*POV 1st Person Nova*

The first thing I noticed when we materialised was the almost unnatural cold. We were almost immediately surrounded by a blizzard

“Jesus Christ!” I exclaimed, beginning to shiver “did you have to bring me to the middle of a bloody ice age‽”

“The Frozen North is colder than usual” My mother noted calmly.

“Something is affecting the weather” I heard Celestia shout faintly, I spotted her trudging through the snow towards us.

“Is this Eclipse’s doing?” I asked, they both shook their heads.

“Eclipse prefers to control fire” Celestia shouted over the wind “this is something different, something is controlling this, I doubt we are alone in this wasteland”

“Oh, screw this” I shouted “LOK VAH KOOR!” the snowstorm cleared and a swear I heard a shriek.

“Well” Celestia said “that solves that problem, but presents us with a totally new one”

“Such as…?” I asked only to trail off as an Alicorn landed in front of us. It was huge, easily 10ft tall, with a blood red coat, a great, spiny, reptilian tail, and a large helmet with huge dragon horns poking out of the sides. Thick, black smoke seeped out of a vent at the front and its eyes seemed to glow red

“Who dares to summon me?” he asked, his voice was gravely, and possessed an almost mechanical quality.  My mother stepped forward.

“Eclipse” she said softly “It’s me, Fantasia”

“What do you want?” he asked, I swear the glow from his eyes narrowed “My patience with you is wearing thin already, speak quickly”

“We need you to help us” my mother said “There is an allian…”

“I know of the war” he said, turning away “I realise what you are requesting and I have no desire to help you”

“Don’t you get it?” I asked, stepping forward “We are up against countless foes who are superior to us, we need some one of your power”

“…’Someone’…I sense you are no regular Equine” he said.

“I am Prince Nova, a former Human, Fantasia’s son…your son”

“I vaguely recall assisting Fantasia” he said “But regardless, I have no need for paternal bonds, or any emotional bonds for that matter. My power is beyond your comprehension, my level of existence…superior to your own, I can reduce entire worlds to ash should I so desire, but I allow this world to endure…out of mercy. My name is Lord Eclipse. Your only king, master, and God. Obey me... serve me... worship me...or perish from my hoof"

“I bow to no one” I said “least of all an arrogant fool like you”

“Nova, don’t” Celestia pleaded. Eclipse chuckled

“Listen to your sister, ‘Nova’” he said “prove to me that you are the coward I know you to be” I looked away before promptly casting a fireball at him, knocking him back.

“How about I prove to you that I’m not a coward” I said.

“Funny, deep down…you know you cannot stop me” He said, turning away from me “yet you still challenge me…I can see why Fantasia chose you to liberate the universe” my eyes widened and I looked at my mother with a questioning glance “I see she has withheld information from you, as always…she always has her secrets”

“What do you mean?” I asked

“She isn’t some infallible god like she would lead you to believe” He said, I noticed my mother didn’t say anything or even attempt to stop him “she has made countless mistakes. She does not have a use for me beyond helping to create her ‘chosen ones’ so she cast me out here…into her personal dumping ground”

“What do you mean ‘chosen ones’?” I asked.

“Celestia and Luna were created with a purpose” he said “to unite Equestria…you were also created with a set purpose, something is coming, I know not what it is, but the entire universe will be at stake, you were created to stop that. As always, Fantasia is trying to control the flow of time”

“I ask again” I said, ignoring him “will you join us? You possess immense power, and I happen to know a couple of beings who would just love to get to know you”

“I assume you are referring to Teridax and Tirek” he said, turning to look at me “those two beings are nothing compared to me. But regardless, I will join you, not because I believe my assistance will help you, but because it gets boring seeing the same white expanse for eons” At that moment we both heard Celestia and my Mother cry out, only to be silenced. We turned to see them encased in ice. I ran over and tried to free them, but the ice simply reformed where ever I melted it “It appears we are not alone, stay sharp, I’ll been following this one for some time, it has immense control over ice, even I have trouble containing it”

“Containing?” I asked, still attempting to melt the icy prisons

“Stopping it from running loose and freezing the rest of the world” he said “It has been a mild irritation, but in recent days, it has sent the arctic weather out of balance, I fear it hungers for more territory” At that moment a large being comprised almost entirely of ice sprung up out of the ground and pinned me, I tried to buck it off of me, only for my hooves to freeze to it’s body.

“Did you really think I would let you succeed with that attack?” he asked “I am the Element lord of Ice, and nothing can stop me” Suddenly a red horn poked through the beings chest.

“I beg to differ” Eclipse said as his horn began to glow, beginning to melt the being’s chest, he then drew his horn to one side, ripping a chunk out of the Element lords cavity before he seized the being in his magic and flung him to the snow before constructing a cage of crystal “that should hold him back for a couple of millennia, can you walk?” I stood up.

“I’ll be fine” I said, before blasting Celestia and my Mother with a wave of pure heat, finally causing the ice to melt. Celestia looked confused.

“What…just happened?” she asked.

“Something long forgotten, from Spherus Magna’s dark past” I said “Now, we must make haste back to the Defiance”

“Then I must make haste back to Canterlot, we all have duties to attend to” she said.

“Send my love to my parents” I said, she nodded before teleporting.

“So” Eclipse said “shall we?” My mother frowned, but didn’t say anything as she closed her eyes and cast the teleportation spell.

