Spike had returned shortly after he was sent to the library; which was a surprise, being the tiny dragon that he was. He returned within 5-10 min from when he was transported, it was like he knew exactly where he was and needed to go. As he entered into the royal box, he admired the book’s cover with one final glance before giving it to Twilight. The book was quite larger than the previous ones. As Spike turned to leave, Twilight quickly called him back.
“Don’t you want to stay and read with us Spike,” she asked the young dragon.
“Oh no thanks Twilight, I actually have… something I need to do,” Spike responded.
“Alright, have fun.” Spike nodded to three and left them to their reading. Celestia and Luna looked at each other, both having the same look on their faces. “He seemed to be in a hurry,” both of them thought. Twilight not really caring, walked toward the two, placing the book on the ground between them.
“So who wants to read this one?” Twilight asked, hoping they would let her read another.
“Tis in all fairness, I believe I should read this one,” Princess Luna stated. Twilight hopes being crushed; she slowly levitated the book toward Luna. As soon as Luna looked at the cover, the memories of that day almost came immediately. She saw her brother battling Prince Talon on the cover. Luna mentally readied herself and opened the front page. If there was ever a day where Eclipse was protective, this was the day.
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Eclipse woke up to the rays of both the sun and the moon shining on his face. As the sun got higher and the moon got lower, he knew that the tournament would begin in an hour or two. He slowly got out of his new bed, letting out a yawn. He then focused his mind on his goal for today. Defeat the griffin prince, Talon. He never was a fan of the snobby royalty, especially when they flirt with his sisters. And he was really not a fan of those who would have their mother get everything for them. Thanks to the training with Luna last night, he now was more powerful. And after the talk with his mother, he was ready to unleash if he absolutely needs to. Right before he opens the door, he hears somepony knocking on it. With a confused look on his face, he slowly opens the door to find four of his favorite ponies. Celestia, Luna, Anna, and Elsa were waiting outside his door.
“Good morning Eclipse,” Princess Anna said excitedly. She had a small little green dress on, and her strawberry blonde mane was tied in two little pig tails.
“Morning girls,” Eclipse said in response rubbing his eyes with his hoof. Celestia smiled at her brother, but was soon replaced by a more serious look.
“You ready for this?” she asked with all seriousness. Eclipse looked at her with a look of equal seriousness, but with a confident smile on.
“More than I’ve ever been,” he responded. The four mares smiled at his response.
You guys are so lucky to play; I’m still too young to enter,” the little Princess Anna said jealously. It was true; the minimum age to participate was 7 years of age. Celestia was 17, so she was more than qualified. Luna was 12, so she was no newbie. Elsa and Eclipse were barely old enough to participate. Anna on the other hand was only 4 years old, she was nowhere near ready. Celestia placed a wing over Anna’s shoulders. Anna looked up to the white alicorn.
“It’s alright, I have a special job for you anyway,” Celestia told the young Earth filly. Anna’s face beamed with joy, “What is it?”
“We are going to need a support team to cheer us on. It’s hard giving it your all if you don’t have somepony to back you up. Think you’re up for being our support team leader?” Celestia asked her.
“I would love to!” The young princess said excitedly. Anna wanted so desperately to be a part of the fun. Thanks to Celestia, she now had something to do to help her sister and her friends. With that she quickly hugged the white alicorn around her neck, and then quickly ran down to her room to prepare for her new job. The remaining four laughed, the young princess could sure be hyper.
“Elsa, do you want to come down to breakfast with us,” Eclipse asked hoping she says yes.
“I would love to, but I should probably wait for my sister. I don’t quite trust her on her own,” Princess Elsa responded. Eclipse nodded and began to walk down the halls with his sisters. Elsa began walking in the opposite direction toward her and Anna’s room. As she was walking, her mother was walking toward her from Elsa’s room.
“Elsa, there you are. I need to talk to you,” the Queen of Arendelle exclaimed. Elsa’s mother escorted her into the King and Queen’s room. As her mother closed the door, Elsa began to be a little worried. “What is going on?” She wondered.
"Elsa, sweetie,” Her father began, “we have something to tell you.”
“What is it Papa,” Elsa asked with a little worry.
