//------------------------------// // Chapter 12: Partially A NightMare // Story: Twilight's new feather // by Onyxfire408 //------------------------------// Chapter 12: Partially A NightMare Eagle stood there, speechless, his own aunt Luna was standing before him. The sister of Celestia, the one that he hated the most like a wolf and her pups. As for Luna, she was the same, her mouth was gaped open, enough to hit the floor. And her turquoise eyes shrank and released a dam full of tears at the site of his age. It's never changed. "E-Eagle.....that was your name. M-My nephew...Eagle...." "Oh I wish I could wake up right now." Eagle said in a cold as he frowned at Princess Luna. He reached for his sword and brought it our, only to feel a tsunami of pain course through his body. He quickly retracted his sword, fell to his knees, and held his stomach in pain. Princess Luna rushed over to help him, only to be stopped by Eagle's raised hand. "Eagle, what has happened to you? I thought you were dead?" Luna gasped in shock as she sat down in front of Eagle, who only glared at her with black flaming hatred. He grunted as he sat straight with legs crossed as he waited for this dream to end. "I suppose you have questions then." He predicted in a cold tone as Luna nodded and gulped. "I have only three. How.....How.....How are you?" "......Fine....." He asked in a flat tone as the night princess rushed to him and embraced him. Luna could feel the tears rushing down her shoulders. But to Eagle, he felt an annoying dampness on his shoulders, but most of all....nothing. "Get off me now auntie." He coldly demanded as the lunar princess released her grip. "Where are you Eagle?" She asked as Eagle gave a heavy sigh. "Nowhere special, let's just say, near Canterlot. One more question auntie." "Will you ever forgive her?" Eagle grew silent, it stayed for what felt like hours, but only mere minutes. He gave a huff of frustration as he stood up, still holding his stomach. "I don't know. My heart is saying to forgive her, my mind is saying to punish, myself......I don't know. But, what I do know is, other people know about my past." The sounds of those words shocked Luna as she put a hand over her mouth. "Auntie I need you to do me a favor. Some stallions, I don't know who, but they want to hunt me down." "Ho-" "I do not know how they know me, but I know one thing. They know about her" Eagle said as the dream world began to rumble. "Seems it's almost morning. Auntie, can you do me a favor and not reveal my name?" "I must, for-" "For who's safety? I'm not gonna hurt anypony, just Celestia. In a very painful way. And if you spoil this, then so help me Faust, I will kill somepony dear to you. Not Celestia, but somepony else." "Who?" "I Believe you don't want to visit their funeral." Eagle warned as the dream world began to crack with light as Eagle slightly chuckled. "But auntie, keep on the watch for this symbol." Eagle said as he popped up the same guild picture he saw from the Laughing Coffin's guild member from the other night. He made the image turn into a physical picture and he handed it to Luna. "They know something about me. Oh and by the way, Ta taa." He said as he started to fade away from the dream realm. "No wait-" Luna tried to reach her hand out towards Eagle, but her hand simply phased through Eagle particles as it was soon faded. ----------1005 years ago, 1 day after the kiss---------- Sole sat in her room, alone, and hopefully she wished it would stay that way. She made the worst choice in her life, she kissed her superior, more than that, she took advantage of him. She heard a soft knock from her door as she ignored it and continued to cry. "Sole..." She could hear Eagle trying to talk to her though the door, but she just didn't want to talk. All she could do was cry. "Sole..." "Go away!" Eagle felt pain, though not enough to stop him from trying to comfort his soldier. He huffed as he pulled out a pin from his pouch and bent and folded it to size, he also took out another pin and tucked both pins inside the door's knob and moved them around until he heard a satisfying 'click'. He opened the door only to be bombarded by a storm of pillows and other harmful object that Sole just threw, he blocked them all with his hands and moved forward until he grasped Sole's arm, making her stop. "Will you just stop and talk to me!" Eagle snapped at her small sidekick, but she didn't cringe nor fight back. "I can't okay!? I just....can't." She said as she returned to her weeping self. Eagle sighed with a small pinch of sadness as he sat down next to her, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and brought her in, having her cry against his chest. "It's alright, let it all out." Eagle said