Author's Notes:

(Cont. from chapter title) ...this chapter comes fully equipped with a super short rehash of all (most) major events thus far. If anyone would like to start over, that's you putting yourself through hell, not me. If you try to blame me, pretend I responded with a "Fuck this shit" type of reply becuase I HAD BEEN STUCK WITHOUT INTERNET FOR (checks date) SIX GODDAMN MONTHS (plus a few weeks to make up for lost internet time) and will likely not spend time to reply to you. I might though. There's more, but you ain't here to read about me, so here's <slightly more sociopathic me I'm pretending isn't a shameless self-insert>

At the chariot landing area of the royal palace in Canterlot, a pair of golden armored guards noticed a buzzing sound emanating from a nearby stone.

“…Sir, should we investigate?”

The older guard looked at his younger companion. “Damn rookie. All right, fine. Thanks for volunteering.”

The younger guard jumped back a few inches. “Wait, what? Why me? You’re the superior officer!”

“Exactly, Private. Now pick up the rock.”

Nervously, the Private picked up the stone and held it in his hoof. Both he and the older guard leaned in as the stone stopped buzzing.

“Hello?” A voice from the rock asked. “Anyone on the other side of this thing?”

The guards shared a glance before the older one responded. “Yes. This is the royal palace landing area. Who is this and how are we speaking?”

“Eclipse. Magic.”

The older guard nodded while the younger frowned. “Sir, that’s not a very--“

“Shush, Private. Is there any reason you contacted this particular rock?”

“Yes. We are on approach and are requesting permission to land like a dainty butterfly.”

“What?”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Thank you.”

Nearby, a chariot pulled by a single pegasus landed softly, hooves touching the ground with a perfect amount of force so as to not cause any jumps to the chariot’s passengers.

It was as dainty a landing as was ever made.

The Private sighed happily. “Nice. That was nice.”

“That wasn’t him, Private.” The older guard replied, scowl etched onto his face. “No way in tartarus are we getting off that easy.”

A few seconds later, the two guards caught sight of an approaching fireball.

“Private.”

“Yes?”

“Run.”

“Wh--“

“RUN!”

The fireball landed with a loud crash, a brown pegasus that had been in front flying forward and rolling until he came to a stop on his back.

An earth pony came out next, riding a sheet of scrap metal as it skidded along the ground. “Woo!”

The pegasus got to his hooves. “Aw, man. I just got that thing. We’ll be lucky if Celestia makes us another one.”

A griffin in armor and another pegasus landed nearby, the pegasus shaking his head slightly. “The decision to fly under my own power was a very prudent one. Perhaps even the best decision I have ever made.”

The griffin nodded. “Got that right. By the way, nice work, disguising yourself like this. Guessing it’s because of that invasion that happened not too long ago?”

“Indeed. The wounds Chrysalis inflicted may never mend, but if they ever do, I will happily walk the streets of Canterlot in my own skin. Disguising myself is something I have never been a fan of.”

The earth pony shrugged. “Ah, whatever. You’re under the princesses’ roof!” He turned and began striding towards the palace. “Now where’s that god of chaos? I have something to discuss with him. Mostly about how the bloody fuck is he able to transform himself? Seriously, I need to learn how to do that.”

The pair of guards wordlessly stood by, the older one having grown numb to situations like this and the younger too shocked to respond.

“Sir?” The Private finally asked.

“No, you never get a proper explanation.”

“Well, there was that one time…”

“You mean when we saw Princess Luna dragging a guard with a cooking apron on through the halls? A prime exception to the rule, that. Who would have thought that the palace had so many desserts in it when that food fight started? Someone must have been baking more while that was going on.”

“Why?”

“Just to feed the fires.”

Eclipse was pacing just outside the room that had served as his home during his time in Equestria. Every so often he would stop and give the doorway a sorrowful look, just to return his gaze to the ground and continue his circular march.

Feather Duster stood nearby, having been brought to him by Discord after the chaos user and chaos god had talked with each other for a time.

Discord hadn’t gone into great detail, but mentioned something called the internet and the fact that Eclipse was dealing with the confirmation that his world was continuing its march through time. Immediately realizing the implications, and the guilt Eclipse was feeling if this meant that his family was suffering for his presence in Equestria, Feather Duster was quick to offer a comforting wing around him. Eclipse barely noticed, mumbling to himself about his exploits in Equestria up to this point, clearly trying to make peace with himself by rationalizing the situation and identifying the fact that there was no way he was to blame for this, as he had no way back.

It went as well as one could expect.

Still, the fact that he was processing it as all was a very good sign. When Luna entered the hall and began approaching the pair of ponies, Discord having disappeared some time earlier, she took great care not to jar Eclipse too much when she blocked his path, ending his repetitious pacing.

