4 - What Lies in the Darkness
Chapter Four
What Lies in the Darkness
Eclipse rested his head on his hooves as he sat on the bench of the great marble gazebo that dominated the space in the center of the castle courtyard. The ancient unicorn stared at the carvings that decorated the interior of the gazebo, and the story that they told. Often he found himself here when he needed some alone time to think. Though he had not actually needed to come here since he adopted Shadow.
The once king sighed as he made it to the last carving that lead into the start of the story once more. Eclipse let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes as he cleared his mind of all troubles and began to think over what had happened to him in the past, the choices he had been forced to make.
"What are you doing here?" A familiar voice called, causing Eclipse to open his eyes.
The familiar sight of a white stallion greeted him, and Eclipse smiled and gestured for the other stallion to take a seat next to him. The stallion complied and took his place next to the ancient unicorn. For a full minute neither spoke until the newcomer sighed and shook his head.
"You know you shouldn't be here. The council is still sore at you after all." The stallion said with a concerned look on his face.
"You know better than anypony that they will not raise a hoof against me old friend." Eclipse finally spoke as he turned his attention away from the stallion next to him and once more gazed at the gazebo, this time paying attention to the beautiful craftsmanship that had gone into the pillars that circled it.
"What of the princess?" The stallion asked in a concerned tone.
"She has seen fit to spare me from the elements, I do not think she will lash out at me just for being here." Eclipse said, chuckling to himself.
"Hmm, perhaps..." The stallion conceded.
The stallion then seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, casting his eyes around as Eclipse let his gaze wander lazily over the marble gazebo.
"I still wonder what made her do it..." Eclipse said in a tired tone.
"Who?" The stallion inquired.
Eclipse pointed a hoof at one of the depictions, one of an alicorn who stood over the forms of many weeping ponies, "Her, what could have caused somepony so pure to turn out so bad..."
"I don't know why you would ask me that, I wasn't around during her time." The stallion said in a defensive tone.
"True... But you always seem to have good insights on things like this, I was hoping you had an opinion on what could cause corruption like that." Eclipse said turning an expecting gaze towards his friend.
"Hmm, to be honest I would have to say she was afraid." The stallion answered with a shrug.
"Huh, fear eh? Almost seems silly how something so... Primal, could have caused so much grief." Eclipse said with a sigh as he stood up.
"That sounds kinda funny, coming from you..." The stallion said with a small grin.
"Bah, my story is a little different. I did not really have a choice in the matter." Eclipse said with a scowl as he stood up.
"You headed off so soon?" the voice called after Eclipse as he strode out of the gazebo.
"No, I'm going to take a gander at the old history books. I can't seem to recall who it was that did her in. I want to say it was the gnolls from the east, but it may have actually been the northerners. I do seem to recall they weren't too fond of her." Eclipse said with his friend following close behind as he entered the castle.
The two made their way through the empty halls of the castle unhindered for some time, Eclipse kept a carefree stride, unthreatened by anypony that could possibly cross his path here. The other stallion kept a somewhat worried look on his face, a detail that the once king did not let slip past his attention.
"What's the matter? Worried your niece might be stalking about?" Eclipse asked in a teasing tone.
"You should take her more seriously. If she had any interest in politics she could challenge old Frost Horn for the right to represent unicorns." The stallion said in a cautious tone.
"Perhaps, but she seems perfectly happy to just leave me alone as it is." Eclipse said with a shrug.
The two rounded a corner and stopped as they noticed a white pegasus mare with a long golden mane standing before them. The stallion let out a groan while Eclipse smiled warmly and nodded in greeting. The mare's eyes only narrowed at seeing the once king.
"Summer, how have you been? It has been a while hasn't it?" Eclipse said greeting the council member.
"Sure has, sir." Summer Wind spat the last word out venomously.
"Now now, no need for anger. I am only here to take a gander at a book, they are all mine after all." Eclipse said nodding towards the large double doors that opened into the library.
"Perhaps they once were, but they belong to the crown. And last I checked, you abandoned it." Summer said bitterly.
"I had my reasons." Eclipse said defensively.
"Yes, the filly you adopted. I just recently learned of that... And while I can sympathize with wanting to protect a child, I still cannot allow you in here right now." Summer Wind said in a warning tone.
"Well, I have not been violent to another pony since taking Shadow in... But still, I can get past you without harming you." Eclipse said, his voice laid back, but the threat was still apparent.
