//------------------------------//
// 2. Day off 
// Story: Project Eclipse 
// by Borsuq 
//------------------------------//

Eastin quivered under Fillydelphia, too terrified to look into her eyes.
"Soldier Fillydelphia," Counselor said, "While the Director, as well as I, prefer to not interfere with the partnered soldiers' relationships, I'm afraid he would be most unpleased if he found out that you traumatized soldier Eastin in less than a minute after being introduced to him."
The pegasus glanced at the Counselor as he spoke, and snorted when he finished, but nonetheless, she jumped off Eastin. E picked himself from the ground, moaning slightly from pain, as the Counselor continued to address Filly.
"Remember, soldier Fillydelphia, that you two have been partnered together to help you deal with your... flows, so to speak. In your case, we are hoping that being partnered with soldier Eastin will make you... calmer."
"I'm always calm." Filly replied.
"Didn't she slam Hoofington through a tree during training today?" E wondered.
"You make a good point, Fillydelphia." the Counselor admitted. "Perhaps it would be more correct to say... less violent?"
Filly snorted again.
"If you and the Director didn't want me to be 'violent', you shouldn't have partnered me with that pig Hoof."
"Perhaps, but before I leave the two of you alone, I would like to remind you about tomorrow free day, and the joined training with one on one matches day after that."
Both E and Filly nodded. At the same moment, a scroll appeared out of nowhere in front of the unicorn. He quickly grabbed it with his magic, unrolled it and read the message.
"It would appear that I have more news for the two of you." the Counselor said after few moments. "Both of you have been scheduled for Augmentation Process."
E perked up as he heard Counselor's words, feeling a built conflicted. On one hoof, he felt excited at the prospect of going through augmentation, seeing as everypony got amazing powers from it, but on the other, he was scared.
"What if it hurts? What if it doesn't work? What if I end up exploded?!?"
Filly didn't seem to share his concerns.
"About time." she snorted. "Although considering how well I managed past month and a half, I would dare to say I don't need it."
"You’re scheduled for augmentation in three days, the day after the joined training and the match, solider Fillydelphia." the unicorn said, no reacting to her comment. "Soldier Eastin, you’re scheduled for the process a week later. Well then, I believe that's all. I will see the two of you in two days."
Eastin and Filly saluted, and the Counselor's horn flashed. In a blink of an eye, he was gone.
Eastin glanced at pegasus, who glanced back at him. Afraid that she was going to attack him again, he jumped back, uttering a single 'eek' sound by accident, much to his dismay. Filly rolled her eyes and turned away from him, entering his - theirs - quarters, beckoning him with her tail to follow. E swallowed hard and went in after her.
Immediately he noticed few changes in his standard three roomed 'home', which composed of living room/bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, so he could make himself a breakfast evening meal if he didn't feel like going to the dining hall. There was now another bed, as well as some Filly's private things.
"Let’s set up some ground rules." the pegasus said, jumping unto her bed.
"Ground rules?"
"Do not try to walk in on me when I'm taking shower, don't make any sex jokes, don't try to..."
"Err... Fillydelphia..." E interrupted her.
"What?" Filly asked him, causing him to cringe. She rolled her eyes again.
"Um... are you just going to tell me to not do the things Hoofington kept doing?"
"Yes." Filly replied, and then added: "I thought you haven't met him yet."
"I didn't, but Batli mentioned to me how exactly he... acts." E explained, poking the floor with his hoof uncomfortably.
"Well, I guess Balti's brutal honesty has its good sides." she said, shrugging. "Hard to believe they are twins, isn't it?"
"They're twins?" Eastin asked, surprised. "She didn't seem concerned that you slammed him into a tree today at all."
"Considering the joke he made, I'm not surprised. Maybe Los will do everypony a favor and murder him."
"He's partnered with Los now?"
That was even bigger surprise. Until now, Los was the only pony besides E who wasn't partnered with anypony, due to his asociality.
"I guess they want to improve Los social's skills - which will work great, as everypony can already tell - and they probably hope Hoof will tune down if he's stuck with a pony who says about three words a day."
"So... I take you're glad to no longer be partnered with him?"
"That's an understatement. Although, I will miss punching him in the face as he slept during the night."
Eastin's eyes went wide.
"Err... you're kidding, right?" he asked nervously.
"No. Why?"
"Um... No reason." E replied, looking at the ground.
"This is going to be the worst, night, ever. Of all time."





