The view of the Equestrian landscape outside of the speeding train car’s window was swiftly obstructed by the smooth stone walls, plunging the swiftly traveling vehicle into only dim lighting provided by the lamps on the ceiling. Twilight turned her gaze away from the window and back to Rainbow Dash, who sat directly next to her in their seat. This particular cart was empty save for them.
Rainbow, for her part, was being uncharacteristically solemn with her eyes turned towards the floor of the train car and her shoulders sagging. She glanced at Twilight when she noticed she was being stared at and smiled sheepishly before looking away again. Twilight sighed and gently nudged Rainbow in the wing with her elbow. “Are you feeling okay?” she asked once she had Rainbow’s attention.
“Yeah, why?” Rainbow asked casually, sitting up straight and putting on a smile.
“Because you’re, I dunno… you just don’t seem like yourself, is all,” Twilight shook her head in exasperation. “You’re sagging and you’re looking really… sluggish. Like your enthusiasm was drained out of you, or something.”
“I mean, I’m kinda tired, yeah. But it’s not too bad.” Rainbow admitted before stifling a yawn. Twilight winced slightly. Rainbow had been tossing and turning in her sleep the previous night, even muttering fitfully to herself on occasion. Her brow furrowed with concern.
“Is that what all of your tossing and turning was about?” She asked gently, resting a hoof on Rainbow’s shoulder. “Was it a nightmare?”
Rainbow’s ears fell and she nodded. “Yeah. Nothing I can’t handle, though. I’m fine Twilight, okay? Let’s just get to Canterlot and get looking for Starlight.”
Twilight remained unconvinced, but for Rainbow’s comfort, she decided not to press the matter right now. She slowly leaned back and glanced out the window as the train passed out of the tunnel. The view of Equestria was restored, briefly making her eyes squint from the change in lighting. Canterlot looked like it was in the middle of some scheduled rain. Not exactly surprising. Most of Equestria’s big cities and settlements were having more rain than usual to help wash away anything leftover from Discord’s chaotic downpours.
“We should be there any minute,” Twilight commented after another prolonged silence. “You ready?”
“Yeah. let’s do this.” Rainbow nodded an affirmative before stepping off of her seat and back onto the floor of the train. She gave a languid stretch to relieve some stiffness in her back while Twilight, too, slipped out of her seat.
The whistle of the train blew loudly.
Canterlot was just as magnificent as ever. Well, maybe a little less so. There were still leftover chocolate and cola stains on a lot of external fabrics, such as tapestries, flags or the umbrellas outside of restaurants. Add on to that the current downpour of rain, which was much heavier than Twilight had expected it to be, and it really wasn’t a pleasant afternoon for anypony caught outside.
Rainbow and Twilight had arrived on the train maybe ten minutes ago, and now the two of them cantered hurriedly down the street with a magical half-dome over their heads created by Twilight, which caught the rain. There were a few other ponies out, but not many. Each one they went by took the time to give Rainbow a respectful nod, or, in the case of some of the more enthusiastic or cheerful ponies, a small shout of greeting or thanks for her part in stopping Discord.
Naturally, she tuned them out and focused on just getting to the castle.
Finally, after quite some time, the two came to the gates of Canterlot Castle. The guards let them by without any hassle or fuss, and Twilight could finally dispel her magical umbrella. “Whew. Made it.” she said while shaking herself a little.
“Why wouldn’t we have made it?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing over her shoulder at the unicorn. “It’s not like we were running for our lives or anything.”
“No, but I didn’t especially feel like getting wet today and my umbrella spell takes more energy to maintain than you might think. We made it without the spell going out.” Twilight answered before running a hoof through her mane to straighten out a couple of stray hairs. Rainbow nodded in understanding.
“Yeah, Shining Armor was always the better one with shields and stuff.” She commented with a small smirk appearing on her muzzle. Twilight glared playfully at Rainbow Dash.
“Maybe, but he can’t stop godlike masters of chaos with friendship explosions.” Twilight shot back, a small competitive flicker entering her eyes. Rainbow rolled her eyes.
“You kinda need the rest of us to do that, though,” she pointed out, much to Twilight’s chagrin. “Not something you do, but we do.”
