“Bwaaahh! It's another changeling! Get away from meee!!!”
I found myself putting my foreleg out after her as the little filly ran off into the dark alleyways again. I've lost count as to how many times I've seen that terrified look on her face, the poor thing. She can't help but see every other pony around her as a changeling.
“What am I doing...”
My eyes fell to the cold cobblestone, the stagnant air around me suffocating. I knew none of this was real, that I was only letting myself think it was. But whenever looked into her eyes, whenever I saw that look of pure, authentic fear...I couldn't help but empathize. Such a traumatic experience should never happen to somepony as young as her.
“My goodness Luna, how do you do it...? You've made this look so easy, and yet I've never felt so powerless in my life. What can I possibly do to help this poor filly overcome her nightmare?”
----
- Princess Luna's Bedchambers, 8:07 am
“Ugh...the-the pounding...hammering the roof again...something in my eye...ooohhHHHH, SOMEPONY MAKE IT STOOOP!!!”
The door to her room rattled at the sound of her voice, making me cringe a little. Initially I was going to ask why I had to lower the moon for her for the third day in a row, but it looks like I received my answer. I tapped my hoof on the wooden door, trying to be as polite as possible.
“Sister? If it's alright with you, may I come in?”
I could hear the rustling of covers followed by the sound of her hooves walking closer to the door, albeit somewhat harder than normally. The door flew open and slammed against the wall, revealing the most grouchy face I had ever seen my sister make. Her whole face was sagged into a dismal frown, two sets of bags were under her eyes, and her mane looked like it was put through a pasta machine after sitting in front of a fan for ten hours. I knew I should be feeling bad for her, but couldn't help but put a hoof over my mouth to suppress a laugh.
*snirk*
“Ah...ahem. I, um...take it the workers are getting to you?” The smile on my face was little forced, and from Luna's standpoint, probably a little pretentious. She simply stared back at me without saying a word, the awkward silence hammering in just how obvious my question was.
“I see. In...any case, why don't you take my room for the day? It's practically on the other side of the castle, so I doubt any of the noise from the observatory's renovations will bother you. Of course, I'd be willing to take care of your royal duties while you rested.”
Luna shambled past me like a zombie, already levitating her pillow next to her. Grumbling in a low voice, she said, “I have been awake for thirty six hours...I do not want to be disturbed for forty eight. Please take care of dreamwalking while I am gone...”
“Wait, what was that?!” Somehow I had completely forgotten. In the time that she was banished, I merely raised and lowered the moon in her stead. How could I forget about something so important?! Tuning to face her as she sauntered away, I yelled, “Sister, I...the night is not my domain! I don't know the first thing about entering the dreams of other ponies!”
She waved a lethargic hoof at the inside of her door, saying, “The book on my vanity mirror...page twenty seven...going to sleep now...”
My shoulders slumped as she disappeared from sight. Breathing out a resigning sigh, I trotted over to the aforementioned mirror, looking at the book resting on it with trepidation. I could feel goosebumps on my skin and a bead of sweat going down my brow. I didn't want to do this. I really didn't. But, now I had to. I offered to help my ailing sister, so it's only fair that I helped her with all of her duties. Even if I wasn't sure of myself...
----
- Dreamscape of Canterlot, 2:17 am
Shadows began to curl around me, trying to envelop this place with darkness once again. From what I've seen, this always happened at the end of her nightmare – Canterlot would be overtaken by blackness, and the shock would wake the poor dear up. I raised my horn as it glowed with a golden sheen, forcing the shadows back into the cracks of the ground, though I did so regrettably. I knew I could not simply fix her problems for her. In order to stop this nightmare once and for all, she would have to face her fears on her own.
“But what can I do? I cannot even approach her without striking fear into her heart...”
“AIIIEEE!!! S-stay awaaay!!!”
My head snapped up at her shriek. She was being attacked again, no doubt by more creatures conjured by this place. I unfolded my wings and took flight, finding her just moments afterward. The filly was cornered in an alleyway, with at least five changelings approaching her. Their forms were even more grotesque than they were normally – they stood at least three meters tall, their oversized fangs dripped with saliva, and their very bodies were misshapen and disproportionate. For whatever reason, this was how she viewed them...and it made my heart sink. Her plight was so simple, yet so atrocious.
“Forgive me, but you leave me no choice. I mean you no harm, but I must be stern with you...”
I let my wings go limp and dropped directly in front of the filly, raising my horn once again as it shone with radiant light. The nightmarish constructs froze in place before scattering apart like dry ashes, vanishing into the walls and air. Letting the magic from my horn ebb away, I turned around to find her cowering in the corner, her forelegs over her eyes.
“It's alright. There's nothing for you to fear in this place any longer.” I gave her a few moments, but her shivering didn't cease. I breathed in and out to calm myself before continuing, “Would you come closer? I'd like to speak with you, if you want.”
“No, you're lying,” She said. Her voice was tired and shaky. “You aren't Princess Celestia! Y-you aren't even pink!”
“I, uh...excuse me?” My thoughts quickly went from concerned to confused.
“Mama always told me that the Princess was pink, not white! You can't fool me!”
I've been called many things in the past. Upstart, matriarch, even sometimes fascist by the more unruly sort...but this is the first time I've been called pink. I sighed to myself and cast another spell, resigning to the fact that this was the only way I could calm her.
“Just open your eyes, my dear. I promise you there's nothing to fear.”
One of her forelegs moved away from her face a few centimeters a second, peeking out from behind her self-imposed cage before she jumped to her hooves. She smiled widely and galloped to my side, hugging my foreleg. “Princess! You came to save me from the monsters! I knew you would!”
On the outside, I was giving her as warm as a smile as I could. On the inside, I was sincerely hoping that Luna wasn't spying on this whole scenario. I'd never hear the end of it if she saw me turn my own coat pink.
“There were never any monsters here to begin with, little one. But tell me, is it changelings that you're really afraid of?”
She gave herself some distance, looking at me with worried eyes. Not breaking eye contact with her, I said, “I understand how troubling that time must have been for you. How you were betrayed by an imposter. But the invasion hardly lasted an hour before they were all banished to the badlands. Do you really have anything more to fear from them?”
The filly looked away, mumbling to herself, “But...but I thought...she was mama...I-I can't...”
“I know. And I'm sorry. But your real mother is with you now. It's as I've said, there's nothing more for you to fear from the changelings. And I know that you understand this as well. What you really fear...” I walked closer to her, “...is trusting other ponies again. Isn't that right?”
She flinched upon hearing it, refusing to look me in the eye any longer. I sighed and stepped back again, “Please forgive me. I came to you because I sensed that your heart wavered, I...I didn't want to upset you any more than you already are.”
“No, don't be sorry...I'm sorry. And...and you're right.” She finally looked back at me, forcing a smile through her pain. “Thank you for saving me.”