To New Horizons

It took your group around twenty minutes, but you finally made your way up the hill and to be completely honest, the view was only good for stargazing. There were too many trees around you to see anything really meaningful, but there were enough gaps in the trees to at least make the spot sort of worthwhile.

On top of that you got a decent view of the farmhouse and in turn, Big Mac sitting guard at the front door. “Shame he’s only into mares.” You think to yourself before you turn your attention back to your companions. Starfire was taking a look around the area you’ve been given to work with, the disgusted look on her face is giving you the idea that you two may have similar conclusions.

Eclipse was sitting down near you, using his magic to set up the fireworks to be easily launched. You trot over next to him and sit down on his left, just watching him as he works. You’ve never really watched him as he worked before. Nor have you ever really took note on how his eyes start to narrow when he’s trying to perfect his work, or how his tongue barely sticks out of his muzzle when he concentrates.

Nor have you ever really noticed that when he can’t get it just right his left ear twitches a little. Which was honestly adorable. After a few more moments, you decide to make this whole situation a lot less creepy and attempt to start conversation. “So.” You start quietly, as not to startle Eclipse to bad. Despite your efforts at being polite, he flinches at the sudden and unexpected noise before he looks at you. He’s always been a little jumpy.

“Oh, hey. What do you need?” Eclipse asked with a forced smile across his face. “You wanted to get something off your chest?” You ask as you extend your left wing and begin preening yourself. Aligning any loose feathers you find. Eclipses face instantly loses the mask he put up as he glances over to Starfire, then back to you. “I sorta meant a just us environment.” Eclipse states as you continue to preen yourself.

“Well, then let's all watch in shifts of twos. Star can get some sleep and we can chat. That sound good?” You ask as you briefly look over to Starfire, and she looks utterly exhausted. There’s a long pause before Eclipse replies. “Sure.” Almost sounding defeated. With that, you let out a loud whistle to catch Starfire's attention and wave her over.

“Whats up?” She asks as she trots up to the two of you. “We’re thinking about keeping watch in shifts. Since you know, you look knackered.” You state fairly bluntly, earning a yawn from Starfire. “Ya well, I guess I can get some shut-eye. At least I’ll wake up at the correct time.” She teases with a tired grin making its way across her face, and you happily match it.
“Oh, you poor naive Solarist. Always willing to miss the most beautiful hours in life.” You tease back, you can briefly hear Eclipse sigh next to you, knowing full well this will become another one of your “Competitions.”

“I prefer not to bask in the stolen light of my god, thank you very much.” She teased again as she laid down on your left. “I prefer the term, frequently borrowed light.” You reply between your preening, earning a chuckle from her as she rested her head on her forehooves. In the meantime, you finish preening your left wing and begin on your right one.

After a few minutes of silence, you can faintly hear Starfires breaths slow as she drifts off to sleep. With this, you look around at your surroundings. But due to your limited view through the foliage, you can’t really make out a whole lot. “Least there’s no signs of Timberwolves yet. Right?” You quietly ask Eclipse as he stops scanning the horizon.

“Ya, the coast looks as clear as it can for now.” He replies as he looks off into the distance and starts scanning the Everfree treeline. “So, were as alone as can be.” You state before you spot and realign a misaligned feather. Eclipse lets out a noticeable sigh before he looks at you. “I have an issue. I guess you could say.” Eclipse replied as he returned his attention back to the edge of the Everfree.

“Who’s legs do I need to break?” You jokingly reply earning a small chuckle from Eclipse. “Nah nothing like that. It's just, I received a letter from my father the other day. I finally worked up the gull to tell him I moved out of Canterlot and joined a band of ruffians to travel the world.” He chuckled as he gave you a nervous smile.

“Oh? Well, how did he take it?” You ask, causing Eclipses nervous smile fade to a frown. “Not well. He actually wants me to return home to Canterlot.” Eclipse replies with a frown as he let out a sigh. “Well. What do you want?” You ask, giving Eclipse a concerned look as you make eye contact with him.

“I want to be here. With you and Star, you know very well if I didn’t want to be here I wouldn't be.” He replies defensively as he moves his forehooves around for emphasis. “Well, then buck him. If you wanna travel the world with us, ruffians, then do so.” You tease with a grin across your face as you wrap a foreleg around Eclipse and pull him into a light hug.

You can see a faint blush of crimson cross his cheeks as you feel his fur against yours, and to your surprise, he leans into the hug. Your surprise slowly fades as you realize how cold he is. You give one last look around the area to make sure a timberwolf isn't sneaking up on you two before you return your attention back to Eclipse.

“Cold?” Is all you ask, causing the unicorn to cuddle up close to you for warmth. “Very, how the hay are you so warm?” He asks as he makes himself comfortable at your side. This causes your heart to skip a beat as you feel blood rush to your own cheeks.

“Well, Pegasi are built to fly high up and really fast. So having a natural ability to not freeze to death is a plus.” You reply, trying to process how to proceed with the situation. On one hoof you have a handsome stallion willingly cuddling up to you. On the other, that stallion is your best friend who’s freezing.

So you decide to take a more bold and middle road option to your situation. Once your sure Eclipse is comfortable you carefully wrap your right wing around him, causing his cheeks to turn a darker crimson. “Better?” You ask, attempting to ignore your heart that's beating a mile a second. “Y-ya.” Is all he replies, as he snuggles up even closer to you. You decide it may be best to return to your job. At least until you can properly sort out your feelings. So you return your gaze back to the treeline.