Celestia shifted in her bed, rustling the sheets as she tried to find a comfortable position to sleep. She was careful not to lay on her wing, nor run the risk of hurting her still aching hoof from the nightmare. Everything felt off about her bed; the pillows were making her neck stretch the wrong way, the sheets felt too warm and itchy and she hadn't eaten anything all day. Groaning, she wiggled her body around to lay on her back and blew a strand of her mane from her face. At the edge of her vision, she could see somepony moving and glanced over. A snort came loose as she watched Luna sitting on a pillow, reading a book with a cup of steaming tea floating next to her.
"Tired yet, sister?" Luna asked as she turned a page.
Celestia looked up at the tester hanging above her bed and grumbled. "It's much easier to sleep knowing I won't be followed while I'm dreaming."
"You've never noticed it before," Luna mumbled as she kept reading.
"Noticed what, sister?" Celestia said, turning back to Luna and raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing!" Luna said with a cheerful smile. She slammed her book shut and set down her teacup before standing. "Just need you to fall asleep."
Celestia grimaced. "You promise you won't hurt him, right?"
Luna rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yes, sister. I will not harm him unless he poses a threat."
An uncomfortable silence filled the space between them as Celestia curled her forehooves and pulled her blanket closer. Luna sat still, but tilted her head at her sister's body language. Eventually, Celestia rolled onto her side, placing her back to Luna and rubbed her face into the silky pillow. A creeping dread was lingering in her mind, making the idea of falling asleep almost terrifying. That pony she dreamed of, Jacques, didn't come across as the kind that would hurt her, despite what her sister had said about dreamscape invaders. Still, if she could be charmed by such a dangerous kind of pony, perhaps she wasn't as sure of herself as she should be.
"Relax," Luna cooed from behind. "Just concentrate on the sound of my voice. You are safe with me. I will protect you, just like you protected me. Trust me."
Celestia's eyes suddenly felt unusually heavy. Within a matter of seconds, a small snore escaped her as Luna's horn faded. She looked over to her teacup and took a sip before she closed her eyes. She mumbled something softly and opened her eyes, her blue irises were replaced by a shining white light.
Jacques sat at the edge of his bed in the dim firelight, gently caressing a golden cross in his fingers. He stared at it with bloodshot eyes, glancing up only to see the fire had nearly extinguished itself. A half eaten chunk of bread sat on a tin plate on his pillow, along with a small glass goblet on his nightstand, nearly empty of red wine. He sighed as his fist closed around the cross, lifting it to his mouth where he muttered under his breath and hung his head.
"Pater noster in caelis, amen," he said, uncurling his fist and kissing the cross. He gently placed it on the nightstand before picking up the plate and setting it next to the goblet. Stretching his arms above his head, Jacques lay back on the bed and looked out over the city. Things in Paris had started deteriorating once it was announced the former king was to be put to death, especially with the renewed hunts for the former nobility still within her walls.
A pained groaned escaped him as he thought of her, wandering alone among the masses of delirious zealots. She had to be scared, hungry and alone, assuming she was still alive. The leads he had received today were proven promising, as a few of the innkeepers and restauranteurs had confirmed seeing her not even a few days ago, making his heart feel a little more at ease. If all went well, he would find her, fulfill his promise to his family and be rid of this country going mad with blood.
With sleep clawing at his eyes, Jacques allowed them to close and forced himself to breathe steadily. After the terrifying nightmare with the angel Celestia and the chat he had with Brother Haugen, paranoia had almost set in about seeing her again. Still, though, sleep was sleep and if the Lord willed it, he would meet her again. Her beautiful smile washed over his thoughts and angelic voice rang in his ears as a snore left his lips, drowning out the cares of the outside world.
When his eyes reopened, Jacques found himself standing along the ramparts of a glorious castle overlooking a town of pristine white walls and cobblestone streets built into the side of a mountain. Around him, wispy clouds rolled by as a steady breeze blew, carrying the scent of fresh apples, oranges and other fruits. Looking down at himself, he blinked as he looked over his former academy coat and military uniform. He hadn't worn these clothes since he graduated from the military academy in Marseilles over ten years ago. Reaching up, he felt the tip of his tricorne and looked around, his mind racing. He had never been stationed at a castle the entire time he was in military school.
