A Dream is a Wish...or a Nightmare

by Mekon

Dream

Disclaimer: All respective characters belong to Hasbro and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. In no way do I intend to profit from this story.

A few times in one's lifetime, there is that night when one can look up into the endless sea of shimmering stars and purling galaxies, majestic, mysterious and so very far away, to marvel at such a heavenly work of otherworldly art. Every swish, a galaxy. Every splotch, a planet. Every infinitesimal speck, a star. All part of the painting hanging above.

Tonight was such a night, the cosmos displaying themselves in all of their glory for anypony to see and bask in their magnificence.

Twilight Sparkle, a purple unicorn, personal protege of Princess Celestia, loved these nights and as usual, when they came around, she could do nothing but stare for hours on end.

Watching from her balcony that was seldom put to use, Twilight peered through her amateur telescope to see even deeper into the ocean, knowing that her eyes alone could barely even scratch the surface of such an enigmatic piece. Every moment or so, she would swivel her viewing device to a different, precise location to view another galaxy or system, 'oohing' and 'ahhing' in delight as her eyes were treated to such delights, rarely seen first hoof.

Sometimes, she would stay in spots for extended periods of time, slowly and methodically jotting down notes with her magically-handled pencil perched over her open notebook. Other times, she would move from place to place as erratically as Pinkie Pie's speech, her pencil almost literally buzzing as it wore itself down to a bare nub, running out of lead so fast that her sharpening spell couldn't keep up.

"Isn't it just amazing Spike?" Twilight gushed as she finally removed her left eye from the tube and pulled back to get a general view of the nightscape.

"It's really pretty," Spike answered as he sat down with a small blanket and a cup of hot chocolate, enjoying the peaceful evening. "I've never seen so many stars out at once. There's like a bazillion bazillion of em."

"Technically, there's an estimated three hundred sextillion or so plus stars in the observable universe, but you're right. There are a lot of stars out tonight." Spike rolled his eyes.

"Makes you wonder how Luna did it huh? Just think of the time and dedication it takes to make something like this. One little mistake, and you've got all of the research ponies on you, asking why things changed," Spike commented as he took another sip of his hot chocolate, perpetually keeping it warm with his own breath.

"Yeah.." answered the purple mare as she simply stared at the moon overhead, finding such a mundane and continual celestial body to be one of the most beautiful centerpieces of the night. One would think a ball of gray would be dull, boring, completely void of anything interesting, but the Moon was anything but these things to Twilight.

"Oh! The meteor shower's starting!" she exclaimed as she placed her eye back into the glass lens as the shining, burning rocks began to fall from the heavens and disintegrate in the atmosphere. Hundreds and hundreds of bright rocks bombarded the night sky, casting a wonderful light show upon Equestria that danced and moved with the shooting stars in the sky.

Spike closed his eyes tight as he clasped his hands together, as if he were praying to the skies overhead.

"What are you doing Spike?" Twilight asked suddenly, as she raised her eyebrow in questioning.

"Making a wish! Everypony says that if you wish upon a shooting star, it has to come true!" the purple and green dragon answered back promptly as soon as he finished wishing, grinning happily.

"Spike. You know that's just an old ponies' tale. No one ever got what they wanted by wishing on a star." He shrugged.

"Well it's just fun to do anyway. Why don't you make a wish?" Twilight scoffed.

"Making wishes only leads to wishful thinking which leads to lack of results. There's no point really," she recited as if reading from a scientific report.

"Alright then. Your loss." Twilight ignored that, and continued to watch the shower of stars that graced the racing cosmos, believing that closing her eyes for a second to make a wish wouldn't be worth losing a second of the sight before her which happened as rarely as Rarity going a without day washing her mane.

A couple of wonderful hours had already passed, and Twilight found herself almost falling asleep on the cold wood and metal of her balcony. Luna's moon was already far past the midpoint of the sky and was on its descending arc, ready to dip below the horizon in a couple of hours to greet the new day.

'Better turn in,' Twilight, yawning periodically, her body tired and exhausted, thought to herself as she watched the last falling, flaming boulders of space fall. She trotted through her doorway, levitating the already sound asleep dragon into his little basket, folding his blanket neatly over his small, reptilian body. He shifted only briefly before sinking deep into the covers, a satisfied smile in his face. Twilight could only smile in return, wishing her charge sweet dreams.

Twilight yawned again, feeling the tug of sleep become stronger as her comfy, warm bed beckoned for her to snuggle under the soft blankets and lay her head on the fluffy pillow. The purple mare was able to stave off the latest assault, making sure to close the balcony doors and shut the curtains.

Finally, she climbed into her bed, sighing happily as the softness of the sheets rippled across her hooves. Twilight climbed into the welcoming vessel, settling herself in and finally closing her eyes as the darkness of sleep overtook her.

An immeasurable expanse of luminous orbs, burning with vibrant color, were laid out, bare to the wandering eyes of Twilight in all of her intimacy. Her eyes ran with reckless abandon as her gaze drifted from defined curve to curve, from one system to another, her breath held in wonderment. She feared that letting her breath go for even an iota of a moment would dispel the spell placed upon her heart and soul.

