1055 AD, November 7th

“Uh, isn’t there supposed to be an interview or… something?”

Veil shook her head. “Nope,” She didn’t even take her eyes off the clipboard she was writing on. “You got no criminal record and you want to help – good enough.”

Scarlet nodded slowly. “Okay…”

She watched Veil fill out a form closely, paying particular attention to her… decidedly non-equine features.

Sharp teeth and snake-like eyes belonged on predators, not ponies. Part of Scarlet was constantly jumpy because she expected Veil to snarl and pounce on her.

She didn’t even want to imagine what sort of process the pegasus had to go through to be more like Nightmare Moon.

“Here,” Veil tore a form full of what few details Scarlet gave about herself and hoofed it over. “Take this to the captain of the Eclipse. Name’s Ebony – unicorn, carries a sword, sharp horn. You’ll find her in the courtyard over there…” She waved her hoof in three different directions. “Just… go somewhere…”

“But I don’t know… where…”

Scarlet glared daggers at the retreating form of Veil and snorted through her nostrils, half-tempted to charge her. It would not end well for her, but damn, it could have been worth it to wipe that look of condescension on her face.

She decided not to though; Veil could probably beat her black and blue – ignoring for a moment that those were Scarlet’s natural colours – and then she’d have the Empress herself bearing down on her.

So Scarlet swallowed her ire, turned, and ventured off in search of the courtyard.

She managed to make her way out of the building that held all the documents and paperwork for the Royal- Eclipse guard and stopped momentarily to look up into the sky.

The Entropic Fracture hung over Canterlot like a deadmare’s noose and with it, the constant danger that something could pop out at any second.

Scarlet had only heard about the hostile black knight creature from other ponies, but it was enough to set her on edge.

Amazingly enough, the constant threat of danger had the opposite reaction Scarlet expected to have: she didn’t feel like cowering away in her home, she felt like she had to do something.

Surely, dying because you were defending your home was better than dying underneath the covers of your bed?

Joining the Eclipse wasn’t going to score her any social points, but they were Canterlot’s main line of defense and they did take down the creature that came through. Upstanding citizens they most certainly were not, but they did their job at least.

And that was the only compliment Scarlet was willing to give.

The anomaly was beginning to make her eyes water, so Scarlet looked away and blinked hard before continuing on her way towards the courtyard.

‘Wherever that is…’

Eventually, Scarlet found the courtyard in question after asking one of the castle gardeners for directions.

Training dummies and archery targets were arranged in rows on the dusty ground and Scarlet could see Eclipse guards practising. A few were swiping at the dummies with wooden swords, one pegasus was fumbling around with a bow, and two unicorns were shooting magic bolts at stone sculptures. Somepony had painted on the sculpture to give them goofy faces.

Scarlet didn’t have to search very long to find Ebony; the captain was wearing more ornately decorated armor and talking to several other guards.

‘Now or never…’

Scarlet swallowed nervously and trotted forwards.

“There should be more stone targets inside the maintenance shed,” Ebony said to a pegasus. “Tell the unicorns to stop firing until you get it replaced,” The pegasus saluted and flew off. Ebony turned to another guard before noticing Scarlet’s approach. “Yes?”

The guard captain wasn’t as solidly built as Veil, but the way her horn curved into a sharp point set Scarlet’s nerves on edge. She had received a near-fatal injury from a unicorn’s horn as a filly and Ebony’s was significantly more deadly-looking.

“Uh, I’m here to join…” Scarlet’s scar on her chest – hidden underneath her fur – throbbed with a phantom pain as she hoofed over her registration form. “Veil said to come here.”

Ebony’s horn was swathed in red light as she took the form, gave it a brief scan, and nodded. “Okay – there’s a building just over there…” The captain jerked her head in the direction of a moderately-sized shed near the courtyard’s concrete walls. “Go in, hoof the form to the officer in there, get fitted, and then come find me.”

Scarlet nodded and took back the form. “Yes… m-ma’am.”

The word felt awkward on her lips, but Ebony didn’t seem to notice or care; she was already turning back to the other guards and giving out orders.

‘Okay, first impression wasn’t bad… I guess.’

Scarlet made her way over to the building. She pushed open the sturdy, wooden door and felt a spell of dizziness when a strong smell hit her. The air was thick with the smell of paint and a few other scents she couldn’t name.

“New recruit?”

Scarlet’s attention was drawn to a stallion behind a counter. Armaments hung from the walls on either side of him and an open doorway at the back led to what she assumed was storage.

“Yeah…” She entered, closed the door, and walked up to the counter, face souring at the strong smell. “Ebony told me to give you this form…”

The stallion didn’t have armor, but wore a heavy, grey apron covered in splotches of black and silver. His features were wizened from age, but not heavily so; just over middle-aged if she had to guess.

“Thanks,” He took the form and placed it somewhere beneath the counter before moving towards the back room. “You’re 21, right?”