"Funny, I seem to recall the moment you returned from that village you killed a stallion... Or had his life meant so little that you had already forgotten?" Summer asked as she lowered herself into a ready stance.
"Hmm, you seem to be correct there. I did forget about him... But never since have I purposefully harmed another pony... Isn't that right?" Eclipse said, looking behind him to where his friend stood, who was shaking his head in a warning.
Summer Wind leaned to look past Eclipse, but the moment she took her eyes off of the once king, Eclipse became a blur of motion and was mere inches from her snout. Her eyes jerked and locked with his. She stared into the pure blackness that was his eyes now, compelled to keep gazing and not look away. She felt something probing her mind, and she tried in vain to look away or scream. Slowly but surely her struggling stopped as the force the probed her mind forced her to calm down, as her eyelids grew heavy.
"Take a break Summer, you work yourself too hard. It is not healthy to go through so much stress..." Eclipse said as his eyes returned to normal and Summer wind's knees began to buckle. Eclipse caught her and set her down gently before turning his attention back to his friend.
"What did you do that for? You could have just come back later." His friend said with a frown.
"I didn't hurt her, in fact I helped her. Poor thing hasn't slept in days she has been so busy preparing for Twilight to meet with the southern governor." Eclipse said waving a hoof dismissively.
Eclipse stepped over the sleeping mare, and pushed open the door to the library. As he entered he lit his horn up and took a seat at a table to read the book that was floating his way. As the book landed before him Eclipse frowned at what he saw.
"What is wrong?" the other stallion asked seeing his expression.
"This was put where the book I wanted should have been..." Eclipse said in a flat tone.
The once king then actually took note of the state the library was in, and was forced to do a double take at what he saw. Books were laying in piles on the floor, stacked to the height of two ponies. And the books that were on the shelves were not where they should be if Eclipse remembered correctly. All in all the place was a complete mess. Eclipse played with the idea if somepony was playing a prank in here. The sound of hooves meeting the stone floor brought Eclipse's attention to the ancient looking mare that was the royal librarian. Upon seeing Eclipse the elderly mare's face lit up.
"Sir, you need to help me! It is a catastrophe!" The elderly mare wailed as she excitedly approached Eclipse.
"Oh wow, Bookie, you're still alive... What are you, one hundred and twenty two now?" Eclipse said his nickname for the mare, amazed his old librarian was not only still alive but still working here.
"That isn't important sir, the new one has made a mess of this place. She just keeps grabbing book after book and piles them up next to her as she starts reading. Then when she is done, she puts it into another pile on the opposite side of her!" The old mare exclaimed, the display of energy frightening Eclipse, as he thought she could keel over at any moment at her age.
"Woah there, sit down and take it easy. I can fix this." Eclipse said in a calming voice as he pulled up a chair and helped the elderly mare onto it.
"Oh thank heavens..." The librarian sighed in relief.
Eclipse's horn lit up as he charged a spell to return each book to where it belonged. He had personally enchanted every book to return to its correct spot if given the right magical prompt. The signal was sent out, and books began flapping, a display much like that of birds as they made their way to their homes on the shelves. As the mess cleared, Eclipse noticed a purple alicorn lying where one pile of books had previously been. Twilight slept soundly, resting her head on her hooves with one last book under her sleeping grasp.
"So, what made you come all the way here by your lonesome sir?" The librarian asked.
"I'm not alone, I came here wi-" Eclipse said as he pointed a hoof at where his friend once stood. At seeing he was no longer there, Eclipse looked around with a confused expression, "Huh, that sly bastard snuck off without me noticing..."
"Hey now, that is no language for one who is raising a filly!" The old librarian scolded.
Eclipse fixed a flat look on his old librarian, and then burst into laughter, "You haven't changed one bit you know that?"
The old mare groaned at the antics of the once king and hopped off the chair, shaking her head as she trotted back towards where her desk was to wait for anypony to check out a book. Eclipse smiled as she left and then turned his attention towards where Twilight lay sleeping on the ground. He slowly approached her and looked down to see which book she held in her hooves as she slept. His eyes widened in recognition and he silently cursed his luck. She held the book he was looking for. With a groan Eclipse set upon trying to wake Twilight up.
"Wakey wakey princess..." Eclipse cooed as he nudged her shoulder with his hoof.
The only response the lavender alicorn gave was to groan something about five more minutes. Eclipse was not known for his patience however. In fact, he had gone to great lengths to insure that the enchantments he implemented in his daily life would make sure he had to wait as little as possible. With a determined look he lowered his face next to the sleeping mare's.
