Eclipse took a deep breath as he stepped out of one of Canterlot’s hospitals, a smile forming as his face. One of the doctors on duty had been especially adept at healing magic, allowing him to quickly repair Eclipse’s leg.

Surprisingly, Luna had saw fit to meet him outside of the hospital, alongside three of her lunar guards. Eclipse bowed as she approached him, several ponies on either side giving her a wide berth as they lowered their heads respectively and went about their business.

“And just how did it go?” Luna questioned, beckoning Eclipse to rise.

“Sombra didn’t pull any punches.” Eclipse answered, frowning. “It was different than training. More blood, for one.”

“You confronted King Sombra?” Luna seemed surprised. “He was at the empire, then?”

“And had it completely encased in black crystals.” Eclipse added. “It wasn’t an empire when we arrived, just a depressing--if miniscule--wasteland.”

“What of its citizens?”

“Asleep. Wherever they had lain when the Empire was banished, they still lay. When we forced Sombra out they awoke, but they were still lifeless to a point.”

“Well, I’m glad that it’s all over with now.” Luna said, relief flooding her system. “That aurora that had appeared signaled Sombra’s defeat.” She waved a hoof at the sky, where said aurora was still glowing brightly in the afternoon.

Eclipse sneezed, shaking his head to clear out his sinuses. “Ugh… Forgive me, princess, but I’m going to go for a walk. That northern temperature didn’t agree with me.”

“Very well, perhaps another time.” Eclipse turned to see Luna take off, her wings beating against the air as she picked up speed on her trip back to the castle.

Eclipse smiled as he began to walk. He had never noticed it before, but if he let the magic flow--not enough to make his eyes start glowing or to actually use it, mind you--he could see and hear almost everything around him. The soft clip-clop as hooves hit the cobblestones, the laughter and energy of the ponies around him, even that small ball that was flying right at his--

Eclipse stepped to the side, the ball flying past him until it hit a building nearby.

“Sorry bout that, mister!” A young pegasus foal said, sprinting past as he chased after the object. He was quickly followed by two earth ponies, one filly and one foal. Lastly a unicorn filly trotted by, rounding out a group of four young ponies.

Eclipse blinked, starting to walk away again. He paused when he heard someone crying out for help from an alleyway. Quickly taking a peek around the corner, he spotted two shadows grappling at each other, each vying for possession of a small purse like object. One of the shadows belonged to a large unicorn stallion, the other to a smaller pegasus mare.

‘A mugging?’ Eclipse whistled. “Hey, kids! Mind if I see that ball for a sec?”

The four ponies exchanged glances until one of them trotted over, carrying the small red ball in her mouth. Eclipse took the ball and tested its weight when the five of them heard someone come running out of the alley.

A green and blue unicorn bolted out of the alley, the purse hovering nearby in a greenish glow. Eclipse chucked the ball as hard as he could without activating his chaos magic, the ball catching between the pony’s hoof and the street. The unicorn tripped and fell to the ground, the ball and purse rolling and sliding, respectively, to the side of the street.

Eclipse trotted over, extending his hoof to the unicorn. “You look like you could use some help.” He said, smiling slightly.

The unicorn attempted to swat his hoof away, but Eclipse grabbed the stallion’s hoof and bent it just slightly farther than it should normally go. “Well,” Eclipse drawled slightly. “That was a little rude, dontcha think?”

The unicorn growled in pain. “And just what are you? Some kind of hero?”

“Oh, no, not at all.” Eclipse said, still smiling. “Would a hero do… this?” He bent the stallion’s hoof further, eliciting a yelp of pain from the unicorn. “Before we continue, one question. Did you steal that purse?”

The unicorn charged a spell to attack, but Eclipse used his free hoof to knock the pony’s head around as he fired, resulting in the blast going into the sky and attracting even more attention than the two already had, including a pair of the city guard.

“Answer the question.” Eclipse demanded.

“Yes.” The unicorn growled.

“What was that?” Eclipse asked innocently, pivoting his ear so it faced the unicorn. “Neither I nor the crowd could make that out.”

“Yes.” The unicorn said again, slightly louder but still well below the volume it needed to be for the crowd to hear.

Eclipse bent the unicorn’s hoof back even farther, pushing it near the point of snapping the bone. “Still can’t hear you…” Eclipse sang slightly.

“Yes, I stole the bucking purse!” The unicorn shouted, eliciting several gasps from the crowd, none of whom had seen the crime.

Eclipse glanced at the group of young ponies whose ball he had borrowed. They sat, enraptured by the scene before them. He turned back to the stallion. “Watch your language, there are children present.”

The unicorn glanced at the kids as well, before his attention was returned to Eclipse.

“Now,” Eclipse said slowly, a grin on his face. “I’m going to turn you into the nice guard over there, who’ll take you in for thievery. The best part is that we can skip that embarrassing trial, since you’ve already confessed! Yay!” With this, he punched the unicorn in the snout, a sharp crack echoing through the silent street as hoof met face.

