The laughter of Nightshade faded in the dream realm as the three ponies settle down.
Twilight shakes her head looking down the rows of doors on the dream realm. She could see faint glowing colors from each door. The doors were different shapes and designs and it seemed as none repeat themselves. “So what does the other magical glows mean?”
“Oh let me tell!” Nightshade bounces up springing like Pinkie Pie.
Luna chuckles “Alright Nightshade I let you guide this lesson.” Part of Luna wanted to see how Nightshade handles this.
“Okay... um. First is the difference between Physical magic and Mental magic.” Nightshade form shifts to her more adult appearance. With her physical form came a more mature voice pattern. “Celestia is well skilled in physical magics. Runes, spells, enchantments all use energy outside the body or guided by the body like how Peguses fly and manipulate the weather. But Mental magic the energy stays in the body charging up the mind.”
“All magic has to be linked to the mind. Without it, our magic wouldn’t take form.” Twilight says as the three walks along with the doors of the endless hallway.
“Well duh, but you send the magic out of your body. Right now you are using magic as a transmitter of your thoughts rather than use your thoughts to give form to magic. This is the key difference between physical magic and mental magic. Everything you see is your brain translating what it picking up in the ambient magic transmitted by dreaming ponies.”
“Unlike other life on Equus Ponies are one of the few that not only absorb magic from what we eat but also absorb ambient magic in the air. An Earth pony who absorbs the energy around them could yank a building off its foundation when just a few days later struggle with the weight of a cake.”
“I know that Nightshade. You still haven’t answered my question if Pinkish Red means... romantic activities. What do the other colors mean.” Twilight speaks up to the royal purple alicorn.
Luna smirks watching the interplay as she motions with her snout to a deep blue glowing door. Nightshade seeing the motion nods.
“I’m getting to that Twilight. Because all magic has a mental element to it, magic has strong reactions to emotions. Get too angry a unicorn with enough power could burst into flames. This is why tending to strong emotions in the dreams of ponies is necessary. A foal that gets too angry or scared in a nightmare could cause a fire in the physical world. The stronger or brighter the glow the stronger the emotions. Each emotion has different shades, like this door. Deep blue is depression.”
Luna leans down “Go ahead and just touch your hoof to the door. There no need to intrude on pony privacy without need.”
“Wait you let me open that pinkish door when it wasn’t necessary to see... that?”
Luna smirks “My Nightshade seems to have a prankster nature to her. Much like Celestia once upon a time.”
“I do not take after Celestia!” Nightshade huff and looks away.
Luna laughs. “Celestia had our old castle made with secret passages and even a slide so she could sneak around the castle to play pranks.”
Nightshade stomps her hoof “She’s lazy and stupid.”
“Celestia not lazy or stupid.” Twilight turns to stare at Nightshade.
“Oh really? She didn’t tell you anything just send you on some tests and hope for the best. That Dragon she sent you and your friends could have been taken care of easily if she bothered to just go herself.”
“That not true she had to handle the day court she couldn’t just leave it behind with no warning.”
“Twilight, Nightshade. We have a lesson to do leave this petty squabbles for another time. Twilight, remember even if Nightshade might look like an adult now she’s still a foal.”
Nightshade form reverted to the five-year-old and she huffs crossing her forelegs in front of her barrel. “I’m not like smelly, stupid, fat, Celestia.”
“Now back to the lesson Twilight go ahead and touch the door.” Luna motions to the deep blue glowing door.
Twilight looked at the door noting it was a basic wood door of cherry wood one might see on an Earth Pony house. She reached out to just touched the door when what she saw changed.
The room was a hospital and there was an elderly old mare in the bed the ticking of a heart monitor going as she looked at the mid-age stallion beside her. “It's alright, you be fine. Remember mommy loves.... you.” The monitor started a steady line as the mare passed away. “MOM!”
Twilight stepped back shaking her head “His, mother died. He’s dreaming about her passing away.”
Luna nods and looks to the door “It’s a normal dream, sad and could easily turn into a Nightmare. We let him be, the hardest part of dream walking is learning when to intrude and when to keep yourself from intruding. Many years ago before I...” She looked to Nightshade who was stomping and kicking at little Celestia dolls she conjured. “We became nightmare moon I made that mistake. I tried to fix every dream, it turned out that the nobles use that to inspire fear of me. With comments like how I was monitoring pony thoughts.”
“poopy heads.” Nightshade was still in her filly and flys up to land on Luna’s back.
“Luna, I have to ask why does Nightshade change from a grown mare to a young filly?” Twilight asks looking at the filly now on Luna’s back. She tries not to react when Nightshade gives her the stink eye.
“That, I fear is the result of our time being bound to the moon. Did you notice I spoke in old Equish where Nightmare Moon spoke modern? Nightmare Moon was still able to access the dream realm.” Luna looked to the filly on her back “Nightshade mind is more developed than her physical body. Her physical form can’t handle it all so a part of her is still bound to the Dreams. As she grows she would integrate fully and the more adult form will fade.”
