Air Horse: Darkening Skies

Make Your Wish

"Wow, I think the whole herd is here," Copper said, proudly surveying the horses she had gathered for Cloudy's announcement..

"Everyone wants to know where Cloudy is." Skip grimaced when he saw Calor standing nearby. "Good intentions or bad."

"It's getting late. Let's get back to our cave," Toby said.

Skip squinted. "Is it just me, or is it really dark tonight?"

"Doesn't seem that dark to me," Toby said.

"You spent half your life underground in darkness," Skip retorted. "You wouldn't think any different if the moon-horse didn't raise at all.

"It's cloudy, that's all." Copper lifted her head, then frowned. "Or maybe not."

The night sky was clear, but the moon-horse wasn't half it's normal brightness. The star whuffs were bunched tight around it, rather than spread out.

Conversation from the surrounding horses dwindled off as they too noticed the abnormal moon-horse. Soon, every horse was staring silently at the sky.

"What is going on?"

Copper turned to see her and Cloudy's family walk up. All but Amber, who had been the one to speak, were watching the moon-horse.

Amber went on, "Does this have anything to do with what Cloudy wanted to tell us?"

"Cloudy didn't even hint at what her news was," Copper said. "But I think she would've said something about this."

Wingbeats caught everyone's attention. King Icarus was hovering overhead.

"No one panic," King Icarus said. "Queens Luna and Ruby think that there is mention of something similar to this in the legends. They call it an eclipse."

"Is it bad?" someone Copper couldn't see asked.

"In the legends, the moon-horse disappeared completely for about an hour before the sun-horse rose. We are assuming that the same sort of event is happening now."

"How long will the moon-horse be gone?" This time, it was Sky.

"It is still early." King Icarus narrowed his eyes. "Hopefully, the moon-horse will return to its full strength soon, but we must be prepared in case it disappears for the rest of the night."

Murmurs rippled across the herd. No one wanted to spend the night in complete darkness, but most figured everything would be fine by morning. Copper, however, was uncertain.

"The moon-horse isn't setting," Copper said in a low tone so only Skip and Toby could hear her. "It's going out."

"The moon-horse can't just go out," Toby said.

"But it is."

Skip squinted. "Well, I don't know about you, but I can't see more than a length in any direction."

"I just remembered that on the night Cloudy left, it seemed really dark then, too," Copper said.

"Are you saying," Toby gulped, "that this isn't just a one-time, quick thing. The moon-horse really is going out?"

"That must be what Cloudy saw!" Copper said.

"But why did she leave for five days, if that's true?" Skip questioned.

"She must be fixing this," Copper said.

"How does one-" Toby stopped to calm himself down; horses where turning their way. "How does one fix a problem like that?"

"We thought the flying problem was unfixable. Maybe its the same for this," Copper said.

"I hope you're right."

Skip frowned. "Shh! Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Copper asked.

"It's like the wind whistling through the trees."

Copper strained her ears. "I don't hear anything."

"I hear it too," Toby said. "But there isn't any wind tonight. Or trees."

Tussock, who had been sleeping peacefully on Toby's back abruptly sat up. Her ears were perked and the fur on her back stood on end.

"Bad dream?" Toby asked Tussock.

Tussock lifted her head and began to howl. Before anyone could wonder what was wrong, Chief began to howl from his seat on Colby's back. Other whuffs joined the howl, and within moments, Rocky Cliff was filled with the mournful sound that was gradually getting louder.

"What's wrong with them all?" Skip asked over the howling.

Copper shook her head. As she did, she spotted Aeolus and Kalo nearby. Cody stood on Aeolus' back, howling with the others. Kalo was swinging her head around, as confused as the rest of the herd. Aeolus was staring at the sky, eyes large and sad, as if he knew of something terribly sad as about to happen.

"I... wha-" Cloudy frowned and backed up farther. "I can't be the next moon-horse. Jupiter said that if I came and made my wish, you would be fine."

"What I saw was you coming here to make a wish, and the moon-horse back to its former brightness. I never saw that it was me in the sky," Luna said.

"I used to think we would stay here together forever," Jupiter said with a sad smile.

"You're just going to give up?" Cloudy asked, incredelous.

"There is nothing more we can do," Luna said.

"But how do you know that I'm really supposed to take your place?" Cloudy persisted. "Maybe you just caught something, and will feel better in the morning."

"Because the process has already begun," Solis said.

A tingling in Cloudy's legs made her look down. Her hooves and legs were glowing! As the light on Cloudy became brighter, Luna's began to dim.

All of the whuffs raised their heads and began to howl. Coming from the fifty or so whuffs, the cry was overwhelmingly loud.

"It is your destiny," Luna said. Even as her light disappeared, her voice remained strong above the howling of the whuffs.

Cloudy shook her head. She couldn't take Luna's place! "I wish-"

"No!" Jupiter slammed into Cloudy's side. "You can't wish this away."

"I- I can't do this," Cloudy whimpered.

"Luna will lose her powers, regardless of whether or not there is someone to take her place," Jupiter had to shout to be heard above the whuffs.

"Think of the herd. Without someone to take Luna's place, they will spend the nights in darkness." Solis said.

"It is your choice," Luna added simply.

Cloudy couldn't take her eyes off of Luna. Both were now glowing with the same intensity. Was it just her imagination, or was Luna starting to turn transparent?

The howling of the whuffs was making it hard to think. Could she really give up her life at Rocky Cliffs to spend who-knew-how-long at Peak as the moon-horse? Or should she wish that it wasn't her, hoping that Luna could hold out long enough for someone else to come?

Solis' words swirled in her mind. "Think of the herd." What would they want her to do?

"We won't stop you, whatever you choose," Luna said.

Cloudy took a deep breath. "I wish..."