Through Crimson Eyes

by Level Dasher

Chapter 2: The Midnight Meeting

…This… this is incredible. I never would have thought…

I’ve been reading for hours now. Starry and Tesla went home ages ago, but I kept going. I just couldn’t stop…

It really puts things in perspective. Apparently, Scootaloo was never able to fly, but she still lived up in a cloud house after Rainbow Dash, one of the keepers of the Elements of Harmony, adopted her as a sister. After the original Crusaders got their cutie marks, she developed a hobby in daredevil stunts, but when Rainbow Dash got older, Scootaloo started writing books because Rainbow Dash liked to read…

But anyway, that’s not the point. A pegasus that couldn’t fly still became a daredevil— she took a… a misfortune, and flipped it in her favor. Maybe I can do the same thing… The possibilities that could open up… The things I could do in a year…

What the— it’s already dark out? What time is it? “Hey Mo—” Geez! She’s asleep! Where’s the clock?

I can’t believe it. I was reading for a good four hours; it’s already after eleven. Hey, wait! Perfect timing! Please please please please tell me there aren’t any—

YES! No clouds tonight! Perfect for stargazing. Oh, Princess Luna, thank you for doing what you do.

Ah, shoot, I forgot! This stupid PICK thing is attached to that bag hanging on the wall! I’ve gotta get the bag on that pole so I can go to my telescope by the window. I mean sure, I can see from here next to my bed, but using my telescope would be so much better. Hmm… I can’t ask the night nurse to help me, she’ll yell at me for being awake… How do I—

“We must say, We are glad to see that Our efforts are not in vain, but shouldn’t thou be in bed, young colt?”

Oh great, busted by the nurse. Can’t she let me decide on my own when I— wait… Our efforts? Thou? Who…

“P-P-P-P-Princess L-Luna?”

I don’t know how or why she’s here, but there is a princess in my room. I… I don’t know what to say…

“Thou appear rather shocked, young one. There is no need to be frightened.”

“Um… P-Princess? Excuse me if I sound rude, b-but why are you here?” The last thing I wanted to do was insult my idol.

“Well, young colt, thy father is responsible for this visit, though he does not know We— ahem. Excuse Us. Princess Twilight keeps telling me to ‘get with the times’ and cease my use of the old language. Your father does not know I am here. Nor does your mother.”

Huh? But she’s right over… When I turned around to look at Mom, I saw a blue glowing bubble surrounding her head. “Hey! What’s with the glowing around her—”

The Princess raised a hoof and said, “Relax, child. It is merely a sound barrier. This conversation shall be just between you and me. Your mother need not stir from her sleep.”

Maybe not, but she’d probably want to!

“Now, before I continue, what is your name, young one? It would be more proper if I addressed you as such.”

I was still on the verge of trembling, but it was a simple enough question. Just before I answered, I finally remembered my manners and bowed to her. “Um, Crimson Star, Your Highness. My name’s Crimson Star.” Still bowing, I glanced a look up at her. “But ponies usually just call me Crimson.”

I saw her smile as she waved a hoof for me to get up. “A lovely name. You may simply call me Luna if you wish, Crimson.”

“R-Really?” Woah, the Princess is letting me call her by her name… and I’m having a private conversation with her? Cool! “O-Okay! Well, I just wanna say that I love what you did with the stars tonight!” I looked over at my telescope and continued, “I could’ve seen them better if— hey, wait… you were talking about my dad. You said you’re here because of him. What… what did he do?”

Princess Luna smiled. “Well, Crimson, as I am sure you already know, your father wishes for nothing more than your well-being. For the past week, I have been receiving prominent prayers for you from him. He has mentioned in his prayers that you are quite fond of the night, and so he chose to seek my blessings for you. I am here to give them.”

Coooooool. Dad, you RULE!

The Princess continued, “I also wanted to meet the young colt who so adores my work. I wish to thank you for that— it is always a pleasure to see ponies enjoying the fruits of my labor, no matter their age.” Her smile turned into a frown as she said, “After my Nightmare Moon phase all those years ago, I began to wonder if anypony truly admired my work anymore.” Then her smile came back. “It is nice to see somepony that does.

“Ah, I see you are also enjoying the latest book by a Crusader I was quite fond of.”

Huh? How did she— Oh, I left it on the bed. “Uh, Prin— I mean, Luna? Did you know Scootaloo?”

“I met with her quite a few times, so you could say that,” she responded.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Met? Does she meet with ponies like this often?

The Princess chuckled. “Allow me to explain. Do you remember when you dreamt you flew to the moon right after your first successful flight with your father?”

How… “How do you know about that?” I only told my dad about that dream… I had it right after he taught me how to fly.

“I was there. I enter the dreams of all my subjects every now and then. I admit, I found it interesting that your imagination brought you to my celestial body…

“Anyway, when Scootaloo was young, she was prone to nightmares, so I checked on her in the dreamscape fairly often until she was able to overcome them herself. You just may read about it later. But for now…” She smiled at me, then I watched as her horn started glowing.

“Woah! Hey!” I found myself floating through the air. In a matter of seconds, I was back in my bed with the covers pulled up.

“…it is time for young colts to go to sleep. While I am pleased that you enjoy my nighttime, you need your rest. My blessings only go so far.”

Wait, what? “Umm… Princess, what—”

“Dear Crimson, while I wish I could say that giving you my blessing guarantees you will get better, alas, it is not so. If it was, I would go through this whole hospital, but you need to do your part in helping yourself heal. That means you must sleep. Who knows? I just might be having another talk with you sooner than you think.” She smiled again and winked at me. “Have a good night’s rest, young Crimson, and get well soon.”

