Canterlot, Canterlot Castle, Throne Hall; 11:00am
Celestia sat at her throne doing morning court but since it was a weekend, most ponies took the time to relax during the weekends, leaving the number of ponies coming to morning court a small number; the only ponies to come were nobles who wish to invite the princess to their own parties, members from the trading guild in Canterlot who give suggestions on new trade routes, deals, and contracts. There were the rare chance for ponies who wished to talk about different problems, these being actual problems since during the weekdays, ponies come around from Equestria to discuss their own issues with the princess, leaving these ponies zero time to talk with the princess due to daily busy schedules.
Today though was quiet and problems and complaints were slim today with only one pony giving a report about strange activity further west; Celestia enjoyed a cup of tea, savoring the taste when a cloud of smoke floated toward her which soon transformed into a scroll that dropped onto her lap. Seeing the scroll belonging to her student, she opened the scroll, reading the surprisingly small report until she continued to read it further, her once calm visage changing to a troubled and frustrated look.
Them again, I’ve been adamant about this that if they were to cause trouble again, I’d have no choice but to ban any future activities for the following year and a thorough search of their properties of corruption… but in the end corruption is the last thing I find in that zealous organization. Ever since her ruling with her sister when Equestria was founded, both sisters gained a cult-like following, each of them dealing the issue in their own way. While Celestia ignored or monitored their activities as best she could, Luna took a more up close approach and integrated these members into what become the Lunar Guard and also gaining the support of the sub-race of ponies, Thestrals or also known by the common tongue, bat ponies.
After Luna’s banishment, the followers of Luna have become surprisingly quiet and non-violent than in the past, as a way of repentance for not foreseeing what had become of their “Lady of the Night”, this however became the opposite for followers of Celestia as seeing their goddess attacked by her own sister, riled them up into a frenzy. The so called cultist hunts and battles between the followers of the Sun and the followers of the Moon was a dark stain in Equestrian history and because of this, all loyal groups of followers of the Sun would further become what now exists for the last five centuries – the Church of the Holy Sun.
The organization has three leaders based off the three pony races, each responsible for different goals within the group to better support the organization and praise to Princess Celestia; these leaders starting from the oldest was an elderly pegasus by the name of High Priest Grail, responsible with the religious part of the group and training of priests and priestesses in the group that would become the healers of the Church and spread their word to which ever part of Equestria. Next was an earth pony mare called Doctor Warm Earth, she’s the rational member of the group and while the very zealous members dislike her, she’s responsible with research, study, and excavation of artifacts that interest the organization, making her a pony of science than religion, but the main reason why she was a part of the organization was her interest in alicorns and their origins.
Finally there was the enforcers of the organization, High Paladin Shining Might, a unicorn with magic power equivalent, possibly greater than the current captain of Canterlot’s Royal Guard, Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor. He was a zealous pony who led the paladins and knights of the organization, responsible with everything that the public dislikes about the Church, as they strike down on threats on “Equestria and her holiness” is the common saying used by them. No fatal actions have been done by them, usually property damage and harassment, but there was one incident when Doctor Warm heard rumors of an artifact relating to Celestia in a small town; to further check for proof of this, Doctor Warm sent High Paladin Might to search the town, but after no evidence was found, the High Paladin felt betrayed and burned the town out of rage and treachery for the falseness of it, giving the organization a warning of any further actions like this would result in serious consequences. So far the organization has stayed quiet and done simple investigations of cultist and monster hunts… but the reason Celestia was angered about their recent search in Ponyville was because of the recent attack of the Ursa Minor which was solved and investigated already.
They’re using the excuse to burn down the Everfree Forest, I had warned all my ponies to stray away from there and to leave the ancient forest alone. That organization has been trying to use every excuse to burn down that forest out of some notion to appease me, what they don’t know is that forest has been enchanted before me and my sister’s rise to rule Equestria, which keeps the deadly creatures of the forest to not stray away unless provoked or some other reason. If that forest is destroyed, then the deadly beasts would roam Equestria without a home… there is also the various secrets kept hidden in the forest itself and our old home that should be kept hidden.
