Luna left the dream of Sweetie Belle. Her night was filled with troubles, inside and out. Luna hoped that with her advice, the rift between Rarity and Sweetie Belle would be smoothed over.
Her only regret was she missed meeting with Raspberry. It wasn’t often that the ponies of Equestria struggled under something during their appointed meeting time. Celestia did well to maintain peace enough in her daylight to
Luna tried to visit the dreams of her friend, only to find them over. Luna recalled that Raspberry was able to keep Luna from her dreams, that the Reality Walker could manage that for as long as Raspberry wished.
Luna remembered the last time Raspberry did this. The grief that followed her friend, chased away restful sleep. The lack of life in her eyes, in her words. It softened Luna to Raspberry’s plight, a night of shared feelings and deep conversation. Luna resolved to keep up the weekly visits. That she missed one- without warning- upset her on Raspberry’s behalf, as the Reality Traveler would no doubt be upset.
The feelings of Raspberry were often mysterious, and yet so easy to predict.
==CAH==
By afternoon, Luna was still working out a way to repay the slight against her friend. She originally thought to send a letter via Lilac, only to remember that Lilac lived in a different city now. Her second option was through Spike. The idea of using a proxy to deliver the message felt cheap. Months and months of uninterrupted meetings, and Luna didn’t even apologize to Raspberry’s face? The offense would surely double!
So...Luna was a terrible friend who couldn’t manage to complete a simple apology.
She was still fretting over this when Raspberry greeted her.
“Hey there, friend-o!” Raspberry greeted.
Luna blanched. Why was she here? No, that was a foolish question. Raspberry showed time and time again that her knowledge of the palace was immense, that sneaking inside was no challenge to her. According to the former head of the guard, Raspberry knew many of the ponies by name. Entering the palace unannounced was her modus operandi.
Was her offense so grave that Raspberry had to see her face, to yell at Luna’s face rather than stay silent? Luna was an even worse friend than she thought. Raspberry was often so aloof about her feelings, to admit them was such a toll on her. For Raspberry to come to Luna herself to express her feelings meant Luna could possibly be killed in the next five minutes.
Not that she blamed Raspberry for that. Luna would welcome any punishment that Raspberry thought necessary. This act was unforgivable between friends, but Luna was desperate to know that their friendship was intact.
Raspberry winced. “Yeah, I don’t know why I said that. The kids are rubbing off on me.” Raspberry rubbed her neck, grimacing. “Anyway. How’re things? You wanna go-”
Luna knelt down. Raspberry’s eyebrows and nose scrunched up. She focused her eyes on Luna.
“Friend Raspberry, I beg for quarter.” Luna pleaded. “I know I hath left thee bereft during our weekly engagement. Please, though I do not deserve it, find it in your heart to forgive me!”
Raspberry blinked at Luna. Raspberry leaned down, taking Luna’s hoof in her own. “What? No, it’s fine!” She helped Luna to her feet. Once upright, Raspberry guided Luna through the halls of the palace. Again, Luna didn’t begrudge Raspberry for knowing her home so well. “I knew the whole Sweetie Belle thing was gonna happen. No sweat off my back. I didn’t sleep anyway, so it’s fine.”
Together they walked into Raspberry’s usual guest quarters. Luna saw a tray of tea ready for them on the table- chamomile, by the smell. Raspberry must have been here a long while to set this up. She often premeditated her attacks. Many a dream night were spent with Raspberry explaining murders far off into her future.
Raspberry put Luna into one of the seats. Luna watched Raspberry’s actions. Raspberry poured herself a cup of chamomile, preparing an extra for Luna.
So poison? Definitely poison.
She dropped sugar cubes into their tea cups. “You don’t like cream, right?”
Luna eyed her teacup, cautious. “...neigh.” She did like sugar, so she appreciated the check.
Raspberry snorted.
Luna sniffed the cup. She could smell no poisons. A gentle sip left no bitter taste in her mouth. This was a simple cup of tea. “You...are not mad?” Luna asked. She took a bigger sip of her tea.
Raspberry shook her head. “Like I said, we’re good. I’m not upset about this, I knew you would be busy. I figured you wouldn’t be there. Insomnia’s acting up again anyway. It does that, sometimes, you remember.” Raspberry added. She sipped at her tea.
“I remember no such thing.” Luna replied.
