Ponyville, Eclipse’s Property; 6:15am
The second dawn reached the sleepy town of Ponyville, the only ponies who were awake this time would be Applejack and her family… except there was another pony who was awake this time… well, he woke up earlier than the Apple Family does. Eclipse was snoozing on his hammock peacefully until he moved his weight to one side of the hammock, causing him to tip himself off the makeshift bed. Landing face-first onto the ground, he made a muffled noise before raising his head with his hooves tangled in the hammock.
“...Who turned on the lights?” asked Eclipse to himself, mumbling.
Taking notice of his surroundings, he remembered yesterday’s events and proceeded to get up groggily. After half moving and crawling toward his wagon, he pulled out the beverage given to him by Pinkie which was just a colored liquid now. Luckily it was still cold, so with a swift motion, he gulped down the whole thing in a single fluid move. With a content sigh and his eyes brightening with energy, the stallion did some stretches for a good minute before going with a simple jog that a quadrupedal being could do.
Maybe I should go for a morning jog around town, to get better used to the town’s surroundings.
Eclipse began to leave, as he headed first to Ponyville; the stallion followed a predetermined route, going down the rest of the dirt path to the bridge that led to the town square. Circling around the town hall and going past some buildings, he went going by the main and side streets, before going through town hall again and followed the main streets again. After following an almost zig-zag pattern, he ended his jog right in front of Sugarcube Corner, stopping slowly before checking inside.
The building was still closed, but inside the shop it was surprisingly clean, possibly cleaned by Pinkie after Eclipse and Fluttershy left last night. Seeing nopony inside Eclipse made his way onward, following another street that led him to more streets before ending up by Carousel Boutique, then the park, finally making his way back home.
The stallion didn’t seem too tired but was breathing a bit, before relaxing by sitting under the shade of a tree even though the sun was barely up, some shadows managed to be seen, until he steadied his breathing a little.
Blinking away the exhaustion, he stood back up and moved to his tool chest to retrieve the tools for today. “Time to get to work.”
Ponyville, Fluttershy’s Cottage; 9:00am
Fluttershy had woken up a few minutes ago and did her morning rituals and schedule; she fed Angel and the other animals, made sure the chickens came out of their coop, checked her bear friend, Harry, and checked the birds and their bird houses, following all of this with going out afterwards.
While the butterscotch mare barely went out other than to shop for food, this wasn’t the reason why she was going out. The mare was heading to her newest neighbor, Eclipse; the stallion while odd, was nice in his own way and the two shared a similar trait about them, they liked their solitude. While Fluttershy was a bit unsociable against new ponies, Eclipse seemed to be just distant, it still didn’t change the fact they were shy in their own ways.
Another reason she wanted to visit was to help Eclipse build his home, while the night wasn’t too cold, she didn’t want him to sleep outside again. With a determined look in her eyes she made her way to Eclipse’s when she heard the telltale sign of a hammer hitting nails.
He’s up already? I thought he be asleep or waking up now.
Following the path she used before when she first met Eclipse, she saw the stallion hammering on the planks, but this time he had down twice the amount of work already. He had built one wall, and was working on another that had a hole for a window to be fitted.
Eclipse stopped his hammering as he spotted Fluttershy, putting down the tool, he gave his signature flat look but nodded in greeting toward Fluttershy. “Good morning, Miss Shy,” said Eclipse.
“Hello Eclipse, you’re up early… not there’s anything wrong with that,” said Fluttershy.
“Well I didn’t intend to wake so soon, but the sun had other plans. I did have some time to go for an early jog and managed to complete a good portion of my home… I actually might have something for you to do, if you would like.”
Fluttershy perked up at helping him, coming closer to know what he needed. After a quick trot toward Eclipse, the stallion placed his hoof under his muzzle in thought of what could he have Fluttershy do.
“I guess while I’m busy with this, you mind unpacking a bit of my belongings. Specifically I need those crates with the symbol of a seed on it, the rest you don’t have to bother with for now.” Fluttershy turned to face the wagon, seeing a couple of those crates already. “Once you managed to open them, I need you to pull out one packet of seeds from each crate. After that pour them into a clay pot, which I have in the far back of the wagon and simply place the emptied packet in front of what pot you pour those seeds from. I’m planning on making a small farm just some ways there,” said Eclipse.
Pointing to some open stretch of land, Fluttershy understood and flew toward the wagon; the crates weren’t that big and enough for her to lift, but as to how she was suppose to open them is when she started to have problems.