“Yeah?” Scarlet blinked in surprise at the random query. She didn’t remember the form asking for her age. “How’d you know?”

“When you’ve been working this job as long as I have…” He had vanished from view, but she heard him give a grunt of exertion. The clanking of metal sounded a moment later. “You start to get a pretty good read on ponies from looks alone. Age, height, weight – pretty useful when you need to fit them.”

‘He knows how much I weigh?’

Coughing a little as she mentally pushed away a sudden bout of self-consciousness, Scarlet replied, “How long have you been working this job? The Eclipse is pretty new…”

“From when I was in the Royal Guard.”

Scarlet gave a small ‘oh’ of acknowledgement. “So… if you don’t mind me asking… why did you join the Eclipse if you were…?”

She didn’t expect a former member of the Royal Guard to join the Eclipse.

“Necessity,” The stallion appeared again with a set of armor. He placed it on the counter before continuing. “I don’t give a single salt lick about Nightmare Moon, but if it means that I can still protect Canterlot, then I’ll join her guard. Most others feel the same. Not of all us, but a few.”

Scarlet felt a strange immediate kinship with the stallion and nodded in understanding. “I felt the same way. I’m… I’m pretty scared of that anomaly, but I couldn’t just sit by, you know? I had to do something.”

He nodded approvingly with a ghost of smile as he came around the counter. “I wish more civvies thought like you. Pretty strange having to work alongside some of the criminals I’ve caught. Here – put your leg in this greave.”

Scarlet obeyed and watched as he started fastening it around her right foreleg. “Criminals?”

“No idea what goes through our ‘Empress’’ head…” His tone was so sarcastic that she could feel the air quotes in it. “But she apparently thinks it’s a good idea to recruit criminals into her guard. She needs the horsepower, I guess, but even so… How’s it feel?”

She stretched out her foreleg, testing the armor’s weight. “It’s fine.”

“Good,” He retrieved the rest of the armor and laid it on the floor before working to fasten the greaves to the rest of her leg. “Might wanna pay close attention so you know how to do it yourself. Anyway, so that’s another reason I joined – making sure the criminals do their jobs. Not as bad as I expected; the fear of Nightmare Moon must be keeping them firmly in line.”

Scarlet hummed in agreement. “Yeah. It’s kinda sad though, isn’t it? That she won?”

“No need to tell me that; I was there,” He sighed despondently and moved to secure the cuirass. “Not really much for fighting anymore because of my age, but we needed everypony to ward off the attack that night. I’m just sorry it wasn’t enough.”

“Do you think things will go back to the way they were?”

“I hope so. We still got an ally in the Crystal Empire, don’t we? Maybe they’ll come up with something,” Finishing up with the cuirass, he picked up the helmet and carefully placed it on her head. “Things look pretty bad, I won’t lie, but we ain’t giving in to despair. Whatever rule we’re under, Equestria will always be our home, and we gotta do what we can to make sure it’s safe.”

Scarlet nodded. “You’re right,” She paused. “Hey, I didn’t get your name…”

“Hm?” He seemed surprised by that question for some reason, but quickly recovered and answered, “Iron Surge, but I prefer Fitter; less… melodramatic sounding.”

“Hey, at least you didn’t end up with something like Scarlet,” She laughed in a bit of self-depreciation. “I mean, did my parents even see my colours when I was born?”

“Universe likes a bit of irony,” Fitter snickered with a small but genuine smile. “Now, it’s been fun, but you’d best be getting back to Captain Ebony. She may not look like it, but she can be a real hard-ass. Come back anytime if you need new equipment or somepony to talk to, you hear?”

“I will,” Scarlet nodded and turned to leave. “Goodbye, Fitter.”

“See you ‘round.”

Scarlet felt like she had found some form of kinship with Fitter; he had joined for similar reasons to her, made her feel at ease, and he sort of reminded her of her father.

The Eclipse may have been mostly comprised of criminals and led by Nightmare Moon and her followers, but it was nice to know that there were indeed good hearts among them.

Exiting the shed, Scarlet looked around the courtyard for Ebony and saw the captain talking to an earth pony mare. The mare’s armor also had the same unique design as Ebony’s; she must have been one of Nightmare Moon’s followers.

She made her way over, grimacing as her armor clanked noisily. The weight wasn’t severe enough to hamper her movement, but Scarlet had never worn anything as stiff and heavy, so her steps felt awkward. Hopefully, she’d get used to it; armor was there to save getting skewered after all.

“… you think about it?” Scarlet entered within earshot range just in time to catch a snippet of what Ebony said.

“I think it’s worth a shot; the Fracture’s not going to seal itself, so…”

The mare caught sight of Scarlet and gave a nod of her head. Ebony turned around and Scarlet felt heat rise in her cheeks. She wasn’t intentionally trying to eavesdrop; it just… happened…

“Okay, so you’re all geared up,” Ebony observed. She gestured to the mare she had been talking to. “This is Lieutenant Miasma – she’s going to be training you today. Do everything she says and listen closely, understand?”