“I’m too smart for my body!”
“When Nightshade's emotions are stronger she a filly in the dreams. That goes back to our lesson magic reacts to our emotions. In the dream, you see Nightshade as a filly when she broadcasting stronger emotions when she calmer she seems an adult here in the dream realm.”
“MOM! A nightmare!”
Luna’s head snapped around seeing a door glowing with a sicking black haze in the distance. Twilight moves to run but suddenly the world shifts and they stood before the shadow cloaked door. “What, how did we get over here so fast.”
Phhhhhhthhhhhhh Nightshade blows a raspberry “Twilight, remember everything even distance is all in your head. Luna just changed our focus. How else do you think she watches out for nightmares for all of ponykind?”
“Oh... Okay, so this black haze like glow is a nightmare?”
“Indeed Twilight and a bad one. If left alone it would affect the pony for the rest of her life.” Luna reaches out and touches the door. Then steps back. “It’s Scootaloo the filly that hangs around Rainbow Dash all the time.”
“Scootaloo? She was going on a camping trip with Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity, and her friends. Why would she be having a nightmare?” Twilight wondered out loud.
Luna’s magic lifted Nightshade off her back. “You two stay here and I shall tend to this.” Luna then walked into the door.
“Let watch!” Nightshade prances up and taps the door instead of opening a window seemed to form showing Scootaloo running through a forest with a headless horse chasing after her.
Twilight watched as Luna stopped the headless horse and gave Scootaloo a prep talk. Then Twilight saw the dark haze fade and once Luna was out of the door itself vanished. “Where did the door go? Is Scottaloo alright?”
“Scootaloo is fine, just needs to face her fears. The cause of this was some scary story she was told now she afraid if Lady Rainbow Dash finds out, Rainbow will be disappointed in her.”
“The door disappeared because she woke up.” Nightshade stretches her wings as she returns to her adult form. “A foalish fear.”
“Nightshade? We became Nightmare Moon because of the feeling of rejection did we not?” Luna looks to her daughter who huffed and looked away. Then Luna looked to Twilight. “Some nightmares are needed for a Pony to grow. Where others would harm them. If I didn’t interfere the dread of being rejected would grow, and... we all know how that very thing affected me.”
“That and Sombra’s evil magic, the whole feeling of being betrayed, oh let not forget the Nobles slandering us. Er... you.” Nightshade moves past the other two ponies and motions to a door with a grayish haze. “There a Nightmare that the result of guilt. See how their sparks of different colors I see angry red and yellows sparks in the gray. The nightmare there is caused by anger and fear. I bet ten bits someone got mad and now feeling guilty and is afraid of the result.”
Twilight walks up to the door and touched it. “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU FORGOT OUR ANNIVERSARY!” She backed up having seen and heard the yelling mare. “Um... It seems some stallion forgot their wedding anniversary. The Mare now is having the Nightmare she damaged their marriage by overreacting.”
“We heard, that a very potent nightmare, but one I don’t think would have lasting effects. Come it time for me to end this spell. I want to double-check on Scootaloo, and as I said we are using magic so our bodies aren’t getting rest even if we are laying down on those soft pillows Spike provided.”
“Oh, it’s Pinkie Pie’s dream! She so random!” Nightshade shifts to the five-year-old form and runs into a pink door with party balloons. Twilight spots a carnival on the other side of the door.
Twilight looks to Luna “Is she going to be alright?”
Luna looks down “I’m sure Nightshade is safe even if Pinkie Pie dreams tend to be chaotic."
“No, I’m asking about Scootaloo. That was a dark nightmare.”
Luna nods “If she faces her fear and tells Rainbow Dash she’s afraid she be fine. If not the fear will take root and could take a life of its own.” With that, her horn flair and the dream walk ends.
Twilight Sparkle opens her eyes seeing her Library. “Wow, it was all in our heads.”
A yawn was heard and Twilight turns her head seeing Spike barely awake. “go ahead and get to sleep...” She yawns herself. “I will be getting to bed as well once I get something in me. I’m famished.”
“That the drain on your magic Twilight. Once you are used to using mental magic your body will adapt. Now if you excuse me.” Luna stands and goes to the window where she lights up her form. Twilight watches and for a moment she saw Luna’s face on the moon. “There that should help Scootaloo.”
“Thank you for the lesson Luna.”
“It was my pleasure Twilight. Now, how about we enjoy those cucumber sandwiches Spike had prepared.”
“Sure he does make fine snacks”
“Thanks, Twi. Twilight tried once to make a cake and it came out hard as a brick.”
“I followed the directions!”
"Twilight cooking is affected by altitude. The recipe you followed was written for Canterlot because of the lower air pressure on the mountain food takes longer to cook. Down here in Ponyville it's faster."
“But... The book said twenty minutes!”
"It said for approximately twenty minutes."
Luna chuckles smiling as she takes a bite of a sandwich.