Eclipse

Chapter 7: Haunting Pains of the Past

Luna followed Celestia to her room, wondering what was so urgent that her sister had called her back to the castle at Canterlot so insistently. It was night time and while Luna had been up for only a few hours, Celestia should be tired by then. The princesses entered the sun ruler's room, which was adorned with soft pastel colors and predominant warm shades. "Sit down, let's talk." Celestia hopped on her bed like a filly in a slumber party, wrinkling the pristine white sheets.

Luna shrugged and did the same, folding her forelegs atop a fluffy round yellow cushion. The large bed had plenty of space for both of them. "So, care to lift the veil of mystery?"

Celestia sighed, what she had to say was in no way easy. "I wanted to talk about... about stallions."

Luna blinked, slight confusion overtaking her curious features. "What stallion?"

"Magnus and stallions in general," Celestia continued. She bit her lip fearing that she was about to break her sister's heart by pointing out what would eventually become apparent.

"What about him?" Luna raised a suspicious eyebrow, wondering why in the world her sister was hesitating so much. What could possibly be so difficult to say?

"Do you... like him?" Celestia gently inquired.

"Of course I do, no pony willingly spends time with ponies they don't like," Luna replied as a matter of fact. It was clear that she didn't quite catch Celestia's full meaning. "Why are you asking me that? You're acting really strange."

"This is hard," Celestia admitted. "Luna... you and I, our level of magic rejuvenates us constantly and keeps us at our prime. We are also quite strong and resilient, almost immortal."

"What's your point?" Luna inquired. "Don't tell me you actually think there's some pony out to get us? Well that pony would certainly have a hard time trying to... oh..." Seeing Celestia's expression and recalling that the topic of their conversation revolved around stallions, especially a certain yellow unicorn, Luna put the pieces together. "I'll live a long time and Magnus won't... Is that what you're saying?" Suddenly, a deep desperation overtook Luna's heart. She would watch him fade away... No, no she wouldn't, she wouldn't let him go. "I can prevent that. I've never needed to cast an age spell, but if my magic does that automatically for me, then I must have the power."

"Luna..." Celestia sighed. "Only the highest level unicorns can cast age spells and there are very few ponies who can positively receive them if the magic takes them too far from their real age, anything beyond a few decades would be too much. If his soul becomes exhausted, he will not live a happy life. To force that upon him would be cruel. Besides, if it gets to the point where your spell is too strong for him to withstand then..."

"Then what?" Luna demanded, yet Celestia offered no answer. "I'll kill him?" Luna frowned, her eyes becoming watery. She forced the tears back and filled her face with determination. "Then he'll just have to be ready. He's smart and skilled, he can do it, he can achieve it on his own. What if that happens? There should be no problem then. I'll admit that getting that far by magical power alone is too much, but he has amazing machines that boost magical power. They're not like amulets, they're stable and reliable, they won't backfire. He can do it!"

Celestia sighed, fearing that her sister put too much faith in Magnus' ability. He was skilled, but the task ahead was too great. "Just know that perhaps in the end all you will be able to do is treasure a life time of sweet loving memories."

Luna didn't know how to reply. Her mouth hung open, but her brain was filled with so many racing thoughts that she couldn't articulate a single word. Peculiarly, it wasn't her sister's doubt that hit the moon princess the hardest; it was the wording she used. Love? Was she in love? Was he in love? Is that what they had beyond a close friendship? Just what was love anyway? The complex powerful emotion, the source of so much... Luna closed her mouth and lowered her gaze, lost in thought. A few silent moments passed until she spoke again. "Tia... Have you been in love?"

Celestia smiled sweetly with a hint of sadness in her eyes. She had never told any pony about this before. "I have," she confessed.

Luna looked up, her eyes meeting Celestia's. "When? With who? Do I know him?"

Celestia closed her eyes, allowing the memories back into her mind. "It was long ago, yet not so long from my perspective. For him it was nearly a life time ago, though he never knew. Not once did he notice, and with the passing of time our relationship changed."