“Yes, captain.”

“You’re on the night shift – 6 pm to 6 am. You have a week for training and simple escort jobs before that starts, so be ready.” With that, Ebony gave a farewell nod to Miasma and trotted off towards the castle.

Scarlet turned to her appointed trainer and swallowed nervously. Miasma was easily twice her size and the way her dull eyes stared at her without any hint as to what she was feeling gave Scarlet the shivers, more so because of those draconic eyes.

“Earth pony…” Miasma stated simply. “Straight on to weapons and close quarters combat then. What’s your name?”

“S-scarlet, ma’am.”

Miasma’s eyes roved over her body. “Parents had a sense of humour?”

“I, uh, guess so… ma’am.”

“Hm…” Miasma did a full turn and started walking. “Okay, follow me.”

Scarlet was led to a part of the courtyard with several wooden racks pressed up against the walls and a large ring in the ground made from stepping stones. Several guards were gathered around it, watching two other ponies sparring with weapons.

Actual weapons.

‘They use wood on the dummies, but not for real ponies? What the hell? Are there medics on watch?’

To Scarlet’s relief, there were – two of them.

At least she assumed they were medics; they were both unicorns, their armor had a lighter shade, and there was a white cross painted onto their breastplates. If that didn’t scream ‘I’m here to make sure you don’t have time to bleed’, then she didn’t know what did.

“Keep your eye on your opponent.” Miasma said to the sparring guards.

One of them looked up at her remark, the sword in his telekinetic hold wavering. “What?”

Unfortunately, this allowed his opponent to get in close and tackle him. The force was enough to push him out of the ring’s limits.
One of the female guards stomped her hoof and shouted, “Out of bounds! Match goes to Melody!”

The victor – a fresh-faced mare who looked much too young and innocent to be in the Eclipse – whooped in victory and pranced out of the ring to be met with cheers and congratulations from her friends.

The loser grumbled as he got back to his feet, but his sour mood lightened when he received some good-natured teases from his own buddies. He responded with ‘assholes’ and laughed alongside them.

“First rule of combat…” Miasma looked over her shoulder at Scarlet. “Keep your eye on your opponent and don’t get distracted.”

Scarlet wetted her lips and nodded. “Got it.”

“Now let’s see how tough you are.”

Despite having only handled kitchen knives in her life, Scarlet was nevertheless intrigued by the rows of weaponry on display.

It set off some warning bells in her head that such tools would be lying around when the Eclipse had criminals in their rank, but there was somepony on guard, so her fears were somewhat alleviated.

Exchanging a nod with the guard, Miasma walked past him and parted her jaws, reaching for the handle of a small sword…

… only to ignore it and clamp her teeth down on a huge axe.

“Duh?!” Scarlet said intelligently, eyes widening. Her mouth fell a bit as Miasma carried the thing back like it didn’t weigh anything. “I… I don’t think I can…”

Miasma placed the beast of a weapon down on the ground before her and met Scarlet’s gaze expectantly.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Scarlet blanched as she looked down at the axe.

The handle was at least as tall as her if it was stood up and composed of strong wood that had been coloured black with a grey rubber grip in the middle. The axe blade was large and thick; it looked more suited to bludgeoning something than cutting. The metal was painted black and had silver etchings, much like the armor she wore.

All in all…

“I can’t lift this!” Scarlet protested. It was so large that she couldn’t use it properly by hoof; she’d have to use her mouth.

Earth ponies may have had strong neck muscles, but this was ridiculous!

“Try.” Miasma replied without a change in her stony expression.

“But…”

Grimacing, Scarlet realized disobeying her superiors wasn’t the smartest thing to do on her first day. With a sigh, she bent down and bit down on the rubber grip – thank Faust that Miasma didn’t grab the axe by that part – before tensing her muscles and tried lifting.

“Unf!”

Well, Scarlet could lift it, but she didn’t see herself swinging it around anytime soon.

“Not bad,” Miasma reached out to tap the cheek of the axe’s blade; it was a light tap, but Scarlet still swayed from loss of balance, one side tipping closer to the ground before she righted herself. “Much better than most others I’ve seen.”

“‘anksh…”

“Alright, drop it and go grab any weapon you like. Unless you want to stick with this?”

“Uh-uh…” Relieved, Scarlet placed the axe on the ground. “No, ma’am.”

She stretched out her jaw muscles as she walked past Miasma and towards the weapon racks. Yeah, she was definitely going with something lighter.

‘Jeez, some of these weapons are huge. I don’t remember seeing the Royal Guard using them. Are they just for threats like dragons or hydras?’

Scarlet picked out a double-edged sword – black grip with silver etchings and a steel blade that glinted in the sun’s rays. It fitted nicely in her hoof and she gave a few practise swings before turning back to her superior.

“I think I’ll go with this.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Alright, go into the ring.”

“… Already?”

Miasma shrugged. “Why not?”