“Guard!” shouted Celestia, to the nearest guard. A royal guard faced her and saluted, ready to do what she commanded for him to do. “I want you to gather a platoon of forty of the Royal Guard and get them ready to head to Ponyville, pronto! Also send somepony to wake my sister and tell her to come to the airship docks.”
The guard saluted and ran off to do what he’s been told, Celestia faced Raven her secretary. “Raven, I want you to cancel the morning court for today and clear the rest of my schedule for today too, tell them that something important has come up that needs my attention,” said Celestia.
“I’ll make sure that the nobles you scheduled to see understand the urgency of these sudden events, princess,” said Raven, bowing. After the secretary left, Princess Celestia exited the throne hall through the side doors behind the throne; she was followed by two guards who made sure they were by her side constantly and while it was unnecessary, she needed to make sure her guards had something to do.
Going through the halls of the castle, Celestia arrived at the airship docks that were stationed near Canterlot Castle and to the public, there was a part of the docks which was reserved for the Royal Guard, Lunar Guard, and the Princesses. Right now, a platoon of forty members of the royal guard were preparing to board a carrier-class ‘Whale’ airship, there were several airships models used for different situations.
The smallest airship, scout-class ‘Pixie’ only required three to four ponies to properly fly and can hold up to six in total, quickest airship capable of reaching west to east of Equestria in only half a day. The battle-class ‘Wyvern’ carries seven to ten with the maximum of fifteen, used as the basic form of defense and attack during raids against bandits or deadly creatures, equipped with four crossbow repeaters and one ballista, there’s also an optional addition of adding four cannons on the deck. The armor-class ‘Drake’ carries twenty to thirty ponies, being equipped with six crossbow repeaters, eight cannons, two ballistas, and a magic battery, a unique weapon powered through magic that fires a condensed beam, but can only be fired when the airship is stationary.
There is of course the carrier-class ‘Whale’ combined with the working staff of twenty ponies and the passengers of forty to sixty ponies, a total of eighty or more ponies can be lifted in the airship; the airship isn’t equipped with weaponry but does have fourteen cannons on deck and eight hook cannons around the hull that are used to land or even dock onto other ships. Then there’s the siege-class ‘Giant’ that said to be able to hold one-hundred to one-hundred and twenty, but sadly was decommissioned once peace finally came to Equestria, with rumors saying it once held twenty crossbow repeaters, forty cannons, six hook cannons at the bow, four ballistas, and a destroyer cannon, a weapon that charges magical energy before firing a focused beam of magic from the surrounding atmosphere.
The second Celestia entered the docks, she noticed her sister already there, speaking with one of the guards before said guard went to board the airship. Luna spotted her sister waving her hoof at her approach, after she recovered just a week ago, she regained a little of her former state from what she looked a thousand years ago, though there was still some differences as her mane didn’t flow as much it did or showed that starry sky look either. Once both sisters were close they gave each other a wing hug before returning to focusing on the reason why they’re here.
“Sister, what’s thou… I mean, what’s the problem, I’ve been told the bare things but could you tell me in better detail?” asked Luna. Luna started learning about the common tongue now and often reads history books about what she missed the past millennium.
“The Church of the Holy Sun are causing a commotion at Ponyville, specifically High Paladin Shining Might is using the incident yesterday with the Ursa Minor to destroy the Everfree Forest and anything else he wishes to do,” said Celestia.
“Oh, that sun cult correct, I read a little on them, apparently they started to grow in power after my banishment… Tia, while I don’t want to speak about this now, but we both made mistakes in the past and we won’t be able to atone for them… but we have to handle this group now.”
“...We’ll see Luna, for now we should head to Ponyville before further damage is made-” And that moment, another scroll appeared before the two, and as Celestia unrolled it, she began to read a further report from her student.
Dear, Princess Celestia
The incident in Ponyville has been dealt with and High Paladin Shining Might is retreating back to Canterlot from the train station and while I’m certain you want to intervene them immediately, I should report that the casualties are from mostly his own; myself nor the girls or any of the townsfolk had any part in their injuries, rather another resident who just started living in Ponyville earlier than I did responded to their actions. I should also mention that Spike was treated badly by some of the knights of that order, but Eclipse intervened and managed to… ‘persuade’ them before sending them away from town.