Crystal yawned as she woke up, and stretched her forelegs, wrapping them around Canterlot.
"Good morning." she said sleepily, nuzzling his cheek.
"Good morning." Cant replied, being completely awake.
Crys yawned again. She could easily guess that he woke up at least few hours earlier, as he always did when something worried him.
"You're still worried about E?" the unicorn asked him, rubbing her eyes.
Canterlot sighed.
"Not only he is going to have that thing's magical essence and hormones injected into him, but he was paired with Fillydelphia. Of course I'm worried."
"She's not that bad as you colts make her to be." Crys defended her fellow mare, poking Canter with her hoof.
"Au!"
"E will be fine, as long as he doesn't act like Hoof." she added, smirking.
They both giggled, imagining shy Eastin acting like juvenile Hoofington.
"But still..." the earth pony said, trying to get back to the subject.”If they're going to be augmented with that..."
"The Director wouldn't order it if it was too dangerous. Stop worrying."
"Sometimes, I wonder about that..." he muttered.
"What do you mean?" Crys asked, faster than she intended.
Cant sighed again.
"Nothing." he said and he stretched. "I'm guessing you want to go for some training, huh?"
Crystal smiled as she nuzzled him.
"No not really."
The stallion's eyes widen as he looked at his partner.
"Excuse me?" he asked after the shock passed.
"I figured that after previous mission, and the stressful field report, we deserve a day off."
Canterlot continued to stare at her, and finally asked:
"Okay, who are you, and what did you do with Crys?"
"Very funny." the unicorn, replied, poking him with her horn.
"Au!" the earth pony exclaimed, chuckling. "Fine, it's you. But since when Miss Number One, that always have to be perfect, takes a whole day off?"
Instead of answering right away, Crystal rolled over, so that she now lay on top of Canterlot, and kissed him. He was surprised, but in pleasant way, and he wrapped his forelegs around her as they both opened their mouths wider, deepening the kiss. After few moments, Crys broke the kiss and pulled up.
"Since I found out that spending time in bed with you can be much more enjoyable." she purred.
"Well, I guess that answer is good enough for me." Cant replied, smirking.
"So..." Crystal said, brushing his chest with hoof. "Do you want to do something specific? Maybe play 'slave and master'? I always wondered how it was like to be a slave."
Canterlot chuckled and rolled them over. Now he was pinning her down.
"As much as idea of THE Crystal being my slave is amusing, I would find it too hard to treat my princess like slave." he murmured as he began to kiss her neck.
"You're no fun." Crys giggled.
She liked when he called her 'princess', even though he originally meant that to be an insult when they first met. Crystal moaned as his hooves caressed her body, and she whispered in singing voice:
"This day is going to be perfect..."





E woke up, and, to his surprise, he didn't feel any kind of pain. He immediately risen, and looked for Filly. She was nowhere in sight, but guessing by the noises coming from the bathroom, she was taking shower.
Eastin checked his body, just to be sure. He sighed with relief; if Filly didn't punch him, then maybe she wasn't going to be so hard to live with as he first thought. He rubbed his chin as he pondered about what he could do to make her friendlier.





Fillydelphia walked out of the bathroom, toweling of her mane, when a very tasty smell attacked her nostrils. Throwing the towel back, she looked around for the source of it. The scent appeared to be coming from the kitchen. She trotted over there to find E putting pancakes on the table.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
The earth pony cringed and jumped away. Filly once again rolled her eyes. She recalled Cloud telling her that E was very shy and nervous, but this was ridiculous. He got scared of her so easily she couldn't even get any joy out of it.
"Um... I thought that you might want some pancakes for breakfast." E replied when he got a hold of himself, although he still shook a bit. "You don't like pancakes?"
Filly giggled, despite herself: the look of pain on E's face, mixed with his fear and nervousness...
"He's just too adorable." Filly thought as she fought to return to her usual seriousness.
"I-I could make you something else if..."
"Pancakes will be fine." she interrupted him, sitting by the table. "Thanks."
"You’re welcome!" he replied, brightening up, as he joined her, although somehow sheepishly.
They continued to eat the pancakes the colt made for next several minutes. Filly had to admit, that was quite good. She made a mental note to ask him someday where he learned to cook this well.
"After we finish, we're going to the Simulation Room for some training." Filly told him.
E cringed.
"But... today is our day off..."
"I want to know what you're capable of." she cut Eastin off. Noticing the hurt on his face, she sighed, and said in a much softer tone: "Look, how about this: we're going to train for few hours, eat dinner, and then I'll show you something cool. Sounds good?"
"Is he really older than me?" Filly wondered as the colt brightened and nodded, although he was still scared.





