//------------------------------//
// Chapter 01: Into the Pond 
// Story: Lunar Eclipse 
// by Ephemeral Memory 
//------------------------------//

Orion. Virgo. Mars. Gemini. Jupiter. 

Stars leapt in their magnificent timeless dance. Singing the forgotten tales of the past, present, future. Never stopping. Never waiting for the mortals below. Above. 

I smiled. Embraced by the grass and night’s cool air, I laid there, listening to the crickets chirp their ditties. Gazing upon the perpetual blazes above. Below. Nothing could bring me more peace than finding and tracing the familiar constellations. They always remained. Always constant. Juliet was quite wrong when she claimed the Moon was fickle. Despite all the phases, it remained. Sure, its appearance changed, but it’s still there, reassuring me that no matter what happens in life, it will stay. 

This particular evening, a full moon shone brightly, and the faithful rabbit continued its dessert-making.
A second moon, a perfect reflection, shone from the deep, calm pond. Only the occasional breeze disturbed the water’s surface. Above, below, the skies copied each other. 

I stood up in anticipation.

Ursa major. Cassiopeia. Ursa minor. Perseus. Charioteer. 

I waited, grateful for the cloudless window. After a rough day, the expectation of the lunar eclipse washed my grievances away. 
Soon enough, Earth’s shadow began to blanket the rabbit, turning the moon into a beautiful gem in the heavens, and likewise, the pond greedily held the ephemeral ruby upon its surfaces. I took a picture. With a mediocre camera, the image did not do the scene justice. Still, it recorded the memory. Sighing, I put the camera away in my backpack and walked to the edge of the pond, admiring the magical view. 

Lyre. Unicorn. Pegasus. Draco. Leo. 

Then, a particularly strong zephyr ripped across the land, and the pond rippled violently. After a moment, the water began to smooth out, but instead of the red gem, there was nothing. Surprised yet curious, I leaned over the edge for a better view. No. There wasn’t nothing. Rather, instead of crimson, a black shade covered the moon. I looked up. Above, the Moon was still red. I returned my gaze to the water. Below, still black. Frowning, I tilted ever closer. The black Moon seemed to be glowing slightly, and instead of the rabbit –

Before I had the chance to identify the new shape, I lost my balance. For some reason, I began blacking out even though nothing injured my head. Briefly, I felt the water’s grip before fading out. Above, below. Below, above. The skies blended. 




“What dost thou think this creature is, Celie?”

A new voice spoke, “Hmm..I’m not sure what to make of it. It appears to be some form of hairless ape that wears clothes.”

I heard voices from the right. My eyes were still shut, and a dull pain steadily thumped within my head. To the left, I heard the crackle of a fire and felt the warmth of its embers. I was laying stomach down upon some hard surface, and my backpack still clutched my shoulders. I heard hooves clop in place on the ground.

The first voice, sounding impatient, “Well, is the creature injured? How hath it come here? What purpose doth it have? Should we send it to the doctors or the dungeon?”

Chuckling slightly, the second voice replied, “No, no, Lulu. It doesn’t seem injured, and this being has yet to do anything wrong.”

"Some naked ape is wearing clothes?" I thought blearily.

As the headache continued beating, I released an involuntary groan. I heard gasps and some more hooves stumbling backwards. With my head still on the ground, I opened my eyes and noticed the room's color scheme. 

Purple. Everywhere. Mostly. 

I heard more hooves and saw four legs five feet away. 




Luna’s PoV

The creature before me made a sound, and Celie and I both backed away with astonishment upon our faces. It opened its gray eyes, which found my legs. Celie, from behind, slowly walked toward the creature. It heard the noise and stirred slightly, as its eyes tried to glance backwards toward my sister. 

“Stay thyself, creature!” I shouted in my Royal Canterlot voice. It cringed, and I grinned amusedly at its reaction.

Those colorless orbs whipped back toward my legs and slowly traced up to my face. We held eye contact, and its small eyes, along with its mouth, opened wide in surprise or fear. 

