Blood Moon

Two weeks had passed and Luna was still in the Crystal Empire. While she had been released from the hospital and was staying with Cadence, she was still in a hurry to get home and resume her normal routines. With Lyra by her side almost constantly, her healing process was moving along faster than it normally would but it still wasn't fast enough for Luna.

On a normal morning Luna woke up to find Lyra sitting by her bedside. Luna yawned and said, "Well Lyra, I think we should see if I can walk on my own yet."

Luna had been able to walk on her own for very short distances but most of her walking had been achieved while Lyra held on to her with her aura. Lyra replied, "Well we'll see but if you begin to fall, I'm grabbing a hold of you."

Luna began to get out of bed and stood tall before beginning to walk. While she was able to take a few steps on her own, very quickly she began to fall and Lyra had to grab her. Luna sighed, "Lyra, can we please see if we can go up to the library today? Can we see if Cadence has any healing books?"

Lyra replied, "Your Majesty....."

Luna interrupted, "Lyra, we have grown close enough now that I would prefer if you would just call me Luna. There is no need to be so formal with me anymore."

Lyra replied, "Luna, you can't walk more than just a few steps before you need my help. How are you supposed to get up an entire flight of stairs. Even with my help, that will be very hard on you."

Luna stuck out her bottom lip and begged, "Please."

Lyra replied, "Alright but there is no guarantee there is one and even if there is, there is no guarantee I'll be able to learn it as quickly as you would hope." Her stomach began to growl as she continued, "Well let's get some breakfast. I'm sure things will work better if both of us have full stomachs."

Luna nodded and they headed to the dining hall where they were greeted by Cadence. Something seemed different about Luna to Cadence. Given that she had been a bit depressed lately she had a slight smile on her face. Cadence asked, "Luna, what is up with the smile?"

Luna got a nervous look on her face as she worried that Cadence may suspect something is going on. Cadence cast her gaze at Lyra and asked, "Lyra, do you know why she is smiling a little bit?"

Lyra replied, "Honestly I don't. Maybe she is feeling better overall and that is why."

Cadence sighed, "Well I saw that you still have to aid her in walking so she hasn't gotten much better since she got out of the hospital."

Luna asked, "Cadence, I am just happy that Lyra is by my side."

Cadence knew she was just making an excuse to cover up her real reason. She asked, "Luna, what is your real reason for that smile?"

Luna replied, "Well after physical therapy today Lyra told me that she was going to help me get up to the library so I can do some reading. I just want to stimulate my brain a bit."

Cadence sighed, "Uh, huh. Well regarding going to the hospital, you may as well not bother because the physical therapist is out today so you'll have to find another way to get your exercise."

Lyra replied, "Don't worry your Majesty, I'll make sure that she works her muscles."

Cadence smiled, "Good, now let's eat some breakfast. I have a long day ahead of me."

When Luna heard Cadence say that she had a long day ahead of her, she was elated. She realized that this would be the perfect chance for Lyra to find a spell, learn it and cast it on her and not have Cadence know about it.

After breakfast Cadence headed to the throne room for a day full of meetings with dignitaries across Equestria while Luna and Lyra headed towards the library. The first thing they were greeted by was a long, steep staircase. Luna looked at it nervously and asked, "Well shall we?"

Lyra asked, "Are you sure you are going to make it? Even with me holding on to you it won't be easy."

Luna stood tall and replied, "Yes, I am certain. I want to be back to my old self as soon as possible."

Lyra said, "Well alright but don't get mad if there aren't any spells."

Luna nodded and began to try to ascend the staircase. Very quickly Lyra had to grab a hold of her and assist her the rest of the way. Once they got up the stairs they headed into the library. While it didn't seem overly large to Luna, it seemed enormous to Lyra. She gulped, "How am I going to find a healing spell in here? There must be at least 10,000 books in here!"

Luna replied, "Well if we can find the medical spells section, that should narrow it down."

