Eclipse

Eclipse

Chapter 8

Safety

Eclipse was puzzled, worried, and a little frightened. Of all the situations he had prepared himself for, laughing was not one of them. Laughing was one of the situations he hadn't even thought about when running through her possible reactions. There was running, screaming, confused, scared,  hate, not one of them included laughter of any kind. Laughter made no sense, it was the kind of thing the alicorns in the mental wing of the hospital did. Maybe that was it? Maybe her mind couldn't handle the stress and just snapped? It was the only logical explanation Eclipse could formulate, and he was worried he really had made Cadence snap.

“R-Really?” Cadence gasped out between gales of laughter.

“What?” Where was she going with this? Eclipse didn't know, and he didn't want to find out. For the first time since he had met Cadence he felt like he should just flap his wings and fly off in the opposite direction as fast as he could. The only thing keeping him grounded was the fact the the guards would easily spot him, and he knew he couldn't out fly them. That and the fact that he may have seriously damaged Cadence's mental state, that too.

“That's it... You've been... acting like this... because Constellation... Came back?” Cadence could barely spit out a few words between laughing and gasping for breath, never mind a full coherent sentence. Spitting out a few words between laughs and gasps, she finally completed her sentence, and what she said only confused Eclipse more.

“B-But I... I thought... I thought you would hate me for it.” Eclipse's words started as a small whisper, barely audible to Cadence, but slowly grew until he was almost shouting. Tears obviously forming in his eyes, though he did his best to hide them; he didn't need Cadence to see him cry again. In truth he was ashamed of how much he had been crying recently, but with the emotional stress of the past few months, he couldn't hold it any longer. After that long of bottling his emotions up it felt good to cry, though he would never admit it.

“Why would you ever think that?” The answer came not from the alicorn in front of him, but instead a voice in his head, one he hoped hadn't overheard him, though he knew better then that, he always hoped.

“Not the time Constellation. Eclipse thought back, before turning his attention back to Cadence, not even listening to the response that was something along the lines of 'I told you she wouldn't mind' or something to that affect.

“Why would you ever think that?” This time the correct voice answered him, though the words were the same as Constellation's, they had so much more meaning coming from her.

“I TOLD YOU!”

“SHUT UP, CONSTELLATION!” Eclipse made no effort to keep in his head this time. Cadence knew about Constellation, and even if she didn't know he wasn't sure he could keep it in his head any longer.

“What's he doing?” Cadence sounded as calm as a pony after leaving the spa, not at all sounding like a pony asking a fugitive what the voice inside his head was saying.

“It's nothing, he's just being Constellation.”

“Can he here me?” This surprised Eclipse. He hadn't expected Cadence to talk to him for more then a few seconds after learning there was a voice in his head, never mind wanting to talk to it herself.

“Well...” Eclipse wasn't totally sure what to say. Should he tell her he could here her? Would that help at all? Or, if he didn't tell her, would she make Eclipse repeat everything she said to Constellation? More importantly, could he lie to the only pony willing to accept him? No, he couldn't. “Yes, he can here you.”

“Okay then. HEY!” Cadence's sudden raise in volume caught Eclipse of guard. He jumped back, startled, and fell over onto his back. Cadence, however, took little notice of Eclipse's surprise, and went to help him up without even taking a break in her speech. “CONSTELLATION! YOU STOP BEING MEAN TO MY FRIEND!”

“Umm... Cadence? He can here you just as fine as I can, since he hears exactly what I hear, sharing a body and all that.

“Oh, right, Cadence said with a sheepish grin, her cheeks turning a darker shade of pink then they already were. Constellation just laughed.

“Tell her I promise to behave.” Constellation stuttered out between laughs.

“He say's he's sorry.” Eclipse grumbled out, not thrilled with the answer Constellation gave.

“He better be. You here me, Constellation? You better behave in there.”

“Your marefriend gets quite defensive, doesn't she?”

“Constellation, if you don't shut up I swear I'm going to find a way to force you back into the in-between.” Eclipse forced himself to smile for Cadence, but in his mind he had a very stern look.

“Hey, take it easy. It's been a while since I've talked to somepony, I'm just having fun.”

“Now, shall we get going? The sun will be up in about half an hour, and pony's are already starting to get up.” Eclipse offered, more then happy at the opportunity to change the subject.

“Lets.”

About 15 minutes later, they arrived at the apartment. After searching through the rooms for a while they found a suitable one on the third floor. Though the building was condemned, it still had running water. The city would have to shut off water for the whole area to disable it for the one building, so they just left it alone. The apartment they decided on was one of the more intact ones. It had two rooms, each with a bed and – although very dusty and dirty – sheets and a blanket. It had almost all the fixtures a normal house would have, and all of the ones it had were still working.

As they walked around to get used to their new environment, they started to notice a running theme; every room was painted a light pink. For most that wouldn't have been a problem. Cadence even loved that it matched her coat. Eclipse, however, felt very differently. It matched Celestia's mane to a T. He new she would be looking for him. He knew she would stop at nothing to see him dead, and now, every morning, he would wake up to see a bright pink wall in his face. He didn't like the idea of waking up to see the thing he feared most every single morning for the rest of his predictable life. He knew he would leave the apartment eventually, but for the time being he would live here in hiding.