“I-I…” Sighing, Scarlet trotted towards the ring, flushing when she noticed the other guards were watching with intrigue and excitement.

When she reached one side of the ring, one of the onlookers leaned in and whispered, “If she swings to the left, don’t rush in.”

“What?”

“Combatants – take your positions!”

Startled by the shout, Scarlet gave the stallion a look of bewilderment and turned to face her opponent.

And of course it was Miasma carrying that greataxe in her jaws.

‘How’s this fair?’

“Sparring rules,” The mare who called the match earlier stepped forwards and raised her right hoof. “The first combatant to land three successful strikes against their opponent is the victor. If one of the combatants leaves the boundaries of the ring under any circumstances during the match, it is an automatic disqualification. Aside from using it to wield your weapon, magic is not allowed, as are blows to the face. Are both combatants ready?”

“Mm.” Miasma gave a shrug, her expression one of apathy.

Scarlet gave an unsure, “Uh…?”

The mare stomped her hoof.

“Begin!”

The match started with Miasma advancing slowly, almost leisurely, and Scarlet responded by nervously holding up her weapon, muscles tensed.

She supposed it made sense for Miasma to fight her; she probably wanted to get an idea of how Scarlet handled herself. Either that or Miasma just wanted an ego boost by curbstomping a recruit in front of everypony.

Once Miasma was only two yards away, she took her next steps at a faster pace, and jerked her head, bringing the axe down. Scarlet only barely dodged back, inhaling in surprise as the axe head was embedded in the dirt. The sheer force of the blow travelled through the ground and was felt in her hooves.

‘Holy shit, she really isn’t messing around!’

Miasma wrenched the axe from the furrow it made. Seeing that Scarlet was still reluctant to go on the offensive, she took the time to tilt her head, dig the greataxe’s knob into the dirt, let go, and bite down on the other side of the rubber grip. The head of the axe was switched to her right.

She attacked again, this time bending her knees and sweeping the greataxe low. Scarlet yelped and hopped straight up to let it sweep underneath her legs. She landed and stumbled, a prime opportunity for Miasma to attack. Fortunately for Scarlet, the lieutenant seemed to have been thrown off-balance by the sweep and took a few precious moments to reorient herself.

Scarlet was no tactician, but even she knew a good opening when she saw one.

‘If I can just get her to do that move again…’

Miasma went on the offensive once more.

Distantly, Scarlet heard and saw the onlookers cheering. The majority of them were for their lieutenant, but several were shouting encouragement at Scarlet. Despite them being complete strangers to her, she was inspired, enough to break out of her defensive strategy and lunge in with a slash.

The blade of her sword struck Miasma’s back armor with a clang of metal against metal.

“First point to the recruit!”

“My name’s Scarlet.”

“First point to Scarlet!”

Miasma rolled her shoulders and came at Scarlet again.

Scarlet kept out of range of her swings, waiting… waiting…

Clang

“Second point to Scarlet!”

A small grin appeared on Scarlet’s face.

She could do this! The greataxe was intimidating, but it was slow, and despite Miasma’s size and strength, even she was thrown off-balance by the swings. Victory was close and the crowd’s cheering escalated.

‘I can do this. I can definitely do this!’

Miasma shifted her weight and swept the greataxe to the side, much like she did earlier; it was chest-high, so Scarlet had to jump backwards instead of straight up. When Miasma staggered as the head of the axe pulled her along with its momentum, Scarlet rushed forwards, sword rearing back as she went for the third and final point that would-

“If she swings to the left, don’t rush in.”

‘What? But she’s staggered; she doesn’t-’

Unlike earlier, Miasma did not take a few precious moments to reorient herself.

She anchored her hooves into the dirt and swung her head to the right in an upwards curve. The head of the axe grinded along the dirt to make a furrow before the butt was rising towards Scarlet.

Scarlet’s eyes widened and she tried to stop, hooves skidding as she hissed, “Fu-”

CLANG

The butt of the axe head struck Scarlet’s breastplate, but Miasma’s strength was such that the added weight was irrelevant; the lieutenant’s uppercut sent Scarlet into the air.

The world rotated twice before she hit the ground, bounced, and skid along the dirt, pain blooming in her chest and breaths coming strained. Her entire body ached terribly and she reflexively uttered the one word that could sum up her suffering.

“Ouch…”

“First point to Lieutenant Miasma!”

The cheering of the crowd was absent and the only encouragement Scarlet received were hisses and groans of sympathy.

‘Feels like somepony drove a train through my ribs…’

Scarlet exhaled, disturbing the dusty ground, and rolled over to stand up, grabbing her discarded sword and thanking Faust she didn’t land on it. When she looked over to her opponent, Miasma was waiting patiently.

So Miasma was intentionally holding back – good to know.

Scarlet took several deep breaths before managing to stand back up again. The blow had hurt a lot, but she didn’t feel debilitated and everything in her body seemed in proper order. Her breastplate took the majority of the blow and now sported a significant dent.

