A meadow painted with glowing night blossoms, a breed of trillium with pure white petals that glimmered in the full moon’s light. The meadow rested atop a piece of land that floated in the night sky as if it were a cloud, the landmass covered on the underside with amethyst, garnets, peridot, and quartz as clear as glass. The shimmering, sparkling, floating meadow drifted over darkened lands below; a light lullaby could be heard on the gentle breeze as the meadow continued to drift, leaving behind a soothing scent as it passed.
In the meadow’s center was a white and gray mare, sitting atop the single boulder that stood above the surrounding flowers. Her pale wings were outstretched, and her blue mane was pulled back with a silver bow; she slowly swayed back and forth, singing softly into the breeze as it blew through her mane, pulling petals up to dance to her song.
“Sweet Moonlight watches as stars fall from the sky,
granting their wishes to the ponies who pass by;
Melodic Moonlight, enchanting lullaby,
sweet dreams move onwards as we float up high.
Our meadow a tribute, to the night, to the sky,
a dreamer’s lost carriage of night’s whispered cry,
So we sing so softly, our Moonlit lullaby,
so we sing so softly… our Moonlit lullaby.”
Moon Struck sang the last verse of the lullaby she wrote as a filly for the Mare in the Moon. It held all the love she had for the moon, for the night, and for Princess Luna in it, even though it only made sense to her. She sang it every night, and in every dream, hoping that one day the Princess would hear it, or the night would answer. Looking around her dreamscape, to the meadow she had floated upon for so many years as she slept and dreamed, she found herself a little… lonely. She had never been lonely here before; this was her meadow, the night she loved, the full moon bathed her in light. And yet… since she had begun to make friends, begun to make her home in the waking world, her dream world felt so… empty. She had never before felt the need to dream of other ponies, because herself and the night was plenty to keep her happy, to make her feel safe. But now, the darkness beneath her meadow loomed below her, as if to swallow her in its depths. The black depths under her floating haven were… chanting to her. They were calling her down, pulling at her with their twisted words and hatred. Suddenly, the faces of her new friends were down there, on the ground, looking up at her. But no smile graced any face, instead, anger and anguish and hatred were there.
“You think you are so cool, so above us by being up on your stupid meadow?” Dream Rainbow yelled up to her.
“I guess I’m too stubborn to be anypony you would want on yer pretty li’l meadow, is that it? Me an’ my apples ain’t good enough for ya now?” Dream Apple Jack shouted, pounding her hoof on the ground.
“Your dress just had to be so much more fabulous than my own ensembles, you are obviously too fashion forward to want the dresses of some country pony like me, is that what you meant? My dresses are too… plain for somepony as special as yourself?” The Dream Rarity huffed at her, turning away with a glare.
“I tried to be kind, to help you get along with Discord so that you could make a new friend, but then you just leave us in the garden and don’t even try to say you were going back in? You don’t even care how much you make anypony worry about you!” Dream Fluttershy whispered, yet her voice carried up like a scream.
“You didn’t do the pony pokey with me!” Dream Pinkie bounced and bellowed.
“I went through so much trouble to bring you last minute to the Gala, all of us worked hard to get you ready to enjoy the night with us, but then you just up and leave. No explanation other than a simple ‘I’m too overwhelmed’ nonsense. Just admit you don’t like us and leave us alone!” Finally, Dream Twilight roared as she cast a shield between her and the meadow, stopping Moon Struck from even being able to talk to them, to apologize, to beg them to forgive her. Her fears of losing her friends grew from the darkness down on the ground below, stretching out clawed hooves, grasping for her in an attempt to pull her from the sky.
“No! Stop it! Let me go; let me GO!” Moon Struck screeched, trying desperately to shake the shadow claws from her wings and mane.