Eclipse put his face up to the unicorn’s and began speaking in a tone as cold as ice. “Once you’re out of prison, follow the straight and narrow, m’kay?” The unicorn nodded, clearly scared by this point.

Eclipse let go of the mugger, letting the pair of guards take over. One of them put a magic dampener over the unicorn’s horn to keep him from casting spells, while the other gave Eclipse a quick nod, before following his partner back to the prison with their captive.

Several grunts were heard from the nearby alley as a pegasus mare stumbled out, several bruises beginning to fade into view on her body and around her left eye. Her dark blue coat was a mess, but her silver mane was even more so. Eclipse jumped when he turned to face her.

“Feather Duster?” he asked slowly, shocked to see her here and in such a state.

The mare smiled a bit as she slumped against a wall. “Hey Eclipse… How are you?”

Eclipse hurriedly trotted over to her, putting a hoof around her to help her steady herself. An earth pony with a pair of crossed bandages for a cutie mark stepped out of the crowd with a doctor’s bag.

He sat down near the pair when he saw Eclipse nod at his approach. The doctor ran through the usual routine, using a small light to check her pupil size and dilation, as well as checking her over for any major injuries.

He sighed. “Luckily I was just heading home from work at the hospital, or you’d have had to get her moving. Also luckily, she’s got nothing more than a minor concussion, the bruises you see and a bit of shock.”

Feather Duster sniffed a bit. “I don’t feel that bad…” She rubbed her eye with a hoof, frowning.

“That’d be the shock I’m afraid.” The doctor replied. “Not surprising. Things like this are rare enough to just hear about, but it actually happening to you? Quite the release of bad karma, this.” He tapped his chin, thinking. “Maybe it’ll put you on the board for some good fortune, at least.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Eclipse smiled, pulling out a bag of bits. “Do I owe you anything?”

The doctor waved the bag away. “Doctor Mercy, and, no. Just happy to help. She will get very tired, very fast and very soon. I’d suggest getting her home, which I presume you know where her home is, if you know her.”

“Yep.” Eclipse nodded.

Doctor Mercy nodded back, then turned to the crowd. “Show’s over everypony. Come on, let’s move.”

“Hey, the show’s not over until I make my exit!” Eclipse said, hoisting Feather Duster onto his back.

The pegasus put her hooves around his neck. “Oh, no…”

“Oh, yes.” Eclipse returned, his eyes lighting up in a blaze of red while similarly colored mist began rising from his hooves.

Grinning wildly, Eclipse took off, charging right for a building. He jumped up onto the building’s wall, continuing his sprint up the building. He started to lean backwards, gravity being the harsh mistress she is. Jumping off of the building, Eclipse twisted in the air, landing on the roof of the building across the street.

He paused, checking on Feather Duster. The mare was holding on for dear life, but wasn’t too shaken. Perks of being a pegasus, Eclipse reasoned.

Glancing back into the street he had just left, Eclipse picked out the four kids who had helped him out. Using his magic, he quickly retrieved feather Duster’s purse, floating it up to him. He then retrieved the children’s ball, floating it over to them. All the while, the ponies in the street seemed to stare at him in disbelief.

Eclipse waved a hoof back.

Taking a few steps back, Eclipse focused his power into creating a long thin strip of black cloud that floated in mid-air. Running to the roof’s edge, he jumped onto the cloud, using it as a base to continue his sprint. Behind him, the cloud disappeared from existence, it’s purpose having been served. Ahead of him, however, the cloud road built itself, creating an ever present “ground” for him to follow as he headed back to the royal palace.

Feather Duster quickly lost energy as the adrenaline from her mugging finally vented completely. Eclipse made a minor adjustment to his running pattern to keep her balanced on his back as she began to doze, sliding down the last bit of cloud path into the castle courtyard, just outside the main door to the palace.

The guardsponies allowed him entrance, but only after briefly double checking their vision.

Eclipse carried Feather Duster up to the servants’ quarters, dropping her off into the care of several off duty maids and cooks. With this done, he decided to retire to his own quarters, but was intercepted by Princess Celestia inside the hallway.

“Well,” Celestia huffed slightly. “I see someone’s back from their assignment.” She cast a brief glance into the servants quarters, her eyes eventually coming to rest on the bed Feather Duster was lying on. “I also see the result of a minor misadventure.”

Eclipse frowned, biting his lip in anxiety.

Celestia slowly began to walk down the hallway, motioning for him to follow. As he trotted to catch up to her, she began to speak. “Luna already gave me your debriefing, but it did not include any injuries on the part of miss Duster. I want a full report as to why and how one of my little ponies was given such injuries, especially in Canterlot of all places. I will also personally look into the matter to ensure the truth is revealed.”

Eclipse nodded slowly. “Yes, Princess.”

Celestia sighed. “I don’t believe that you are responsible, Eclipse, but I do see that you obviously had something to do with it. Full report. End of the Day court, today. It will be an oral report.”

Again, Eclipse nodded. “Yes, Princess.”