“Your father and I have…arranged you for a betrothal with the griffin prince, Talon,” the queen said. Elsa’s jaw dropped, even though she was only 7 she knew what ‘betrothal’ meant.
“H…how could you,” Elsa managed to say.
“Now Elsa, I know what we did wasn’t exactly fair, but…”
“I won’t marry that snobby overgrown chicken!” Elsa yelled cutting her father off.
“Elsa, you don’t necessarily have to,” the Queen said quickly before her daughter could interrupt her.
“What?”
“You are only betrothed to him if he wins the entire tournament. We only did it to keep our ties with the Griffin Kingdom.”
“Still, last I heard he is extremely physically gifted.”
“Yes, but his first opponent is Prince Eclipse,” the Queen said with a little scheme like smile on. Elsa gasped; she didn’t know if she felt relieved or more worried. Being an alicorn, Eclipse easily had power and flight skills. But on the other hand, she didn’t want Eclipse to get hurt all because of her. She promised to protect him, but this was out or her control.
Don’t worry; he’s one of the three alicorn siblings. He won’t lose easily, not to mention Queen Lauren tells us Eclipse has more power in him than even she knows,” the Queen said trying to assure her daughter. Elsa looked at both her parents, she then grew a smile. She of all ponies should have faith in Eclipse. And here both her parents were having more faith in the young prince than she was.
“Besides, even if he doesn’t win, Prince Talon has both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia to deal with. Not to mention you as well,” her father said. Never mind looks like only she has faith in him. She nodded in agreement, and her parents dismissed her. As she exited the room, she found Anna outside waiting for her.
“Well, what do you think?” Anna asked her sister. Elsa looked at her sister and was a little amazed. Her sister now wore black paint underneath her eyes, an extra big green jersey over her usual light green dress. And she had four different flags in her mouth; one said “Go Elsa”, another “Go Luna”, then “Go Eclipse”, and finally “Go Celest”. Elsa giggled, Anna obviously couldn’t fit Celestia’s full name on the tiny flag.
“I think you look like a great support team leader,” Elsa said with a soft smile.
“Great! Now let’s go down to breakfast and show the others,” Anna exclaimed jumping up and down. As they walked down the stairs, Anna was rambling on how excited she was to support them in the tournament. Elsa wasn’t exactly listening, her thoughts were elsewhere. She couldn’t get her mind off Eclipse’s battle he’ll soon be having. She was happy that her fate was resting on his shoulders, but she also didn’t want him getting hurt because of her. As she dwelt on these thoughts, they were interrupted when she heard his voice.
“Elsa, Anna, come sit with us, we saved you two a spot,” Eclipse called over to them. They all sat at one end of one of the very large royal tables. Queen Lauren sat at the other end with the griffin king and queen. Their sons sat next to their mother, but they kept their eyes on the other royal children. Queen Lauren glanced at the other tables to observe the subjects of all three kingdoms. She noticed the King and Queen of Arendelle coming down the stairs.
“Gaspar, Maria, come sit with us,” Lauren called out to them. As the two Earth ponies sat down, Lauren stood up and rang her glass with her magic.
"Attention everypony, I would like to officially announce the beginning of the annual Equestrian Tournament,” the Queen announced. The entire room erupted in cheers, both shouts and banging of cups against one another. “Each kingdom has a team made of five contestants to represent them. Each day, there will be a one on one match at random until there is only one left. There are only two rules, rule 1: No Killing, rule 2: no rules except rule 1. Other than that I would like to announce the first match that will start the tournament,” Queen Lauren announce to everyone.
“The first match shall be between Prince Talon of the Griffon Kingdom, and…” Lauren looked at Eclipse, “my son, Prince Eclipse of Equestria. The match shall begin in half an hour, so I advise the two princes to prepare now,” the Queen said still looking at her son. Eclipse took her hint and started toward the stadium. The four princesses watched him leave with concerned looks on their faces.
The closer Eclipse walked to the middle of the stadium, the more nervous he got. He had never want to hurt anypony (or griffin), but on the other hand he always wanted to show how powerful he was. Fortunately, he had bitter feelings toward this griffin prince, so it all fell into place for him. As he was thinking on how his match was going to go, he heard hoof steps walking behind him. He turned around to find his mother walking toward him.