If she hadn’t been wearing the armor…

Before she could even announce that she was ready, Miasma lunged forwards, and twirled to slam the top of the greataxe’s handle into Scarlet’s chest, knocking her back several feet.

“Second point to Lieutenant Miasma!”

Miasma swung the greataxe to the side and forced Scarlet to back up. The attacks were coming much faster and if there was just-

“Out of bounds! Match goes to Lieutenant Miasma!”

Scarlet stared blankly as her opponent eased the weapon from her jaws. “What?” She looked down and saw her left front hoof an inch outside the ring of stones. “Oh…”

Miasma parted her jaws and rested her weapon against her shoulder. “You’re not half-bad,” She said with a nod. “Take a breather and then we’ll put you against somepony else.”

Scarlet mentally groaned, but hauled her sorry flank off the field of battle. “Y-yes, ma’am.”

The crowd of guards parted to let her through to a row of benches up against the courtyard’s walls. Only one other pony was sitting there and he was writing something down on a clipboard with an expression of deep concentration.

Scarlet eased herself down with a groan and took her helmet off, closing her eyes and shuddering as pleasantly cool air brushed her sweaty forehead.

“Hey, catch.”

Scarlet opened her eyes in time to spot something flying towards her and reflexively raised her hooves. The object hit, bounced off, and she made a wild grab to catch it.

It was a plastic bottle of water, chilled.

Glancing up, she spotted the stallion who had given her that bit of – unfortunately unheeded – advice at the start of the fight. He looked to be around her age and his coat was a light shade of pink. His build and features were rather… feminine and if it wasn’t for the bass in his voice, Scarlet would have mistaken him for a mare.

“Oh, uh… thank you…” Scarlet eagerly twisted off the bottle’s cap and took a long drink. At that moment, it was as if she was drinking ambrosia of the heavens. “Hah… hah… Oh, that hit the spot.”

“She’s a sink-or-swim kind of mentor,” The stallion said as he moved to sit beside her. “Probably got it from Nightmare Moon. Hey, be thankful the Empress didn’t come down here herself, eh?”

“Nightmare Moon comes down here?”

“Once,” He replied with a shrug. “It was only maybe… a day or two after she actively declared the formation of the Eclipse. She came down here and tagged in for a match with Lieutenant Fade and Miasma at the same time. Completely wiped ‘em out,” He gave a fond smile at the memory before extending his hoof. “Hey, name’s Private Tremor.”

Scarlet hesitated, wondering if she should trust a stranger, but eventually took the hoofshake when she remembered how friendly Fitter had been. Perhaps Tremor was the same? After all, he already helped her out – tried to, that’s what counted – and gave her the bottle.

“Encite… I mean, Ensign Scarlet… sir.” She answered and shook his hoof.

“Lieutenant’s right, you know,” He nodded towards the ring, where Miasma was watching another match between two stallions, occasionally giving a bit of advice. “You handled that sword well for your first time. It was your first time, right?”

“Yeah,” She nodded. “Didn’t really help much when she went all out though.”

“Preaching to the choir,” He chuckled. “Anypony that isn’t Nightmare Moon or a member of the Praetorian Guard pretty much has no chance against her.”

“Praetorian Guard?”

“That’s the group of ponies who helped Nightmare Moon during her assault. Captain Ebony, Lieutenant Miasma, Lieutenant Fade, Supply Officer Veil, and Haze. Ebony and Haze are the Right and Left Hooves of Nightmare Moon; Ebony’s in charge of defences and Haze is in charge of all the political stuff.”

“Oh…” Scarlet nodded again in acknowledgement and took another drink. “Wow, it’s… a lot more organized than I expected. It hasn’t been that long…”

“They work hard and fast,” Tremor replied. “Don’t know how they keep it up; it’s like they never sleep.”

“Maybe they don’t…”

Tremor’s easy-going smile waned a little and he glanced towards Miasma. “That’s… kinda creepy if it’s true.”

Scarlet and Tremor watched the match go on until it ended and two new combatants enter the ring. When the referee relayed the rules of the match, Scarlet turned back to Tremor.

“Sir?”

He didn’t take his eyes off the match, but replied, “Hm?”

“Why did you join the Eclipse?”

“To clear my criminal record.”

“… Oh…”

He answered that quickly and easily; it was as if they were discussing the weather. She supposed she shouldn’t have expected him to be a shining pillar of equine morality and she wasn’t exactly sure why she hoped for that so much.

Maybe she wanted to meet another good pony so they could tell her she was doing the right thing by joining the Eclipse.

Scarlet shook her head free of those dark thoughts just as Tremor looked over, smiling. “Yeah, not really a guy to look up to, eh?”

“Sorry, I…”

“It’s fine,” He gave a shrug. “I’m trying to be a better stallion. This probably isn’t the best position to start, but we are protecting Canterlot, so… it’s something, right?”

