Knock knock
Twilight's hoof rapped on the giant door leading into Canterlot Castle's courtyard. The streets of Canterlot bustled with ponies, many of which were visibly upper class, trotting to and fro between various designer stores and fancy restaurants. Twilight glanced at them with a frown. While it was true that she was born and raised in Canterlot, she secretly despised many of its citizens for the sheer amount of snobbish elitism displayed by many of them whenever a pony from elsewhere came to visit. It was something she had grown up blissfully unaware of since there were rarely any visitors from out of town anyways. It was only after she talked with Rarity after she moved her birthday party to Canterlot for the sake of her friend that she realized just how harrowing a label such as "not from Canterlot" could be.
Still, she tried her best to keep it hidden. Ironically, most of the ponies who noticed her gaze returned a knowing nod, as if acknowledging one of their own. Due to spending virtually no time socializing with anypony during her life here, her face was relatively unknown to much of the populace. That, however, did not spare her cutie mark from being directly associated with being the protege and personal student of Princess Celestia, the reigning monarch for a thousand years and now coruler of the restored diarchy for the last couple of years.
I'm not one of you, Twilight thought to herself as she returned the nod likewise, as to not get on anypony's bad side. As long as she could walk through town without attracting any bad attention, she was fine with whatever status Canterlot's ponies decided to label her with.
Finally after several minutes of waiting, the giant door creaked open, and a stallion dressed in traditional royal guard armor stepped out to address her. "Whoever you are, you need-" He did a double take. "Oh! Twilight Sparkle! It's been a while since you've been around the castle. How may I assist you?"
Twilight cleared her throat. "Thank you sir, I'm here to request an audience with Princess Luna. I have a..." She pursed her lips together. "... very urgent matter to discuss with her."
The guard raised an eyebrow. "Does she know to expect you?"
Twilight shook her head. "The fastest means of communication I normally use for these issues is currently... less than ideal. And I didn't want to wait the normal estimated time of delivery by the postal service, which would be the same as just walking here from Ponyville completely on hoof." By fastest means of communication, she had meant Spike. While sending a letter through him would've been the fastest way to get a letter to Canterlot, he could only send things to Princess Celestia. For some reason, something in the far reaches of her mind told her that Princess Luna would be the right alicorn to contact about her nightmares.
The guard stared at her for a little, causing her to shift around awkwardly on her hooves. Eventually, he nodded. "Alright then, if you think it's important enough to come here by yourself, I'll trust your judgement. Just let me run a quick test first."
Twilight nodded back and stood still as the guard lit his horn, a thin sheet of blue magic scanning her up and down. "Looks like you're the real deal, Twilight. Sorry, gotta routinely check for changelings." The guard pushed the heavy door fully open with his magic and stepped out of the way for her. "You may enter."
"No worries, I understand. Thank you sir." Twilight trotted down the pathway to the castle, the heavy courtyard doors closing behind her with a resounding boom. She spared several glances around her as she made her way through the courtyard to the open castle doors; the shrubs, flower arrangements, and statues were all just as she remembered them, save for the new statue of Discord that had been relocated there after his second defeat by the Elements of Harmony.
Discord... Twilight recalled that his return was actually the last time she had stepped foot within Canterlot Castle. She used to visit regularly growing up, due to her personal lessons with Princess Celestia, but once she moved to Ponyville she had little to no reason to return there, other than dire emergencies. However, even with her lack of familiarity with the place, she knew where to go. After helping the younger alicorn sister readjust to modern culture and traditions, Celestia responded to her friendship report with a welcome invitation to visit Luna whenever she wished to help give her company, as well as detailed instructions on navigating to her personal quarters.
Turn right here, down this hallway, up the stairs on the left, turn right again, go all the way to the end of the hallway annnnd... Finally, Twilight stood in front of a pair of dark blue doors, adorned with elegant swirls of silver along the edges, almost resembling shooting stars amongst a scattered night sky. She breathed in deeply and raised a hoof to knock at the door when-
Creeeeaaak
The doors opened on their own, rotating inwards to let a sliver of natural light into the otherwise pitch black room.
"You may enter, Twilight. I sensed your presence in the hallway."
"Oh! Yes, thank you Princess Luna!"
Twilight awkwardly scrambled in as the doors closed quietly behind her, bathing the room total darkness. She stood there for a few seconds, blinking to try to adjust her eyes. "Uhm, Princess? Where are-"
"Oh! My apologies."
In an instant, the room was basked in a mix of light blue, green, and purple glows. Twilight glanced around and identified the light sources as numerous glowing crystals seemingly growing out of the ceiling, walls, and floor corners. In the center of the room stood a tall, dark blue alicorn, whose mane shimmered like the night sky and fluttered silently in an eternal breeze. With all the royal grace of the ruler of the night, Princess Luna rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof, a sheepish grin adorning her muzzle.