This made her hum into her drink. “Yeah I told you sometimes I don’t sleep.”
Now that Luna could be certain their friendship wasn’t broken, that they were indeed friends and Luna’s actions hadn’t separated them, she found comfort that her words wouldn’t be cast aside.
“Raspberry. I would have remembered hearing that you occasionally forget to sleep.” Luna stressed.
Raspberry winced. “Yeah...that doesn’t sound good, does it?” She sipped at her tea. “It’s fine. They’re nightmares anyway, I don’t wanna drag you into that drama.”
“It’s literally my role to deal with your nightmares.” Luna explained. She lowered her teacup, taking a small note of the pink butterflies along the sides. “The very reason I missed our previous meeting was for that very task.”
“Exactly! You were already working. No need to double your workload, I’m sure there’s a lot. You haven’t seen how bad my nightmares get.” Raspberry dismissed herself, her own fears. Her own feelings. The very thing that hurt her friend more than anything else.
“Yes I have.” Luna remembered Raspberry’s darker side, remembered flashes of her in the dream world. She saw other foes- countless but their features distinct. Many a night, Luna aided Raspberry fight these creatures of the mind. Raspberry must be unaware of those events come morning. Her own mind doing it’s best to lighten her burden.
Raspberry paused paused, the teacup hovering just before her mouth. Staring at Luna with open mouth shock, Raspberry blinked. “...what have you seen?”
Luna only smiled knowingly. She hoped it was comforting as well- Celestia was helping her learn how to do that.
Raspberry only looked more perturbed than before. “No seriously what have you seen? My paranoia is acting up.”
“I have seen you when you needed help.” Luna answered.
“I wanna sleep even less now. You’ve made it worse.” Raspberry ran her hoof over her face. “Ugh.”
“It behooves me to provide you a sufficient rest.” Luna decided.
Raspberry sighed, hoof still over her face. “You don’t need-”
“Please?” Luna asked, as a friend.
As predicted, Raspberry caved.
==CAH==
Raspberry was set up to sleep in her guest quarters. A quick nap to settle her mind, to assuage Luna’s fears and Raspberry’s. This would settle the matter. The tea helped ease Raspberry, and her lack of sleep the night before made this quick.
Her eyes were closed for barely a minute before the dream began.
Luna dipped into Morgan’s dreams-
-burning, burning, everything burning-
-jumping right the fuck back out.
Luna’s heart was already racing. Aware that it was a dream, Luna could still smell the burnt environment that plagued Morgan’s dream. There was no time for hesitation. Morgan needed her.
She leapt ahead into the dream-
==CAH==
Everything was on fire.
Luna could hardly believe it. The sky was a dark brown and red. The skyline was a burnt orange. Fires could be seen. Echoed across the dying land were the last screams of her people.
Though the ground was gray ash, the sky was unclear, those screaming were too far away to see, Luna knew for a fact where she stood.
Earth.
“You thought you were ready for this.”
Luna turned to her friend. Morgan was in her human form, clutching a large red bottle in her hand. She sat in a pile of ashes, the remnants of her home dirtying her jeans and sneakers. Bits of ash had flown into her hair, turning it gray.
“Who did all of this?” Luna asked. If she could find the threat, together they could take it on. Avoidance was never the solution, least of all for Morgan. She was her own worst enemy in that sense.
She tried so hard to be ready for everything...yet also dreaded those moments, putting them off until it was too late.
“Goatman.” Morgan answered. She grabbed the bottle again, chugging down a swig. The red liquid sloshed around inside as she drank it down. Drips of it came from the corners of her lips, dripping onto her shirt to mix with the ash. “Don’t remember his name right now. Dream time is...it’s funny...been here awhile, got bored-”
“How did all this happen?” Luna asked. Was there a human threat in Morgan’s world, as there had been so long ago? A human plague that could wreck havoc so totally that even Morgan was afraid? What sort of human could do such a thing?
“Goatman burned it all.” Morgan answered.
Luna could see the silhouette of this ‘Goatman’ on the dark horizon. She heard his laugh, a chill going through her body. The laughs of a gloater. They reached her ears in time with the screams. Luna realized this could be no human. For even as lost as they were, no human could strike such terror in her heart.
