The Dreamscape.
It was a realm unlike any other; a domain existing between reality and fantasy that only a few chosen have the immense privilege of witnessing. Here there was no time; no space and arguably no existence; only a concept that went over the heads of mortal souls. This place relied on the dreams of the living for sustenance as much as the living relied on it for reverie. Because of this, one can imagine why the Dreamscape was most active at night; a time where it was at the precipice of its already staggering magnificence.
A being had been assigned to guard this domain from any interference from the outside world and its unworthy inhabitants. As if on cue, a portal opened and a dark majestic figure stepped into the realm.
Princess Luna had entered her garden.
This was one of the few places in existence where she had more control than her sister. Ergo, she was assigned to look after it by an authority so old that even she and her sister could not remember. Luna loved the Dreamscape; not because of its unrivaled beauty (which was still a pretty big reason), but it also gave her a role, a role that only she could perform. She was the mare who guided ponies through their worst nightmares, where they were at their most vulnerable. One might have considered it a taxing job but she loved every moment of it.
She soared along the ethereal mist of the Dreamscape, searching for a pony she could aid. Perhaps she could find a child who was in need of guidance. Or maybe an adult who was having a dilemma in life that was being projected in his/her dream. It didn't really matter who, she just wanted to help. With this in mind, she searched and searched, going through name after name on the marble tablets the Dreamscape conjured for its mistress. Faces of many went through her mind as she recognized the names on the tablets. She would find somepony to aid eventually. After what must have been an hour of searching without result, it was clear that no pony in existence needed her help.
“This must be some sort of quip,” Her eyes narrowed. This had been the third night without a single bad dream. Don’t get her wrong, she was happy the night was free of nightmares. But without the presence of unpleasant dreams, she had no reason to be in the dream world and as a result, she was short another royal duty and this was one of the few things she did that separated her from her sister. She began to drift back into the direction from where she came.
She sighed “Might as well wake up and- hello.”
She halted, not taking her eye off a particular Tablet. This one was special, neither a pony nor any other creature native to the world. It had a different feel to it.
“What could possibly- oh,” she almost grimaced, “TD Harrison Powell.”
TD Harrison Powell, if you aren't aware, was an anomaly in Equestria. He was a being that belonged to a technologically advanced race called the humans. He was trapped in Equestria by Princess Celestia by accident and stuck there for all eternity. Oh, and did I mention he was a non-brony? One could imagine that he wasn't very fond of Celestia for very obvious reasons. He wasn’t very fond of Luna either, but that was because of a whole separate host of reasons (and by reasons, I mean she snapped his spine against a chair.) Fun times!
Luna stared at TD’s tablet for the longest time. She and her sister shared many vices and virtues. One of said virtues (debatably a vice) was their unparalleled curiosity. Both wanted to know more about everything (which was probably the biggest reason why TD was stuck in Equestria in the first place.) Luna didn’t like TD but that doesn’t mean his existance never left her with an itch to learn. With all the strange gadgets he brought along with him to Equestria along with all the strange things she had read about him from Twilight’s letter, she couldn’t help but be fascinated.
And here and now in front of her was an actual gateway to the human’s dreams. She could only imagine all the information she could obtain from his dreams. However, was she right in doing so? TD was not like a pony and was very adamant on not wanting to do anything with the princess of the night. Wouldn’t that be an invasion of privacy? She looked away and began to drift away.
“But then again…” She turned and looked back at the tablet with the human's name on it.
She had been in the minds of many non-pony species long ago back during some more… unkind times. She had extracted information from the enemies of Equestria on more than a few occasions. TD was by no means an enemy of Equestria, but he was not what one might consider an ally either, his disdain for the land evident from his behaviour at the gala.
Luna’s eyebrows narrowed at the memory. The human had gall, she’d give him that. And if he had the gall to act the way he did in the gala, it wouldn’t be too farfetched to believe he would also have the gall to conspire against Equestria. The thought did not strike her well. She drifted back to the tablet. Maybe she could check just to make sure his presence was safe. If there was an undocumented species living in Equestria, it made sense to do a ‘background check’ on him. And maybe she could take this opportunity to learn just a little bit.
“Just to be safe,” she reassured herself before she ran a hoof across the human’s name. The dreamscape’s color changed into a greener tint which was supposed to be the colour of the color of the being’s soul. Luna expected something darker, but then again, that was her own bias.
She closed her eyes and opened them only to be more than a little confused. Now, a pony’s mind is very different from a non-pony's mind. Luna knew that from being in the minds of countless beings. Pony thoughts were a cluster of ethereal strings connecting to the cutie mark that was their being. Minotaur minds would be a series of cubes orbiting around a central hub. Even a changelings would be a chords connected to the hive. But nothing could have prepared Luna for what she was about to see.