The world of dreams was Luna’s realm. She was there constantly. She worked in other ponies’ dreams all night then finally collapsed into her own when she was done. In her dreams she maintained complete control. She could choose whatever she wanted those dreams to be. Today she was wondering what sort of mate would be best for her.
Or she would have. If her bed didn’t explode in a shower of blankets and grey feathers. The Princess’s head shot up off her pillow and pulled her face mask off.
“What is the meaning of this?” Luna demanded, looking at the disarray her bedding was in.
“Oh, hi,” said a small voice next to her. “You have a really comfy bed, Your Highness.”
Luna glared at the little grey mailpony in her bed. “You! Why must you constantly dive-bomb me? You crashed into my bed, smashed through the art I painted, and crushed my beautiful flower garden! Why do you torment me?!”
“Uuuh I deliver the mail,” the cursed mail carrier corrected. “I don’t have any torment. I could find some.”
Luna sighed. This tirade wasn’t going to get through, either. “What did you bring with you?”
“Oh, I have this letter for you Princess,” the pegasus said, presenting an ornate envelope to the exhausted mare. “Wow, this bed is sooo soft.”
Luna ignored her loathed bedmate and opened the letter with a flash of dark blue. The letter floated out of its prison and hovered in front of the Princess’s muzzle. She stared at the source of her annoyance, then sighed when it told her nothing. The bedside table drawer opened itself and a pair of reading glasses floated out. They alighted themselves on her face and the note’s scribbles became clear.
“Dear Princess,
I have built a marvelous machine that will change the way you see the world. I was hoping to demonstrate this brilliant discovery to Ponyville tomorrow. It will further everypony’s understanding of science. I would be most honored if you were in attendance. There I will explain the jghhfgvcgbth and gncbcb of the bjbjggbnvb.
Your Subject
Dr Whooves”
The Princess shook her head, but again the words at the bottom still made no sense to her. It was some sort of scientific jargon that she couldn’t comprehend—it looked like gibberish to her.
She placed the letter down and wondered what sort of machine the doctor had constructed. Change the way you see the world. It sounded interesting. Perhaps she would…
Luna’s thoughts were cut short by the snoring of the mailpony in her bed. The little pegasus was curled up, snuggling her pillow like a teddy bear.
Luna threw her hooves in the air. She was too tired to worry about it. She gave the mail carrier a gentle headpat and laid back down once more. The gentle rhythm of the slumbering mare helped the Princess of dreams find her own once more. They snored the morning away together.
***
Luna arrived in Ponyville on the evening of the date indicated by the letter. The town was lit in a strange orange glow by lightbulbs. A large wheel dominated the skyline, and ponies walked around eating cotton candy. It was a fair.
The Princess of the night landed with no sound. She skirted the bulk of the crowds, preferring to stay inconspicuous. The mistake of arriving in splendor in Ponyville was still present in her mind. She didn’t want the fanfare; she just was there to sate her curiosity, not to cause a scene.
Those that knew her waved and she approached them cautiously. “Princess Luna,” cried Lyra Heartstrings. She was always a welcomed sight—her music had always found a way to soothe Luna’s stress.
“I’m sorry to say that Twilight and the others aren’t here in Ponyville right now.”
“I am not here to visit her,” Luna responded. “I was invited to witness a modern marvel of our age.”
“What, the Ferris wheel?”
“It is most glamorous, but nay, this is a new invention. Its creator informed me that it would change the way I see the world. I am most intrigued.”
“Huh, well I don’t know about that, but if you’re talking about Doc's new machine, it looks really neat.”
“I am indeed,” said Luna, as she looked around for this “neat” machine.
“Well, it’s over there,” Lyra directed with her hoof. “And be sure to swing by that Phenomnomenons booth. They’re the best.”
“My thanks.”
“No problem.”
The Princess strode towards the indicated direction and could feel a slight tickle in her nose. It was a sugary sweet scent, some sort of baked confection that caught her snout and pulled her towards a booth like a magnet.
“Are these the famous Phenomnomenons I was told about?” she asked as she approached the booth.
“P-P-Princess Luna?!” stammered the vendor. “I didn’t know you would be here. Care for some Phenomnomenons? On the house.``
“That sounds most glorious,” cried Luna as she took the coveted treat.
“Gar gar!” shouted a voice near her. “You spent all the money on games?! I wanted to try one of those Phenomnomenons that Silverstream was raving about.”
