[Gift] Northern Lights (Gift)

The air was crisp and cold out in the field, the night sky stretched out in inky darkness above her as the blackberry mare dashed around in the remaining stubble of grass left by the first frost of the year. 

She huffed, a puff of smoke seeming to come from her nostrils as the warmth of her breath hit the cold of the night air. The sight delighted her as the just over sixteen hands tall mare huffed again, bucking in delight at the second puff of smoke and racing around the fenceline once again. 

The cold air was welcome after a summer of near stifling heat, and the frost under her feet made a satisfying crunch as she ran. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d get to stay outside as she was usually in her stall well before now, but Arcturus Beaming wasn’t going to let a moment of that time go to waste. 

Rearing up, the dark blackberry coat was nearly lost against the night sky save for where their roan markings lightened it. The white flecking of birdcatcher spots blended in almost perfectly with the stars twinkling in the clear sky above. 

A cold breeze whipped by, carrying the smell of smoke with it. Not thick enough to cause alarm but enough to send Arcturus chasing after the source. It wasn’t long before the glimmer of a fire in the next field came into view. It wasn’t a big one yet, though there seemed to be a lot of people around it making it bigger until the sparks from the burning logs seemed to reach the stars above. 

Arcturus snorted and stomped their single white marked front leg and turned away from the sight of silhouettes against the bonfire. She’d never understand why they liked fire so much, but there always seemed to be one burning somewhere in the winter. Didn’t they know the cold was better? 

Tossing her head, the small white marking on her forehead catching a beam of moonlight, Arcturus kicked up a chunk of grass in her haste to be away from the smell of smoke and chase the leaf that was just blown past by the same gust of wind that had carried the smell of smoke. The leaf was a far more enjoyable thing anyway, and she could eat it if she caught it. 

The wind blew the leaf low to the ground and back up, forcing Arcturus to rear up in an effort to catch it, but the leaf eluded her still. It blew across the field and past where the hay and feed was kept, and then by shelter to protect them from the wind. Though why anyone would need protection from the wind was beyond Arcturus Beaming. The wind was fun, even in the cold. Especially in the cold, really. 

Finally, she caught the leaf on the far side of the field when it snagged on a stick near the fence line. With a satisfied whinny, she leaned over and munched on the dried leaf with gusto. Running made her hungry, and she needed to eat before she did more, so once the leaf was crunched to her satisfaction she swallowed it and pranced towards the feed for a late night snack. 

She was about halfway there when something shifted in the night air. Her long, curly dark blackberry tail almost seemed to stand on end as the wind took on a different feeling. It wasn’t bad, but it was almost as if the world was suddenly holding its breath. 

Arcturus sniffed the air, but nothing seemed wrong. It just smelled of winter and the occasional whiff of smoke from the nearby fire. 

She detoured from the food and headed that way, curious as to if the figures there had noticed the change. She couldn’t see clearly enough to know if her rider was there, but she saw the forms silhouetted against the burning fire. They must have noticed something as they all seemed to be looking up and a few of the smaller ones were even pointing. 

She looked up as well and caught sight of something moving in the sky. Ripples of red and then slowly blue and green took shape in the sky. They were like ribbons you could see the stars through, and they danced as if moved by unseen hands. 

For a moment, the sight frightened her and she ran towards the shelter, but then the fear faded and she turned her blue eyes back towards the sky. The stars still twinkled through the dancing colors, even as the colors seemed to grow brighter and then fade away, only to become brighter again. 

Arcturus turned in a circle to try and take in more of the sky. The colors weren’t everywhere. Not really. They were just in one direction where the brightest star in the sky seemed to shine. It was pretty now that she had a moment to think about it.

She turned around again, rearing up to see if she could catch the lights. She didn’t think she could, but she still wanted to dance with them. When that failed, she stomped her hoof and decided to dance anyway. Whatever the lights were, they were dancing and so she would too. 

First she pranced, and then she reared up, and then she bucked, round and round she went as she watched the lights and tried to match her rhythm with the display above, and yet the ribbons of lights continued to elude her. Instead they faded in and out at seemingly random. Sometimes the red was brightest, and other times the blue and green. Sometimes almost none of the colors could be seen at all and the stars stood alone in the dark of the night with only a sliver of a moon for company. 

Finally, tired and frustrated at being unable to match the lights, Arcturus stopped and simply watched them. It was then she realized she didn’t have to catch them, or match them. Given how magical they must be to be in the sky like that, how could she? And really, why would she want to match them when she could have the pleasure of watching them instead. And so that’s what Arcturus Beaming did until her rider came for her as the lights began to fade. She watched the northern lights dance in the winter air.