Behind him, the clack of shoes caused Jacques to stiffen his posture, exactly the way he was taught to by his overbearing instructors. Chest out, shoulders square and feet at a perfect right angle. He snapped a salute and spun on his heels. "Reporting for duty, sir!"
A giggle came from the woman he found himself saluting, causing him to blink as she brushed a strand of rainbow colored hair from her perfectly formed face. "Wonderful to see you again, Jacques," she said in the unmistakable voice of Celestia.
Celestia stood at the balcony of her castle, her cheeks turning rosy as the handsome guard lowered his hoof. His eyes were wide with shock as his mouth opened and closed several times. "C-Celestia? Is that you?" he stammered.
She raised a hoof and covered her mouth as she giggled again, knowing she was on the verge of blushing. "Yes, Jacques. It is me."
"B-But, that night. That party! Were you--?" he said taking a step forward and reaching his own hoof out to take hers.
"I was quite alright. I was more worried about you," she said, placing her hoof on his. Despite the golden slippers he wore, his hoof was still comfortably warm to touch.
Relief spread across his face and he grinned before looking down. "I am quite alright. Though I must say, seeing you again has calmed my heart beyond mere words."
Celestia blinked as she turned away, suppressing a giddy squeal as much as she could. This had to be a dream for him to be this charming. "You flatter me," she replied.
"No, I merely speak the truth," Jacques said, lifting his head back up and standing up taller. "Your presence is extremely calming in these troubled times."
High above them, Luna stared down from the upper balcony, her brow furrowed in concentration. The intruder had hardly been subtle about his invasion of her sister's dream. She had felt his entry like a massive pulse across the dreamscape, so he obviously was not the expert she had thought him to be. His taking the image of a guard had only made her more suspicious as well, especially since it wasn't common knowledge her sister had a slight thing for warriors in armor. Whoever this was, he knew her sister almost too well.
Her wings remained open as she watched them talk, careful to watch for any sudden shift in his stance or demeanor while she reached out with her magic to open the veil of the dreamscape. Behind the familiar skyline of Canterlot, Luna saw the bright orbs of thoughts against the dark as her sister's mind touched this intruders. An unbroken beam of light seemed to come from the darkness of the ether itself and stop right where he was, something that baffled her. Any forced entry into another's mind was an excruciatingly painful experience for both sides, but neither seemed to be in any agony or even acknowledging they were sharing thoughts freely.
Luna scrunched up her nose and her glare grew harder at the intruder, lowering herself like a cat ready to pounce. Even though his entry into Celestia's dream was sloppy, his finesse at sharing thoughts was beyond even what she knew. Perhaps once she got access to his mind, she could find out where he learned this trick and put it to use herself.
Below, Celestia chuckled as she and Jacques began to walk along the rampart. "Oh, it's always like this here."
"Really?" Jacques said, glancing around at the city. "Your kingdom is so... well, clean! It's like a polished pearl."
"I thank you for your compliment. My subjects take pride in how the city looks, almost as much as they do about the country," Celestia said, stiffening her back a little.
"What a beautiful place," Jacques said, turning back to her. "I should've guessed such a wonderful king and queen could rule over such a land."
"Princesses, not king or queen," Celestia said, turning a playful eye to him.
"There is no king or queen?" he asked.
"No, just me, my sister, my niece and my prized student," she said with a bit of pride.
Jacques stopped walking, leaving Celestia to take a couple more steps before turning to him. His wings were spread, but his nose was cutely scrunched up. "Just you and your family rule this entire land? Then who is the heir to the throne?"
Celestia batted an eye at him when she turned away. "That would be the eldest of my kin. Namely, me." She glanced back again to see his mouth hanging open before he dropped to his knees.
"My lady, forgive me. I did not know!" he said, his voice edging towards a Prench accent again.
Celestia let out a small laugh at that, turning to him. "You do not need forgiveness if you've done nothing wrong, but yes, you are forgiven."
Jacques looked back up at her, his eyes sparkling in the sunlight. "Thank you, my angel," he whispered.
