Invitation
Twilight was a very observant pony. She had to be. The very first thing that came to mind when she saw the craziness behind the hospital curtain: That's not Discord. His coloration was different, the goat leg had been replaced with a large rabbit-like one, and his over sized fang was on the other side. The second thing that came to mind: What is Luna DOING?
The third thing that came to mind was a very large, red plastic whistle. Literally, it came to her mind, hitting her in the head and immediately knocking her unconscious.
"Eclipse Tumult!" Celestia lifted the rapidly evaporating toy off of her star pupil, inspecting her for injuries. "How dare you do that!"
Eclipse spat out Luna's hoof, which had been keeping him quiet up until now. "I panicked... She's one of the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony, right?" He was looking at Twilight like a pony might look at a sleeping bear: harmless for the moment, but still dangerous.
"Yes, but she's also smart! Smart enough not to simply lash out at somepony she doesn't trust!" Celestia glared at Eclipse, feeling very protective of her student. "She's curious because she's my student! She's always looking to learn, and she could learn a lot from you! Apparently, you could stand to learn a few lessons from her, as well!" Eclipse looked down, obviously ashamed. Celestia levitated her pupil into the cot next to his.
"I- I'm sorry..." Eclipse mumbled.
"It's not ME that you should apologize to..." Celestia took a deep breath, turned around, and walked away, leaving the hospital.
Luna looked up to Eclipse, wiping a few final drops of chocolate milk off of her face. "I'll go talk to her... Twilight is like a daughter to Celestia... Try to be a bit more cooperative with the doctor, okay?" With that parting request, Luna ran after her sister.
Eclipse winced as Luna left, too. He almost called out after her to ask if she could move Twilight to a different cot, or at least pull back the curtain, but he stopped himself, choosing not to push his luck with the one princess who wasn't mad at him.
"Well, you've made a fine mess of things 'Clipsey..." He muttered to himself as he settled down into his bed. "Just had to lose it... In fact, why am I even still here? I should just go..." Totally contradicting himself, he buried his head in his pillows. "Oh, why did she have to find me out in the labyrinth? Why couldn't she have just left well enough alone? In fact, why did I keep coming back? This whole mess could have been avoided if I had just run back to Everfree while I could..."
Come on, 'Clips! It'll be just you and me again! They could never stop us together! The kirins couldn't split us up, why are you doing this? Eclipse slammed his hands against his ears, despite the fact that he knew that the voice was a memory, and only in his own head.
Eclipse, please, help me out, here! We're the ultimate team! Little bro, we can rule this place! Make it OUR home together, just like I promised! Let's turn these ponies on their heads! They can't fight chaos!
"Stop it! Stop it!" Eclipse snapped his fingers, trying to send the memory far away. "That's not the path I chose to take!"
"Mister Tumult, good news!" Doctor Whooves trotted in carrying a clipboard, which he put in Eclipse's lap. "Your treatments have been going quite well! In fact, so well, you can be released tomorrow morning! I think you'll agree, that's good news for everypony! Just sign these release forms, and you can be gone by 8 O'clock tomorrow morning! Oh no..." He glanced over at Twilight. "What's wrong with her?"
"Oh, she'll be fine. Just unconscious for a few minutes..." Eclipse sighed, happy for the distraction of signing the release forms. He handed them back to the doctor. Both of them seemed tired, and both were happy that he would be leaving soon. "She might wake up with a headache and a lump on her noggin, but nothing more..."
"Good."
"Oh, and Doctor!" Eclipse gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, trying to remember Luna and Celestia's request. "I'd like to apologize for my behavior..."
"Acute paranoia. I'm not only a doctor of medicine..." The chestnut pony gave him a smile, something that Eclipse had yet to see out of the overly stressed practitioner. "To be honest, I have expected that you would call for a lawyer before signing anything!" He laughed and trotted out of the room.
"Ugh... What happened?" Twilight groaned, keeping her eyes screwed shut. "Why does my head hurt so much?"