As Eclipse walked to what used to be the living room, before a wall had collapsed, turning it into a very large kitchen, he saw Cadence standing at the fridge.

“Don't tell me that thing still works?” He said as he approached from behind. Cadence, apparently, didn't here him coming, as she jumped a foot in the air, at the same time hitting her head against the top of the fridge.

“Ow....” She groaned out, slipping out of the fridge and turning to look at the pony who had startled her.

“Heh, sorry. You alright?” Eclipse asked, wearing a silly smile and rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof.

“Ya, I'm fine, just try not to sneak up on me. It's creepy in here.” Cadence said, giving a slight shiver as she looked around at the dim building. The only light they could see came from the few outward facing windows, and the sun was just rising, so it was on the other side of the building.

“Kinda, I mean, I'm not scared, or anything...” Eclipse said. It wasn't entirely lying. He found dark and dreary places like this somewhat relaxing. Though the pink still reminded him of Celestia, and very moment spent thinking about Celestia and his mother was a moment spent in fear.

“Sure you aren't,” Constellation said sarcastically, ”I can here you shaking.”

“Constellation, now is not the time.” Eclipse growled back. He didn't need to keep it to himself anymore, Cadence didn't mind, and it let so much more frustration out when he could actually say it, rather then just think it.

“Hey! You promised to be nice!” Cadence walked up to Eclipse, defending him from what was very possibly his own imagination. Eclipse still wasn't entirely sure Constellation had come back – actually, he wasn't sure he existed at all – and having Cadence talking to him but not talking to him at the same time was kinda weird.

“I did not!” Constellation could try to protest all he wanted, but in the end Eclipse decided what Cadence heard or didn't hear, and in this situation Cadence got to here exactly what she wanted.

“He says it was a slip of the tongue, he didn't mean to say what I though he said.”

“That's good, I thought he was giving you a hard time again.” Cadence, smiled, content that she had fixed the problem and went back to rummaging through the fridge. Eclipse still couldn't figure out why, but he had a feeling he would soon. So while he waited he went back to the couch, blew some dust off, and sat down.

Eventually Cadence accomplished whatever it was she was trying to do, and came and sat next to Eclipse, magically wiping the dust off before she sat down.

“What were you up to over there?” Eclipse had watched her the entire time. Though he couldn't get a good look – since she had almost her entire head in the fridge – but he could see a faint glow.

“Oh, nothing, just... looking,” Cadence said as normally as she could. She was terrible at keeping secrets. She was even worse at lying, and in this situation, she was doing both.

“That wasn't looking, looking doesn't require that long or for you to shove your head inside a fridge.” Eclipse stated flatly, trying to get the truth out of her without seaming mean. Unfortunately for Cadence, it was working.

“Well, I was just... thinking.” Cadence shifted her wait slightly trying to keep her secret for as long as possible, but slowly failing.

“Thinking what?” Eclipse started to push now. He wanted to know, nopony would shove their head in a fridge to think, never mind use magic.

“Well, we're going to be staying here a while, so we'll need food.”

“Don't tell me you know how to fix a fridge?”

“No, not really, which is why you can't see the fridge right now, I made a few.... mistakes, shall we say.” Cadence admitted, turning her head away and slightly down, her cheeks once again becoming a brighter pink.

“Oh, come on, it can't be that bad.” Eclipse started to get up before a magical force pushed him back down. Cadence wasn't especially talented with her magic, so he could easily fight it, but it had caught him of guard. He tumbled back into the couch, sending up a little dust cloud as he hit it.

“No, you can't see it till I fix it!” Cadence stated firmly, stomping a hoof against the couch to reinforce her point. Though all she managed to do was send up another cloud of dust and throw her and Eclipse into a coughing fit.

“Remind me to get a vacuum for in here.” Eclipse said between coughs and gasps, trying to blow away the dust with his magic, though finding it hard to concentrate.

“That might not be a bad idea.” Cadence agreed through her own coughs.

“Now,” Eclipse said, starting to get up, Cadence was too distracted with coughing to notice until it was too late, “Let's see the fridge.”

“NO ECLIPSE DO-” Cadence tried to protest, only for her to be cut off as Eclipse opened the fridge.

“AH! IT'S GOT ME! CADENCE! HE-” Eclipses cries were muffled as he was yanked into the fridge by his unseen attacker. All Cadence could see was one hoof flailing about, before it went limp and was pulled in.

“ECLIPSE!” Cadence dashed over to the fridge, readying her magic. While she wasn't very good at magic, she was sure going to try and protect her friend to the best of her abilities, from whatever monster she may have created.

“HOLD ON! I'M COMING!” Cadence got into the kitchen and galloped to the front of the fridge, pointing her horn menacingly at whatever was in the fridge. As she prepared to let loose with all she had, Cadence noticed that Eclipse was not being attacked by some monster, but was instead sitting scrunched up on the lower shelf. Laughing.

