Eclipse Born

by Seeking Dusk

In For The Long Run

It was quiet. It was pretty much always quiet. And I was getting weary of trying to find pictures and shapes in the patterned paint on the walls of the room that officially became mine after the talk with Princess Celestia that changed everything. Or should that be Changed Everything? I mused on it. “It does have more impact if I capitalize it. And I could really use a ball… bounce it off the walls… play a little hand ball. Or racketless squash…”

I sighed and rolled over on the bed. I didn’t want to sleep. The dreams were unsettling. And I didn’t want to head out. Princess Celestia had technically given me the right to roam in certain areas of the castle, but only with one of my new best friends from the royal guard.

It wouldn’t be so bad if they were less like the ceremonial guards they had at the Governor House or Buckingham Palace. Only one of them, a unicorn named Night Watch, I think it was, would talk much, and he only had night shifts. It was hard telling the guards apart, but since he was the only one willing to carry a conversation, he was easy to pick out. I suspected they used magic for uniformity among the soldiers.

Yeah, I had pretty much accepted magic as a thing by that point. After one of the unicorn guards caught me up in his telekinetic field and pulled me back from a restricted area on the second night, I got over the scepticism. That wasn’t to say I didn’t have a fair share of knee jerk denial moments.

Thinking about the shifts and nights brought another fact to mind. I’d been here in Equestria for six days. Almost a full week. It turns that my first unproductive visit from the Princess had taken place more than a day after my ‘arrival’ in the gardens. Before I first woke up, I had been in a comatose state, which likely meant the trip over was even rougher than I remembered and thought. After that, I passed out for another nine or so hours. Oh, it turns out that they use twenty-four hour days here as well. I wasn’t complaining.

It killed me wondering what my family, my parents were thinking. Did they think I was just missing? Did they think I died? I sort of remembered fire falling from the sky. Did the library get burned down? Did Amanda get out or was she caught up in it or dragged to some other world like I was?

“Shut up. I’m not helping anything worrying about the ‘what ifs’ right now!” I yelled, slapping my forehead with both hands. An action I immediately regretted. “Ow…”

The door to my room opened and a blue head capped with grey crested helm poked in. “Are you alright?”

“I am, sorry,” I sighed at the guard. “Just… airing some grievances. Nothing to worry about.”

The guard didn’t look one hundred percent convinced, but his expression did shift from suspicious to sceptical. I wasn’t sure if I should label him attentive, or just nosey. Attentive was politically correct, so I stuck with that one.

“In any case, word has been sent that you are to have an audience with the Princesses. You will be joining them for the evening meal,” the guard said. He didn’t sound thrilled with the fact, and I can’t say I blamed him. Strange dude falls from the sky and now, a couple days later, he’s having dinner with royalty? Maybe it was one of those ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner’ moments.

“Great,” I said cheerfully. Evening meal would be dinner, but I wasn’t sure how much time I had. I didn’t have my watch (another victim of the stripping they subjected me to) and there were no clocks in the room. Besides, they had been bringing my meals to the room. “How much time do I have to get ready?”

“Slightly more than an hour,” the guard said. He eyed my outfit and smirked a little. “You might want to use that time to make yourself presentable.”

On that note, he left. I had to smirk at the jab. The clothes I fell to Equestria in had not come through in perfect condition, nor had it been treated all that gently since then. When Celestia asked about my sheet toga, I managed to impart to her the importance of dress. She actually had someone put together two outfits for me. Neither fit particularly well, and neither were particularly comfortable, but they were clothes. Even if it was just a two jackets, a set of shorts that didn’t quite sit will around the middle. No, I didn’t get into the ‘men don’t wear skirts’ thing with her. I did get my glasses back though.

Um… Princess Celestia. I really needed to stop fudging her title. I just wasn’t used to thinking about leaders with their titles attached.

I chased those thoughts away and went to get ready. The washroom didn’t have a shower or bath, so I splashed the best I could in the sink, using the floral scented soap liberally before taking the more formal of my outfits out. The jacket looked nice; a rich dark blue with a white collar, but it was still somewhat uncomfortable, mainly how the neck and shoulders sat. I shrugged and pushed the thought aside.

Better than being naked. I wandered back to the main portion of the room and sat back on the bed, doing my best to stay still and calm. My thoughts would not stop racing, but I at least focused on herding them. First and foremost among them was what Princess Celestia wanted to speak of. I hadn’t seen much of her since the last meeting when I broke down in tears, which was admittedly not one of my better moments. I could understand why, she did have a nation to run, after all.

