A Crimson Midnight

Luna sang quietly as she walked down the stone road. Her eyes twinkled with the stars that shined above her in the dark black sky. So beautiful, with rays of white streaking across it and trails of breaking clouds and moonlight flowing like rivers across each star, and around the beautiful full moon they shined the brightest. The young princess kept singing; her sweet voice filled the air and made flowers stand tall as if they too wanted to hear her beautiful voice, and feel it course through them. Her bright flowing mane sparkling as the stars above shined, her horn began to glow just the same. Her wings flared; large and perfectly preened; silky and smooth, with little to no mistakes upon each individual feather. She flapped them, letting herself rise several yards into the air before she propelled herself up into the air, going so high it was thought she would try to touch the stars herself.

And touch them she did. A shooting star fell just as she reached a peak that seemed several feet above the highest tower in Canterlot. She gripped the star between her hooves, feeling it send shockwaves of heat and a light tingling sensation through her entire body. Her wings trembled at such a feeling, her horn glew brighter, her hooves became shaky as if ready to drop the star. She only gripped it tighter, closing her dull eyes, holding it to her chest and feeling that burning sensation sink into her body. Her chest glowed, and the star slowly centered itself and slipped its way into the portal that appeared, slipping through her coat and skin, straight to her heart.

The glowing ceased, the white veil disappeared, the rings upon Luna's horn began to glow just as bright as the star. Lines were drawn across her wings, picking out each feather and outlining it with its bright glow. The moon on her chest shone just as bright as the moon itself, her mane sparkled, her glass shoes shined and shimmered as if covered in tons of glitter. It was like the stars really did kiss these points in her body to make them shimmer and sparkle. The night itself reflected upon her, giving her such a beautiful and bright glow it was like she herself was a star, or the moon. She opened her eyes; dull they were no more. They were pure white, they shined so bright that little white spots of light could be seen nearest where she looked. A pony could take one look at her, and be blinded by such an intense light.

She closed her wings, and began diving down to the ground. She closed her eyes once more, hearing the wind gushing into her ears as she dove down, horn first to the ground. But before she hit, her cutiemark began to glow brightly. The second it did so, she flared her wings, throwing herself into an upright position, and sending tremors of wind gushing through the valley and across PonyVille, and some even to Canterlot. The grass was blown back, some blades flying out into the town, others swirling back to her. Flower petals were blown away, leaving the flower itself bare and bent out of shape. One other flower, a bright blue one with glowing, glittering petals, and a dark silver stem, ripped itself from the ground and was thrown to Luna. Her hooves landed delicately on the ground, and she gripped the flower with her hoof. She blinked, and her eyes were normal once more. The rest of her body, however, remained just as bright and radiant.

She stared at the flower in her hooves, turning it slightly so she could see all of it. It was beautiful. Luna knew of this kind of flower; they only grew at night when a shooting star landed upon another flower and transformed it. It sends out sparkles as seeds like miniature stars. They would land around other flowers that had grown near the first, and they would sprout into something just as beautiful as the flower the next night. Luna smiled, remembering when she first encountered this flower.

It had been a normal night. She was out playing with her sister, Tia. Little Luna was ecstatic seeing a shooting star. When it landed, she and Tia ran over, only to see a beautiful flower sprout right before their very eyes from the glowing roots in the ground. The two young princesses, very shocked and amazed that such a flower so beautiful and bright could grow from a star, picked the flower gently. Protecting it as they ran, they headed straight back to Canterlot to show their mother, and their wonderful teacher. Luna kept the flower since then. It has never died, even after the thousands of years that passed since that flower was picked. Luna froze the flower. She locked it in a small glass dome that protected it, and she used a special spell her teacher had taught her, and her alone, that would freeze the flower and it would never die or wilt as long as the glass wasn't broken.

A tear pooled in Luna's eye at the memory. She shook her head, letting the tear fall, and freeze before it fell to the ground. She lifted the tear in her magic, staring at it intently. She sighed, wiping another from her face. A small portal opened upon her chest again, and she slipped the frozen tear into it. It closed once the small piece of ice had landed safely inside. Luna stared once more at the flower, folding her wings down slightly. She sighed, her thoughts finally convincing her to keep the flower. She let waves of bright white magic flow up and down her horn, and a glass veil surround the flower, leaving only a little bit of space between the two. She used that spell once more, her eyes blinking back to white and glowing so bright that the land in front of her lit up bright silver. She froze the flower, but only so that it could still sparkle like the sky above her now hurting head. She tapped the glass, and a white bubbled appeared around it, encasing it and the flower. She tapped the top, and watched the bubble float away and vanish in a flash to another location.

Luna sighed, blinking away the blinding light that was giving her this headache. She sat down, folding her wings down to her back. The light of her cutiemark, dissipated, the outlines of her wings slid off and began to crawl up and down her horn. She shut her eyes tightly, struggling to contain the magic. The stars in her mane and hooves blinked themselves out onto her horn, making it sparkle and glow. Sweat began to drop down her face; tonight it was much more of a struggle to return to a normal state.

She shook her head, opening her eyes only slightly. She looked up to the stars and the moon, and had an idea that made her head began to pound as she forced magic out of her horn. Streaks of blue, black and white magic poured out of her horn, and twinkled off into the sky. New stars appeared, older ones grew bigger and brighter, and other twinkles and waves went to the moon, making its rays even more radiant and dazzling. She panted, wiping the sweat off her face as she looked up to the sky. She smiled, seeing her sky shimmering. Her mane fell from its wavy state to a flat state. It still had the wavy pattern, and it shimmered as normal, but it refused to move as it lay limp at her side. Her tail drooped across the ground, and even her wings shuddered as if wanting to fall and drag themselves beside her.

She forced her wings to flap, and she began carrying herself, with slight difficulty, back to Canterlot. She landed at the gates, folding her wings down to her back, and walking inside the city. Her hoofsteps echoed through town as she walked: light clinking could be heard as her hooves tapped the ground. She hummed softly trying to calm her still aching head. She stepped into the castle, heading to the center of the spiral staircase and flapping her wings so she flew to the top, right up to the room she shared with her dear sister.

She used her wings to push the doors open. As she stepped inside, her sister roused, raising her head and blinking her eyes open. She looked to Luna, clearly still very tired.

"Where have you been?" She said, tilting her head.

Luna sighed. "No where special, Celestia, just out for a walk." She slid off her shoes and chestplate, setting them down by the doorway. She used her magic to shut the doors as quietly as she could manage.

"You were gone for a while, so I was just curious. It seemed like you went a little far," Celestia said, a small yawn at the end of her sentence which caused her wings to open slightly, then fall back onto the blankets of her bed limp.

"I just stopped to enjoy the night," Luna replied quietly, going to her bed and setting her tiara down on the bedside table. She crawled into the dark blankets, folding them around herself and letting her wings rest atop them.

"Well, if you say so then, I won't question..." Celestia laid back down into a similar fashion as Luna, except her wings were tucked underneath the blankets and wrapped around her thin body. "Goodnight, Lulu."

"Night, Tia," Luna yawned, letting her eyes shut. Her mane began to flow as she relaxed, and she slid into a dream state, allowing her real body to go limp with fatigue.