Luna was a bit surprised at what her sister was saying. "So... he wants to talk to me?"
Celestia thought about how to rephrase the truth. "No... I thought that you would want to talk to him, Luna. I know that you have questions, so he's going to answer them. I set up this opportunity for you."
Luna nodded. "I think I understand, now. And you're saying that he... will take my horn and wings?" Luna reached up and rubbed her horn and rustled her wings, obviously a bit unnerved. "I don't know if I like that condition..."
"It's a bit unsettling, true, but only for a second. You'll get used to it quickly. It's nothing to be afraid of." Celestia smiled, trying to reassure her sister. "Come on, Luna! This is a chance you're not going to get again! Isn't it worth it to try and gain the trust of a draconequus? Maybe the last draconequus? Think of what we could learn!"
"You're right, as usual, Tia..." Luna muttered grudgingly. "But if this goes wrong, I blame you..."
"As long as you remember that you're the dangerous one from his perpsective, you'll be fine." Celestia gave her sister a friendly pat on the back.
"Hello? Eclipse Tumult?" Luna hesitantly floated down into the labyrinth's center. It was strange for her to have an audience with someone else, usually ponies were trying to get opportunities to meet HER, not the other way around. "I have come to speak with you..."
"Princess Luna! How good of you to come! Princess Celestia told me that you were going to come to speak with me. I am assuming that you're going to assure me that you're only here to talk?" Eclipse took a few slow steps, emerging from a doorway on the opposite side of the clearing.
"Please, just call me "Luna." The whole "royal treatment" thing is a bit overrated, if you ask me. Indeed, I came to speak with you and hopefully befriend you..." The first thing that Luna noticed was his lack of confidence. He didn't ooze ego like Discord did. His words were formal, but the only thing edgy about him was that fact that he was obviously a nervous wreck. Well, that makes two of us... He could do anything and I wouldn't be able to stop him, horn or not...
"If I may be so bold, your highness, I have been trying to treat you and your sister with only the utmost respect... That way, I can show that my intentions are not in the least defiant of you. I assume that she also told you about my policy of disarmament?" He raised his hand, prepared to snap his fingers.
Luna bowed her head, trying to brace herself. "Indeed she has. Feel free to do so, Eclipse Tumult..."
"Please, Luna. Just 'Eclipse' will be fine..." He snapped his fingers and her horn and wings vanished. He watched her stagger to the side before shaking her now hornless head. "Are you alright?"
"Only a little dizzy, Eclipse:" She muttered, standing tall once again, ready to get down to business. "So, I have many questions for you."
"I have many answers, let's see if they match." Eclipse sat down on the pedestal of Discord's statue. "Will you join me?" he motioned to the seat next to him. He was obviously more relaxed, now that Luna no longer had her horn. That makes sense, it was my one weapon...
"I prefer not to come that close to Discord. Even in stone, bad memories remain. I don't really trust him, imprisoned or not." Luna walked farther into the clearing, settling down halfway between Discord's statue and the wall, a fair distance from either.
"Fair enough." Eclipse shrugged and stood up, walking to a point where their distance was halved. "Despite what I can only imagine to be horror at the thought of being beaten again, by brother still took the time to strike a dramatic pose. Typical Dizzy..." Eclipse gave a meloncholy smile and looked back at the statue.
Luna didn't even try to hide her shock. Her jaw completely dropped, hanging loose in the breeze for a few seconds. "Dizzy? Your brother?"
Eclipse took her shock in stride, looking back and shrugging at the flabbergasted alicorn. "We can only assume. The two of us have always been together. I've never known a time without Discord... At least, not until we reached Equestria, I didn't."
"What happened? If you two were brothers, what could have split you apart?" Luna felt a bit of familiarity with the question. She had asked herself the same thing many times about her bond with Celestia. Maybe we have more in common than I first thought...
