Chapter 8
There was no telling how late the hour was other than the brief moment that you caught a glimpse of the darkened night sky through the windows. Still you didn’t feel as tired as you expected to be on your first day on the night shift. Maybe it was that long sleep you took in preparation for this change in your life. There was another idea, something that although was in the back of your mind you couldn’t erase. It was Princess Luna that made you forget about time, that despite her teasing behavior you found it refreshing to speak with her. It was like you weren’t guarding her this night but just speaking with her casually like two friends that knew each other for years.
“Where are you going?” Princess Luna said from behind you making you suddenly stop and turn around.
“I thought that we had to go to another hall or floor.”
“Well if your mind wasn’t thinking about other things you would have seen me stop here,” Luna said teasing you, “What are you thinking about anyway that’s making you so distracted?”
“I don’t know,” you said honestly, “I’m not like this normally.”
“You mean when you were not guarding me? So what is it about me that make you forget what you’re doing?”
“I guess the way time passes by with you. I’m not used to being up all night so I thought that things would drag on and I’d be really tired but I’m not.”
“Time does fly when you’re having fun,” Luna said, “especially when you’re with others. Let us continue then our fun night in here.”
With a glow of her horn the door opened, revealing a rather normal room, a contrast to the huge throne room where you were just in. It was a rather bland windowless room with its walls, ceiling and floor painted black. A simple light overhead was the only source of illumination other than the light from the hallway. Obviously the place was meant to have as little light as possible. The only furniture consisted of a soft circular rug, a very comfortable looking red couch in the center of the room and a simple coffee near the couch where there was an open book, a quill and inkwell. The most curious parts of the room were the tall black bookshelves, each containing a multitude of books.
“What is this place?” you asked looking around.
“This is my dream room,” Princess Luna said as she shut the door behind her, causing the light to get dimmer, “It is where I listen to the dreams of ponies as they sleep. Not all dreams mind you as there are thousands of ponies in Equestria. What I am most concerned about are the nightmares that ponies experience, especially recurring ones. These are the ones that grip ponies in fear and keep them from having a restful night’s sleep.”
“So you help them to defeat their nightmares?”
“Yes, although as I said I do look into the dreams of others to see what ponies want in their life. Dreams are like wishes, places where what we need or want are played out before us. A child dreaming of a magical encounter, a stallion wishing for success in his new job, a mare longing for the love of her life to meet her. These all are seen in dreams and they help me to understand how to help ponies more. While I can’t give them everything, and nopony should be given everything they want without effort, I can help them achieve their goals.”
“So how can you tell the difference between dreams and nightmares?”
“By the way they feel when I am in a dream state. Dreams feel lighter like clouds while nightmares are heavy and dark.”
“What about these books?” you said pointing to a shelf with some very old books.
“These are my dream diaries, although this is a misnomer as most of what are written here are nightmares. These chronicle my journeys through the dream world so that if I must I can look back to these. This room represents merely a fraction of the journals I wrote in as there is many more in storage. These are the ones I created after my return.”
“So what do you need me to do here?”
“Not much actually, as I’ve done this dream walking before. All you need do is to make sure that no pony disturbs me while I’m doing this so I can have total focus.”
“That I can do,” you said although deep down you wished for more action. With a nod Princess Luna sat on the couch and then pulling her legs up relaxed into a comfortable sleeping position with her head on the padded arm rest. With a flicker of her horn the light above you dimmed to a level that you would expect while watching a movie or going to a play, not so dark that you couldn’t see but dark enough that you could only make out the Princess and the couch she lay on in the dimness. She then closed her eyes and drifted into a world where only you could imagine, leaving you behind to watch her.
Time seemed to drift on as Princess Luna spent defeating the nightmares in ponies’ minds. There were none that interrupted her, nor would you dare stop such an important task. Your attention though wandered from the only door into the dream world to other things to occupy your time. It was far too dark to read one of the many dream journals surrounding you in the room, and turning up the light would possibly awaken the Princess. You wondered if she was a light sleeper, one who could be awakened at the slightest noise or if she could sleep heavily through things.
She looked so peaceful sleeping there on her couch, the way her mane and tail spilled down the side of the furniture like water, moving slightly back and forth as her mind focused on whatever existed in the unseen dream world. Her chest and stomach rose and fell with each breath as her lips were parted. You walked up to the edge of the couch to get a better look at her, the closest you dared to approach. There was part of you that just wanted to hold her hand or even if you were more daring steal a kiss from the beautiful Princess while she was unaware. There was no denying that she was beautiful, but there was no chance that she would ever be interested in you. You don’t even know why your mind was even considering being on an equal hoof with her as friends let alone anything beyond that.
As you tried to resist your wild thoughts Luna’s eyes fluttered opened as you suddenly pulled away from her couch, stumbling and falling to the ground. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and looked over at you as you lay in a jumbled mess of armor.
“Hello Princess,” you said trying to recover, “I hope your journey in the dream world was good.”
“More like uneventful,” the Princess replied, “There were only a few minor nightmares to contend with. But what I’m more interested is what you were doing kneeling at my couch while I was asleep.”
“Well I thought that you were in distress so I wanted to check to see if you were ok.”
“You know,” she said as she sat up, “You’re a good guard but a horrible liar. You could be more original with your deception as yours sounds like a colt sneaking a cookie from a jar and lying to your parents. So do you fancy staring at ponies as they sleep?”
“No, I mean you’re the first that I did that.”
“The first huh? You weren’t planning to sneak a kiss or a subtle touch were you?”
“Um… no?”
“Another lie. You know, if we are going to continue this arrangement then you are going to have to be more truthful with me. None of this traipsing about and lying. So I’ll ask you again, were you watching me sleep?”
“Um… yes?”
“Very good,” she said like a teacher complimenting a student, “You are catching on. Now for the next one, do you think I’m pretty?”
“The prettiest in Equestria.”
“I see you’re skilled in flattery too. Just don’t tell my sister that I’m prettier than she is. Alright one more question before we must move on with the night, did you consider kissing me while standing over me?”
“Yes, I did,” you said as one weight was lifted off your shoulders but another quickly placed on you of what this meant for your future as a guard for Luna.
“I thank you for your honesty,” Luna said as she stood up and reached out her hand to help you up. You took her soft royal blue hand as she pulled you up with a force that you didn’t expect. You rose so suddenly that you suddenly fell forward, held aloft by the Alicorn’s magic before your face connected with Luna’s chest.
“There have been many that tried to win my affections and friendship before,” she replied as she helped you stand up, “and many will do the same in the future for me. I am flattered that you share such sentiments with me, and I do wish to get to know you more. But you must promise me one thing.”
“What is that?”
“Don’t fall in love with me. Nothing good can come from that for you and for me. So will you promise me to keep your heart for another pony?”
“I think I can,” you said as you wondered how a simple flirtation on your part could be interpreted as love and why Luna felt like she shouldn’t fall in love.
“Good,” she said placing her hand on your cheek, “Now let me write down my memories of these nightmares I saw and we’ll go to the next task.”
“Actually I have one question about this place.”
“Oh,” Luna said as she opened the recent book and levitating a quill began to write, “What question do you have?”
“Do you have anything in these books about me?”
“Well, there was that one time you were afraid that Canterlot would be overrun by Changelings. That was a common nightmare among many a pony in the city and thankfully fleeting.”
“I mean anything dream related.”
“Such as?” she said before she noticed how red your face became, “Oh that kind huh? Wouldn’t you like to know?”
With that she gave a little smile and a wink before going back to her writing.