Sky raised a hoof, ever so slowly reaching out to touch the changeling floating in front of him. Its eyes were narrowed into a sharp glare, its teeth bared, but it did not react. It simply floated there, impossible and unmoving, as frozen as the terrified pony it had been leaping at. Everything was still. All throughout Canterlot, the violent chaos of an invasion had simply come to a halt, the silence almost oppressive with its suddenness.
Another prodding of his hoof failed to draw any reaction, the changeling continuing to defy the pull of gravity.
"That's kind of creepy," Sky murmured, the soft sound made much louder in the unnatural silence. Of the entire city, the only sound to reach his ears were his own words and the faint clip of hooves stepping almost silently on the cobblestone street behind him.
He let his own hoof fall to the ground with a louder clop, lost in thought for a few moments before turning his head toward the only other sound. "This is really just a dream?"
"Indeed," Luna intoned. The dark princess quietly walked up beside the changeling he had just been prodding, holding herself tall, proud. She looked over the changeling for a moment before casting her gaze back out over the rest of the chaotic scene. "Dreams are oft confusing things, ensnaring the mind and befuddling sensibility, but surely thou canst sense the truth of the matter. Thou hast witnessed these events many times before, have you not?"
He hesitated, looking around. The street opened into a circle, an open courtyard, and he recognized this place. He recognized the overlook, and the valley beyond. He recognized the nearby café. He recognized the nearby fearful pony, her cutie mark matching that of the café's sign. He knew her... but not until after this. Later.
"Y-yes," he murmured, giving his head a slow shake. "This is confusing."
"Thou art asleep, and thy mind does not work the same as it does when thou art awake," Luna replied. "Once you are awake, thy mind will see the inconsistencies and alterations of this place. Until then, it shall do its utmost to make sense of what thou dost experience, believing it to be real."
"That's weird," he said, then raised a hoof to rub at the side of his head. "I think... I feel like I'm waking up, but not?"
Luna nodded. "The sleeping mind is a time for rest; it does not handle activity gracefully. Lucidity is the awkward state between the waking world and that of dreams. It is a precarious balance, always trying to tip one way or the other." A faint smile played on her lips. "Do not worry. We can aid thee in maintaining the balance."
"Thank you?" he said, unsure of how to respond to the Princess's offer. And it was the Princess, he knew. Even through all of the confusion and uncertainty of the slightly disturbed dream, he felt certain of this. As real as his mind told him all of this was, she seemed still more real than that. "...But why are you here, Princess?"
She drew her head up, wings mantling in a regal pose... which held for a few seconds of silent emotional turmoil before she sighed, her posture weakening a touch. When she spoke, it was without the familiar formality, her voice grown softer, more personal. "...I wished to apologize."
Sky blinked, looking up to Luna. The feeling of contrition coming from her was soft, but he was surprised enough that it would be there at all. "Apologize? What for?"
Luna considered her words for a few moments before replying. "It is my duty to watch over the dreams of all the subjects of Equestria, to protect them in their vulnerable state of slumber. I fear I have been remiss in my charge, Sky. I was certain the course I chose was the correct one, and I still have not discovered another course as likely to have succeeded. Yet despite that, in choosing the way that I did, I am afraid I have wronged you."
"Wronged me?" Sky echoed, then shook his head. "But you and Celestia... you were welcoming and friendly, even after I..." He raised a hoof to gesture wordlessly at the frozen scene around him. "I'm still a bit surprised at how forgiving you were, and how nice you've been to me. How could you think you've wronged me?"
Luna hesitated, a small frown forming. She sighed again, and then she raised her head, eyes flaring with brilliant light. A blinding flash pulsed outward from her horn, and as it passed through the surrounding city, it stripped away the changelings, the ponies, the fires, leaving only a still and peaceful city. As Luna's eyes returned to normal, a faint breeze wafted through the street, bringing a hint of life to the otherwise still scene.
After a momentary glance around, Luna nodded, and slowly walked toward the nearby overlook. "There were many nightmares in the aftermath of Chrysalis's treacherous attack. Most were here in Canterlot, naturally, but a few were in more distant territories." She paused, folding her forelegs across the overlook wall, her eyes looking out over the valley. "Perhaps that is why one particular dream in Ponyville stood out. There were many dreams to tend to that night, but that one... it intrigued me."
"I have much experience with dreams and nightmares. They are my realm and responsibility, and I must admit I hold some small degree of pride in my skills. And yet, that dream offered something unfamiliar. For the first time in so very, very long, I could not find the dreamer."
She turned to look at Sky, who stood in silence beside her. "The dream itself was familiar enough. Many ponies were reliving the events of that day, and I did what I could to soothe their fears. Yet in this one dream, I was helpless to aid the dreamer, for no matter how many times I looked, I could not find them."
