//------------------------------// // Illusive Stories (Edited) // Story: I Am (No) God // by Animatorsnake //------------------------------// Several days later – Ponyville, Eclipse Property; 8:00am So after the incident with the girls following Eclipse around, things had quieted down; Applejack and Rarity heard about it and both mares were laughing about Rainbow’s incident with Luella. It was funnier whenever Luella would be found wandering Ponyville and for the cub to encounter Rainbow, the pegasus eyes widening and flying off. Eclipse has forgiven the girls, though he wasn’t mad at the slightest, only annoyed at most, except for the one pony who did come but didn’t get in trouble; Fluttershy was enjoying a nice morning visit to Eclipse’s, happy to visit the stallion. Many of the girls except Twilight always had discussions about Eclipse and Fluttershy’s relationship, while Eclipse would either give a cold, bored tone to most ponies and a mildly annoyed attitude, but whenever he was with Fluttershy he seemed to show a certain warmth that he’s never shown toward anypony before. This made some interesting rumors about the two, but it was quickly quelled by Eclipse, resulting in several puns that were either a threat or some convoluted joke… it was hard to tell with that stallion. Fluttershy reached the edge of Eclipse’s property to find the stallion laying on his hammock, his headphones around his neck as it played music. The headphones he had could be used to listen to music or as speakers, so the music played around the area; the song was… interesting, there was a certain bounce to it and at the same time brought a certain energy. Eclipse had his eyes closed and bobbed his head to the beat of the music, Fluttershy approaching him until she got close enough for him to open an eye toward her. “Good morning Miss Fluttershy,” said Eclipse, going back to his relaxation. Fluttershy smiled warmly at Eclipse’s pleasantries, the one thing that didn’t seem to change between the two since they first met. “You can call me just Fluttershy, Eclipse...” said Fluttershy. “Sorry, force of habit… but I don’t see why not, you are older than me and it be rude to refer you by just name.” “But aren’t the others older than you too?” “Well true, but Applejack is too formal toward myself and won’t accept the idea of me giving her a title, Pinkie and Rainbow are too immature to be considered my seniors, and Twilight I’ve met just now and is the youngest of you girls, leaving Rarity being the only one I refer to Miss or Lady… I feel though you’re…” Eclipse couldn’t seem to say the word he wanted to say, something about her… He wasn’t sure if it related to her Element. There was one thing Eclipse learned about the girls since they gained the Elements; each of the Elements gives its users special abilities uniquely based off that Element. Honesty is a lie detector, but it has a second purpose, as it allows the user to see the truth within someone… whatever that means, but I have a gist of what it could mean. Loyalty increases resistance against mind manipulation and improves one’s abilities tenfold. Generosity allows to share one’s energy with another and use said energy to create things with one’s imagination. Laughter relates to probability, basically luck, then there’s Magic, which improves the aura capabilities of the user and strengthens the other Elements… This leaves Kindness, allowing to calm anyone… but, there’s another ability that I can’t determine what it is. Eclipse realized Fluttershy was giving him a worried look, placing a hoof onto his cheek. “Eclipse, are you alright, you been quiet… more than usual,” said Fluttershy. “I am fine, though aren’t you being a tad forward with the contact, unless you think you’re making the ‘right’ choice,” said Eclipse, with a mischievous grin. Fluttershy caught the pun he used as she had used her right foreleg to touch Eclipse’s cheek, making the mare giggle before a tinge of red came to her cheeks. She never understood why the others thought she and Eclipse would make a good couple… she only thought of him as a friend so why’d he have any interest in somepony like her. The two though were interrupted by some distant noise at the town, the sound was unfamiliar to both. “What in the names of the deities? We may need to pause our conversation for now Miss Fluttershy, let’s see what’s going on at Ponyville,” said Eclipse. Fluttershy followed Eclipse to town, but as they trotted together… Fluttershy felt something or rather heard something. His life no matter how long it’ll last is full of pain and suffering, he’ll bring only ruin to all, peace will never last, destined to play his role – the role of the monster. The strange voice spooked Fluttershy, making her pause at the cold sensation from the voice, shivering from hearing it. Who… who was that? “Miss