But still my doubts and insecurities had been growing over the past few days. The biggest issue was ‘could I get home or not’. I didn’t know what I would do if it was no. Or even if it was yes. How would I explain where I had been these past few days? My left leg started twitching, the agitated motion causing the cot to squeak incessantly.

Even if was possible for me to head home, would they let me? No part of me thought that travel between worlds was something cheap. Could the Princess afford to spend the kind of money, or investment, sending me home would take? It wasn’t like I was of any use to them. I wasn’t someone with power or even money. I didn’t even have any value as an ambassador or anything like that. I didn’t know how I got here in the first place, and considering the trip almost killed me from mana poisoning, something my muscles stilled ached slightly over and Spell Patch came back to check on twice so far, it didn’t seem practical.

My mental dalliance burned the time away, and before I knew it, the regular pony guard was opening the door. Earth Pony, I corrected myself. I had learned at least that much.

“Your escort is waiting,” the guard said. I followed him out and blinked nervously at the unicorn that waited.

“Hey, Stranger,” the unicorn guard said in a cheerfully familiar voice. “All ready?”

“Night Watch!” I said. A bit of the tension that had been building drained away.

“Who else do you think would get the job?” he asked in his pleasantly jovial manner. I had gotten the distinct impression that not everyone was pleased with his vocal habits, but I was glad for it. A talking guard was far less intimidating that a silent one. “Come on, then.”

He moved off at a decent pace and I was a slight bit pressed to keep up. We headed to a section of the castle I was unfamiliar with, though that did describe a lot of the castle. I didn’t bother trying to remember all of the twists and turns, but eventually he opened a set of large doors and ushered me into a small hall.

“Ah, Night Watch. And Mr. Caleb Blakely,” Twilight said, looking up. She was the only person in the room at the moment, and had three sheets of paper floating in front of her, encased in the same purple glow that covered her horn.

I grinned at the sight. Magic was pretty awesome. “Just Caleb is fine.”

“Caleb then,” she said, motioning to me to come and sit with a hoof as she packed her notes away.

“So… do you know why the Princess asked me to come, Miss Sparkle?” I asked as I accepted her invitation and took the cushion beside her, marveling at the range of movement the ponies had with their limbs. It was on par with a regular hand. I hadn’t spent much time around her really, but I had been introduced to her. She was Princess Celestia’s apprentice, pretty much, and apparently recognized as a genius in her generation.

At the time of our introduction, she had been working with the other ponies researching the place I fell. I don’t remember what Princess Celestia told me they were called, something like the Thaumatic Institute, but they were supposed to be the experts at that sort of thing. As Night Watch explained it to me later; Twilight wasn’t actually a part of the hierarchy, but her prestige was enough that she was pretty much an outside expert.

“It’s something they would rather tell you about themselves, and not my place to comment on quite yet,” Twilight said, her eyes flicking back. “And please, it’s Twilight.”

“Um… okay?” I shrugged and looked around the room. Night Watch had stayed by the door, and gave me a little smile when he noticed me looking at him. I really did prefer him over the other guards. He seems a bit more human. Well, pony? He was more relatable than the other stoic ones.

The room itself was nice, even some stained glass windows letting in some light. It seemed they really liked that style. The room was pale blue and airy, with columns worked into the wall, crystals of some sort set at the point where they met the roof.

“Where are we, anyway, Miss Spa, sorry, Twilight?” I asked.

“This is the Princesses’ private dining hall,” Twilight responded, smiling slightly at my slip with the name, but having the air of someone ready to teach.

“Oh, I see. Makes…” the implications of it hit me as I was making the polite nods and response and I started panicking. “Wait… Princesses? There are more than one? And private dining hall? Should I even be in here?”

“You are here because we invited you,” a familiar voice said. Familiarity didn’t make my reaction to Celestia suddenly speaking up from behind me any less dramatic, and I almost fell over, caught between a jerk and a jump. Twilight rising to bow didn’t make me feel any better, and I hurriedly, and awkwardly made a bow of my own.

“Hello again, Princess Celestia,” Twilight said respectfully.

“That really isn’t necessary,” Celestia smiled, shaking her head slowly at the two of us. I looked up cautiously, immediately noticing a second winged unicorn behind her. She was shorter than Celestia, with a dark blue coat and black regalia, a moon on a dark backdrop adoring her flanks.

Right… Celestia mentioned she had a sister. In passing, but she mentioned it. “Hello…. We never met. I’m Caleb.”

