//------------------------------// // The Eclipse // Story: PonyQuest // by Clockwise Gear //------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Eclipse “…And in related news, in a surprising Night Court ruling, Princess Luna has decided to decrease import taxes on salt coming from Prance. The time is now 7:55, so here’s Cumulo Nimbus with today’s weather.” The blue earth pony stepped from behind the desk on the stage, allowing a white pegasus pony to take her seat. “Thank you, Fast Fact. Hello, Ponyville! How is everypony today!” The small crowd standing around the Stage Left Stage, myself included, was silent. The weatherpony forced a grin. “Okay then, straight to business. Today calls for sun most of the day, with a bit of cloud cover arriving at five. It will readily warm up until noon, where the temperature will peak at 75, then lower again until it reaches 60 at eight tonight. All in all, a pleasant day.” As the newsponies continued their reports, I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. So nopony heard the blast? Good. My peace of mind ensured, I trotted back to the library. It looked the same as ever on the outside, but on the inside… I braced myself and opened the door. The floor had gigantic holes in it, looking more like a liability waiting to happen than a structural necessity. The bookshelves lining the walls were destroyed, the books themselves intact thanks to the Keep It Together spell I had put on them. Wall decorations were piles of ashes (or slag, in the case of my first ponyshoes), and the curtains were nowhere to be found. I poked my head over the edge of one of the holes in the floor. Below, Spike, my number one assistant and surrogate brother/son, was rummaging through piles of scrap debris for anything salvageable. “Nopony heard the explosion, so I guess the soundproofing spells worked. Any luck finding my Nova Catalyst?” Spike stuck his head out from the pile he was rifling through. “Not yet. What were you even doing that caused this much damage?” ////==Hours earlier, but not many…==//// The glow of my horn faded as I laid the last of the Silent spells around my basement laboratory. They weren’t because what I was about to do was illegal (it wasn’t), but because it was still early in the morning and I didn’t want to wake anypony. My spelling completed, I turned to my workbench. In the center sat a jar half-filled with a violently pink liquid. Pinkie Pie had come to me the day before with the stuff, and had pestered me into making some. When I asked what it was, she refused to answer. I tried telling her that this would make my job nearly impossible, but she cited a Pinke promise to not tell. For some reason, I grudgingly accepted. Thus far I had not succeeded, though I had a hunch that I was near a breakthrough. I got to work mixing, heating, and crushing various substances, adding them to an empty flask. I had almost finished carefully adding a few drops of nitroglycerine when “HI TWILIGHT!” “Gyaagh!” Pinkie Pie’s sudden appearance caused me to lose my magical grip on the vial of explosives, dumping the entirety of its contents into the brew. “How’s the science going? Ooh, pretty!” before I could stop her, Pinkie zipped over to the table and stuck her muzzle almost entirely into the flask. To my horror, the small container began to shake and turn green. I had just enough time to pull my friend behind me and cast a shield around us before BOOM ////==Now==//// “Oh, you know, just a bit of alchemy.” I forced a smile as hard as I could. Spike crossed his arms. “Uh huh. And Rarity hates fashion.” I glanced at my wrist. “OhheyisthatthetimeIjustrememberedApplejackwantedmyhelpwithsomelemonssoIshouldgobye!” Before Spike could protest, I was out the door, running to Sugarcube Corner. I need to find out what that was Pinkie wanted me to make. If it’s supposed to be anything like that last attempt… I shook my head. Don’t be ridiculous, Twilight. Why would she have anything that dangerous? I found myself on the bakery’s doorstep. Guess I’ll find out. Before I could open the door, it was wrenched open from the inside, causing me to faceplant into the floor. I looked up into the face of Ponyville’s premier party pony. “Well who else could it be?” My friend’s odd line threw me for a loop. “Pinkie?” “Right as rain!” “Uh… Are you okay?” “Oh, sorry.” “It’s just that you seem to be answering questions I haven’t asked yet.” In response, Pinkie Pie stuck a hoof in her ear and wiggled it a bit, a look of concentration on her face. “What’s up?” I mentally filed our conversation under “Pinkie Pie” and pressed on. “It’s