Fluttershy… Fluttershy… are you… are you alright?” Fluttershy realized that she stopped mid-trot with Eclipse, glancing at the gaze in Eclipse’s eyes, he was worried. “I’m fine Eclipse… but...” No, I shouldn’t worry Eclipse, it’s probably just me. “Nevermind, let’s go see what’s happening at the town.” Eclipse for now stopped his questioning, but kept a careful look at her, her sudden distant look she gave somewhat out of place for her. Ponyville, Outside Town Hall; 8:30am Both Eclipse and Fluttershy finally arrived at the town and heard the commotion clearly, it sounded like some sort of event was happening outside of Town Hall; a crowd of ponies were around a portable stage of some kind, with a unicorn mare in an outfit that consisted of stars, her coat was a light blue while her mane and tail were a different color of blue with cerulean stripes. The two noticed their friends at the front of the crowd, each one not giving an amused look, except for Twilight who seemed worried, giving a downcast look. The two approached the others, Fluttershy a worried look and Eclipse an impassive gaze. “Girls, what’s happening here?” asked Fluttershy. “Oh hey Flutters, some pony here just came and started to make a whole thing about how great and powerful she is, but I’m the only awesomest flyer here ever!” said Rainbow, posing. “Yeah, nopony is better than Twilaaaah, I mean… uh… I’ll just stop talking,” said Spike. Spike whistled away as he took a few steps from Rarity, this caught the attention of Eclipse who shook his head. Youth… As this supposed show went on, the fireworks gaining some interest from Eclipse, but as the show went on and several ponies – mostly the girls giving negative comments – he saw Twilight drag Spike off to the side. Deciding to stop viewing the show, Eclipse approached the mare who reprimanded Spike about something. “...And that’s why I’m worried they will think I’m some sort of… glory-hog or something,” said Twilight, her ears splayed back. “And why would you think like that?” asked Eclipse. This spooked Twilight who swiftly turned around and started muttering a few things. “Breath Twilight, breath.” Twilight calmed down and gave a guilty look in return. “I’m worried everypony will think I’m some sort of big shot pony with great magic or something… and that my friends would think I’m somepony pompous and boastful.” Eclipse’s response was blunt and a tad rude though his message was clear as rain. “I swear, you girls overreact over the simplest of things like the world’s going to end and all of you are years older than me… Look, you are the literal Element of Magic, so what if somebody starts spouting how great they are, someone isn’t made great by just words but the actions and choices they make, you and the girls are destined for something… So don’t compare yourself to that Trixie pony.” Twilight was happy with Eclipse’s response though it was a little rough, but before she could talk Eclipse still continued. “And besides, this Trixie pony’s job is to wow and amaze ponies, whether her stories are true or not, so I don’t know why you girls are all in a tissy about it.” She frowned at the interruption, but sighed seeing why Eclipse was both helpful and complicating. He sure can get to the point about things. Later the three came back to find their friends in different situations, Applejack was hogtied by her own lasso, Rainbow found herself dizzy on the ground, andturbed Rarity’s mane into a horrid green; Trixie gazed around at the next pony to test her might against, until her gaze fell onto Twilight. “So, will you try your luck against the Great and Powerful, TRIXIE!” shouted Trixie. “I… I...” What do I do, what do I do?! “Oh what’s wrong, got cold hooves?” Trixie continued to laugh, but this all ended when her next comment came out. “All you ponies won’t even try against Trixie, well Trixie is above ponies like you, Trixie is like a god.” The word itself caused a reaction from the crowd for a long time, many gasped at such a word and it wasn’t because while there were ponies who praised Princess Celestia as the goddess of the sun, there was one particular pony in the town everypony knew disliked the notion of the word god or goddess. “What… Did you say?” Trixie looked amongst the crowd to find a bland, dark furred stallion his eyes giving an intensity in them that made her take a step back, before going back to her boastful attitude. Eclipse began stepping onto the stage, but was stopped by a worried Twilight. “Eclipse, what are you doing, did you see what she did to the others? What are you going to do that’ll stop her?” Eclipse turned to look at her and the gaze in his eyes… was terrifying; his pupils were unnaturally small as dots and his mane and fur raised on its ends like a viper hissing. “Teach her a lesson on what it means to have power.” Continuing coming