In the voice of the dragon he had met, Spike he recalled was his name Eclipse whispered in Twilight's ear, "Twilight, its time to wake up. You have an important schedule to keep now that you are a princess."
Twilight groggily stood up, "Alright alright Spike, I'm up... Wait, how did you fit in the library?"
Twilight rubbed her hooves to her eyes and blinked a few times to clear them before looking around the now pristine library. She did not see her beloved friend however, instead she only saw Eclipse sitting at the table, happily reading the book she had fallen asleep looking through.
"E-Eclipse?!" Twilight exclaimed, surprised to see the once king.
"Morning princess, I trust you have been well?" Eclipse said not looking away from his book.
Twilight cautiously approached to see what section Eclipse was at, and noticed he was on the chapter dealing with the rule of Princess Persephone. Twilight gasped in recognition, drawing the attention of Eclipse.
"What is it?" Eclipse asked raising an eyebrow.
"I was going over this part and I wanted to ask you about it!" Twilight said excitedly.
"Woah now, this was hundreds of years before my rule. I was not around for it." Eclipse said raising a hoof to fend off the excitement that was directed towards him.
"Oh, well can you at least explain how she died? I though Alicorns were immortal. But this history book says there were dozens of alicorns that have ruled this land." Twilight said with a curious gleam in her eyes.
Eclipse thought over the question for a moment before speaking."Well, there are a few ways to kill an Alicorn. The easiest way however is to remove their heart and burn it. If I recall that is the method used to do in Persephone, but I can't remember wh-"
"The revolutionists cut out her heart?!" Twilight exclaimed and covered her chest with a hoof.
"Wait... Oh right! that was when the revolution happened. And I thought it might have been the northerners..." Eclipse said with a chuckle.
"How can you laugh about that?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Because it's ironic I forgot about that when it was the Heart family that then took the crown into their hooves." Eclipse said closing the book and prompting it to return to where it came from.
Twilight's jaw hung slack for a moment before she shook her head and blurted out her question, "But then why were there two Alicorns after her before Celestia and Luna?"
"Because the Heart family were the caretakers to the secret ritual to create alicorns. If we found a pony who was pure enough to become the new princess, we would see to it that it became so. Gone were the days that and alicorn's heir would inherit the gift of immortality, ponies had to earn it by displaying that they were truly worthy." Eclipse explained.
"Um... There was actually one more question I had now that I think about it..." Twilight said, a look of remembrance dawning on her face.
"What is it?" Eclipse asked, curious as to what other piece of history she wanted insight on.
"This one was more recent, around eight hundred years ago, during your rule so I thought you would be able to answer me..." Twilight began.
"Oh yeah, should be simple for me to answer then." Eclipse said with a shrug.
"There was a section torn out of the official history book, torn from every copy..." Twilight began slowly.
Eclipse froze, he knew exactly what she was referring to, "Oh..."
"When I checked the index, the missing chapter was titled, 'The day the world wept', can you tell me what happened? The history immediately after that implied that something horrible happened..." Twilight said with a frown.
Eclipse sized up Twilight for a moment before letting out a sigh, "If you want to know, it is better if you see something first. When are you leaving to meet with the southern governor?" Eclipse asked.
"Well, later today actually..." Twilight said uncertainly, not wanting to be sidetracked before getting an answer.
"When you come back, do not teleport back. Fly directly from the city to the capital here. You will know what you are looking for when you see it. You can ask me about it when you get back..." Eclipse said in a sad tone.
"Should I just fly there then?" Twilight asked.
"No, you will be too distracted to do your duty if it is on your mind when you go there." Eclipse said shaking his head.
Twilight thought for a moment longer, "Is the missing chapter the reason everypony here thinks you are a monster?"
Eclipse averted his eyes from the lavender mare, "Yes..."
Twilight stepped out of the portal and was greeted by an organized garrison before her. She briefly wondered if she had the right place, but then an earth pony stallion matching the description for the southern governor stepped forward to greet her. His coat was black and his short dark gray mane was styled into a mohawk.
"Oh my, aren't you a sight for sore eyes... The men and I are happy to see an alicorn at long last. Gives us all hope that the world is getting better!" The stallion said as he drew closer and bowed deeply.
"Oh um, thank you. I presume you are governor Coal Dust?" Twilight asked as she looked around at the soldiers who lined the walls of the city.
"The one and only, proud to serve the crown!" The stallion said eagerly.