"You grew apart?" Luna frowned, wondering who was the clueless stallion that didn't take notice of her sister's feelings.

"Not exactly, we built a professional relationship you could say. We saw each other often, but I was always the princess and he was always the scholar." Celestia opened the drawer of her white polished nightstand. The golden handle glowed with her energy as she opened it and retrieved a white book with a golden lock reinforced with magic.

"I remember when I tried to open that and the magic bounced off and shocked me." Luna grimaced just thinking about the stinging sensation.

"You shouldn't have tried to read my diary, dear sister," Celestia smiled at the memories of Luna's antics in her filly days. Even if her sister was as eternally young as she, the times would still change and in the end, each era would exist only in memories. A new era would begin, but only when a dear past era ended, it was inevitably bittersweet. Celestia unlocked the diary with magic and retrieved a very detailed color drawing of a unicorn stallion standing next to a younger, pink maned Celestia. "The artist who drew this was quite young at the time. He was excited to meet a real princess and drew me and the stallion accompanying me in my visit to his neighborhood. When he finished it, he shyly came to show me, I didn't even realize he had been drawing the whole time. I commended his talent and noted his cutie mark, it turns out he didn't even realize he had it. This picture that he gave me as a gift was what unlocked his cutie mark."

"I'm pretty sure I've seen him before," Luna mused as she examined the stallion in the drawing. He was a unicorn with a smart look to him, an intellectual no doubt. His mane was somewhat long and the beginnings of a beard could be seen on his chin, though it was still small, he was barely an adolescent after all. Her eyes landed on his cutie mark and she immediately recognized the symbol. "No way! That's! But it doesn't look anything like him!"

Celestia found it in herself to laugh. "He wasn't always an old stallion with a beard long enough to almost trip over. He used to keep it shorter when he was younger."

"If I really think about it, I remember. But it's as if that Starswirl and the Starswirl I know are different ponies. How could he have changed so much so fast?" The realization worried Luna. Would the fun loving, energetic, creative inventor turn into some pony she didn't recognize all of a sudden? She swallowed, realizing just how little time from her perspective a pony's life time was. "So you never told him?"

"No, he probably would have been shocked, in disbelief, and maybe even try to rationalize why it couldn't be. I didn't want to hear his utter confusion, so I never told him. I knew I was dear to him in some way and that was enough, yet he never really held an interest in having a close relationship with some pony. Knowledge was his passion and he had room in his life for little else," Celestia explained.

"I see..." Luna sighed. She was suddenly feeling exhausted, though it was night time and Celestia was the one who should be feeling tired.

"I'm sorry to make you sad," Celestia apologized. "I had to tell you, I had to make sure you understood."

Luna nooded solemnly, "I... I understand... If that's all, I'm going back now..." If she really had so little time with Magnus, then she should make the best of it.

Celestia nooded, "and Luna..." she called to her sister as the younger princess began to leave the room.

"Yes?" Luna looked back at her.

Celestia's soft expression suddenly turned fierce, "not a word of this to any pony." So what if her crush had long since gone past its time, it would still be terribly embarrassing if he knew. Luna smiled mischievously and Celestia could almost see Starswirl laughing at the silliness the moon princess had conjured, before turning to Celestia and asking her to tell Luna how utterly ridiculous the notion was. Then Celestia could picture herself getting tongue-tied as the memories of younger days scrolled in fast forward through her mind, and her stuttering would surely make her look like an idiot.

Then Starswirl would take it to mean that she was shocked at the impossibility of it and emphasized once more just how impossible it was. And it would hurt, it would hurt to hear him reaffirm the fact that nothing happened and it wouldn't happened. Starswirl was too logical at times, and honestly, the younger Celestia, and perhaps the part of the current Celestia that was still much like a filly, would rather hear him say that he was willing to try to make the seemingly impossible work out, rather than, with only good intentions and an ignorant bliss devoid of malice, perceive it as silly and unthinkable. "Luna!" Celestia scolded, her royal Canterlot voice thundering through the chambers.

