Lunar Skies

by Bonk

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna
Length: 1030

Luna performs a once-in-a-lifetime event for Equestria.

Luna performs a once-in-a-lifetime event on a clear night.

Based on the real astronomical "Harvest Moon" event.

Alternate universe: The transformation into Nightmare Moon has not happened.

Cover art by Silverlinings.

Published 2014-10-21 01:50:07 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-21 01:50:07 UTC

Lunar Skies

The many lights of Canterlot shone at this hour to dissipate the darkness of night for those who chose to travel under my protection than my sister's. Tonight however, they would also be my own guide home, as no other city glowed as Canterlot did.

I felt the wind soar past my wings as I ascended higher and higher into the sky, my destination coming closer and closer towards me. No longer was the visible through artificial light of lamps and candles of the sort; now it was my own creations' doings as they twinkled in the sky, lighting up the world above the clouds alongside thy moon. Even as an immortal with thousands of years of experiencing the world and its qualities, the beauty of the night was breathtaking. To think this kind of art would forever be mine to display and represent made my heart soar.

Realizing I had gotten far too self-praising and had almost forgotten my original purpose, I continued to rise until I had finally arrived at my destination; Magni Transitus Lunae, or as would be translated in today's language from old Equestrian, "The Great Lunar Passage," though I feel calling it a "passage" is rather incorrect as a description. Rather, a location with a magical link between myself and thy moon that gives me control over it, allowing me to raise and set it as necessary. Only I know of the actual location of the link, as Celestia only knows the location of her sun's link, Magni Solis Transitus.

I focused my magic into my horn, and concentrated on my target. I could feel my magic being sucked into the rock of the moon, the celestial body taking much more force than normal to move when not in the proper cyclic times. The moon continued to resist against my will for some time, before I finally felt it begin to bend to my will. Seizing the brief moment of weakness, I forced a large amount of magic straight through the passage into the rock, beginning the transformation.

The transformation began quite slowly, more than once making me question myself on whether it was actually affecting the large rock, but soon I began to see the tint turning pinkish, urging me to continue. I continued to push, and the moon continued to turn pink before becoming red. It continued to turn redder and redder until it was the crimson hue I wanted.

For the final phase of my spell, I began to overload my horn with magic and pumped it through the Magni Transitus Lunae, making the rock in the sky glow as bright as the adjacent stars. Almost immediately, I began to feel the overexertion of magic take its toll, but I continued without hesitation. I wouldn't have the power of alignment among the stars for possibly centuries, and this would be a once in a lifetime event for most of Equestria's living residents. I tried to retain my grip on the temporary transformation, but I could feel it slipping from my grasp.

With a final burst of magic, I forced the moon to glow the brightest it had in over 400 years, putting the stars to shame. With such light came great consequences however, and the burdening headache from magic drought made that ever so loud and clear. The celestial body would remain crimson for the night however, and was worth every bit of magic.

Instead of simply staying in the air and continuing to complain, I tucked in my wings and let gravity do the work of bringing me back to Equestria. The roar of the oncoming air stream rung in my ears, but I didn't care; I found it comforting more than anything. A noise to be heard, not just deathlike silence among the night. My night.

I opened my eyes to see the ground coming ever so closer with every moment. Just before reaching what I thought to be the point of no return, I flung open my wings and glided off of my momentum. My wings had been feeling so tense of late that it felt quite relaxing to fly free for a change. Having gotten a bit too close to the ground for comfort, I began to ascend once again, this time heading back towards Canterlot.

As I ventured closer to the large city, I began to notice ponies leaving their homes. They were all staring up at the now crimson moon with awestruck faces that I could see from the clouds. It felt quite good to know someponies still appreciate my work in the sky.

Some foals began to cry at the sight of the irregularly colored moon, much to my dismay. I knew they meant no offense to me or even my moon, but it still was slightly damaging to my confidence.

That confidence lost however was quickly regained when I spotted the large number of ponies heading toward the mountain side to get an even better view of the moon. A few even held telescopes, to my surprise. It seemed strange to me that these nobles would have telescopes the way they're rather stingy with their money if it isn't involving their homes, but that also didn't important at the time.

As I gazed down on the large city, everything seemed to be silent chaos; everypony wanted a good glimpse of the crimson rock, but yet no one seemed to say anything. It was just dead silence, the best kind of silence in my own opinion. Still, I had taken far too long and began to return to my home.

With a final glide, I touched down on my room's balcony. Before I walked inside to prepare for the Night Court, I took one last look at my creation among the stars, shining down on the land.

With a sigh, I turned and closed the balcony doors with my magic, ending my enlonged freedom and returning to my royal duties as Princess of the Night.

Author's Note

Edited by Silverlinings.
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Used Google Translate for "The Great... Passage" section, so I'm sorry if it's incorrect.