Starlight's Dream Therapy

by Yosh-E-O

Chapter 1 - Ghosts of the Past

“Hello…?” wondered Starlight Glimmer as she found herself in a dimly lit void.

***

The periwinkle-colored Unicorn trotted onward through the emptiness. The only sound being that of her hooves clacking upon an an invisible sidewalk.

SHING

Starlight used her magic to cast an illumination spell.

“What the…?” she wondered as she found herself surrounded by numerous, pitch-black colored ponies.

“Hey!” she panicked. “Where am I?”

No pony answered. They just carried on as if Starlight wasn’t there.

“Hello?” she cried. “What’s with every pony?”

SHING

“What the…?” gasped Starlight as she found herself magically bound.

“You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her!” snapped a mare from behind Starlight.

“I was busy!” growled a stallion.

“Doing what?” asked the mare.

“Does it matter?” snorted the stallion.

Starlight felt her heart pounding as the two ponies bickered. There was something about it that seemed unpleasantly familiar.

“…Let’s just get her back in her room,” stated the stallion.

“You’re so lazy,” remarked the mare. “Can’t even spend time with ‘your’ daughter.”

Starlight gasped upon hearing the cold way in which the mare referred to her as the stallion’s ‘daughter’.

“And what does that say about you?” countered the stallion. “You’re ‘her mother’
“I don’t have time for this,” stated the mare.

“Whoa.” Gasped Starlight as she felt herself being magically lifted into the air.

THWUMP!

Starlight suddenly felt herself tossed hard upon a bed-like surface.
“There,” the mare said. “Your father will come get you when it’s time for dinner.”

KA-THWUMP!

CLICK!

Starlight looked in the direction of the sound in time to see that a door had just been slammed shut and quickly locked from the other side.
“NO!” she cried while dashing with all her might towards where she saw the light fade into total darkness.

BAF-CRIK!

“OUCH!” groaned Starlight as she found herself quickly smashing against a hard, wooden surface.

The pink Unicorn felt tears begin to form and stream from her eyes. She then noticed herself whimpering upon coming to a sudden realization. One that she felt familiar, awful, and desperately wanting out of.

PWIF-OOM!

“ENOUGH!” proclaimed a strongly authoritative voice.

Starlight pulled her hooves from her sobbing eyes to see that Princess Luna had entered into wherever it was she had been locked into.

“Starlight Glimmer,” stated Princess Luna. “I can bear to see these nightmares no more and have come to intervene.”

“Nightmares…?” wondered the Unicorn who now saw herself dressed in an untidy onesie while feeling very unclean. “This is just a dream?”

“It is,” replied Luna. “And it isn’t.”

“…,” Starlight gazed towards Luna with confusion.

“Allow me to explain as best I can,” stated Luna. “This is far from the first time you’ve dreamt of this situation, correct?”

Starlight didn’t like the way she was feeling. Foul smells filled the air while her anxiety made her tremble.

“…No,” she moaned. “But, why? Why do I have these dreams? Why do I feel like they are more than just dark thoughts haunting my mind from what I did to that town? To Twilight and her friends?”

Luna used her magic to lift the foal-sized Starlight from the confinement of the crib she had been placed into. She then went about creating a neutral space with her dream powers that returned Starlight to normal and put them both in a state of levitation within the night sky.

“Your nightmares do not have anything to do with the town, nor Twilight,” said Luna with a sigh. “They are derived from memories deeply embedded within your mind. Memories you suppressed, but still torment you as the memory of Nightmare Moon once did to me.”

“I don’t understand,” said Starlight. “What do you mean by ‘suppressed memories’?”

“Since returning to my duties of watching over the dreams of ponies,” replied Luna. “I’ve noticed how there are those that cannot be remedied simply through shining light on that which is afflicting the dreamer.”

“I’m sorry, princess,” said Starlight. “I still don’t understand.”

FWOOSH!

With a gesture of her hoof, the blue Alicorn caused a series of doors to appear around both herself and Starlight.

“Behind these doors lie the dreams of ponies to whom I’ve been able to talk through whatever it may be that is causing them disrupted slumber,” stated Luna. “Each were able to recognize what they needed to do to end their nightmares once I stepped in and brought light upon what they perceived as darkness.”

“What does this have to do with me?” asked Starlight. “I’ve been having these kind of dreams ever since I first moved into ‘The Castle of Friendship’ with Princess Twilight and Spike.”

“I know You have,” acknowledged Luna. “I’ve observed them and now come to help do what I can to assist in purging such inner torment from your mind.”

“But…,” trailed Starlight. “Didn’t you just say this had nothing to do with Twilight, or the town of ponies I brainwashed?”

“That I did,” replied Luna. “However, as I’ve learned myself, some nightmares remain latent until certain events occur. For you it was embracing true friendship that has managed to open up much of what you unknowingly sealed away to protect yourself. Now we must journey through your deepest memories through the dream world in order to finally put an end to what created the Starlight Glimmer that once was so the Starlight Glimmer that is may thrive without the shackles of her past.”

“…,” Starlight blinked as she tried to grasp what the Princess of the Night was trying to say.

“Tomorrow night,” stated Luna. “You and I will begin a journey that will heal your mind while freeing you to succeed in your friendship studies without fear.”

FWOOSH!

The doors all slid down into the night sky they were standing on.

“You shall free yourself through doing that which could not be done before!” proclaimed Luna as she rose into the sky. “You shall be whole again.”

Starlight watched as Princess Luna disappeared towards the moon. Then, with a flash of bright, white light, she was gone and the periwinkle-coloredUnicorn shot up from her bed to greet the new day that had just begun.

Author's Note:

Comments

[zalla661]

What a strange start. Guess Starlight had family issues back in the past. Can't wait to see where this crazy emotional trainwreck goes.

[LeilaSkies017]

so far this is an amazing story. Good job. Cant wait to read the rest

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

nightmares aren't fun