"The dream soon returned, and so did I. I had to find the dreamer. The signs were there, and yet, I could not give credence to what they suggested. I kept futilely digging for a different answer, one which could never come."
"The third time I encountered the dream, I had to accept the truth. I had discovered the nightmare of a changeling. A lost and scared changeling, reliving the terrified memory of an invasion he did not understand."
She remained silent for several seconds while Sky sat down heavily, eyes distant in thought.
"Twilight's letter answered some of our questions," Luna said, eyes turning back to the valley. "But they also raised yet more. Most importantly, we saw this as an opportunity. You were lost and confused, reliving these violent memories as if some discontent ghost, yet there was no hostile intent in your dreams. There was no anger, no hatred. Outside of those nightmares, you were kind and friendly. Such a disparity might lead some to suspicion, but there was no duplicity there. Whatever prejudices had lead you to that invasion had been lost in the mists of your past, and what remained was a changeling that sought nothing but friendship."
Luna hesitated, ears twitching, as if wanting to droop. "So we... I... kept your past from you. I could have ended your nightmares as they formed, but I did not. To banish one's nightmares for good, one must confront the cause of their fear, and I held the truth of that away from you. Our fears can motivate us as strongly as our hopes, and I allowed your fear to persist, because... because the truth has a way of making itself known, and I hoped that, when it did so, the memory of those fears would encourage a sympathy towards ponies."
She slumped ever so slightly, head lowering. "Worst of all, I can not say I am sorry for having chosen that course. Every reasoning I can think of says it was the proper decision, that it was the right decision for the sake of all my little ponies, that it even helped you. Celestia and I already apologized for keeping your past a secret, but I have gone further than she. I can only apologize for what distress my actions have caused you."
Sky took a deep breath, blinking slowly, silently. The sky had grown distant and indistinct, the clarity of the city wavering in faint ripples; the signs of the dream wavering as the rise of thought tried to tip the balance between the dream and reality. Slowly, the clarity of the dream reasserted itself, and Sky's gaze returned from his distant stare to look to Luna again. "After showing so much forgiveness to me, I can hardly hold a grudge for that." He drew in another deep breath and let it out, as if expelling any negative emotions he might have felt, and stood. "A few bad dreams seem like a fair trade in exchange for everything I've gotten."
The princess smiled softly.
Sky stepped up next to her, rising up to rest his own forelegs over the overlook wall, just like Luna was. "So does this mean no more bad dreams?"
"It is within my ability to banish nightmares when they form, but I can not prevent them from forming. I can only guide ponies--and changelings, it seems--to face the fears that give rise to such nightmares." She looked to him again. "And I believe you and your new friends have done much to resolve that fear."
Sky sighed. "I hope so."
There was a moment of silence before Luna spoke again. "I wish I could assure you that these nightmares shall never return, but I suspect that would be untrue. I know your past weighs upon you. You fear what you were."
"Yes," Sky murmured, ears drooping. "I'm worried about what I might find. I can't imagine doing anything really bad, but... what if I did?" He sighed. "I'm probably better off not knowing who I was and what I've done."
"I am doubtful," Luna replied. "The greatest fears arise from the unknown, Sky. The hardest fears to fight are the intangible, the ever-elusive fears of what might be, the speculative. The fears limited only by our own imagination. Our own minds can be more cruel than any reality, as they know better than any how to harm us."
"But... what if I did something really bad? Horrible, even? I don't know if I could live with that."
"Would such a thing be worse than the unchallengeable fear that you might have committed some unknown atrocity? Guilt and regret can be dealt with, but the unknown evades such reasoning. Even as you resolve one potential fear, another possibility rears its head. It can become a never-ending cycle of doubt and guilt, clawing at one's mind."
"I have done horrible things that should surely make anything you have done pale in comparison," Luna said quietly, a small frown forming. "And so, I will never allow myself to forget. Ignorance and misunderstanding led to my fall, and I shall never risk such horrors for so ephemeral a comfort. To forget our past is to forget the lessons we have learned, and to risk the same failures once again."
She paused a moment, then added, "And in your case, I am concerned that the mystery of your past may leave us in danger."
Sky's ear's perked up, a faint shimmer rippling through the dream at the Princess's statement. "Danger? From what?"
"From your past," Luna said. "It is an unknown to you, but it shall return. We can not know what may arise, and as such, we can do little to prepare for it, even though we know it to be inevitable."
"Inevitable?" Sky echoed, the dream shimmering a little more as the faint tingle of adrenaline rose to his senses. "Why?"
Luna's gaze returned to the horizon, her expression growing firm: regal, yet grim. "We do not know thy former Queen, but whatever purpose and reason motivated her actions must surely still exist." Her eyes narrowed slightly, an edge entering her voice. "Chrysalis shall return..."