"Okay, ready?" she asked the earth pony.
Eastin nodded, shifting his weight from one hoof to another. The runes in the Simulation Room were enchanted so they could be used by everypony, not just the unicorns, so Filly managed to set the room to look like the usual training terrain.
She was thankful that E made the breakfast. If they went into the dining hall, they would probably bump into the others, and some (most likely Mane, Trot and Cloud, his closest friends, and maybe Cant) would insist on joining them out of fear what she would do to him. Filly preferred for now if it would be just the two of them, so she could get to know how good his fighting skills were before tomorrow.
"Guessing by how he is behind everypony on the Leaderboard, they probably aren't high." she mused. "If what I heard is true, his main strength lies in intelligence and perception. He is quite good at coming up with battle strategies, but then there is the problem with his nerves..."
She shook her head and focused.
"Now, take a moment to think everything through, and attack me."
"A-attack you?" E sutured, swallowing hard.
"Oh, for Pete's sake..."
"You would still have to fight with somepony tomorrow, you know." she reminded him. "You might as well get used to the idea. Either way, you have a minute - if you don't attack by then, I will. But, if you will make me wait that long I won't go easy on you. Got it?"
E nodded, and closed his eyes.
"Well this will take some time..." Filly thought as she started counting, but in about five seconds, the colt opened his eyes. "Already?!?"
"Well, what are you waiting for?" she taunted him, hoping this would give him some boost. "An invitation, or...
She quickly stopped talking as E jumped at her unexpectedly. She flapped her wings and flew up a meter into the air to dodge, and was about to turn around, when Eastin grabbed her tail with his teeth and pulled her back. Filly was so astonished that she couldn't overpower him in time, and instead of flying away from him, she head to whirl in the air, so her head, instead of being punched by his hoof, slammed into his head, leaving him dizzy.
"That was quite good." Filly commented after she pinned him to the ground a second later. "But I hope that you have more than just an element of surprise on your side. It won't work again."
She wasn't being exactly honest. His trick was more than 'quite good'. If it wasn't for the experience from the previous one on one match, where she was fighting Los, and had to resort to using agility due to stallion's ridiculous strength, she wouldn't have dodged E's hoof in time.
"This could be interesting..." she admitted in her thoughts, looking into Eastin's yellow eyes.
"I thought that the key to victory was the element of surprise." the colt said in pained voice, still dizzy from the blow.
"True, but you can't always relay on it." Filly told him, wondering if she hurt him more than she intended.
Suddenly, his eyes focused on her.
"Surprise!" he said as he spit right into her eyes.
Filly quickly closed her eyes and backed away, trying to wipe his saliva from her face, when she felt that E hit her knees, causing her to fall. Now it was he who was pinning her to the ground.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry!" he exclaimed almost at once, as if he woke up or something. "Are you okay?!?" he screamed as Filly kicked him away.
Now, she was pissed.





"Okay, I may have overreacted." Filly admitted as they left the infirmary, although she didn't sound too sorry.
They training went on for few hours, although it mostly consisted of E running away from enraged Filly. He was thankful for her that she set up the Simulation Room to have some trees, otherwise getting away from a pegasus would be plainly impossible. They did managed to exchange few blows, hence the infirmary. Thankfully, Project Eclipse's medical team was composed of unicorns that were great with healing spells, so soon all that remained of his injuries was just aching in some places.
"It's no big deal..." E said, moving his hindlegs carefully; his groin took most of the Filly's attacks.
For some reason, his comment made her frown and look around, as if she was searching for somepony. She sighed.
"Let’s go eat something."
They trotted over to the dining hall, which was empty, save for one very big and muscular white pegasus with orange mane, whose cutie mark was two big weights.
"Hey Los." Filly greeted him with a nod. "Where is everypony else?"
Los Pegasus shrugged in response. Filly sighed.
"Where were you all day?" she tried different approach.
"Gym." he replied.
E glanced at Filly and noticed that her eyelid twitched.