“Yeah,” Scarlet couldn’t argue with that reasoning; he was certainly doing more than most of Canterlot’s populace choosing to simply wait things out until they got better. “I joined for a similar reason. Not for the crime stuff, but to protect and… yeah.”

Tremor chuckled again. “Don’t stress about it too much. We all come from different background, but in the Eclipse, we work towards the same goal.”

“Keep moving.”

Twilight yelped as the unexpected shove sent her sprawled across the marble floor. The chains on her legs jingled noisily and she landed on the cuffs wrong, sending spikes of pain through her weakened body.

“You don’t have to be so rough with her.”

“I’m not! I just pushed her a little; it’s not my fault she can’t even take that.”

‘I probably could have if you delivered some decent food…’

Twilight may not have been the picture of health – too many study sessions with too much sugar-packed sweets – but she certainly could have handled the push the guard gave her if her imprisonment didn’t tax her body so.

For the past seven days, she had been eating nothing but tasteless oats, stewed in an enclosed space with a severe lack of sunlight and fresh air, and forced to wear this… this Faust-damn obsidian ring.

Twilight was so thankful for Applejack’s support when the adverse effects of wearing such a device for so long began afflicting her.
Still afflicting her…

“I just…” Twilight furrowed her brow as she pushed herself back onto her hooves. “Just give me a moment…”

None of the guards escorting her made any movement to help, not even the one who had complained about her rough treatment.

He probably wasn’t even concerned about her so much as he didn’t want to get in trouble for roughing up the prisoner.

Not that Nightmare Moon would particularly care.

The instant she was on her feet, the rough guard gave her a lighter shove. “Hurry up!”

Twilight’s nostrils flared and she bit her bottom lip to stop herself from turning around and punching the stallion in the face. She was already pissed because of her headache.

She was led through the corridors of the castle, towards the banquet hall. Twilight didn’t know what Nightmare Moon wanted with her, but she didn’t expect it to be pleasant. Fear weighed on her heart heavily, but she tried to keep anger at the front of her mind. She’d need it to face that horrible mare.

Twilight stumbled twice on the way as her tired body protested the lengthy walk, but they finally arrived at the banquet hall’s large double doors. Twilight felt sweat run down her forehead and neck, as much from exertion as anxiety.

‘Breathe in, breathe out… in and out…’

The guard who seemed fond of shoving her turned his ‘skills’ to the doors. They gave a creak as they opened and the interior of the hall was revealed.

Not much had been changed, for which Twilight was thankful. The large rectangular table still occupied the majority of the room’s space and the stained glass windows hadn’t been sullied. The gold and blue tapestries had been taken down from the ceiling and replaced with black ones with silver stitching, though.

“Hello, Twilight…”

Twilight’s heart seized up at the familiar voice, but she hid it behind a grimace and narrowed eyes.

Nightmare Moon was sitting at the head of the table – that was Celestia’s seat, damn it! – and drinking from a goblet. She couldn’t see what beverage it was. The evil alicorn eyed Twilight with a mocking smirk, no doubt taking pleasure in her haggard appearance.

Twilight said nothing in reply to the greeting.

Nightmare Moon waved her hoof at the guards lazily. “Leave us.”

The two stallions bowed and left quickly, shutting the doors behind them. The quiet thud as they closed shut set Twilight’s mane on end – she was all alone, completely powerless.

She yearned for the company of her friends and recalled their faces so that it might lend her courage.

‘Be strong, be strong…’

Nightmare Moon took another drink from her goblet and gestured to the table. “Sit.”

There was food on the table – actual food with nutrients and calories her body so desperately needed and flavour her taste buds so desperately craved.

Twilight’s mouth immediately watered, but she swallowed hard and replied, “N-no, I’m fine here.”

Nightmare Moon’s smirk curled downwards and a chilling growl rumbled from in her throat. “Sit down at the table or I’ll break your legs… one at a time.”

“…”

Twilight trotted over and took the seat at the other end of the table.

“No need to make things difficult…” Nightmare Moon’s smirk came back. Her horn lit up and she magically pushed the dishes of food down the length of the table. “Eat – I’m sure it’s an improvement from what you and your friends have been receiving lately.”

Twilight tore her gaze away from the food as it came to a halt before her, the tantalizing scents threatening to break her resolve. “What, is this to sway me over to your side? Inviting me to dine with you?”

“I had a bushel of apples two days ago,” Nightmare Moon replied with a dismissive wave of her hoof. “I’m not hungry. And don’t insult me by suggesting such a notion; I’m fully aware of the strength of the bond you share with those closest to you. Admittedly admirable, really.”

She wasn’t convinced. “Then you poisoned them? Laced them with some… magic spell?”

“I can’t prove that I haven’t done that,” Nightmare Moon shrugged and took another drink. “And eating it myself won’t count since I am leagues more robust than you. I guess you’ll have to take a chance… or not. Whether you eat or don’t is irrelevant – I brought you here for a reason and it is not to discuss the edibility of the food.”

“What did you bring me here for?”

