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// 4 - May Your Dreams Come True 
// Story: What Follows Hugs 
// by David Silver 
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Toby hit the ground, not on his usual fluffy paws but instead on hard but graceful hooves. He was the second most important pony around! He was sun-flank! He glanced to the sun on his flank to be sure, nodded to himself and took a step forward. The way his mane flowed was enchanting, just as the guard dreamed it would be, running in perfection.

Toby was literally the guard's dream. Confident, he stepped free of the room he had begun in, just beside the guard who started and snapped to rigid attention. He expected Celestia to march right past him, not even noticing him.

Not that day.

Toby started to walk, clip-clopping past, then stopping just as he was about to pass the guard. He turned to him and almost said something, but realized he didn't talk at all like princess sun-flank. That would ruin the whole thing, so instead he just looked at the guard pointedly.

The guard began to get nervous. "Is something... wrong your majesty?"

Toby shook his head.

He let out a little breath of relief. "How can I help?"

Toby reached out a hoof and put it right on the guard's nose, making the poor guard freeze up. He drew it away, still watching him.

"D-do you need something, ma'am?" He recovered and stood up.

Toby nodded.

"My name?" he ventured.

Toby suddenly knew that was exactly what the guard hoped, for the princess to know his name." Toby smiled and bobbed his head.

The guard's smile outmatched Toby's. "My name is..."

The dream faded away. Toby was suddenly being pulled from the water by the large being that had shown it to him.

A smaller one was there, clapping her hands eagerly. "Nicely done. I thought for sure you would start a nightmare for a moment there. We don't usually let amateurs jump in without training first."

Toby wasn't paying much attention to those words, instead twisting in the larger being's hands to peek back at the water. He saw the guard talking to a dream Celestia. He looked quite happy indeed. Toby smiled. "Toby did it."

The little being nodded as Toby was set down. "You did, good job on that, but there's a lot to learn if you don't want to ruin a dream accidentally. So, Toby is it?" Toby bobbed his head. "Pleased to meetcha." She thrust a hand up at him.

Toby tilted his head before he reached with both paws and hugged the little being warmly. "Good to meet you. What is your name?"

She squeaked muffledly in the stifling but harmless embrace until she could pop free of it. "If you're a shadow creature, you're the oddest one I've met, attacking with dangerous hugs. Hey, get back to work!" She thrust a finger at the big being that had shown Toby what he'd seen so far.

The big fellow grunted. "Yeah yeah, like you aren't taking a break." Despite his surly words, he stomped back off to help patrol dreams.

The little one thrust a thumb at herself. "I'm Big Lizzy, by the way. You know Luna, right?"

Toby tilted his head a little. Lizzy was many things, big was not one of those. "Hello Lizzy. Luna is best princess."

"Suppose she is, from our view." She hopped up onto the edge of the pool where the guard was still enjoying his happy dream, recognized by the pony he spent most days guarding. The water suddenly went pink and opaque. "Oh, he's going to do something we don't need to see."

Toby frowned trying to think of what that might be. "Hugs?"

"Eh, probably not that. I seen plenty of hugs."

"Kiss? Kisses are special."

"Yeah sure, we'll go with that." Lizzy felt no reason to test the innocence of the dream navigator before her. "So Luna sent you?"

Toby was quick to bob his head. "She said to help her with dreams. Toby is here." He thumped his chest, puffing it out proudly. "Toby reporting for duty!"

Lizzy laughed softly. "Oh you are a treat. You know, we don't get many people from up there, down here."

"Down here?"

"Up there." She pointed upwards.

Toby craned his head back and then fell right over onto his rump, stunned at what he saw. There was no moon there. There was a world. "W-what is that?!" he asked breathlessly. Where had the moon gone? Where was he?!

Lizzy petted his knee lightly. "Easy there, bunny. That's your world." She then tapped the ground with a foot. "This, the thing we're standing on, this is the moon."

Toby's eyes widened at the revelation. "This is Luna's moon?!"

Lizzy shrugged. "I wouldn't call it her moon, but yeah, the moon. We only have one."

Sudden alarm rippled across the working moon beings as a group began to gather around one of the larger craters. Toby looked over at it and back at Lizzy. "Something wrong?"

"Could be, we--" She grunted as he bounded away, already far away. "Or you could just go over and see for yourself, that works too."

Toby came down beside the larger crater. Some of the beings there glanced at him, but only briefly before looking back at what was inside.

"What is it?" he asked, circling to find a spot to get a peek.

"It's Princess Celestia," reported a thin and tall being. "She's having a wicked nightmare."

That settled it. Toby didn't wait to see what might await him. He did the littlest hop he could, right over the heads of those moon beings and splashed right into the inky black waters that held whatever tormented the princess of the sun.