"I thank you for your enthusiasm but you must forgive me, I was under the impression the crown did not command an army..." Twilight said in a confused voice.
"Well, not technically. But it is not against the law for us to organize and arm ourselves to fend off a threat. You see, we here on the southern front are right next to the Zebra border. You can never tell when those stripped bastards will strike, so we are always ready." Coal Dust said
"Ah, that would make sense I guess. And I trust by your reaction to me that there won't be any troubles with me taking the throne now? I already had a little bit of a scuffle in the eastern province.
"Hah! Did the lioness bare her fangs at you?" Coal Dust said with a hearty chuckle.
"Yes, and in doing so she let loose a wendigo that I had to take down. Luckily nopony was hurt, but she has been arrested for it." Twilight said with a sigh.
Coal Dust and the nearby soldiers stopped and held still for a moment. The tension grew thick, causing Twilight to sweat slightly, all up until the tension was shattered by everypony letting out obnoxious guffaws of laughter.
"Serves that cold hearted mare right! Never did like her!" Coal Dust shouted out to the soldiers who all shouted in agreement and shared the hearty laugh.
Twilight was unsure of what to make of this, but was at least happy that these ponies were quite friendly with her. Coal Dust beckoned for Twilight to follow him, and she nodded as she let her portal collapse behind her. As the crack of air rushing back to where the portal once stood filled the air, the princess of magic disappeared into a large stone fortress.
"Isn't all this a bit much? It's within the city walls..." Twilight said as she looked around the heavily fortified building.
"This fort here is designed to house all the citizens in underground bunkers if the city were to be under siege. A hoofful of troops can defend this keep alone, and if we all share shifts, it is nearly impenetrable unless under the fire of heavy siege equipment. And if we see any of that we would just send a message back to the capital asking for help." Coal Dust said proudly.
"Wow, are the zebras that aggressive? I knew a zebra back on the other continent, and she was so kind..." Twilight said with a frown.
"If it was on the other continent you met them that would explain it. Story goes that a few hundred years ago, the old king let a few hundred prisoners of war free. Only, after they had spilled their secrets to us, their people would have put them to death for treason. So old Eclipse promised to send them far away, if they swore to never come back. And from what I heard, the fight was all but gone from them. Their weariness of war probably passed down to their children." Coal Dust said with a shrug.
Twilight blinked a few times, impressed at the kindness that was shown to prisoners of war. She knew that no changeling would have been given that luxury from Canterlot, "Wow..."
"Yeah, ponies can say what they want about Eclipse, but he is no monster. Not in my book at least." Thier governor said with a pride.
"About that, why does everypony act like they expect only evil from him? Aside from dethroning Celestia and Luna, I have yet to hear anything too bad about him." Twilight said, fishing for answers.
Coal Dust froze, and then gave a worried glance to Twilight, "You mean nopony has told you yet?"
"No, I was hoping to get the answers from some of the history books, but the important ones were removed. When I asked Eclipse he said that I should fly from here to the capital..." Twilight explained.
"Oh... I would listen to him then... But consider yourself lucky at least. Old Eclipse has hid himself away for a decade now, and you are the first pony to say they have actually spoken to him. That there is a good sign if you ask me, a show of his approval for you to take the crown." Coal Dust said with a smile.
"Well, thank you. But shall we get down to business now? I should head back as soon as possible, and we need to go over some changes I have put in place." Twilight said as she levitated a scroll from her saddlebag.
"It would be an honor to have you inform me your majesty." Coal Dust said as he took a deep bow.
After a couple of hours of going over the official business in the governor's office, Twilight excused herself. Coal Dust took a deep bow, scooping up Twilight's hoof and kissing it gently, bidding Twilight farewell as she strode from the keep. On her way out soldiers saluted and stood at attention, causing Twilight to have nostalgia of Canterlot. Spreading her wings as she made it outside, Twilight noticed it was should only be a few hours before the sun set. Launching into the air Twilight began to make a beeline towards the capital.
The large, alicorn wings Twilight possessed aided her in flying swifter than an average pegasus, and in minutes she had reached speeds that would have made her beloved friend Rainbow Dash proud. The sensation of flight brought a smile to her face, it had been days since she was able to fly like this. Her business was taken care of in a timely manner thanks to the cooperation that Coal Dust had given her. Though she was a little unsettled at how the stallion seemed to worship the very ground she walked upon.
"Huh, what is that?" Twilight mumbled to herself as she saw something off in the distance. Whatever it was, it was different from the sparse forests and farm land that she was flying over. And as she drew nearer, she noticed that less and less life seemed to grow from the land. And as she was mere miles from it, everything had stopped growing.
