As Aurora stared at the moon she watched as some of the braver colts walked out into the courtyard and stood there for a few minutes, then they dashed back inside, having impressed the others.
Personally Aurora was getting sick of being cooped up. They had been provided with potions to allow them to see in the dark with this ability the night no longer looked so scary. The others however seemed content to play the board games and to talk amongst each other.
Aurora stood up and walked across her room to her armoire. Why should she stay inside just because the others were too afraid. They were supposed to go outside anyway so surely the princess would have made sure it was safe.
As she opened the armoire she reached with her magic and grabbed one of the coats inside, she then left her room and headed down the stairs. She was careful to make sure no one saw her head towards the back door, if they saw her she would be mobbed by foals gasping at her bravery.
The night air was cool on Aurora’s fur as she slipped outside, she quickly put on the coat and looked around. She could head into the small town, or she could head into the forest. After a few moments Aurora chose her direction and began to trot towards a hill blanketed by trees.
As Aurora ascended the hill she was glad to see that the night vision potion she had been given was effectively brightening the shadows around her. As she reached the top of the hill she froze, a small figure was in front of her gazing up at the moon in the clearing.
None of the foals wanted to go outside let alone come this far away from the safety of the dormitory. As she edged towards the figure it gave a start and turned. It was a lunar pegusi, however as they looked at each other Aurora didn’t feel the fear she did for the other larger lunar ponies.
“Maybe it’s the fact that we are the same size.” Aurora thought. As the little unicorn filly stared she began to examine the foal. It was a filly probably the same age as her, she had gray-blue fur and a Purple-gray mane that was braided. The only real difference between this lunar foal and any other pony was the bat like wings the tiny fangs and the pointed ears.
“Hello.” The Lunar filly said her eyes changing for startled to suspicious, her wings flex as if ready to fly off if need be.
“Hello” Aurora returned giving a small smile, this pony wasn’t a monster like the others thought she was just another pony who had come to the forest looking for some quiet.
“I thought all you solar foals were afraid of the night?” The Lunar filly said sitting back down.
“They are, I just got fed up with all the noise and came out here to find a spot to think. We are supposed to come out during the night any way so I doubted it would be dangerous.” Aurora sat down next to the filly and started up at the stars. There were many more than she had seen back in Clipcrest.
The two fillies just sat there in silence staring up at the sky. It wasn’t an awkward silence but the quiet shared by two ponies who were content to share the silence together.
After about an hour of staring at the sky the lunar filly spoke up. “ My name is Moonlit Jinx.”
Aurora turned to her new friend “Starry Aurora.”
Jinx gave a small smile. “Nice to meet you.”
As Luna paced in her room she moped, the foals had been here for a week and none of them had even tried to explore the night. A few had come out but only to show off to the others and quickly retreated back to the dorms.
Luna stopped pacing and flopped onto her bed, using her magic she levitated a large teddy bear almost as big as her. As Luna squeezed the stuffed animal she buried her muzzle in its soft fur. Why didn’t these foals like her night? She had done everything to bring out the beauty, she had given them the ability to see into the shadows and had provided them many games and places to explore. Still they prefed to sit indoors play board games and chatting.
Perhaps when the adaptation period was over and the school started they would begin to come out more. As Luna thought this over a bell began to ring. The princess sighed, she had enchanted this bell to ring whenever one of the fillies left the dorms.
It was probably just another foal trying to impress its friends by going outside. As Luna walked out onto her balcony and looked down at the dorm she was surprised by what she saw. A foal trotting towards the forest, and she had left through the back door, instead of the front where everypony else would see her.
This sight brought a small smile to the princess of the night’s face.