"Apologies for that, Twilight. We- I forgot your eyes aren't accustomed to darkness as mine are. And no need for the formalities here, Twilight. I may be your princess, but you are also my dear friend."
Twilight returned the sheepish grin, halting the bow she has paused herself in the middle of. "Thanks for meeting with me, Luna."
Luna cocked her head, leveling a curious look at her. "Just you? Where's your dragon friend? And the colorful pegasus my sister says you're never out and about without?"
Twilight looked away briefly. "Rainbow and I are... sorting through some things right now. And Spike is out helping Rarity with a new fashion line. At least, that's what he tells me." She inhaled deeply before steeling herself. "I've come to talk to you about something much more serious."
Luna noticed the tone change and responded accordingly, her eyes and ears swiveling to indicate full attentiveness. "Am I correct to assume this is about your nightmares?"
Twilight nodded. "First thing I was curious about was, well, you. The few times I recall even starting to have a nightmare about something, you were always there to calm me down and help me see the situation more clearly. My last nightmare... you weren't there at all..."
Luna closed her eyes. "For that, I am deeply sorry Twilight, but I must offer an explanation in kind. As the princess of the night, it is my duty and power to protect ponies from their nightmares, and when I sense a pony in duress, I can enter their dreams and determine the cause of their crisis. From there, I can use my power in combination with the pony's resolve to dispel the nightmare in its entirety. However, I am not all-powerful within a dream. If a pony is simply dreaming, I can't just alter it however I like; I can only do that during a nightmare as that is my duty and power. Without a nightmare, I have limited control over the landscape of that pony's dream."
Luna turned around as she began pacing the room. "All nightmares are caused by some internal struggle. Perhaps a pony watched something scary and are afraid of it pursuing them in the real world. Perhaps a filly is scared of public performance and dreads an upcoming concert. Maybe a pony is struggling with guilt over past actions. Regardless of the root cause, a nightmare can always be traced back to that pony's mind and thoughts."
Luna turned back to Twilight with a serious look. "But in your dreams, I sensed none of these. No fear, jealousy, guilt, hurt, or any emotions at all triggering the night are, meaning there was nothing for me to dispel, so I was helpless to protect you from what you saw, and for that I am sorry. I do not think these are nightmares you are having, Twilight. I believe you are having visions."
Twilight's widened. "Visions? B-but that's just an old pony's tale!"
Luna softly laughed. "And was I also not as such when you first learned of the Elements of Harmony?"
Twilight stammered. "I- I mean, I guess so, but-"
Luna raised a hoof to cut her off. "Before my banishment, Star Swirl reported to me of having similar dreams. Dreams that carried destruction, tragedy, and horror. I too tried to dispel those nightmares the following nights only to come to this same conclusion." She sighed as she turned away. "A week later, he said that something was coming and that he had to do something about it. I tried to stop him, but he insisted there was nothing the rest of us could do. That night was the last time I ever saw him. What he saw in his visions never came to pass, but I fear whatever he did only delayed the inevitable for over a thousand years."
Twilight stood there slack Jared, trying to process it all. "And... you think I'm having the same visions as he did?"
To Twilight's dismay, Luna nodded grimly. "I had sensed something off about your dreams last night, and I silently observed the last ten seconds before you woke up. As I feared, the scenes your dreams depict follow closely with the path of destruction envisioned by Star Swirl before his disappearance. When did you start having these nightmares?"
Twilight thought back to the first night she woke up in a cold sweat, panting and eyes wide open at her first time seeing such horrors in her dreams. "Just last night actually."
Luna put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Then we have plenty of time; Star Swirl began having those strange dreams over a month before he disappeared... perhaps-"
Suddenly, Luna's horn flashed twice and she gasped. "I'm really sorry Twilight, my sister needs me for something." She turned to Twilight. "I will speak with you more on this matter tomorrow, but until then, please try to remember as much details as you can from what you saw last night, and again when I bring the night today. Write it down if you must. There is always a small span of time between the realms of sleep and wake in which our memories of both experiences perfectly coexist together before your dream fades from your consciousness." Her horn flashed twice once more and her eyes widened. "Celestia has only ever needed to summon me during emergencies, I can't keep her waiting. Stay safe, Twilight Sparkle."
"Wait, but I-" Twilight could say more as she was cut off by the blinding flash of bright blue magic, followed by the slight inward breeze that always accompanied a teleport. She blinked to get the spots out of her eyes and glanced around at the now empty room, the glowing crystals adorning it gradually losing their light without their primary royal source of magic.
I'm having... visions? But visions are said to be glimpses of the future, right? And if I was seeing the future, then... Ponyville... Twilight closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. If what Luna said was true, there was nothing she could do for now except report back to Luna on whatever her "visions" were telling her. A rumble from her stomach quickly reminded her that she still had yet to eat lunch, and there was no way she could deal with both the stress of this newfound discovery and an empty stomach at the same time. With a tired sigh, Twilight trotted out of Luna's room, ready to make the trip back to Ponyville.