calmly, patting her head as he closed the door with his magic and surrounded themselves with a bubble like barrier. There, now no one will see or hear us, last thing we need is embarrassment. Eagle said in his mind as Sole continued to cry on his chest. "Keep going, you have nothing to be ashamed of. When you're ready to talk, go ahead, I'm right here." Sole cried for hours, no literally she cried for four hours onto Eagle's chest. Eagle never bothered her, never interrupted her, and never left her. He didn't feel like napping, or talking, just listening her weep and cry. Sole sniffed and only hiccuped slightly, lessening her weeps. "Okay... *sniff* ... I think I'm ready." She said as she raised her head only to reveal reddened eyes and baggy lids. "Okay." Eagle gave a deep breath as he cleared his throat. "Take your time, and just take it easy. If you wan't to stop and continue another time, go ahead." "Okay." Sole took a deep breath as she cleared her throat for a lecture. "It all started when I was but a little filly. I remember that my grandfather would take me to the castle sometimes. We would walk around the castle as he would get me cake or let me run around the castle, I remember I would play with Princess Luna as she chased me around. I also remember that I saw something or someone behind the castle's columns. I came in one day with my grandfather as he had to talk with his fellow guards, so he left me alone in the castle. "I walked around the castle, almost everywhere. I walked inside Celestia's room and she would give me a book or two about magic. She would also read a story to me, about her mother. When I would finish with her, I would still wonder around the castle looking for something to entertain my visit. I would visit the kitchen for sweets, the barracks to try and carry and real sword, or even to the garden to play with the animals. But then I came to the outside grounds of the castle, about a mile away from the castle's view. I remember seeing you on the fields, and I didn't know why. I wanted to get closer, to know who you were. And all I knew is that you looked amazing, a colt of your age was practicing what a average unicorn could do. I saw you make an image of yourself, almost like a clone, and it disappeared as if it was a foal's first steps." "That was my secret training spot back then, I used it to avoid painters and sketch artists." Eagle remembered as he started to brush Sole's mane with his hand. "Every time that my grandfather took me to the castle, I always wanted to spy on you. To know who you were, and I liked you. I remember when I saw you spread your wings to the sky, drop a sandbag thinking it was a falling pony and swoop from up and under to save the fake pony like a hero. I liked for who you were, you wanted to protect. I also remember you turning a small pile of rocks into a rock being, and you knocked it down with a stick and I remember these words "I will protect my ponies", you used to say. I would giggled but smile at your silliness." Eagle chuckled at his foalhood, he would remember those sandbags being innocent ponies. The rock monster he made would be his imaginary Discord and he would slay it. Although, 'slay' was something that his aunties wouldn't really approve that much. "Yea, I remember those days." He said with a smile and Sole chirped another sniff. "I-I have a small confession to make." "Hmm? What is it?" Eagle asked with a cocked eyebrow of confusion. "I-I-I Didn't really tell you the truth when you asked me why I joined the guard. I only joined just to get close to you, and impress you." She said with a small bead running down her cheek, fearing he would rant and rage. But Eagle simply chuckled. "Really?" He started to smile, strange to Sole's attention. "Wow, I have to say that I'm impressed. You are strong, very strong. You were really tough out there, you never gave up, never gave in, or never gave me a complaint or even talked back." There was a silence between the two for a short while, making Sole bite her lip. "I-I-I-I-, I wanna say one more thing." Eagle raised his eyebrow and looked at the mare in her amethyst purple eyes. "I just wanna say that I....I really like you, a lot." Eagle sat there with Sole on his chest in silence. "Y'know, you made a huge sacrifice for me. I think it's time for your reward." Eagle smirked as he leaned down and pecked his lips on her's making her blush but smile. "I guess all I'm saying is, I like you too Sole, you got spirit." ----------Present---------- Eagle woke up with a gasp and cold sweat, but also a serving of dog slobber as he found Rebel on top of him, close to his face with his tongue slanging out with drops of spit leaking out. Eagle sat up as Rebel jumped off of his lap