"A picnic?" Astral repeated incredulously. Eclipse nodded, an almost . . remorseful look on her face.
"Yeah, it's really boring at Canterlot right now" he said, lightly scratching the ground with his front paws. "and there's this nice spot by the ocean that I know, but I don't want to go alone so-"
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah," Astral said as she levitated her saddlebags off her body. "let's do this. Give me a second to get ready?"
The look he gave her was like Astral herself had hung his mom's moon in the sky.
"You have got to be kidding" Astral said, breath misting in the air as she shivered. She was wearing her scarf, but it was doing absolutely nothing to relieve the icy cold landscape.
They were near the ocean alright, but Eclipse forgot to mention that it was a frozen tundra of a landscape. Or maybe he just didn't think of it, since he couldn't feel the cold. That didn't mean he wasn't worthy of a death glare though.
But he wasn't bothered by that. "Come on!" He said, pulling her along. "You have got to see this!" He started bounding through the fluffy snow and slippery ice easily, while Astral trudged behind, her short legs and thin coat meaning she was becoming soaking wet.
"Where are we going?" She asked as Eclipse came to a stop at the edge of the cliffs towering above the water far, far below. And then he walked straight off it.
"Lip!" She screamed, hind legs exploding out beneath her as she streaked to the edge. She skidded to a stop, front hooves almost going over the edge in her haste to find her oldest friend.
Oh, you absolute idiot. You better of have teleported away, I swear to Gods.
"What are you yelling about?"
Eclipse stood nonchalantly on his hind legs on a chiseled out ledge a few feet below her, with his front paws on the vertical wall that was the cliff and smirking slightly. Astral wanted to slap it off of his face, and had to take a deep breath, closing her eyes for a minute to stop herself from punching him.
When she opened them again, she could see that the ledge Eclipse was standing on was not a ledge, but a staircase of sorts, worn away by the ocean, but carefully chiseled for creatures to walk down to a small sliver of land below. It was easy for her to scramble down beside him.
And deliver a punch straight into his chest.
"Whoa!" Eclipse yelped, the breathe knocked out of him as his paws massaged the place where Astral had hit him. "What was that for?"
"Don't ever do that again, you absolute idiot!"
Eclipse suddenly realized that she was shaking slightly, and that maybe stepping off a cliff in front of your best friend was not the best way to go. "Not funny?" He asked, in a sheepish apology.
"Not funny. At all. You idiot."
Which, for them, meant 'you're forgiven, but feelings are gross' so Eclipse brightened up and once more beckoned her on, gesturing down the staircase.
"C'mon, just a hop, skip and a jump."
"I dread the day you and Pinkie team up" Astral deadpanned as they carefully made their way down the steps. Astral didn't really mind the idea of falling off, since both she and Eclipse could fly and teleport away if it need be, but it was kind of nerve wracking when their hooves slipped on the slick ice covering the stones.
Twenty minutes later, the two stood at the bottom of the cliffs, a small sliver of a stone beach that hadn't been taken by the ocean. The sea stretched on until the horizon, a grey-green color with white flecks dancing in it. Astral never really saw the sea that much, so she was always impressed with how it looked.
Eclipse led her to a small mound of rocks that gave them a slightly higher view of the place, and Eclipse put down the picnic basket he had brought with them, taking out a batch of brownies. Enthused, Astral immediately scoffed down three as Eclipse watched incredulously.
"How are you so skinny?" He asked incredulously, and Astral hit him halfheartedly with her tail and offered him some hot chocolate with marshmallows.
He took a sip, and his muzzle crinkled slightly as his eyes narrowed. "Sickening. Disgusting. Not right for royalty" he smiled suddenly, all sharp teeth. "More please."
That got a laugh out of Astral but Eclipse shushed her with a paw. "Look, look!" He said, pointing up at the sky. Astral followed his paw to the strange sight of the moon rising in the middle of the day. It seemed huge, much bigger than usual, silver and ethereal. It bathed the cliffs in silver light and was so bright that Astral had to screw up her eyes for a moment.
Astral gazed up in wonder. "It's . . . it's .."
Eclipse looked at her from the corner of his eyes as he casually took another sip of hot chocolate. "Not bad, eh?" He asked, before shrugging. "Though, when your mom is the Demigoddess of the Moon, a lot of moon rises start to look the same."
She gaped at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" At his little nod, a scowl formed. "Why do you do that? Why do you have to spoil-"
"Look at the sea." Eclipse interrupted. "Look at the sea."
Turning her head, Astral's impending sulk was immediately aborted.
The moon was reflected in the water, but instead of just being silvery white, the water was painted a swirling blue, silver and green. The flecks of white that had been previously dancing in the sea now seemed to be circling each other in ripples. When the waves crashed up against the cliffs, the foam was rainbow, reflected light through water.
Stunned, Astral turned to look at Eclipse out of the corner of her eyes, and her breath caught at the look of rapture on his face. His silver fur was white in the glare of the moon and his eyes seemed more like galaxies now.
Astral remembered a very long time ago, Eclipse and Anarchy telling her they were tied to water and stars respectively. He loved water.
His eyes weren't like galaxies, she realized. They were galaxies. He had actual stars in his eyes. Huh. Didn't know he could do that.
Leaning over slightly, she laid her head down on his shoulder, waiting for him to move away, but he never did.
So they stayed, drenched in the moonlight and were content