//------------------------------// // Bonus Chapter 9.5: Under Cover of Darkness // Story: The Legend Of Harmony: The Eternal Eclipse // by Radiant Eclipse //------------------------------// The sun stood high above the sky, when a black colt sat on the shore of a lake next to a gigantic plain covered in high grass, colorful flowers and filled with a wide variety of tiny animals. His hind legs were slightly wet from the slender waves that flushed the fine sand. This pony, graspable it was Radiant Eclipse, held a book in his hooves in which he read. It was the historical tradition that must have been blown away in the gigantic explosion Ray caused, but it was rather intact. His gaze focused on a single paragraph in the last page; the page that looked cracked, as it would have been subtracted from the former page. He read it carefully, over and over again, trying to digest it but without success. His lips jittered somewhat, when suddenly, a single tear poured out of his eye and shattered on the antique vellum of the book. Ray felt the moistness on his cheek and saw the wet spot on the brownish paper. Carefully, he put his hoof on his cheek, on the wet spot on his face and gently stroked over it, seemingly unable to comprehend what just happened. How could he feel anything? How could he cry? He was incomplete. Not that he only lacked his soul, he was even partially darkness. A thought came in his mind. Maybe his soul was just who he is, and the heart may amplify the souls power into emotions. Ray lost what he once was, so maybe, just maybe, this made sense. At least it did for him. He put away his slightly wet hoof and starred at it, holding it into the sun where it caused to reflect the light, making the edge of it shine brightly. “What... am I...?” Suddenly, he simply let his hoof dangle next to him, as he saw a single rose in the lilac field behind him. He did not know why, but he felt the urge to pick it. When he did, he flashed both the book's last page and the rose a glance. “Even in the gloomiest of all darknesses...” He whispered to himself before pressing the rose against his heart. “There is always a love that guides you as the brightest of all lights.” He continued, before he experienced once more the payment of the debt to nature. In his hoof, still pressing it against his heart, the rose quickly withered; and died, like love has the nature of easily being deteriorated. As he suspired, he put the dead rose on the calm lake and regarded it, as it slowly began to sink in and eventually, it vanished in the dark abyss of the waters. He sighed in despair, but shook himself from it and meditated, letting his dark magic become one with the flow of life and magic. Ray was able to see it in front of his eyes, like he was watching a movie. Every path the darkness has walked in this world were like the word of a wise man to him; articular and understandable. There were many paths, but most of them were extremely small. Ray knew that this was normal darkness in every beings existence. Some of it bigger, some barely existent. They were not of his origin, uncompareable to the might of his own darkness. But there were a hoofful of paths that seemed to not fit in the archetype of this world. One of this entities seemed to be far away from him; and apparently, it vanished from this planet for a very long time. Ray assumed it was located somewhere in the Arctic North far away from him. A source of darkness he felt connected to? Going this way was clearly something he intended to do, but he could not grasp the other paths. One of it seemed to have grown over the time and always stayed at one place, with one exception where it was for just some days in a place the Guardians of Harmony must have referred to as 'Equestria'. He did not feel a strong bond between this and that particular darkness, but something about it felt familiar. Maybe he was just imagining it, but he was sure he wanted to give it a shot. But what confused him the most was relatively nearby to him, presumable in the forest at the other side of the plain he could clearly spot. Very strong darkness suddenly unleashed itself, but then, it vanished from this planet. After a long time, it reappeared, only to be... to be sealed. He saw enough and stood up in his confusion, leaving his meditation and his forced bond with the magic behind. “What... happened in the past thousand years...?” He gazed at everywhere, but the only thing he could see was shining light in form of life and harmony. They must have been anomalies... maybe fragments of his darkness that were lost in his past struggle. But in the end, what did it matter? Not much was what he thought. “I guess it won't matter when it's all over...” He took a deep breath and turned his body into the direction of the most nearby source of darkness and cantered in its direction, enjoying the warm sensation his surrounding gives him, likely for the last time ever. --------------- After a straining march through an area that was rather a dry steppe than a dessert, he entered an uncommon looking place. A place he assumed to be a Badlands. It looked licentiously, and many small hills grazed the view. The ground was dusty, but not dead at all. No, there were many spots were scrubs and steppe grass