"I'd really like to stay off that for now..." Eclipse's meloncholy smile faded to a grimace, and his eagle claw patted his chest in the place where his heart was. For a few seconds, he seemed lost in reflection. "It's a long story, and you would have to understand more about our past together. Not to mention, I'm sure it's a story Celestia would want to hear as well." All at once, his entire demeanor changed. His drooping shoulders perked up again, he sat up straight, and a slightly forced smile was plastered onto his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two apricot-sized fruits, one blue and one green. He popped one into his mouth and began happily chewing. "Parasprite fruits!" he explained after swallowing. "I'd offer you one, but it would probably make you VERY sick... They're more a food for creatures of chaos."
Luna nodded, trying to be polite. So, he tries not to remember his hard times, either. It was hard to do so, Luna knew from the experience of trying to forget her own banishment on the moon. I'll remember to stay off of that topic until HE wants to talk about it. "You need a different type of food?"
"Oh, yes. Equestria is a land of order and harmony, no place for a draconequus unless it has some MAJOR revisions. That's why Discord was trying so hard to change it: to make it livable." A thought seemed to strike him for a moment, but he waved it away. "Most foods here can give me what I need, but it's like living on a diet of tofu: bland and not truly satisfying." He stopped for another moment of thought. "You know, I don't think I'm as scared of you as I am of your sister..." He popped the second fruit into his mouth.
Luna was about to ask him something else, but his comment caught her off guard. "I'm flattered, Eclipse, but what makes you say that? You seem to have more of a dispostion for speaking with Celestia than myself..."
"You never came out to the labyrinth." He pointed out the answer as if it was obvious. "As for why? Well, to be honest, I always loved looking at the moon at night. It's a calming thing for me, you see. Not only for its mysterious white luminesence or its chaotically ever-changing form, but because for a thousand years, I could look up and know that I wasn't the only one who was alone in the universe..." He smiled at Luna, this time genuinely, and stared her straight in the eyes. As Luna looked deeper, there was something very mysterious about his eyes, something ancient and painful, like a memory of a nightmare.
"Whether you meant to or not, your banishment gave a little bit of company to the outlaws and the misfits, Luna. No matter how lonely we were, we could look up at the sky and know that we weren't the only ones who felt that way. Nightmare Moon was not just another simple villain, but a crusader for loneliness. Things went wrong, other priorities got caught up in the fray, and, well, we both know what happens when good intentions get mixed up with anger." He pointed over his shoulder at Discord. "But the point is, you helped people, pony and otherwise, in a way you never could have accomplished down here on Earth..." Luna hadn't even noticed, but he had been leaning farther and farther forward. "You were a friend to everyone who didn't have one, embodied in the moon and watching over us every night."
"That's why I'm not as scared of you, Luna. I feel like you're already my friend." He finally broke his hypnotic gaze, sitting up again. Somehow, the distance between them had vanished in his speech, though neither had moved, and they were face-to-face. With a snap of his fingers, he returned her wings and horn. "You look as if you have a lot on your mind, and I'm sure you do, so I'll cut this session short. Tell Celestia that I'll be waiting here tomorrow." He reached behind his back, pulled out a small lollipop, and placed it on the ground in front of her before vanishing in a puff of smoke.
When Luna returned to the castle, Celestia could see that she was in a bit of a daze. "Luna? Are you alright? What did you ask him?"
"Well, I..." Luna tried to recall what they had talked about, but she couldn't take her mind off of Eclipse's words. You were a friend to everyone who didn't have one... "Well, we talked about..." Nightmare Moon was not just another simple villain, but a crusader for loneliness! "I asked him about..." The point is, you helped people, pony and otherwise...
"Mostly, we talked about me..." She unwrapped the lollipop and stuck it in her mouth. The flavor was peculiar, tangy and sweet, with a slight hint of smoke and an unidentifiable taste that lingered afterward. Curious, she looked at the wrapper. Parasprite Pop: safe for members of any species, with all the chaotic goodness you know and love! She smiled and continued walking.
"Tia, I'm going to be in my room for a little while. Can I talk to you later?"