"Ummmm..." Eclipse stretched as far as the IV tube would let him, barely brushing his fingers against the edge of the curtain. "I'm afraid that's my fault..." In what seemed like a moment of victory, the curtain seemed to be within his grasp, but slipped through his fingers. When he looked back at Twilight, her eyes were wide open, with the same horrified expression as she had given after seeing him a few minutes ago.
"AUGH! Stay back!" Twilight's horn flashed to life, teleporting her a few beds away.
"I will if you will!" Eclipse snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. "Darn it! You've got to be kidding me! I wanna teleport, too!"
"Why don't you? Who are you? What are you doing here?" Twilight wasn't sure which question to ask first. In her wildest dreams and nightmares, this was not a vision that had ever graced her imagination: an incapacitated draconequus in a hospital bed, in the castle!
"I'm sick..." Eclipse motioned to the cot he was laying on, then the IV. "My name is Eclipse Tumult and as for what I'm doing here: I'm just trying to get out!"
"Why? So you can go wreak some kind of havoc? Not on my watch! The Elements of-"
"No! I just want to go home! Back to the Everfree Forest..." Eclipse moved as if he was going to snap his fingers again, but lost hope halfway through it and let his hand fall into his lap. "That's all! I just want to go back to a quiet life, alone!"
Twilight was completely dumbfounded. "You mean... you're not here to cause some kind of chaos?"
Eclipse's eyes rolled, landing on the lavender pony. "Do I LOOK like Discord to you? Wait! Don't answer that... No, I don't want to cause trouble. I don't want to wind up in stone like him..." He let out a long sigh, subconsciously fingering at the area around his IV.
"Wait, are you the 'new friend' that Celestia was writing to me about? The one keeping 'questionable company' and offering new perspectives to her?"
"I suppose so, though 'friend' might not be the right word at the moment..."
"Why not?" Twilight couldn't help but be fascinated. This is the first time that I've gotten to take a good long look at a draconequus... Discord never stayed still for very long.
"Well, after I knocked you unconscious out of fear, she became very angry with me..." He looked over at Twilight rather sheepishly. "Again, sorry about that..."
"Out of fear? You're scared of ME?" This draconequus just didn't stop saying things that completely floored Twilight Sparkle. "You're a big, powerful draconequus! Spirit of Chaos! Why would you be scared of one little pony?" She hopped off of the bed, ignoring the throbbing in her head, and took a few tentative steps towards him. Sure enough, he tensed and leaned away.
"You ought to understand that, Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic!" On the table next to his bed, the glass began filling with chocolate milk again. He picked it up and began drinking, but the level didn't decrease.
Twilight stopped walking towards him, a little shocked at his inferred accusation. "Are you saying that I would- Never! You're not causing any trouble, why would the Elements of Harmony come after you?"
Eclipse pulled the glass away from his mouth. "Because my brother gives draconequui a bad name."
"Your brother?" Twilight sat down on the floor, her jaw dropping. "You're Discord's brother?"
"Younger brother, to be precise..."
"And you're not..." Twilight tried to figure out how to phrase her question without offending him.
"Evil? Terrifying? Turning the world upside down?" Eclipse rolled his eyes. "I know. Like I said, Discord gave our species a bad name. Of course, then again, as far as I've seen in all my years, there are only two members of our species, so there isn't much of a name to blemish..."
"So, you're the last draconequus?" Twilight didn't mean to say anything hurtful, but when Eclipse's shoulders slumped down, she knew that she had stuck a bad nerve.
"Well, Discord could still be counted, considering that he's not really dead, just stuck... But yeah, I've never seen another one of us... We could be the last..." His words slowed down and his voice dropped to a whisper. Obviously, he didn't want to hear himself say it. Twilight crept closer, eventually reaching his bedside. She tried to think of something to say.
"Well, I'm sure that there are others out there? Where could you two have come from, right?" She tried to smile reassuringly.
"We were the patron spirits of the Kirin race... When we left and they died, there was no chance at the creation of any others."
Twilight shook her head. Kirins? I've never heard of them... I have research to do! "Well..."