“Forgive me,” she said, her voice slightly deeper than Celestia, as she took one of the cushions. “I profess to having prior knowledge of you, thought you would not have that benefit. I am the Princess of the Night, the joint ruler of Equestria.”

“There is no reason to panic, Caleb,” Celestia said, finding amusement at the look of shock on my face.

“No offense, but you two… you’re the rulers of a magic nation,” I stammered. I felt uncomfortable eating around the head of my department at work. This was an entirely different class of anxiety.

“Be at ease,” Luna said, waving a hoof at me. “While we may have called her here, there is no ned for you to be distressed.”

“For now, let us simply talk,” Celestia said, picking up on were her sister left off. “To start with; how are you finding Equestria?”

I shrugged, finding the whole thing weird, but we talked. For the most part, the conversation didn’t have a direction, we just touched on topics. For instance, I was startled to find out that my wallet and the rest of the contents of my bag had made it across to Equestria with me, and many were curious about the cards inside.

I had just gotten through the blanket description of ID cards place in human society when the meal was brought in. It was something of the typical mix; a variety of breads, two kinds of berry jams, three kinds of salad, fruits, nuts and a platter of eggs. There was a side cart with some pastries for the dessert course, a tub aside them. There was a jug of water and another of a berry medley for beverages.

I still wasn’t sure how these ponies ate eggs, but I wasn’t complaining. We ate as the conversation progressed, though I had a nagging feeling that it was merely filler, bidding time to the true issue. Watching them eat was curious though, utensils and food floating over plates engulfed in blue, gold and purple auras. It made me wonder how pegasi and earth ponies used them.

I just grabbed the forks provided and eat. One think I had to give to them; the food in Equestria tasted a lot better than back at home. I always did like fruits and vegetables, but these… these were like those meals you stumble across in that special little place and would remember for years later. The first time I ate something, Princess Celestia thought I was getting sick going off the blissful expression on my face. On the other hand, a lot of their breads were drier than I liked and a lot of things had Daffodils. It didn’t taste bad, but it was a trace bit bitter. I suppose you couldn’t win it all. Twilight loved them though.

We keep the conversation going as we eat, the topic naturally moved to human foods, which mean they touched on the fact that humans were omnivores and tended to eat a lot of meat.

“The healers had expressed that concern when they first examined you,” Celestia admitted. “There was much talk about you being a predator.”

“Well…” I had to be careful how I responded to this one. I thought through my words before speaking. “Humans are omnivores, rather than predators, but yes, we eat meat. We don’t hunt them down much, not in most cultures. We raise them on farms. We don’t digest plants as well as some creatures, an issue with the cellulose in the cell walls. But we do need protein sources in our diet.

“Eggs, nuts and beans should suffice though. Some greens too,” I quickly said. I was pretty sure that eggs could supply the essential minerals meat would provide. I wish I paid more attention in the nutrition module. After that, the conversation strayed into the territory of what kinds of plants humans grew, then into the greens in the salad.

“This has been an enlightening talk, I must admit,” Luna said when we were making inroads into the dessert. “But there is another matter we need to address.”

The tub had turned out to be ice cream, a rich vanilla cream; hand, er, hoof churned. As for how it stayed so perfectly soft and child, I didn’t think much on it beside magic tub. Luna’s comment pricked my interest. Were we finally getting to the real issue?

“Is this about me? And going home?” I asked tentatively.

“It is,” Celestia said. She set he piece of cake down. “To be honest, the reports I have been receiving over the past few days have not been promising. Perhaps you would explain it better, Twilight?”

“Well… the fact is we have been getting different results based on what test we subject it to,” Twilight said, drawing a few sheets from her bag. “So far, we have evidence that it was a ritual casting. But at the same time they found cause to consider it a greater wild magic. There is evidence of it being an empathic based spellwork, but so far they found traces of at least four different kinds of empirical and mathematic spell formula entangled in the signatures we drew from the site and from your body. Each test we do seems more likely to confuse the issue than it presents a solution. It doesn’t help that the breach, that’s what they have decided to call it, has steadily lost energy and it now barely a ripple in the metaphysical substructure of the local-”

“Breathe, Twilight, breathe,” Celestia advised as I inched away from her ever so slightly. She was getting more and more harried as she spoke. A strand of her purple hair had even slipped out of place. Twilight looked up sharply, swallowing her next string of words, but nodded and inhaled. “But do you understand, Caleb?”