“Oh I almost forgot,” said Eclipse, busy with the building. “The crowbar should be by the pots somewhere, if you can’t find it I’ll help you look for it.”
Fluttershy nodded in thanks, then speaking back. “Thank you Eclipse and thank you for letting me help… Not that you couldn’t done this alone,” said Fluttershy, a tad quietly near the end.
Eclipse didn’t hear or ignored what Fluttershy said as he continued working. The next couple of minutes, the noises of crates opening and nails being hammered was heard for the rest of the morning.
Ponyville; 9:30am
After the party, Pinkie opened Sugarcube Corner and began the day as usual for herself, baking sweets and selling them. It was around that same time that her friends came inside to pick her up to visit Eclipse and see if he needs any help with building his home.
“Big Mac was fine with me seeing this new pony, we’re almost done with the harvest, that and the Apple Family Reunion is coming up too, so Granny Smith said it would be fine for me to take a break. I still feel like they need my help though,” said Applejack.
“Oh Applejack, you stress yourself too much, you should come with me and Fluttershy this Thursday for a nice day in the spa,” said Rarity.
“I’m fine with just resting under a tree Rarity.”
“Speaking of rest, I don’t see why you guys had to wake me from my nap like that.”
“You mean when you were lazying on one of my family’s trees, again?”
Rainbow kept quiet, whistling innocently as she kept her eyes away from Applejack who was glowering at her. Pinkie intervened by grabbing the two around their necks for a tight hug.
“Ahhh, don’t argue with each other Dashie and AJ! We’re going to see our new friend, Ipsy!”
“Ipsy? Darling I don’t think its right to be giving him a nickname so soon, especially since he was adamant with us using his proper name.”
“Don’t worry Rarity, he seemed fine with me calling him Ipsy, besides he calls you and Fluttershy, Lady and Miss,” said Pinkie, pointing out their own titles.
“Well… its different when he does it to us,” said Rarity, a light blush on her cheeks.
The three friends laugh at their friend’s embarrassment; they went down the path to Fluttershy’s until they came across where Eclipse would be living. It was at that same moment they found Fluttershy pouring some seed packets into some clay pots.
Fluttershy after pouring the last packet of seeds, heard some movement behind her and when she turned, she spotted her friends. “Girls,” said Fluttershy meekly as she flew toward them. “What are you doing here… if you don’t mind?”
Rainbow flew up to her close friend to greet her before speaking. “We’re just here to see Eclipse and see if he needs any help. Where is he anyway?” Rainbow looked around and couldn’t see the stallion.
Fluttershy looked behind her and also noticed he wasn’t there any longer; while Fluttershy was busy working, Eclipse managed to bring up all four walls, leaving only the front door, roof and windows unfinished.
“I think he went to the lake’s shore for sand,” said Fluttershy, rubbing her chin in thought. “He mentioned using it to make glass.”
“Glass? How is he going to make glass, he’s an earth pony, I thought you can only make glass as a unicorn?”
“That isn’t completely true, Miss Dash.” Eclipse appeared behind a tree with two bags full of sand.
“Don’t call me Miss, just Rainbow… or Dash… but not, Miss.”
“Sorry, I assumed you’d be alright by a given title, of that I am sorry. I see yourself, Pinkie and Applejack are the more… ‘casual’ types.”
Rainbow deepened her stare, almost close to a glare but keeping a normal look in her eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?” asked Rainbow, conspiratorially.
Eclipse trotted past her toward a small stove, after grabbing a panel of some kind, he placed different materials into it, mostly sand and two other ingredients. After pushing the panel into the stove and turning it on and placing some wood, he grabbed something from his satchel.
“Well I know many ponies have various personality types; some are brash, others quiet, some have exquisite tastes, others more of a country flair, and other times… some simply keep to themselves.”
Eclipse pulled out something nopony has ever seen before, a red pulsing crystal or gem of some kind. The glow it gave off was truly unique and seemed to give off a warmth to it… as if it were a flame.
It didn’t went unnoticed as Rarity and Pinkie gave their own reactions, one was intrigued and inspired by the gem while the other simply liked the pulsing glowing it gave off. “Ohhhh, preettty,” said Pinkie, following the glow like a moth toward a bright light.
“Are you calling me brash!” Rainbow didn’t seem to care about the crystal as she zoomed right up to Eclipse, snout pushed towards his; Eclipse was unfazed while Rainbow was pissed off at his lack of emotion. “Ever since you came here, you been throwing a lot of comments, most directed at me! If you got a problem with me, then why don’t you just say it!?”
