//------------------------------// // Sleuthing & Tracking (Edited) // Story: I Am (No) God // by Animatorsnake //------------------------------// Ponyville, Ponyville Park; 5:50am After what happened with Nightmare Moon’s defeat and Princess Luna’s return, things had quieted down after the celebration. It was two days after the Summer Sun Celebration and while it was really early in the morning, Twilight was waiting at the park with some binoculars, papers, a pencil, and a saddlebag with some food and water inside. She looked ready for an hour of studying with half the stuff she has, but as to why she was up so early and at the park, was a mystery until three silhouettes approached her with their own supplies. “Thank you all for coming, but you really didn’t need to come, I could of done this by myself,” said Twilight. “Nah, besides we’re doing this to see if Eclipse was the one responsible with beating up Nightmare Moon,” said Rainbow, punching her hoof upwards. “We still don’t know that and that’s not the reason why we’re spying on him; I couldn’t find him yesterday, so instead of confronting him, I thought we see what he does on a daily basis.” I understand why Rainbow is here, she doesn’t trust Eclipse even before I came to Ponyville. Pinkie is here because, she’s just curious about Eclipse, and Fluttershy… Well I’m not sure why Fluttershy came along. “Fluttershy, why did you agree to coming? I know Applejack couldn’t come, because she was busy at her family farm with it being Applebucking Season; Rarity didn’t find it interesting or right to spy on Eclipse, but you however are really close to Eclipse, so how come you’re doing this?” “Yeah Flutters, I thought you disagreed to not do this in the first place,” said Rainbow. “Yes, but I also wanted to prove Eclipse isn’t doing anything wrong and to make sure you don’t bother Eclipse… that… and I suppose I’m a little curious, if that’s not a bad thing,” said Fluttershy, prodding her hooves together. “Well, as long everypony is here, I left Spike back at the library, since we aren’t done unpacking yet from arriving, so once he wakes up he should start unpacking and be done by the time I come back. Now let’s go and see what Eclipse does these mornings, but by the way Pinkie, you’re certain he gets up ‘every’ morning at this time?” “Uh huh, Ipsy always comes to Sugarcube Corner to eat breakfast, then heads back home to do some stuff,” said Pinkie, bouncing along with the others. “Well as long you know when he gets up, then I suppose we should get there before he wakes up.” The girls trotted together, until they made their way to the treeline that surrounded Eclipse’s property. Right now, they sat or laid down on the grass, and hid within the shrubbery, pulling out some binoculars – except Rainbow and Fluttershy due to their natural pegasi sight, being able to see without the need for binoculars. The time is six o’clock, so Eclipse should be up right about… now! For awhile nothing seemed to happen, but soon some shuffling could be heard inside the shack, until the door opened; stepping out was indeed Eclipse, except something was off. Latched onto his face and still asleep was Eclipse’s pet bear cub, Luella who snored cutely, before nuzzling her snout into Eclipse’s mane. A quiet aww from Fluttershy and Pinkie was heard, while Twilight continued to observe; Eclipse was definitely awake, but not happy with the current situation. So with some force due to the cub’s strength, he unlatched her from his face, before plopping her onto the ground, where she continued to nap. The girls watched Eclipse until he reached the edge of the lake he lived near, dunking his head in for a good minute, then pulling it out. Eclipse trotted back inside his shack and brought out a clear orb with a red crystal inside; the orb activated and bathed a red glow over Eclipse, until his wet mane and head dried immediately with the orb’s assistance. “Girls, what’s that Eclipse is holding?” asked Twilight, whispering. “Those are Element Orbs, he sells them at his stand during the afternoon hours; he has several types, each having their own uses. You can ask Eclipse later if you like about what each one does,” said Fluttershy. Twilight nodded at the information, writing it down onto a piece of paper, before looking back through her binoculars, only to find Eclipse gone. “Where did he go?” Rainbow nudged them and pointed back where they came from to see Eclipse trotting down the dirt path to Ponyville. “Come on, he’s already gotten a head start,” said Rainbow, flying off. The others soon followed, until they reached Ponyville Park again, then hid in some nearby bushes, watching Eclipse cross the bridge to Ponyville. Before he