filled the face of the plain. It was definitely more living than the steppe he just came from in terms of flora, but to his resentment, it was also hotter and the air was drier than ever before. The midday sun proverbially incinerated his hide. To his disappointment, he could not see the gigantic source of darkness. Even after entering a wide area with a clear view, there was nothing, but sprinkles of gloominess. “Something is not right here...” He assumed dubiously. This assumption should have revealed itself to be correct, when out of nowhere, green bursts of flames surrounded him; and for him unknown creatures stepped out of it. This insect-like ponies with a chitin-exoskeleton instead of a hide, approximately two dozens of them, baffled him when they began to chuckle menacingly at him. All of them looked exactly the same, with the exception of one, who had pupils in his eyes, a green plate on his back and something that could be considered its mane and tail. Both Ray and the most likely leader of these things gazed into each others eyes. The creatures attitude shifted from dominance so some sort of a mix between confusion and fear. Radiant Eclipse interpreted their behavior as instinct, like they could likely feel magic and comprehended that he was not ordinary being. At the same time, he could sense that something was not right with them, as they were... heartless, lacking all of their love. Maybe he found his source of darkness which was right in front of him, but there were definitely more of them than just these two dozens. “What...” The leading creature began to ask in a voice that was very similar to Ray's voice, but slightly distorted, likely because of its bigger and sharper bit and jaw. “What do you want here?” “So you can talk.” Ray remarked with a fascinated, but calm voice. “But of course we can.” The black colt's opponent replied angrily. “What do you think we are? Wildlife?” “No, your organized attack erased this possibility.” “My question remains. What do you want here?” “I want to offer something... to your leader. An opportunity to invade Equestria... successfully.” Though Ray only guessed that this was once their intention, his sharp mind allowed him to nail it perfectly. The tone of the creatures in front of him changed once again into surprise. But on the other hand, they could feel an incredible strong, dark presence coming from that pony, if he still could be considered as such. They did not laugh at him, nor doubt him. He was absolutely serious. Even the pack's leader saw this black fire in the dark colt's eyes and believed him. Without hesitation, he waved Ray to him and lead him to his home, accompanied by his troops. --------------- They found themselves in a seemingly disorganized area mostly under the ground, with many tunnels, filled with weak sunlight that shined through holes in the ceiling. All in all, it was a typical hive, only in ginormous size, and not crowded. Everypony had much free space, considering that Ray only counted about a hundred to a thousand of these bizarre creatures. After walking through the tunnels for about a minute or two, they found themselves in a circular room that was at least as big as a stadium. On a gallery on a greenish black throne at the other end of the hall, there sat the biggest of all creatures, which was very likely a female, according to her body and her face's shape. Only the both of them standing in front of her, because the others have had separated from them, the young creature bowed to her presumable Queen. “You have returned my son.” She said proudly before taking a glimpse of Radiant Eclipse. “Who is that, Chetyre?” “Mother Chrysalis, this is... someone that requested an audience.” “A pony?! In The Changeling Kingdom?!” She questioned in bewilderment. “How absurd!” “No, mother.” Chetyre contradicted respectfully. “He is... different. You will understand.” Ray starred into Queen Chrysalises eyes; and so did she. At first, she doubted him, but then, she comprehended what her son tried to tell her and was very interested in to know more about him. “Servants!” She yelled, but with a rather friendly than threatening voice. “Bring your prince and his guest seating-accommodations.” And without hesitation, more of these changelings, as Chrysalis called them, did as they were told and both Ray and Chetyre were able to make themselves comfortable on big, high and fleecy pillows. “So... pony...” Chrysalis asked Ray. “What could bring someone like you into this kingdom?” “The name's Ray. Radiant Eclipse.” He replied. “And I am here to offer you a chance to conquer Equestria and assimilate it into your kingdom.” “Why would you do this?” Chetyre asked him curiously. “Because it would be too time-consuming to do it all on my own.” “To do what exactly?” Chrysalis asked him fascinatingly. “Taking revenge on Celestia and Luna.” At first, they were confused. Why would a pony want to take revenge on their beloved princesses? But they listened to him, and he explained everything he could. Beginning with his story, his cravings and how he defeated the Elements of Harmony. Of course he left certain things out the changelings could and should not know to gain their trust. After he finished, Chrysalis and Chetyre thought about it, but