“Are you ready?” she asked. She knew he didn’t like violence, but he responded with a mischievous smile.
“Yes actually. I actually want to teach this griffin some manners, because he’s obviously not learning them from his mother.” The Queen couldn’t have been more proud of her son’s response.
“I do have just a few words of advice,” Lauren said with a smile on her face. Eclipse looked at his mother with real intent on listening. He wanted every tip he could get on how he could possibly win.
“Let it go,” was what his mother’s words were. “I don’t want you holding it back anymore. Show him what you can do, and why he needs to show more respect.” Eclipse only smiled and began to stretch out his body, preparing himself for battle.
As the ponies came into the stadium, the royal were given a special spot in the front where they could observe every detail of the battle. Elsa, Anna, Celestia and Luna all sat in front of their parents so they could get the best view they could. Thunder and Galinda sat next to Queen Lauren with their son; Bronze Wing.
“You all remember our agreement?” Queen Galinda whispered Lauren, Gaspar, and Maria. They all nodded and Galinda looked back toward the arena. Queen Lauren then leaned her head toward King Gaspar and Queen Maria.
“But I never officially agreed to it,” The alicorn queen whispered with a wink. The King and Queen of Arendelle both giggled and grew grins on their faces. Just then the trumpets were blown, announcing the entrance of both contestants. Prince Talon came in with his head held up high with a huge grin of confidence on it. He wore armor that was like that of a roman centurion. A golden chest plate with his kingdom’s signature eagle, two gauntlets on his claws, and a cape decorated his back. And the finishing touch was the helmet upon his head. With the crimson red feather on top, he looked like a warrior.
Prince Eclipse was an entirely different story. As he came in, his head was held high, but with a much more serious look on his face. He wore crimson red armor that was like that of a knight. A helmet that covered the top of his head, they came down and clasped onto his jaw for a tight fit. A hole was onto for his horn to pass through. He wore armored boots over his hooves. His shoulder plates had either a sun or a moon crafted into them. While his chest plate had them both crafted in, representing a solar eclipse. They both walked toward the center of the arena, both looked toward Queen Lauren for further instructions.
“Alright, you both know the rules. Fight well,” Lauren paused. ‘Good luck, Eclipse,’ “And Begin!” she announced. Talon began getting into his position, but never finished. Eclipse was on him like white on rice. Eclipse rammed his head into Talon’s gut, causing him to fall back. The crowd erupted in cheers, especially the four princesses. Talon was quick to bounce back and took to the sky, preparing for a sky attack. He dove straight for Eclipse, Eclipse was preparing to counter. But Talon was faster than he looked, even with armor. Just when he was about to hit Eclipse he quickly curved and rammed Eclipse in his right side with his shoulder. Eclipse was taken by surprise, that much momentum coming his way caused a lot of damage to his side. Talon continued this tactic, thinking that his victory was sealed when he was in the air. His mother smiled deviously as her son continued to pound on Prince Eclipse.
As Talon was coming down for tenth strike, he saw the sky get darker. Even though the sun was still in the sky, its light began to dim down creating giant shadows in the arena. As he was about to make contact with Eclipse, Eclipse evaporated into the shadows. Everyone was astonished at what he did, everyone except Luna. She taught him how to move in the darkness of the environment. He wasn’t able to raise the moon yet, but she taught him how to get a darker sky. And now both were working to Eclipse’s advantage, but during the day his shadow walking was limited. The shadows surrounded everywhere except for a large area of light in the center. Talon continued scanning the area counter clockwise for wherever Eclipse was hiding. Now griffins can see in the dark, but they can’t tell one shadow from another.
The next thing Talon knew was a metal hoof connecting with the left side of his beak. The punch launched him across the arena, landing in a shaded area. When Talon got back on his feet, his gut was then reintroduced to Eclipses head coming from underneath him. When Eclipse shadow walks, he is able to travel anywhere in the darkness in lightning speed. He is also able to come out wherever and however he likes. Talon was launched into the sky, but was able to bounce back and flap his wings. Knowing that he couldn’t reach Talon from down in the shadows, he came out and took to the skies as well.
