New Breed-Book 2-Preview

Book Two Preview

"Something wicked this way comes"

            The stallion regarded himself in the mirror.

            Slowly he turned his head, slit turquoise eyes regarding himself in the dim light, carefully examining every inch of his majestic frame. His midnight blue coat, so dark it melted into the night about him, shimmered in the weak moonlight to reveal the muscular contours of his body. With a quick turn of his head, his mane, a mass of mystic energy that appeared like a living star-field, shifted with him. He was amused by the small tuft that protruded from his chin, hanging down only a few inches in a way that resembled a beard.

            His horn shone with a silvery color as he shifted the large mirror to look more closely over his body, flaring one of his large wings to examine the last of the scars on his left side. They displeased him, but he knew they would not fade any more. It had taken nearly a year, and he was sure of his recovery, but that reminder would never go away; a souvenir of his inglorious moment of defeat.

            He stomped a black hoof on the stone floor, almost lost amidst his unshorn fetlocks, and watched the web-work of cracks that emanated from that point of impact. Yes, he was recovered physically, but despite the year it took, he was no closer to a plan to handle the Princesses or their upstart pet mares. Worse, the Princess now commanded a new group of mares who could wield the Elements of Harmony against him. His side twinged at the memory of the burning wave of rainbow energy that had almost ended his existence for a second time.

            "I suppose I need a new name," he told his reflection with a grim smile, "Nightmare Moon somehow doesn't seem appropriate anymore."

            He regarded his reflection in silence for several long moments, turning his head back and forth before glancing at his flank, and the new cutie-mark that had come with the new form; a sun partially hidden by a full moon, a perverse combination of both the Princesses' marks. He frowned at it. It was something that had not been seen since, back when he controlled Luna, he took on Celestia in the Lunar War. Celestia had attempted to raise the sun despite the moon left in the sky, and in a flash of inspiration, Nightmare Moon had imposed the moon before it, darkening the sky in a way no pony had ever seen before. He smiled at the memory, remembering their terror this event caused…

            A sudden impact on the mirror drew his attention, wings flaring as the strange Alicorn braced for an attack. His stance relaxed considerably when he saw what had impacted the mirror, or more precisely, what he imagined had impacted the mirror.

            "Bastard!!" the reflection shouted at him in a voice the stallion knew only he could hear. Technically, no one else would see the new pony in the mirror's reflection, should they have looked. Only he could see and hear it, since this figure was only a fragment of his mind now, the pitiful creature he absorbed.

            "I don't recall you saying so at the time," the stallion taunted the reflection, a white coated pegasus that was barely half his size. As if to contrast the dark stallion, this reflection had a mane of multiple colors and hues, unkempt as they flew every which way as it struggled to break through.

            "You lying--" the reflected pony seethed.

            "I see your banter hasn't improved since you last pushed through enough to try and converse with me," the stallion yawned, regarding the small pony with boredom, "Seriously, did you really think your foalish plan would work?"

            "Of course! It should have worked!" the reflected pony shouted, his mane bristling, "I am the strongest stallion in all of Equestria!"

            "Were, foal, were," the stallion corrected with cruel smile, "But your power was easily dwarfed by your ego. You truly thought you would have the strength of will to do what Princess Luna herself could not? That takes a special kind of arrogance."

            "Then we share one thing in common," the reflection hissed, eyes wandering to the nearly invisible scarring on the stallion's left side.

            The stallion's eyes narrowed for a moment as he regarded the reflected image, "I would suggest you save your quips, Sunset Sparkle."

            "Or what?" Sunset Sparkle asked back, "You can't DO anything to me in here."

            "Technically, I can do a lot to you in there. There is a reason I choose a host to possess," the stallion smiled darkly, "They make such wonderful sacrifices when I must flee. A contingency plan, if you will."

            "That didn't work so well the last time, did it?"

