Dream Sparkle

by Silent Strider

Nightmare

Luna woke up in the afternoon; she was far better - flying back from the actual ends of Equestria while sick took more of her than she could believe - but she still couldn’t use her magic, and if Fluttershy’s previous prognostic was correct, she wouldn’t be able to use magic until she was almost completely cured.

Looking around, she saw a familiar purple alicorn lying in a nearby cot; true to her word, Twilight had stayed to help. She then noticed, on the other side of the room, a huge pile of papers on Fluttershy’s table, and behind them…

“Tia! I didn’t expect to see you so soon!”

Twilight groaned and lifted her head, groggily trying to focus on Luna and whatever Luna was looking at. “Princess Celestia!” She stood in a hush and tried to fix her mane with her hooves. “Forgive me, I must be a mess right now.”

Giggling, Celestia put down her quill and the document she was reading. “If somepony should ask for forgiveness, it’s me for intruding. Allow me.” She levitated a nearby brush and started fixing Twilight’s mane. “And thank you for not only taking care of my sister, but also indulging her wishes. You two must have had a frantic night.”

Luna nodded. “Twilight is very quick to learn, so I directed her to Pinkie Pie’s dream, where she could better prepare herself to face anything unexpected. Pinkie’s dreams are rather tiring, but Twilight did far better than expected.”

Twilight lifted an eyebrow. “You surely are aware that I’ve been hanging out with Pinkie since the day we met.”

Celestia walked towards the other princesses. “Sorry to interrupt, but I must go soon. As you can see” - Celestia pointed to the large paper pile - “I have a lot of work to do, even more than usual because a certain sister of mine had to fall sick in such a stupid way.”

Luna bowed her head, blushing slightly. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be; I can handle. Though you might have better reason to be sorry after you get well. Discord asked me to relay his acceptance; he will fully forgive your attempt to get him bedridden in exchange for choosing your penance. I had already to block his first three suggestions on national security grounds.”

Twilight gulped. “Is the offer to allow me to vet the penance still open?”

“Yes, and Discord actually wants it. He seems to rather enjoy the idea of forcing you, Twilight, to choose the punishment of a friend. Perhaps you can use that eagerness to Luna’s advantage. By the way,” Celestia levitated a large book towards Twilight, “I brought Luna’s grimoire. If you are still intent on doing Luna’s dream duties, she can walk you through the spells that will make your task easier.”

---

The grimoire did make things easier, even though Twilight miscast the spells more often than not; Luna’s dream spells were safe, designed to destroy themselves rather than exist in an incomplete state, allowing Twilight to use them with little fear of causing collateral damage.

During the second day Luna directed Twilight to her first actual nightmares, easy ones with little actual risk, most of them from children. She just talked the dreaming ponies into facing whatever was giving them nightmares, except for a small colt that had an irrational fear of cats; for him, Twilight opted instead to use her magic to make the cats behave in such a ridiculous way that the colt couldn’t help but laugh. This elicited an amused response from Luna.

“Isn’t that how Pinkie Pie defeated one of Nightmare Moon’s aspects?”

“Well… Yes. Sorry for reminding you of her, Princess.”

“Oh, don’t worry. The victories of you and your friends when they faced Nightmare Moon - or me, as the case may be - are among my most cherished memories. I can never forget about the monster, least I lapse back into it, and remembering how you all defeated it keeps alight my hope of being able to do the same should that monster ever try to take over me again.”

Only on the third day Luna allowed Twilight into a nightmare where force might be needed, and Twilight did botch the first one by solving herself the nightmare for the dreamer. The next day she quickly found out why; without the dreamer solving his issue, the nightmare just happened again, though this time Twilight was able to solve it correctly.

---

In the fifth day Luna indicated what would be the most difficult nightmare to handle.

“I had hoped this nightmare would solve itself. It’s from somepony you know, and if you just repeat what you did in the real world it might make things actually worse.”

Twilight frowned. “So, what do you suggest, Luna? You should be able to solve this yourself in a few more days.”

“Having you try right now might be the best for Trixie, if you are up to the risk.

“Trixie? Is that her nightmare? What is she dreaming about that is so dangerous?”

“Ursas.”

---

Twilight looked around on Trixie’s dream. It was Ponyville, all right, except for one detail; everypony was on the streets, and to the last pony every face had a scowl. Even her friends had unfriendly faces. She expected to find a dream version of herself in the crowd, but couldn’t find it; perhaps it had disappeared when she entered Trixie’s dream.

Standing alone was Trixie, without her hat or cape, looking at the incoming Ursa Minor with dread in her eyes.

You got to be kidding me. How can I make Trixie defeat her fears? It’s an Ursa!

Twilight got to Trixie’s side at the same time Trixie started using her tricks to distract the Ursa; the only thing Trixie was managing was to make the Ursa more irritated. Why did Trixie’s fear have to be something so powerful any sane pony would be afraid…

Anypony would be afraid… just like Scootaloo’s Headless Horse. But the Headless Horse wasn’t Scootaloo’s real fear. What if the Ursa isn’t Trixie’s?