“You should see the look on your face! Priceless!”

“ECLIPSE! That was NOT funny.” Cadence said sternly, reaching out with the magical energy she had stored. Instead of attacking a monster, she used it to grab Eclipse by one hoof and an ear.

“Ow! Hey, what are you doing?” Before Eclipse could offer another word of protest Cadence pulled, hard. She sent Eclipse tumbling to the other side of the kitchen, stopping only when he hit the counter on the opposite wall.

“That's for implying that I turned the fridge into a monster.” Cadence stated flatly as she started to walk over to Eclipse, helping him up once she got to him.

“Really? That's it?” Eclipse was honestly expecting her to be more mad about causing her to panic, not insulting her repair skills.

“No,” Cadence said, before taking a step back, “This is going to get much worse.” As she spoke she kept walking backward, eventually she was once again next to the fridge. Before Eclipse had time to process what she was doing or what he should do, she charged.

Head down, horn facing forward, pointy end aimed right at Eclipse. Before he could make a roll to get out of the way she was right in front of him. Just before her horn made contact with his neck, she raised her head and jumped, hitting Eclipse square in the chest. They both went tumbling further back from the impact, though there was little space between them and the counter, so it didn't last long. Eclipse's back slammed into the counter, Cadence landing right in front of him, standing with her hoof on his chest pinning him to the cupboard.

“Ow...” Eclipse said, dazed from the impact. He rubbed his back with a hoof until he realized Cadence standing over him.

“Got anything to help you outta this one?” Constellation said, in his head.

“Um... Sorry?” Eclipse said, still trying to catch his breath from the impact.

“You better be, next time I wont lift my head.” Cadence warned in a dead pan tone. Eclipse's “joke” had obviously upset her. He made a mental note to apologize after she calmed down a bit. Besides, he thought it was funny.

Cadence lifted her hoof off his chest and went back to the living room, presumably to sit on the couch. Eclipse, however, had other plans. He had caught a glimpse of it, though being stuck inside it never really gave him a chance to actually look at what Cadence had done that she was so embarrassed by. Walking back over to the fridge he heard a faint noise come from the living room as Cadence sat down, but that was it. She had forgotten all about the fridge. As Eclipse got close to it he looked around the corner to see Cadence fiddling with something else in the living room, probably a loose spring in the couch. He walked up to the fridge, grabbed it with his magic, and pulled it open.

Just as he opened it Cadence burst from the couch, galloped to the kitchen, pushed him out of the way with a fore hoof, and bucked the door closed. After that she quickly took the couch spring she had just enchanted, wrapped it around the handle and a cupboard handle near by, then breathed.

“There now you can't get in.” Cadence stated firmly, before walking calming back to the couch.

“Really? A spring, you know I could just-” Eclipse got his magic ready, he broke an anti-magic collar, a spring should be no problem. As he reached out with his magic towards the spring he started to gather just enough of it to bend the spring off. However, when he touched it it sent a quick jolt of energy directly into his magic, and, as a result, his horn. “Ow, what did you do to it?” Eclipse asked, rubbing the base of his ow sore horn. Nothing major, just enough to break up the spell he was casting and shock him a bit. Enough to hurt, but no damage had been done.

“I told you, you can't see it till I'm done, I'm still not done. As for the spell, well, let's just say that the cookie jar at my place is mine and mine alone.” Cadence said, a smirk on her face, ether from successfully trapping Eclipse out or remembering something about the cookie jar.

“Wait, what's this about a cookie jar?” Eclipse asked, the pain in his horn had already passed, and his disappointment in to seeing the inside of the fridge replaced with curiosity about the cookie jar.

“Well, I like cookies, we had a cookie jar on a high shelf. Once I learned some basic levitation I would steal cookies from the cookie jar, so my mother enchanted it to protect them from me. Eventually I learned how to examine spells and enchantments that had already been cast. So, I examined the one on the cookie jar enough that eventually I figured out how to disable it. Unfortunately, if I disabled it my mother would know I stole cookies, so I had to learn to re-cast it so she couldn't tell.” Cadence answered, her voice emotionless until she added at the end, with a rather hungry look while licking her lips, “Those cookies were good.”

“Interesting, I've never seen a spell like this before in my entire life, how do you do it?”

“If I told you that you could get in, and that would be cheating, you want in figure it out yourself, that's what I did.” Cadence said teasingly.

“Fine, maybe I will figure it out on my own.” as Eclipse spoke he began to walk back to the kitchen. Where he proceeded to sit in front of the fridge with his horn lit up and his eyes closed.

“I wonder how long it will take him to figure out that you can't figure out how to cast a spell simply by examining it after it's been cast” Cadence though to herself, a slight chuckle accompanying her thought. At least it kept him busy for a while so she could do some cleaning. Cadence got up and went to search the other apartments for cleaning supplies, the real story behind the cookie jar locked safely in her head.