from the monster that threatened to take over and tear the self-entitled headmaster in front of him to ribbons. Suddenly a blast of energy exploded around him, throwing Chinch backwards for a few feet, unharmed, though definitely shaken from the ordeal. The blinding light died down, leaving him collapsed in an unconscious heap upon the ground.