as Eagle smeared off his face and whipped it off his hand. "Ughh.... Rebel......dammit boy." Eagle got up from the couch as he stretched out his arms, he noticed that it was still dark and he looked at the clock. " 5 am, I'm wide awake. He looked around as Rebel simply tilted his head and ears, he looked around to find a stray notepad and pen. He took the tools as he started to write down a short note. Dear Fluttershy, Eagle here, I woke up early and left for home. Remind me to pay you back if we talk again, also I needed to do something home so I had to go. Tell Winona that Rebel bark's 'hi' and to the same to you. -Eagle Eye Eagle placed the note on the couch as he opened the door for him and Rebel to leave. While it was still dark, he could still see through the shrouds. He started to exit Fluttershy's property until something caught his eye, a stone. But not just any stone, it was like a boulder. He walked towards the boulder and placed his palm on it, he found it chiseled and designed, it seemed familiar to him. He noticed a pathway leading to a dark, shrouded forest, he proceeded to follow the path to figure out where this carved boulder came from. Rebel followed him closely and whimpered in fear as he bit Eagle's coat and pulled him away from going any further. "Don't worry boy, just stay at the entrance. I'll be back shortly." Eagle said as Rebel trotted back to the entrance of the forest. Eagle continued to follow the dark forest path as another thing caught his eye. It was a plate like object struck in the ground. Eagle placed his hand on the plate, he noticed handles behind it. "This must be a shield, but why's this here?" Eagle asked himself inside his mind as he noticed some dirt on the face of the shield. He scraped it off as it revealed an image of a sun. A sun? On a shield....no way, this can't be it. Eagle only had a portion of the puzzle pieced as he continued to walk down the path. What's wrong? What's with that shield you freaked out at? I don't know, but it's an old model. Old model? Hmm.... y'know, I think I remember that shield actually. Yea, because it's an old model. Shields now aren't shaped like a circle. Well than what's an old Equestrian guard shield doing here then? Beats me, maybe some poor bugger got lost here and was never found. Eagle stopped as the path led him to an opening of moonlight in the forest. He stood there. his eyes shrunk as a bead of sweat escaped his head. N-No, it can't be..... He looked in awful shock at the structure in front of him. It wasn't much, and it was in poor ruin, but he wouldn't forget this place. Eagle gave a gulp and then released a heavy sigh from his mouth. It was the old castle, the first place that he could call home. He walked towards the castle in ruin as he placed the palm of his fingers on the stone, it was old. He walked inside as he could see an empty pedestal that would hold six orbs. This is where she defeated Nightmare Moon. Yea, you gotta admit though, she did better than you could've done. Oh? And how would she do that. She didn't kill the moon on the inside. ... You know she does better than you'll ever do. Whatever, all I know is that we did almost most of the work. Eagle ignored as he noticed a set of stone stairs leading down into what looked like a basement. He traveled down the stairs to find an that the stairs lead into a destroyed part of the castle. All he could see was a chasm into a canyon, so deep that it looked endless. Eagle wanted to leave, this ruined castle brought up too many painful memories. He walked up the stairs, and walked the opposite direction from the path he came in from. He was soon reunited with Rebel as they made their way back to town. Eagle open the blue door to his home as he discovered from his clock that only half an hour had passed. He still had three and a half hours left until work. "Might as well walk around the town. Wanna go for a walk boy?" The husky wagged his tail rapidly and barked in glee and ran around in dance for one answer, 'yes'. Eagle appeared a leash with a snap from his magic as he clipped the end to Rebel's collar and opened the door. Rebel warped through, letting the leash slip out of his hand. Rebel sped out into the unknown parts of the town as Eagle sighed. "Dammit, not again." Rebel attempted to catch up to the little speed demon, but ended up loosing his tracks like a confused predator. "He'll be back." Eagle said to himself with determination as he found himself lonely and bored of what to do. He then did the next best thing, walk. He walked around the town, just gazing on the classical and calm architecture of each building. It was calm, quiet, peaceful, and relaxing being an antonym to the city of Manehatten where it grasped building