//------------------------------// // A promise to keep // Story: The Misfits side stories // by Cyber System //------------------------------// The Misfits continued on their quest across Equestria, it has already been three days since they left Ponyville and they've been traveling since then. "How do you sustain all this walking?" Moonlight complained. "You get used to it," Dusty said as they entered a large, familiar city. "Is it me, or does this place look familiar to you guys?" "This is Hoofington," Clockwork informed, sparking something in Eclipse's memory. "So, where do we go?" asked Fang. "Just head off to wherever you want, I'll find a place to put the cart, but be careful, nopony here wants what happened last time we were here, I'll contact you through the communicator once everything is set." The other misfits nodded, except for Eclipse, who approached Cyber while everypony split up. "Cyber, do you remember a promise we made back in Ponyville?" Cyber smiled and reached into the cart. "I wouldn't even think about forgetting it," he said as he pulled out a map of Hoofington, and a small bouquet of flowers. "Go see her," he said as Eclipse took the two objects with his magic then put on a face of determination and nodded before trotting on his way. After a while of trotting around and looking at the map, Eclipse finally found the cemetary, next to the memorial for the great fire, how fitting. Eclipse took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing," he said to himself as he put the map into his saddlebag and trotted into the graveyard. He felt slightly afraid, but he wouldn't stop looking. Every tombstone, every headstone was inspected by the albino unicorn, some he never knew, others he was the reason for them being there, and he can't help but feel shivers when near those gravestones. After what seemed to be fifteen minutes later, he found a tombstone of somepony very familiar to him... WHIRLWIND Gone but not forgotten Suffered in the great fire. Eclipse looked at the grave, the dates were too faded to read but it doesn't matter. As he stood there he felt more shivers than ever. Still, he took a flower from the bouquet, and placed it on Whirlwind's grave, muttering, "I'm sorry," under his breath. Then he looked to the side where he saw the gravestone he was looking for... BREEZE "BREEZIE" BLOWER A good daughter, filly, and friend. Gone but not forgotten Suffered in the great fire. With a deep breath, he placed the bouquet on the grave, then he looked at it with deep regret. "Hey, Breezie," he said to the headstone. "I don't know if you can hear me right now, or if you can even see me, come to think of it I don't even know if you saw what I did after I... you know. Pretty much I wanted to say I'm sorry, I'm very, very sorry for what I did to you, you had a big life ahead and I ended it because of my anger. But I suffered my consequences by spending the rest of my foalhood on the sun, but I got to meet so many ponies. If you saw me as I started living in Ponyville for a while, then you know about it. You know about me meeting Cyber, Moonlight, Fang, Dusty, Mixy, and all the other misfits, and don't get the wrong idea, I am not replacing you I could never replace you, in fact I miss you so much that thinking about you is what brought me here. You were my best friend, and because of something I couldn't control you're gone..." Eclipse didn't hold back his tears. "... And I'm sorry! Please, Breezie, forgive me for what I did to you and your dad and almost every single pony in Hoofington that lost their lives in my flaming rage, I got here to tell you how much you mean to me and what I have accomplished because of what you told me. I'm sorry, please... forgive me..." After so much time that seemed to pass, Eclipse continued crying over Breezie's grave. Suddenly, the tear flows stopped, and Eclipse felt warm, not his natural warmth, instead it was some internal heat that felt very comforting. Then the wind picked up, only it didn't feel like wind, and he could have sworn he heard a sweet, gentle voice whisper to him. "...It's ok... ...I forgive you... ...I saw you..." "B-Breezie?" Eclipse looked at the puddle of tears he made, and in it he saw something new. A full-grown orange pegasus mare stood next to him, smiling before turning her head and kissing him on the cheek for a second. Eclipse touched the spot that was kissed, which was mysteriously warmer, and turned his head to the mare. Nopony stood there, turning back to the puddle, once again he was alone before the strange wind picked up again. "...live your life, Eclipse... ...I'll always be with you... ...you're my best friend..." Eclipse smiled. "Thanks, Breezie," he said as he turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh wait," he trotted to behind Breezie's tombstone, then increased his heat as he pressed his hoof against the headstone's back, leaving a black circle imprint on the stone, then he concentrated as a ring of fire emerged around the circle, making a picture of his eclipsed sun cutie mark. Finally, using the same technique that made the corona, he wrote in fire just below it, "To Breezie, my first friend in Equestria. -Solar Eclipse" "I hope you have a peaceful afterlife, Breezie," Eclipse said before he left, completely unaware that as he left, pieces of the circle faded away, becoming a picture of a pinwheel within the circle. That night, Eclipse was fast asleep, however. He started tossing and turning at the nightmare he was having. "Breezie, why are you acting this way?" "You know why, you burned me and my dad," Breezie replied cruel and harsh. "But I lost my flames, we can be together again." "Why would I want to? I'm dead! And you can't do a thing about it." "But Breezie, I thought we were friends." "We were but not anymore, after what you did." "But you told me-" "Oh, you mean the wind? Grow up, Eclipse and rejoin that freakshow you call 'the Misfits'." "But we're not freaks!" "I beg to disagree, you freak, freak, freak, freak, freak!" Breezie's words echoed across Eclipse's