Nightmares, they were filled with the worst experiences your mind could come up with. But even so, knowing that they are only temporary, and that the sheer relief of waking up from them might just make up for it, Ben had never once experienced to be fully in control of himself within one of them. And neither did it ever happen that the nightmare would simply… vanish. Replaced by a soothing silence and peace that left him with a mixed feeling of confusion and wonder.
And the cause of it all was the being that stood in front of him, regarding him curiously once he had taken note of it. Naturally, he could merely believe that it was another product of his own mind, of this… weird dream. By now, nothing could surprise him anymore. But nonetheless, he muttered his thoughts aloud in an almost silent whisper, still unsure and his voice even more so.
"A… pony…?"
The pony in question seemed to tilt its head slightly once it heard his voice, its eyes widening even more.
"How curious, we can't say we have ever laid eyes upon a being like you before.", Ben almost jerked back, a quick and almost inaudible gasp escaping him when he heard a female voice in return.
"You can talk…?", the pony silently regarded him for a moment with what he could only discern as either puzzlement or wonder, probably both. But just as much as he was confused by everything he was experiencing within this moment, so was the pony in front of him, if her slightly lowered and more hesitant voice was anything to go by.
"... indeed, we can. I take it you have never once seen the likes of me before?", not knowing how to answer this, he felt constricted in what he should say, for of course, he had seen ponies in his life. Ones who weren't talking. Or ones who didn't have wings on their back. Or ones who didn't have a horn on their head.
Thus, his uncertain silence was his only response, and she seemed to ponder about her next words carefully.
"This is... most wondrous. We cannot say that we have ever stumbled upon one of your kind before, neither here or in the waking world.", she suddenly stopped when she saw how his form seemed to tense even more, his eyes staring at her with even more puzzlement and uncertainty than before. It was then that she quickly tried to ease the atmosphere, trying to come up with something that the both of them should be familiar with.
"W-we, we didn't mean to puzzle you even further, how about… your name? Forgive us for not having introduced ourselves until now. I am called Pri-", she suddenly halted amidst her sentence, seemingly choking on her own words before she immediately composed herself in the blink of an eye and continued as if nothing happened.
"-Luna. Please, call us Luna.", a small smile formed on her muzzle as she regarded him in return, patiently waiting for him until he would be comfortable enough to speak. And indeed, upon seeing her calm demeanor, his expression softened slightly as he considered it. What he didn't know, however, was that Luna was internally trembling, having not a single clue how to proceed in a situation such as this.
But the fact that he was completely unfamiliar with her and had not once seen or heard about her, it allowed her some space to speak more openly. And as it was, both of them were rather hesitant.
"My name… my name is Ben.", smiling once more, she slowly pondered about her next words, making sure that her every movement was not threatening or too close to him.
"It would appear you had a nightmare…", she glanced slightly at their surroundings, keeping a firm control over them once she had banished the horrifying scenes that had been tormenting him. In that regard, she was more than familiar how to handle it. But yet again, she forgot that he was not aware of that himself.
Before long, he sighed almost inaudibly, his eyes glancing at the ground.
"This is all only a dream… and you along with it.", his tone implied that he was rather muttering to himself, closing his eyes briefly before glancing back at her to see whether or not she would still be there. But she merely tilted her head ever so slightly when he witnessed that she was still standing in front of him, the same puzzlement reflecting in her eyes.
"'Tis not a mere dream, for we are not a part of it. We are very much real, once we have witnessed the nightmares you were suffering from, we wasted no time to banish them.", upon reminding him of the previous horrors he had been witnessing, his gaze turned distant, much to Luna's distress as she witnessed the slight trembling in his form.
However, her horn suddenly lit up in a blue gleam before it enveloped him ever so slightly, and before long, his eyes seemed to focus once more, his fear dissipating as if it had never been there in the first place. For it was almost as if the dreaded images were simply washed away, leaving behind a cool and soothing sensation.
Noticing that her horn lost its gleam in just this moment, he realized that she must have been responsible for that. But how was that possible when she was merely something that his imagination had come up with…? How could it be that an imaginary being banished his nightmares in his own dream…?
No… he reasoned that, soon, he would wake up and forget about all of this. He didn't know what he had experienced in his waking moments for his mind to come up with something like this, but it didn't change the fact that all of this was still only a dream…
Luna could still see the sheer disbelief and confusion in his expression, and soon enough, she could feel that her time was running short, for the sun was about to rise and her night would be replaced by the time of day once again. And still, she hadn't gotten to know yet what the being in front of her truly was…
"The night will end soon, thus, our time is growing short. We are afraid we must bid you farewell for now, but perhaps we will cross paths again in the waking world.", if she had never laid eyes upon a being like him before in any dream she had entered, then she figured that he might be new to their land, but then again, his bafflement when he regarded her revealed that he had never witnessed one of her kind as well, confusing her even further.
"In the waking world…? This might be the most vivid dream I've ever experienced, but I doubt that I will dream about something like that ever again. And I certainly won't meet a being that resides only in my dreams.", his eyes were closed, as if he were trying once again to convince himself that she wasn't real, much to Luna's dismay.
Certainly, something like this has never happened to her before. Normally the ponies she had visited in their dreams to banish their nightmares were grateful, almost used to her presence, but this…
"You are still in denial about our existence? Very well. We cannot say that we have ever seen a being like you, but if it so happens, we might meet again…"
And with that, his vision slowly turned white, his consciousness returning to finally leave the world of dreams behind and to return to the waking world.
But he couldn't have ever known what was expecting him once he finally opened his eyes again.