“I know that. Shut up.” Twilight snarked before strutting by. Rainbow chuckled in amusement before falling into step next to Twilight. For a few minutes, the two continued on in silence, making the necessary turns to take them to the Canterlot Archives. About halfway there, though, Rainbow hesitated, her eyes shifting slightly before she stopped entirely.
“Hey, Twilight? The archives aren’t all that far, so go on ahead without me, would ya?” she said before taking a sharp left turn, the opposite direction of the archives in the intersection they had come to and going at a canter down that hall.
“Huh? Why?” Twilight turned to Rainbow quizzically, her brow furrowing.
Rainbow paused and looked back at Twilight. “I gotta make a pit stop,” she called back before lifting into the air with a flap of her wings. “It won’t take long, don’t worry.” she then shot down the hallway, a prismatic trail in her wake and leaving Twilight to look after her curiously.
This is the room… Rainbow thought to herself when at last she came to a stop by the doors that lead to the royal suites. Her old room, still untouched from the day she left for Ponyville, would be off the hall beyond these doors. Celestia’s room, too, was on the other side. And, of course, there was the third and most recently occupied room.
Rainbow pushed the doors open and trotted for the room in question. It wasn’t far away from Celestia’s, a large crescent moon emblazoned on it. Rainbow paused at the door before putting a hoof on the handle and trying it. To her surprise, the door was not locked. Slowly and carefully, Rainbow pushed it open and stepped inside.
The room was colored mostly in deep dark blues, soft shades of purple and violet, and small points of white. On the far wall on the left side was a large bed, neatly made with thick, midnight blue covers, gray sheets, and very fluffy purple pillows. On the opposite end of the room was an ornate chest of drawers, made of finely polished and artfully crafted wood. Directly across from the entrance of the room was a tall window, which stood open. Pale blue curtains drifted lazily in the breeze coming through it.
In the very center of the room, sitting on her haunches with her eyes closed was Princess Luna. She had grown quite considerably since the last time Rainbow had seen her. She was easily a head taller than Rainbow Dash. Her coat was a deep, rich blue, while her mane and tail were, for the most part, still the brighter blue hue. However, the last few inches of her hairs were gaining a quality Rainbow had only ever seen in Celestia and Nightmare Moon. They were drifting in an unfelt breeze, glowing softly and sparkling with starlight.
Rainbow closed the door behind her, the resulting sound finally drawing Luna’s attention. Her eyes snapped wide opened and looked to Rainbow Dash in surprise. A blue glow of magic that Rainbow had not noticed flickered out of existence from around the lunar alicorn’s horn. “O-oh, our niece!”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Uh… ‘our’ niece?” she asked in confusion, lifting one hoof to help accentuate.
Luna cleared her throat and stood. “Oh, ahem. Yes, a tradition of Canterlot royalty, started by Celestia and ourselves, was to refer to ourselves in the plural. For it was always we, the two sisters, who ruled Equestria. Never alone, never an I.” she explained before lowering her gaze somewhat, unwilling to meet Rainbow’s own eyes.
Rainbow’s brow furrowed a bit at the timid display. “I mean, that makes sense,” she commented before stepping forward again. “But, well, things are different now. The uh, ‘royal we’ thing is, uh, not a thing anymore.”
“We see…” Luna nodded before blinking and then snorting at her mistake. “Forgive me, I see.”
“Hey, it’s no big deal,” Rainbow smiled before drifting up to Luna and resting a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s not like anypony expects you to change overnight.”
Luna said nothing, turning her eyes away. Rainbow’s ears fell slowly against her head when she felt Luna shaking under her touch.
“Hey, it’s good to see you, Aunt Luna.” Rainbow finally said softly, wrapping her forelegs around Luna in a tight hug. Luna stiffened at first, but gradually relaxed and returned the embrace.
“Forgive our- my, asking, but…” Luna began before drawing back and looking into Rainbow’s eyes. “What brings you to Canterlot, Rainbow? We- for the love of… I thought you would be down in Ponyville with your friends.”
Rainbow’s smile faded slightly. “Well… I need to look into something. I came up here with Twilight so she could help me do a bit of research,” her smile then returned in full force. “But I figured I’d pay you a visit first. I’ve barely seen you since the Summer Sun Celebration, and every other time I’ve seen you, you’ve been in, like, the deepest sleep I have ever seen.”
