//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Eclipse // by Hiver //------------------------------// “Wife.” “Husband,” Luna answered, looking down at me, her wings raised high as the dream realm shimmered around us. I looked into her eyes and took another step closer as she slowly lowered her head towards me until her nose touched mine. I looked up into her beautiful eyes, her mane shimmered beautifully. We stayed like that for several moments before we started to laugh at the same time as she sat down, forelegs and wings slipping around me as I sat down in turn, my own forelegs going around her as I captured her in a kiss. We stayed like that for several long moments before she broke the kiss, touching her nose against mine once more with a smile, “How was your night, My Page?” I sighed softly and leaned against her, brushing my wing along the soft down beneath her left wing, “It was a difficult night,” I admitted, “Two ponies had been arrested for fighting. Property damage. Some ponies were injured.” Luna sighed softly, “I’m sorry to hear that. Want to discuss it?” “Not really,” I admitted and let go, dropping down to put my hooves onto the not-floor, leaning softly against her, “Already have with Sparks. She’s miffed with me about it, she thought I was too tough on them.” “Were you?” “...No,” I said softly but firmly, “I don’t think I was.” Luna nodded and noses at one of my ears as she dropped back down on all four again, but keeping one wing around me, “Then you were not. I have not known you to be hasty in your judgment, My Page.” “I don’t know,” I said quietly, resting my head against her shoulder, “I was so furious at them.” “What was your sentence?” Luna asked with a small frown. I told her. Luna shook her head, “If anything, you were lenient, you silly stallion,” she said and brushed her lips against mine, “Should I talk to our Twilight?” “No,” I said and looked up at her, “It’s something between us.” Nodding, Luna touched her nose against mine, “I did speak with Twilight last day,” she said and brushed her wing along my back, “She said…” she trailed off before she sighed, “...She said you needed a vacation.” I let out a slightly annoyed sigh, “Perhaps I do, we call do,” and slipped out from beneath her wing, “But that’s not going to happen. I have already been away too much this year.” Luna folded her wing again, moving to stand next to me, looking down at me before she sighed softly, “Page, you are allowed to relax.” “I do relax,” I said, meeting her eyes, “I read, I started to write again. We went to Canterlot for Hearths Warming.” Luna flicked one ear, looking down into my eyes before she nodded, “As you say.” We walked quietly through the dream realm, side to side before I glanced at her, “How are things in Canterlot?” I asked. Smiling faintly, Luna shook her head, “You would not enjoy it. We have a minotaur delegation visiting us. They are belligerent at the best of times and their new ambassador doubly so it seems.” Hmh. I had met some minotaurs I liked, but in general they seemed to be on the confrontational side of things. More so than griffons actually. I quite liked griffons in general. “What are they on about this time?” I asked, glancing up at her, “That useless patch of grass between the Kingdoms?” “Not this time,” she said and fluffed her wings in slight annoyance, “Trade once more. They are displeased that we have shifted a majority of our negotiated trade towards the griffons.” I snorted, “Well, that’s their own damn fault. If they weren’t so damn stubborn about it, we wouldn’t get better deals on ore across a damn ocean than across a border.” Seriously. Maybe that was one reason I didn’t tend to like minotaurs. They were so stubborn. And also loud, especially since I got these bat ears. I don’t like generalizing like that. It felt dangerously close to what ponies had done to my bats before. But fairly sure loud was very much cultural at the very least. Stubborn might just be their negotiation style, I never actually been to their lands. And quite frankly I didn’t want to go there. I had enough problems where I was. “How’s Sunshine handling it?” I asked as I stopped to look up at Luna, “She never mentioned anything during our lessons.” “We are both attending to the negotiations,” Luna said, “They are held in the evenings. My sister is… stressed.” “Speaking of breaks,” I said and smiled up at her, “If you think I need a vacation, Sunshine needs one ten times as much. I’ve done this for a couple of years, even with the couple of weeks off she took a few years ago, her backlog is huge.” Luna shifted one wing, slipping it across my back as she nodded, “And not me?” “You too, My Sky,” I said, looking up into her eyes, leaning against her side with a small smile, “And I have some ideas about that.” Luna smiled slightly, nose touching mine once more, “But you are very right. My sister needs to learn how to relax as well, she has always been too uptight,” she said before she frowned at me, “...Perhaps you should not be learning that lesson from her.” I smiled up at her, flicking one ear and giving her a small kiss, “Perhaps you could teach me some recreational activities? Something… stress relieving?” “Perhaps I can,” Luna murmured, her wing pulling me tighter.