"So, are we going?" Filly asked him when they left twenty minutes later.
"Where?" E asked her, feeling nervous again.
"I told you I will show you something cool, right?"
E completely had forgotten about that.
"What is it?" he asked, jumping up and down like a little foal, until Filly glanced at him.
He immediately ceased and looked at the ground, blushing with shame. To his surprise, he heard her giggle. He looked up, but she was staring calmly in front of them.
"Did I just imagine it?"
"You will see." Filly replied to his question.
"But... isn't that the boundary of the compound?"  E asked as he noticed that they were heading towards the perimeter fence.
"Yes, what I want to show you is on the other side."
"Wha... outside of the compound?!? That's against the protocol! We can't leave the compound unless we are on a mission or on a leave!" he tried to protest.
"Actually, it doesn't say anything about the compound." Filly corrected. "We just can't leave."
"But..." E said as he recalled the words from the protocol. She was right. "Still, I wouldn't want to get into trouble."
Fillydelphia rolled her eyes.
"Fine, if they catch us, you can tell that I forced you." she snorted as she flew up into the air. "Now don't move."
Filly grabbed him around his forelegs and she lifted him over the fence. They landed on the other side, and Filly guided him in between the trees.
"How far is this 'something cool'?" E asked her as he ran to catch up with her.
"Actually, we're here." the pegasus replied calmly, stopping him with her hoof.
Eastin's eyes shifted from her face to what was in front of him... only to realize that there was nothing.
He shouted in fear as he jumped back from the edge, causing Filly to laugh.
"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." she said, pressing hoof to her mouth.
E shook and crept closer. He glanced over the edge carefully, gazing at the white clouds below them with eyes wide open.
"I figured that you've never been to the edge." Filly told him, still giggling. "So, do you like it?"
"Yeah." E answered, mesmerized by the sight of clouds being below them. "I was here so long that I've forgotten we're on a flying island. Do you know over which part of Equestria we are right now?"
She shook her head.
"Those clouds are supposed to hide the Floating Island from the sight of the ponies on land, remember? That means they're obscuring our sight as well, all the time."
"Yes, but you could fly down and look." he suggested.
"Are you saying that you want to stay by the edge by yourself?" Filly asked him, raising an eyebrow.
"Err... no, I don't think I want that." E admitted.
"Thought so." she replied, and laid dawn, stretching her forelegs over the edge. "I like coming here. It's peaceful and quiet, and Hoof can't get here to bother me."
E smiled at that; he didn't take her for a pony that enjoyed peace and quiet. E laid down next to her, although he didn't stretched the slightest part of his body over the edge. They stayed like this for few moments, when a chilly breeze swept over them. Eastin cringed.
"Cold?" Filly asked him.
"A bit." E admitted, looking at the clouds below them. wondering how far away from the land they were.
Suddenly, he felt Filly moving up closer to him, and something warm wrapping over his back. He glanced and saw that she stretched her right wing.
"If you tell anypony I was this nice, I will hit you in the balls again." she told him, although she didn't sound to threatening at the moment.
"My lips are sealed. Thanks." E said, smiling. "You know, you're not as bad as Mane and Trot made you to be."
"Oh really?" Filly got interested at that. "And what did they say, exactly?"
"Um... nothing." he lied, beginning to fear her again.
Fillydelphia turns her head to regard him. Looking into her angry moderate cerise eyes, he could tell she know what they said.
"What. Did. They. Say."
"Um... that you are very strong, and..." he mumbled as he moved away from her, keeping an eye out for the edge.
"What. Did they. Say about me." she repeated, still calm, but growing more frustrated, as she followed him.
"They... um... they..." the earth pony staggered as he felt his flank bump into a tree.
"E." Filly said, stopping few centimeters away from his face.
E gulped.
"They called you bitch." he said and turned his head away, afraid she would hit him.
For few moments, there was silence. Curious, E glanced at her. She was still gazing at him.
"Well then." she said, surprisingly calm. "Somepony is gonna get kicked in the balls to death tomorrow."