The Family of The Night

by Night--Mist

A Journey of Purification Can Be Exhausting

After a couple hours of playing video games, Moon Dust and Moon Light came to see their parents and relatives. Luna soon levitated them next to her on the Living Room Bed they had. "Moon Dust, Moon Light. Now I need you to listen for a moment. Daddy and I have been talking with your aunts and uncle about something, and we want to make sure you know what's going to happen. See, we are going to go on a little adventure," Luna stated.

"Where are we going Mommy?" Moon Light asked.

"Well, this made sound a little strange to you, but we're gonna have you go into Moon Dust Mind," Artemis said.

"Wow, cool. But, how does it work Daddy?" Moon Dust asked, not sure how he could explore his own mind.

"Well, I am going to cast a spell, and your subconscious selves and mine are gonna be in Moon Dust's mind," Luna said.

"Ooooh, okay," Moon Light responded.

"But understand, you may see some scary things in there. I don't want you to try and fight them. There's reasons I can't explain, so you have to trust me okay?" Luna informed them.

"Okay," the Lunar Siblings replied.

"Alright, now I just need you to stay still, and close your eyes, and soon the adventure will begin," Luna said.

The two nodded, and waited for Luna to do what she needed. While she was starting up the spell, Artemis asked, "Are you certain this will work Tia?"

"Yes, if I know my sister, and I do, she will know how to handle Moon Dust's troubled mind, and will be able to locate Nightmare Moon within his psyche. I'm just not sure how long this spell will take to help clear Moon Dust of Nightmare Moon's hold, so, we can only trust in the three to find their way, however long it takes them," Celestia said.

Soon, Luna, Moonlight, and Moon Dust's minds were linked by the spell, and they entered Moon Dust's mind. When they found themselve's in his subconscious, Luna was both amazed and a little terrified at what she saw. Where they were right now, seemed to be the part of Moon Dust's psyche, where it was full of joy and laughter. But she could see not too far off in the distance, that there was a lot of darkness and fear that seemed to loom, and she knew, in the heart of that area, lurked her darker self that still clung to Moon Dust. She knew if anything, Nightmare Moon, was trying to keep Moon Dust's joy and laughter from spreading in his psyche, so she could feed off his fear and torment, and eventually take control. "Mommy, where are we?" She heard Moon Dust call to her.

She looked down and saw her son looking at her with a look of confusion. She smiled and said, "This is your mind dear, we're seeing a world fashioned by both your imagination, and your experiences you have had. This is where our adventure begins."

"Wow, this place we're at right now is cool Moon Dust, but um..... what's that place over there?" Moonlight pointed towards the darker area of this world in Moon Dust's mind.

"That's where we have to go. We have to find someone over there and, well, we gotta make them leave," Luna said.

"Who Mommy?" Moon Dust asked.

"Her name is Nightmare Moon," Luna said.

The siblings gasped and hid behind Luna's hooves. "B-but, she gobbles up little ponies like us Mommy," Moonlight said.

"Not here she can't, and don't worry, I will protect both of you," Luna said as she nuzzled them.

With their mother's words of comfort they started to trot with her towards their destination. At first, it didn't feel to hard, but once they entered the darker part of Moon Dust's mind, Moon Dust and Moonlight's confidence started to dwindle a bit. They soon came upon a scene that was all too familar to Moon Dust. The world had turned into the orphanage he was once at, and what Luna saw, she was heart broken. There were the caretakers, mistreating the little ones. Then they came towards her. "Ah, Princess Luna, so nice to see you, I see that you have returned our littlest troublemaker," one of them said.

"Back off. Moon Dust is no longer part of your orphanage, he is my son," Luna said.

"Oh, the little one believes he can have the Princess play a joke on us. Well, looks like we need to punish him some more," another caretaker said.

"No, No. Don't please," Moon Dust hid in Luna's mane.

"Begging will get you nowhere," the largest caretaker said.

As they neared Luna remember, this wasn't real, this was Moon Dust's psyche. "Moon Dust, remember, they're not real, they're just figments of your memory. You can control them," Luna assured him.

"R-really?" Moon Dust asked.

Moonlight had joined Moon Dust on Luna's back, for even she was getting scared, as Luna replied, "Yes, tell them and watch what happens. But remember, you have to tell yourself they are not real."

Moon Dust nodded, "Okay I'll try," he climbed to the top of Luna's head, and as he looked at the caretakers, who were about to try and jump for him, he had a boost of confidence and said, "You are not real. You are bad ponies who can't hurt me anymore."

Just as the ponies were about to jump, their forms started to become misshapen and started to disappear. Soon, there was nothing left, and the Orphanage started to take on a look that was of the castle, and just like when they entered this mind world, it was filled with joy and laughter in the setting. "Good work Moon Dust, you did it," Luna said.

Moon Dust dropped onto Luna's muzzle and nuzzled her face. "We still have to keep going. I have a feeling we may be getting close," Luna said.

"But, wh-what if Nightmare Moon does try to gobble us?" Moon Dust asked.

"Oh don't worry, we'll deal with her," Luna assured him.