nearly as high as a yew, ponies screaming from every hour to second, and danger, always rising as if a syndicate was hiding in the shadows. He walked around some more as he noticed that Sugar Cube Corner had it's lights on inside. "That place open?" He asked himself as he walked towards the bakery, he looked through the window to find only a pinch of ponies inside sipping coffee and reading, one of them being Twilight Sparkle. Eagle raised an eyebrow as he walked inside and approached the mustard yellow stallion at the counter, who seemed half asleep as he rested his head the palm of his hand while his elbow acted as a beam, supported his head like a pillow. He gently slapped the counter with his hand causing the baker to shoot up in surprise as he dropped his pen. "Whaa huhh!?!" The stallion looked at Eagle with a daze but quickly shook himself awake. "Dahh uh, sorry sir." He apologized as Eagle held up a hand in acceptance. The stallion reached down to grab his pen and pulled out a notepad from his apron and turn to the next empty page. "So, what can I get for you sir?" "Just a coffee, black." Eagle ordered as the stallion nodded and turned to the back to his coffee pot. He poured a mug of black caffeine as he handed it to the stallion. "4 bits please." Eagle nodded as he pulled out 4 golden coins from his pouch and placed them on the counter. The two traded as Eagle looked around the cafe on where to sit, even thought there were plenty of empty seats, he wanted to know a small detail. Why the moon is Twilight here at like five thirty in the fucking morning? Eagle thought with a massive shock of confusion as he walked towards the mare who was reading a book along with a cup of joe. "Hey." The mare perked up and turned to surprise as he gazed at the stallion with a tiny blush. "Eagle? What are you doing here this early?" "Well I was gonna ask you the same thing." "But I asked first." "Fine. My dog wanted to go for a walk, plus I couldn't sleep. What about you? Why are you here to early?" "Well I like to be up bright and early with a book to read, and since this place opens early with coffee, it's a perfect morning start." Twilight explained as Eagle shrugged. Twilight placed her hand on the seat next to her as she started to pat. "Come, sit, I want to get to know you better." Eagle shrugged as he sat down with his coffee. "So, what'chu wanna talk about?" "Well, pretty much just about you. I mean, what did you do in Canterlot? Any hobbies or crazy stories?" "Well.....I did make some.... I guess some..... spirited friends in Canterlot." "Hmm? Like who?" "Well, let's just say they were bums." "Bums?" "Hobos." "You make friends with hobos? Why? They are pretty worthless and very revolting." Twilight repulsed with a sour face. "Now hold your horses, sure they don't money, a bed to sleep on, or a job. But they know how to keep a smile, and a spirit going." Eagle defended as he took a sip from his coffee. "And besides, they would've been the nicest and most normal ponies you'd find in Canterlot anyways, well, other than Fancy Pants." Eagle commented as Twilight spit her coffee in shock. "You know THE Fancy Pants?" "Yea, me and him used to hang out for a time. That is until he was investing into business, that's when we started to get rich." And again, Twilight spit out her coffee in shock. "Wait a minute! You were a co-CEO of the 'Fancy Magazine' with Fancy Pants!?!?" "Yea....for a time. I didn't really feel right with all that money and business on my hands. So I gave the entire corporation to Fancy, even through he somewhat begged for me to stay, I told him I had promise to fulfill." Eagle said as he rubbed the bandages behind his jacket on his back. "A promise to who." Eagle's eyes shrank as he looked at the corners of his eyes. Good job....you...really fucked up. Oh shut up. I'll try and think of something. "Well, it's a promise to myself." "What kind of promise?" "Well....it's kinda private Twilight." "Oh...sorry, I shouldn't have tried to pry." 'Its alright, just don't talk about it. Well I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go try to catch some Zs, then see ya at work." "Alright, see ya Eagle." "Farewell." Eagle finished his coffee as he left it where he sat. The coffee wasn't as good or 'pumped' as the 'usual' he would receive in Catnerlot, but it was still coffee either way. The taste of assistance is always a start in the morning. He started to walk home after a strange encounter and a strange talk with Twilight. As he reached his blue doored humble abode, he entered his room and slumped down on the bed. He was looking at his clock to see only 45 minutes had passed. He had nothing else to do, so all he could do, was sleep until the work would slowly ascend.