A Hoof in Adventure

"What was that all about?!" the guard demanded, grabbing Eclipse's tail in her mouth and yanking her back, almost making Eclipse fall over backwards. "Explain to me at once!"

"Why?"

The guard snorted "because you just dragged me away from my duties in Canterlot without an explanation and I will probably get fired because of you, maybe that's why?" she said pointedly.

"First," Eclipse shot back "tell me your name".

"Why should I trust you" the mare asked, spitting Eclipse's tail out of her mouth.

"because.." she said. 'Because I think your beautiful and charming, that's why!' she imagined herself telling the mare, but decided not to 'I might scare her off' she thought sadly. "You just should!" she said indignant.

Much to Eclipse's delight, the mare just chuckled "my name is Aurora Skies" she said. And what was that? As the mares looked into each others eyes, Eclipse thought she saw.....yes! Was that a flash of love in the mares smooth gold eyes? Was that the slightest hint of a blush in Aurora's cheeks? Did Aurora feel the same way about Eclipse that Eclipse thought of her?

"Oh" Eclipse said, gazing at Aurora. Did she really see what she thought she saw?

"Why do you keep staring at me like that?" Aurora asked skeptically.

"Oh, um....y-you remind me of a filly who lives in Ponyville" Eclipse said, which wasn't entirely lying, Eclipse had seen a filly that much resembled Aurora hanging around the sweet shop in Ponyville. She glanced down at her hooves, hoping that Aurora Skies wouldn't see through her half-lie.

Aurora perked up at that "is her name Cotton Cloudy? A little light-grey Pegasus filly with a mane like mine?" she asked.

"Yes, why?"

"She's my sister" Aurora said with a smile, but a sad shadow cast over her face and she suddenly looked much older and depressed "I haven't seen her in ages, due to my job". She looked around suddenly as if looking for something. "Do you think they're still following us? The changelings, I mean".

Eclipse shook her head "if they were, they would've caught up to us by now". Then she noticed some different problems: It was very dark (she guessed around eleven pm), they had no shelter, and it was somehow very cold. She sat closer to Aurora as she realized the cold was seeping through her silky green coat and chilling her to the bone.

"B-boy it's c-cold!" she said, shivering.

Aurora pulled away from Eclipse. "What are you doing?"

"I-I was just trying to keep us warm" Eclipse mumbled sheepishly, upset that Aurora had turned a cold shoulder on her.

'Well stop" Aurora said firmly "I need to get back to the castle, I feel so guilty leaving the other guards. They might need me to help them fight off the changelings."

"But... Aurora" Eclipse whined, wondering how to form the question that was burning in her mind "w-what if I need you? You can take care of yourself, but I'm going on this quest and without you, I'll be all alone. Wont you come with me?"

"No" Aurora said without hesitation "you're a unicorn, you can take care of yourself".

Eclipse flinched at the harshness in Aurora's voice "But-but it's to dangerous to go alone in the forest!"  she pleaded "if we separated, we'd both be in danger!"

"You just said that I can take care of myself, it's you who'd be in danger" Aurora said carelessly. She turned around, starting to walk away.

Eclipse was close to crying now, she was in love with a pony who couldn't care less about her. "But, but... you can't go back! I need you to protect me!" she choked through tears.

Suddenly, Aurora turned and yelled in Eclipse's face "No! Okay? I said no and that means no! What do you not understand about that? I will not come with you, I have to return to Canterlot and protect the ponies there! Not you! Protect yourself!" and with that, she turned and flew off.

Eclipse watched her leave, tears welling up in her eyes. She wanted to go after her, to tell Aurora how she felt, but she knew it was a lost cause. Instead she sat down in the grass and covered her face in her hooves, allowing the tears she had been holding back to spill out.

Eclipse didn't know how long she sat there, crying like a school filly who was unable to find out her talent, but after a long time she heard a rumble and a loud scream coming from the mountains to her right. She stopped crying and jerked her head upwards towards the sound. What she saw sent a chill down her spine: a large pile of boulders that were not there before, a rock slide!, and she thought she could make out a pale purple shape struggling with the rocks.

"I'll bet that's Aurora" Eclipse said, trying to force a little unkindness and arrogance into her voice to convince herself that she didn't care, but it wasn't enough to keep her from worrying about Aurora. She spent the next hour obsessing over weather she should go help Aurora. 'You heard her!' she told herself 'she said she doesn't need you! She probably doesn't even want your help. But.... I should still go help.... No! Yes!' After quarreling with herself like this for a while she finally rested on the decision: she would go find Aurora. "I just hope I'm not to late!"

        As Eclipse started the trek through the mountains, the wind had picked up and it had started to rain hard. 'Great,' Eclipse thought in agitation 'now not only is it cold and dark, but it's wet and windy now too!' She sighed and stopped the steady run she had been keeping up to briefly reach into her saddle bag, pushing past the letters, grab a hair tie she had brought, and tie her long hair back. At least it would keep her hair out of her eyes enough so she could see clearer.

       She wandered around another hour without any luck, calling Auroras name over and over, but just as she was about to give up, she saw some rocks move and saw a flash of pale purple to her left.

       Eclipse rushed over to where she had seen what she thought had been Aurora, but all that was there now was a pile of rocks. "Aurora Skies?" She called into the rocks before her. She pricked her ears, searching for a reply when she heard a weak "over here" coming from inside the rocks. Eclipse spent the next half hour removing the rocks one-by-one from the pile until the battered, unconscious form of Aurora was revealed.

       "Aurora?" Eclipse whispered softly into the mares ear. If Aurora heard Eclipse, she did a good job hiding it. "Don't worry, Aurora" Eclipse said, lifting the luckily lighter mare onto her back, "I'll get you to safety".