For every shadow she pushed away, two more appeared in its place. Her new found friends turned into darkness and shadows, they reached out, their seething hate filled words grabbing her and holding her down. She cried, struggling with all her might to escape, but the hold her shadow friends had on her was too strong. She couldn’t escape her fears, even as they emerged from the darkness and materialized beside her in the form of her friends. Her fear of everything she did, everything she said that was wrong, hovered around her and pulled at her, their clawed hooves scratching at her. She felt as if she was being ripped into thousands of pieces, but her body remained as one. Her mind and heart, however, were cracking under the pressure of the darkness that now completely encompassed her.
“Step back, foul night creatures of fear. Let go of thy prey and disappear from our presence!” A voice called out from some feet away. The claws released Moon Struck and shriveled in fear from the mare that called out to them. Princess Luna brandished her horn at the shadow ponies that surrounded Moon Struck, striking them with moonlight and causing them to dissipate into the night, replaced once more by the light of the full moon and soft glow of the night blossoms. “Art thou alright, Moon Struck?” She asked as Moon Struck struggled to stand up; but the fear still commanded her body, causing her to collapse in a mess of legs and wings.
Breathing slowly, Moon Struck hid her face from view. “Are you just another of the heart demons, here to take what little I have left, or are you the real Princess of the Night?” She whispered, afraid to look up, afraid of what she would see.
“We assure you, we are as real as the sun that Celestia raises for every new day, and the moon that we raise for every new night. Dost thou doubt us?” Princess Luna replied, stepping closer to the still shivering and scared Moon Struck.
“No, I don’t doubt you; I doubt myself.” Moon Struck answered softly.
“Thou hast no reason to doubt thyself, Moon Struck. Thy nightmares have been banished for now, and although we wish we could promise them to be gone forever, we are afraid that only thou can completely vanquish the darkness that feeds on thy fear and self-loathing. Know that all ponies have some nightmare, some demon, that haunts them. Some come upon this fear early in life, and in turn are able to fight it earlier as well. But some succumb to that darkness, some let their hearts be stolen willingly. Our own heart was once stolen. We had fallen into the black depths of hatred towards our own sister, our own citizens. For it, we were banished; a fate we truly deserved. Twilight Sparkle and her friends helped us be freed from the darkness using the Elements of Harmony. But that darkness remained in part; we used the fear of ourself as Nightmare Moon and created our own personal torture. A reminder, if thou wilt, of what we wished to never become again. We named it the Tantabus. It was a creature we created that turned dreams into nightmares, and in doing so, our dreams were of becoming Nightmare Moon over and over. And every time, instead of losing to the Elements, in our nightmare we had won. Night became eternal; no pony was safe. But, in one nightmare, we were saved. Our dream ended… happily. The Tantabus had escaped, and because we had dreamed of Twilight Sparkle and the others, the Tantabus had gone after them, infecting their dreams with its nightmares. We eventually worked with the others, and all of Ponyville’s citizens as well, to defeat the Tantabus before it could escape into the waking world. We came to understand that we need not punish ourselves for the past. We found our way to forgive ourself, and then we were able to have happy dreams from thence on. But every now and again, even we still have our nightmare, our fear of becoming that which we least wish to return to. Some fears cannot be beaten so easily, some have to be defeated time and time again, and each time we can only become a little stronger from the last. We will not tell thou that thy fears can be beaten with ease, but thy strength can grow by confronting it, and by forgiving thyself as thy friends surely have.” Princess Luna softly said, placing a hoof on Moon Struck’s shoulder. “Do not let thy fear control thee.”
“... Fear has been my longest acquaintance. I have always stood with my fears, because they are the one thing that I can understand and that can understand me. As they hurt me and pierce into my heart, they also are the protective wall, the shield that stops the true pain from reaching me. For, how could I be hurt by anypony, if I never expect anything but to be hurt?” Moon Struck looked up to Princess Luna, tears trailing down her face, tiny rivers of sadness leading from her midnight blue eyes that were so… empty.
