Sunset Eclipsed

by EldritchNexus


The White Changeling

A division of the Night Guard departed from Canterlot, and was passing on the road to Fillydelphia. At the lead was Captain Star Shield, followed by Radiant Dawn. Unlike most of the pegasi, the captain preferred to trot on the path.

"Captain, sir?" asked Radiant. "I always wondered: Why don't you just fly?"

"I am getting old, lieutenant." said the captain. "I am not that used to flying great distances. At least not as I was twenty years ago."

"And what were you twenty years ago?" asked Radiant Dawn, curiously.

"I was the Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard." answered Star Shield. "I was and still am one of the finest guards to have ever served Princess Celestia, and have done my duties for Equestria longer than most guards ever have."

"Why aren't you the captain anymore?"

"Well, I grew weary of the long hours of guard duty during the day." explained Star. "When Princess Luna returned to power in Canterlot after that whole Nightmare Moon crisis, the Night Guard was re-organized. Before this, it was a minimal security force that exclusively patrolled the inside of the palace. But in recent months, its numbers have expanded, and we are nearly identical in numbers to the Royal Guard.

"And so, I surrendered my position as captain to my lieutenant, and intended to retire." continued the pegasus captain. "But Princess Celestia offered me the position of captain for the night shift. I was only too happy to accept it."

"So, would I be wrong if I guessed that this lieutenant of yours was..." assumed Radiant Dawn.

"Shining Armor, yes." answered Star Shield. "I trust you two have already become acquainted with each other?"

"Oh, yeah, We go way back. We used to train together for the Royal Guard. In fact, I finished my training, but turned down the position I was given."

"And why, may I ask, did you turn them down?"

"Personal reasons." said Radiant. "I found out that I would be stationed out in Baltimare, of all places. I didn't want to go too far away from my sister, so I decided to join Princess Celestia's academy for gifted unicorns, where she was a student. That didn't fare too well, either."

"Well, I am glad you are here now." said Star Shield. "You will prove to be a great guard, Lieutenant Dawn."

"Thank you, sir."

A few hours later, and the Night Guard task force was crossing along the forest road to Fillydelphia, and they came across a destroyed wagon. Star Shield did not like the looks of it, and neither did Radiant Dawn.

"Remember, everypony!" said Radiant to the guards behind them. "Maintain constant vigilance!"


Meanwhile, Sunset Shimmer was plodding somberly down one of the ruined streets of Fillydelphia. As she passed barred-up houses and shops, she thought about her brother. She felt ashamed to be away from him for so long. Between the academy and the human world, she had been away from him for so long that he had mostly fazed out of her mind. But now, she had all the time in the world to reminisce her time with him.

"I'm sorry, Red." she sniffled. "I wish you were with me right now. I want you here so badly. I don't think I can do this without you. If only I could..."

She felt a chill down her spine, as if something was watching her. She looked around the empty street, but was unable to find any living being in sight. She had not felt this terrified since that armored man held her at gunpoint outside Canterlot High. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest, and her breathing was becoming heavier by the moment.

"Howdy, pardner!" said the voice of Crazy Graffiti.

Sunset turned herself around, and saw the pegasus standing in the middle of the road. This was rather unusual, since she just looked back there and up in the sky just a few seconds before, and saw no sign of anypony to speak of. The pegasus was perfectly erect, and split the road like a statue.

"Oh, not you again!" complained the mare. "Why don't you leave me alone! What could you possibly want from me?"

"Can I interest y'all..." he began to say, before his voice suddenly deepened. "In a melting pot of love and happiness?"

"What in the name of Celestia could you possibly be--" said Sunset, before staring in horror at the pegasus, who was now encased in a layer of green flames.

The fire cleared, and in Graffiti's place stood a tall, pale-bodied Changeling with crimson eyes. He was grinning maliciously at Sunset Shimmer. Slowly, he approached her, his mouth leaking greenish-white drool.

"I am here for you, my lovely little unicorn!" he said, speaking with a shrill, deranged voice. "I've wanted to meet you for the longest time ever! Let's have fun together!"

Sunset's teeth were clenched, and she prepared herself to cast a spell at the creature. Her horn was shining with a teal aura, and she teleported behind the Changeling.

"Oh, look." the Changeling said. "It looks as though you are...right behind me!"

Suddenly, he threw himself backwards through the air, beating his insect-like wings along the way. Sunset Shimmer gasped, surprised by this sudden action, and was knocked off-balance by the backwards-flying albino Changeling. At that moment, another Changeling appeared. The second creature was hovering over her, doing somersaults in mid-air at a constant rate.