Celestia reached out a hand to him and Jacques took it, rising to his feet as the stone crunched under his boots. Keeping ahold of her hand, he smile to her and offered his arm. "May I escort you?"
Her grin was captivating as she wrapped her arm around his. "I would like that," she said.
Elation filled Jacques' chest as he took a step, but a shadow passed overhead, causing both of them to look up. His joy was immediately wiped as the figure of a woman descended from the sky, flying down on gigantic raven wings. Immediately, his soldier instincts took over and he moved to shield Celestia as the figure neared, reaching uselessly at his side for a sword.
"Sister!" a thunderous voice shouted as the woman landed behind them. She was clad in a dress of midnight blue that wrapped her body like a sheath, along with long blue gloves. Her hair swayed gently like Celestia's, but it was almost translucent and filled with sparkles. The scowl she wore, however, chilled him to his core. "Get away from him. Now!"
"Begone, demon!" Jacques shouted back, placing himself between the witch and the princess. "In the name of the Lord, I command you to leave this instant!"
"Don't you dare presume to tell me what to do!" she roared back, causing his ears to ring. "You will release my sister from your grasp this moment or else I will force you to."
"Sister, wait!" Celestia shouted from behind him. "Don't--!"
Without a word, an aura of the same blue covered his hands as he was pulled away from her violently and dragged onto the ground. Jacques hit the stone and winced at the sharp pain running up his elbows, but the aura disappeared and he stood back up as fast as he could, facing the witch and edging back towards his angel. His hand still grappled around his waist for the sword he was supposed to carry, but all he found was empty air.
"Stay where you are, intruder!" the witch yelled.
"God will punish you for your witchcraft!" Jacques replied, taking another slow step.
"Is this 'God' your master?" she asked, her eyes glowing like a dark fire. "Did he teach you this forbidden art?"
"Sister!" Celestia yelled, running past Jacques to the witch. "Please, calm down!"
"Celestia, back away from him!" the witch shouted. "He is poisoning your mind!"
"Liar!" Jacques shouted. "You are the foul demon here, witch! I have done nothing to her!"
"You dare call me a liar?" the witch screamed as the wind around them blew harder.
"Luna!" Celestia tried to yell over the wind.
"Be still, sister! I will show this whelp the power of the princess of the night!" the witch said as she rose into the air on her raven wings.
"No!" Celestia shouted, turning and running back to Jacques. Immediately, she threw her arms around him and the world went stark white for a second before another breeze blew across his face. Blinking, he glanced around and saw the ocean stretched out before him and a few palm trees casting shade on them. Stunned, he glanced over to Celestia who slowly let go of him and stared back into his eyes.
"My angel, are you alright?" he asked, placing his hand atop hers.
"Yes, I'm fine, but I cannot stay here much longer. My sister will be quite angry with me," she said with a frown.
"Your sister? You mean that witch that attacked you?" Jacques said, taking a step back.
A pained smile crossed Celestia's face. "Yes, my younger sister. Luna."
As if on cue, a thunderous shout rang out across the beach. "Sister!"
"Farewell for now, my dear Jacques," Celestia said, running her fingertips down his hand as the world around them faded to white.
"Wait!" Jacques said before his vision went black.
"Have you gone completely mad?" Luna shouted as Celestia's eyes snapped open. She was back in her bed, staring up at the tester on her bed before turning to look at Luna. Her cheeks were puffed up with anger, which was never good. "He tried to seduce you and you protect him? What in the name of our mother are you doing?"
Celestia blinked before snorting. "Luna, he wasn't trying to hurt me."
"And how can you tell that?" Luna demanded. "After that disturbing dream where you nearly got stabbed, he just appears as a guard and you let yours down immediately?"
Celestia's cheeks reddened. "It's not like that," she mumbled.
Luna let out a cry of disgust. "Then what is it? Are you so smitten with his dream self that you can't see past the bridge of your own nose when he's around? Must I remind you that he is invading your mind?"
"Sister, please calm down," Celestia said, leaning forward.
"I will not calm down when you just sabotaged my chance to capture him and find out who he is!" Luna roared in her Royal Canterlot Voice. A tense silence followed her statement as she huffed several breaths while Celestia stared down at her bedsheets, lost in thought. Eventually, Luna took a step forward and said, "Well?"