could cross though, he stopped and did a few stretches, consisting him of stretching his body and gripping his head with both forehooves as he stood on both rear-hooves, twisting his neck that made audible cracks. After done with that, he began jogging around Town Hall and further into town. “What’s he doing now?” asked Rainbow. “Oh, Ipsy jogs around town and once he reaches Sugarcube Corner he comes inside to eat his breakfast, going home once done,” said Pinkie. “Well since we know where he’ll be, let’s meet him near Sugarcube Corner.” The girls went the opposite direction Eclipse went, going to the bakery quickly, before waiting for Eclipse near one of the alleyways close to the bakery. They thought it take awhile, but after a few minutes, Eclipse already was spotted nearing Sugarcube Corner, as he approached the doorway, Rainbow realized something. “Hey Pinkie... you’re the one who greets Eclipse every morning with his breakfast, should you be there right now?” The girls turned to where the pink mare was, only to find a ponyquin with a picture of Pinkie’s face and a pink mane wig on it. They turned around and spotted Pinkie going to the back entrance, until they heard the voice of Pinkie inside and after several seconds later, they found Eclipse exiting the bakery with a blueberry muffin on his head, while sipping some apple juice with one hoof, trotting on only three legs. Pinkie later appeared back with the others, like nothing happened. “Phew, that was close, I almost forgot that I greet Eclipse every morning. Let’s go!” said Pinkie, sneaking behind Eclipse. The girls all sighed and chuckled at the mare’s odd behavior; soon all four followed Eclipse back to his home, which he ate some of his muffin and gave the rest to Luella who was up and awake now. Eclipse went back in his home, but later came out with something that was familiar to the girls except Twilight. “What’s that he’s wearing?” asked Twilight. Worn on Eclipse’s head was a pair of headphones, which played music for him, trotting to a hammock he had setup, before laying on the hammock and closing his eyes. He was left listening to music, while the gentle morning wind blew his hammock, swinging it gently as the stallion slept. “Wait, he wakes up early, goes for a jog, eats breakfast, only to go back to sleep!” said Rainbow, nearly shouting. “Rainbow, shush, besides, he can’t be there forever for the whole morning, we’ll wait until he does something else,” said Twilight, putting her binoculars back on. “Even if it takes forever.” Rainbow sighed but gave in, but decided to nap on a tree branch, away from Eclipse’s view while the others watched vigilantly. Elsewhere – Canterlot, Canterlot Castle, Medical Wing; 7:30am After returning back to Canterlot with Luna on her back two days ago, many of the castle staff panicked to find their monarch stained in blood from the smaller alicorn on her back, in the middle of the medical wing. Celestia ordered the best doctors and nurses to care for Luna, which the medical staff did swiftly, bringing the injured royal to one of their biggest operating rooms; during those two days, Celestia was told by several doctors and nurses to wait until later. She was given the all clear and Celestia entered the room which her sister was in; Luna had a heart monitor checking her status and several devices connected to her to keep her alive. While unnecessary due to Luna’s natural alicorn healing, Celestia was happy her subjects gave the best care for her sister; Luna had a breathing mask over her snout, that gave anesthetics to her to ease the pain. Given a detailed explanation by one of the doctors about her sister’s status, she was told that indeed one of her broken ribs did puncture something inside her, but nothing vital and that the biggest problem was the injuries to her head, specifically her brain. They weren’t sure what caused it, as they couldn’t find any magical signatures, so she wasn’t attacked with magic, but they did find several parts of her body being dealt with powerful traumatic force, most likely something powerful hitting her like a large beast or something. The biggest mystery was when Celestia asked, was there any tampering with her sister’s mind, possibly a magical spell or curse used to effect her memory. Sadly none of the doctors or magi could find any magical influence, even though she persisted somepony manipulated her sister’s memories, but the only way to confirm this was for Luna to wake up from her comatose state and explain what she could remember. Celestia sat beside her sister, having removed her tiara and putting it aside to gaze at her sister, the only sound was the beat of the heart monitor. Celestia pushed aside