“Is that all you’ve got, birdie?” Eclipses taunted with a smug look on his face. The crowd erupted in louder cheers than they had the entire day. Celestia, Elsa’s Luna, and Anna cheers were probably the loudest. Elsa couldn’t help but smile with confidence of Eclipse’s victory. But Talon was not done, if fact he was angry. Now his goal wasn’t victory, nor was it Elsa, it was to tear Eclipse to shreds. At lightning speed, Talon moved in on the alicorn and began punching and clawing at Eclipse’s face. Eclipse tried to counter, but Talon always had a move to counter his counter. Eclipse’s face was now beginning to look really beat, and Talon would not let up.
Eventually, Talon hit Eclipse so hard it knocked him out of the sky. Lauren, Gaspar, Maria, and the four princesses all gasped. Elsa covered her mouth with right hoof. Her confidence had quickly gone to worry. And unknown to everypony, frost began to form beneath her other hooves. Talon came down, full speed at Eclipse with his claw ready. Next thing that happened scarred Eclipse for life, literally. Talon’s claw had come down on Eclipse left eye, leaving a bloody claw mark across it. It seemed quite easy for Talon; it was like reopening a wound. Eclipse screamed in pain, putting his hoof to his eye. Talon stood in front of him ready to deliver a final blow. When his claw was about to make contact, was blocked by Eclipse’s horn.
Talon looked at the Eclipse’s face, and what he saw made him step back. Eclipse had both of his eyes open, though one was a bloody mess. Both eyes were glowing with pure light, and with pure anger. As Eclipse gritted his teeth, they began to sharpen themselves. Talon didn’t know what to make of it, but he had to ignore it for now. Eclipse then shot a fiery blast toward Talon, who barely dodged it. Both took to the skies, with Eclipse chasing the griffin prince. Eclipse constantly shot blast after blast, and Talon continued to dodge. But neither one of them was sure how long they could keep this up. After so much flying already, their wings were really tired. They soon retired to the ground, giving both their wings a rest. Both were breathing heavy and stood in place staring at each other. Then the strangest thing happened. Talon began to laugh, and Eclipse looked at him in confusion.
“It’s over Eclipse. I still have plenty of fight left in me, while you look like you’re about to faint any minute. I must admit though, you were the strongest opponent I’ve faced. But Elsa is going to be mine. Then a few years down the road, she will become my wife. That’s the real prize for me,” Talon told Eclipse. Each word made Eclipse angrier, but his body was so tired he couldn’t punish him for it. He glanced at Elsa to see if she was still cheering him on, but what he saw scarred him even more than his eye. He saw something he never wanted to see; he saw Elsa crying. Her face was soaked in tears; she believed it was hopeless for Eclipse. He was in so much pain and she thought it was her fault. The frost beneath her hooves began to spread a little bit more, but nopony seemed to notice. But there was something everypony noticed, and it was the Eclipse’s magic beginning to surround him.
A bright red flame began to circle around Eclipse; the entire stadium is in silent awe. Talon doesn’t know what to make of it, and neither does his family. Queen Lauren, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna can only smile. The Arendelle family is in shock, especially Elsa. She had stopped crying, but her tears still had stained her icy blue face.
“I thought you said he would throw the match,” Queen Galinda complained softly.
“I said I understood your terms, I never said I agreed to them,” Queen Lauren said with a devious smile. Galinda huffed in anger.
As they watched, they saw the flames get larger. All that was going through Eclipse’s mind was Elsa. He promised he would protect her and he was determined to keep that promise. But he also promised to protect her emotionally, and her crying was not something he would stand for.
“It’s your…It’s your fault,” Eclipse managed to say in his anger.
“What?” Prince Talon had no idea what he was talking about.