Fluttershy gasped, worried about her new friend and old one would fight, while Applejack was ready to stop Rainbow from doing anything stupid. Eclipse glanced back at the enraged pegasus, still holding onto the gem with an almost care-free grasp.
After a lengthy time, Eclipse responded, but not the way anypony expected. “Your assumptions aren’t something you should follow Rainbow Dash,” said Eclipse, using her full name. “It’ll lead you to a world of trouble if you rush head-first without the slightest grasp of caution.”
Eclipse turned away from Rainbow for a split second… a move that wasn’t a good choice when against somepony like Dash. With fury in her eyes and blinded by it, she did the first thing she would do to somepony who in her eyes was taunting her – she swatted away the red gem on his hoof.
Time seemed to slow down as the gem tumbled into a patch of grass. “SAY THAT AGAIN, SAY IT, I DARE YO-” Before Dash could finish what she was about to say, a pillar of intense flames appeared where she swatted the gem to.
The flames seemed to grow wild and consume anything it could reach… or it would until Eclipse stopped it. Everypony seemed to back away from the flames, but Eclipse calmly approached the fire. “Eclipse! Get back here, you’re going to get cooked if you go near those flames!” shouted Applejack, trying to reach for the stallion.
Before she could though, Eclipse reached the flames… and then they faltered. Within his hoof was the red gem, leaving behind charcoal and a blackened spot in the grass. Everypony stared at Eclipse, especially Dash after he trotted past her to stop the flames.
Eclipse glanced at the crystal before finally placing it in the stove, which caused a controlled fire to begin. After closing the stove securely, he looked at the ponies around him before calmly approaching Rainbow.
“Rainbow, while I may seem like I’m insulting you with what I may say… I am simply stating things I can understand about someone… I have difficulty connecting with others and better understand with a more… ‘direct’ way of contact. Sometimes this method of mine can be a bit… insensitive or other times, I may make more enemies than friends. I’m sorry if I harmed your feelings or yourself in anyway.” Eclipse did a light bow before going back to his tools and a pile of wood.
Rainbow stared with a faraway look before shaking it away and flying up to Eclipse and helping him carry some wood. “Uh yeah… and I’m sorry for… thinking you were some rude stallion too...”
“No harm done, though to be truthful, if I was really angry I’d explode like an inferno,” said Eclipse, a small grin on his muzzle.
At first nopony caught on until two ponies, one who knows Eclipse’s infamy for puns and Pinkie who herself likes a good pun, giggled. Everypony else giggled too except for Rainbow who had a dumbfounded look.
“...I don’t get it, why’s everypony laughing?”
“Nothin Dash, nothing you need to worry yourself about. Now Eclipse, I see you got some seeds here, so I’m assuming you gonna make yourself a farm?”
“Indeed, if it would be kind of you, I’d like if you would make a fenced area so I can prepare some seeds. I believe… one-hundred meters by eighty meters will do, please. You can grab some wood and tools over there.”
“All righty, time to get to work!” The apple farmer tilted her stetson to block the sun so she can better see, heading toward the pile of wood that Dash was collecting.
Eclipse nodded in thanks before looking at the remaining three mares. “Lady Rarity, yourself and Pinkie could help carry some of my belongings outside my home near the front door. Fluttershy, you can help Rainbow, I need you two to help prepare the roof; after that you can help Applejack with the fence. I’ll be right back, I need to go get some more of my things.”
“Wait, you got more stuff? Yeesh, you carry more things when Rarity wanted to visit Canterlot for that opening for those fancy clothes,” said Rainbow, holding a good pile of wood.
“Rainbow! I do not carry too much stuff… only what I need.”
“You mean the piles on piles of luggage?” Applejack asked from an open patch of land.
The friends began to do some short conversation while Eclipse trotted off down the path that leads to Fluttershy’s. While he left, a random thought came to Pinkie’s head that for once… made sense. “Hey… Why’s he going to Fluttershy’s, all that’s there is the Everfree?”
At that moment every single one of the mares, stopped what they were doing and rushed where Eclipse went just some moments ago. “ECLIPSE!”
The girls went down the same path Eclipse took and while Rainbow went ahead, she couldn’t find him or see where he went. The path only lead to Fluttershy’s and was one of the entry ways to the Everfree… well one of the more safer entry ways. Entering the Everfree outside of the given pathways were dangerous due to some of the wildlife being within the trees.