Eclipse smiled forlornly, staring into empty space. "Don't worry, Twilight Sparkle. I'm quite used to the idea of being alone." When he turned back to her, his expression was oppressively serious. "Speaking of which... You must tell no pony of what you learned here. I don't exist, understood?" He took another long drought from his never-emptying glass of chocolate milk.
"Why would you want that? You could try to give your race a GOOD name if you would come out into public-"
"No!" His reply was so hasty, he nearly choked on his drink. "There is no way! I just want to go home and be alone! What on earth would give you that idea?"
"Simple!" Twilight jumped onto the other bed so that she could look him in the eye. "I just met you, and you've proven to me that you don't want to cause or receive any trouble! I just know that most ponies would be just as easily won over! My friends and I could give our own testimonials about you!"
"Please don't." Eclipse began nervously fidgeting. This pony won't stop!
"What better endorsement could you have than the support of the princesses and the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight's brain had finally kicked into high gear. If there was one thing that she had learned from Pinkie Pie, it was enthusiasm.
"Twilight, I don't want the spotlight-"
"I know just what we could do! Run a newspaper article! I know just the reporter for the job: Gabby Gums! Don't worry, she's just these three little fillies working together under the same name-"
"Twilight!"
"It would be perfect! Everypony would flock to the newspaper stands for a new Gabby Gums article, it's been ages! You could come live in Ponyville! It's a small town, and a great place to make new friends!"
"Twilight Sparkle! Do I need to knock you unconscious again? I said 'no'!" Eclipse finally resorted to yelling in order to be heard over Twilight's rambling. Eclipse's outburst caught Twilight off-guard, and he knew why: when he was yelling, he sounded like Discord.
"I... I was just trying to help."
"Thank you for that, but I don't need to come out into public." Eclipse smiled, trying to make the disappointed unicorn feel better. "I'm not worried about how I look in the eyes of the public because I stay as far away from them as possible. Once I'm better, which ought to be tomorrow, I'm going straight back to the Everfree forest, where I've been living since the first time Discord was defeated. I don't need a newspaper article, I don't need any kind of endorsement. I just need things to go back to the way that they were."
"You mean, you're not going to stay here?" Celestia's voice echoed through the room. Both pony and draconequus turned around, surprised at her silent entry. "Luna and I were going to surprise you, but we want to get you out of that forest and into a place you can call your own."
Eclipse shook his head. "I'm honored by the offer, your highness, but I have my own home. It may not be to standards that you feel fit me, but it has been my home for a very long time..."
It was now Twilight's turn to roll her eyes. "Are you kidding me? An invitation from BOTH princess to stay in the castle, and you're going to turn it down? Eclipse, if you live in the Everfree forest, you have to deal with timber wolves, ursas, and all kinds of strange... umm..." When Eclipse raised an eyebrow at her, Twilight remembered that he was, in fact, "strange", too. "Anyway, say 'yes!' This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"At least until we hear the rest of your story? You can see what it's like, and make your choice then." Celestia hated to risk him not staying, but she couldn't force him to stay, either.
"Your highness, my story will sound just as good when we meet in the labyrinth during the day. What I do at night is nothing to concern yourself about." Eclipse folded his arms, trying to show that the matter was settled.
"He's right, Celestia!" Luna called out as she walked into the hospital wing. "What happens at night is MY concern!"
Eclipse's hand went straight to his forehead, making a loud slapping noise. "No! What I do and where I live is MY concern! You two are not going to team up against me again! Wasn't what happened at dinner evidence enough? I don't belong in your world!"
"I used to think that Celestia was steering me in the wrong direction when she sent me to Ponyville, but it was a decision that changed my whole life for the better! If you don't belong with your friends, where do you belong?" Twilight sat down, happy to support her mentor.
"I belong alone!"
"But even you and Discord were together as children! Why are you so convinced that you were meant to be alone?" Celestia's question hung in the air as Eclipse failed to respond. As silence fell, Eclipse's eyes filled with tears, and Celestia became unsure of whether she should have thought more before speaking.