“As surely as it may protect thyself from pain, it prevents true happiness as well. Thou cannot embrace the joy thy friends offer if thy heart is hidden in a thorned shell of darkness. Thou can create such beauty in thy dreams, but is time that thou finds this same beauty in the waking world. If thou truly wishes, we can speak with Discord, allow him to see this place of thy dreams, and request help in creating at least some part of this meadow in the realm of the awake. His magic is surely more than satisfactory in creating such a strange, yet beautiful place. We can support his chaos with our own magic of the night to create these flowers that bloom in moonlight, in place of the sun. Would that help thyself with facing thy fears in the waking world as well as that of thy dreams? It would be a place where thou friends could be taken to, so that they can see things in thy views of our night. A way for thou to share thy love, and for thy friends to understand thyself more, as thou wouldst come to understand them more as well. Thou art still budding,” Princess Luna said, stepping a little to the side to reveal a single night blossom that was still wrapped up, its petals enclosed to the light, “like this flower, surrounded by open and free others, but unwilling to bloom itself. Thy friends surround you with open petals and welcoming grazes, but thy own fear keeps thou hidden.” She waved her horn with a small flourish, and the flower that had hidden itself below the surrounding open flowers began to release and open, letting in the moonlight that surrounded them all. “If thou art willing to let the light into thy heart, thou wilt be able to open and bloom as well.” Princess Luna smiled to her. Moon Struck stared at the flower. Once it had opened and bloomed, it began to glow with the same radiant light as all the other night blossoms, but with the words Princess Luna had spoken, she felt she could see a slightly stronger light coming from it. Princess Luna then pushed the flower ever so slightly so that Moon Struck could see the underside of the petals that were now raised to the light. “Look; the petals of thy flower may appear bright and strong on the surface, but a single glance deeper shows the darkness that still stays with it. There are wilted petals, scars of its late blooming. But it stands stronger because it was still able to turn up and face the light instead of hiding from it. Thou art truly this flower, thy scars will remain with thee, but thou can choose to open thyself and face the light, face thy friends, but only if thou so chooses. We cannot force thee to open thyself, but we can offer a kind ear. We can also offer something that we think thou wouldst appreciate.” Princess Luna turned, with a glance and smile back at Moon Struck, before she cast a spell that opened a door. With another glance back, Princess Luna beckoned Moon Struck to follow her. Slowly, Moon Struck rose to her feet, tears still falling, as she followed Princess Luna through the ivory door and out of her own dream.
“Where are we?” Moon Struck asked once the door closed behind her.
“We have brought thee into the dreamscape. This is the realm with which we travel between all the dreams of Equestria so that we may fight the nightmares that haunt the ponies that they are unable to fight themselves.” Princess Luna responded, gesturing to the floating orbs that surrounded them in the star-filled dreamscape. Moon Struck looked into the orb nearest her and saw a russet colored stallion with a chocolate mane and hourglass cutie mark staring, unblinking, into the eyes of a strange looking pegasus statue. Looking into another bubble orb floating past her she saw a rather large purple sea serpent wailing and thrashing in a river; his orange shining mane was falling into the water surrounding him, leaving his head bald and blank. Moon Struck reached out to touch the poor creatures nightmare, wishing to help when Princess Luna reached out and stopped her. “Do not touch the dreams, for it will drag thee into them. This may be a nightmare, but observe,” she said, pointing at the dream orb. The sea serpents’ cries continued as his beautiful mustache fell out as well. But with a slight turn of the orb, a donkey pulling a rather large cart appeared. In the cart was a large and truly magnificent toupee; the sea serpent had stopped his thrashing, wiping his tears away as he picked up and placed the toupee on his head. With a smile he hugged the donkey whose drooping face smiled as he hugged his friend in return. The donkey’s own toupee fell to the ground and the two just laughed before the sea serpent placed the small donkey’s toupee back on his head. The nightmare had changed into a wonderful dream all on its own.