Rainbow stopped and flew up to see if he can see the stallion until she saw something shift in some trees in the Everfree. Flying back to her friends, Rainbow pointed out seeing something move in the forest.
“Girls, I think Eclipse is over there, why the heck is his stuff even in the Everfree in the first place?!”
“I’m wondering about something else, I didn’t seem to see him come into town from the train station and considering Rarity was the first pony to see him and not Pinkie-”
“I was busy finding Mayor Mare,” said Pinkie, interrupting Applejack.
“Again, odd that he met Rarity first, I’m wondering if he came here by train and if not… then how he got here with so much stuff?”
That question would be answered later, as the trees that Rainbow mentioned began to sway and move. The girls ready for something to come out, found Eclipse’s head popped out from the shrubbery, some leaves and twigs in his mane.
“Eclipse, you scared us! Why did you went to the Everfree like that, you could of told us your belongings were in there?” asked Fluttershy.
Eclipse trotted a bit with another wagon strapped to him. “I’m sorry about my sudden leave, I just remembered to tell you girls that I came through the Everfree and left some of my belonging in there.”
“YOU CAME HERE FROM THE EVERFREE!” shouted Rarity. “Sorry to scream but, why would you go through such a dangerous place and how did you managed to get through unharmed?”
“Again, I am new to Equestria, when I found out the forest was dangerous I made sure to be extra careful afterwords. So far I managed to follow a safe path and keep any deadly predators away by masking my presence.”
“And how did you hide yourself anyway?” asked Applejack, curious.
Eclipse pulled out another crystal that was a dark purple, the crystal too glowed its own color and seemed to give an almost mysterious feel to it, staring at it almost felt like you were in a dark room or surrounded in darkness. It didn’t give anypony the creeps, but the glow itself seemed to give a shiver, due to the weirdness and not instinctual fear.
“Umm, that won’t burst into flames… will it?” asked Rainbow.
“No, this one allows a user to have their presence invisible to any beings. The only way you can be revealed is through a concentrated search spell,” said Eclipse. “I had enough to keep myself cloaked until I made it to Ponyville. Now again I am sorry, but since everypony is here, mind helping me bring these back.”
“Sure darling, we’d love to help,” said Rarity. Eclipse stepped out of the bushes with another wagon… then another, and another, and another, and another. This continued until Eclipse came out with literally eight wagons and with the one he brought yesterday that’s a total of nine wagons. The wagons were connected together with a strong chain almost connected like a train cart. “...you… Oh my.”
“Whoa! That’s a lot of wagons, you’re really strong Ipsy!” said Pinkie.
“How are you not tired?” asked Applejack, a little shocked but not surprised.
“Well if you must know I am actually feeling a little sleepy, I travel at night and rest in the day since it is more safer to do so… that and I travel alone.”
“Forget everything I said about you Eclipse, you’re awesome! You gotta tell me some stories about your travels, I bet you must of fought some badass beasts before!”
“I might… but you mind helping,” said Eclipse, yawning. “I feel the need to rest...” Before Eclipse could continue speaking he nodded off, quietly sleeping as he stood with several wagons strapped to him.
The girls could only stare at the odd sight until Fluttershy helped removing the straps from him and held him up as she slung his leg over her. “I think we should take a break now.” The girls each laughed, before taking some wagons to move; Applejack took a good majority of four, Rainbow two, Pinkie two, and Rarity took the two that seemed to have the least stuff to her perspective back to Eclipse’s property.
Canterlot; Canterlot Castle, Throne Room; 10:00am
Today’s morning duties would begin soon, starting with morning court… well, today’s hearing as nopony comes to night court for different reasons but mostly due to the late hour. In the past centuries Celestia would stay for all three hours during night court, but now she stays for either an hour or half knowing nopony would come but still stay until readying for sleep.
Celestia busied herself with reading some scrolls sent by various towns and cities, or sometimes listen to the whims of somepony, most commonly a noble complaining but today was simply reading scrolls from different places.
Raise taxes in Manehatten; denied.
Celestia read through different scrolls, mostly throwing the large red-x on it for no, moving to the next.
Increase income for higher-class ponies; denied.
Punish a stallion for insulting my clothes; denied.
Suing somepony for breaking up with me; definitely denied.
But occasionally… some good requests would come once in awhile.
Promote helping new construction for hospital in Trottingham; approved. Celestia smiled knowing some ponies aren’t as self-centered, that there was still some good ponies out there. Going through some more scrolls, Celestia came upon an interesting one.