Eclipse fainted afterwards, we brought him to the Ponyville General Hospital but doctors say he’s fine… I’m not sure if he fainted due to exhaustion or something, but… well there’s something I need to discuss with you personally about him, I hope you receive this letter post-haste.
From your student, Twilight Sparkle
P.S. Spike is alright, he only got a few scrapes.
“Well it appears things have calmed down, but we need to go there to make sure our ponies are alright; sister, I want you to go see Twilight and her friends about this Eclipse Light pony. I met him personally but I don’t know much about him, other than that he wished to have a license from the trader’s guild in Canterlot when he visited half a month ago. I will deal with the Church of the Holy Sun and Shining Might… I also think it’s a good idea for you to properly be introduced to my student and her friends, other than myself and some of the castle staff.”
“But Tia...” Celestia petted her sister’s mane which made her pout before giving a small smile in return. “Alright, but you better hurry with dealing with those ruffians from that so called order.”
“I promise, now let’s hurry and make haste to Ponyville.” Both alicorn sisters boarded the airship and soon made their way to Ponyville, the trip taking five to ten minutes at their current speed.
Ponyville, Ponyville General Hospital; 11:15am
After getting Eclipse to the hospital, they waited patiently for the doctors to check any further problems just in case. The girls along with Spike and Trixie were now in the waiting room near the room Eclipse was being kept at right now, each of them had their own thoughts and worries, with Fluttershy being the one who hasn’t spoken a word and kept to herself with Rarity by her side.
Nobody spoke and when they did it was in hushed words, but soon the silence ended with Rainbow speaking. “Okay, is nopony seriously going to start asking about what Eclipse did just now, he literally just took down nearly fifty ponies by himself bare-hooved, only to end up using a weapon against one of those paladin dudes! And when that Might dude started to act all tough and try to hurt Fluttershy, Eclipse somehow pushed her out of the way and freaking snap his horn off, Eclipse did the freaking impossible!”
“RAINBOW!” The prismatic mare cringed at the sudden shout before looking at the one who spoke; Twilight who suddenly stood up and shouted soon got the attention of everyone, even Fluttershy who finally glanced up. “...I don’t want us to put any assumptions about Eclipse or anything… I know we all saw something that was impossible, so we should wait until we get answers from him. I sent a message to Princess Celestia and she sent a response to me earlier that both her and Princess Luna will be coming here. Let’s wait until then… we all have questions right now about today, but we can’t throw any accusations right now...”
Soon after Twilight’s talk, an unexpected visitor entered the room as the one entering was Princess Luna herself, immediately everyone stood up and bowed their heads toward the royal. “Please everyone, there’s no need for you to bow, especially with what’s happened recently. I was told about the situation by my sister, she’s currently handling with this ‘High Paladin’ Shining Might and his actions of today. My sister sent me ahead to check on this Eclipse Light, he’s the one who stopped this madness and I’ve come to say my thanks and see if he’s fine,” said Luna. “Have there been any news of him after you brought him here?”
“None yet so far princess, but I’m surprised that you came here,” said Twilight.
“Celestia thought it be a good idea I’m introduced to the heroines of Equestria and her student,” said Luna. As the two spoke to one another, one of the nurses by the name of Nurse Redheart entered from the hall that led to where the patients were, noticing Princess Luna.
“Princess Luna, wha-what are you doing here!?” asked Redheart, surprised.
“Don’t mind my sudden visit, I came here to see one of the patients here with the rest, is he awake now?”
“Um, yes but… there’s a problem; we tried using our equipment and magic scans to see any further problems and… whatever damage occurred to him was never there… like it just… vanished.”
“Vanished? What you mean vanished?” asked Twilight.
“Well… its best you look for yourself, he’s asleep right now due to some of the anesthetics we used, follow me to his room.” They all followed Nurse Redheart to where Eclipse was being kept, going down two hallways before coming to a room with a single bed near a window facing an open field, the sun’s light slipping through the window and into the room. “He should be awake in a couple of minutes, but please keep your voices low here.”
