Luna closed her eyes, letting herself relax so she could focus on the moon. She was becoming better at walking into dreams. Her sister, Celestia, along with Starswirl the Bearded, a skilled unicorn who studied magic in Equestria, encouraged her to master her unique ability to watch over the kingdom within her subjects’ dreams. It had taken a few months, but she was finally beginning to feel comfortable as she stepped into the world of dreams. The moon no longer came crashing down on her. Instead, she flew towards it. She continued to drift into the moonlight until the sounds of the night vanished; her eyelids slowly lifted up.
Before, the light of the moon was harsh and she had believed that this dream world was void and empty until she blindly stumbled into another pony’s dream. Now, as her eyes finally began to adjust with her practice, she found that the world she walked in was not as blank as she had assumed. In front of her, sparkled small points of light; wavy stars and lavender mist swirled through a deep indigo sky. There was no ground below her, yet her hoofs could not tell her the difference as she stood securely in the air.
In the distance, objects of different sorts danced through the air. Sometimes they would be dolphins or butterflies, at other times they would be bubbles or leaves. They could be a household object like a candle or sewing needle. Luna learned that if she followed one of those things, she would eventually be led into a pony’s dream. But tonight, she sought out something different: An object of fear or cry of terror. She had mastered getting into the world, and even learned how to control parts of a dream, as if it were her own. Now it was time to put her powers to good use. She would seek out nightmares, conquer them, and comfort the ponies within their dreams. The only problem was finding the nightmare.
“Come out Nightmares! Face the judgment of thy Princess of the Night.
As if they had accepted Luna’s challenge, a flock of birds rushed out from the mist and circled around her. Luna squinted into the torrent of feathers and angry calls, raising a hoof to protect her face from their sharp beaks and talons. Mixed in the sound of the fluttering cyclone she could hear a pony’s voice.
“Stop!” A filly’s voice cried. “Leave me alone! Go away!”
The birds flew away from Luna and darted into the mist. Luna chased after them, her hooves silently cantering across nothingness as she tried to catch up to the birds. If she lost them, she would loose the nightmare. The fog thickened as she pursued the flock of birds, until it opened up into the pony’s dream. Suddenly, the air no longer held the princess up and she fell into the night sky. Luna opened her wings and swooped down to a nearby cloud.
This was the cloud village from beyond the unicorn kingdom of Canterlot. She recognized Cloudsdale’s distinguished architecture from the paintings in her castle. On a cloud below her, crouched a beige colored filly with a dark violet and lavender mane. The birds circled around her singing in unharmonious melodies and crashing thunder. They swelled together and became a dark cloud that began to pour rain upon the young pegasus’s head.
Luna leapt down to help her. “Be gone!” She cried as she kicked the storm cloud into nothingness. She stayed up in the air for a while longer - making sure that the nightmare was gone - before landing besides the Pegasus to help her up.
“Are thou alright?” Luna asked, as the Pegasus rose shakily on her hooves.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I thank thee, Princess.”
Luna’s joy that somepony finally recognized her was short lived as she watched the pegasus’s violet eyes dart fearfully around the village.
“Will they come back?” she asked.
Luna sighed. “Unfortunately yes. I’m afraid that nightmares shall continue to haunt thee until thou no longer fear them. Such is their way.” The filly looked down at her hooves, biting her lip. Luna hated to see her look of disappointment and growing fear. “However, I am here to help thee with that part. Tell me, what is thy name and why were those birds chasing you?”
The filly looked back at Luna, a frown still heavy on her face. “I am Night n’ Gale. I was named after the birds that attacked. Those were nightingales. I’m not sure why they chased me, for I do not fear them. I also doubt that thou can help me either.”
Luna was perplexed by this pony’s reply. Usually what the pony feared did come after them. Such as a spider or a colony of bats. Was this not a nightmare? “Tell me then, what do thou fear.”
“I…” Night n’ Gale paused before continuing. “ To be honest, I do not really know. I’m not so much as scared as I am troubled.” Luna raised an eyebrow, compelling her to further explain. Instead, the filly turned away from Luna and walked to the edge of the cloud. After awhile, Luna wondered if she should say something, but before she could open her mouth, the Pegasus finally began to speak.
“I haven’t gotten my cutie mark yet.” She stated matter-of -factly. “I know that it will come when I find my destiny and all. And the fact that I have yet to receive one yet does not bother me. What does bother me is that I do not know what I want to do.” She shook her head sadly to herself.
Luna walked over to the troubled Pegasus and reassuringly laid a hoof on her shoulder. “Surely by now thou know what thou enjoy?”
“I do. Sort of anyway.” She replied. “I enjoy singing. I want to join a choir or compose my own songs and sing them to others. I’m good at it, too,” she smiled. “Everypony in my school tells me that I have a beautiful voice, and our music instructor encourages me to embrace this talent. But, I want to be useful too. The most important role Pegasus ponies have in Equestria is to control the weather. It’s a busy job, and I’m an excellent flier as well. I can see myself excelling in directing weather. If I can, shouldn’t I choose the path I am most needed for?”
“A destiny is something that you will find in time. Just wait. It will come.”
“But it already has. I have two options, and I know I can be successful in both – one that I want, and one that is needed. I love to sing, but does it really help anypony? I want to be useful. I want to be important. I want a role that I can enjoy and means something. How do I decide?” she cried. Luna wasn’t sure how to react. Did she really have the right to tell this Pegasus which path she should choose? Does anypony have the right to do that?
“It is ultimately up to thee. But is what thou want really unimportant to you? How can thou thyself enjoy music if it holds no meaning? Did not other singers inspire thee and bring thee joy in singing? Every destiny is equally important.”
Night n’ Gale thought on this. “So what thou are saying is that every career has equal importance? But thou lead an entire nation. Surely that is the most important role to play in Equestria?”
“I am no more important than any other pony. Look at the Earth pony who works hard in the field growing food. His work is often overlooked as a simple and tiring job, but if nopony grew that food, we would all starve. What would a world be like if there was no music? Would it not be bland and uninteresting?
“So my voice is important? Can it help others?”
“Yes. Thou have the ability to soothe others and bring them to joy; to bring out emotions in ponies through sound and music. How is that not important? And just because thou decide upon one thing to pursue, it does not mean thou are unable to help in other ways if thou are needed.”
“Thank thee, Princess. I feel more confident with my destiny now. A pony should do what they love and enjoy. Singing is the talent I wish to pursue and build upon.” She nodded in thanks. As she did so, the dream shivered, the Pegasus now at ease and ready to move on. Luna smiled in relief as the she felt the moonlight pull her out of the ending dream. The air around her faded and took on the scene of her balcony. She had successfully completed her goal of chasing away a nightmare. And more so, she was able to help one of Equestria’s young citizens. Luna may have been gifted with the talent of raising the moon, but she decided that protecting a pony’s dreams was as equally rewarding as any other task.
The two, alicorn sisters stood in a courtyard just outside the throne room. Soft gold light lined the horizon as part of the sun began to peak out over the land. As Luna lowered her moon she grinned at her sister.
“I do not believe I have ever felt happier to be the Princess of the Night and to bring comfort and joy to others through their dreams. I’m glad that I can do just that along with my duty to raise and lower the moon.”
Celestia returned her sister’s smile. “Yes, I completely agree. And nothing makes me happier to see my dearest sister smile. Equestria is lucky to have a such a caring and compassionate leader to guard their night, and I consider myself even luckier to have you as my sister.”