//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Eclipse 
// by Hiver 
//------------------------------//

Sounds rang through the forest, with birds, monkeys, and other creatures audible in the distance. Occasionally, the chirp of echolocation from a thestral flying through the forest rang out, both above and below.

Night vision or not, flying by sight in the middle of the night was a good way to lose an eye or run into something.

…Which is the entire point of why we had echolocation in the first place, I suppose.

I yawned, stretching and spreading my wings, arching my back before settling down on the thick branch again, resting my head on my hooves, eyes half-closed as I listened.

The sounds above were from Nocturnis proper.

The sounds below came from the lower town, mostly populated by earth ponies and unicorns who preferred to keep their hooves on the ground. Considering they didn't have wings, I couldn't blame them, especially now that the ground wasn't quite as lethal. It wasn't all of them; barely half had moved down so far.

What dangers remained could mostly be kept out with high walls and strong buildings. The shields kept the big ones out.

Stone and wooden walls kept the small ones out of the living areas, but that didn't mean it was safe. The guard patrolled both the upper and lower village day and night.

Since putting up the shield, we had yet to lose a pony to predators. Accidents were a different matter, but at least nopony had been eaten yet.

Fewer sounds came from below, as many of the day ponies were asleep. I couldn't blame them; it was just more natural for them to follow the cycle of the sun.

The majority were still thestrals, by far. Almost eighty percent were thestrals, and most of those still lived in the upper town, almost all following a nocturnal schedule.

So far, it worked.

I wasn't a huge fan of the separation; I had been worried it carried the risk of increasing the feelings some thestrals had about the rest of Equestria.

But everypony seemed happy so far. And it's not like everypony just kept to themselves. At dawn and dusk, there was a lot of traffic between the two halves. There wasn't a strict split either, with plenty of flow back and forth.

Everypony seemed comfortable with it, so I just let it go.

Right now, I was…

…hiding.

If I'm to be completely honest, I was hiding from my responsibilities. I was supposed to be doing paperwork right now, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

That's why I had snuck out while Flower Rain was away from the room.

In my defense, we were in the fifth hour, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I can continue later. Call me lazy if you will, but I'm just so tired of it.

That's why I was here, relaxing on a wide branch beneath the schoolhouse. I could hear laughter from inside, and it made me smile.

A reminder of why I did what I did. And why I should continue putting up with that paperwork… and everything else involved in my duties.

…Okay, I was being lazy. Everypony else was working, doing their best to keep this town, this idea of mine going and alive. From the foresters to the schoolteacher to the guards and the ponies working on the railroad.

And here I was, the pony responsible, hiding from paperwork.

“Hey.”

I startled, almost falling off the branch. Buck, I hadn't even heard her, too busy feeling sorry for myself to pay attention, “Hi Sparks,” I said and scooted to the side to give Twilight space to settle down next to me on the wide branch.

Twilight smiled and laid down next to me, her wing brushing across mine. She was wearing a pair of night-seeing goggles, “Hiding?” she asked quietly.

“...Yeah,” I admitted with a small sigh, glancing down.

Twilight leaned in and kissed my cheek, “Me too,” she said softly.

I blinked at her in surprise, "You? Hiding?"

She smiled a bit sheepishly, "Starlight is doing an audit on the budget for the lab. You know I normally don't mind lists and-"

I looked at her in shock, "What!? You do!?"

While I may not be able to see her eyes behind the goggles, I could tell what she was doing. The smack of her wing across my back helped get the point across.

"Yes, yes, laugh away," she grumbled, "But she's excessive. I think I liked her better as a villain."

Smiling, I scooted closer, nosing at her cheek as I brushed my wing along her back, "Did you meet your list match?"

Sparks muttered something that sounded a lot like "jump in the river" but she shifted to lean against me, resting her head against the side of my neck.

"…I didn't even know your lab had a budget," I admitted after a second, holding her softly.

Pulling back for a second, she looked at me before she sighed and returned to leaning against me, "You signed off on it."

"I signed off on a lot of stuff," I said before I frowned, "…Actually, thinking about it, having Starlight do audits is likely a good thing. Wonder who put her up to it."

Sparks frowned and pushed her goggles up to look at me in the darkness, "…You also did. Or rather, Tight Bit put it into the system and you signed it. Are you reading anything you sign?"

"Ah… Tight, that explains it," I admitted and bumped my nose against hers, "I have yet to see something from him less than twenty-five pages long, and it's always super dry. And in my defense, he writes like an accountant."

Twilight laughed softly and bumped her nose against my cheek, "Page, he is an accountant."

"Well, still."

She sighed and touched her horn against mine, "His papers can be a bit dry," she admitted after a second, "…We're going to have to come out of here sooner or later, you know."

"I know, I know," I said and nosed softly, "You can't see me at all, can you?"

She grinned, "Actually, I can just about see slight shapes. But it's pretty much just black without the goggles on. Mostly I can see your eyes; they glow… I like it," she said softly, and her horn brushed against mine as she cuddled against me, "I trust you won't let me fall."

I held her closer with my wing, smiling as I took in the scent of her mane. Now this was worth any amount of paperwork.

"We can stay a little longer, right?" I asked quietly.

Instead of answering, Twilight shifted slightly, getting a bit more comfortable with her head against my shoulder.

We stayed like that for several moments, listening to the laughter above before I nosed at her ear, "How did you find me anyway?" I asked quietly.

"Amber," Twilight answered just as quietly.

I love that bug.

There was a roar as it started to rain again. I guess we have to stay a bit longer, too bad. Getting myself comfortable, I pressed my nose against Twilight's mane.