Nightmare Moon paused to magically pick up a nearby silver pitcher and pour its contents into her goblet. It looked to be wine.

“I presume you’ve heard about the Entropic Fracture opening above Canterlot?”

Twilight nodded cautiously. “Yes, I have. I overheard the guards talking about it when they came to deliver our meal.”

Nightmare Moon sighed as she put the pitcher down and swirled her wine around with telekinesis. “Loose lips…” She shrugged and looked evenly at Twilight, reclining further in her seat. “As you might imagine, having such a phenomena occur at the heart of Equestria’s capitol is a great cause for concern, especially since one of the creatures that came through was more than capable of handling an entire platoon of my guard force. Finding a way to close these rifts is my top priority as it threatens my rule.”

Twilight rolled her eyes in disgust. Of course, Nightmare Moon was only concerned about herself and her own needs.

“As much as it pains me to say it…” Nightmare Moon continued. “You are one of the most gifted minds in all of Equestria. Your research notes on the Entropic Fractures and the creatures that spill through them are solid.”

Twilight frowned. “Wait… how do you know about my research notes? I left them at…” Her eyes widened in horror. “You… went into my home?”

“Your assistant and zebra friend were adamant to keep me from finding them, but their efforts were ultimately futile,” Nightmare Moon levitated a stack of papers and folders from somewhere beneath the table and made a show of casually looking through them. “Now, this note in particular caught my attention because-”

BANG

“You better not have hurt them!”

Twilight bared her teeth as she slammed her hooves down on the table. If her wings weren’t chained together, they’d be spread out to make herself seem larger.

“They were hardly worth my time; I took what I came for and left,” Nightmare Moon replied, unfazed by the shout. She telekinetically separated one folder from the rest and sent it skidding across the table with a surge of magic. “Now, if you’ll be so kind as to take a look at these calculations…”

Twilight trembled with rage; she didn’t believe Nightmare Moon, not for a bit. The thought of Spike coming to harm left a bad taste in her mouth and she wanted nothing more than to leap across the table and beat the living daylights out of her foe.

But she didn’t because that would end very poorly for her and Nightmare Moon might take her anger out on her friends, the CMC, or any of her loved ones.

So she swallowed back her ire and picked up the folder. She took out the first page and upon discovering the columns of numbers and calculations, her mind switched to study-mode.

“…”

The next few minutes were filled with silence, only broken by the shuffling of papers and Nightmare Moon refilling her goblet.

“… This is…” Twilight looked up, astonished. “This is incredible. I had a theory about something like this, but the numbers didn’t add up, there… there was no way to channel all that magic… How did you come up with this?”

“Somepony arrived through the Orxoni a mere two days ago,” Nightmare Moon replied. “Sunset Shimmer – a former student of Celestia; much like yourself.”

“Another…?” Twilight’s mouth fell in shock. “I… She never mentioned another…”

Nightmare Moon ignored her stammering.

“She was… hesitant to serve me at first, but I’m quite ‘persuasive’. I had her tell me everything she knew about the Orxoni and the world she arrived in before having her assist me in studying the vessel itself. Results were… cryptic, to say the least. However, once I had your research notes, and once I implemented them into our own findings… everything fell into place so smoothly.”

Reeling with the information overload – and loving every second of it – Twilight muttered to herself as she went through the rest of the papers.

‘That checks out… that checks out… this is right… this…’

“You’ve hit a wall here,” Twilight said absent-mindedly as she held the final page of the research notes. “You don’t know what to do with the leftover energy once the Orxoni finishes its final phase.”

“The Orxoni will be destroyed after completing its task, but it won’t go out quietly,” Nightmare Moon grimaced as frustration crept into her body language. “The magic that fuels the process will convert to heat and spread over a two-mile radius. There needs to be ponies monitoring the device at all times once it’s been activated, so they’ll be killed. I’m not even going to get into the chaos that will occur if it happened in the middle of a populated city.”

She made a grand sweeping gesture with her free hoof.

“Canterlot, for example…”

“…”

“What I’m asking you, Twilight Sparkle, is to assist Sunset and I in working out the kinks, so that we may put an end to these Entropic Fractures once and for all.”

Twilight laughed humourlessly and dropped the folders on the table. “You can’t be serious. You hurt my friends, took over Canterlot, trespassed in my home, and you just expect me to help you secure your position?”

“I expected your altruistic nature to kick in,” Nightmare Moon retorted. “These Entropic Fractures threaten everypony, not just me,” Her lips spread into a mocking rictus that showed too many teeth. “How sad that I’m doing more good than you.”

Twilight gritted her teeth in frustration and anger. Nightmare Moon knew her too well, knew that she would do anything to keep her friends and family safe, and the evil alicorn was exploiting that.

Of course Twilight wanted to stop the Entropic Fractures, but even if they solved that problem, Nightmare Moon would still be in charge, and they’d still be imprisoned.