"Hey, this looks like something very fun." he was saying as he was somersaulting. "Too bad you ain't an alicorn, or you could do this, too!"

"I'm still better off than...whatever you're supposed to be!" shouted the unicorn. "There's no way I'm going to be beaten by a psycho like you!"

"And now I have to kill you." said the new Changeling in a rhythmic pattern. "And then I'm going to die. I kill everybody. You kill everybody. We all kill everybody!"

"What in the..." sighed Sunset Shimmer. "What are you, the brainchild of Discord?"

"Uh...he's always like that." replied the albino Changeling. "Glitch, what are you doing here?"

"Ghost, I think I...I think I--" Glitch stammered, before letting out a thunderous belch. "Hey, did you catch the late show last night?"

"Shut up, you moron." groaned Ghost.

Glitch darted over to Sunset, and whispered into her ear:

"I secretly eat lettuce when no one is looking." he said to the confused unicorn. "By the way, would you know the fastest way to drink water from a dead tree? By the way, here's some of my special soup. I call it 'Pa'."

Glitch brandished a bowl of soup and fed it to Sunset. Sunset immediately spat the whole thing out due to how hot it was.

"Glitch! Go! Now!" said Ghost. "Go annoy someone else."

Glitch hovered around, spinning in place, before being teleported away.

"Now that we've got that out of the way." Ghost said to "My master wants to meet you right now. I could take you to him now, or keep you entertained until he comes to pick you up himself."

Then he lolled his mouth about loudly, making the most basic of vocalizations. Sunset pressed her hooves against her ears.

"Fine! Fine!" she shouted over the noise. "Just take me to him, and shut your incomprehensible trap!"

"Good, yes? Very good." said the white insect-pony. "Sleep good, because you probably won't sleep good when we get there."

"Why not?" Sunset asked.

Suddenly, the Changeling dropped to the ground, and stood over the downed unicorn with a legitimately threatening expression on his face. His twisted horn glowed with a red aura, and a bright flash of light. The next thing that Sunset Shimmer knew was that she was laying in a metallic cage, suspending from the ceiling of a cave. She could hear the wind blowing cold against her body, and noticed that another Changeling was looking up at her.

"Ah, yes." said the Changeling. "Sunset Shimmer, my darling little unicorn. I do believe we met on the other side of the continent, about fifteen years ago."

"Why would I know you?" asked Sunset. "I'm not even sure what you are!"

Suddenly, the cage was lowered by telekinesis, and the reddish-blonde unicorn was now looking straight into the wicked eyes of her captor. His tall, insectoid appearance reminded Sunset Shimmer of Craw's armored enforcer back in the human world.

"You know very well what I am." said the creature. "I am a Changeling. You and your brother encountered my creatures about fifteen years ago, when you two were both young."

"So, I take it that you're this...Prince Embryo?" asked Sunset, remembering the name.

"Yes, but I now go by the name of Lord Umbriel." said the Changeling.

"What did you do to my parents, you monster?!" the unicorn suddenly screamed out, when she realized what this meant.

"My, my." said the Changeling, with an evil grin. "You are a feisty one. But then, you always were one."

Sunset Shimmer snorted, and then laid down in the cage.

"There, that's better." said Umbriel. "Now, I honestly have no idea where your mother and father went. I can assure you, though, that they put up quite a fight against my Changelings."

"Well, enough of that, then." said Sunset. "What do you want with me?"

"I want you to join my cause." said Lord Umbriel. "I could use a unicorn with your talents."

"Just why would I join you?" asked the mare.

"Well, think about it." said the Changeling lord. "I know talent when it's unappreciated. And you, my dear, are a hidden gold mine of magical wonders that is just waiting to be opened up. With my help, you could become the absolute ruler of Equestria. Princess Celestia could never do you justice, even if you did stay with her. If you do as I say, you could rule over the pathetic ponies of this land with an iron fist before the year's end!"

"I tried ruling over others with an iron fist." said Sunset. "It didn't work well for me. Besides, I already have others here that appreciate me for what I am, thank you very much."

"Yes. For now, they do." nodded Umbriel. "But since--"

"Hang on a minute!" interrupted Sunset Shimmer. "What do you mean, 'for now'?"

"I mean that they won't be able to love you for long. The Princesses, your friends, your brother. All of them will learn to hate you, knowing that they will be destroyed because you refused to cooperate with me!"

"Like you weren't going to do that, anyway!" retorted the amber unicorn. "I can already tell that you're responsible for those attacks on Fillydelphia!"

"Oh, my dear." denied the Changeling. "Whatever gives you the impression that I would be responsible for such...atrocities?"

