The Student of Luna, Princess of the Night

The Student of Luna, Princess of the Night

Field Trip

Trixie came galloping up, panting from the run down stairs. Her hat flew off, but as she turned to catch it, Luna brought it over to the departure zone. Instead of ridiculing it like she did the first time around, she placed it on her head, and said, “I’ll wear this until we arrive at our destination.”

“Where’re we going?” Trixie asked.

Luna simply got in once her bat ponies arrived, the same ones from before, and said, “It’s a surprise.”

Trixie trotted up to the open door slowly, glanced over at one of them, and smiled. They didn’t return the kind gesture. Instead, the one closest said, “We need to leave, student of Luna.”

Trixie roller her eyes with an attitude, got in, and looked over at Luna who currently had a map spread out. Only so much was covered, but more importantly than that, it wasn’t even of the correct date. Canterlot wasn’t even on it, and there were cities Trixie had never even heard of, but one place, the area she did recognize and the place Luna seemed to be looking at was the Everfree Forest. “Uh, Luna?” Trixie asked.

“Yes, my student?” Princess Luna responded while trailing along the route.

“We aren’t headed into the woods outside of Ponyville, are we?”

Luna shook her head. “No, we are not. We are going beyond that, and into the past itself. Everything should be well preserved…”

Trixie looked out at the city disappearing behind her, the sun lowering. Luna would raise the moon on the way there, but Trixie would simply stare out at the distance for most of the ride. Once they finally arrived at the edge of the woods, Trixie looked down at the glowing jungle thickening in size the further along they floated. It’d seem like it was never ending. Just beyond the hurds of trees up ahead of them, she saw their destination.

What must’ve been a great castle at one point was now ruins spanning the rest of the forest. Everything beyond them was blocked by the walls that ascended high into the clouds. Ivy covered most of everything and tore through its old surface. The only part of the castle that was still remarkably untouched by time itself was the small, wooden door they landed in front of. Luna got out, her horn lighting the way through the darkness.

“Where are we?” Trixie questioned as she left the chariot as well. Above her were small bridges linking buildings together, some broken in the middle, and some barely in tact.

Putting the mare’s hat on her head, Luna explained, “We are at the old castle, the one my sister and I used to live in.” She opened the door and entered fearlessly, and was instantly engulfed by darkness, leaving Trixie alone. Not for long, though. Trixie entered as well, if only a bit more slowly. Within, only the light from Luna’s horn lit the path. Everything else was utter darkness. “Do you know the old tale of my banishment?”

Trixie nodded. “Twilight told me the whole story… Isn’t this where they stopped you using the elements of harmony?”

Luna illuminated the room’s ancient candles and stood at a crumbled pillar. “This is where it happened, when I transformed into Nightmare Moon. I stood at this very spot, and lost control.” She looked down at the crater she made so long ago. “I don’t remember if it was jealousy, hatred, paranoia… I just lost control.”

The unicorn below her walked up to the throne Luna used to sit in. “This is your history… I’m sorry for what happened to you.”

Luna walked off behind the thrones to open a hidden door Trixie hadn’t noticed before. Through the hallway, Luna returned to her private wing. Below the castle, far beneath the ground’s surface, Luna traveled through the decaying path, soon arriving at the room she’d almost forgotten about completely. “A thousand years ago, I used the moon’s wrath to my own advantages, and transformed using magic… and an old world artifact.”

Trixie crossed through the door and into a circular room wide enough to fit thirty or forty ponies in. Everything seemed to be made of strong metal, possibly iron. “Artifact?” Trixie asked while looking around cautiously.

Luna nodded. “It was created when I’d realized I wasn’t happy, and when I forgot that my own sister was my friend, too. Now…” She shined her horn in the very center of the room, and before Trixie rose an amulet most like the one she used in the past, but crescent moon shaped. It floated through the floor and into the air before Trixie, coiling its rope around her outfit. Her original diamond that held the cape together was removed, and the amulet took its place. For a moment, she glowed a bright, beautiful white color, and then… nothing.

Trixie looked down at the circular trinket only to asked, “Is this thing defective?”

It twinkled a little, and then smoke bursted out from Trixie’s chest. The thick, white fog magnetized to her hooves, head, tail and back. In a flash, Trixie was armored with the remnants of the early moon. “The deeper into the night you are,” Luna instructed, “the more powerful the magic becomes. With the power of the alicorns at your hooves, you will have the means to perform unique spells. Can I trust you to keep this safe?”

Trixie looked up, her figure almost transparent, and said, “So long as this isn't permanent!”

Luna giggled. “You just have to take the amulet off. Though, I warn you…” Luna came close, taking the amulet away. “The power of the moon, when brought to far exceeding levels of nighttime can render you unconscious, and the wrath of the moon can take over your entire being.”

With the white aura seeping away from Trixie’s whole body, she backed away, watching the amulet float within Luna’s grasp. It returned to her neck, and she thought it best to ask, “How do I summon these new powers?”

Luna simply said, “When you think you need it the most, it will pour freely, shielding you from danger’s wake.” The princess loftily brought Trixie’s diamond up, and asked, “A fair trade, wouldn’t you agree?”

Trixie nodded. “Trixie will be having that back soon enough, though, she’ll have you know.”

Luna looked over with a raised eyebrow. “How so?”

Trixie blushed, and modestly said, “Trixie has parted with that many times. It always winds up back in her safe possession.”

Once the two left in the chariot, Luna checked behind them one more time. With her old home vanishing in the distance, she returned to Trixie who wondered aloud, “What’s the matter?”

Luna shook her head. “I’ve been contemplating the castle… Remembering, mostly.” With the sun rising over the mountains, Luna confessed, “The past, and what could’ve been.”

Just like the trip there, on the way back, Luna would move the moon accordingly. It was such a simple job, and she had friends now. These days seemed so different from the ones before, when her highness felt neglected, and alone. Trixie could only wonder about her teacher, what could possibly be on her mind, and partially when the next field trip would be.