were not convinced yet. “Even though your doings left a big impression.” Chrysalis admitted. “I am not sure if this would be a good idea.” “Fine. Then not.” Radiant Eclipse replied before he stood up and walked away. “I tried what I could, but I have no more time to waste here.” “Wait!” Chrysalis yelled at him. “How impertinent from you! First requesting our assistance and then turning your back on us!? I would have captivated you if you weren't so... different.” “No” He replied. “I am not here to request any help. I was only here to give you an opportunity, which would allow me to fulfill my own plans way easier. I don't care what you are going to do with this situation if it benefits you. That is not my business.” He once more took some steps away in the direction of the tunnel that lead him out of this hive, before Chrysalis intervened. “Ray, wait!” He turned his head and gazed at her. “I'll be awaiting you; in the evening tomorrow, at the place where the fiftieth time the world experiences a near drowning in lasting darkness occurs.” After these words, leaving the changelings in bewilderment but also with interest behind, he left this surreal place and headed towards his next goal, the Arctic North. --------------- Pure darkness, but the stars and the moon grazed the face of the sky; and as Ray stood in an area covered in knee-high snow, he took deep breathes to refresh himself. Fordable, but algid wind streamed through the eternal plain of snow and ice. It was extremely cold. So icy in fact that his slightly due to the wind in snow and ice covered body shivered heavily. He was completely super-cool, but he seemed to be able to withstand it, or he simply did not care about it, because he was too focused on something else. As the black colt hunkered down and took something very out of place in his hoofs, he smirked, presumably because he found what he was looking for. Still, he was not sure what he was supposed to do with this object. In his hoofs, he held the horn of a former evil tyrant. Sombra's horn. But he could not know that. As he looked around, he could spot the near Crystal Empire with its lush grasses and welcoming atmosphere. Somehow, he felt that this place had a connection with this horn, so he went to it for further investigation. After entering it, it was remarkably warmer. Very pleasing to his surprise, but he simply thought to himself that this was due to magic. What he found odd is that the entire city was empty of souls. He was the only pony in this entire empire, as everypony else were somewhere else. Maybe for a festival or alike. He did not care, but due to his interest, he gave the local library a try to find out more about this horn. In the archives, he quickly found what he was looking for, when he saw a picture of King Sombra fighting against an Alicorn that was neither Celestia nor Luna. He did not question it, but focused on King Sombra. He read himself through the book called “The History of the Crystal Empire”. “So... the Crystal Heart... eh?” He said to himself smilingly, before he put the book away and headed towards the giant palace in the center of the city. There, he found this precious artifact, protected by a barrier spell. But this was no problem for such a sway he was. He easily obliterated the barrier by overloading it with his own dark magic and took possession of the Crystal Heart. “Hmpf.. easier than stealing a lolly from baby Luna.” He breathed a sigh of relief and rejoiced. “Good. I have everything I need. Now... let's see how good my plan is going to work out.” He said to himself, before he realized that no pony was actually there to listen to him and he felt some sort of shame. “Hmm... I should stop talking to myself...” He commented as he felt blue. “I am so incredible alone.” --------------- The flame red sunset bestrode the sky of Equestria and beyond. More than a whole day has passed since the incident with the purple explosion and the possible outbreak of Pariah and defeat of the Elements of Harmony. Unsurprisingly, the crowd, consisting of thousands of ponies and several other species, continued to celebrate in their illusion of safety and everlasting elation. But at the moment, they were completely silent and focused only on a little filly on a tribune near the entrance to Ponyville, who stood in front of a microphone on an upright column. This filly was indeed Sweetie Belle, the most gifted singer of her age and the elected one to perform the song that accompanies with the legend of Pariah. Though she had been put under stress since the princesses had revealed her and her friends the truth about Pariah's return, she swallowed her tremulousness and sang the lyrics as angelic as always. Over a good part of the day, Ray stood under a tree that protected him from being spotted by everypony else. He now understood what the ponies were celebrating. His downfall and Celestia's and Luna's victory. They were all so happy because another pony, that was blamed for what he was, a monstrosity, had been defeated. This was his story, his legend, his festival they celebrated, his purpose, destiny and doom. He was aware of it... and he loathed every single bit of it as he bottled the pain it caused up and tried to shrug it off... without success.