//------------------------------// // Explanations // Story: Surviving Secrets // by Aetaes Wolf //------------------------------// Everypony sat in a circle, the train heading to Ponyville already moving and the conductor having already checked their tickets. Eclipse’s horns glows red, using her magic to put a bubble of silence up around them. Twilight blinks. “Why’d you do that?” “I put up the bubble, for what I am about to say should not be heard by unwanted ears. Nor should any of you reveal my words to anypony, or anyling else. Am I understood?” Everyone in the room nods. Eclipse gives a small nod, looking to Twilight. “State your question.” “Alright... why were all the changelings calling you a demon?” Eclipse sighs. “Because I am a demon.” Silence is met with the response, Rainbow being the first to break the silence. “...What?” Twilight stares at her old friend. “I don’t understand, how can you be a demon?” Using her magic, Eclipse open the saddle bags she had brought with her, taking out a piece of parchment, and, to everyone’s surprise and slight horror, a knife. She holds the piece of parchment in front of her, holding out her arm just above it. Before anypony could stop her, she takes the knife, and slices open her wrist. Everyone stares at her in horror as she lets her blood drip down, landing on the paper below. It doesn’t take long before everyone notices the blood eating away at parchment like acid. Eclipse licks the blood off of her arm, as to not injure anypony or destroy any more objects, her wound now having fully healed. Twilight looks to Eclipse. “B-but... demons aren’t real! They’re just a story, a myth!” “Demons are real, Spark. I’m living proof of that.” Eclipse simply replies. “But... I wasn’t always a demon.” “You weren’t?” Rainbow asks. “Then what were you?” “I was a pony. Just like you.” Fluttershy stares at Eclipse. “How did you change?” “Once, long ago, there was a kingdom. The kingdom was powerful, and well respected. The ponies that resided in the kingdom were happy, for the rulers, two unicorns, ruled with a firm but kind hoof. The castle which they resided in, was made purely out of crystal.” An image appears in front of them, ponies running around happily, and two unicorns watching over them from the balcony of a crystal castle. “The rulers... were my parents.” The image changes, showing a young unicorn filly, her coat orange, and her hair brown, a green bow adorning her hair. She closely resembles Eclipse, having the exact same eyes colour as her and the same crystal rose cutiemark. Fluttershy blinks at the image. “I-is that you?” Eclipse smiles softly, giving a nod. “Yes, that is me.” The filly was sitting on her bed, looking out to the ponies below, her gaze sad. Eclipse watches the image. “I was very sick when I was younger, hardly able to move from my bed.” The door to the filly’s room opens, catching her attention. Two unicorns enter the room, the first a mare, with a light blue coat, an aqua green mane that fades to gold, tied back in a loose ponytail, her eyes purple, a green scarf was tied around her neck. The second was a colt, his coat aqua green, his short mane purple, his eyes green, a golden cross hanging from his neck. The filly smiles at the sight of them, the colt’s horn glowing green as he uses his magic to gently pick up the filly, setting her on his back. The three leave, the image changing to that of a garden, made purely from crystal roses. The colt was sitting down beside the filly, whom was sitting beside him, allowing her to lean on him. The filly watches the mare, whom is standing in front of them. At a guess, she was telling a story. “My siblings were always there for me, always taking care of me. They would take me to the garden, let me sit among the flowers. Aurora, my sister, would always tell me stories while my brother, Dawn Light, looked after me, made sure I didn’t become too weak.” The image changes, now showing a unicorn colt as he paces the castle’s throne room, his coat green, his short mane blue, his eyes amber, a golden crown resting atop his head. “My father became troubled by my sickness. He had thought to take me to one of the alicorns that had watched over the land, but he feared I would not make the journey. He also feared that if he sent a message to them, they would be to late when they came. So he turned to a new magic... a magic that corrupted him, turning him into a demon king of shadows. A dark, forbidden magic...” Eclipse’s eyes glow blood red, everyponies eyes glowing the same colour as she connects their minds. A silver colt with a dark grey mane stands before the filly, his midnight blue bat-like wings spread wide as his piercing red eyes boring into her, black smoke seeping out of his eyes. The filly had been injured badly, looking as if she could fall and die at any moment, though she was using every last bit of her strength to stand, looking up to her father with tear-filled eyes, the kingdom lay in ruins around them. “FATHER, STOP THIS! CAN YOU NOT SEE THE DESTRUCTION YOU’VE CAUSED?!” The colt glares at her. “You should be thankful, Crystal Rose. Everything I’ve done was to help you.” “HOW IS THIS HELPING ANYPONY?!” The colt’s horn glows with a black aura, the filly lifting up into the air. Shadow covers her form; her eyes glowing pitch black a she screams, the pain of the transformation almost unbearable. The memory fades, Eclipse’s eyes returning to their normal colour as she disconnects their minds. “My memory after that is fuzzy. I don’t really remember what happened, but I was put to sleep, encased in crystal. After ten thousand years, the casing broke, and I woke up. Celestia had started looking after me then, Cadance soon adopting me as her sister.” Eclipse looks to the ponies around her. Most of them having tears in their eyes from her memory. Though some, like Rainbow Dash, were trying to hide the fact that they were crying. Eclipse lowers her ears. “The reason for my not telling you sooner, Spark, was because Celestia had ordered me to keep my being a demon a secret, as to protect me. If anypony found out that a demon was still alive, living in the castle none the less... that would have caused chaos.” “Why did... why did you leave?” Twilight asks, her voice cracking slightly as she wipes the tears from her eyes. “Celestia had taught me many things, but some things; I needed to learn on my own. But, I was... searching, as well.” “For what?” “...A way to reverse this curse.” Eclipse whispers. Silence is met with the response. The train comes to a halt, Eclipse’s horn ceasing its glow as she takes down the bubble, rising to her hooves. “Come, this is our stop.”