“You should be forewarned, sister.” Luna cautioned. “Eclipse’s dreams are many and sporadic. I have rarely seen such… variety in dreamscapes.”

Celestia nodded. “I understand, but I need to speak with him personally and I don’t have the time to fly all the way to the town of Appleloosa.” She took a deep breath. “Are you sure this spell will work?”

“Yes, sister.” Luna answered. “It took only minor modification to make it to where I could transfer another, rather than myself.”

“Then let’s commence.”

Luna’s horn glowed a light blue, the aura around it slowly increasing in size as she continued to pour energy into the spell. After a moment, her horn flashed, and Celestia no longer stood before her.

Celestia looked around, scanning the surrounding forest. She turned her ears and eyes this way and that, trying to find a heading. She heard the distinct sound of shouts and metal on metal nearby.

“A battle?” Celestia wondered aloud. “Does he not get enough excitement during his waking hours?”

She trotted for a short distance, towards the fighting. Circling a particularly large tree she saw a sight most… confusing for her.

A diamond dog, but not a diamond dog. Drawing on her own knowledge of humans, she noted how he was much more similar to them he was than the typical diamond dog. He was holding a crossbow, as well as wearing light metal armor.

The dog-thing ducked behind a felled log as several arrows flew over his head.

“Damn it, Lycan!” He called out. “What are you doing over there?”

“Trying to save your ass and mine!” A voice shouted back, when a large explosion rocked another area outside of Celestia’s field of vision.

A black and scaly form jumped over the fallen log, landing in a kneeling position nest to the dog. Two black leathery wings and a slender tail were attached to the figure’s back. He wore armor similar to the dog’s, albeit adjusted for the extra appendages. A pair of amber eyes looked over to their companion. “Keith, how many are left?”

The dog, Keith, glanced over the log. “Lots of smoke from that grenade of yours, but three still standing.” He brought up his crossbow and pulled the trigger, loosing the bolt. “Two.”

“Show off.” Lycan muttered drawing a shortsword. “Any sign of our third member?”

Keith barked out a laugh. “If I knew where she was, she wouldn’t be doing her job!”

Lycan cocked his head to the side, as if he were listening for something. Without warning, a pair of short, sharp cries echoed from where Lycan had just caused his explosion.

“Sounds like things are finished.” Lycan turned to his companion. “You and her should meet back up at camp. I’ll be right behind you.”

“But--”

"Keith." Lycan snapped. "Trust me."

The dog grumbled a response, but obeyed.

Lycan sat back against the log, sighing heavily. He waited for almost a full minute, before he brought himself to his feet and began to approach the tree Celestia was taking cover behind.

The sun goddess took a step back, the more than passing resemblance to a dragon that Lycan possessed putting her in more than a wary state of mind.

She heard a voice from behind her. “I’m a lot more stealthy in these particular dreams, miss.”

Celestia spun around, coming face to face with Lycan.

Lycan grinned, his eyes flashing steel gray before returning to their bright amber coloring. “You’re also lot less subtle when entering a dream than your sister. Completely knocked me into lucid dream mode.”

Celestia frowned at his blatant lack of formality. “Lose your tact, have you?”

Lycan blinked several times before visibly slumping. “Sorry, princess Celestia. ‘Lycan’ is an adventurer and a works-for-the-highest-bidder mercenary by trade. He’s not cut from the same cloth as Eclipse.”

“And yet they’re all part of one quilt.” Celestia said, arching an eyebrow.

Lycan opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out. Instead, he slowly lost his color, becoming a pitch black silhouette. The silhouette changed shape, then began to regain its color. Now, Eclipse stood in front of Celestia, the earth pony pawing at the ground with a hoof.

Celestia gave him a smile. “Don’t worry. We might need Lycan later. However, I’m growing anxious. The Appleloosan mission is lasting far longer than anticipated.”

Eclipse ground his teeth together. “This will take a while to explain, Princess. I trust you came with some time on your hooves.”

Eclipse briefly explained everything that had happened up to this meeting with Celestia, who was listening patiently. When he was finished, she shook her head. “How can such an organization exist?”

Eclipse stiffened, his face expressing mixed emotions.

Celestia turned to him. “I asked a question.”

“Princess?” Eclipse asked, off-guard.

“How can this ‘gang’ be such a force in Equestria?” Celestia repeated. “Is it possible that there are more?”

Eclipse half sighed and half groaned in response. “I… don’t know. What little I have seen since coming to Equestria has surprised me. Appleloosa is about to be a war zone. The final battle in this campaign is close. If we win, I’ll be able to look into this further.”

“And what trail shall you follow?"

“Excuse me?" Eclipse asked, frowning. "I thought I'd--"

"You do not know where they are centralized, nor who leads them." Celestia reasoned. "After Appleloosa is secure, I'll send a contingent of guards to keep it that way, but you will need to wait until your next assignment. With any luck, it will give you more idea of who these raiders are."

Eclipse bowed. "Of course, princess."

Celestia smiled. "Now, tell me about the group of ponies you've gathered. Braeburn I'm already somewhat familiar with, but the others I'd like to hear about."

"Why do you want to know that?"

Celestia gave him another smile. "How long can one stand alone?"

Eclipse’s eyes shot open, his sleeping body shooting awake and onto its hooves in less than a second. He glanced around the area of ground he had fallen asleep on, noting a pair of Silverstar’s rebels that were giving him odd glances for his jump to wakefulness.

Looking towards the sky, he found that the moon and stars were still out. The moon was nearing the horizon, slowly preparing to lower itself below the line of sky meeting land.

Eclipse stepped onto a nearby mass of black smoke. When he was situated, the smoke rose as a cloud, bringing him with it. It stopped rising several hundred feet above the ground giving Eclipse a clear view of both east and west.

As the moon touched the horizon, Eclipse looked to the opposite direction, waiting for the sunrise. Once the tip of the sun peeked over the edge of the land, Eclipse turned his gaze back to the moon, catching the last inch or so of the orb sink out of sight.

Eclipse smiled, his eyes looking to the ground as the rest of the train yard brought itself to life. Dust Demon was flying up to him, mere meters away by now.

The pegasus paused, hovering next him in the air. “There a reason you’re up here?”

“The sun and moon.” Eclipse muttered. “If you’re at the right spot--like up here--you can see them both in the sky, for a few moments. At opposite sides and only a sliver of each, yes, but both in the sky.”

Dust Demon sucked in a breath, wings beating a pattern in the air. “Why's that important?”

“It’s not.” Eclipse sighed. “Not to you, anyway. Why did you come up here?”

“Some of the buffalo want to know what the plan is.”

“Storm Appleloosa, kick the gang out on their asses, lynch Jango.” Eclipse flicked his ear, swatting away a fly that had come too close. “Any questions?”

“Sounds good to me!” Dust Demon saluted, returning to ground level.

Author's Notes:

For the *five* of you who were reading this, the chapter has been revised and a portion of it has been altered for safety reasons.

To the rest of you, you didn't have to read the unaltered version. Lucky you.