mind. Eclipse had hardly any sanity left as he slowly drifted into madness at his best friend calling him a freak, then Breezie started to melt away. "Breezie!" Eclipse ran to the melted pile of his seemed ex-friend. A gentle voice came from behind him. "Do not worry, Eclipse, you are alright." "Princess Luna? What are you doing here?" "I can enter other ponies' dreams when they are troubled. But the purpose of this visit is to give you a little chat with somepony you lost long ago." "My mom?" Eclipse guessed, Luna chuckled and shook her head. "No, I was thinking more about Breeze Blower." "Breezie? But she's dead, I can't talk with her." "On the contrary, you already have back at the cemetary, and with a little help from an old friend of mine, I managed to bend a few rules. Breezie, could you come out now?" Then within the darkness not too far away, a bright orange pegasus mare with golden mane and tail and a pinwheel cutie mark emerged from the shadows and looked at Eclipse. "E-Eclipse?" She asked. "Breezie?" Eclipse replied. Breezie just smiled and ran up to Eclipse to hug him. "I'll give you two some time alone." Luna said as she disappeared in a flash of light. "B-Breezie, is it really you?" Eclipse asked. Breezie nodded. "Of course it's me, who else would it be?" Eclipse just shook his head. "No, no, this can't be real, you're dead, this is just a dream." "Well, it technically is a dream, but it's really me, Eclipse, why wouldn't it be?" "Well for one, you were a blank flank filly when you died but here you are the same age as me." "Oh yeah, this. It's something everypony goes through when they die, they become somewhat perfect." "What the heck does that mean?" "You know, the blind can see, the deaf can hear, and anything wrong with their bodies become fixed." "I guess, but why and how are you here?" "Death brought me here with Luna, he's actually a really nice guy. Anyway, I always wanted to visit you ever since I found out I was dead, but apparently ghosts can only visit the mortal world if we're near our body or burial ground, honestly when you were at my grave was the closest I could get to you until now." "Wow, I can't believe it, after all these years I'm finally talking to you again, I am so sorry for what I did to you." "I know, you told me." "So, what's it like... being dead I mean." "Well after you and Dad started arguing, things started catching on fire, I was scared, couldn't get out as everything got hot, then after those boards crashed on me, everything froze, I felt cold, then I heard my mom's voice." "Oh yeah, how are your parents anyway?" "Mom's happy to have me back, but sad that I didn't get to live my life. Dad won't even mention your name, he even tried to stop me from talking to you." "Well, I guess I deserve it. What was your mom's name anyway?" "Stormy, at least that's what my dad said." "Oh, is this making you uncomfortable? I'm sorry if I'm getting into personal things." Breezie giggled. "You're the one feeling uncomfortable, I'm fine, I have all that I could ever want, personally I'm actually jealous of you." "Is it because I'm alive?" Eclipse guessed. "No. Well, ok, yes. But that's outside the point, I'm talking about your powers and your cutie mark." "How could you be jealous of those? You're the one who had a loving family, you lived your foalhood with your dad while I lived mine on the sun. You had happiness and love with a normal life, all I did was kill you and burn down most of Hoofington. Do you even know what an eclipse means in Equestria? It means the end of the world!" Breezie looked at him confused. "Where'd you hear that?" "Something that Pixel said, I don't know." "You sure? I read that an eclipse means new beginnings where both Celestia and Luna raise the sun and moon to notify all of Equestria by shrouding it in darkness. Although it may seem scary, it's really just a way to bring in somepony who can save Equestria from anything." "So, are you saying that even though I may have caused destruction, I can save just as many if not more lives than I have ended?" Breezie smiled and shrugged, but nodded. "They were stories that were passed down to generations, my mom would tell me them before she was... you know..." Breezie caught herself. "I understand," Eclipse said. "So, what do you think of my friends?" "You mean The Misfits? They seem to be great ponies, wish I could meet them. Honestly, you were right to go with them." "What do you mean?" "You said that you would join them because it is something I wanted, you're right. I may be your best friend in Equestria, but it won't work if you think I'm the only one who accepts your powers. You made the right choice, and now just stop worrying about me, I'm fine. Dead, but fine." "So, I guess I have to go now, so goodbye?" Breezie shook her head. "Not technically, I'll always be with you, just not right next to you, unless you're next to my grave but you know what I mean." Eclipse chuckled. "Yeah, tell your mom I said 'hi' when yo get to." "Oh, before you wake up, can you burn things in a dream?" "I don't think so, why?" "Because I've wanted to do this for a long time now," Breezie moved closer to Eclipse, who despite receiving a very vague message, understood completely as he smiled and leaned in. Next thing they knew their lips interlocked. Eclipse closed his eyes while he kissed her. "Eclipse... Eclipse... Eclipse!" Eclipse opened his eyes, he was awake now and looking at Cyber, Dusty, and Fang, each of them had a confused look on their face. "Eclipse, you were asleep for over half the day," Cyber said. "Plus you started making out with your pillow, what were you dreaming about?" Added Dusty. Eclipse looked at his pillow, which was warm and wet from his saliva. "I was uh, kissing a dead pony," Eclipse answered. "Were you eating Pinkie's cake again?" Eclipse chuckled. "No, and I'm glad I didn't." "Oh...kay?" Fang said. "Well, Clockwork's making sandwiches for lunch if you wanted to know." The stallions in the room left as the entire dream remained within Eclipse's memory to never be forgotten.