For many years after the flight of Red Cent and Breezy Feathers, Luna searched Equestria high and low at night. In addition to helping ponies in their dreams with chronic nightmares, she searched everypony she came into contact with in their dreams to see if they were the lost prince.
Fillydelphia? Nope.
New Yoke? Nope.
Trottingham? Of course not, neither parents spoke the dialectic and would stick out.
Ponyville? Unlikely. Checked anyway. Nope.
Other countries? Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope. Bah!
She opened her eyes and slammed a hoof against the castle balcony tile, which cracked further from repeated angry stampings. She sighed as she grew weary. The dawn grew close – she only had an hour before Celestia woke to raise the sun. As she did before, she then closed her eyes again and searched. This time, instead of known towns and cities, she searched in parts unknown. In hopes of finding anything, which often and always proved fruitless as well.
Until tonight, as her magic wandered far west of Canterlot, she heard a scream of terror.
Luna stopped, and her magic scryed upon a mountain in the middle of a Redwood Forest. She then heard more murmurs of terror. All from sleeping ponies. She descended upon the place, and stepped into a dream.
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She then found herself in a kitchen, there was a grown unicorn mare, with an orange coat and a pencil for a cutie mark. She was backed into a corner by a nightmare monster, a blob crawling with bugs. It cackled with a deep throaty laugh as it sent more small bugs that squeaked menacingly at the mare as they crawled towards her.
The mare screamed again in terror as she magically used a frying pan to squish oncoming bugs. But more and more kept coming.
Luna saw enough. This dream - if chronic - would have disastrous effects on this mare's ability to function in the real world.
Luna then barked, “HALT THY REVILED CREATURE! WE SHALT STOP YOUR REIGN OF TERROR!”.
She then blasted the bug monster with dark magic from her horn. The bug monster screamed as it sank into the floor, and then disappeared.
The mare rolled her eyes up into her head as she collapsed on the floor, the frying fell to the floor with a clang.
Luna slowly trotted over to the mare, she dropped her Royal Canterlot voice and softly said “You are safe now my little pony. Open your eyes.”
The mare slowly opened an eye. Left... right.... No monster! She then opened both eyes. She looked up at Luna.
And then shrieked again, “Nightmare Moon! No no no no no nooo!”
Luna winced at the scream, then the dream collapsed. The mare had woken up.
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Luna opened her eyes again to Nighttime Canterlot and shook her head. She then snorted angrily, “What was that all about?!”
Luna returned from the balcony to her room and entered her bathroom. She looked upon the mirror above the sink. She gazed upon her face and otherworldly mane as it flowed and waved from her head without help from the wind. “I am NOT Nightmare Moon!” she said to her reflection before turning on the faucets and splashing her face with water.
It had been years since anypony directly called her that without it being the holiday known as Nightmare Night. Everyone in Equestria knew better, and most ponies were happy to see Luna in their dreams... did this mare not care that she was there to protect them?!
Furthermore... what was that place on the mountain in the redwood forests? She exited the bathroom and back into her room. She approached her desk and opened one of the drawers and brought out a scroll. With her magic she unfurled it, and gazed upon the map of Equestria.
Finding Canterlot as a reference point, she used her hoof to trace a line from there to the west, as she did she made note of the smaller towns, but none of then were in a wooded area. Her hoof finally came to the point of were woods were marked on the map. But found no towns there.
The woods drawn on the map were distinctly red. The south of it the woods were distinctly dark, and labeled 'Everfree Forest'. There was also a town here northwest in those woods called 'Sunny Town', but below the name was (Condemned).
Luna thought back for a moment, she remembered the story about Sunny Town and what happened there… no it couldn't possibly be. The woods she scryed were redwoods, not the dark woods of EverFree. The map surely must be outdated...
She glanced at the grandfather clock in the room. 30 minutes to sunrise.
She rolled the map back up with her magic and placed it back into her desk. She decided that she would skip breakfest and scry this town a little longer. Luna returned to the balcony and gazed beyond it to the west once more, and closed her eyes.
She found the mountain in the redwoods once again... and heard the screams of those having nightmares once again. She could not see the homes of these ponies anywhere. But she felt the fringes of the edge of their dreams. Taking a big breath, she entered a dream once more.
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Luna gasped at what she saw. She was outside in the woods. There was a blue colt with no cutie mark, cowering before a much bigger and ANGRY looking Red Stallion with a cutie of mark of a lit match.