up the stage, Eclipse stood before Trixie the mare snorting derisively, before taunting back with a comment. “Ohhh, I’m so scared, what are you going to do, show some of your earth pony slang?” This insulted a lot of the earth ponies in the crowd, but didn’t phase Eclipse at the slightest. “No… I’m going to tell you a story, about what happens to those that can think they’re above others without thinking of the consequences.” You don’t become better than others by working together or improving one’s skills, that isn’t enough, it requires a certain finesse, will, and in the end you need to trample over others, to surpass them or they’ll drag you down with them. Being given or taking power isn’t easy nor will it be afterwards, you’ll have to live a life of solitude and hated by others for what you done and what you are. There are only two paths for anyone in life, you either die the hero of your own story, or live long enough to watch everything around you burn. So tell me… “What makes you think you can think of yourself as a god, because every god I know and encountered throughout history and my travels have only brought pain, lies, or betrayal… So yes, I think you’d make a perfect god,” said Eclipse, sarcastically. Trixie stepped back a little frightened by the sudden change of attitude Eclipse showed from calm to raving mad, his eyes were bloodshot and bared his teeth like a wild mongrel. Soon his original demeanor came back, but he kept a sneer toward Trixie. “By tomorrow sunrise, if you are still here I will evict you, with extreme prejudice. Understand?” The mare nodded vigorously, unable to speak a single word, Eclipse turned around to see the crowd giving him varying looks, each one somewhat fearful of the stallion’s hidden feelings. Since Eclipse began living here, everypony knew him as this calm, young, reserved stallion who lived in solitude and liked to crack puns or sarcastic comments… but this was a whole other side to him that nopony wanted to see again. The rage in his eyes simmered but it was still there; he trotted off the stage and moved across the crowd, everypony taking a step back to not get in the way of the stallion’s path. Fluttershy tried to stop him, but he continued trotting by, ignoring the mare’s pleas. He left town and soon was making his way across the bridge back to his home. The girls watched him leave and most of the crowd either left or stayed to listen to Trixie’s stories, albeit in a somewhat less boisterous voice. “Never seen Eclipse that mad before and the last time he ever gotten mad was that time Pinkie pranked him, with half the town getting on fire,” said Applejack. “Eclipse did what!? He lit the town on fire!” “What, no darling, Pinkie here thought it would be ‘funny’ to use some of Eclipse’s Element Orbs, apparently she wanted to use the lightning ones to give Eclipse a big shock… however the orbs attracted a lightning storm, causing the town to burst to flames from the sudden lightning storm,” said Rarity. “I had to help Eclipse with collecting the orbs and write sorry letters to everypony,” said Pinkie, her hair deflating. “But Eclipse forgave me, but he’d joke about it around me… though he never was this mad with me.” “Maybe we should check on him, he was right about not worrying about Trixie, she’s just trying to impress everypony so it shouldn’t matter what she says she did. We know what we did and what we can do… but I feel like what Trixie said really upset Eclipse,” said Twilight. The girls agreed with her, Rainbow shrugging and joining the others with Spike walking beside them. Back at Eclipse’s Property; 9:00am Eclipse stormed back to his property, heading straight to the storage building and with a frustrated look he tossed aside several objects, creating the noises of clattering and crashing of fragile items that smashed against the interior of the building. His eyes flashed several colors, each one going by so quickly it was hard to tell what each color was; it returned back to his emerald eyes, the atmosphere around him seemed to darken, not even the light from the open doors outside seemed capable to penetrate said darkness. Eclipse stayed in said darkness until he felt something around one of his legs, he gazed down with an empty look but stared back at the worried gaze of Luella, the cub bear made a low growl before rubbing her snout against his leg. The simple gesture was enough for the surrounding darkness to ebb away and for natural lighting to return to the building; sighing in self pity, Eclipse glanced at some of his items before looking at a familiar item from his past. “I need to distract myself with something,” said Eclipse, quietly. Eclipse approached the discarded and shattered items, pushing them aside he picked up a familiar item from a time long gone; Eclipse picked up a sword with a unique symbol engraved onto the cross-guard, it showed two flaming angelic wings around an entity of fire with a single eye. To think I come back to old habits for comfort. The girls trotted together down the dirt path, until they came upon a familiar and used path through the trees, each of the girls had varying thoughts go through their head, but the one who was deepest in thought was Twilight. ‘There are only two paths for anyone in life, you either die the hero of your own story, or live long enough to watch everything around you burn.’ Those were his exact words, I know little about Eclipse, but so do the girls… Just what kind of life did he live before he came here? “Twilight, hey Twilight… Twilight!” Looking around, she saw Spike looking up at her worriedly before getting her attention to look at something; the other girls had reached the edge of the other side of the trees, but were standing just barely exiting the trees. Trotting up with the others, she wondered what exactly the others stopped to see, getting closer to the others’ side of the woods. “Girls, why are all of you stopping, what exactly do you se-” Twilight stopped and saw something… well there was no words to best describe what she was seeing. The girls and Spike looked at the large empty area of Eclipse’s Property, where they saw Luella sitting some distance close to them, but what caught all their attention was two things; one was some sort of training dummy but unlike the ones that look similar to a pony or minotaur, this one had a spherical bald head, a wooden torso, and sturdy branches to the sides and one wooden pole that held the dummy standing. Then there was the second thing that caught everyone’s attention, Eclipse; he had both rear-legs knelt down and his left foreleg knelt down too, leaving his right foreleg propped up. His head was facing down and eyes closed, but before him stabbed to the ground was an intricate sword made of metal that gleamed a fiery blue, while the cross-guard and handle was made of an ebony metal. Eclipse looked like he was in a position similar to how the priests and knights would do when praying or making an oath. “What’s he doing-” The girls shush Rainbow, before they all continued to watch what was happening before them. After a short while Eclipse opened his eyes and stood up taking the sword with his right hoof, then standing on his rear legs, with the sword he made a few practice spins and doing a downward swipe. Gazing at the dummy, Eclipse brought his rear right leg behind him, pointed the hoof with the sword to point behind him, reached forward with his left fore leg. This was done with perfect ease, as if he’s done this dozens upon dozens of times; if an equine were to do the same motions he did, it’d look awkward but he did it in such a way it was flawlessly normal. What happened next was too quick for any of them as Eclipse moved like a blur, before anyone knew it, Eclipse had jumped high with his two rear-legs and swung his sword in an arc which slammed against the dummy; Eclipse followed it next with several more moves, after landing which he turned around swiftly and made a horizontal arc that left a mark on the dummy, then sidestepped and thrust his sword which left the weapon embedded into the dummy before somersaulting over the dummy and sending several precise hoof strikes, until the last one struck the pommel of the sword, sending the sword to fly through the dummy and embed into a nearby tree… one of the trees the girls were near. This elicit a surprised gasp from Rarity, which also caught the attention of Eclipse who looked up from his moment of training to see the girls and Spike. Going back on all fours, Eclipse gazed at them with his bland stare, before trotting toward them. Twilight quickly trotted forward, thinking of something quick to say for their sudden appearance and Eclipse’s rant earlier. “Eclipse, um, we’re sorry for interrupting you and earlier about that whole thing with Trixie… Look I’m not going to judge what you said or did but-” Twilight stopped, seeing Eclipse had reached for the sword’s handle behind her, pulling it out swiftly before putting it into his mouth and trotting away. The girls watched Eclipse leave and enter his storage building, deciding to follow, Twilight and the others followed Eclipse with Luella watching them go, before following behind them. The girls having been here before already know about some of the things Eclipse keeps here, but Twilight and Spike were new to entering inside here for the first time. The inside had crates stacked or placed onto some upper parts of the storage building, with several wagons and items around the building. However, the inside looked like a storm came by here as some items were smashed or toppled over one another, leaving dangerous shards of the smashed items or other things laying on the