“IT’S YOUR FAULT THAT ELSA SHEDS TEARS!!!” Eclipse screamed. As soon as he said that his magic began to change. The flames began to die down, but in their place were icy winds. Every second the wind got stronger and colder. Soon, Eclipse was swallowed by mini blizzard. It was so thick; you couldn’t see the young alicorn anymore, except for his glowing eyes that pierced through the storm. The very thoughts of Elsa had changed his magic from fire to ice. As Talon watched the blizzard take place, he felt a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time; fear. Not long after, two gigantic bat like wings erupted from the blizzard. Next, a scaly tail came out of the back. Then the blizzard began to die down, revealing the owner of the wings and the tail. Talon was so afraid of what he saw; he fell back and continued to crawl backwards until he hit the wall. Eclipse sure had grown since the last time he was in dragon form. He was now easily six times the size of timber wolf, and twice the size of a manticore. But he was different looking this time. His scales were like black ice, with a small blue tint in them. If you touched but one of his scales, it feel as cold as the dark side of the moon. He still had his alicorn horn, but his other two were now curved like those of a ram. His claws and spikes now glowed with an icy blue color. The wings were not only larger, but also more muscular. They glowed like fresh snow. His teeth were like icicles, even sharper (if that’s possible) than his last transformation. But his eyes were a big change. Last time, only the pupils of his eyes were flames, but this time his eyes were both entirely mini blizzards. Elsa was amazed at what she was seeing. Anna’s mouth was so wide open it hit the ground. They both could not believe what had happened to him. Eclipse then let out a roar directed straight at Prince Talon, shoving him against the stadium wall. Eclipse’s battle cry was so loud; everypony had to cover their ears.
“Your majesty, what is that?” The other kings and queens asked.
“That…is my son,” Queen Lauren responded with a smile.
Eclipse then began running towards the griffin prince. Talon immediately tried to fly and escape, but Eclipse swatted him out of the sky and across the entire arena. Using his wings, Eclipse was quickly upon the now small griffin, smashing him with his long icy tail. He then grabbed Talon and shoved him into the ground. Eclipse then dragged him across the floor, only to bring him into the air to be swatted by Eclipse’s tail again. Eclipse was not going to let up, he wanted Talon to pay: first for flirting with his sister, then insulting his sister, for trying to force Elsa into a marriage, and finally and mostly for Elsa’s tears.
“YOU MADE ELSA CRY,” Eclipse yelled, “AND I’M NOT GOING TO LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THAT!!!!!” When Elsa heard those words, her heart began to flutter a little. He’s doing his best to protect her, and she began to grow a smile. “I PROMISED I WOULD PROTECT HER…. I PROMISED!!!!” Elsa now had started crying again, but this time they were tears of joy. She was so touched by what he was doing for her. And she wasn’t the only one; both of their families began to tear up because of his determination to keep his promise to Elsa.
Talon was soon lying on the ground, unable to move at all. He saw the huge dragon in front of him, but was to beat to try and escape him. An icy mist escaped from Eclipse’s mouth, and Queen Lauren knew exactly what that meant. Before she could yell stop, Eclipse let out an icy breath so cold it could probably freeze flames. The blast was aimed straight for the young griffin. The blast swallowed him, and everyone believed they just saw the first and only rule of these fights be broken. But Elsa saw something, Eclipse’s alicorn horn was glowing its dark orange glow. She looked back to the griffin as the blast died down; she saw a magical force field surrounding Talon and he was unharmed from the blast. Eclipse slowly began to walk toward him. His body then began to get smaller, until he was his young, dark gray alicorn self. Talon looked up at him, although Eclipse was in pony form; all Talon could see was the dragon. Eclipse’s scarred eye was now closed, while his right eye was staring right into Talon.
“You owe Elsa a BIG apology, not to mention you owe Anna and both my sisters one too. Go beg for their forgiveness, you don’t want to know what I’ll do if they don’t give it,” Eclipse said warning Talon. Eclipse understood he couldn’t do it now, so he allowed him let his body rest up a bit. He then turned toward the audience in the stadium. Complete silence filled the entire building, and Eclipse had not yet realized why. When he did realize, it hit him like a ton of bricks. His eyes went wide, realizing what they just saw. What SHE just saw, he couldn’t bear to think of what she thought of him. He quickly turned around, purposely avoiding her gaze and ran straight out of the arena. The four princesses looked at each other with worried looks and quickly began to run out of the stadium. Queen Lauren as well as the Arendelle King and Queen soon followed. Talon’s family went down to get their son medical attention as quickly as possible.
As the seven royal ponies searched the stadium halls, only one thought was on all of their minds. “Eclipse, where are you? Everything will be alright.”