Twilight found herself flying lower and lower to the ground as she inspected what was now coming into clear view. Piles of debris covered nearly every inch of the ground. And only here and there could stone or brick buildings be seen standing, with their windows and roofs knocked out and in. Nearly all of the wood had decayed, but the masonry and tiles still remained, littering the ground. Twilight was unable to comprehend at first what she was looking at. She walked slowly through the debris, noticing that here and there were clear patches that had demolished fountains in them. Then she realized, they must have been parks. The truth that she was trying to keep from herself hit her like a ton of bricks, and knocked the wind from her lungs.
Twilight shakily turned her eyes towards one of the stone walls of a building and approached it. What she saw looked like shadows of ponies who were simply going about their everyday life. But they weren't shadows, Twilight knew better. These were ash outlines. Twilight retched, spilling the contents of her stomach on the ground. Her mind had already calculated how many ponies could live in a town the size of this. Easily a couple hundred thousand had once lived here. And that was at nearly a minimum use of the land.
"What...Why?" Twilight mumbled as tears began to form in her eyes. This had clearly not been the result of a war, something powerful had happened here. Not even dragons could produce flames hot enough to vaporize a pony, it took a powerful unicorn to cast a spell able to do this, and on a scale large enough to do it to an entire city, she was not positive that even she could do this. Surely it would have taken somepony truly monstrous to be able to not only stomach doing it, but to pull it off.
Twilight did not want to spend another minute here, she only wanted to find Eclipse and confront him for this. She refused to believe that this was done without reason, but at the same time she found herself unable to come up with an explanation for this. What could prompt the destruction of an entire town, was it a rebellion? Perhaps they were made an example for their treason. But that couldn't be it, Eclipse said so himself that he would never harm any of his ponies. Twilight was beyond wanting an answer, she needed it.
Twilight's horn ignited and she winked out of existence, rematerializing outside of the house that lay at the end of the alley that Eclipse called home. Twilight took a deep breath and put on a brave face as she approached and opened the door. The interior was just the same as she had previously seen it, lavishly decorated, the portraits of Eclipse hanging on the walls. His eyes all seemed to watch her as she trekked through the house in search of the once king. As she finally found herself in what appeared to be his study, Twilight found the stallion she was looking for.
"You have some explaining to do..." Twilight said in a stern voice, sniffing back the remnants of her tears.
"Before I explain, I want to hear your thoughts on it all..." Eclipse said, his back still turned to the princess of magic as he looked for something within a weathered old chest.
Twilight calmed herself as she thought for a moment, Eclipse had done this before. He was testing her, judging how worthy she was to lead. For a moment, Twilight wondered what he would do if her answer was unsatisfactory. That thought only lasted a few seconds before she set her mind on what she had seen and heard.
"Honestly, I want to believe that you had a good reason. But I can't think of one... What could justify that? I do not want to believe that you are some heartless monster, but that could just be me being too soft..." Twilight said solemnly in response.
Eclipse made no noise in response, he merely went on rummaging in his chest. Twilight realized she recognized the chest as the one he had during her coronation festival. Twilight waited patiently for a response, but none came. Seconds stretched on into what felt like minutes, and Twilight found herself fixated on the stallion before her. He seemed so calm, so serious, so unlike how she had seen him before.
Eclipse stopped rummaging, and glanced back at Twilight, his eye an ocean of black, no iris or whites of his eyes anywhere to be seen, "Would you choose to let a thousand die, or would you murder the one who would eventually be responsible for their deaths if you were given the chance?"
Twilight blinked in surprise at where the conversation had gone, "W-what?"
"A thousand deaths, or one murder?" Eclipse reinstated, his jet black eye staring, unblinking at Twilight.
"I guess if you had undeniable evidence that you would be saving a thousand lives... Though I would try my best to stop them peacefully..." Twilight said, laying her ears back, uncomfortable with the conversation and still in a tender emotional state from her earlier experience.
Eclipse blinked, a sad look adorning his once serious face as the blackness of his eye receding into a normal sized pupil, his iris and the white of his eye once more visible, "I tried..."
"Wha-" Twilight was cut off as Eclipse tossed a newspaper at Twilight's hooves.