Luna waited for Eclipse to acknowledge her presence, a response that took only a few seconds to be carried out, but which seemed to stretch for an agonizingly long time. Once she knew that he was paying attention Luna cleared her throat. “Forgive me, Discord explained your situation when I pressed him for an answer. I realize this may seem rude, or callous, but I’m afraid that a full debrief is in order.”

“Yes, Princess.” Eclipse began, taking a moment to clear his thoughts. “It took some doing, but I managed to arrive in Vangar without too much--“

“Not of your mission, Eclipse.”

Now thoroughly confused, Eclipse raised his head. “Then, what do I need to be debriefed on?”

“Everything since you came to Equestria.” Luna answered, sternly. “And this time, do not spare the details of how and why you came to possess Honesty magic in Appleloosa, or this new Loyalty magic development in Vangar.”

“Y-you know?” Eclipse asked, genuinely shocked. He hadn’t told anyone. The only ones who knew were Fateweaver and Finnis, and Eclipse didn’t even know how they were connected with it.

“My sister and I sensed the magic as soon as we came within a certain distance. Do not be fooled by the fact that she did not confront you at Vangar. She is well aware.” Luna glared at the increasingly nervous pony before her. “However, we do not appreciate secrets, especially ones that could bring harm to Equestria. We trust you Eclipse, but gaining power such as this is not something that we will not treat with suspicion.” Her glare softened and she let out a sigh. “Please, do not retain any information. The more we know, the less likely it will be that we will have to take drastic action.”

Feather Duster, silent until this point, spoke up. “I-I don’t understand. Honesty magic and Loyalty magic? This doesn’t make any sense.”

Luna turned her gaze to the maid. “Indeed. However, I’m afraid you’ve been dragged into things. Perhaps… perhaps if Celestia allows, you may be told. Until then, Eclipse,” Eclipse snapped to attention at the Princess’ sharp tone. “Hall of the elements. Now.”

A few minutes later, Eclipse was explaining everything he could, though his lack of answers annoyed the Princess greatly. She discreetly performed a lie detector spell, but found no falseness in his words.

He was retelling certain things, most of his missions were unchanged. He went into more detail about a pony named Royal who was apparently enslaved to a being with Loyalty magic, a detail he hadn’t shared before, and her minotaur ally, Grudge, both of whom had been leading the Dawn’s Light takeover in Appleloosa.

The few things he had to say that were completely knew to the princess were just as confusing for her as for him. Fateweaver the buffalo and Finnis the griffin, somehow tied to Honesty and Loyalty, respectively. The shape shifter who had been first met on a train in Appleloosa, to later turn up in Canterlot and strike a meaningless conversation for no discernible purpose, then again to warn of an attack on the Canterlot research facility, which Eclipse later proved instrumental in helping fight.

There were the caves where Eclipse had gained his new powers, one for Appleloosa and one for Vangar, the latter of which was tied to the defeat of Nexus hive. The presence of a friendly changeling hive, as well as an unaffiliated changeling that had been posing as Nexus’ daughter, just to reveal herself and strike at him during the battle for Vangar. Nexus’ real duaghter’s location was unknown, but she was presumably dead or left long before that situation came about.

Lastly there were the details of Nexus’ ties to the Dawn’s Light, which brought the conversation back around to the prisoners taken after the Dawn’s Light’s thwarted attack on the research facility.

After the several hours of explaining it took, it required yet another several hours for Eclipse to complain about how little he actually knew. While him repeatedly banging his head against the wall was amusing to watch, it did little other than bring about a massive headache for the stallion.

“Eclipse.” Luna said. “Are you quite sure about all of this? It has the makings of a conspiracy theory gone mad. Or perhaps, really poor story-telling that’s soon to catch up to its maker and collapse.”

“Luna, look at me.” Came the reply. “I am a god damned alien that got transmogrified into a freaking earth pony, I woke up the next day with chaos powers I still don’t fully understand, and I’m gaining new powers every time I step outside. If I don’t blow up from overload within the next few weeks, it will be a miracle. If I manage to retain my ever fraying pieces of sanity, it will be a godsend. If I ever manage to work this all out, the universe will blow up from the unlikely hood of it all.”

He went back to banging his head against the wall. “And we still have not made progress on the possibility of me ever getting back home! Hell, by this point, I should just stay here! I’ve got friends, including a marefriend in Feather Duster, a place to sleep, even a damned job. Granted, it’s a job that involves more fighting and explosions than normal, but that just makes it so much more fun. How fun? I’m not even paid for this shit!”

Luna took several seconds to work through her immediate confusion. “Yes you are.”

“…Beg your pardon?”