“So, these are every ponies’ dream? How do you know when it’s a dream you need to intervene in and which ones can be resolved on their own?” Moon Struck asked as an orb floated past with a gray colored earth pony swimming in jelly inside it.
“Sometimes we don’t. We trust that we know, but there are times where we miss nightmares that need our help; just as there are times we step in too soon and the pony does not have the chance to fight their own fear.” Princess Luna replied, watching another dream orb float past with a large red pony sporting a green apple cutie mark, and horn and wings oddly, fly around and blasting vampire bats away from zap apple trees.
“Why did you step into my dream then? Why did you save me?” Moon Struck whispered.
“Because we feared that the dream wouldst devour thee,” Princess Luna answered slowly.
“Because I am too weak you mean…” Moon Struck hung her head nearly hitting an orb with two light yellow earth ponies with red and white striped manes as they pulled piles of bits towards themselves.
“Thou art not weak, Moon Struck. Thou art like anypony whom faces fear. We shall show thee,” Princess Luna said, once more placing a comforting hoof on Moon Struck’s shoulder. She then pulled Moon Struck with her as she had finally found what she was looking for in the orbs surrounding them. Touching a nearby orb, Princess Luna and Moon Struck were sucked into the dream of somepony. When Moon Struck’s head stopped spinning for the sudden change, she realized they were in a dark, cold forest.
“The Everfree Forest? Why are we here?” Moon Struck said, looking around for anypony aside from them.
“There,” Princess Luna replied, pointing down below them into a slightly more open patch of forest. A light mint colored pegasus was laying underneath a pile of large leaves. A pony mannequin head was sitting on a stump next to him, its mane styled rather horridly, partially falling apart. He looked like a complete wreck. Princess Luna flew down to him as the pony mannequin head started to multiply, surrounding him and laughing at him, telling him he was a failure and deserved to rot in the dark, lonely forest. With a wave of her horn, Princess Luna blasted away the mannequins and picked up the haphazardly built shelter off of the pegasus. “Zephyr Breeze, arise. Thou must continue forward and persevere against the struggles that lie ahead of thee.” Princess Luna said to the shivering and confused pegasus.
He slowly stood up, “but what if I do fail? What’s the point in trying?” Zephyr sighed.
With another small blast of magic, Princess Luna made a mirror appear. In the mirror was a scene very similar to the one currently playing out, except in the mirror Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash appeared and brought Zephyr from the forest. “If thou wouldst remember, even thy sister told of her fear of failure as well. But with her belief in thee, thou was able to complete something on thy own. Thou completed mane therapy school, did thou not? Believe in thyself, as thy sister does.” Princess Luna replied as Zephyr watched his memory play out in the mirror.
“You’re right, I need to see this through. As Flutters said, I can do this!” The dream began to change and Zephyr was now standing in a mane therapy shop. He trotted off to go style the mane of the nearest pony and Princess Luna flew back up to Moon Struck.
“Sometimes, somepony just needs to remember their own strengths to surpass their fear. Thyself included, Moon Struck,” Princess Luna smiled at Moon Struck before opening a door back to the dreamscape. Once in the dreamscape, Moon Struck turned to look at Princess Luna who continued to observe the surrounding dreams with a motherly smile.
“You really are amazing, Princess Luna.” Moon Struck whispered, a small smile on her face as well. Suddenly, Moon Struck started to fade out and was sucked away from Princess Luna. “Wait, what’s happening?” She yelled.
“Thou art returning to the waking world. We shall speak with thee later, if thou so wishes. Fare well, Moon Struck.” Princess Luna’s words were whispered to her as she faded into nothing.
With a start, Moon Struck fell off the cloud she had fallen asleep on. Opening her wings she prevented herself from plummeting too far, but the sudden drop did cause her head to spin. Moon Struck flew back up to the cloud and sat for a bit, thinking of everything that just happened. The dreamscape fresh in her mind, as well as her own fears, she pondered the words Princess Luna said to her before she awoke.
“Fare well, Princess Luna…”