some of Luna’s mane on her face, to gaze at the sleeping mare; she expected many scenarios to come from Luna’s return after a thousand years, anger, sadness, forgiveness, happiness… what she didn’t sought to expect was the beaten and bloody form of her sister, laid broken before her hooves like a thrown and used rag. Lulu… Who did this to you… Celestia knew she sent her student to make friends, who would find the Elements and use them to remove the dark influence on Luna and return her to normal, but from the report from her student, she couldn’t arrive to where the Elements were kept or her sister in time, as she couldn’t find the book that mentioned the location of where the Elements of Harmony could be found. The only reasons Twilight and her friends even arrived at the ruined castle, was due to a large explosion being heard from the Everfree; by the time they arrived, they only found the aftermath of a battle, Luna being the defeated one. The only good news about all of this was that Luna’s dark influence vanished or a better word would be gone, as if something removed it from her completely. Either way, the solar monarch was furious about the thought of somepony coming to defeat and brutally harm her dear sister, even if she was in the influence of dark magic and became Nightmare Moon. “Sis-sister...” Celestia was brought out of her thoughts and realized Luna had her hoof around her own; the sudden contact brought Celestia to look down at Luna’s face. While her eyes were still closed, she could see her face move before she tiredly opened her eyes. “T-Tia?” “Lulu, you’re… You’re awake!” said Celestia. “Do you… remember what happened the night of your return?” Celestia could see the strain on Luna’s face, trying to remember the previous events, but nothing came up. “I… can’t remember… All I remember was the endless days of the moon and then appearing in a building full of ponies, one of them shouted saying she knew about the prophecy… but after that… nothing,” said Luna. “Do you think your memories were tampered?” “...Maybe… but if so, then there should be signs; a headache, maybe lapses in memories that don’t fit together or some sort of magical signature around my mind.” Celestia agreed, she did a careful scan around her sister’s mind and found nothing that showed any memory manipulation of the like; the two sisters decided to enjoy one another being there for each other, until one of the nurses came inside and noticed the patient awake. She immediately left and brought back one of the doctors responsible with making sure Luna was stable. “It appears you recovered sooner than we thought, but it’s good to see you awake and well princess, let me just do a scan to see if there’s anything else that needs to be checked.” As the doctor scanned Luna, the nurse checked everything else before detaching the heart monitor and the mask from Luna, the doctor finished his scan and smiled. “Well good news is that you’re recovering for now and should be fine some time soon, but for now you’ll have to stay in bed for a few more days just in case, if that is alright with you Princess Celestia.” “It is alright doctor,” said Celestia. The doctor nodded, before bowing down before the two monarchs and leaving with the nurse. Once alone again, Luna turned to face Celestia with a frown; noticing her sister’s look, Celestia nuzzled her face which elicited her sister pouting at the sudden affection. “Tiaaah, stoop!” “No, not when my sister is giving such a sad look – what’s wrong Lulu?” “...I’m just surprised at how quick these ponies seem to care for me, even though what I’ve done in the past,” said Luna. Celestia looked at her sister somberly, but brushed a tear that slid down her face. “Do not think it like that sister, they are simply doing their best no matter who it is they’re caring for. Many do not remember the past, so do not feel burdened by what have you done before… It is sad to say many do not care to remember our history, but I try my best to teach future generations of Equestria’s history, both the good and bad.” Luna smiled at least knowing, that the doctors and nurses did their job out of duty and not an order or anything like that. “I am glad… but… there is the issue about what caused my current state; if something or someone was capable of beating me, even if I was in a different mental state… Who do you think would have this kind of power to best an alicorn?” asked Luna, worry plastered on her face. “I do not know Luna… but I will do all I can to find out who’s responsible.” The two sisters sat together, enjoying each other’s company for the rest of the day. “For now, let’s catch up on lost time, sister.” Ponyville, Eclipse’s Property; 10:30am