//------------------------------//
// Nightmares 
// Story: Sunshine and Tia 
// by RunicTreetops 
//------------------------------//

Celestia stands in front of the kitchen counter, a soft smile on her face as she stirs the contents of a steaming pot. She gently hums a sweet, quiet tune that fills the otherwise silent house. It's a peaceful afternoon, and she feels as light as a feather today. However, the peace is almost immediately interrupted by the sound of the front door being violently thrown open. Celestia's eyes go wide, and she doesn't even have a chance to turn around before the sound of heavy hoofsteps sprinting upstairs fills her ears.

"Get back here, Aurora!"

An angry female voice yells into the house from outside. Finally having enough time to react, Celestia watches as a strange creature sprints into her house and follows the other sudden guest upstairs. At first glance, one might think that this girl is a human. Her skin tone matches that of Anon. She has soft features and a thin build, and it's clear from her size that she is likely in her mid-to-late teens. However, her similarities to Anon end there. Her hair is cut short, and it's a light pink color. On top of that, she has a matching tail poking out of her pants. She has magenta eyes, and a pair of large, fluffy wings protrudes from her back. Most notably, however, is the entirety of her lower body, which resembles the back half of a pony. It's covered in white fur and ends in two sizeable hooves, but despite its pony-like qualities, she is bipedal. At the moment, this girl looks livid as she quickly ascends the stairs and disappears out of sight.

Celestia, now concerned, makes her way over to the stairs and looks up to watch her ascent.

"What is going on here?!"

"Huh?" The girl turns around, looking surprised for a moment before her anger returns. "Ugh, I don't know! Aurora stole my bag!"

"Aurora-"

Celestia's words are interrupted by something slamming into her side, followed by the sound of something large hitting the ground. She turns to get a good look at the new arrival, who is splayed out on the floor. It's another creature of the same type as the girl on the stairs. However, this one appears male. He is much shorter than the girl, with a head of black hair and a similar tail. His lower body is also white, though it's also a fair deal thicker than the girl's. All in all, he seems younger than the girl.

The boy looks up at Celestia sheepishly before clambering back onto his hooves.

"S-sorry."

"I-"

Once again, Celestia is interrupted. A shattering sound comes from behind her, and when she turns around, she sees that another of these creatures is standing in the kitchen where she just was. This one appears to be the youngest of them all, another little girl. Her hair is a mixture of blue and green, and her build is stockier than the other two (or perhaps three, if the third creature upstairs is like the rest of them). Much like the boy, she has an embarrassed smile on her face. Her hands are held out in front of her like she was just carrying something, and the broken remains of what was once a ceramic plate are scattered across the kitchen floor.

"Hehe, oops."

"Seriously, what is going on right now?!"

Before she can get a response, she feels a tug on her mane. She looks down to see yet another of these creatures. It's another boy, but he is very, very small, likely only a few years old. His hair is also pink, and despite how short it is, it's extremely messy. He says nothing, and simply stares at Celestia with a completely blank expression. Celestia sighs.

"Let me guess," she mumbles, "I'm going to turn around and there's going to be one more." She turns around one more time, and to her surprise, there isn't another of these creatures causing trouble. "Hm. Well, I stand..." She trails off as she suddenly feels a weight on her back. "Not corrected." With half-lidded eyes, Celestia uses her telekinesis to remove the object that suddenly appeared on her body. Bringing it in front of her, she confirms that it is yet another of these creatures. This one is so small, it cannot possibly be any more than a year old. Its blue-and-pink hair isn't that long yet, and its strange lower half is surprisingly cute. It babbles a bit, and something within Celestia tells her to cradle it. She doesn't fight the instinct, and pulls the child close to her chest. "Oh, gracious."

The chaos of the house around her continues to build. Two female voices argue from upstairs. The girl in the kitchen attempts to noisily clean the broken remains of her plate off of the floor, scratching up the tile as she does so. The boy that ran into her flaps his wings and attempts to fly in the limited space of the nearby living room, nearly breaking every single object therein. The little boy still stands beneath her, staring at her with an emotionless expression and saying nothing. Finally, she continues to cradle the youngest child as best she can. Her patience finally having run out, she lets out a groan of frustration.

This groan apparently attracts everyone's attention, as it suddenly grows quiet. The girl in the kitchen stops and stares at her. The boy in the living room lands on his rear end and looks up at her expectantly. The other boy beneath her doesn't react. At the top of the stairs, two girls look down at her with concerned expressions. One is the girl that she followed moments ago. The other is presumably the first one that entered her home when her back was turned. She appears to be the oldest of the lot, with long black hair and a tall figure. Celestia looks between each and every one of these creatures, the lack of patience evident on her face.