From the mayor of Ponyville, I wonder what she needs. Reading the scroll, it listed a few things but, the most interesting thing was a request for a few things for a specific pony.
Request for a trader’s license and citizen license for a…
“Eclipse Light?” asked Celestia to herself.
Celestia’s aide and secretary, Raven Inkwell trots up to her with an inquisitive look. “Is something the matter princess?” asked Raven.
“No… but could you do a name search for a… Eclipse Light, please,” said Celestia, continuing to read the scroll.
“Of course, it will be just a moment.” As Raven left, Celestia continued to read the scroll and what it followed about this Eclipse Light.
A new pony known as Eclipse Light has moved to Ponyville; he isn’t born here, but he’s a normal Earth pony. He wishes to live here and bought his own land and plans to build whatever he wants there. He also requests a trader’s license in order for him to sell some wares he has from his travels outside of Equestria. He isn’t the shady-type from my first meeting with him and may improve Ponyville with what he may sell, I also would like to request some sources of specific items that Eclipse requested from me to you, the items he wish to find are listed below:
Reading below, Celestia raised her brow and how the contents relate to one another.
“Fourteen bags of sugar, two barrels of spring water and ice water, five to six bags of any kind of fruit (apples, pears, cherries, etc.) and… ten crates of… potatoes,” said Celestia, with a tilt of her head. “Who in Equestria is this pony?”
At that moment Raven returned with a forlorn look, Celestia put away the scroll to listen to Raven’s report. “Have you found any information on this pony?”
“Sad to say no, we searched everywhere from the Canterlot registry, birth certificates for every city and town, and even checked any small towns that aren’t listed in the map but nothing. It is unlikely this pony could be from outside Equestria as all ponies are born inside Equestria and it is rare for somepony to live outside the borders.”
“Indeed, after the unification of the tribes, all ponies were born here and were barely found to be living outside its borders, due to staying together back in those days. Nowadays nopony dares to leave due to fear of the outside world and the other races… most ponies have become ignorant of what’s beyond with only a few curious or explorative types knowing more than pony society.”
“To have somepony from outside of Equestria appear in the middle of Equestria, to have zero information about them, and suddenly appears this close to the capital without being noticed… Something is fishy...” Celestia stroked her chin before looking back at the scroll and finishing the remaining parts written.
Another interesting thing I should mention about this stallion, while he is quite a gentle-colt, he seems to have an air of mystique to him… there are also another thing I must note. During my short interview with him, when he told me his age… I was somewhat surprised, he is surprisingly young and the fact he says he was born outside of Equestria I would think he was lying… though… when I mentioned any external family here in Equestria… He seems to be quiet for awhile but shrugged it off… If it is possible, I would like to request for something else… a welcome to Ponyville gift to say. I thank you for reading this and would be honored if you accept these requests.
From the mayor of Ponyville; Mayor Mare.
Celestia thought about this very interesting request and after some lengthy thoughts, she accepted it to see how this will go.
“Raven, please follow what this scroll says and send it to Ponyville. Also… ask one of the blacksmiths to come here… there’s something I need to ask him to make.”
“Of course Princess Celestia, I’ll have it done before the day ends,” said Raven, leaving the throne room.
After that Celestia continued reading the next couple of scrolls, thinking of a few stray thoughts. I wonder how this stallion and Twilight will first meet, they’ll meet each other soon in the coming month.
Some time after carrying the numerous wagons and lifting Eclipse back to his hammock, the girls decided to take a break themselves, but became curious and decided to rummage through Eclipse’s belongings.
“Are you sure we should do this, I don’t think Eclipse will be happy we’re going through his things,” said Fluttershy.
“Don’t worry Fluttershy, besides he told Pinkie and I we can carry his things to his new home, but it doesn’t mean we can’t see what these things are,” said Rarity, going through one of the wagons she was moving.
Each wagon had Eclipse’s cutie mark on each side and on the front was a sign written what was inside. The first wagon that Eclipse brought was “Construction”, the other eight from order of who brought them; the ones Applejack brought from first to last were “Food”, “Furnishings”, “Workshop”, and “Farm A”; Rainbow carried “Farm B” and “Equipment”; Pinkie carried “Ingredients” and “Alchemy”; finally Rarity carried “Crystals” and “Personal”.
“Yeesh, Eclipse sure owns a lot of stuff, I wonder how many bits he has?”
“Rainbow, don’t even think about it.”