Lyra agreed and they began to look through the massive library. While Luna had to brace herself up against the bookcases just to get around, Lyra was able to rule out certain areas of the library in a hurry. Finally after an hour of looking she found the medical section. She said, "Well I've found the medical section, now it is just a matter of finding a book on healing spells."

Lyra found the ladder used to get to the top shelf and began to look. Many of the books were rather thin so she had to pull books out one at a time to check the title. This was taking forever and while she was somewhat frustrated, Luna was growing impatient. "Lyra, have you found anything yet?"

Lyra replied, "Not yet. This could take a while so you may as well just relax."

Luna grunted in frustration but knew that what Lyra said was the truth. Finally after three hours Lyra found a healing spells book. She began to flip through the pages and it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for, a book on healing spells.

Luna saw her flipping through the pages and knew that it would be best to just let her look through them uninterrupted. After another hour Lyra found what she was looking for. "A-ha, here we go! Muscle restoration spells!"

Luna's ears shot up. She was so excited she reverted to speaking the way she did long ago, "Yes, soon we shall be healed! We shall find this most pleasant!"

Lyra replied, "Luna, I know you're happy but remember, I may not be able to just cast this the moment I read it."

Luna sighed, "Alright, I understand."

Lyra began to read through the spells and the first one she found was for a pony's leg.

"The pony's leg has become lame,
Because of this her life has not been the same,
For her muscle is weak,
and she does not want to be meek,
Now her leg shall be strong
and her movements shall be long."

She began to stare at the book intently and focused on it deeply. Her eyes began to shine white and she saw images of mages long ago casting muscle spells on ponies who had lost most of the muscles in their legs. Once she returned to normal she said, "Well Luna, I'm going to have to do this one leg at a time but it should work."

Luna replied, "As long as I can walk good again, that is all that matters."

Lyra placed her horn against Luna's upper left leg. It began to glow and she recited,

"The pony's leg has become lame,
Because of this her life has not been the same,
For her muscle is weak,
and she does not want to be meek,
Now her leg shall be strong
and her movements shall be long."

As Lyra's energy entered her leg, the muscle quickly returned. When Lyra saw this she was ecstatic. She then did the same to Luna's other legs. When she was done she said, "Well Luna, try walking around some. Let's see if it worked."

Luna began to not walk around, but gallop around in the library. She shouted, "Than you Lyra! Thank you!"

Lyra replied, "You're welcome. Now we just need to take care of your wings."

Lyra continued to look through the book until she found a spell for wings, which was fairly similar to the one for legs. She stared intently at the book and like before her eyes began to shine white and again she saw images of mages healing pegasi with very little muscle in their wings. Once her eyes stopped shining she headed to Luna, placed her horn against the base of her wing and recited,

"The pony's wing has become weak,
It's use is what she seeks,
the muscle's use is nearly done,
and flight there certainly will be none,
Now the wing shall be strong
and her flights shall be long."

Lyra's energy shot into the wing and quickly the muscle returned. She walked around Luna and cast the spell on the other wing. Once she finished she said, "Well Luna, shall we see if you can fly again?"

Without answering Luna immediately began to fly around and cheer in glee. She realized that now she would be able to go home earlier than was anticipated and knew that she had Lyra to thank. She landed by Lyra, grabbed her and jubilantly cheered, "We than thee Dear Lyra! Thy healing magic hast healed us completely!"

Lyra replied, "Your welcome Luna." She then realized that Cadence may not be so happy with either one of them. She continued, "I know you're happy but I'm not sure what Cadence will think."

Luna replied, "Don't worry about her." She began to fly around holding Lyra cheering, "Let us go down to Cadence's throne room and tell her that we are going home. We are sure that she will be most happy to see that we have returned to normal."

As Luna flew them down towards the throne room, Lyra couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. While she was happy that she was able to get Luna healed, she had a bad feeling that Cadence was going to be enraged. All she could hope for was that Luna would be able to deescalate the situation if Cadence became too angry.