While they continued, Luna thought to herself about what they had seen. If this was how bad the caretakers treated all of the children at the Orphanage, she felt punishment was not given it's due yet. She had something special in mind planned for the caretakers. But that would wait. They soon entered an even more terrifying area of Moon Dust's psyche. Just as Luna thought of where they were, she heard a familiar voice, "Ah, Luna. So nice to see you again, I have to admit, even though Moon Dust has kept me company in this realm, I've grown rater bored with this place. Come to rekindle our connection?"

Luna took a protective stance. "You dare to invade my son's mind?" Luna stated as she saw Nightmare Moon land in front of them in a scene that was just like the castle she and Celestia used to reside in.

"Oh, Luna, you speak of it as if it's a bad thing. Without me, this tiny little colt would have no backbone, even to speak. I kept him sane," Nightmare Moon said.

"No, all you have done was cause him torment. He's suffered too long," Luna defended Moon Dust as she then magically covered the ears of her little ones not knowing it wouldn't work on here.

"I wasn't the one who abandoned him did I? You left him, you never even took care of him properly," Nightmare Moon said.

"Wha- that's not true. My mommy loves me. She brought me back to the castle after daddy found me," Moon Dust Stepped in.

Luna was shocked her son heard what Nightmare Moon said. "Oh please, she let you suffer. I was the one that kept you going," Nightmare Moon said.

Luna saw that Nightmare Moon's expression seemed to change from a confident mare, to a concerned mare. She knew Moon Dust was getting to her. Had she known about this spell sooner, she definitely would have used it. Moonlight flew down next to her brother and said, "No, Mommy told us both what happened. We know the truth. You've just been mean, giving my little brother bad dreams."

Nightmare Moon all of the sudden dropped a bit breathing heavily. She wasn't sure what was going on. Moon Dust then snapped, "All you did was make me scared and sad. Mommy's been a great mommy to me, and she will never leave me."

Luna wasn't sure where all this confidence from her children was coming from, but it was definitely having an effect from Nightmare Moon. Maybe the spell had something to do with it, combining their confidence as one. She also noticed everything around the area was starting to change like before, becoming joyful and full of laughter. "Nightmare Moon, for the crimes of invading my mind, and the mind of my son. I hearby banish you from this mind realm. You will no longer have control, and will never come close to my son, ever again," Luna stated.

As she said this, Nightmare Moon cried in defeat, "Nooooo!"

Soon the three of them saw her mist form be launched towards a light in the sky of Moon Dust's psyche, and Luna smiled, "Little ones, we did it, we can go back and Nightmare Moon won't haunt you anymore Moon Dust," Luna said.

The Lunar siblings cheered and had a group hug with their mother, she soon cast a spell from her subconscious self, ending the mind link spell.

As the three came to, Luna breathed a little heavily, as did her children. Luna then asked, "Is she?"

Artemis hugged her and said, "Just like we planned, the moment we saw Nightmare Moon's being erupt, we caught it in a magical chest that had the rest of her in it. She's where she belongs, and Cadence has already taken it to the secret chamber. She won't torment Little Moon Dust anymore."

Luna sighed with relief then Looked at Moon Dust. "M-Mommy, is she gone?" Moon Dust asked rubbing his eyes.

"She is sweetie, she can't give you bad dreams anymore," Luna nuzzled him.

"So will I have good dreams when I sleep?" Moon Dust asked drowsy.

Luna, a little exhausted herself, laid her head down and said, "Yes honey you will."

Moon Dust climbed tiredly onto her muzzle and said, "That's good cause I want good dr-."

His sentence was cut short as he fell asleep curled up on his mother's muzzle. She smiled motherly, "Sweet Dreams my Tiny Prince."

Her eyes soon shut too, and the whole family dawwed at the cute scene. "I think we should make our way to the dining hall, and prepare something for them. Moonlight you wanna come, or do you wanna stay with them?" Artemis asked in a quiet voice to not wake the sleeping Lunar family members.

"I'm gonna go with you Daddy. I'm not tired," Moonlight said.

Artemis had figured as much. He knew Luna was tired, having performed the spell herself, and Moon Dust was tired because, one, it was his psyche she had to look for Nightmare Moon in, and two, with how fragile Moon Dust body was at this point, it would be exhausting for him because of many other things. He soon levitated Moonlight onto the top of his head where she leaned on his crown to get a great view of the trek to the kitchen. She had so many food ideas she wanted to give Moon Dust once he woke up. As they joined the rest of the Royal Family, Lovestruck joined Moonlight on top of her uncle's head, which he didn't mind one bit.

Artemis smiled. Things could only get better for Moon Dust from here. Sure the dreams of his Orphanage days would still be around, but now they could be managed with Nightmare Moon no longer linked to his son. That was something he was thankful for.

Author's Note:

End of chapter.

Phew, that took longer than I thought. I really apologize for how long this was not worked on. I blame the Navy and their exhaustion on my mind. I'm starting to think I should have gone to college and gotten a career as a cargo pilot or something. This job's mental demands can do a number on ya.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and

Shadowmane: Nighty. *pokes him* What about the Kingdom Hearts Equestria tournament?

Me:

Luna: I think you better let him sleep, but while everpony else is awake, let my son know what you though of the chapter.

Comments

[ChazMLPFIM]

Good chapter, Moon Dust is a good colt.

[FlufferNutters]

Good chapter.

Get some rest Nighty, you need it, my night though has just begun.