“No! Please Mr. Light!” Cried the colt. “I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-”
“LIAR!” screamed the father. “You little brat! I'm going to do to you what I should have done AGES ago!”
A flame suddenly erupted from the tip of the stallion's horn.
“NO! PLEASE! Don't set me on fire!”
'Mr. Light' just smirked at him and said, “You should have thought of that before you angered me!”
Luna then intervened. “YOU SHALT NOT HARM THAT COLT YOU PILE OF VOMIT!”
Then the angry stallion who was about to set his son ablaze suddenly froze. His entire body was encased in ice, and his flame on his horn had gone out. Luna then stood on both her hind legs and brought her forehooves down upon the ice with a almighty crash. The frozen stallion was broken into a million pieces.
The colt just watched in awe as the pieces of ice melted into the ground and disappeared. He then looked at Luna with a big smile on his face and started to jump for joy! “Woo hoo!” He cried, bouncing on all four of his little hooves.
"Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” chanted the little colt as he stopped bouncing and ran up to his savior. “THANK YOU SO MUCH Miss.... ummm...” he stopped and frown as he looked at Luna... “Big... unicorn... pegasus... lady.” he finished.
Luna looked at the Colt incredulously. “You do not know who I am?” she asked.
The colt then looked dismayed, and slowly backed up, “...No.” he said in a subdued voice. “Please don't hurt me...”
Something was off... Luna then put on her best smile and replied softly, “I would never hurt you little one. Please don't be afraid, my name is Princess Luna. What is your name?” She then looked around at the buildings that suddenly faded into existence. “And what is this place?” she added.
The colt, no longer afraid and eager to please this friendly stranger piped, “My name is Rainy Day, and this is Whisper Woods!” The colt's smiling face suddenly became twisted in agony, his eyes suddenly bugged out of his head, and he screamed. Luna suddenly found the buildings around her set ablaze.
And the dream collapsed. The colt had woken up, violently.
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Luna opened her eyes and stumbled back. “What?!” she said as she fell on her rump. She shook her head and angrily got back up, pointed herself affirmatively to the west to scry again. The lowering of the moon could wait, this was important.
She chanced upon the mountain again with her magic, she no longer heard the screams. Was the Whisper Woods ponies now awake? No! There has to be some pony that was a late riser... but where!?
Luna searched for a minute, then something pulsed white against her magic, something... so familiar...
She entered a dream.
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Luna found herself standing on the deck of a wooden boat in the middle of the ocean. Ponies about her were dressed like a crew would of a pirate ship. They were milling about, ignoring her as the cleaned the deck of the ship. Moving every which way, and most annoyingly saying “Ya'rr” every few seconds.
Then a ship whistle sounded. The pirates suddenly stopped what they were doing and moved towards the back of the ship. Curious, Luna began to follow them. The gathered on the end of a staircase that look as if it led to the ship's wheel and balcony. Suddenly, a pirate pony with gold teeth and a black captain's hat appeared and let loose a mighty “Yarr!”
“Yarr!” Replied the crew. Then all of them looked towards Luna and stared at her.
“Umm... yaar?” she squeaked.
“Listen here ye bilgerats” said the pirate pony with the gold teeth on the balcony. “Thar be a ship with lot's o treasure from the mighty nation of Prance, and you know what we're gonna do?!”
“Raid it!” said one pony.
“Plunder it!”said another.
The pirate ponies stared at Luna again, “Umm... take what is rightfully Ours?...Yar!”
“Yarr!” Replied the Pirate ponies, satisfied with her answer.
“Ye!” Said the pirate Captain. “So long as that meddling Admiral Generosity doesn't get in our way! Yarr!”
“Yarr! Replied the crew. The all turned to stare at Luna again.
Luna snorted, this was getting annoying. Who's dream was this anyway? “Pardon me, Captain.” Luna said. “May I inquire who this Admiral is?”
“Yarr!” Replied the Captain.
“Yarr!” Repeated the Crew.
Luna had enough, she used her magic to yank the captain down from the ship's balcony and shook him. several times. Then she stopped and let him recover. She then glared at the rest of the crew as if daring to say “Yarr” again.
All of them backed away and formed a circle around their captain and his captor. None said a word.
Luna turned back towards the captain again, and asked in the most polite voice she could muster, “Whom Dear captain, is this Admiral you speak of?”
Surprisingly, the captain answered in a well mannered Trottingham accent “Good ma'am, he is the most horrendous Admiral to ever arrest all pirates, everywhere across the seven seas. He has stopped us from raiding any ship, any where. We are just hungry pirates who want to buy food... and that the muddy truth, wot wot?”
