Endless fields of pastel greens and rolling hills stretch to the horizon in all directions. The blades of grass lightly tickle my hooves as I traverse the land. Tiny flowers of every hue offer their subtles smells, which all blend together to form a sweet orchestra of fragrance. The flatness of the plains, broken only by the occasional tree or rock, is illuminated silver by the light of the full moon above. Little, fluffy clouds drift slowly across the beautiful, starlit sky.
It could almost be described as picturesque. Almost. But something still feels off. I stop walking, settling down instead in the soft grass; who knew grass could be so comfortable? Yet despite all this tranquillity, I still find myself plagued with a sense of unease: a feeling of being watched. And suddenly this place is not so comforting. I feel exposed in this wide open space, with my wings and horn out in the open air. I shiver slightly as a cool breeze ruffles my fur, mane and feathers.
Where even am I? This place feels strange, liminal, dream-like… Dream like… Am I in a dream? Everything seems so surreal, yet so vivid. But if this is a dream, then why does it feel like I’m being watched? It’s like there’s another presence here, watching me. I stand up and call out.
“Hello?”
My voice echoes strangely through the dreamscape. Silence. But then, my ears pick up a new sound. Distant at first, but steadily approaching: the sound of wingbeats. I twist my head, following my ears. I can just barely make out a speck in the distance, but whatever it is blends too well against the dark sky to see clearly.
“We were hoping thou wouldn’t notice us.”
That voice sounds familiar... And then she is close enough to recognise.
“Princess Luna?”
Why, of all ponies, would the lunar princess be in my dream? For some reason, I get the feeling that this isn’t just a simple creation of my subconscious.
“Yes, Jonathan. It is I.”
She touches down softly upon the grassy ground ahead of me, her great wings coming to rest neatly against her sides.
“What are you doing here? In my dream I mean?”
“Jonathan, you already know me as Princess of the Night, do you not?”
“Yes…, but what does that have to do with you being in my dream?”
“Like the night sky, the dream realm also falls within my domain. It is my responsibility to protect mine little ponies through their dreams!”
Cryptic… But also creepy. So she can see into ponies dreams? But what does she mean by ‘protecting ponies through their dreams?’ Maybe she wards off nightmares, or uses dreams to track down criminals? I don’t really know how I should feel about that… But that does not exactly answer what she is doing watching me in my sleep.
“That still doesn’t tell me exactly what you were doing in my dream, Luna. Why are you in my dream?”
She seems a little hesitant to answer, refusing to look me in the eye.
“We were… studying thy dream, Jonathan.”
Studying my dream? Why would she be doing that? Glancing backwards, I am reminded of my current species. Ah, right… It kinda makes sense that the princesses would want to keep an eye on the ‘mysterious new alicorn.’ I guess she’s trying to find out more about me to see if I am a danger. Still, that shouldn’t give her the right to start invading my mind and my privacy behind my back.
“You know Luna, I’m a little bit annoyed at you now. I may not know exactly how things work around here, around Equestria, but that doesn’t make me any less upset that you’ve been spying on my mind without my consent.” I stop for a moment. “How long has this been going on for?”
Luna’s ears are folded back now and she seems even more reluctant to make eye contact.
“Well, we have been attempting to find out… more about you, since… since you arrived.”
Really, she’s been doing this multiple nights already? Doesn’t make it any better. I raise an eyebrow and continue my stare.
“But.. but, this has been our first successful attempt at contact, we couldn’t find your dream the first night, and the second just wasn’t stable enough! I tried stabilising your dreaming with magic the third night, but then you suddenly cut off… We didn’t know what happened! But you seemed fine the next day…”
I hold up a hoof to cut her off. So, she hasn’t successfully invaded my dreams before tonight… And so she’s been trying to stabilise my dreams with magic? Uh, magic again!? Since when did simple dreaming require magic of all things? Magic this and magic that. Much good it’s done me! Waking me up in the… middle… of… the… night…
“So… it was you?!”
“What?”
“It was you who woke me up last night. You who made my horn go all funny!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
I’m angry. I stop. I take a deep, shuddering breath. Just, breathe… There we go, much better…
“Last night, Luna, I was awoken suddenly from my sleep. And what awoke me from my sleep was this… thing… on my head. It was glowing, bright like the sun, burning my eyes out. And it just would… not… stop! I had to get up and go all the way to use the bathroom sink to put it out. And then I had to make my way all the way back to the bed in complete darkness.”
“We… I… had no idea Jonathan.”
“It’s fine… it’s behind us now… but please Luna… next time you do something like this, please talk to me about it first. And no more casting magic on me behind my back! Please.”
“Very well… we shall leave you in peace. Good night Jonathan.”
“Thank you. And good night, Princess.”
The lunar princess fades out of my view, and out of my dream. I let out a long sigh, allowing myself to collapse back into the comforting grass of the endless plains. I have a lot to think about…