Once everyone nodded and understood, Redheart exited the room to check other things, the girls looked at the resting Eclipse who didn’t look like he changed at all or had any damage from the fight. Settling down in the room, everyone found somewhere to sit until Princess Luna took a look at Eclipse for the first time, gazing at the stallion sparking something in her psyche. Strange… I feel like I’ve seen this pony before… but where?
“Princess, will Eclipse be fine?” asked Fluttershy, approaching the princess.
“So far from what I can see he’ll be fine and I’m certain the scans that the doctors here have done are accurate enough, for now we’ll wait for him to awaken and for my sister to return. Whilst we are waiting, what can all of you tell me about this stallion here?”
Everyone had their own thoughts on Eclipse, the first of them to speak being Pinkie who bounced up to Princess Luna with a smile. “Oh oh, Eclipse really likes taking walks in the early morning and visits the bakery to have breakfast and owns his own shop and-” Pinkie was shushed by Applejack as she placed a hoof on her snout to stop her quick talking.
“I don’t think the princess needs to know that much about Eclipse; well, he’s hard-working for sure and is helpful to anypony who needs it,” said Applejack.
“He’s also a gentle-colt, polite, and brave, he can be quite generous himself if asked nicely too,” said Rarity.
“He’s a close friend and while he can be a little distant to others, he can be friendly once you get to know him,” said Fluttershy.
Everyone looked at Rainbow who was silent this whole time, but after several moments of silence she rolled her eyes before facing everyone. “...He can be a jerk sometimes… but he’s a cool dude I guess...”
The next pony to speak was Trixie who may had over-exaggerated how she sees Eclipse from her perspective. “Trixie sees Eclipse as Trixie’s hero for he had saved the great and powerful Trixie from being flattened by the Ursa Minor. Trixie will forever be grateful for his actions and for his awe inspiring power and abilities!”
“Shhhhh, Eclipse is sleeping,” said Fluttershy.
Trixie chuckled lightly, and soon it was Twilight who was next to talk about Eclipse to Princess Luna, even though Twilight only knew Eclipse for a short time, but she tried her best to talk about what she knew and thought about him.
“He’s… well, for the most part a seclusive stallion, he doesn’t catch me to be the sociable type, though that differs from who you ask. For the last two weeks I’ve been here, he’s been helpful with giving me research material on some of the things he has and found on his travels. He can be insightful and mature for his age, though he does have some anger issues, he’s somepony I can depend on for something… though...”
Hmmmm, is there something bothering my sister’s apprentice about this stallion? As Luna waited for Twilight’s response, the young unicorn put her thoughts together and gave her answer.
“There are times… when he’s somepony else, before the Ursa Minor came stampeding through Ponyville, Eclipse reacted negatively toward Trixie about something she said. He also has some strange but interesting items, especially this sword he owns, its made of this azure metal with anebony handle, it also has this strange symbol on the cross-guard...”
“Hold on, this Eclipse wielded a mysterious weapon? Nopony of this day and age owns or uses any kind of weapons for personal use of any kind, the only ones who would even own a weapon other than the Equestrian Guard or other military forces from neighboring nations are retired guards, bandits, or bounty hunters, but Equestria’s number of retired guards are slim and consist of only ponies who’ve only been a guard for two or so years, and bandits are only near the border of Equestria and beyond. Bounty hunters maybe, but we rarely need the assistance of them and all ex-bounty hunters have all their weapons revoked once retiring in Equestria for safety reasons.”
“Well Eclipse says he’s not from here, heck he didn’t even know the Everfree Forest was dangerous when he first came here and just nonchalantly trotted through that place to come to Ponyville,” said Applejack.
This brought more questions than answers that Luna originally thought, when she first heard news of this Eclipse Light, she thought she be introduced to a brave citizen of Equestria who fought bravely to defend his home and friends… but instead from what she understands, this pony is a loner who has his own secrets to keep and not only that, managed to fend off two platoons of the Church of the Holy Sun, alone.
