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Ysbrydnos trotted cheerily through the woods with a bouncy spring in his step. The crunch of the fallen leaves under his hooves was immensely satisfying and brightened his already high spirits. As he went along he neared the path that led to the meadow where his friend lived and wondered if she was enjoying the day as well. He doubted it because she was always so seriously engaged with exploring her curiosity. She never slowed down enough to notice the small joys in life. He doubted she even considered him a friend. He laughed silently to himself as his feet took him down her path. Well that's why he was friend. To remind her that such things existed.

It wasn't long until he came upon her staring at some marks she had scratched into the dirt. He didn't even try to figure out what it was supposed to be but he still scooted up beside her and stamped his feet to alert her of his presence.

Ciel d'or, or Lemon as everyone else seemed to insist on calling her, had forgottento sleep again. She stared with furrowed brow the chart she had made of the moon's path the past couple of weeks, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. If her calculations were correct it looked as though it were on a collision course with the sun. But something about that conclusion didn't quite sit right with her. And she was trying to figure out the the alternative could be. She need to study the sky more.

It was at that point that she heard a familiar shuffle and stomp settle in next to her.
"Nos" she said without even looking at him. "I need you to carry my instruments for me." It was very fortuitous that he had showed up at just that moment. He always seemed to be around to help when she needed.

The diminutive stallion happily pranced over to where the packs that Lemon kept just for these occasions were kept and slipped expertly into them so that she could start loading him down with whatever tools she was planning on taking. It was a matter of moments before the preparations were complete and Lemon spread her wings and took flight for a tall rocky outcropping nearby. Nos flicked his tail in amusement and took off after her, only laboring slightly more than usual under the load of her stuff.

Once Lemon had found a spot that she liked she quickly unloaded him and proceeded to ignore him as she set about her work. Nos trotted a little bit away, far enough to not disturb her but not so far as to be out of earshot if she decided she needed him for something, and started amusing himself by piling up leaves and then scattering then by rolling in them.

WC: 476

Nos was enjoying his play so much that he hadn't noticed his dad had approached until he called out. Upon hearing Seren's voice he rolled out of his leaf pile and leaped to his feet trotting a happy circle around his dad. With a grin he looked back and forth between the leaves and his dad in response to the question. He then snorted in the direction that led up the hill to where Lemon was and rolled his eyes good naturedly in an attempt to tell his dad that he'd been used as a pack animal again. At that moment Lemon let out a shout. Which was a very odd thing for her to do. Nos flicked his ears back and forth for a second while looking at Seren before he spun and loped up the hill to where Lemon was.

Lemon was where he had left her but she was standing in full alert, her eyes locked on the sky while she muttered to herself. Nos followed her gaze and when he saw what she was so focused on every hair on his body stood on end. There was a darkness slowly sliding across the brightness of the sun. The sky was growing darker and darker as it creeped along. Nos stomped his feet and swished his tail hard in an attempt to get his friends attention.

Without even looking at him Lemon finally broke the silence that was starting to fall over the area as the darkness crept on. "It's the moon. But I don't know why. I've never seen this before." That was all she gave him before she turned to her instruments and began to mutter to herself about things that Nos didn't understand. All he was able to pick out was "Hope they don't collide . . ." which did nothing to ease him back from the edge his nerves were on. He looked around for his dad to see what he thought of all this. If the shadow continued as it was it would soon be as dark as night.

WC:344

Lemon acknowledged Seren’s offer with a slight nod but didn’t look up or stop her muttering as she made adjustments and notes about what they were witnessing. After about an hour of the darkness deepening and the sun slowly sliding from view she finally looked up at the other two and announced: “All we can do is wait. As the moon is still moving the only conclusion that I can come to is that we are safe for the time being and it will eventually pass by. Hopefully. I suggest if you pray to do so.”

Nos couldn’t settle down. Without either his dad and his friend, two of the smartest people he knew, not knowing what was going on he knew something was really wrong. When Lemon finally turned to them with the news all they could do was wait, he snorted in stressed annoyance and flopped down to lay on the ground. It wasn’t long before he was in his feet again and pacing, looking back and forth between his friends and the now silent woods that surrounded them.

The time slid slowly by and while Lemon no longer pores over her instruments she continued to what the progression of the moon as its bulk slowly consumed the surface of the sun. She watched in a sense of awe, getting the attention of the other two to watch with her, as just before the sun wholly disappeared the moon shone brilliant beads of light around the shadow. Then it was gone and the world became dark as night while overhead a ring that was all that was left of the sun glowed in the sky.

“The sun has an atmosphere!” Lemon declared with glee as she turned back to her setup and began making furious notes.
Nos was a bit bewildered by his friend’s reaction and looked to his dad with a long suffering expression. Though as scary as this whole thing was he had to admit the sun did look pretty like that. He finally stopped pacing and went to stand next to his dad to admire the view.

The darkness stretched on for minutes. It felt like an eternity. Then, just when Nos began to wonder if this was going to be their new life he began to notice a ring of light beginning to reappear along the edge of the shadow. It was still moving and was going to move out of the way! The light was going to come back! Of course Lemon had mentioned something about it but sitting in that dark it had been hard to believe.

WC: 435

Despite the darkness clinging on for some hours the promise of a return to light had Nos bouncing around as they waited for Lemon to finish her research into what was happening. When Seren commented on it not having been so bad Nos couldn’t help but let out one of his silent laughs. He couldn’t agree. The experience had been frightening and they still couldn’t be sure what it had meant or if it was going to happen again. Hopefully Lemon would be able to shed some light on the situation, pun intended, once she had a chance to go over her findings in more detail.

As more and more light came back Lemon began packing up her belongings and with a nod to the two small stallions she spread her wings and flew off back toward her home, a stack of notes held in her muzzle. The sounds of the animals slowly began to return as everyone awakens to the new false dawn.

Nos dutifully got himself back into his pack harness but rather than take to the sky’s as he had to get there he started walking down the hill with a smile at his dad, his tail waving in an invitation to walk with him so they could enjoy the fall leaves and return to light together on the return to Lemon’s home. Maybe they could even ask anyone they encountered on the way what they thought of this strange eclipse of the sun. He wondered if this was going to bring about some sort of change to life. It had been a strange omen. Or if maybe it was just a completely random occurrence. There was much to think about.

WC:284

Total WC: 2093