At that moment there was a loud boom.
Aye captain Black Hoof! Its Admiral's Generosity's ship!
Luna released the captain from her magic. The pony pirate then picked up his hat, dusted it, composed himself. Aye! It be the Admiral! All hands on deck! Prepare to repel boarders! Ya... umm... he looked at Luna.
Luna rolled her eyes. “Yaaaaarr!” she shouted.
“Yarr! Replied the crew as they pulled out wooden swords.
Suddenly Pegasus ponies dressed in old age red coat uniforms and hats flew in from above and landed on the ship deck, wielding wooden swords in their mouths. Then the fighting started.
Luna shook her head and took flight to circle the deck, maybe she could find this Generosity so that she could learn more about the town of Whisper Woods. She flew to the top of the mast into the crows nest, and booted out the pirate occupying it, who shouted as he fell to the deck below “I regret nothing!”. She took the spyglass left behind and looked all around the for the Admiral's ship, which was nowhere... Maybe he was fighting below and she missed him?
Suddenly, the entire world went dark through the spyglass. And went bright again. Luna looked up, then heard a tearing noise below her. Some pony was tearing a hole in the sail. Classic hero stunt.
She quickly teleported from the Crow's Nest to the ship's steering wheel and balcony so that she could see the owner of the dream land in time.
What Luna saw made her jaw drop.
A big, slender, and in Luna's opinion, rather handsome brown and white maned Alicorn, dressed in a Blue Old age captain's uniform and black hat to match landed on the deck. His mane was not flowing like hers, but was thin and was reflective of the dream sun and naturally flowed across the back of his neck, the tips almost flashing gold.
“HOLD THERE, VILLAINS!” He shouted confidently through the hilt he had in his mouth in a perfect Royal Canterlot shout that made Luna's heart skip a beat. “GIVE THYSELVES UP AND GIVETH BACK THY STOLEN BAUBLES!”
“Yar!” shouted the pirate captain as he threw one of Generosity's sailors off of himself, “Nevar! Yarrrr!”
Generosity then smirked and lowered his head, “Then prepare to fight!”
All the sailors and pirates stopped fighting and formed a circle around the Admiral and the Captain. Some began to cheer, jeer, yarr and huzzah their respective combatants. Some even started their own betting pools.
Both than crossed swords and began their not-quite-deadly duel.
Generosity took a high blow to the captain who smartly blocked it. Generosity then struck left and was parried, then he struck right and was parried again. The Pirate captain then advanced with a series of blows that the admiral began to block. In all the while he was being forced backwards to the side of the ship, and on to the plank.
With a final wack of the evil pirate's sword, Generosity's own wooden sword flew from his moth and into the sea.
Uh-oh.
“Yarr! Me thinks that this is the end for you Admiral!” the pirate captain chuckled.
Luna...
“Now... walk the plank! Yarr...” shouted the captain as he laid his sword against the much bigger Alicorn's neck.
“No!” shouted Luna from where she was watching from the balcony,
Luna?
Luna teleported from the balcony of the ship to behind the pirate captain. She then poked him hard with her horn.
“Yeeeeow!” screamed the pirate captain as he jumped off the plank. “My bum!”
There was a big splash. And then a cheer from all the sailors on board as they won their betting pools while the pirate crew grumbled.
Generosity looked from where he saw the pirate captain fall and looked at his savior. His jaw dropped... It was a female version of himself. Dark coat, blue mane... flowing? With stars?
No way. He was probably dreaming. Time to wake up.
Luna!
And the dream collapsed.
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Luna opened her eyes with a start. It was now daylight. She looked around and met her sister's gaze. “Celestia!”
“What is it?” asked Celestia with concern in her voice, “You were so concentrated that I had to lower the moon myself. Is everything alright?
“I found the Alicorn born in Farwoods!” she exclaimed. “He is in a place called Whisper Woods. Also, the ponies around him seemed tortured and afraid.”
Celestia raised an eybrow, “Of him?” she asked.
Luna shook her head, “I don't think so, the ponies of Whisper Woods never dreamed of him at all, they were afraid of other things... and they seem not to know who I was!”
“Hmm...” murmured Celestia. “This is all too familiar... I think that we should withhold our judgment before we act. Come sister.” Celestia began to walk back into the tower, “Let us make our way to breakfast while you tell me the details.”