Morgan finished off the bottle. More of it dripped onto her shirt, soaking the chest. She paid it no mind. “He took my powers...came home. He burned down everything, killed everyone of my kind for their powers and then laid waste to the magicless planet.” Morgan explained. “It’s not a fun dream, is it?” She looked at her bottle, blinking slowly as her drinking worked fast. “This is empty. Why is the rum always gone...? I finally figured out how River Song did that trick and it’s always gone...it comes back every time...”
Luna moved the bottle away with her magic. Kneeling down, she put her hoof in Morgan’s free hand. Teal green eyes met amber brown, sharp clarity met drunken haze, compassion met indifference.
“I swear, it will not harm your home. We will stop him.” Luna promised. “We all will. Your friends here, your family, we will rise to the occasion. We will not fail you.”
Morgan only smiled at Luna, knowingly and comfortingly. Luna understood what her friend was trying to say.
You don’t even know
The mythic beast roared again. Luna looked towards it. Suddenly, in a sky on fire, Luna could see the barest outline to horns.
“Morgan who is that?” Luna asked. She suddenly knew the answer- feared the answer that was so obviously being given to her.
‘He took my powers-’
‘-killed everyone of my kind for their powers-’
‘-She heard his laugh, a chill going through her body.’
Morgan stood, looking in the direction of this monster. “Goatman.”
Loud booming footsteps filled the terrain. The screams became distant, no doubt they were gone. “Who is Goatman?”
“I can’t remember- literally, I forgot what his name was.” Morgan held up the bottle. She grinned. “I drink to forget...but I always remember. Tell me, Luna, how was your tea?”
“How many of your dreams have you been drunk?” Luna asked, suddenly stressed along with Morgan.
“How long have you been coming?” Morgan countered. “You didn’t tell me. How’d you like your tea? Did you drink to remember, or forget?”
“How do we stop him?” Luna asked.
Morgan laughed. A fearful, upsetting laugh. It bounced around her dream. The already dark sky turning black, smoke descending from the sky to polite the air Luna was breathing. More ash swirled around them in a consuming void.
“You can’t.”
==CAH==
-Luna stumbled back. She did not often stumble on exiting the dreams. Morgan’s dream had been...what was...
Raspberry sat up from the bed with a loud lawn.
“You were right. You could handle my nightmares.” Raspberry smiled. “That was a tame one, anyway.”
“Wha-”
“Just family drama.” Raspberry dismissed with a wave of her hoof. “The Equestria Games are coming and I’m nowhere near prepared. That flag thing, yeah I still have to do that. But I was mostly stuck with a crippling sense of self doubt of impending terror from those games and Equestria and Changelings are always at war. Yep. That’s what happened. You gave good advice!”
Luna’s mind was abuzz. She believed Raspberry to be trueful...saw no deceit in the words. As she tried to recall the dream, Raspberry’s words formed the images. A Crystal Empire swarmed by changelings, feuding with ponies.
Yes. That would be stressful for the wife of a Changeling.
“Yes...good advice...pray tell, what was that again?” Luna asked.
Raspberry smiled reassuringly. “Sometimes to solve your problems, you have to forget about them.” Raspberry supplied. “Even if just for a bit. You know?”
“I do not.”
“Exactly!” Raspberry hopped from the bed. She walked back to the dining table in delight. “I’m not putting it off or anything like that. I’m just gonna stop letting it occupy my mind.”
As Raspberry explained it that way, Luna could see the advice she truly gave. Raspberry often misheard, or misinterpreted advice that wasn’t suited in her Plans. Luna thought it another quirk of her friend.
She herself was little better.
She had a vague recollection of her own words. Of telling Raspberry her friends could help. A problem shared was a problem halved after all-
‘We will not fail you’
Raspberry picked up her tea set. She tucked them away into her Bag. From the butterflies on the pottery, Luna suddenly doubted they actually belonged to the Reality Traveler.
“Where did you get those?” Luna asked.
She shrugged. “From a friend. Helped them in a tricky spot. All I got from it was a teapot.” Raspberry smiled, knowingly
Luna thought-
You don’t even know
-it was a decent try at comforting.
“That is the cutiemark of Fluttershy. What boon did you give her?”
“Took a shift watching Discord. He was sick, did you hear?”
“I did. What a good friend you are in his time of need.” Luna praised.
Raspberry giggled, low and deep. “I know.”