ground. “Yeesh Eclipse, what happened here?” asked Applejack. Eclipse still didn’t answer, but after putting the sword away into a scabbard, he looked around him then at the girls. “...Did some house cleaning,” said Eclipse. “Eclipse, even without my Element I can tell you were lying… What’s wrong?” Eclipse kept quiet still, but took a deep inhale of air, gazing at the mess he made and the worried gazes of everyone. After further silence, Eclipse brushed some of the shattered pieces to a pile before sitting on a crate. “Too many bad memories came up when that mare started to mention the word god… her speech reminded me of something back in my past. I didn’t live a happy life, you girls should know that… I try not to remember much, but it gets to you… If I had to best describe how I felt, let’s say if you met a veteran who fought in some battle or war, then there are certain suppressed memories that might cause… strong emotions.” “I know what you’re talking about, some veterans the past couple of decades and century who fought in some of the last remaining wars and battles seen in Equestria gained some traumatic moments during these fights. Going into detail is brutal enough, but most of these ponies either end up in an asylum or… do drastic things; it was after Celestia gain true peace across Equestria, incidents like this from veterans or ponies who’re depressed have decreased for the past century.” “So are you saying Eclipse is like that?” asked Rarity. “Ohhh, Eclipse,” said Fluttershy, reaching a hoof to the pony. Eclipse looked at the outstretched hoof, but allowed her to comfort him, but mostly to make her feel better from hearing Twilight’s explanation. “What Twilight says is similar, but… let’s say I’m much more strong willed than others… Let things be bygones for now though, it was just a spur of the moment from what you saw earlier,” said Eclipse. “Which, you exploding at Trixie or you wielding that sword earlier?” asked Rainbow. The girls gave Rainbow a look that screamed for her to shush, but Eclipse still answered, whether for Rainbow or simply to make his point clear. “Both… I let that part of me go a long time, but I still find myself going back to it,” said Eclipse. “Were you some sort of soldier or guard before?” asked Spike, curious. Eclipse actually snorted at this, finding the idea funny before giving a shake of his head as a response. “No… no… how about we let the discussion go for now, this is something I need to handle by myself for now… Though...” Eclipse looked at the mess he made when he came here with the girls and Spike following. “I could use the help cleaning up, I haven’t checked back here and there are probably some stuff I need to make sure didn’t break.” Everyone agreed to help, slowly the rest of the day continued with them helping clean up Eclipse’s storage building; Rainbow and Pinkie ended up getting coated in a layer of dust which Rarity had to clean from the two mares. Applejack lifted some heavy objects with the directions of Eclipse, while Fluttershy lifted some lighter objects around, leaving Twilight create a list of what objects were here, where they go, and so forth. Spike helped whenever he can by getting refreshments, carrying some stuff and so on, until the storage building was spotless and had even more space than before as some stuff that was broken was thrown out due to age – which was Eclipse’s excuse. It was getting late and soon the girls returned to their homes, but before they left they said farewell to Eclipse, leaving Eclipse and Fluttershy who wished to stay a little longer to make sure the stallion was alright. “Eclipse, are you sure you’re alright… I’m worried, but I don’t mean to pry if you don’t want me to...” Eclipse knew Fluttershy was the worrying type, but to this extent… now he understood why she was the Element of Kindness and not the Element of Shyness. “You looked really mad when Trixie was talking near the end… I just want to make sure you’re alright.” Eclipse placed a hoof on her shoulder, calming the worried mare, until he gave a simple smile that put Fluttershy’s worries to rest. “I’m fine, you need to get some rest, its been an uneventful day and I think some sleep will do us some good.” Fluttershy relented and agreed to the idea of sleep, soon she went back home leaving Eclipse alone who went back to do his own business. Eclipse glanced back at the leaving silhouette of Fluttershy, before he gazed at the sky, a distant look in his eyes as he reminisced about the past. Shaking his head with a solemn look, he went inside to sleep away the rest of the day. Location Unknown; Time Unknown It was another day as usual, like any other, things were… well… peaceful. I woke to the sun’s warmth, my field of vision was gazing up at the leaves and branches of a tree, getting up I was laying on the soft untamed