“I wasn’t going to take anything of his, I just said sorry to him I’m not going to start getting him on my bad side… besides, I’m pretty sure he won’t mind me looking through his stuff.” Rainbow rummaged through the wagon listed as “Equipment”. “Now what do we got here?”
Applejack gave up and decided to look through the wagon called “Workshop”. Pinkie decided to go through his “Food” wagon while Rarity busied levitating out those strange gems from the “Crystal” wagon. Fluttershy decided to sit beside the sleeping Eclipse on the hammock, pushing the hammock with a light push of her wings every couple of seconds.
I’m sorry Eclipse, my friends can be… a bit curious, but I promise not to go through your things.
“OH HECK YEAH! Look at this!” Fluttershy looked up and saw something that made the blood in her face drain away. Rainbow was wielding the most scariest sword she has ever seen, the hilt was a strange design of a creature she has never seen before, the blade itself was pitch black and just gave off a menacing feeling from just looking at it, and it didn’t help it was twice the size of Rainbow. Her friend barely could lift it so she leaned it against the wagon to get a good look of it.
Applejack came by with a welding mask on, lifting it to show her face, whistling. “Wow, now that’s a sword, I wonder what kind of creature wielded that?”
“Well its way too big for a minotaur that’s for sure!” said Rainbow, amazed at the weapon’s size. “I bet Eclipse got this from some strange creature or something.”
“Darlings you must look at these gems, they’re simply divine. I wonder if Eclipse would let me use them for my dresses,” said Rarity. Fluttershy glanced at her friend and found Rarity organizing the gems by size, color, and shine, already having them in several piles.
“Om nom nom nom nom!”
Everypony looked to find Pinkie devouring a very juicy watermelon whole, before reaching for a buttered bagel. “His food is tasty too!” said Pinkie, stuffing something else in her mouth.
“Well I am famished, maybe we should eat something,” said Applejack.
“And what exactly may I ask are you planning to do with my food?” Everypony froze, looking at the now awake Eclipse, who somehow got out of the hammock without getting Fluttershy’s attention. “To answer all your questions first; Rainbow I received that weapon during my youth when I had to fight a mighty warrior, Applejack the creature that I met was the last of its kind sadly, and Rarity those crystals similar to the red one are dangerous and aren’t meant to be used for making designer clothes… and the one you’re holding can cause lightning.”
Rarity immediately dropped the one she held in her magic, slowly stepping away from the now dangerous but pretty gems. “Well, it appears I have lost all interest on these gems,” said Rarity joining the others. “How about we eat something?”
“It’s fine for you to eat my food, some of it will expire and it will be awhile for the glass to form and cool. I’ll see if I can find some proper fire crystals to make a fire...”
“Fire… Crystal?” asked Fluttershy.
Eclipse glanced at the group and a realization came to him, having forgotten about it due to easily being distracted. “Ah I forgot, these crystals are element crystals, I found a good number of them throughout my travels and can make them, though it’s a lengthy time and takes a lot of resources to do so. The red one is a fire crystal, enabling to create flames and used for heating, funny story how I found this one, I was trying to traverse a volcano infested land when I stumbled into a cluster of the things… nearly cooked myself.” Eclipse grinned at the memory, placing the fire crystal surrounded by some sticks and logs, making a ready-made fireplace.
After gathering some food from the wagon, they prepared a few things and set up a fold-able table and chairs. Applejack began cutting up some ingredients while Pinkie began setting some plates and utensils, Eclipse on the other hoof was grabbing something from the wagon, moving aside a crate full of fruits until he reached for a jug with a spigot stuck into it.
Carrying the jug to the table, he placed it gently down before grabbing cups for everypony, Rainbow moved up to Eclipse to ask him what he brought.
“Uh, what’s with the jug, you got some kind of special water or something?”
“Well no, this is my special blend of something I been trying to experiment… It’s one of the reasons why I’m here opening my own trading shop here.”
This caught Applejack’s attention, reaching for a cup and opening the tap, pouring herself a drink, what came out was a pinkish liquid which wafted a sweet aroma. This caught everypony’s attention after smelling the sweet smell… of something.
“Whoa… This stuff is strong, what is this?” asked Applejack, taking a sniff.
“Take a sip, I want to see your opinion of it, I’ve been trying and failing to see if I can get it just right...”
Applejack raised a brow at that before shrugging it off; with a quick sip the flavor of the drink entered her system. The taste was… indescribable, it had a fruity and bubbly taste to it but at the same time there was a faint taste of… something.