My sister’s soft yet commanding voice reprimanded, “Luna! Inside voice, please! There is no need to scare the poor thing.” 
I stuck my tongue out, eliciting a small laugh and a look of mock disapproval from Celie. 

After that exchange, the creature sat up slowly and its eyes found my sister. 

And what art thou plotting?

I unfurled my wings and began to stomp forward but was stopped by my sister’s gaze. 

I understood she wanted me to calm down, but what if the creature was evil? What if it was possessed? We knew not from where it came. 

I was sailing through the night skies when it suddenly fell from the Moon’s direction. It was three hours past midnight, and not knowing what it was at the time, I stopped its fall with levitation and brought it closer. I nearly dropped it out of surprise. It had a short brown mane on its head, clothing, and a bag. It was dripping wet and unconscious, and when I contacted Celie with magic, which took a while since she was asleep, she asked me to teleport the creature to her room. I questioned the sagacity of that decision, but she did not wish to cause any alarm within the castle. After a brief, telepathic debate, I conceded to her...as usual.

Celie continued walking toward the creature, and its head flipped back and forth from me to Celie. It began scooting backwards, and Celie stopped her advance. They stared at each other. Her in amusement. It in what I recognized as slowly progressing terror. 

“Can you understand me? If you can, then please give me the chance to speak with you. There is no need to panic. I only want to ask you a couple questions, and I’m sure you have several of your own,” she spoke in that soothing voice of hers. As soon as she began talking, the creature’s eyes seemed to widen even more, and it began to scramble backwards.

“Enough!” I shouted and stomped upon the ground to emphasize my point. I used magic to hold the creature in place. “Dost thou not see that my sister wishes upon thee no harm?” I opened my mouth to speak more to the foolish creature, but Celie cut off my magic.

“Luna! Don’t you understand that yelling only scares the poor thing even more?” 

She gave me a half disappointed and irritated glance, and my ears fell backwards in shame. I had not meant to terrify the creature. I only wanted it to stop staring at us as if we were monsters or freaks....as if we were Nightmare Moon. 

“Sister,” gently continued Celie, “Please give us some time alone. Perhaps it would be more willing to talk if there was only one pony.” 

That was a false reason, but I understood her point. 

“Yes, Celie,” I sighed and gloomily walked out of her chambers, closing her doors and sitting next to them..just in case. We knew not the capabilities of this creature after all. 




Celestia’s PoV

After Luna left, I glanced back at the ape-like being, which was now paralyzed in fright. Its pupils were mere pinpricks in its gray, wide eyes. 

Poor creature..

I raised a leg to walk toward the creature, but it backed away in fear. I put my leg down, and as it noticed my gesture, it warily looked up at me. Maintaining eye contact, I then slowly laid down on my stomach. 

“I must apologize for my sister’s behavior. Luna could never reign in her impulsiveness. Please forgive her. She did not wish to frighten you at all.” I paused, observing its countenance, which seemed to calm down. I felt a smile form on my lips, and I continued speaking to it.

“My name is Celestia, by the way. What is yours?” 

The creature opened its mouth as if to speak but paused. 

So it could understand us!

I was grinning now, and it was eyeing me curiously. Then it shook its head and seemingly mumbled to itself. I caught the words, “dreaming” and “talking horses.” I raised an eyebrow, and noticing this, it opened its mouth once more.

“You may call me Daniel,” quietly replied the creature in a masculine-sounding voice. 

What a strange name that was. It wasn't the strangest I've heard in my life. Speaking of strange names, I remember some stallion named Filthy Rich. Just the other day he had come to my Day Court demanding for tax returns for his business..and many other stipends. His reasons were quite silly, and I enjoyed referring to him as Filthy. His face was priceless! Of course, I pretended there was nothing wrong with his name by just casually mentioning it when talking to him. I mean, if he was going to bring up some trifling issue into my court, I might as well have some fun teasing him, right? Day Court is boring after all..I remember transforming into a painting for a whole day. Now that was interesting! But back to the task on hoof..