Nightmare Moon was quiet for a bit before she gave a loud sigh and said, “Here – I’ll make it easy for you: help or I’ll hurt your friends and family.”

“… Well…” Twilight’s eyes narrowed dangerously and the ring on her horn heated up as her magic threatened to overpower it. “When you put it like that, I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?”

“No, you don’t,” Nightmare Moon drained her goblet and placed it down on the table. She pushed her chair out and rose to her full stature. “Your new tasks begin immediately. You will accompany me to where Sunset and I have been researching.”

“Wait…” Twilight paused and grimaced. “I… My friends need better cells.”

“Better cells?” Nightmare Moon echoed with amusement. “You seem to think that their comfort concerns me.”

Hanging her head, Twilight felt something bitter manifest in her mouth as she realized she would have to try begging. She doubted it will work, but for her friends’ sakes…

“Rarity isn’t… She isn’t taking the effects of the obsidian ring well. I don’t know how much longer Rainbow Dash can stay in such a small cell; she’s starting to develop a twitch,” She wetted her dry, cracked lips. “And the food is only barely enough to keep us going. Please, they need-”

“You’re surviving,” The reply was curt and impatient. Nightmare Moon’s mane churned like boiling water. “Be thankful for that.”

Desperation creeping into her tone, Twilight pressed on. “At… at least let the CMC go; they haven’t done anything! You have us, so let them go!”

Nightmare Moon stared at her, expression unreadable. “… Let them go? You wish for me to let them go? Just like that? What could you offer in return? Your cooperation is already guaranteed.”

“…”

“However…” The larger alicorn suddenly smiled and started trotting over. The approach made Twilight’s blood freeze. “There is something that you could offer…”

“Wh…” Twilight swallowed hard, ears flattening against her head. She felt like a cornered mouse. “What?”

“Here’s what I’ll do…” Nightmare Moon reached her and leisurely circled Twilight’s chair. When she came around the other side, she stretched out a huge wing and grabbed a healthy red apple from the ignored banquet. “I’ll allow the ‘CMC’ to go back to Ponyville. I’ll even arrange better quarters for your friends. In return, there will come a time where I will call upon you for a boon.”

Twilight’s heart thumped wildly against her chest as she watched Nightmare Moon’s every movement.

“A… a boon?”

“And whatever I ask, you cannot refuse me,” Nightmare Moon rolled the fruit between her primary feathers; the tantalizing scent wafted over Twilight’s nose. “No matter how you feel or how much you don’t want to, you will do it.”

“I…” Twilight shook her head as a spike of dread went through her. “I won’t kill anypony for you. I won’t…”

“It will not involve harming anypony,” Grinning evilly, Nightmare Moon offered the apple. “Other than that, I won’t say anything else. Think of it as… hm… a surprise.”

“…” Twilight stared at her reflection in the apple’s shiny skin. She looked miserable; miserable and tired. “Why can’t you just force me to do it otherwise?”

“That. Is all. I will say.”

There was a very clear tone of finality.

Twilight thought deeply about her choices.

Nightmare Moon was going to force her to work on the Orxoni no matter what, so nothing to do there. As for this ’boon’…

She said there wouldn’t be any killing, but what worth was her word? She could easily go back on it; Tartarus, she might just be lying about letting the CMC go and giving her friends better living space.

But her mind went to Rarity…

Her fashion-minded friend tried to play it off as ‘feeling under the weather’, but Rarity was experiencing severe symptoms as a result of the obsidian ring. Twilight had read enough to know that it could get so bad that… that…

‘She needs better food, rest, medicine, and somepony to look at her. She can get that if we upgrade, but what if…? Oh, what would Celestia say?’

She never wanted to hear her mentor’s voice more than now.

“Well…” Nightmare Moon arched one eyebrow. “What’s your decision?”

‘I have to put my friends first. I have to save them… even if I have to bear the burden.’

Twilight inhaled deeply, shakily, and closed her eyes. “How do I know you’ll follow through on your end?”

Nightmare Moon’s grin widened, enough for her gums to show and the skin at the sides of her mouth to split apart.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye…”

“… D-damn you…”

Twilight grabbed the apple and took a bite.

Author's Notes:

Note 1: The musculature of an earth pony is several times denser than a unicorn and/or pegasi and their skeletal structure reflects this; their bones are much stronger, so that the force created from the usage of their muscles does not cause breakage and misalignment. These traits allow them to effectively wield large weapons which appear almost comical in their size to other races. Regardless of their size, history is wrought with tales of earth ponies felling creatures many times their size because of these slow yet heavy-hitting weapons.

Also, I have a huge nerd-crush on characters wielding implausibly large weapons. Blame Dark Souls for that.

Note 2: The pecking order of the Eclipse is largely similar to the former Royal Guard's - Ensign, Private, Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Captain. The rank of Supply Officer is somewhere between Private and Sergeant.

Regardless of rank, those in the Praetorian Guard - Ebony, Haze, Miasma, Fade, and Veil - have complete authority over all in the Eclipse.