“What… is this stuff? Its… its…”
“Fruity, bubbly… with something added that can’t be described,” said Eclipse, explaining the thoughts she had.
“Yeah… but what is this drink called?”
“Something I like to call, Flavor Soda, its a combination of three ingredients, with one of them being various fruits depending on what kind of flavor the drink would be, the soda in this jug is peach-flavored. I’m planning on selling these drinks here in Ponyville and hopefully branch outward, its also is a good idea to practice my skills.”
“Skills, what kind of skills require making soda?” asked Rainbow.
“Ever heard of Alchemy?”
“Oh oh oh!” said Pinkie, raising her hoof up. After getting their attention, she began to join them grabbing a cup for herself. “Its that thing to make potions right, I heard nopony does it anymore since unicorns and all and that any teachings of it were lost. I heard about it from one of the elder ponies, he said he used to have a friend who makes potions but stopped due to his age. How did you learn to make potions?”
“That… that is a long story, but to put it at short the teachings of alchemy interested me… its how I got this,” said Eclipse, pointing at his flank. Eclipse’s cutie mark was again complicating to understand, but it made sense that it would relate to alchemy, even though nopony knew or understood it.
“That’s a lovely goal Eclipse, but are you sure you can do that all alone, I mean, new ideas aren’t quickly accepted, especially in Equestria, it took centuries for ponies to see Celestia not as a holy goddess and while some still do, many see her as somepony approachable when capable.”
“I know, but I am prepared for everything, I already have sent some agreements with those who have the supplies I need to make my products. I’ve also asked Mayor Mare if she can have Celestia give me a license of trade and to see if there are other sources I can use.”
“You really are planning on selling this stuff, probably better than my apple cider if it tastes this good.”
“Nothing could beat your cider AJ, how good can this stuff be.” It was when they heard loud slurping and turned to see Pinkie drinking multiple cups of the soda before opening the tap and drinking it like water.
“Pinkie! That is no way for a lady to act!” Pinkie paused, turning off the tap before hopping off to prepare the food.
The girls shared a laugh at their friends silliness before continuing to prepare the food. After some time, they began to eat and join in small talk. They later continued with helping Eclipse preparing his new home and finished later in the afternoon, the sun slowly setting over the horizon.
The building was smaller than everypony thought, as it consisted of one floor and one room and while the inside hasn’t been fully furnished, Eclipse had made a storage building to keep his wagons and things in. A shed was built beside his home but he hasn’t explained the purpose of what it was for; a bed was placed in the corner with another corner of the room being the kitchen. A round table with two chairs were in the center of the room with some shelves and drawers on the right wall for belongings.
Odd enough, the one wagon that wasn’t cleared off was the one with the crystals. The crystals while being dangerous, glowed a brilliant arrange of lights of various colors. Rarity stared at them hungrily, multiple inspiring ideas flooding her mind. It was at that moment that she felt something, looking down it was the same crystal from before that she was interested in.
She stared at the strange glow it gave off and was reaching for it, when a hoof stopped her; the hoof belonged to Eclipse, who was looking at her with a cautious stare.
“I’d rather you not take any of these crystals, not only are they rare but dangerous when not handled properly… Now I know that you out of your friends are passionate about what you love to do and while I can’t give you these crystals, there are other things I can give you.”
Eclipse led Rarity to follow him and entering the storage building, rummaging through some things, Eclipse pulled out a box, it looked more like a chest than a box and brought it to Rarity. “What is this?” asked Rarity.
“Think of it as a thank you gift for welcoming me to Ponyville and helping me these past two days,” said Eclipse. Opening the chest, inside was jewels and gems of various size, but the most astonishing thing wasn’t the gems but a beautiful roll of silk that seemed to glow like the moon.
Rarity was shocked at what was inside the chest, feeling the silk and how soft it was while the beauty of the gems themselves were like the stars in the sky.
“I… I can’t accept this, its a wonderful gesture you’re showing to me but...”
Rarity bit her lower lip, the things in the chest were enough to make a new set of dresses and the silk was just glamorous, though accepting something like this was a bit much… however.
It be rude to not accept a gift like this. “I’ll accept it, but I’ll use what you given me to make you the finest suit ever, I won’t take any complaints, alright.”
Eclipse thought about this for a moment but nodded in agreement. “That seems like a fair arrangement, how long will it take to make this suit?”
“Well I need to take your measurements and see what’s to your liking of course, it may take a few weeks but I promise you’ll love it.”
