Power buzzed through him, energizing his body like a massive electric shock. Eclipse fell to the floor of the cave, the unexpected jolt hitting him like a punch to the gut.

As if sensing his pain, the energy seemed to retreat, giving Eclipse time to clear his swirling vision. He took a deep breath, slowly using his chaos to reach out again. This time, the massive energy source waited patiently for Eclipse to find it.

As his probing continued, Eclipse felt himself pulled into the energy he was using to reach out, feeling everything they touched, if that was the proper terminology. As his senses tried to make sense of this new information, his vision went black and white. For a time, he stayed like that, barely able to see. His vision seemed to get darker, but then his own energy came into view.

Eclipse saw his disharmony magic swirling around him. He moved some of the energy, watching as it slid through the space that he could see.

That’s all it was by now. A black void, inside of which he sat. Eclipse reached out again, this time finding the energy he had been searching for.

While his own magic was a dark, yet somehow bright red, this energy was orange.

It was also massive.

If Eclipse’s power had been a pond, this glowing orb was an ocean. The power was also sentient, it seemed, as it interacted with Eclipse’s own power in a way no random magical font would have naturally done.

Tendrils of orange slid across and occasionally even blended with red, the two colors swirling around Eclipse. He sighed as the orange energy reached down, enveloping him in a bubble. Relaxing further, somehow sure that he was in no danger, he felt as if he was being moved, perhaps even dragged to a destination.

An electric tingle traveled down his spine as the magic around him pulsed slightly, bringing Eclipse further into it.

A small orange orb broke out of the main wellspring of magic. It floated to Eclipse, coming to a stop a short distance away. It was perhaps a quarter of what Eclipse’s magic would be if he was at full strength. The main font of magic retreated, as if waiting for the next movement to be made.

Eclipse tentatively reached out, a tendril of red snaking through the black void, towards the small bubble of magic. As the tendril brushed against the orb, Eclipse felt a small jolt run through his system. He hastily pulled back, feeling that he had had more than enough when it came to electricity.

The glowing orb did not move. It did not react. The large bubble that had spawned it reached out and tapped Eclipse, pointing at the comparably tiny power with a tendril of its own. The small bubble was completely separate from the larger font. It was independent and it did not share in the ability to think for itself that the larger power had.

The energy of the Elder’s Cradle continued to prompt Eclipse until he finally reached out again. As the red tendril stretched towards the orb, the larger energy retreated again.

This time Eclipse expected the jolt, biting his tongue as the feeling washed over him. As Eclipse watched, the energy orb seemed to diminish, steadily decreasing in size until it disappeared.

He took a deep, gasping breath. Eclipse couldn’t see himself. Just the energy of his own magic, the orange orb and the void around them.

Realizing that the smaller orb could not have simply burnt out, Eclipse tapped into his own energy reserves in the hopes to draw out more of his power in an extended search. He found his red disharmony magic, but it now had a smaller orange energy source orbiting it, pulsing with its own power.

Stifling a gasp, Eclipse pushed and pulled with the energy, exercising to try and see if he could control it. It quickly molded itself into his own pattern, saving him from trying to adapt to it.

Eclipse sent out an orange tendril of magic, waving it about like he would with the red. It certainly had a different feel to it and even from this minor exercise, Eclipse knew that it had a much different set of effects in the active world than his chaos did.

He turned to confront the larger magic power, preparing himself to question it. As he turned, the orange magic reached out towards him, unexpectedly tapping him in the center of the forehead. Eclipse pulled back, away from the orb, but he slipped and fell. When he hit the ground, his vision snapped back to normal and Eclipse found himself just a few dozen feet away from the chariot-balloon that Dust Demon had scrapped together.

The sun shone bright overhead in a clear sky. Eclipse struggled to his hooves, stars busting in his vision. He heard someone call his name, just before Braeburn jumped into his vision, grinning.

“Where’ve you been?” The excitable earth pony asked. “We were about to leave!”

“Oh, you know.” Eclipse said, rubbing his eyes. “Here and there.”

Braeburn sighed. “Well, you’re back and that’s all that matters right now. Dust Demon went scouting earlier this morning and found the tribe. We were just now heading their way.”

Eclipse nodded. “Excellent. And where are the others?”

At that moment, Little Strongheart trotted out of the cave. “Brae--” She began, when she saw Braeburn and Eclipse standing next to each other. Her face darkened and she scowled at Eclipse, who merely waved back.

“Well, I see you missed me.” He laughed, much to her chagrin.

At the sound of his voice, the rest of the group poked their heads out of the cave.

Dust Demon handed Sagebrush a small pile of bits, the latter grinning at his friend. After the exchange, they trotted over to Eclipse, welcoming him back.

“Seriously?” Eclipse chuckled. “How long was I gone?”

“We thought you were dead.” Sagebrush muttered. “Figured a manticore or desert hydra got you.”

Eclipse fell silent after that, not quite sure how to respond.

Cactus Star stepped out from behind her father. “You… look different.” She said, taking a seat in the dirt.

Dust Demon shrugged. “Looks the same to me.”

Eclipse glanced at the filly for a moment before returning his attention to the group. “All right, that’s enough. We need to get to the buffalo before they decide to move camp.” He turned towards Little Strongheart. “I want no mention of Dust Demon’s ‘preferences’ to the rest of your tribe, understand?”

She nodded once before stepping into the chariot-balloon.