about that compound you asked me to synthesize.” The pinkest of Pies looked at me suspiciously. “What about it?” “Well, I know you can’t tell me what it is or where you got it, but can you at least tell me what it does and why you need it?” My friend’s face brightened. “Oh, that’s simple! We use it for mining!” I raised an eyebrow. “Mining?” “Uh-huh!” “Mining. You use mining explosives… in the kitchen.” “Of course not, silly! We use it on the rock farm!” My confusion doubled. “Then what do-“ “Well how else do you think we get the seeds? You gotta mine ‘em!” The mention of the Pie family’s odd profession gave me pause. “I… guess that makes sense?” “Oh! That reminds me!” Pinkie took a deep breath. “Shale my mommy is having a foal soon so she can’t work the farm and Slate my daddy is taking care of her so he can’t help either which leaves just me Inky and Blinky and the three of us can’t run the farm by ourselves especially since our marble patch got infested with quartz meaning it could crack before it grows up so it would be super-duper-awesome if you could come and help out and Rainbow Dash and Rarity and Fluttershy and Applejack already said yes!” “Well, I-“ “Great! See you later!” Before I could say anything else, Pinkie Pie had already zipped out the door on her way to who-knows-where. I mentally sighed. I better go tell Spike he’ll be alone for the day. I wish I could stay and help clean up, but Pinkie hasn’t really left me much choice. I trotted back to the library and poked my head through the open door. “Spike?” There was a clatter, and Spike dropped to the floor from the ladder he had been using. “Sorry, we’re not – oh, it’s you.” He crossed his arms and glared at me. “Ready to tell the truth?” I sighed. “Sorry Spike, but I made a Pinkie Pie Promise, and you know how seriously she takes those.” My favorite dragon huffed. “Fine. I guess that’ll have to do.” “Aw, thanks Spike, you’re the best assistant ever!” “Yeah, yeah.” “Hey, did you do something to your scales? You look extra-draconic today.” “Well actually, I took some amethyst powder and-” Spike’s eyes widened as he pointed an accusatory claw at me. “Now wait just a second, you’re just trying to butter me up.” I tried my best poker face “Who me? I never…” Spike’s face told me he wasn’t buying it. “Okay, you got me. Pinkie Pie asked me for help on her family’s rock farm, so I’ll probably be there for the rest of the day. I would appreciate it oh so much if my number one assistant would clean the library while I’m away.” “But it’s your mess!” “I’ll bring some geodes back for you!” “You think bribing me with food will work?” I grinned. “Spike, I hatched you. I’ve literally known you your whole life. I know how these things play out.” Spike sagged his shoulders in defeat. “Yeah, I know. They better be good geodes!” I gave the dragon a hug. “Oh, thank you, Spike! You have no idea how much easier this makes things! And don’t worry, I’ll have Rarity check the geodes before I take them.” “You better. Now get going before I change my mind.” I ruffled his headspikes. “Thanks, number one assistant!” ////==The Pie family rock farm==//// “Remind me again why we’re pushing these rocks around?” I sighed. “Because with Shale’s pregnancy and Slate looking after her, Inky and Blinky can’t run the farm by themselves.” Rainbow Dash huffed. “I know that. I meant why can’t you and Rarity just magic ‘em where they need to go?” Applejack paused her pushing of a sizeable chunk of granite. “’Cos some things jus’ need ta be done tha right way, sugarcube. ‘Member Winter Wrap Up? ‘Sides, quartz does weird stuff ter unicorn magic. If Rar’ or Twi’ tried movin’ these here boulders, it could spread even further, ruinin’ tha crop.” Dash and I stared slack-jawed at our friend’s unprecedented display of mineralogical knowledge. Applejack shrugged. “Whut? ‘S just somethin’ I heard Pinkie talkin’ about with Rarity. ‘S why she ain’t out here bustin’ her rump.” “Rarity has a very important job, Applejack.” “Huh. Gem polishin’ don’t seem to important ter me. Ain’t they already shiny?” I was about to remind my friend about the finer points of rock farming when suddenly Rarity. