Button was never a lucid dreamer, so he knew rather quickly that something was definitely up. He was sitting on the edge of a lake. It took him a second to realize exactly where it was, because the last time he saw it it was frozen over, complete with ponies skating on it.
"Central park lake?" He exclaimed, his voice cutting through a silence he hadn't noticed.
"Yes, little one."
Button turned around, surprised at hearing a complete stranger's voice in his dream. When he saw who it was, he immediately bowed.
"Princess Luna!"
"Yes, little one. No need to bow: in the realm of dreams, we are all equals."
"In that case," he responded, "please stop calling me 'little one'."
"Shall I call you Mr Mash?"
Button winced. "Button would be fine, please."
Luna nodded. "Button, then." She added in her head: "He's still sensitive about his dad. That will prove useful."
"Why are you here." Button asked.
Luna, not paying attention, misheard. "I know not. I cast the connection spell, but it was your mind that created this place. It's really you who should answer that question."
"No, I meant why are you here?"
"Oh." She deepened her voice. "Button Mash, your life stands at an impass. Two roads lie before you. One leads to tragedy for more than just you."
"And the other?"
"The other leads onward. To where, I can not see. I only see what may happen, and only on certain paths."
Luna then smiled warmly. "Feel free to confide in me or do anything you wish while we're together. I have sworn myself to secrecy on the matters of dreams. Whatever happens here is confidential."
Button got a wicked smile: "So if I kissed you, you wouldn't tell?"
Luna laughed. "Well, I would probably slap you, especially since I have a mare friend, but no, I would not tell a soul."
Button continued to smile, but she read into it quite easily. She made a mental note that he was hiding his grief behind a false smile. She always found those types the hardest to save.
His smile disappeared. "So I take it you're here because I'm suicidal."
That was blunt.
"Yes. It's my job to guide those who are lost. Such as I did with your friend Sweetie Belle. Although her situation was much different, she was lost, much as you are."
It was a vague and desperate shot in the dark, but it found its mark. She noticed a slight but genuine blush at the mention of Sweetie Belle's name. "So he likes her. I think I now know the last point I need tonight." She thought to herself. Once she had made note of the crack in his emotional defenses, she moved on.
"You are more important to more ponies than you know. You need to see some of the possibilities that may result from your actions before you decide on a course. That is my job."
He sighed, and sat down.
Luna began to worry that she was losing him. It was a fairly common problem with teenagers during these interventions: they would often slip into the mindset that this was just another adult trying to lecture them without any real knowledge of what the problem was. Their emotional shields would go up, and they would tune her out. So she played a careful risk.
She sat beside him and put one of her wings around him. When he didn't resist this, she turned his head with her wing and looked him in the eyes. Then she began to talk: "Listen, I know that I sound like just another lecturing adult. But you are making a huge choice, and you need to be absolutely certain it is the right one. And I can assure you, there is a lot more to what you will experience this night than mere words. I can, and I will, show you glances of what may come to pass if you decide to continue on the path you have laid out for yourself." She stood, as did he. "But I can not choose your path for you, only try to inform your decision. It is up to you on what to do once I leave. If, after this night, you decide to continue along your current path, I cannot stop you. But I will warn you about this much: it will lead to much grief for many you care about. That is what I am here to show you."
He looked her in the eyes again. "So where do we start?"
Luna lit her horn, and a door appeared. Button gasped, for it was just like the front door of his house.
"Where better to start than at home?" Luna cringed inwardly at the cheesey line, but Button took no notice. She opened the door slowly.
Button wondered what he would see behind the door. Anticipation mounted as he watched it open. Then, as the door opened just enough to see inside it, he gasped as he saw:...
Nothing. It opened to reveal more of the endless night that seemed to surround them.
"Why can't I see anything inside?"
"Because you must go through the door to see what's on the other side."
He approached the door, and, after just a moment of hesitation, he trotted in, the darkness seeming to suddenly envelope him.
"How's it going, sister?"
Luna spun around, and saw her sister's reflection in the lake.
"Sister, I've told you before, don't interfere in my work."
"I know, but this case is special to me. So how is it going?"
Luna sighed, realising it was a waste of time to try to convince her sister to leave her alone. "Well, he reminds me of me during my time under nightmare moon's control. He's a lot younger, but with the same lack of any real hope."
"Wait. Luna, sister, you were suicidal?"
"He's going to be a tough case. Indeed, I can already tell that he is fully ready to kill himself, and it seems that he is set quite firmly to it."
"Sister! Don't ignore me!"
Luna plunged her hoof in the water, breaking up the image.
"I hope my plan works, for his sake, as well as that of so many others."
She turned and, with a final backward glance at the lake, she walked through the open door...