As soon as the Princess finished speaking, she vanished with a flash. I recognized it as the classic teleportation spell. I also noticed a fading blue ball out of the corner of my eye…

The sound barrier spell on Mom! If she sees me awake I won’t hear the end of it! I turned away from her and started faking a light snore. Hopefully she’ll buy it if she wakes up.

…Wow. I just had a private talk with the Princess of the Night. Starry and Tesla won’t believe it. I should have asked her more about the stars. Maybe… I dunno, she… I…

zzzzzzzzz…

The doctors unhooked me from the machines and let me go outside with one of the nurses. They said they’re starting my first treatment tomorrow, and I won’t get the chance to go out again anytime soon after they do. The nurse that brought me outside is a pegasus stallion named High Flyer. He’s been my nurse most days lately— he’s pretty cool, easy to talk to. They told him to bring me out so I could get in one more flight before I'm not able to use my wings for a while.

It’s late afternoon, so it’s getting darker, but it’s still bright enough to see where I’m going. High Flyer brought me over the park, which isn’t too far from the hospital. Hey, there’s somepony coming toward us. They look familiar… Wait a seco—

She slowed to a stop, then smiled and winked at me… again. “I told you, sooner than you think, Crimson.”

“Princess Luna! Oh, I’m so glad to see you again! Last night was amazing! Thank you for visiting me!” I still couldn’t believe it.

“Yes, last night.” She put a hoof to her mouth and chuckled.

Weird…

“I wanted to see how you were doing, Crimson. Most foals in the hospital tend to feel depressed. I am glad to see that you have not let your situation get the better of you.”

I shrugged. “Well, yeah, it stinks. But I’ve got stuff to occupy me, and I got to meet you! I also realized some of the other ponies on my floor have it worse off than me, so I shouldn’t feel so bad.”

The Princess nodded. “A fine way to approach the situation. Now, you just said you are able to occupy yourself; considering the wonderful telescope I saw in your room, would I be correct in assuming that one such way has been stargazing?”

I nodded back. “Yeah! Of course!”

“Would you like an opportunity to do so outside?”

“Huh?”

I looked up. Woah. It got dark FAST. And the sky was crystal clear. “Come, Crimson. Your telescope is below us.”

When I looked down at the ground, I saw it right in an open patch of grass. But… “Huh? How?”

“Let us say I had the nurses bring it out here,” Princess Luna responded.

“Um… okay.” I wasn’t gonna argue. “Hey, speaking of, where’s High Flyer? He was right here!” I looked around, but found no sign of him.

“Do not worry, Crimson. Nothing will happen to you.”

I shook my head. “Oh, I’m not worried about me. I have you here! I was just wondering where he went.”

As we circled down to the ground toward my telescope, the Princess said, “I… believe his shift ended. He went back to the hospital to sign out. Now come, let me show you something…”

She led me to where my telescope sat, and pointed it out toward the moon, then shifted it a few degrees. We stood there awhile just looking at the sky, and I watched as she moved a few stars around, like an artist changing the sky as if it was a piece of artwork. It reminded me of Starry— I’d seen him painting before, and the Princess’s movements were pretty similar, even the facial expressions. It was so cool watching her in action.

After a while, something occurred to me. “Hey, wait! What time is it? How long have we been here? My mom is probably… what’s so funny?”

Princess Luna stood there giggling like I’d seen Tesla do before… like she knew something I didn’t. “You have no reason to worry, Crimson. It pleases me that you are still young enough that your imagination can fool you so easily. It makes these dreams so much more realistic for you, and quite honestly, much more fun for me! I don’t reveal myself to my subjects in their dreams too often.”

My eyes widened at that remark. “Wait, WHAT? This is all—”

“I believe your doctors are here for your morning visit. I just might see you again soon, young one. Keep up the lively dreams!” She poked me on the nose with her hoof before she vanished in a flash again.

When I opened my eyes, I expected to be in the park, but I found myself laying in bed again instead.

“Ah, good timing. Our young patient is awake!” One of the doctors stood at the foot of my bed.

Aw geez, I can’t believe that was all a dream. But then again, Princess Luna was real! And I got to stargaze with her while she worked! Well, kind of, but still— that was so cool!

“Good morning, sweetheart. Did you have a good night’s sleep?” Mom asked, standing at my bedside.

I yawned, then said, “…Yeah. It was definitely an interesting night.”

“Oh? How so?”

“I… I’ll tell you later.”

“Well then, let’s get down to business.” The doctors certainly didn’t waste any time. “Mrs. Harmony, Crimson, we want to start the first chemotherapy treatment tomorrow. After we do, Crimson will need to remain inside for a while, so we’re going to have his nurse bring him outside today. Here’s High Flyer now. Crimson, we want you to get in some flying time with him before your treatment starts, because you won’t be allowed to fly again for quite some time.”

The familiar stallion stepped forward. “Heya, buddy. I’ll have the nutritionists bring in your breakfast in a sec. When you’re ready, I’ll unhook you from the machines and bring you outside. I’ll even take off your heart leads so you don’t need to keep the monitor over your shoulder. Sound good?”

I stared at High Flyer for just a second before I said, “Uh… yeah.”

Woah… déjà vu…

Comments

[Mr Pones]

Crimson Star has spent more time in a hospital than he has living life.

Probably from all that radiation poisoning from the sheer blinding luminescence of his family's coat colors being around him 24/7.

[Viking Hoof]

2748121 while offensive... It's still probably true

[Mr Pones]

2748517
Gives a whole new meaning to the term "Nuclear family"...

i'll stop now

[Viking Hoof]

2748877 *hugz*

[Dreams of Ponies]

Lunar dreamception, quiet well done, I'd say. I didn't realize it was a dream for a good bit, Only Luna's giggling clued me in, really. A nice chapter before I imagine things will probably get worse, in tone, not in quality, I mean