"I'm kidding!" Luna giggled, glad for the little distraction, and dashed out of Celestia's room.

xoxox xox xoxox

Meanwhile, at the laboratory... "What do you think of this?" A pretty light blue unicorn mare held up some drawings for Magnus to see.

"Yes, yes, Blue Print, these are great!" Magnus approved.

The mare smiled proudly, her pink mane framing her face beautifully, deep blue eyes sparkling. "I have a few ideas for the finer details of the design too. Honestly, I've never met any pony who can make my designs a reality like you can."

"And I've never met any pony who can put my own thoughts into paper a lot better than myself. Turning concepts into realities will be much easier with you on the team. This is even better than how I visualized it in my head," Magnus smiled.

"Magnus, mah stallion, gotta talk to ya dude!" An orange pegasus with a lavender mane and green eyes threw one of his wings around Magnus' shoulders and began to walk away, making the unicorn move along with him. His cutie mark was a wing silhouette with a comet-like tail.

"What is it, Velocity?" Magnus inquired, wondering where his friend was taking him.

Once they were out of earshot from Blue Print, Velocity stated his case. "Listen up, mah brony, I couldn't help it but to notice that pretty miss Print has her eye on you, mah stallion. But I thought you had your eye on the hottie of the night."

Mangus took a moment to process the statements. "What? Blue Print? No, no, we're just good colleagues, she doesn't like me. And Luna is... Luna is... Well okay, I do like her. I'm no sure how in the world I ended up getting a crush on a princess of all ponies when I didn't even used to like royalty, or alicorns for that matter, but it just sort of happened... Wait a minute, you like Blue Print, don't you?"

"Keep your voice down, stallion!" Velocity looked around to make sure no one had heard Magnus. "Seriously dude, keep it down, brony."

"I won't tell any pony, but really, if that's how you feel you should tell her." Magnus began to walk away to get back to his work.

"Dude, I hope you're like taking your own advice, brony." Velocity called after him before making his way to the turbine engine prototype test area. He had to get that thing going with the wind produced by his wing power and the wind was supposed to spin inside it in a way that it would keep going and even become stronger with just that initial boost.

Magnus paused, was he taking his own advice? Well maybe. Luna had to be smart enough to figure out that making a permanent night in the area for her meant something. But what if she thought he was only being grateful and nothing more? No, they were closer than that, she had to know. Where they really? Well there was only one way to find out... and the thought of it made him anxious. 'Okay, just tell her, it'll be like stating the obvious, nothing to worry about... I need to keep my mind busy until Luna's back or I'll totally stress out.' For once he felt compelled to get out of the lab. Maybe he should further investigate the ruins left deeper into the former Crystal Empire territories. It would be freezing cold out there, but maybe that would help him stop thinking about irrational fears of unrealistic reactions from Luna.

xoxox xox xoxox

Some time later, Magnus found himself exploring some underground ruins. They seemed incomplete, or perhaps magically sealed off and hidden, so he couldn't get too far. None the less, the traces of magic left in the surrounding area were so strong that it made his horn tingle in response as he tried to keep its glow steady, to see where he was going. His hoof steps seemed to echo much more than he thought was logical, as if he was all alone in a quiet vast space. There was something dark and dreary around the area, as if the land itself was accursed.

Suddenly, the shadow of a dragon was seen upon the wall. Magnus was startled and shone the light of his horn around, looking for the giant creature that would logically not fit through the tunnels. "It's just rocks... Just jagged creepy rocks..." He told himself, yet he couldn't keep his heart from pounding. 'What's wrong with me?' Magnus thought. 'I'm acting like such a foal, afraid of the shadows.' He took a few more steps and the echo of a ferocious roar shook him to the core. He turned and shone the light from his horn in all directions, but he couldn't find the source of the threatening voice. "It's my imagination; it's only my imagination..."