“I think I get it,” I said slowly. In fact, I was pretty sure did get it. I just didn’t want to. “I did a few labs in college. The research is giving you conflicting results and until you can figure out what those results mean for the experiment overall, or at least determine what factors are causing the skew, it’s pretty much impossible to make real progress in the project.”

Twilight and Luna look at me, surprised. Celestia merely had a slight smile on her face. I shrugged and tried to explain it. “I haven’t really explained anything about how schooling works in my world, but in short; I have a bachelor’s degree, which is something of an optional level of education, and I did a lot of science and research courses to qualify for it.

“But I figure the long and short of where this topic is going is that you don’t have any sure way of helping me, and might not have for a while, right?” I said dejectedly.

“Both yes and no,” Celestia said. Her look forestalled any interjection on my part, and the words died on my tongue, swallowed with the impulse to demand an explanation. “Yes, it is true that there has not been much progress made despite all the efforts, but that does not mean we cannot help you.”

“How?” I asked, desperate. I had come across many research projects in my time in university. Many, if not most of them took time that stretched into years. What was I supposed to do in the mean time? What if they just lost interest in it and just brushed it aside?

“This breach concerns us as much as it does you, so you do not have to fear the subject simply being discarded, your own fate as a result dismissed,” Celestia said, as if reading my mind. Or maybe she was just a good leader and Politian. “But even so, our offer of help is not just limited to helping you find a way home.

“Since you will be here in our world for an indeterminate period of time, Luna and I have decided to offer you residency in Equestria; to treat you as one of our subjects.”

“I’m… what?” If they wanted me to keep up with them, they needed to stop throwing these types of things at me.

“You have been in the castle for a several days,” Celestia continued. “I have had our guards watch you, and saw that while you haven’t been entirely enjoying yourself, a large portion of that was because you became avoiding the ponies that frequent the halls to avoid conflict.”

I winced slightly at that. On my first walk-around, I ran afoul of someone called Prince Blueblood. It had not been a pleasant experience.

“I have also seen you being polite with the castle staff, and civil with the guards. Night Watch here, for one, has had many good things to say about you,” Celestia smile.

I glanced over at the guard in question. He grinned at me, which got me grinning back. Looking back at Celestia, I asked another question. “Is that really enough to go off? I don’t really fit in with the locals…”

“In truth, it isn’t enough to base the decision on,” Luna said, adding her voice to the topic for the first time since she brought it up, “and there is still reason to question you, but my sister has faith in you and your intentions.”

“Thank you, Princess, both of you,” I said, shifting my leg nervously. For some reason, I felt I was still on thin ice with Princess Luna.

“I believe you could be a valuable member of our society, given the chance,” Celestia said.

You know, I was beginning to worry about that nigh-perpetual smile of hers. She was also very nice. She even let me cry on her shoulder, not that I thought about it. Not my best moment there.

“We discussed it with Twilight. Not too far from Canterlot is the small town Ponyville,” Celestia continued, my mental commentary going unnoticed. “Twilight resides there. She and her friends have agreed to watch over you. The town itself has become somewhat experienced to stranger occurrences, and should be far more welcoming than a place like Canterlot would be towards you.”

“Ponyville, Princess?” I said, trying the word on my tongue. It was like calling somewhere ‘Humanville.’ Granted, I had heard of Manstown and similar sounding places, and my home town loved naming the newer streets after trees. Still, I couldn’t help feel that she and her sisters were trying to slip me away to somewhere less noticeable than the palace. My fears about of them sidelining helping me get home came back again. I suppose one reassurance wasn’t enough to totally quell them.

“Ponyville,” Celestia nodded. “My sister and I are not trying to get rid of you. However, we do want you to have something of a life outside of just sitting around the palace, which I could not help but notice you did not quite enjoy. And you can also stay informed on the progress through Twilight.”

My eyes widened. That was seriously creepy; her answering and addressing my unspoken issues like that. “Um… sorry if this is a bit blunt, but you can’t read minds, can you?”

Luna laughed. As in; doubled-over, clutching-at-your-gut laughter. Everyone started chuckling at that; Twilight’s little cute twitters mixing with my nervous chuckles, Night Watch let out a few low snickers and Celestia laughing in a manner that still managed to leave her looking graceful and dignified.

“No, little one,” she finally admitted after the laughter died down a bit. “I simply have had much experience dealing with ponies. And individuals,” she added.

“Sorry,” I said sheepishly, grinning slightly. So just insight, not more strange powers. Good, I suppose. “It’s just with all this magic and stuff… I didn’t know.”