"Because there was an armored creature that attacked me and my friend on the road to Fillydelphia. The same creature that was there with your Changelings when they tried to take me and my brother captive."

"Oh, yes." nodded Umbriel. "You must be referring to Long Rim."

"Long Rim?" repeated Sunset Shimmer.

"Yes." said Umbriel. "He's a creature that my Changelings came across in one of the lands my elder sister, Queen Chrysalis, plundered when she was searching for a suitable population for our subjects to feed upon. He has proven to be quite an asset to my purposes."

"Had proven to be an asset." smirked the unicorn. "Long Rim's dead. That Ursa Major killed it."

"That's the prime flaw about Ursas. They can be very hard to control once you get them on the move. But Long Rim isn't dead. He was simply stunned."

"Then that thing must be pretty strong, if it could survive being clawed by an Ursa Major." said Sunset Shimmer, astonished.

"Oh, you have no idea." said Umbriel. "You should've been with us last year, when he tore a dragon in half."

"I'd...rather not think about it."

"Well, I have had a great time speaking with you, my dear." said Umbriel, in a gentlemanly manner. "And now, we shall part ways. I will have Ghost bring you back to Fillydelphia."

"Wait, you're just going to let me go?" asked Sunset. "But I didn't want to join you!"

"No, but I wouldn't want to outright kill you, either." said Umbriel. "You are much too powerful to just kill right away. There would simply be no sport in doing this. Besides, I understand you haven't had much room to stretch out with your magic. This will benefit both of us: You will be able to hone your skills, and I will finally get a good fight out of that worthless city."

"Then I bet you'll get the best fight of your life!" said Sunset. "I bet Princess Celestia's already sent an army--no, a legion!--of her best guards to bring you all down!"

"We shall see..." said Umbriel, turning his head. "Ghost! Walk this kind mare back home, will you?"

Suddenly, the albino Changeling from earlier swooped down from the darkness like a great white bat, and dropped on top of Sunset Shimmer's cage. His mouth was slavering, and his horn was glowing.

"Keep your head, missy." he said, feigning concern.

There was a flash of red light, and Sunset suddenly fell hard onto a dirt road, under a starry sky. The yellow unicorn got back up, and found that she was on the forest road to Fillydelphia. There was a thundering of hooves.

"Sunset!" called out a familiar voice. "Sunset, are you okay?"

It was Radiant Dawn, followed by a small crowd of ponies. Radiant galloped up to his sister, and bent down to look into her eyes.

"Sunset, listen." he said. "Are you hurt at all? What happened? Why are you out here all alone?"

Sunset's teal eyes watered, and she rushed forward to embrace her brother.

"Radiant, I never thought I'd see you again." she sniffled. "I'm just so happy to see you."

Radiant was surprised. Not only had he never seen his sister cry in a long time, but she actually called him by his birth name.

"Hey now, little sis." he said. "Big brother's here for ya. In fact, we're all here for ya!"

Then Sunset stepped back to look at Radiant's body for a moment. She noticed that he was wearing some kind of padded black uniform. She also took a close look at the ponies around them, seeing that they were all wearing purple and black armor.

"Radiant, what's going on here?" she asked, confused.

"Well, to make a long story short..." said her brother, with a grin. "I got a job."

"Sunset Shimmer, it is good to see that you are well this evening." said another voice.

A grayish-white pegasus approached the two siblings, giving a salute to the younger of the two. Sunset was able to recognize him, from her days as Princess Celestia's student, particularly when she was living in her palace.

"Captain Star Shield?!" she said, surprised. "Is that really you? I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Yes, ma'am. It is I, still serving Equestria in whatever way I can." said the aging pegasus.

"So, what's with the armor?" she asked. "Did the Canterlot Royal Guard have a change in uniforms while I was out?"

"Actually, I am no longer the Captain of the Royal Guard." said Star Shield. "I resigned from that post years ago. This is the Night Guard. That is, Princess Luna's guard."

"So, my dream-message to Princess Luna worked, after all?" said Sunset Shimmer. "Wow, I can't believe that Luna was actually capable of doing that!"

"Indeed, her majesty is quite powerful, much like her elder sister." said one of the guards around them.

"At ease, Night Runner." said Star Shield to the guard. "Now, we are here to assist Fillydelphia in their current crisis."

"Then I should come with you." said Sunset. "I've just found out who's responsible for the attacks. I'll fill you in on the way."

"Lead the way, Miss Shimmer." said the pegasus captain. "It is our sworn duty to assist Princess Luna, and her personal student, in desperate times such as these."

Sunset Shimmer, Star Shield, Radiant Dawn, and the Night Guard went on down the path to Fillydelphia. They would soon be ready for the battle that would determine their abilities.