"Well, what?" Celestia replied, turning to her.
"Explain yourself!" Luna shouted.
"Explain what?" Celestia shouted back.
"Why in all of Equestria would you stop me from capturing him?"
"I don't know!" Celestia roared, her own voice reaching the Royal Canterlot Voice tone. "I don't know why I did that! He was trying to protect me, you were shouting and... augh!" She buried her eyes in her hooves, feeling abnormally torn inside. She knew her sister and that she wouldn't hurt anypony without just cause, but part of her in that instant screamed to protect Jacques from her, as if she knew he was in danger.
"I will not be made a fool of in my realm!" Luna shouted, her horn glowing. "Stay here, and don't you dare try to fall asleep until I return!"
A 'pop' filled the air as Luna vanished, leaving Celestia to struggle with herself alone. A wash of emotions assaulted her, from giddiness of Jacques' compliments to wanting to cry because she didn't trust her own sister enough to allow her to help. Everything felt like it was in shambles now, since Jacques would view Luna as a threat and a 'witch' while Luna would probably never agree to help her again. There was no explaining what had happened, but in that moment, she could recall a sensation of fear that took hold of her, as if she somehow knew Luna was going to hurt him by trying to entrap him in her mind.
Lifting her eyes from her hooves, Celestia gave a small sniffle as a tea kettle popped into the air next to her, along with a teacup. Rubbing her eyes, she watched as the fresh tea was poured perfectly into the cup and then the kettle popped out of existence the next second. She had barely taken a sip when Luna came back into the room, her cheeks still puffy.
"You could have been seriously hurt. You know that, right?" she asked, her tone terse.
Celestia merely nodded as she took another sip of tea.
"And you do realize your actions this evening will make getting him out of your mind almost infinitely more difficult?"
Celestia nodded again.
"So tell me why you intervened when you did," Luna said, crossing her forelegs.
"I... I don't know, Luna," Celestia said, looking over to her. "I just knew he would get hurt."
Luna narrowed her eyes. "And how would you know that?"
Celestia sighed and looked back into her teacup. "I can't... I felt that he was about to be hurt."
"And did you feel this when he got stabbed last time?" Luna asked, raising a derisive eyebrow.
Celestia shook her head softly and took another sip of tea. "No, but this time, I just... knew."
Luna sighed, tossing her head back. "You can't just know. In order to do that, you would have to be sharing memories with..." Celestia looked up as her sister trailed off, staring into her frozen face. Instantly, she began to jab her forehead with a hoof and stood up, stomping around the room. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! How could I have missed that?" she hissed.
Dread filled Celestia's chest. "Missed what?"
"Memory sharing! What my teacher called the Bleeding Effect!" Luna yelled, rounding back to her. "He is corrupting your mind with his own memories!"
Celestia felt a sudden cold wash over her as she pulled her sheets up a little closer. "W-What?"
"This is way worse that I originally feared. When you're dreaming, your memories are wide open to anypony looking in! He is manipulating you by inserting his own memories into your mind!"
"But.." Celestia said, her mind racing. "But I don't feel any different!"
Luna smacked a hoof over her eyes, unable to comprehend how her sister could not see the magnitude of the situation. "It's not an instant effect! It takes repeated memories to be replaced before you would notice!"
Celestia opened her mouth to say something, but stopped and looked at her hooves. Of all the things that happened tonight, she found it hard to believe Jacques was some mastermind trying to subvert her memories to his. If he truly wanted to hurt her or do something sinister, wouldn't he have done it already? She could still feel the tender touch of his hooves on hers, furthering her suspicion that Luna was blowing this out of proportion.
"Thank you, Luna," she said. "I know you are helping, but I need to sleep."
"Not with that monster lurking around in your mind, you won't," Luna said, planting her rump back onto the pillow. "Not without me there to ensure he stays out."
A smile crossed Celestia's face as she turned back to her sister. "Thank you. We can talk more about this tomorrow morning, okay?"
Luna's cheeks had finally lost their puffiness, but she still scowled back. "I'm sure we will."