“Hrrrrh…” Everyone turned to find where the voice was coming from, but found a still unconscious Eclipse mumbling to himself, at first they thought he was beginning to wake up, but he went back to being quiet soon afterwards.
“Poor Eclipse, do you think he’s having a nightmare princess?” asked Fluttershy.
Luna approached him, placing her horn onto his forehead but after doing that, she felt… something, block her back. Taking a few steps back, Luna’s eyes widened out of shock before taking several deep breaths. “Princess, what happened!?”
“I… I’m not sure… There… was this presence, that pushed me back… it could be due to my recent return, I’m not at full strength as of yet… but for now I suppose we’ll wait for your friend to awaken,” said Luna. And maybe get some answers from him too.
Everyone soon waited for Eclipse to awaken, Spike and Pinkie going to get snacks while everypony else got more acquainted with Princess Luna and other small talk.
Ponyville, Ponyville Train Station; 11:30am
Shining Might was beyond furious, he was dripping rage at the thought of this humiliation at the hooves of some nopony, the second he would return back to Canterlot, he’ll bring the full might and power of the Church of the Holy Sun upon Ponyville. “That stallion will pay for this, he’ll regret he crossed paths with I, High Paladin Shining Might and nothing shall stop me,” said Might, to himself.
“HIGH PALADIN, SIR! She’s coming, our goddess is approaching us!”
Those words sent shivers across his fur, turning to face the one pony he praised since his youth; his father and his entire bloodline have been loyal and faithful to her highness, being one of the couple bloodlines that faithfully follow Celestia. She has never once seen the princess personally, having seen her from a distance or through the news about her, so this was a glorious time for her highness to see them personally, to see him personally.
As the knights who could still stand, stood in attention while those somewhat injured tried their best to stand tall and straight. Might stood with Swift and Pristine who had some bandages around them, but stood ready behind the High Paladin.
Soon Princess Celestia who had twenty members of the Royal Guard following behind her, stood before High Paladin Might… and she was not happy. While she didn’t show any anger openly, her eyes played another story, the anger and disappointment in them clear as water. She soon spoke in a calm and clear voice, getting the attention of Might and his subordinates, including the remaining knights still conscious.
“High Paladin Shining Might, I am here because you and your… ‘company’ have assaulted and disturbed the peace of this town and its residents, luckily nopony was harmed other than some scrapes and bruises. I have warned you in the past about such actions being taken, but you have crossed the line by not only attacking unarmed civilians but even my own student, her friends, and even her assistant. The damage has been dealt and can be mended, but I am afraid of the psychological damage done which may take time before our ponies can even trust the local guard, thinking they were responsible due to the similarities in armor. To put things simply, you are hereby revoked of any activities relating to the following – monster hunting, cultists, and anything to do with using your militaristic might for the Church of the Holy Sun or your own needs… try to use your own forces for anything, no matter what it may be and you’ll be in the Canterlot dungeons before you could even blink.”
Celestia had gazed deeply back at Might, if it being any other situation, he be giddy with excitement but right now, he wanted that gaze to be directed at somepony else. He expected some form of hello from her highness or even some assistance about his injured troops or dealing with a certain upstart stallion… but this… this was not how he imagined meeting her highness. He had been reprimanded for certain ‘morally wrong’ choices before, but would always be reprimanded by the High Priest or some officer ranked soldier of the Royal Guard… but never any of the royals, especially Princess Celestia herself.
Seeing and hearing her reprimanding him for what he done, was worse than being stabbed by jagged knives. “Am I clear, High Paladin Might,” said Celestia, threateningly.
“...Yes… yes your… highness,” said Might, weakly.
“Good, I will at least have some of the guard escort your injured to Canterlot immediately, while those with minor wounds will be examined by the healers and medics we brought with us. You and those who can still stand are to stay here until given permission to leave; I hope you learn something from this and not make another mistake like it again.”
Watching Princess Celestia leave, radiating her holy beauty and seeing it leave his sight inch by inch was the greatest pain he felt in his heart. Thoughts of what he done wrong to deserve such treatment, about why her highness was so angry with him… and to put the blame on somepony, a certain pony came to mind.