Twilight tore her eyes from Eclipse and stared at the heading of the yellow newspaper. The thing had to be ancient, but it was still in pristine condition. The date on the paper dated back eight hundred years, and the title read, 'Plague Claims Another Ten Thousand'. Twilight skimmed over the front page, her mind reeling from the statistics the paper told of. If it was to be trusted, in just under two years this mysterious disease had claimed entire towns and was suspected to causing thousands of deaths within some cities.
"After discovering the disease, I spent nearly two whole years searching for a cure. I worked tirelessly in hopes of discovering a way to stop it... But after one hundred and fifty million lives were lost, I knew drastic measures had to be taken. The only cure I managed to find, was heat intense enough to eradicate the pathogen." Eclipse said in an even tone, with all the emotion one would expect from a rock.
"So you eradicated an infected town to stop the spread of the plague..." Twilight said in a shocked, quiet voice.
"No..." Eclipse sighed.
Twilight furrowed her brow at this, "What do you mea-"
"I eradicated one hundred and seventy eight towns, some larger than the one you saw." Eclipse stated simply.
Twilight's heart skipped a beat. The look of shock and horror was apparent on her face. To be able to pull off a wide scale destructive spell capable of instantly eradicating an entire city was an unheard of feat. But to be able to pull it off one hundred and seventy eight times, that was monstrous.
"They weren't even all pony towns. All across the continent, I eradicated every town that had traces of the plague. None were spared, for fear that they could be unknowingly carrying the disease. But for every single life that was murdered by me, a thousand more live today that would have been eradicated by the plague." Eclipse said with an odd intensity.
Twilight sank down to the ground, unable to stand any longer. Her knees felt as if they were made of jello, and her stomach felt as if it were swimming. She could not even process, let alone get past how many had to have died. But at the same time, if Eclipse was to be trusted, it was all for the greater good. She now understood however, why he was thought of as a monster, it was because he was one.
Eclipse's stoic look cracked, and a nervous chuckle escaped him as he was no longer able to hold his serious face, "Did you know... We were able to enjoy five hundred years of peace after that? Nopony was willing to strike up a war, after over a hundred cities disappeared overnight. Some actually began revering me as a god..."
"How could you...?" Twilight mumbled.
"I found it easier to accept if you think of it as trimming a dying limb off of a tree... To be honest, I no longer even see the flash of light that lit up the sky in my dreams anymore. I can tell you the names and describe the faces of every single soul I have murdered, all except for the ones I obliterated that day. There were simply... Too many to be able to remember. After a point, they all just became a number to me, a statistic." Eclipse offered.
"No, how could you do such a thing yourself? Even I cannot wield power like that, and I am the alicorn of magic..." Twilight said, voice brimming with confusion.
"Ah, that was quite simple. While working in my labs long ago, I discovered a process to split atoms. Through a process known as fission atoms can release amazing amounts of energy." Eclipse explained.
"But... from what Celestia told me that is a similar process to how the sun works..." Twilight said in a voice brimming with wonder, "How could you create something so devastating in a lab?"
Eclipse scoffed at this, "The most destructive weapons are not crafted in a smithy, they are created in a lab. I made two hundred bombs that harnessed this method, and I teleported almost all of them around the continent to infected cities. They worked perfectly, and because of that I destroyed the last twenty two unused bombs."
Twilight looked at Eclipse with a new light, "How do you live with yourself?"
"I put on a warm smile and act like there is nothing in life that can get me down, all so that my daughter does not have to worry about me. I cannot afford to be depressed anymore, and I will not allow my anger to get the best of me, lest I allow my daughter to see what I once was." Eclipse said in a firm voice.
Twilight mulled this over for a moment before responding in a thoughtful tone, "So in a way, she has saved you as much as you have saved her..."
Eclipse smiled, "Yes, you could say that..." Eclipse's eyes then grew dark and fierce, "Though I suspect I need not warn you of the consequences of telling her..."
Twilight nodded in understanding, she was at least happy to see that he hid this aspect of his past from his daughter. It showed that he knew it was a difficult choice, one that looked insane and monstrous to those that did not understand the entire story. Without a doubt most ponies thought he was some blood thirsty butcher, not giving him the chance to learn that he did it to save countless others. But the entire story weighed heavily on Twilight's heart, as she sat there, staring into those fierce, passionate eyes that belonged to Eclipse. Did she truly have what it takes to lead? Could she have made the tough decision Eclipse made, or would her unwillingness to act so brashly have caused the deaths of everypony.
