//------------------------------// // Do Animal Care Takers, Dream of Sheep? // Story: Take Your Nephew to Work Night // by TAD2 //------------------------------// When Spike and Luna fully entered Fluttershy's dream, Spike looked around at the setting. It was just the outside of her cottage, but nothing past her walkway was visible. Spike looked at Luna. "Um, Aunt Luna, is there something wrong?" Asked Spike. Luna hummed. "I'm not sure Spike, I've never seen Fluttershy's dream so empty." Luna then placed Spike on her back. "Spike, stay close to me until we figure this out." Spike nodded and held onto Luna's neck. Luna walked up to the cottage door, ready to fight off a nightmare if need be. She knocked on the door and waited. "Coming." Said a voice. Soon the door opened and standing in front of Luna was Fluttershy, looking normal as ever. "Oh, Princess Luna, how good to see you, would you like to come in?" Luna cleared her throat. "Thank you Fluttershy, but are you feeling all right?" Fluttershy cocked her head. "Um, I think so, is there something wrong?" Luna hummed as she showed the empty dream world. "Well, normally your dreams are much fuller, this is the first time I've seen it so barren." Fluttershy hummed. "Oh, I tried that tea you suggested last time we saw each other, the one to help fall asleep." Luna smiled. "Yes, Nocturnal Bliss, that's right. But that is very powerful, why did you need to use it?" Fluttershy huffed. "My little brother Zephyr is staying at my parents’ house, and he snores. This was the only way for me to get any sleep. I swear, he is the laziest, most immature..." Luna's eyes went wide as she tried to cover Fluttershy's mouth before she said something in front of Spike, but she was too late. "Bucking pile of pony feathers I have ever seen in my life." Spike showed himself, he looked at Luna. "Um, Princess, didn't Fluttershy just say a bad word?" Fluttershy looked at Spike, then to Luna, then to Spike. "Um... Spike, what are you doing here?" Asked Fluttershy, finding out that one of her friends just heard her say such horrible words would normally make her feel horrible, but dream Fluttershy was not as spineless as real Fluttershy, but they needed to defuse the drake’s confusion. "Oh, please forgive me Spike, I didn't notice you were here, yes I did say a bad word, and that was very inappropriate of me, but you are a good dragon, and good dragons don't use such bad words, so please do not repeat them." Spike nodded. "Ok, but just so you know, I know what it means, it's like how AJ bucks the trees to get the apples, and you shouldn't say that you want to kick your little brother, that's very mean." Said Spike. Luna and Fluttershy sighed in relief. "Yes, you're absolutely right Spike. Zephyr is my little brother who I love very much, and even if he is annoying, I should not say bad things about him." Spike smiled. "Cool, so how are you Fluttershy?" Asked Spike. Fluttershy smiled. "I am very good Spike, but may I ask why you are here?" Luna smiled. "You see, Princess Twilight, asked for my sisters aid on a matter concerning young Spike here, but we did not learn of it until the very end of day court, so I took on the responsibility of helping Spike." Fluttershy smiled. "Oh, you're showing him how the dream world works, because he can't spend time with Princess Celestia tomorrow on take your child to work day. That is very nice of you Princess Luna." Now it was time for Spike and Luna to look at Fluttershy. "You know?" Asked the 2, the truth about Spike was one of the kingdoms most compartmentalized secrets. Fluttershy giggled. "Oh, well, it's kinda obvious. I mean, with how often the Princesses request him for royal matters, how comfortable he is around you and princess Celestia, and the night of the meteor shower, Spike stayed up past his bed time and he was mumbling something in his sleep. So I decided to carry him back to the library for Twilight, he said that he missed his mommy, of course, I thought he was talking about Twilight, but then he said her three color mane and that he wished she didn't have to work all day." Luna looked at Spike. "Spike?" Spike shrugged. "Hey, this is news to me, I'm not actually awake when I talk in my sleep." Spike then rubbed his arm. "But I do sometimes dream that I could spend more time with mom." Luna sighed as she nuzzled his head. "Don't fret Spike, I am not upset. You only wish to spend more time with thy mother, a wish for any child." Luna then looked at Fluttershy. "And Fluttershy, I thank you for not revealing the truth about our relationship with Spike." Fluttershy smiled. "Of course, Spike is a dear friend and I don't want to lose that trust." Spike smiled. "Thanks, Fluttershy." Fluttershy nodded. "Now, where are my manners, let me just pop some bodies in for you and we can enjoy some nice tea." Said Fluttershy as she dreamed up a Spike and Luna for them to inhabit. Spike looked at himself. "Am I really this fat?" Asked Spike as he looked at himself. Luna giggled. "Yes, but it's adorable." Said Luna as she entered her body. She looked at Spike, he was not sure about this. "Spike, all younglings are fat, you will lose it in a few years when you hit your 2nd growth spurt." Spike looked at Luna. "No, I know that, I don't get how Fluttershy is able to do this. You, I get, but she isn't a dream walker." Luna giggled. "Spike, have you ever heard of lucid dreaming?" Spike hummed. "Maybe, is it when a pony is able to control the dream, because they know it's a dream?" Luna nodded. "Exactly, Fluttershy is a very tamed dreamer, with very simple dreams, so she is used to simple things. But when she notices something that is not simple or just slightly weird, she can take control of the dream, I've seen her do it before." Fluttershy giggled. "Oh, today Harry was dressed as a clown, a big give away." Spike shrugged as he jumped into the body. "Well that makes as much sense as the rest of the night." Spike looked at Luna and Fluttershy. "Now I was promised tea, and the last batch I had, I kinda threw up." Fluttershy was confused. "Oh, are you ok, do you want to lay down?" Spike shot Luna a glare. "No, I'm fine Shy, we just had an interesting start to the night." "Oh, well let’s get that tea then, why don't you two go sit down with Ms. Sheep and her son, Billy and I'll have a fresh cup ready in no time." Said Fluttershy as she walked back into her home, Luna and Spike entered the home and the cottage door closed on its own.