“That stallion… will pay,” said Might, clenching his teeth tightly.
After leaving the train station – Ponyville, Ponyville General Hospital; 11:50am
Celestia sighed after dealing with the High Paladin and while surprisingly she got less resistance than she imagined, having to say such things to somepony… still felt wrong for her; all her ponies in her eyes are like children to her, no matter how old somepony might be, she felt like she was angrily talking back to a foal.
She decided to send the rest of the guards who were still with her to check the edge of the forest and make sure the citizens were calmed down, leaving her alone as she approached the hospital. I need some time to my own devices.
Before she could reach the entrance she spotted something at the doors that sat there like it was waiting for something; what sat there was a small furry cub bear with a peculiar fur color that gazed back at her with cerise eyes that bore deep into her soul. Finding a possible carnivore creature this deep in Equestrian land was strange, with a tilt of her head the cub followed her motions exactly, before she smiled, knelt down and came muzzle to muzzle with the cub.
“Now what are you doing out here… are you lost?” The cub didn’t answer, she didn’t expect it to answer of course, so what the cub did next didn’t surprise her. Reaching forward the bear cub placed its paws onto her snout, the cub’s claws not scratching her while the soft touch of the cub’s paws tickled her.
“Now then… Do you want to come inside?” The cub did a small nod, before letting go of Celestia’s snout and turning to continue to gaze at the closed hospital doors. Understanding why the cub has been sitting at the entrance of the doorway now, she used her magic to keep the doors open which the cub entered through with Celestia following behind. Soon the cub brought her snout in the air to sniff the surrounding air, before quickly catching a scent and following it, surprisingly, the way the cub was going was the same path that Celestia needed to go to meet Twilight and her sister.
The two soon made their way to the exact room that Eclipse Light was being kept at, the cub entering as the door wasn’t fully closed and left ajar; Celestia approached the door, opening it to see the girls in the room with Luna who was currently glowering over the adorable cub bear. “Oh aren’t you just adorable, now how did you get in here?” asked Luna, lifting the cub bear up.
“Oh that’s Eclipse’s protege Luella, she lives with Eclipse,” said Fluttershy. The cub bear gave an annoyed look before scrambling out of Luna’s hold and making her way to the sleeping Eclipse, climbing up the medical bed before going in circles and plopping herself down to nap beside Eclipse’s head.
“Really, she came all the way here just to take a nap,” said Rainbow, crossing her hooves.
“Says the pony who naps all the time,” said Applejack, whispering.
“That’s just Luella’s way of worrying over Eclipse, right,” said Fluttershy. The cub opened one eye before closing to continue her nap, snuggling closer to Eclipse.
Celestia examined the sleeping pony in question, before facing her sister and the others in the room. “It does not appear there is anything wrong with him on the surface, have you found anything below sister, how about you Twilight?” asked Celestia.
“Nothing I could find Tia.”
“Neither I princess, I trust the doctors and nurses and even if I did do a scan, I’d get the same results like Princess Luna… but… Princess, I have a question.”
“I will answer any questions you have for me, Twilight, go ahead.” Twilight seemed to pause, taking a deep breath before looking up at Celestia with a determined but wary look.
“Princess… what do you know about this sword, particularly the symbol on the cross-guard?” Twilight soon levitated a sheathed sword to Celestia who took it in her own magic, but the second she grasped it in her levitation spell, she felt a strange power emanating from the weapon. Unsheathing the blade revealed a dark blue blade and an ebony handle, the cross-guard being dark blue steel; the symbol in the center of the cross-guard showed two flaming wings upon a strange being that had one eye. The strangest thing however wasn’t the sword or the symbol, unseen by anypony except by Celestia due to her holding it with her magic, she saw “it”.
A strange energy seemed to flow through the weapon, that was a pitch dark ebony that seemed to be far darker than even her sister’s night skies. “I am sorry Twilight, but I do not recognize this symbol nor the craftsmanship of this sword, it is too big for any pony or griffin and doesn’t look like a weapon the minotaur race would use or craft.”