Abruptly, a vision entered his mind and he was unable to move. He saw a young colt running for his life as a dragon destroyed his home. "Mech! Mech, where are you?" His parents were calling.

He saw them a little further down the street, a unicorn stallion and an earth pony mare. The young Magnus dashed towards them in fright. "Mom, dad, why is the dragon in the city? Why didn't the force field keep him out?" Yet there were no answers for him as his father quickly lifted him in a levitation hold, placed him on his back and retreated.

"I have to go," his mother looked back.

"No!" His father protested.

"We both have things we need to do. I'm one of the princess' personal guards and you need to lead the heavy artillery in the city's defense. That monster is heading straight for the castle, I have to be there!" She argued.

"I know... I know..." The stallion agreed in frustration. "Be careful," the two went their separate ways.

"Why isn't mom coming with us? Why does she have to go to the princess?" Magnus had never actually met the princess, despite his mother working for her.

Magnus' father arrived at a security base where various large robotic ponies, about twenty feet tall were mobilizing. "Listen Mech, I don't have time to talk now. I need to defend the city. You have to stay in this base, don't go outside and don't get in anyone's way. Your mother and I will come get you as soon as possible."

"I want to go with you! I want to ride on the robot too, I want to help!" The young Magnus argued.

"This isn't a test run!" His father scolded seriously. "Stay here!"

Magnus nooded in fright. He didn't know what was happening or why his parents couldn't stay with him. He was always told the city was safe inside the force field the machines generated. How could a dragon have come inside? He stood in a corner of the base as the sound of heavy metal steps and a multitude of running hoof steps echoed around him.

"Hey, Mech!" A light gray pegasus colt, not yet old enough to venture into the front lines with the adults, but just old enough to have an understanding of the situation approached him.

"Cannon Shot!" Magnus rushed to the older colt. The pegasus was his neighbor and a big brother figure to him, as well as his best friend.

"Don't you worry, Mech, there's lots of ponies out there chasing that dragon out. It'll be sorry it came near our city!" Cannon reassured. His pale blue eyes glimmered with endless determination and a fighting spirit. He blew his white and cyan mane out of his face and grinned threateningly. "And if another dragon does come, by then I'll be old enough so that they let me chase it out!"

The ground shook violently before Magnus could reply. Cannon Shot hurried to one of the windows of the base, followed by Magnus. They looked up from a low angle to see the same dragon making its way out of the city. For a moment the colts were relieved to see that it was apparently on the retreat, but they saw it was holding something. "Is that a pink pony in it's claws?" Magnus asked, feeling worried for the unfortunate pony.

"That's not any pink pony!" Cannon exclaimed as he recognized the light pink unicorn mare from pictures he had seen. He remembered seeing her posing for the camera in a glittery dress, her long fuchsia and cyan mane adorned with gems and her blue eyes sparkling. "That's princess Pretty Posh!"

To be Continued

I hope Luna and Celestia's scene wasn't too odd. ^^;; I'll probably draw some art of my OC ponies after I finish this story, so check out the art archives listed below and linked on my profile a few days after the last chapter to see them. There will be about 3 more chapters, I think. You'll get to see more about Magnus' past in the next flashback and the reason why he didn't like royalty and alicorns.

Flavors: h t t p: slash slash flavors DOT me SLASH bluesilver
Twitter: h t t p: slash slash twitter DOT com SLASH miliazure
Fantasy Bit: h t t p: slash slash mikari DOT piratesboard DOT net

Art Archives:
h t t p: slash slash mikaristar DOT deviantart DOT com
h t t p: slash slash artgrounds DOT com SLASH gallery SLASH Mikari
h t t p: slash slash fanart-central DOT net SLASH user SLASH AzureMikari
h t t p: slash slash mikaristar DOT sheezyart DOT com
h t t p: slash slash pinterest DOT com SLASH mikariazure
h t t p: slash slash anipan DOT com SLASH 21462