grassy ground, the touch soft and ticklish. I stood up tall, gazing at the far-reaching grasslands, the blue skies as clouds gently floated by as breezy winds blew through the land, the cold gentle wind caressing my skin. There were sparse structures, each distantly far from one another on this wide open grasslands… if there was one word to describe this paradise, I described it perfectly to the one gazing at the view. Home. I would gaze at this view for hours on end, sleeping away the peaceful days without a care… but soon my attention would be taken from the surroundings… as I heard it. Like a roar of a distant animal cry, it echoed like the moans and yells of restless spirits – the screaming… oh the screaming. I turned my gaze to the source, to find a sight I never wanted to see in my long existence. My home, was being burned down… and with it stood the burning, screaming souls of dozens upon dozens of them… all grasping, reaching. ...While I was left watching… forever hearing their screams. Several hours later – Ponyville, Eclipse’s Property; 7:00pm Eclipse woke to the sound of screams, the dream either waking him up or the actual real screams being the case; getting up and rushing outside, he pinpointed the source coming from town, seeing a distant large figure out the distance. Not stopping there, Eclipse ran to his storage building before looking inside, then gazing at the weapon that was still in the scabbard, he would of reached it but paused. After further thinking, Eclipse pulled back his hoof as the need for a weapon wasn’t necessary. Another time… another time. Turning around, Eclipse ran to Ponyville, running until he came to the bridge, his breathing while stable, still hoarse from waking up so suddenly and not giving his body to readjust to the sudden need to run. Staring at what the commotion was all about, it was soon founded to be in the middle of the town; roaring angrily was an Ursa, however unlike the ones he read in some books, it was an Ursa Minor, for if it were a Major, he’d seen it from his home and the roars a Major would make would been loud enough to be heard from Canterlot. The Minor roared angrily, swiping the thatch roofs off buildings as ponies ran in fear for their lives, Eclipse soon spotted the girls trying to make sure everypony is safely away, until he spotted a familiar unicorn. Trixie ran scared while not wearing her usual attire, the beast saw her and began to chase her, ready to crush her with one of its paws. Seeing this happen, Eclipse rather not wanting the mare’s body to be flat like a pancake, sped toward her before pushing her aside with him, the two rolling just in time before the Minor stomped its paw down. Trixie looked up at Eclipse, shaking from the near death experience. “Why… Why did you save Trixie?” asked Trixie. Eclipse looked down at her before looking up at the Minor. “If you think I’m holding a grudge over that comment you made, then you know little about me. I won’t have some simple grudge over you about my past grievances… but in the future, think about what you say to others… you get less enemies that way,” said Eclipse. “We can discuss this later, go hide somewhere until the situation has been dealt with.” Trixie nodded, running off to safety, now standing alone, Eclipse faced the Minor who roared at him with fury in its eyes. The giant bear pawed the ground, Eclipse keeping his ground as he gazed at the creature; nearby ponies watched the spectacle while at the same time, Twilight with Spike arrived and saw Eclipse gazing at the Minor. “Eclipse, get out of there!” shouted Twilight. At the signal of Twilight’s shout, the Ursa Minor roared and charged at Eclipse. As the beast began to stampede toward him, time slowed down for everypony; the girls watched with varied shocked and worried looks, most of the populace watched in horror, and Trixie couldn’t look away to what would happen to the pony who saved her. In that small amount of time, something happened that amazed them all, right before the Minor would crash upon Eclipse, it slid to a stop as the stallion looked up at the Minor. Both the beast and Eclipse looked at one another, until… the creature lowered its snout toward Eclipse, sniffing him a little before a twitch of its nose, it swiveled its head away before going back into the Everfree Forest. The girls looked at Eclipse and his amazing feat, soon the girls approached him, especially Fluttershy who bounded toward him before colliding a tackle hug at him. Eclipse stood his ground, stumbling a little at the sudden hug, but let it happen as Fluttershy worried and spoke blubbered words at him. “Whu, how, why, you and,” said Fluttershy. “What were you thinking?!” “...I wasn’t… I just looked at the Ursa back and soon it decided to leave...” “Yeesh Eclipse, I swear you make the impossible happen everyday,” said