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and I all shouted in perfect sync. “Rarity!” The three of us ran towards the scream. The three of us skidded to a halt in the south field. There lay Rarity on what we jokingly called her “drama couch.” “Rarity! Are you all right?” The fashionista looked up at me. “Oh, Twilight, it’s simply amazing! Look!” She levitated a small black gem from the table next to her over to me. I took the stone with my magic and looked it over. “Looks like some hematite. Nice job on the polishing, by the way.” “But that’s just it! It’s not a hematite, it’s a black opal!” I tilted my head in confusion. “So?” “So!? Darling, do you have any idea how rare these are?” Applejack’s, Rainbow Dash’s, and my faces told her we didn’t. Dash was the first to speak. “Pretty… rare?” “Pretty rare? Darling, that’s like calling Fluttershy slightly timid. Even the Princesses only have a hooffull of these beauties.” “Speakin’ a’ Fluttershy, where is she? Ah haven’t seen her all day!” “Hey yeah, wasn’t she supposed to be helping Pinkie Pie with something?” I glanced at the clipboard I had been holding. “According to my chart, Fluttershy and Pinkie should be planting geodes in the west field. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, you keep working on that granite, Rarity you stay here.” I concentrated, and with a burst of magic, everything vanished for a moment, only to be replaced by a very startled Fluttershy, who “eep!”d in surprise and darted off behind a nearby boulder. After convincing her that I was not in fact a blink dog in disguise, she poked her head out. “Oh, Twilight, you startled me.” “Sorry. Where’s Pinkie Pie? What was that blast? Is she okay?” “She said she was going to get some more seeds.” This raised a warning flag in my head. “Fluttershy, this is very important: Where. Did. She. Go.” Fluttershy quailed under my intense stare. “Uhm, something about… a mine?” BLAM The pegasus gave another “eep!” and fainted. After making sure she was okay, I galloped towards the cloud of dust rising in the distance. I stopped at the lip of the crated that appeared to be the center of the blast. Looking down, I could see Pinkie Pie lying on her back, soot covering her coat. I jumped down into the crater, skidding my way to the bottom. “Oh my gosh! Pinkie, are you okay? What happened?” Pinkie flipped onto her hooves, surprisingly unscathed and giggled. “Don’t worry, Twilight! I’ve been dealing with explosives for most of my life; it’ll take more than a little party popper to stop me!” Relief washed over me at seeing my friend unharmed, but disbelief colored my face. “You call that a party popper? What happened?” “Well I was just going to mine some more seeds when I had a doozy, which made me drop the jar, which blew up!” “Hold up. You had a doozy?” “Uh-huh!” “Where was it? What was it about?” Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her chin in thought. “I dunno for sure, but it seemed brbrbrbrbrbrbrbr!” her whole body shook with the force of the doozy. “There it is again! Whatever it is, it’s coming from Canterlot!” “Canterlot? What could possibly” I was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the moon in the noonday sky, shortly followed by the sounds of my friends’ hoofbeats as they ran towards me. “Uh, just ter make sure mah eyes ain’t goin’ funny on me… y’all see that?” I would have come up with a witty response, but my mind had taken this opportunity to take a vacation. As we watched, the moon began to move closer and closer to the sun, a motion that filled me with an unknown fear. As the moon moved inexorably towards the sun, a kind of tension began to fill the air. Ever so slowly, the moon began to move in front of the sun, turning black as it did so. When the sun was halfway gone, the sliver of light emanating from it was too intense to look at, but for some reason I could still feel what was happening. When the moon had fully covered the sun, there was a flash, brighter than anything I had ever seen or felt. Though I was looking at the ground, the light still dazzled me, and it was a few minutes before my vision started to return. I blinked spots from my eyes and looked around for my friends. “Is everypony okay?” I heard various assenting mutters and groans. Applejack was the first to speak. “Whut… whut happened?” “I don’t know.” I shook my head to clear my vision. “I’ve never heard of anything like that happening. Ever! Something must be wrong in Canterlot!” Rainbow Dash was next to speak. “That’s not all that’s wrong.” I was about to ask what she meant when I noticed that everything looked different. We were still on the rock farm, of that I was sure, but everything looked somehow sharper. The corners of the farmhouse were more angle-y, the rocks on the ground were more jagged-looking, and even the feathers in Dash’s wings looked like they had an edge to them. It wasn’t until I glanced to the sky that I noticed the biggest difference: both the sun and the moon had vanished, leaving a featureless grey expanse where the sky once stood.