The Student of Luna, Princess of the Night

The Student of Luna, Princess of the Night

Amulet Wings

Princess Luna knocked on her student’s door, but no answer would come. For a minute, she stood alone in the hallway, waiting and expecting Trixie to wake up and answer the door at any moment, but nopony came. She looked down the halls at the bat guards, smiled at them, and ventured to question them. As she walked up, she kindly asked, “You two have been keeping up with Trixie, right?”

The bulkier one nodded his head, and said, “Yes, your highness. Actually, though, the most we've heard's been a small shriek, and then a door slamming shut inside, and that was about…”

“Fifteen minutes ago,” the partner said.

“Yeah, sounds about right.”

Luna looked at the two blankly, and then turned around to knock again while the two looked her way, both raising an eyebrow. Eventually, she began to ask, “Trixie? Are you awake?”

She heard a small stomping sound, but that was all. With little patience left, Luna opened the door only to find the lavish room to be empty. She stared at the ruffled sheets laying on the bed, glanced at the amulet sitting on the close by nightstand, and then noticed the closed bathroom door. Knocking, she asked, “Getting ready for practice?”

Trixie responded with, “Nope! I’m not flying!”

For a moment, Luna stood there, listening in. Then, she giggled ever so sweetly. “We’re not flying, Trixie! Come on out of there...”

Trixie still remained reluctant. “No! Not unless you promise Trixie won’t get hurt!”

Luna nodded to herself, sat down to wait, and said, “I promise, nothing bad will happen to you so long as I’m guiding you.”

After a moment of silence, Trixie finally unlocked the door, cracked it open and stared at Luna with one eye visible. “We’re not flying?”

Luna shook her head with a smile. “Gliding is more like it. Close to the ground, only a few inched up.”

Trixie opened the door, perplexed by the change of events. “But, in the dream-”

Luna interrupted. “It was a dream. The training stays with you, but you won’t be able to do anything that fun right away. Just... come with me, and I’ll show you what I mean.”

Luna lead the way out of the room while Trixie said, “But, you made it sound like we were going to actually fly today!”

Luna made Trixie’s amulet magically attached itself to her chest while she complained, and as they walked, the unicorn could feel the power of the night growing. The amulet itself was becoming cooler by the second, something that became hard to ignore for the owner. Luna brought Trixie to a rather high up building, looked at her, and pointed to the closest neighboring establishment. “See that?”

“Yeah? It looks close enough…”

“Ever heard of urban exploration?” Luna smirked at her pupil. For the time being, she just stared, but then, her hoof tapped Trixie’s amulet twice. Just like that, Trixie’s wings made of smoke bloomed out from her back, wrapping itself around her torso and neck like thick armor. The feeling was all too familiar for Trixie. As Luna took the leap over, she demonstrated how to move while Trixie watched nervously. She landed with grace on the other side, something Trixie simply knew wouldn’t be near as simple for her; knowing the kind of luck she’s had in the past always brought her down at times of danger.

“Okay,” Trixie said while backing up. She stared down at the building, her hooves shaking, and wondered if she’d even be able to make it even with the wings. Just like Luna, Trixie inched back to an appropriate leaping position, aimed for the very edge, and galloped forth. She jumped hard, spread her wings right on time and felt them catch the wind like rails. Gliding, for her, seemed easy enough. Upon landing, however, she stumbled a bit, looked at Luna with a smile, and said, “Trixie’s got this.”

She took a step forward and awkwardly stumbled over her own hooves. It’d seem she was still a little unused to the new weight of the misty wings. They felt denser than they looked to Trixie. She tapped her amulet, and in they went. A pause. And then, the smoke formed the outline of her wings again, and then returned to the amulet upon Trixie tapping it yet again.

“Stop toying with it!” Luna barked. Trixie lowered her hoof, and the two were on their way to the next building.

While looking out, Trixie noticed the horizon, and said, “I can see all of Canterlot!”

Luna walked in front of her, gesturing towards the edge. “Yes, but you must be careful! There are steep steps in all corners. You mustn’t go near the edges unless you plan to jump.”

As she took off for the next one with ease, Trixie asked loudly, “You do this all the time?”

Once touched down, Luna replied with, “Only if I feel restless, which is quite often.” For a minute, Trixie simply stood over there, staring. “C’mon! I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Trixie gulped her fears away and ran fast, just like before. Once again, she cleared a rather impressive jump she might not have been able to do without her wings. Once landing, which was worse than the last one, Trixie slouched on the ground, panting, “I… looked down.”

Luna grunted, “Never look down! That’s rule number one, Trixie.”

“There are rules?!”

The practice went on like that for a good while, mostly consisting of brief conversations and quick leaps from building to building. Trixie still had lots of trouble, but was doing much better than Luna thought she would’ve. By the time they finished, Trixie was worn out, and furtively almost didn’t make the last jump. Luna looked down, mumbling to herself. “Eighteen, nineteen, twenty… We did twenty jumps!”

Trixie huffed, “Felt like hundreds…”

With the two returning to the library, particularly through one of the nearby windows, Trixie noticed her four unread books sitting on her desk, and simply stared. “Oh…”

“It’s okay.” Trixie looked up at her teacher. “I kinda knew about this. Just take a break, get something to eat, and catch up later tonight. The evening is younger than it appears.”

Trixie nodded. “I’m just tired.”

Luna left shortly after that, the door echoing behind her after closing. Trixie would carry out the instructions like she was told to do, and get back to her daily studies soon after recovering her nerves from bouncing from rooftop to rooftop like some crazed super hero. That experience was a bit different for her.

If only it hadn’t been so cloudy and misty that night, maybe she would’ve been able to see the moon with Princess Luna. Maybe, she and her mentor will get their chance at doing that next time around. To Trixie, it’d been too long since they last watched a meteor shower, if only because Luna made up the excuse of it harming something called the Ozone Layer.