Applejack. “Never mind that, Eclipse here just survived from being torn apart by a freaking Ursa Major!” shouted Rainbow. “To clarify, that was an Ursa Minor, Major’s are much larger being at least three times larger than a Minor and have a purple ethereal fur and glow,” said Eclipse. This made everypony’s mouths to gape and jaw to metaphorically hit the ground, except for Pinkie who actually had her jaw hit the ground, only to be flung up and back to its original formation. “AND YOU THINK THAT MAKES IT EVEN BETTER!?” screamed Twilight, veins popping across her face. Eclipse gave a nonchalant shrug, which resulted from the lavender mare to collapse rump first to the ground with one leg covering her eyes. “I… I need to make sure that Ursa stays in the Everfree, I’ll be right back...” Twilight soon stood back up and trotted toward the Everfree with her horn ready and glowing; the others all gave their own comments and worries toward Eclipse until a voice was heard. “Um… excuse Trixie?” Everyone turned around to find Trixie, her head lowered down and ears laid against the sides of her head. Each of the girls gave varying gazes, all of them their own version of them not wanting the unicorn to be here right now, leaving Fluttershy too busy to fuss over Eclipse. “Trixie… would like to apologize for how Trixie acted during this morning and while many of you doubted Trixie’s skills… Trixie shouldn’t roused everypony up like that...” The girls stayed silent, but after some seconds went by, Eclipse stood up and approached her; the two stared at one another, but Trixie would gaze downward, leaving Eclipse to give his neutral stare. Soon somepony made a move, which was Eclipse patting Trixie’s head, which made the mare give a look of annoyance. Eclipse on the other hoof still gave his neutral look, but spoke. “You had your reasons… You probably went through the same kind of treatment by others before, so it wouldn’t surprise me you give the same responses over and over… Just remember, that not all situations should be handled out of familiarity and past experiences… You should always be open to other choices.” After finishing ruffling the mare’s mane, Eclipse trotted by the girls and Spike back home. “I’m heading home, I need my rest and I’m certain Twilight can handle everything from here…” Trixie still felt upset about what she done earlier but soon her negative thoughts ended when Eclipse spoke again. “Oh and another thing,” said Eclipse, catching Trixie’s attention. While Eclipse still faced away from Trixie, she swore she saw him smirking. “While the boasting was a little overboard… I did enjoy your fireworks and tricks, especially the one with Rainbow being spun around.” Everyone gave shocked looks until they saw Eclipse looking back with an amused grin, soon the stallion chuckled to himself and trotted off. The only one speaking was an angry Rainbow who shouted several things at the stallion, but this left Trixie speechless before the tips of her ears perked up and held a tinge of red. “Um… thank you…” said Trixie, quietly to herself. The next day later – Ponyville; 8:00am After Twilight made sure the Ursa Minor went back home to its mother, an Ursa Major, the town praised Twilight being the hero of the day, as not many saw Eclipse’s actions or only knew Twilight had something to do with the rampaging beast staying back in the Everfree. It was also later found out that Snips and Snails were the ones to had brought the beast, actually believing Trixie’s tale, the colts were both reprimanded by their guardians. As for Trixie, instead of leaving she decided to stay a little bit, but as to why nopony knew, she also said sorry to the girls for her attitude toward them and gained a small friendship with Twilight, though the two would rival a little about their own magical skills – Twilight’s educated training and Trixie’s experienced skills. The day after the fiasco, some reporters came by to talk and ask questions about the event and as this happened the girls with Spike and an embarrassed Trixie, who said several times she came along because she just wanted to know where Eclipse lived and nothing else, this getting a couple of laughs from some of the girls. “Trixie told you, Trixie only wants to know where he lives, nothing else!” shouted Trixie, at a laughing Rainbow. “Oh nothing about him saving you or anything or maybe the ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ just wants to give some of that greatness to Eclipse,” said Rainbow, nudging the blushing unicorn. This made Trixie blush even harder and more laughs from Rainbow, which caused her to sputter and mutter loudly. Once they neared Eclipse’s property, they soon came upon an interesting sight; Eclipse instead of lounging about or lazily napping was doing something… productive. The dummy from before – or maybe an