            "Actually, it worked exactly as planned," the stallion answered, "The imp I had possessed to assume that form was sacrificed to spare my own life. As such, I am here… admittedly hurt, but alive still."

            "Oh? And here I thought you were just naturally ugly…" Sunset Sparkle quipped, "It must have been a real downgrade after Princess Luna."

            "I won't argue that. Princess Luna was… one of the finest meals I ever had. She sustained me for centuries, for over a millennium. Never had I such a meal, and she still had so much left to give before she would have finally been completely consumed. But, that said, one cannot expect to be able to subvert a Princess every time."

            "So why the imp?" Sunset Sparkle asked curiously.

            "Simple," the stallion answered in a low rumbling voice, "It had a skill I wanted. I learn and absorb abilities from my 'meals'. I learned magic, oh so much magic, from Luna. I learned to absorb magic from the Imp, which I knew I would need to challenge Celestia's rule again."

            "And from me?" the pony reflection asked, almost frightened of the answer.

            "Not a lot, I'm afraid," the stallion mocked, "All your power was in your body. But it is an interesting change of pace to be a male this time. Luna was, of course, a mare. The Imps are technically sexless, all of them lay eggs when it is their time. Most of my catches prior to finding this morsel of a planet were female as well. This is the first time I've had the pleasure of being a stallion."

            The reflection made a grunt, but opted to stay silent.

            "That doesn't mean I haven't learned anything," the stallion grinned, looking directly at the reflected pony, their eyes locking, "The power of the body takes some control, so this saves me many tedious hours of training and practice. Let us not forget to mention the lovely little trinket I found within you…"

            "N-no…" Sunset Sparkle whispered, for the first time looking scared.

            "Oh yes. You thought that would give you some power over me. I know that's where you disappeared to after escaping Canterlot. To hunt it up… and Equestria yielded its treasure to you so easily you simply took it. Your arrogance never let you consider other possibilities, such as why or how it might be there; you simply took it for yourself. Now, it's in ME, and unlike you, I know how to use it. I know how to corrupt it."

            The reflected pony threw himself against the glass of the mirror once more, his cursing filling the stallion's mind. He couldn't help it; he let out a cackling laugh at the sight of Sunset Sparkle's panic and anger. The laugh, combined with his deeper voice, it sounded pleasantly ominous to him; like the rolling thunder before a downpour.

            "Face the facts, Ultrapony," the stallion taunted, "You lost. Your ego, thinking you'd be able to control me once we merged and then could somehow present yourself as the conquering hero to the Princesses, took you to the obscene height of arrogance. Now you've handed me everything I need for a return!"

            "Except a plan," Sunset Sparkle countered, his breath fogging the mirror where he leaned against it, tired from his exertions. The grip of the stallion's miasma would drag him back under soon, his strength was waning. He fought it, not knowing when he would be able to exert any sort of self will again.

            "I have all the time in the world," the stallion grinned, as the wisps of black energy started to coalesce about the pony in the mirror, pulling the struggling pony down and into the quicksand of the stallion's mind, "You, however, might only have a few years. Until then, you might as well enjoy the view."

            Silence once again filled the old halls, and the stallion took a slow breath, spreading his wings lazily to feel the flow of air through the ancient castle. The ancient castle, with its crumbling stone architecture overrun by moss and ivy, seemed to breathe in the late night air. The stallion knew that this was home to an ancient and powerful magic. It was the magic that fed the entirety of Everfree Forest, making it so wild no pony could control it, and evolving creatures that were truly terrifying to behold. He had absorbed that magic, used it to heal his wounds, and to strengthen his resolve. Now it was time to gather his resources to strike back while they still thought he was dead.

            "An eclipse," the stallion muttered as the memory from before Ultrapony's interruption flashed into his mind, "The ponies called it an eclipse. I always liked the sound of that word; perhaps I should use that name for this form? Yes… I like it. Eclipse."

            Eclipse frowned. To his chagrin, that fool Ultrapony was correct on one point: He had no plan.

            Yet.