…

We reappeared in the same room as before, startling Teridax, who held his hammer in a defensive posture, before relaxing.

“You’re early” he stated.

“It didn’t take as long as we thought it would” I said “Teridax, this is Eclipse, he is technically my father, in the sense that Fantasia is my mother. Try not to piss him off”

“You know me, I wise enough to not anger a higher being such as him” he said. Eclipse simply ignored us both as he walked past, his tail dragging along the floor.

“He actually intimidates me” I admitted.

*POV 3rd person*

Eclipse stood on the top deck, overlooking the alien landscape. He heard steps approaching and turned to see Dazaethuer walking over.

“What are you?” the Reptaur asked.

“You would know me as a Draconic Alicorn” Eclipse said, turning away “I am the first, and I will be the last”

“But, where did you come from?” the Reptaur asked. Eclipse’s horn sparked into life and the scenery around them changed into a dark expanse. Suddenly Nova appeared.

“Giving our guest a history lesson?” he asked

“Granting him enlightenment, you may stay if you so wish” Nova nodded.

“Carry on” Eclipse nodded and began speaking.

“Before time began, there existed the higher beings – Gods, if you wish to think of them as such – Myself and Fantasia were just two of many entities, back then, there was no time, there was no mass, there was no energy, we simply…were. One instant, but at the same not an instant, an incomprehensible quantity of matter burst into existence” suddenly a tiny light appeared in the darkness “Nova’s race refer to it as “the big bang”, Equestrians call it the dawn of time, but in reality it was anything but. The standard concepts of time and space did not apply in this early universe, and it was smaller than you can fathom, some of us saw an opportunity and acted upon it, giving it the spark it needed to expand” suddenly the point of light burst forth, before forming countless stars and galaxies “During the first few moments of existence, we laid down the laws of reality, thus setting the universe into motion for the next 14.5 billion years. We then spread out, using newly formed worlds as experiments like a scientist in a laboratory. The world myself and my kin settled on is an old one already showing the first signs of life in the form of rudimentary creature of blood and flesh. We altered their genes, making them into techno-organic lifeforms that would eventually be known as…Spherus Magnans” the scene now changed to a very primitive Spherus Magna, with many races living in harmony together.

“So wait a moment” Nova cut in “you are saying that Alicorns are the great beings?”

“ That is what the Spherus Magnans referred to us as…yes” Eclipse said “We disguised ourselves as cloaked bipeds so as not to seem out of place amongst them. For a time, they were at peace, but we tired of their kind, so we created the Element Lords to rule in our stead, that was our first mistake. For a time, they ruled their respective tribes in peace, together, but separate. Then the Element Lord of Ice discovered an element that we had not encountered before, a substance that was capable of sapient thought…an element called Energised Protodermis. The other Element lords expected him to share in the discovery, but the Lord of Ice was blinded by greed and refused, thus began the core war” the scene before them unfolded to show a colossal battle, as tribe against tribe battled it out to take control of the energised protodermis.

“And that is when the shattering occurred” Nova said, Eclipse nodded.

“The core war weakened the planet, as a final resort, we built a colossal robot to explore the cosmos and later return to balance to the world, but the power was too great for it's body to handle, and it tore itself apart"

"Mata Nui" Nova stated, Eclipse nodded once more and the scene changed again.

"We learned from our mistakes and began to construct a new, larger robot, this time we used the Energised protodermis as a power source, but it was too late, as the robot left the planet, Energised Protodermis leaked from the core and split the planet into three: Spherus Magna, and it's moons, Aqua Magna and Bota Magna"

"100'000 years later, the Planet would become reunited after a great conflict, this was our time to bring about a change. Fantasia planted the seeds of a tree of harmony that would reshape the planet, it was...difficult to watch...as the Spherus Magnan races were pushed almost to the brink of oblivion, but they migrated to the south of the planet and there they would remain, isolated from the rest of the world. And so we began to plant the seeds of new life, organic life, we took our time, starting with simpler organisms and passively shaping the course of evolution and history for the next 400'000'000 years, until we come to the point we are at today. We have made mistakes, but we learnt from them, and we have a thriving planet to show for it" the illusion dispelled, returning to the view over the snowcapped forest.

"I hope to one day see it for myself" Dazaethuer said, before turning to Nova "If you will let me join your ship, Nova"

"If you have no reason to stay on your home world, then who am I to stop you?" he asked. Suddenly Autumn galloped over.

"Nova!" she called "we have a problem"

*POV 1st Person Nova*

I was stood in the war room, used to coordinate battles. Captain Hiegera was stood at one side of the holotable, looking rather worse for wear, he had arrived via transport, so something must have been wrong.

"When you spoke with the high king you mentioned a group called the Covenant, yes?" he asked, I nodded and gestured for him to continue "I fear they may be aiding our foes, you remember how the high king spoke of the greyskins" he then dropped a stack of photographs on the table, I levitated the photographs over to myself and my expression became troubled, the pictures showed pale skinned reptaurs astride large canine-like creatures, armed with covenant weapons, in one of the photographs what looked like a high ranking warrior seemed to be conversing with an Elite Zealot.

"they managed to take multiple towns in a matter of hours, and decimated out forces, I myself barely escaped" Heigera said "The High King would be willing to form an alliance with your republic if you would aid us in combating this threat"

"Captain Hiegera" I said, passing back the photographs, I would gladly fight along side you and help your people to fight the Covenant

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