“Sister, is something wrong?” asked Luna.
“Indeed sister, I saw a strange energy wrapped around this weapon like a swaddled foal… as to what it is though-”
The group heard or rather felt something, a presence coming from behind them, to Celestia it felt like something was boring two piercing knives into her skull. Quickly but so quick that she lost focus and drop the sword to the ground with a loud clatter, they soon found a now awoken Eclipse who had Luella napping on his head.
“...I’d ask why my sword is unsheathed and is being examined, but I’d like to know why two royals are in the same room I am in?” asked Eclipse.
The girls soon swarmed him, with only Spike, Trixie and Rainbow standing on the sidelines, each of them asking different questions. Eclipse silenced them all with a raise of his hoof, then he slowly got off the bed, slipping Luella off his head and gently laying the sleeping cub onto Fluttershy’s awaiting hooves, who made sure the cub was comfortable on her new sleeping spot between Fluttershy’s wings.
Eclipse faced Princess Celestia before kneeling down to pick up his sword with his hoof, then grabbing the sheath and sheathing the sword. After putting the weapon away, he left it laying on the bed, turning to face once more at the now attentive Princess Celestia and Luna. “Now then… I believe some questions are in order now,” said Eclipse.
“Indeed but first however, we have not been properly introduced yet, I am Princess Luna, I recently just returned to the throne some weeks ago from my… banishment.” Celestia could sense the tinge of guilt in her voice, but luckily Eclipse didn’t show any reaction that gave a negative impact at all.
“It is my pleasure to be meeting you Luna, I am Eclipse Light… but I’m assuming you knew that already considering you are here than back at your throne.”
“You… are not afraid of me?”
Eclipse didn’t show any reaction but gave a cheeky smirk in return, making Luna tilt her head in confusion. “Princess… I’ve seen things that make the creatures in the Everfree Forest become comparable to the softness of a pillow. As to your question, I know about the legend behind… your past.” Luna’s ears wilted as they laid flat against her head, but before she could speak Eclipse continued onward. “That though does not define somebody… you can only truly judge someone by the present than the past, so know that I won’t judge you for something that happened a millennia ago.”
“I am thankful for your kind words Eclipse, but I think there are more pressing matters to be dealt with… The weapon you own… Where did you get it?”
Eclipse eyes seem to darken from the question, before he gazed outside at the window, deep in thought. No… not yet, shouldn’t tell them about anything…
“Its best you don’t know and if I were to tell you, you’ll never be able to find the source or information about this sword or the symbol… Just know its not something for you to worry about and I acquired through… an old comrade.”
“I… see… Well I must do a thorough search of… your belongings, for safety reasons-”
“Princess, you don’t think Eclipse has something dangerous, do you?” asked Fluttershy.
Both Celestia and Luna looked at one another, before glancing at the now worried group. “After the incident that happened with the Holy Sun, I believe we make sure another incident like this doesn’t happen, not only that but Eclipse has possibly smuggled in possible illegal objects, which is why we must do a search of Eclipse’s property. If this was one of our citizens then there would be some leeway, however the news of Eclipse being from outside Equestria has come to me… making him still a foreigner by all rights. If we find something of questionable demand, charges will be brought toward you and if nothing is found...”
Eclipse continued to gaze at the princesses with a bland look, before facing his weapon and strapping it to his back, then he headed for the room’s exit, turning to face the group. “Well… let’s get this over with, follow me.”
Soon the princesses and the others followed Eclipse to his personal property, getting permission from the hospital for Eclipse to leave, seeing he was in good condition. As they exited the hospital, the last to exit was Fluttershy, pausing as she heard… a voice.
He holds the secrets of days old, of a time long lost, forgotten by the ebb of time; he wields the keys to all worlds… he is the guardian of an empty throne.
Looking around to find the source of the voice, Fluttershy soon finds her focus returning after hearing the voice of Rainbow calling her. “Hey Shy, you alright?”
“I’m fine Rainbow…”
“Well come on, the others are already ahead of us!” Rainbow and Fluttershy soon caught up with the others, the voice gone just as it appeared.