I was in the throne room, but it was dark. On the room's edges, shadows curled and wove themselves into a kaleidoscope of terrifying shapes. I focused on the petitioner. Civil List stood before the Night Court.
"There sits a traitor beside the throne!" She declared, pointing a hoof at me.
"Oh?" A low alto voice asked. "And how hast the prince betrayed us?"
"Luna, I would never--" I protested.
"Silence!" Luna hissed, her head wreathed in darkness, only two yellow eyes glowing back at me. I stiffened and closed my mouth.
Civil grinned. "The prince is unworthy of his crown. His heart belongs to a common baker stallion."
"It does not!" I roared.
The yellow eyes narrowed and the voice boomed. "We shall have order in our court. Do not speak again, unless spoken to. Continue, Lady List."
List curtsied. "Thank you, Your Royal Highness. In addition to his perversion, the prince harbors no love for either House of Day or Night. His behavior will surely lead both to disgrace. He is a worthless prince; no good has been done by his hoof or by his words. He is not even capable of succeeding either Head of House, let alone rule. I say that he should return to the muck from whence he was plucked and let worthier ponies stand in his place."
"Speak now, prince. Dost thou have anything to say?" Luna asked.
My throat nearly seized up on realizing the princess was very different. "Your Royal Highness, I honestly seek to improve my reputation. I ask only for time-"
"Time?" Civil scoffed. "Your Royal Highness, this ungrateful whelp had time in plenitude. Years, even. He only squanders them."
"And to the offense of loving another stallion?" Luna asked.
"Your Royal Highness, I don't love Pony Joe that way. He is...a friend." The words sounded wrong.
Luna’s yellow eyes narrowed again. "Then thou didst lie to us before, when thou didst say that he was not your friend."
I was at a loss. "Your Roy--"
"Quiet your lying tongue before I remove it myself. How canst I believe a word from that bedeviled mouth?" She stood, taller than I remembered and with a darker coat. The princess was clad in armor and her fangs glittered. Nightmare Moon! "I think returning you to the muck is too good. You will lie under it, in death!"
"Lu-Luna!" I cried, backing up. She was on me in a flash.
"Time to see if your blood truly is blue!" She said, cackling. Her mouth dove. I flinched, awaiting the fangs in my flesh.
And I waited.
Daring to open my eyes, I saw Nightmare Moon inches away, frozen in place.
"I have to say, that was one of the more...dramatic performances I've seen in a dream." A voice, much more like the Luna I knew, said.
I looked over Nightmare Moon's shoulder to see Luna waving and smiling. Inching away from the frozen villain, I looked at Luna and asked, "A dream?"
She nodded. "I needed to speak to you."
"You can influence dreams?" I asked. Then it hit me. "Did you send me this nightmare to teach me a lesson?"
Her eyes widened a bit, but then her expression returned to normal. She shook her head. "The nightmare was of your own creation. I merely stopped it." She started walking away, down towards the throne room exit. "Wouldst thou walk with us a while?"
I took one look at the frozen Nightmare Moon and Civil List. Whatever Luna had planned, it was surely better than this. I galloped over to her side before she'd made it halfway. The scene around us became hazy, but brighter.
"I can influence dreams, but all dreams start with their ponies. A pony dreams in order to distill the wide buffet of information that they take in each day. Your mind discards some of that information and focuses on others. Your dream tonight is in response to your encounter with your tutor, as well as the fears that plague you." The last part was not a question.
"Why are you here?" I asked, irritated at the petulance in my voice again.
She stopped and turned to face me. "To help."
"I'm not worth your time." I insisted.
She tilted her head. "Why not?"
"I'm a useless prince! I use ponies for my own gain and I have nothing to contribute to Equestria. You should just abandon me like your sister did." I looked down before I could cry.
Luna’s voice was soft, but persistent. "Why do you feel this way?"
When I looked up again, she was gone.
Turning around, I saw the scene change. A young white coated blond colt practically bounced with excitement. Shaking my head, I groaned. Civil List was back, standing beside the young prince and taking a minute to scold him for not standing still. "Have I taught you nothing?" She asked. "Behave yourself or we will turn right back around this instant!"
With a visible effort, the colt stood still, his energy now contained to a wide grin and bright eyes. Turning to his tutor, the colt asked. "Do you think she'll be proud of me?"
Civil sniffed, looking down her nose. "You'd better hope she has more of an idea what it means than you do. How can you not remember when you got it?"
"But, Civvie, I was so busy all day..." The colt started.
Civil silenced him. "Don't take that whining tone. You know how I feel about that." She rummaged in her bag and retrieved a wrapped candy. "Here, have one of these until we speak to the princess."
"Her Royal Highness will see you now." A guard intoned as the door opened. In numb shock, I followed. I knew what was going to happen, but hoped that Luna would change it again.
Celestia stood from the throne and smiled. "Prince Blueblood. Civil List. It is good to see you, but couldn't this wait until after court?"
Civil sniffed. "His Highness was quite excited and was insistent it be now."
Celestia looked at little Blue. "You're not giving Civil a hard time, are you?"
Little Blueblood shook his head, then remembered himself and bowed. "Your Royal Highness..."
"You could call me Celestia." She pointed out.
"No, ma'am, not in your court." Little Blue argued.
"Blueblood! Do not disagree with the princess!" Civil hissed.
Little Blue’s ears drooped. "But you always say..."
"What did I say about arguing?" Civil asked.
Little Blue turned his eyes on his aunt, who'd been sidetracked by an advisor. When she turned back, she sighed. "The delegation from Saddle Arabia is here early. Civil, please keep him entertained. Blue, behave and whatever it is, it can wait until dinner, okay?"
"But!" Little Blue protested, but Celestia had already turned away.
"Come now, Blueblood. What did I tell you about this?" Civil said, turning the little prince back towards the exit.
I turned to watch them go and Luna stood before me. "I think I understand things better now." She said quietly.
My anger flashed. "You did this! You pulled this memory up and made me relive it! I hate you. Get out of my dream, now, Princess Luna!"
A wind kicked up, strong enough that Luna seemed to be moving with it. "Blueblood!"
"OUT!"
I woke up in bed in my suite in Luna’s Wing of the palace. I kicked myself mentally for kicking her out of the dream. That last part hadn’t exactly been a dream, though. And if Luna could call up my memories, I shuddered to think what she might find there. Ponies in my time do things differently than they did in hers. It was one thing for her to hear of my reputation, quite another for her to relive it through my memories.
Standing up, I looked at my mirror. I was a bit disheveled from sleep, but my eyes were determined. I could not seek Luna’s help this way.