Eclipse picked up the edge of his bed sheets and pulled them up to his shoulders, then rolled onto his side, planting his face in his pillow so that he could avoid making eye contact with anypony. "Tomorrow, I'm going home."
Silence fell again, like a feather that had been blown up into the air for just a moment, then returned again.
Twilight was the first to leave. She said her goodbyes, promised more letters, and offered Eclipse her help if he ever changed his mind about improving the reputation of draconequui. After that, she caught another express train back to Ponyville.
Luna was next, claiming that she had left her chatroom open and that she was getting hungry, she gave Eclipse a gentle pat on the back and encouraged him to get well soon.
Celestia was the last to leave. As the sun moved along its familiar arc, she didn't say a word. After about an hour of silence, her melodic voice broke the tension.
"Eclipse, can you fly? I can see that you have wings."
Surprisingly, Eclipse was still awake, not having moved a muscle. "They were never strong enough to hold me, Celestia. I've tried and tried, but I can't." His voice was low and slightly muffled by his pillow.
"Well, then, would you go for a walk with me before you leave?"
"Where?"
"The labyrinth. I'd like it if I could just spend a little time with you for both of us to relax before you leave..."
"No tricks? No traps? Just walking?" The question hardly had any of his usual suspicion behind it, and seemed like more of a formality.
"Of course. Nothing but two friends."
"...Fine."
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Hmm... she took that better than I thought. And the whistle again!
766778
Yeah, I'm kind of drawing on experience from RP's where I've had to play many different characters, but I never had the oppourtunity to try Twilight very much.
So if she seems a bit... off, that's my pathetic excuse.
766797 Eh, Twi is either untrusting to a fault or smart enough to figure it out.
Yay, I was just thinking after twilight was introduced that she would be perfect to try and convince Eclipse that living all alone was not really for the best considering her back story.
And now of course we are on a count down to Eclipse meeting the one pony who may have had some minor wishes to keep discord around even though she knew there was no real question as to what had to be done.
Oh and been meaning to say this for a while, great concept for the story, as Discord had no concerns about turning the main six on each other turning them to misery he clearly showed he was not just a "harmless prankster" and have often wondered about a "reverse-evil" twin for him so his qualities could live on even if he could not.
768723
Well, 13 wasn't exactly my lucky number. I had intended for Twilight to do a lot more talking about that, but it somehow got lost in translation from my brain to my fingers.
I guess that Eclipse just wasn't ready to listen. 
Thanks! I'm really glad that I can help you see that concept put into action, and I hope that my OC doesn't disappoint!
I'm about ready to put up chapter 14, and I think it's almost about time for Eclipse to come out of his shell with the rest of Equestria.
This is his big turning point, as a character. 
No more spoilers than that, though.
wait but he was flying befor when tia threw the rocks
*gets through first few paragraphs* Enjoyment... gone.
He was entirely justified in fearing her and protecting himself. She should have had hospital security all over her when she FORCED her way into a patient's room. He heard her disobeying her rulers will,heard her blatant disregard for his wishes and wellbeing, she was WAY the fuck out of line and Celestia's failure to handle it is a betrayal of his trust. Period.
Spool out of here.
3192110 Yes, going back and reading through, I'm afraid that this has a lot of inconsistencies. Like most of my mistakes in this, I blame it on my inexperience at the time of writing. If I had the time, I would do a complete rewrite of this story to improve it and fix all of that stuff (Including Twilight's OOC moment).
I love this story. However I can honestly say I have never been more annoyed with Twilight.
This is intriguing to say the least. Eclipse is a little too whiny for me but it's tolerable
Sorry but I agree with Lexomancer and Vates Despero except for the non enjoyment of the story. I like the story but my sentiments about Twilight remain... and can I just say that Celestia is an extremely poor parent. Twilight was in the WRONG here and I find Celestia's typical indulging to be sickening.
I'm enjoying the story so far, but the Princesses and Twilight are annoying me: what makes them think that, after knowing Eclipse for like a week, they know what's best for him? I kinda hope this will end with Eclipse leaving to do his own stuff again.