Twilight pulled Trixie to her side with her magic just as the Ursa was going to crush her; Trixie curled into a ball and started whimpering. What else might Trixie be afraid of? Twilight’s eyes passed over the versions of her friends in Trixie’s dream, their frowns almost painful to look at. Trixie stands alone; well, it’s worth a shot.

Trixie was cowing and crying; making sure that the Ursa wouldn’t crush them in the few seconds the next spell would need, Twilight attempted one of the most complex dream spells she had studied, imposing part of her memories over Trixie’s dream.

In the crowd, six pairs of eyes blinked, the corresponding frowns disappearing. In a few seconds five ponies and a dragon were around Twilight and Trixie, all of them eyeing nervously the Ursa.

“What is happening?” asked Rainbow Dash’s dream counterpart.

“No time to explain.” Twilight’s mind was racing. What could bring Trixie back? Perhaps kindness? “Fluttershy, can you help Trixie out of her panic attack?

“Uh, I can try.” Before she even finished talking Fluttershy was already talking to Trixie, trying to gently coax her.

“Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, do you think you can distract that Ursa for a while? But don’t hit it”

“Consider it done,” said the dream Rainbow Dash, while Pinkie was already playing tag with the Ursa.

“What are you doing here? Did you come to humiliate the Great and Powerful Trixie again?” Twilight turned and saw Trixie standing besides Fluttershy.

Twilight rubbed a hoof on her temple. “Think about the last time we saw each other, Trixie. Do you really think I want to humiliate you?”

“If not to humiliate Trixie, then why? What are you doing here?”

Inspiration dawned on Twilight. “We are here to help you vanquish an Ursa. You are our leader.”

“Trixie, the leader? Of course, the Great and Powerful Trixie is the leader! I want you to…”

As the pause lengthened, Twilight decided to push a bit more. “I think it’s just sleepy and cranky, if we can get it back to sleep…”

Trixie seemed to remember something. “Music!” She turned to Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. “Any of you can play? A soothing melody, perhaps?”

“Uh, I can sing. I know a few lullabies,” whispered Fluttershy barely loud enough for Trixie to hear.

Applejack lifted a banjo. “I think I can help.”

Where did she ever get that banjo? Oh, yeah. Dream.

“You two try to calm it down, then. Music worked the last time.” Trixie turned to Rarity. “Rarity, isn’t it? Can you make a hammock that can hold the Ursa?”

“Well, if I use one or two of the tents close to Carousel Boutique… It might even be acceptable. Spike, would you help me?”

The sounds of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie distracting the Ursa grew faint, as a soft banjo lullaby took its place. Soon the Ursa was swaying.

Trixie turned to Twilight. “Are you powerful enough to hold the Ursa?” Twilight nodded, using her magic to steady the Ursa. Trixie turned to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. “You two, go find Rarity and help her with the hammock.”

Rarity soon came along with a large tent turned into an Ursa-sized hammock. At Trixie’s command, Twilight deposited the Ursa in the hammock while holding it airborne; Trixie and Rarity went along swaying the hammock, Fluttershy and Applejack kept playing the lullaby, and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie scouted ahead the route to the Ursa’s cave. As soon as the Ursa was back in the cave, Twilight felt the dream ending.

---

Back at Luna’s dreamscape, Luna was smiling. “You did well. But how did Trixie know what to do with the Ursa Minor?”

“I did it once before in front of Trixie. It’s what got Trixie so riled in the first place; at the time she thought I had set out to humiliate her. I hoped she would remember, though she did change things a bit. Do you think it worked? Did we free her from that nightmare?”

Luna took a hoof to her chin. “Perhaps. We will know tomorrow. But your interpretation seems correct. For today I think we can rest.”

---

Trixie’s nightmare didn’t come back.

The next day Luna’s magic started to come back, and she went back to handling the dreams, freeing Twilight to discuss with Discord Luna’s self-imposed penance. In another day, Luna was back to her natural dark blue color, her magic fully restored. Celestia came to see her and handle her back her celestial duty, and Luna - still in the isolation bubble until Fluttershy could be sure she wouldn’t infect anypony else - almost cried tears of joy as she was finally able to rise the moon. Luna and Fluttershy decided to wait until the next morning before releasing Luna from the bubble, to make sure nopony would be at risk from the Tatzlwurm fever.

Author's Note:

Feel free to point flaws, errors, or to make suggestions; I'm here to learn.

Comments

[ersmiller]

...same if that monster ever try to take over me again.”
...same should that monster ever try to take over me again.”
or
...same if that monster ever tries to take over me again.”

...making sure that the Ursa wouldn’t crush they in the few seconds...
...making sure that the Ursa wouldn’t crush them in the few seconds...

[Silent Strider]

4022116
Thanks again. Fixed.

[Puzzle Reader]

Error: "as a soft banjo lullaby took it’s place" when it should be "its", because the word is possessive, not a contraction.
Also, there was a place you forgot to capitalize Rarity.