By the end of my recollection, I had a somewhat goofy grin on my face, and Daniel wore a confused expression on his face. 

Chuckling slightly, I asked, “Well, Daniel, since we probably have many questions for each other, why don’t we take turns asking and answering?”

“Sounds like a decent arrangement to me,” assented Daniel.

“May I begin?”

“Go ahead,” he murmured.

I thought of my first question.





Daniel's PoV

I was a nervous wreck on the inside. 

That dark blue mare earlier, Luna, was nuts! Send me to the dungeon? And what was with her Ye Olde Englishe styled speaking? I'm glad she's left. The whole thing could be a misunderstanding, but still, I'd rather stay away for now. Somehow, she stopped me from moving earlier! Her horn -yes, horn- was glowing, and did I mention that she had wings as well? And that funny mane! How did it even move like that? I admit that I enjoyed the color scheme though since it reminded me of the night sky. 

I thought for a brief moment that I could see Ursa Major sparkling in the strange mane. As for her sister in front of me, the white, majestic horse, who also had her own set of crazy hair (with streaks of brighter colors), horn, and wings, now had a strange grin on her face, which did little to set me at ease. 

And did she just laugh for no reason? What is wrong with her? No. That isn't the question I should be asking. How is she talking? What kind of joke is this? Where am I? Just..what's going on?! This must be a dream! But how would I ever dream something like this?! I don't even -

"Do you like bananas?" the white mare inquired.

I stared at her blankly with my mouth slightly open. 

Is she serious? 

In my utter confusion, I heard her laughing some more. 

Oh, she's just playing around. I see how it is.

Celestia opened her mouth after her giggles had ceased and continued, "I'm just ki-"

"Yes, I do like them. They're my favorite fruit. I get a question now, don't I?" I intercepted with my lips turning upward slightly. 

Celestia grinned widely. 

Don't her face muscles hurt yet?

"I see that we can get along quite well. And to answer your question. Yes. But..since you just asked your question, which I answered, it's my turn again!" spoke Celestia gleefully, clapping -or is it clopping?- her front hooves together.

I facepalmed. 

I tried to resist. Really.

The horse giggled at my antics and continued more seriously, "Well, foolishness aside, please don't be offended when I ask this..but what are you? I have not seen your kind before."

"I am a human. I mean no offense towards you as well when I ask the same."

Fall for it. Fall for it, please. 

I crossed my fingers. 

"Human..I do not recall hearing about any being named that...And I am an Alicorn. Now, I don't see any wings on you, and since you seemed very surprised when my sister used magic on you, I'm assuming that you don't have that ability either. So, how is it that you were free-falling from the sky when my sister saved you?"

Hahaha...she fell for it! What..falling from the sky? 

"Woah! Hold on there, I never asked you what you were. I only implied that I would do so in the near future," I replied. 

At this, her eyes widened slightly at the realization of being tricked. 

She huffed and, though the laughter in her eyes gave her away, had a serious face on when she said, "Oh, you! Mister Daniel, it isn't very nice to keep fooling people, you know?"

I just grinned and quipped, "I know. You're not very good at the question game. I believe I owe you two questions now."

She feigned some more surprise, and I laughed. 

She's such a silly horse. 




Celestia's PoV

I truly am glad that this human is opening up. Daniel seems to enjoy joking around. Perhaps he can teach Luna more about "fun." 

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes, as I recalled the time Luna came back bouncing with joy and blabbering about her time in Ponyville on Nightmare Night. I was happy for her when she returned like that, but when I heard the entire story, I was just facehoofing , smiling, and shaking my head at the same time. 

Oh, Luna. You and your Royal Canterlot voice. 

Now, as for Daniel, I was pleasantly surprised when he took my banana question positively and tried to play along. When he set up his implied-question trap, I noticed immediately. I figured he would be more friendly if I fell for that as well. I figured right, as usual. I chuckled to myself. He's such a silly human.