“There is no need for you to apologize,” Celestia said.

“You won’t learn if you don’t ask the questions,” Twilight added. “It’s the only way to develop your knowledge.”

“Thanks, Twilight,” I said, feeling a bit less like a fool. “So… when do we leave?”

“You and Twilight will be taking the late train,” Luna said, whipping a tear away. “My, I have not laughed like that in some time. Twilight will help you with your belongings after this. The train leaves not long after I raise the moon.”

“I see,” I nodded. Belongings. I didn’t have much of those anymore. The anomaly of the statement hit me a moment later. “Raise the moon?”

“Of course,” Luna said, defensively. Her ears flicked back slightly and the somewhat cold expression returned. “Is there something wrong with me doing my duties as Princess of the Night? As my sister raises the sun, it falls to me to raise the moon.”

“I thought that was just a title!” I said. Was she serious? Raising the moon and sun? “But the moon… it’s a satellite in orbit… the sun is at the center of the solar system and days are from planetary rotation!”

I was flailing my arms a bit as I tried to impart my point, Twilight being forced to duck at one point to avoid being hit on the horn. I’m not sure who that would have hurt more; her horn or my hand.

“Caleb, the moon and sun don’t move on their own,” Twilight told him. “It takes powerful magic to set them in place each day. It’s part of the role of the Princesses.”

“Perhaps it would be easier if you show him,” Celestia suggested as she rose from the table. “I will take care of the minor details of the day.”

Luna looked contemplative, but nodded. “Very well, then.”

It didn’t take them long to get up from the table, and I was pretty much taken with the idea that ‘raising the moon’ was part of Princess Luna’s duties. Yes, magic, but seriously; it was the damn moon.

Night Watch sent off to inform the kitchen staff that we were finished; Luna led us to the closest balcony. The view it provided of the city was stunning, overlooking the expansive palace gardens, though not the section where I had fallen. The last rays of the sun set the towers and spires of the city in a hazy red-gold glow, the prevalence of stained glass windows making many of the building sparkle.

I found myself distracted by the sight, silently mouthing words of appreciation. The window in my room hadn’t given me this sort of view. Twilight nudged me as Luna stepped forward, her attention focused of into the distance.

“Focus on the horizon,” Twilight instructed me as Luna lowered her head, her horn glowing.

I free admit to still being skeptical at that point, but I obligingly watched.

My breath caught in my throat as the last bit of sunlight faded, and a silvery orb edged slowly and steadily into view, following the smooth motions of Luna as she lifted her head and horn skyward. As the moon rose, the night sky rose with it; a surge of darker blue claimed the sky, wiping away the light blue and orange glow of the daytime in slow and steady waves.

The glow on Luna’s horn started pulsating as the sky turned from day to night. Slowly, at first, then with more rapidity akin to someone who becomes more certain of what they wish to create should look like, stars sparked in the sky; a few spots her, a cluster over on that side, a band of faint luminesce overhead.

Her work done, Luna smiled and let her magic fade. It was a good thing too, because I didn’t think I had taken a breath since she started. I looked at her with awe.

“The Night Sky is my tapestry,” Luna said with a trace of pride, “and the night my domain.”

“Come on,” Twilight said with a trace of humour. “If you let your jaw hang like that, you’ll catch flies. We have a train to catch, and things to pack.”

I stumbled a bit as Twilight pushed me, but it was enough to snap me out of my stupor.

“Princess Luna, wow! That was… wow!” I couldn’t find the words to express my feelings at the moment. She at least seemed to get what I was trying to say though.

Magic, huh? Everything would hit me harder in the morning, most likely, but for now… For now I was hopeful.

Comments

[LeafBug]

If you let your jaw hang like that, you’ll catch fly.

Just one, Twilight?

Also, it's a bit odd that nobody actually mentions Luna's name whilst introducing her.

[Seeking Dusk]

4881474 Wow... I have no idea how I missed that. I should probably fix that... Or just assume that she really did forget to mention her name when she gave her title and he had to figure it out during the conversation.

And also the fly error. Thank you for your keen eyes

[shapeshiftingpedro]

I thought daffodils were poisonous to people. Along with most other flowers.

[Seeking Dusk]

5406594 That it is. It is also poisonous to horses. So for the sake of not be narrative I went with the idea that Equestrian daffodils are non-toxic. Or at least a much lower level of toxicity, so bitter. Plus, he doesn't know which flowers are and are not edible, only that some are.

[Dark Shade 75]

Nope, can't do it. I've gone past my quota of errors now.