identical one – was stationed where the girls last saw it to be,with Eclipse having the same sword from yesterday poised and ready, but before he made any movements, Trixie spoke. “What the heck is he doing?” asked Trixie. Eclipse swiftly glanced at their direction, making everyone flinched back a little, but once he noticed who it was he flung the sword he had to the ground – the sword stabbed and stuck within the ground – before trotting toward them on all fours. “I’d ask why you are all here again, but I don’t think that matters,” said Eclipse. “Sorry, we just wanted to tell you about how the whole Ursa Minor situation happened and that some reporters came by and asked some questions. Nopony knows about you standing up to the thing, except for us, but I thought you’d go and tell the reporters or something,” said Twilight. “Hmmmm… I’m not big on getting on the news, so I’d like my own business away from the prying eyes of reporters,” said Eclipse, turning around. Eclipse trotted to his sword, pulled it up from the ground and went back to his original position. He then did some practice swings and swipes at the dummy, making some audible thunks whenever the weapon hit the wooden torso of the dummy. “Besides… I got better things to do, you can all go and grab something to eat and drink in my home.” Pinkie quickly zoomed to Eclipse’s home with Applejack following behind to make sure the hyperactive pony didn’t do anything or break anything inside. The others followed, which left Trixie before Eclipse, but before she could speak, Twilight hurried Trixie to follow them, saying something about Eclipse looking busy and not wanting to distract him. Soon the stallion went back to training, thinking about what he’s been told. The news huh… Wonder who’ll get interested in some wild Ursa coming to Ponyville, this town has seen its share of oddities, so I doubt it’ll get much attention. Elsewhere – Canterlot; 1:00pm After the reporters got what they came for from Ponyville, they quickly released an afternoon newspaper of the story taking front-page across the cities the reporters came from and each news group they came from. Somewhere in the capital, in a large building that was known to those in the city and others, was a church-like building with several symbols of the sun across it and two statues of alicorns that seem to depict strongly toward Celestia herself. Inside this building at one of its many floors, in an office-like room, with the curtains open to let the sun’s light slip into the room, a unicorn stallion sat checking several files, each one explaining about wild monster reports and several reports of quote-on-quote, righteous actions being taken at some towns not visible on the Equestrian map. This stallion who sat here, is the head honcho of the military power of one of the largest organizations in Equestria; existing nearly five centuries ago officially, but was around longer since Celestia’s first rise to power as Equestria’s ruler. This organization was called the Church of the Holy Sun, a bunch of fanatical ponies who praised the sun and Celestia… fervently, the one who sat looking through said files was High Paladin Shining Might, his cutiemark being a blazing sword that pierced some clouds. He was in charged of handling any reports of monster attacks, cultists, and other such things that involved doing things in a physical way and while the organization has several leaders for different things the church does, many agreed that he represented the organization the most when it came to public view. After looking through the file, he heard a noise from a chute that dropped letters, scrolls, files, and other things through for him. Right now what came down was a newspaper, which he levitated and looked through to read; skimming through the basic things, he paused after viewing what was at the front cover of the newspaper. Slowly a grin appeared on the stallion’s face, which he place the newspaper down and faced a mirror on the right side of him. Lighting his horn, he sent a small wisp of magic to the mirror until it showed the reflection of another pony, this pony was a pegasus stallion who after seeing who was at the other side, did a motion with his right forehoof placed onto his chest. “High Paladin Might, sir! How can I help you today, sir?” “Paladin Swift Slice, tell platoon one and two to prepare themselves, we’re going to Ponyville… It appears there has been an incident of sorts involving an Ursa Minor and I believe this is the perfect moment we have been looking for,” said Might. The paladin nodded immediately, soon the mirror began to shimmer and became a normal mirror; Might faced away from the mirror to gaze outside, and stare with an addictive gaze at the sun. “Finally… we can do something about that wretched forest… and maybe get an audience with her holiness.”