Eclipse luckily did not stay on the hammock for long, as he was there for only an hour before doing other things; he watered and checked his garden full of various produce, consisting of potatoes, watermelons, and other fruits and vegetables uncommon to Equestria. Other things he done was go to his storage building to sift through for something, before pulling out some materials and trot into his shack and make something. He later came back out and gathered a bucket of sand and went inside before coming out with a basket full of empty glass bottles. This continued for the last few hours, until it was nearing eleven o’clock, with some recent activity happening which involved Eclipse pulling out his stand and heading to Ponyville. Twilight quickly turned to the sleeping mares, poking and shaking a sleeping Fluttershy and Pinkie, before bucking the tree Rainbow slept on. This caused Rainbow to fall off and fall face first onto the ground, groaning from her rude awakening. “What was that for, I was having an awesome nap?” asked Rainbow, grumpily. “Well sorry, but Eclipse is on the move, I think he’s going to sell his wares right now, where does he usually sell his products?” “Over by Sugarcube Corner, where the fountain is, come on let’s go before we lose him!” Soon the four went off and followed Eclipse; unnoticed by the four, was another small figure watching them leave. Luella gazed at their leaving figures, following behind them. Soon the group followed Eclipse, until he set up his shop at the Town Center; the second he had things set, ponies lined up to buy some refreshments and other items of interest. Others came over with Element Orbs that needed to be charged, which took an hour before coming back to pick them up and the charging was for free. This went on for the next hour or so, until it reached thirteen o’clock, which Eclipse set up a sign for his half hour break for lunch, heading out to eat something. “Hey, he’s gone, but how come he left his shop like that, shouldn’t he had closed it just in case?” asked Rainbow. “Maybe he has some sort of alarm system set up,” said Twilight. “Well either way, let’s go,” said Rainbow, trotting to the empty stand. “Wait, girls,” said Fluttershy, meekly. “We shouldn’t do something that could get us in trouble.” Fluttershy’s warning was ignored by the girls, with mostly Rainbow and Pinkie going to look out of curiosity and Twilight making sure the girls didn’t get into too much trouble. Once the trio approached the empty stand, leaving Fluttershy to watch from a distance, Pinkie climbed into the open port of the stand while Twilight checked the sliding door to be open. All three mares entered inside, but would soon regret that due to the inside of the stand not being built for more than one pony. “Hey that’s my tail!” “Ouch, watch it!” “Yhao!” The girls starting pushing and shoving in the small confines of the stand, but soon stopped their bickering to make as little movement as possible. “Let’s see what Eclipse has before he comes back, I’ll see what’s on the counter, Pinkie can check lower shelves and Rainbow you can see the items that are placed on the upper shelves,” said Twilight. The girls began to look through the items in the stand, finding more Flavor Soda, even more Element Orbs, some items that none of the girls could recognize and so on; they couldn’t find anything of interest, until they heard an audible thunk. The noise came from the sliding door and out of instinct and being the closest, Rainbow went to open it… she’d regret that soon. “Who’s ther-” Something pounced onto Rainbow’s face and held on her tightly, she screamed at the sudden object on her face, desperately trying to pull it off. This caused Twilight and Pinkie to stop Rainbow from moving too much, but soon the trio were now jumbled in the cramp space, trying to stop Rainbow from flailing too much, which worked as well you may think. Fluttershy watched the scene before her, having seen what was on Rainbow’s face; Luella had appeared sometime the girls were inside Eclipse’s stand, Fluttershy seeing the cub, with said cub pawing the sliding door, which what followed next resulting to what she saw happening before her. She was so distracted that she didn’t notice somepony approach behind her, who also saw what was happening. “Mind I ask what’s happening here?” Fluttershy turned around and saw an unamused Eclipse, who had a bag of food on his back. “I leave for several minutes and find Pinkie, Twilight, and Rainbow in my stand who’re currently being attacked by Luella… please tell me you have nothing to do with this Fluttershy?” “Well...” Eclipse didn’t need to hear her response, sighing as he rubbed his eyes with a hoof; he