Slipping in through the door, I crossed the bedroom and silently moved across the floor. The balcony door was open, allowing the summer day inside.
Moving through the bubble of darkness over the bed, I smiled at the sight of Luna deep asleep on her stomach, wings relaxed against the bed next to her.
Carefully and slowly, I climbed onto the bed and scooted closer. Ducking down, I very slowly and carefully moved in beneath her right wing.
Luna mumbled sleepily and rolled onto her side, flexing her wing to pull me tight as she slipped her forelegs around me without waking up.
Cuddling against her, I closed my eyes and slipped off into the dream realm.
The dream realm sparkled around me and I turned my ears. Luna was… that way.
Not far either. Turning, I trotted in the direction of a dark and silvery dream portal. As I got closer, I could tell it’s inhabitant.
One of my ponies, a thestral filly named Solstice. I remember meeting her when she and her parents arrived in Nocturnis. She was forteen or so and last I saw her, her mane was colored in a neon pink. Literally neon pink, it glowed slightly.
I think it was some sort of potion involved. Glowing manes were a bit of a thing among the older foals in Nocturnis right now. At least it was last time I was there. Who knew if that was still a thing, those things changed so quickly. Last it was wing paintings among the thestrals.
Am I old? No, it’s the foals that’s wrong.
The dream smoothed out to shimmering silver and a couple of moments later Luna exited through it. She smiled as she spotted me, crossing over, “My Page.”
“My Moon,” I said with a smile as I stood back up, raising my head to touch her nose with mine, “How’s Solstice?”
“Sleeping calmly now,” Luna said and then sighed softly, “...Do you know her past?”
“Some,” I admitted and thought back, “I talked with her parents a couple of times. Bully problems where they lived last?”
Luna nodded, “She dreamed all her friends abandoned her and that she was sent back there and without an illusion this time.”
That would be a nightmare for sure.
Nodding, I sighed and moved up next to her, my side touching hers, “She’s feeling better now?”
Luna nodded and then smiled a bit, “She’s dreaming of Nocturnis now, leading the guard in a heroic defense against giant plants.”
I laughed,”I’m guessing she has her career all planned out then.”
“Seems so,” Luna admitted with a smile of her own, “I talked to her about it. She plans to sign up when she’s old enough. But she’s young still.”
I nodded, “Things change,” I said before I looked up at her, “Speaking of the guard, do you have anything to tell me?”
Luna looked at me in surprise, “How did you even hear about that already?”
“I have my way. Well?”
Luna sighed, “While you and my sister were away, I talked to some ponies in the guard about the possibility of a training outpost by Nocturnis. To allow the Night and Solar guard to learn from the Nocturnis guard and the other way around. It’s just in a feasibility study stage right now.”
I nodded, “Even so, I would appreciate being asked first, My Sky,” I told her, “Nocturnis may not be an Equestrian protectorate like the Crystal Empire, but Nocturnis is still my ponies.”
Luna looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “You are rather vehemently against this?” she asked in slight surprise, “I would have expected you to have welcomed the bits it would bring to the village.”
I flicked my ears, “...Sorry, didn’t mean to come on so strong,” I admitted and glanced down, “And my ponies would greatly need those bits. But I’m worried about the… implications and impression..”
“Impression?”
Nodding, I sighed and sat down, glancing up at her, “Not a majority,” I said, “but many ponies in Nocturnis do not like Equestria.”
Luna sat down, looking at me, “I am aware some ponies in Nocturnis don’t like their old lives where they lived before, but dislike Equestria?” she asked with a small frown, “And many?”
“Yes,” I told her seriously, “It’s not just how their lives were before, it was how their families lived, how their ancestors’ lives were. Needing to constantly hide their entire lives. Such things can make ponies bitter. They do not like being reminded that they are still parts of Equestria.”
“I… I didn’t experience any of that while I was in Nocturnis while you and Midnight were in the other world,” she admitted.
“Did you spend a lot of time with regular ponies or did you mostly interact with community leaders?” I asked her gently, “Besides, they very much know you are not only my wife, but also were on the moon for a thousand years and had nothing to do with how they were treated.”
“Neither did my sister!” Luna exclaimed, wings raising in annoyance.
“I know,” I said quietly, “And it’s not about her. It’s about Equestria as a whole. See it from their point of view. They have lived in Nocturnis for years now and suddenly a bunch of Solar and Lunar guards show up and cause trouble.”
Luna frowned, “They wouldn’t cau-
“They're young, dumb, enlisted soldiers, in a place they don’t want to be, doing things that suck, with a bunch of bits in their pockets,” I said with a small tired smile, “There will be trouble.”
She looked hesitant, “...You truly believe it is such a bad idea? I discussed it with Sunset and Midnight.”
I shook my head, “Not a bad idea as such, but hazardous and would need to be handled carefully. I have some ideas, but I need to think about it. And the outpost can not be in Nocturnis. It would have to be out by the train station if not further away along the rails.”
Luna frowned at me and shook her head, “Page, allowing ponies as such to isolate themselves will only cause problems. We have encountered troublemakers before, allowing them to set the parameters and tone is never a good idea.”
“And neither is just setting fire to an oil soaked house,” I said and shook my head, “And they’re not a majority, but it would cause instability in a place that just started to get together to heal from what they experienced in the past. I fear that throwing a bunch of guard ponies into it right now is a bad idea. But I will think about how it could be done,” I told her before I sighed softly, “...Because quite frankly, you’re right. Those bits and that experience would likely help a lot of ponies.”
Nodding, Luna shifted to touch her horn to mine, “I’m sorry, Page. I should have discussed it with you before I talked to anypony else.”
“It’s alright,” I said and met her eyes, “Maybe I worry about nothing. Maybe I should just trust in my ponies. But I worry.”