//------------------------------//
// Prelude - A Nightmare and a Bedtime Story 
// Story: A Tale of Dreams and Nightmares 
// by Ivo 
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A Tale of Dreams and Nightmares

Prelude - A Nightmare and a Bedtime Story



The curtains were closed and the darkness complete.

Outside, it was a sound and peaceful night. The bright moon was high in the sky, nightingales sang their songs and everywhere resounded deep breathes and slight snores from the ponies´ cottages. The streetlights afforded a soft warm guiding light to the odd wandering souls on their way home. A fresh midnight breeze stroke through the city´s trees and created a low song with the susurration of their leaves.
Everything was quiet and peaceful in the city of Canterlot…

…or nearly everything…

“N-no…P-please…N-n-no…” somepony mumbled in its dreams, tossing and turning in its bed and kicking its hooves at invisible enemies.
“No! Please! Leave me alone!”
The speaker was a young filly, not older than four years. And it was more than obvious that it had a horrible nightmare right now. Her young soft voice grew louder with every second her dream lasted, ending with a loud scream, sounding throughout the cottage.
“Noooo! Mommy! Daddy! NOOO! MOOOOMMYYYY!”

Finally, the young filly awoke, shocked, panting, crying and sweating heavily. Instantly, she turned her bedside lamp on to banish the darkness in her room. She trembled, tears streamed down her cheeks. She only slowly realized that everything had been just a dream. But still, the horrible impressions of her dream forced her to cry and cover her face with her hooves.
Only seconds later, the door to her room swung open and a concerned mare, the filly´s mother, entered the room.
“Oh dear!” it slipped out of her when she saw her daughter. “Did you have a bad dream?” she asked superfluously with a soft calming voice. Her daughter nodded, still crying. The mare came closer to the bed, nuzzled and hugged her.
“Hey…It was just a dream…” she whispered in her calming voice. “Nothing more…”
“But…But that monster…it said it would come back and…and it would eat me up and…take you and daddy away and…and I won´t see you again forevermore and…and…” the filly sobbed and began crying again, burying her face in her mother´s shoulders. “I don´t want you to leave me! I love you and daddy!”

“Shhh, don´t cry!” her mother tried to soothe her, rocking back and forth and stroking gently through her daughter´s mane. “We never would leave you, my sweetie. Never, do you hear? We love you too!”
“R-R-Really” the young filly asked sniffing.
“Of course! You are our little angel! We never would leave you! Don´t believe that stupid monster! You know what? I and your daddy will head and tell it off for scaring our sweet angel like that, okay?” her mother suggested, looking the filly deep into her big watery eyes.
“You…really would do that for me?” the filly questioned, stopping her crying with a final sniff.
“Everything for our angel!” she replied wide-smiling. The filly smiled faintly too.
“Thank you mommy!” she said and pecked a kiss on her mother´s cheek.

“No need to thank me! Now, lay back down and sleep.”
“I don´t think I can sleep anymore…” the filly replied.
“Hmmm…you know what: Your daddy got night shift this week and there´s an empty place in my bed…Do you want to fill it?”
“Can I? Really?” the young filly asked excited with sparkling eyes. It was like a great honor for her to sleep in her parents’ bed! No nightmare would dare to hunt her there!
“Of course my little angel!” her mother assured the young filly with a peck on her forehead.

With a quick sound of joy, the filly hopped out of her bed and followed her mother. In her parents´ bedroom, the bedside lamp of her mother was shining in a dimmed light and on the blankets laid a book facedown. A low melody sounded from the radio and the soft voice of the stallion in it made her sleepy instantly and she yawned.
The soothing purple of the walls, the black of the pillows and blankets against the white bed sheet and the dark brown of the wooden wardrobes and cabinets helped setting her totally at ease, too.
She climbed into the big marital bed and snuggled up in the warm blankets of her father´s side of the bed. Everything was just perfect, though, she still felt a little bit uneasy.
What if the dream and the monster came back though she was protected in the bed of her mommy and her daddy? What if it could break through this protective shield of love and caring?

“Well, do you think you could sleep now?” her mother then asked whilst turning off the lights and the radio and cuddling next to her daughter, pecking a goodnight-kiss on her nose.
“I…don´t know…”
“Listen, sweetie…” the mare caught her daughter´s attention, focusing her with her eyes “…it was only a dream! Nothing of that was real! Nothing can hurt you in your dream, not even the most horrible monster! Everypony has a nightmare every now and then. It is only natural. And it is also natural to fear about it. But always remember: Everypony needs nightmares! It is some kind…of balance, do you understand?”
“You mean…like walking on a balance beam?”
The mother smiled and nodded. “Yes, that is a good example!”

“…Okay, I´ll try to sleep, but…”
“Yes, my sweetie?”
“Could you…tell me a bedtime story?…If you don´t mind…”
“Of course. Which story do you want to hear?”
“I don´t know…maybe something with dreams?…”
“Oh, I think I know a good story with dreams!”
“Really?” Sparks lit up in her eyes again.
“Yep!”
“And is it…a real story? Like…something that really had happened?”
“Oh yes, my little angel! This story is as true as the blue of the sky! But it is a long story. We may need more nights to tell you everything…”
“Please tell it to me!” her daughter begged. The mare only chuckled.

“Okay, my sweetie. Here we go…

Once upon a time, in our magical land of Equestria…