proceeded to put the bag of food down and trot to the ruckus, soon evicting everyone out the stand, leaving the girls and Luella plopped out the stand, until Eclipse overshadowed them with a frown and intense gaze. “Uh… hi Ipsy… good afternoon,” said Pinkie, with a weak smile. Eclipse snorted, his gaze not leaving the three mares at the slightest. Later – Ponyville, Town Center; 2:00pm After making sure the mess was cleaned by the girls’ panicked scuffle and that Luella was reprimanded for her pounce onto Rainbow, Eclipse gazed at the girls – except for Fluttershy who was spared of Eclipse’s anger. “So you decided to follow me since early in the morning, out of some superstition about my cutiemark,” said Eclipse. “Not only that, but you tried sifting through my personal property, which not only is that a crime, but you could of touched something that could of harmed you.” Twilight cringed at this, she knew better than to do all of this, nevertheless to even suggest it in the first place; her curiosity gotten the best of her and it didn’t help she went this far, instead of asking Eclipse himself. “Sorry Eclipse, I can go a little far about new discoveries or things I don’t understand… I… I’m really sorry,” said Twilight, her ears splayed against her head. “Me too, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings Eclipse,” said Pinkie. Rainbow had her hooves crossed while looking away from Eclipse, with some of Luella’s scratches on her face, but she was fine. Eclipse wasn’t expecting an apology from her or any of them; with a sigh he looked at them one final time. “Look… my business is my business, if I want to involve or tell any of you of it, then I will but there’s no need to snoop into it. Alright?” The girls nodded but Rainbow stayed silent, until she gained a nudge from Twilight; Rainbow grumbled something out, but Eclipse raised his brow at her. “Uhhh, I said I’m sorry and I won’t snoop into your things and stuff.” “That’s all I needed to hear, so for now try not to delve into others business, unless you have a perfect reason or if it involves you in some way. I need to get back to business girls, but if you have any questions,” said Eclipse. Twilight raised her hoof, but received a look from Eclipse. “No, I’m not going to explain how I got my cutiemark, that alone is going to take awhile and I’d rather not talk about it right now.” Twilight lowered her hoof and gave a disappointed look at the ground. The girls soon went their own ways, leaving Fluttershy to stand by with a smile. “Thank you for going easy on them Eclipse, but maybe you shouldn’t be too harsh on them, especially Rainbow Dash,” said Fluttershy. “Rainbow won’t trust me no matter what I say or do, but I will tolerate her, so as long she doesn’t go over the boundaries with my patience, then I’ll see to it I won’t aggravate her either… Besides, no harm in some small rivalry of sorts.” Eclipse grinned at that, before facing his stand. “Now, I must get back to what I was doing Fluttershy, have a good afternoon.” “You too Eclipse.” The butterscotch pegasus soon left, leaving Eclipse to work at his stand, but as soon things went back to normal and the day went on, Eclipse returned back home and parked his stand into the storage building. Entering his abode, Eclipse took a moment to look around his surroundings, he then trotted to the edge of his bed, moved some barrels aside before lifting a wooden panel, revealing a set of stairs leading below. Heading downstairs, Eclipse grabbed a nearby lantern that had a red crystal inside that glowed and gave off a warmth similar to a flame. Eclipse stood inside a dark tunnel that split two ways, but going to the longer tunnel, Eclipse found himself before a wooden door that looked older and rotten, possibly from being underground. Hanging the lantern onto a hook placed in the wall, Eclipse opened the door; stepping inside he found a pool of crystal clear water, looking inside Eclipse could see his reflection. Closing his eyes, Eclipse dipped his hoof but immediately pulled it out, the rippling showing images… several images, of six ponies, six mares. One showed Applejack, bucking the trees at her family farm, another showed Rarity at her boutique working on another dress, one showed Pinkie bouncing happily around Ponyville, one showed Rainbow flying in the sky doing tricks and the like, one showed Fluttershy at her cottage taking care of some animals, and one showed Twilight was at the library writing a letter to her mentor, Princess Celestia. All of this was shown on the pool of water, with the girls now connected with the Elements, their locations could be tracked through this pool or with other known methods. “Soon… soon...”