The Princess looked over and saw two dragons: A large, brutish- specimen with a scowl and protruding razor sharp front teeth, and a small one that Luna recognized from a class picture that Twilight had sent to her and Celestia..
What was her name? Scorch? Smokey? Ah yes, Smolder.
“Excuse me. Smolder, is it not?” the night princess hailed.
The little dragon looked stunned. She stood straight up and awkwardly bowed. She gave a death stare to the other dragon. The big one folded his arms and glanced away from her in indifference.
“Princess Luna, I’m sorry—I mean, yes! I’m Smolder… uh, Your Highness.”
“I couldn’t help but overhear that you wished to purchase some of these confections.”
The little dragon nodded.
“And perhaps you could clear up something for my sister and I. Twilight has written that, recently, Spike has begun dating a fellow dragon.”
Pinkness appeared on the dragon’s cheeks. She looked like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on her.
“I thought so,” chuckled the Princess. She turned to the vendor once again and placed a shiny bit on her counter. “Please give this dragon some of your fine wares. She is the special some...dragon of a dear friend.”
“Really?!” the reddened Smolder asked. “Aww, thanks.” She gratefully asked the vendor for one of each flavor. The larger dragon rolled his eyes, but grabbed one or two of them when Smolder wasn’t looking. Luna was about to scold him when an alarm sounded from the Doctor’s machine. It was a sharp whistle of steam.
“Whipping stallions, that’s a lot louder than the tests. What did you do, Derpy?” Luna heard an elegant pony shout. A brown earth pony popped up on a large booth lined with various copper tubes. In the middle were two large openings that looked like chambers. Steam rose unsettlingly from the chambers.
“Ahh,” said the Doctor as he noticed he had the audience’s attention. ”Hello, ladies and gentlecolts! I have built for you a machine that will change the way we look at time. We like to think of time as a slow plodding weight. Things we do are forever etched into its unyielding tapestry. But what if it’s more malleable than we originally believed? What if we can slide in between the holes of the tapestry without disturbing the weaving? This machine will allow us to do just that. Without the use of magic I might add.
“No more will we suffer the injustice of consequences. No more will our mistakes be forever our burdens to bear. No more will I get cold soup from continuously working on this machine!”
The crowd murmured in excitement. They chatted about different times that they would return to. Different mistakes they would fix.
“As if,” scoffed a voice from the crowd. Luna turned and saw the brutish dragon from before. “Travel through time? Give me a break. No pony could invent something that awesome. It’s got to be a scam.”
“Ahh, a doubter!” cried the excited Doctor. “I’ll have you know this machine has been tested multiple times, and the subject was mostly unharmed each time.”
“Yeah!” cried Derpy, flapping up to land next to the Doctor.
It’s her! What is she doing here? Next to such a powerful machine?!
Derpy looked into the audience and locked an eye, possibly two, onto Luna’s eyes. She gasped and shouted, “Look, Doc, it’s her!”
“Her?” the Doctor asked, suddenly disengaging from the audience. Then looked down the pegasus’s pointing hoof. “The snuggle princess?”
Snuggle princess? What had this mare told him?
“Yeah we slept together this morning,” continued the deluded mare. “Then she held me so tight. I felt so snuggly in those big forehooves.”
The crowd gasped in shock. The uncomfortable mummers started immediately. Luna could hear the words “snuggle princess” and “slept with Derpy” continually repeated by their lips.
“What?!” cried the snuggly princess. She pointed her hoof accusingly at that accursed pegasus. “You have not done me justice! You crashed into my bed whilst I slept and then fell asleep upon it. I did not sleep with you, as you suggested.”
“But, but we did,” Derpy countered, starting to tear up. “We spent all morning together in your bed. I would have stayed longer but I needed to finish my mail run. But you did hold me in your hooves while you slept.”
“But that is not the same as your suggestion earlier. You made it sound as if you and I… you and I… had coupled.”
Derpy looked at her in confusion. “Coupled? I don’t understand.”
“Do not make me spell it out for you,” hissed the angered alicorn.
Derpy was about to say something else when the Doctor whispered something in her ear. She stopped. Then the color drained from her face. She looked at the princess with wide horrified eyes. Then toppled over backward striking a nearby lever.
Of course.
The whistles screamed an alert and the pipes and tubes bulged with the great energy they carried inside. The lights of the town flickered and dimmed. Steam billowed out of both chambers. It enveloped the crowd who began to scream. Luna saw a bright, white light surge forward and strike her body. Then she saw and heard nothing.