Spike yawned lazily as he flapped his wings and glided over the town. He had had a long day of digging up gems to snack on. The land was rich in minerals here, and he briefly wondered why there were not more dragons about. He had only seen a few younger ones lurking about, and all of them fled immediately after seeing him. Perhaps he could ask the council about that later. For all he knew, dragons here were considered evil like the changelings in equestria, and were hunted by the townsfolk.
While the idea made Spike somewhat sick to his stomach, it was not so farfetched. The young mare Shadow had in fact nearly attacked him in hopes of turning in a bounty on him. This only caused spike to worry even more, though he was not sure if it was more centered towards danger for himself, or danger for his fellow dragons. While he understood many dragons were rambunctious and rude, not many were actually evil.
The century old dragon shook the ground as he landed within the castle grounds. He made for the door to the ballroom he was using as a den, but as he made his way inside he smelled something foreign to him. Immediately his senses were on high alert. Something or somepony was in here. Spike's eyes darted around in search of the source of what was putting him on edge.
The sound of a mare giggling caught spikes attention, and he slowly turned his eyes towards where the stage of the ballroom was. Normally this area housed seats and places to store a bands instruments, when not being used for a performance. But Spike had been collecting his leftover gems there for when he felt too lazy to go out for food. The implication that somepony was stealing from his horde caused no small amount of anger to the dragon, but he knew better than to snap.
"Hey, what are you doing over there? Get away from my stash!" Spike said in his booming voice as he approached the stage on all fours to avoid hitting the ceiling with his head.
As he drew closer to the dark side of the room, he noticed that a dark mare was sitting at the edge of the stage, looking over her shoulder at him with a frown.
"Oh, its you..." Spike said with a frown as he looked down upon the young mare named Shadow.
"Back at ya..." Shadow said in an unenthused tone.
"Hey, while normally I am not adverse to company, I would be very appreciative if you returned anything you took from there and left..." Spike said with a frown.
The sound of a gem being crushed bounced off the stone walls of the ballroom, and a more primal part of Spike's brain caused his eyes to narrow in barely contained instinctual rage. His senses sharpened as he felt himself growing on edge. He first smelled the scent of fur, and then he noticed the outline of a bipedal figure crouching in the darkness on top his horde, mere feet from the mare.
Spike had just opened his mouth to shout a warning when the furry intruder leapt forward, its wolf-like face snarling its challenge as it rammed itself, shoulder first into the dragon.
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cool
Er, the sun works on fusion, not fission. Great chapter, though - Twilight's reaction to it not having been one town but almost two hundred was handled wonderfully.
The sun actually works via fusion, not fission.
Ha, this story, long time no see
And so the plot has grown deeper.
BTW, the sun works on fusion not fission.
Fusion is way more powerful than fission in energy release.
Here's a little info for ya on the 2.
And a quote for those who don't wanna read article.
Fission:
Fusion:
Wow... That's horrible. And amazing. Just the way I like it. Good job on this chapter!
Well, a very nice presentation of the kind of decisions rulers - immortal or otherwise - might have to make.
You are really creating the perfect morally Gray character. This is such an intriguing story, I cannot wait for more
I'm quite impressed you are trying to tie science into this world!
And I'm super excited for more chapters.
2673051 That's what was screaming in my head too!
Wow, that just wow.
Well that should cover everything on Eclipse and now Shadow is causing trouble.
Now, I'm not one to hit a female/mare, but Shadow need to get her little ass kicked, and please, PLEASE let Spike kick her and her shadow monster's ass.
I love how much power and new skills Twilight has and Eclipse is bad ass, but Spike hasn't yet put up a real fight. It kind of disappointing.
More please!
Finally another chapter! I've been looking forward to this! The story is really good!
Nukes make everything more interesting.
Great chapter, and thanks for the update.
A few things.
That's kinda repetitive. He's sighing there again... except the way it's written it feels more like a mistake rather then the character sighing and then realizing that he has to sigh again.
The use of "familiar" here was kinda repetitive.
Also I didn't really understand why the librarian tried to keep Eclipse from entering the library. I mean I get that Eclipse isn't liked that much by anypony but it felt more like there was a legal reason that was being pressed.
Though the bit on the plague and Eclipse deciding that he was going to burn it out all at once was an interesting idea.
Hmm…wonder who attacked Spike? Or maybe Shadow is a meany-bo-beany…
>> Eclipse can single hooved create hundreds of atomic bombs.
>> Eclipse can't manage to cure the plague.
Ok, Eclipse is just a psychopath looking for an excuse to murder. Surely the destruction of hundreds of towns couldn't outway the deaths caused by the amount of time it takes to develop a cure.