Luna nodded solemnly, cringing as she was reminded of the night of her return. “Yes… I… I have been growing. I am sure my sister explained it to you already.”
“Yeah, she did,” Rainbow said in confirmation before slowly letting herself back down to the ground. “You think you’re about done growing? It’s getting old talking to a snoring face.”
Luna frowned at Rainbow, who shrugged innocently. “...We- I don’t think I need any more than another week of slumber. I can already feel my connection to the dream realm returning.”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “The connection to the what, now?”
Luna smiled pleasantly and sat up straight. “When a pony slumbers, their consciousness joins with a plane of existence known as the Dream Realm. Some ponies are able to manipulate the Dream Realm to a limited extent within their own minds, otherwise known as lucid dreaming,” Luna explained, her horn lighting up to create a visual representation of several bubbles, each one with a pony inside, each one doing something different. “Every dream is self-contained, but they all dwell within the same realm of stars and fog.”
“Woah, cool…” Rainbow said quietly, genuinely awed by what Luna was telling her.
“The dreams of ponies can influence each other,” Luna continued, a small glow of golden light appearing in one of the bubbles and spreading to the others. The ponies within gained massive smiles and their colors became even more vibrant. “Happy and joyful dreams create peace and tranquility, making the slumber of those close enough even more restful and rejuvenating,” her eyes narrowed slightly and her brow furrowed as one dream bubble, secluded from the others, began to emit darkness and shadows. Like the tentacles of a hungry octopus, the darkness reached out and latched onto the nearest dream, draining it of color and making the pony within losing their smile to a face twisted with fear and sorrow.
“What the…?” Rainbow breathed, her eyes widening.
“Nightmares have a similar effect, sadly. A strong nightmare will bleed into the dreams around it, tarnishing their happiness and rendering the sleep of the dreamers into a restless one,” Luna continued before, above the dream the shadows were coming from, a depiction of Princess Luna herself appeared. “I was born with a special connection to the Dream Realm. It is my destiny to step into the darkness and banish it, so that the ponies of equestria may sleep without fear or sadness.”
The small depiction of Luna dived into the nightmare, vanishing amidst the darkness before, in a small flash of light, the shadows were obliterated. Within the dream, color and happiness gradually began to return and spread to its neighbors. Then the visual representation was dispelled, a small smile on Luna’s face. “Such is my duty as the Princess of the Night. It is Tia’s duty to ensure our subject’s physical well-being, by protecting and guiding them here in the waking world. It is, in turn, my responsibility to aid them in their dreams to ensure their mental health and protect them from any darkness that tries to leech away their happiness.”
Rainbow blinked, trying to take it all in. Then she grinned widely and trotted up to Luna. “You know? I think I like night time a lot more, now,” she said while playfully punching Luna in the elbow.
Luna flinched back. “Why have you struck me?!” she demanded in exasperation. Rainbow paused, blinked and then smiled bashfully with a bit of red filling her cheeks.
“Oh, whoops. Sorry, Aunt Luna. Just, uh, you know… it’s a modern culture thing. I was just being playful.”
Luna blinked, then sighed. “Ah… I see.”
Rainbow laughed softly before lifting up into the air with her wings and throwing a foreleg over Luna’s shoulders. “It’s okay. You’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
Luna smiled softly, taking some encouragement from Rainbow’s words. “I know. Thank you for coming to see me, my niece,” she said before gently shifting away from Rainbow. “But I was… in the middle of something when you came in. I do not wish to be rude, but I ask that you allow me to return to it. Besides, don’t you have something to do, yourself?”
Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “It’s okay, Aunt Luna, you weren’t being rude. I was about to go anyway. I’ll catch you later, ‘kay?”
“I do not wish to be captured, Rainbow.” Luna deadpanned.
Rainbow facehooved. “That’s not what I- you know what? I’ll tell ya later. Take care, okay?” she said with a roll of her eyes before excusing herself. Luna was silent for a few seconds before turning and sitting back down.
“They forgive me so easily…” she whispered while her horn lit back up. She sighed heavily as she delved back into her own mind. “A luxury I can not allow myself...” she felt a presence rippling in her head, a simple spirit-like entity in her mind, awaiting purpose. When Luna opened her eyes again, she stood in a dark void, with a small cloud of glowing purple magic levitating before her. “A luxury you shall deny me for the good of everypony else… Tantabus."