"Aurora. Rhea. Apollo. Amalthea. Ida." As she says each name, one of the creatures timidly approaches her. First, the eldest girl. Then, the girl who was chasing her. The boy that ran into her is third, then the girl in the kitchen, then the stoic little boy. Finally, she looks to the baby she's holding. "Zenith." She lets out a deep sigh, then she makes a stern expression. She opens her mouth to speak, but is cut off yet again by the door suddenly opening for a second time. "What now?!"

As she says those words, everything freezes. Any noise that was being made moments ago suddenly stops. The creatures timidly surrounding her appear completely frozen, and it's as if the world itself has become lifeless.

"Worry not, sister." Celestia looks towards the door, where the familiar form of her sister, Luna, has appeared. Luna smiles at her, her expression somewhat cocky. "I have come to save you."

"S-save me?"

"From this nightmare, of course." Luna enters the house and begins to circle around Celestia, eyeing the numerous creatures that have gathered around her with amusement. "Hmhm. Experiencing a bit of baby fever, are we?"

"E-excuse me?"

"Or perhaps you're afraid of the possibility? Haha! Oh stars, Anon is really doing a number on you, isn't he? What do you suppose we should call these hypothetical creatures, anyway? Satyrs, perhaps?"

"Luna, what are you talking about?"

"You're having a nightmare, sister. These children are not real. Considering you knew their names, I can only assume you didn't realize that. As is my duty even in retirement, I have come to rescue you from these stressful delusions."

"O-oh!" A single bead of sweat begins to form on Celestia's brow. "Of course! Haha, silly me~! Nightmares, am I right?"

"...Sister?"

"Well, I suppose I should be waking up right about now."

"It's still the middle of the night."

"Y-yes! But I, uh, have to use the restroom! Haha, yeah!"

"Uhh... okay?"

"Alrightseeyoulaterbyeeeeeeeeee!"

Celestia attempts to jostle her body awake. Not this body, but her real body. When your sister can visit the dream realm, waking yourself up becomes a skill you get quite good at. Sure enough, she feels something deep inside of herself begin to stir. Luna decides to exit the dream before it falls apart, which is likely a good call considering that the house surrounding Celestia is quickly beginning to fade away. She takes one last look at the children surrounding her, and a melancholic smile makes its way to her face.

"Goodbye, everyone."

Celestia closes her eyes. When she opens them again, she suddenly feels extremely different. A warm sensation is surrounding her, and there is a weight on top of her. She blinks a few times in an attempt to properly take in her surroundings. 

Sure enough, she's back in the real world. She's comfortably sprawled out in her bed, with Anon sleeping just a couple of feet away. Realizing she's particularly stiff, she sits up and stretches her legs a bit. A satisfying popping sound comes from several of her joints, and she lets out a yawn. A quick glance at the window allows her to confirm that it is, in fact, still the middle of the night. Before she can lay back down, however, she hears a voice.

"Tia? You alright?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"Kinda. It's not like you to wake up in the middle of the night. You doing okay?"

"Y-yes, sunshine. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"..."

"...You want to talk about it?"

Celestia looks at her husband, who now sits up to meet her at eye level. He looks at her with concern, which causes her to let out a deep sigh.

"D-do you... I mean..."

"If it's difficult for you, you don't need to say anything. I'm here for you no matter what. You know that, right?"

"...Yeah." Celestia takes another deep breath. She's been avoiding Anon's gaze, but she shakes her head as she tries to gather her resolve. Steeling herself, she looks Anon right in the eyes. "Do you think we'll ever have kids?"

Anon blinks. He looks at his wife for a few silent moments, the surprise of that question catching him so off guard that he doesn't even emote. Slowly, his brow begins to furrow, though he doesn't look particularly upset.

"Well, I'm not opposed to having kids. In fact, I... uh..." Even in the darkness, Celestia can see his cheeks starting to go red. "I'd really like to some day. I'm just not sure we even can." His eyes suddenly go wide and he sheepishly puts his hands up. "A-assuming you do too, of course!"

Celestia stares back at Anon, and a gentle smile slowly makes its way to her face.

"Good to know."

"What prompted this, if I may ask? Did you have a nightmare?"

"...No. Just a dream." The smile doesn't leave her face as she lays her head back down and closes her eyes, prompting Anon to do the same. He wraps his arms around her torso, making himself the big spoon and holding her tight. "A wonderful dream."