Rarity used her levitation to carry the chest and trotted away happily, back outside, the girls said their farewells and went back home to continue with their daily lives. While everypony went off, Eclipse went inside his new home and began to pull out a case. The case was old and made of blackened wood but whether it was black due to age or not was up for debate. Inside was something strange, the object looked like a weapon but the oddity was what Eclipse did with it next.
Eclipse reached the strange weapon with his hoof, before doing an action impossible for a race without any appendages to grip with. With a twirl the weapon spun on top his hoof, before it began spinning around his leg as if something was keeping it around his hoof. After that Eclipse gripped the weapon with his hoof, holding it like a griffin or minotaur would hold something with their claw or hand.
Taking a closer look, the weapon was surprisingly detailed for something that simple; the handle had a spiraling strap made of a rough material, an emblem between where the blade and handle were connected showed a black whirlpool with a white star in the center, the blade was jagged and seemed to show it was meant to leave deadly wounds than to pierce, the metal was pointed and seemed to zig-zag with a strange pattern.
Strange runes were carved onto one side of the weapon, but the other side had coherent words written. “‘ To curse my enemies, I leave a piece of me, for nothing to remain, but void’,” said Eclipse, reading the line engraved on the weapon. “I think I should unpack the rest of my belongings… but first, Mayor Mare should have received news from Canterlot. Asking her for any news about my citizenship and trader’s license have been accepted.”
Placing the dangerous weapon away into the aged case, he slid it back where he brought it out, and trotted out his home. Quickly locking the door with a key, he placed the key away into a saddle-bag, he began bringing with him to visit town hall.
Ponyville; Town Hall, Mayor Mare’s Office; 12:30pm
Mayor Mare busied doing what any mayor would do, writing down any important events that occurred at Ponyville, reading any recent news across Equestria, and signing agreements that range from business, supplies to be delivered, and any future events to be planned, when a light knock came to her doors. Putting her quill away and placing both front hooves on the table, she sat straight on her seat.
“Come in,” said Mayor Mare, with a simple smile.
The door swung open to reveal Eclipse, he had a saddle-bag strapped around his barrel and trotted toward the mayor before standing on all fours. “Hello, Mayor Mare, I came by to ask if any news of my citizenship or my license has come by?” asked Eclipse, patiently.
Mayor Mare understood and sat up to trot to some file cabinets, going through some lettered drawers, opening one listed as E, the mayor pulled out several files before carrying them and placing them into two separate piles.
“Here are your citizenship papers, you’ll need to keep these for future agreements to come and here are your license papers, I just need you to sign here,” said Mayor Mare, giving Eclipse a quill. Signing some signatures down, she led him to sign several more things before stacking the papers into a neat pile. “And with that, you are an official citizen of Equestria and a member of the trader’s society, you have access to owning your own caravan and selling your wares as long you have a permit on you. If you want to learn more you can at the trading guild located at Canterlot. If there’s anything else I can help you with, simply ask.”
Mayor Mare smiled a helpful smile which Eclipse responded with a nod, but before he exited he stopped to face her. “Oh, do you have those requests I asked for, the ones if there are any places here or in Equestria that has the required materials and ingredients I asked for?”
At this she remembered and surfed through some of the pile before pulling three papers for Eclipse. “While nothing so far outside of Ponyville, I did receive some suggestions from the local populace. Sugarcube Corner has a good amount of sugar to give and can give you the details of where they get their supply from. Sweet Apple Acres can sell its apples and other produce they have too if you make a deal with them, but I should warn you that the only pony they ever have a deal with isFilthy Rich. Finally, the last thing you requested...”
The mayor became quiet for a time to read what was listed on Eclipse’s request as this item would be difficult to find or rather… get.
“There’s none here in Ponyville… but I did some research and found some notes of a researcher who came here years back. What you’re looking for is in the Everfree Forest… but I have to warn you, that going there is dangerous and I’d recommend if you do plan to go, that you at least ready yourself and pre-plan going.”
Eclipse rubbed his chin in thought and accepted that agreement. “Of course, I’ll need to get a few things ready in a week if I plan going, get a map of the Everfree and some supplies. I thank you again for doing this in advance, I’ll promise to give a discount to my wares to you once I get my business set up.” Eclipse bowed in thanks and respect, taking his leave with the documents. “Have a good afternoon, Mayor Mare.”
Mayor Mare waved farewell to her newest occupant before going back to her work. I wonder what sort of wares he’ll sell… maybe I might indulge myself in what he’ll have.