Interesting. Very interesting. I love the whole plague bit, it was great story and world building and very ingenious of you
Please continue!
2677278 As far as I know, we still have problems with the common cold to this day.
We don't even know what kind of plague it was. It may have been magical in nature, or fast-mutating. He could have spent more years trying to cure it and his continent may have died out from under him.
2684043
Yeah, that's true. I suppose my main beef is that he didn't let the people have a say. He just killed them by himself. I would be fine with it if everyone got to vote on whether they want to kill off the towns, and the majority voted to kill them.
Also, we don't know if Eclipse is telling the truth. If he is indeed just looking for an excuse to slaughter, don't you think he would've said the same thing?
I would think that a heavy quarantine would of worked instead...
2685422
If he had made his plan known, the population would have scattered in case it was their city/town targeted. And then the plague would be everywhere with nothing to do but let it run its course and hope for the best.
2693393
Then why not just not say the names of the cities, and instead say that for the plan he will need to nuke hundreds of settlements, whose names he will not say?
2693403
What for? If they felt warned at all, then instead of a one night affair, it would have become a gruesome crusade to annihilate fleeing stragglers. It is also likely that they didn't have the resources or know-how to quarantine and individually scan individuals for whatever the illness was, and planned this within a very closed circle or by himself to avoid warning getting out. The way I read it, It was a bit of a Machiavellian move wrought by sheer desperation, and a Pyrrhic victor:. no more plague, and no more nations that dare threaten his.
We'll just have to wait for more information.
2693415
Come to think of it, if he just nuked the cities, then why wouldn't there be some ponies in the countryside with the plague?
2693480 Definitely, unless those were taken into quarantine and examined for traces after the biggest, uncontrollable vector populations were wiped out. We'll just have to wait and see. :P
2677278
orly?
"After discovering the disease, I spent nearly two whole years searching for a cure. I worked tirelessly in hopes of discovering a way to stop it... But after one hundred and fifty million lives were lost, I knew drastic measures had to be taken."
C'mon, read closely.
2751007
o_O Don't know how I missed that.
2693480
You know, that could lead to some interesting developments.
I'm pretty sure Eclipse wouldn't leave any loose ends wandering around, though; not to mention the time that's passed.
2769085
How long ago did this plague happen? Given that Twilight saw the charred outlines of ponies, it must not of been that long ago...
2770513
The missing section of the history book was of 800 years prior, so I'd say it's not an issue any more. It seems the plague thing was more of a tool to lay out Eclipse's character than anything. Oh well.
That said, there's still a lot of the story left to go. We'll just have to see where it goes
2773693
Still, how would the charred remains of ponies still be visible after 800 years? And what do all the other ponies think happened?
This story definitely feels different and in a very good way. I look forward to reading some more of it.
Also: Blaaaargh! It took like... 10 refreshes before the site accepted my thumb up for this fic! It's a freaking conspiracy!
This chapter feels as though it were written by a younger person with a weaker grasp on prose. I came across some rather unappealing wording, such as:
Sounds like a fifth grader phrased that clause.
I think Twi forgives/accepts Eclipse's excuse waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too quickly. Given how Twi usually acts in the show I doubt she would accept the murdering of 180 cities each with hundreds of thousands lives, families, children, elder, etc. It's too much. Even for a plague.Jesus, Europe survived lots of horrible diseases and plagues same like other huge nations like india and china in their history, such a thing is almost normal given history. And they didnt ended in to years, but they ended.
Who knows, he might have killed thousands of people which survived the diseases or carried the antibody against it withhin them, people who would have survived the death in their cities but not the nuke.
I don't think Twi should accept nor admire Eclipse's decison as it looks right now nor should she ask herself if she could do a similar monstrous thing if needed. Unlike Eclipse who DID chosed the easier way, a quick solution than waiting for more years/researching for more years, Twi probably wouldn't. She's not Eclipse, she's Twilight Sparkle for god's sake!
I think hundred millions is a bit overdoing it.
We saw that Ponyville hardly have 2 thousand ponies in it, and Canterlot is not that big, so I do give it 15000 ponies living there.
I do not think it is necessary to make a country what is like 100000 times more populated then Equestria to state how many lives were lost.
As for nuclear bombs, I am unsure what to thing about it. So, it make sense that they would be discovered, but I am unsure what to thing about them being used in a story. On one side those seems very OP and far to advanced. On another side they help to build a tension, and seems to be one time use toy as they were destroyed later on, so I will stay neutral in this case.