She had watched longingly for ages upon everlasting ages, wishing nothing more but for a chance to confess her affliction of infatuation, her boundless affection for the majestic body laid out before her, yet unable to be spoken. Never had she dreamed of laying this close, the very idea sending her into spasms of fervor in the past. Yet, here she lay, the very image she adored splayed out before her to behold in all of its heavenly beauty, and she could not stop herself from her ardent indulgence, her very soul set ablaze with passion.

Tentatively, Twilight inched her hoof closer, her very frame shaking with anticipation. It pulsed slowly as if encouraging the nervous unicorn, wishing to be united with the mare that had for so long admired her from afar, captured by every perfection and the even more perfect flaws. Finally, Twilight's hoof connected, the coolness and warmth both filling her, as the living yet un-living body rejoiced at her touch, having gone too long without proper attention. The mare explored the masterpiece of nature, finding that words alone would never do justice to the exquisite beauty she held in her hooves.

Slowly, Twilight looked up, having averted her eyes in unfounded fear, and beamed, soothed by the accepting body that so eagerly welcomed her presence. Words were but little, fragile flits of emotion, subject to sharpened tongues and hapless delusions, but with a simple look, the feelings and sayings of her soul were laid bare, open to acceptance or open to destruction. She was utterly at Her mercy as Twilight's lilac orbs bared her love.

The night giggled; Twilight blushed abashedly.

And the timeless night rejoiced as Twilight became one with her, the lavender mixing beautifully with the otherworldly blue in a symphony of celestial instruments, and everything about the night was reborn in a burst of passionate magic.

Twilight awoke, her face the color of absolute embarrassment. Never had she ever had such a...vivid dream. Her labored breathing, shallow and deep, was a testament to the intensity of the dream. She made no attempt at sitting up and instead turned her jumbled thoughts toward the wonderful dream. The lavender mare blushed again, the images of her passion, dancing teasingly in her mind's eye.

But more importantly, what did it mean?

After a couple moments of brief deliberation, she decided she did not want to decipher the dream that her mind must have conjured up after the events of last night, simply influenced by the late-night stargazing. Still, she could not deny that it had been a rather pleasant dream.

The first rays of Celestia's sun began peeking through the window's shutters, telling her that she had still awoken at the usual appointed time that her daily schedule required and demanded.

Pushing her tired forelimbs out of the soft sheets that seemed to tug at her as if begging for a few more minutes, Twilight yawned and stretched, feeling extremely relaxed. She directed her gaze towards the wicker basket that housed her little assistant, smiling softly as she watched the gentle rise and fall of Spike's scaly underbelly that accompanied his snores.

The lavender mare chuckled, deciding to give the dragon a few more winks of blissful sleep, knowing that the late hours of last night must have taken their toll. Trotting past the slumbering creature, she tiphoofed down the stairs, as she magically drew a bath from across the house.

By the time she had arrived at her bathroom, the warm fog of the cooling waters floated idly, obscuring the large mirror hanging on the wall as the minuscule water droplets gathered on the cold surface. Sighing blissfully, Twilight dipped her first hooves into the water, the ecstasy of the soothing bath doing much for her nerves.

Her hind end finally joined her front as a light splashing sound graced the morning silence. Twilight could only sigh happily, the gentle, warm massage of the bath erasing all thoughts from her mind as she simply floated in an endless sea of euphoria.

She dunked her head under, her morning mane rectified and washed. Grabbing her bath soaps from the counter with her magic, she squeezed a few good-sized dollops on her head and tail, the bubbles beginning to rapidly form upon her lavender and pink. Twilight scrubbed thoroughly, making sure to clean her hairs right down to roots. Next, she lathered her lithe body with her body soap with as much due diligence as she used on her mane and tail.

Twilight grinned, contemplating a lifestyle that allowed her to do this relaxing ritual every day. More often than not, she was only afforded a quick shower, usually called upon for help. Or, it was just Rainbow Dash crashing through her window again.

Finally, having finished her thorough soaking, Twilight stepped out of the bath, the waters now only lukewarm and full of bubbles. Quickly casting a drying spell on herself, Twilight's body and mane instantly turned pristine, the usual image Twilight wore when she left the house.

However, the mare decided to look herself over in the mirror, just to check and make sure her appearance was just right. Wiping a good portion of the mirror with a stray rag, Twilight cleared a large enough hole to peer into her reflection.

At first glance, she was very satisfied with her work, finding not a hair out of place, but suddenly, the lavender mare in the mirror began to shift and melt, giving way to a larger figure, shrouded in black with the eyes of a deadly dragon, aqua and fierce. Twilight wanted to leap away in absolute terror as she silently screamed, but her legs had been locked up tight and an icy chill overcame her, rooting her to the spot like a tongue to the coldest ice.

The reflection gave an airy laugh, grinning madly, her eyes glinting with an uneasy amount of mischief that Twilight could not interpret. Then, the image opened her mouth to speak.

“We meet again my dearest sweet, Twilight Sparkle,” Nightmare Moon murmured with a toothy smile, “Mistress of the Night.”