Dreamers and the Moon

by Krixwell

Scarlet Nights

Author's Note:

This one takes place the night after the previous one. Huh, that's oddly straightforward.

It spins out some elements from the previous snippet, but unlike the way the previous snippet came to be, I already knew I wanted this meeting to happen while I was writing the previous one, so the setup was intentional.

Was the Princess of the Night blushing?

Moon Dream watched as Princess Luna descended gracefully towards her from the moon. She was surprised to see the princess - she had heard from some of her customers that the newly returned princess apparently visited ponies’ dreams, but she had thought the princess only visited nightmares.

The dream they were in now had not been a nightmare. Sure, it wasn't as good (or as embarrassing to think about) as the one she'd had the previous night, but it hadn't been a nightmare.

It had been a perfectly pleasant dream where Enterprise had been the judge of a race between Moon Dream and Cherry Berry. They hadn't been racing with Enterprise's flying contraptions, though - they had been pogoing towards the goal, where Enterprise was waiting. Moon Dream had won, but only barely.

It was always harder to interpret her own dreams, especially while she was still in them, but she didn't think this one meant much.

She had attained lucidity shortly after she won the race and the dream shifted to her and Enterprise having a picnic on a hilltop, which Cherry seemed to have trouble climbing. Moon Dream wasn't always lucid in her dreams, but it seemed to happen much more frequently for her than for most of her customers, and apparently at random. She was glad it had happened before Princess Luna began to descend from the moon.

“Greetings, Moon Dream,” spoke the dark-furred alicorn.

Moon Dream allowed the false reflections of Enterprise and Cherry to fade as the princess landed in front of her. She bowed respectfully.

“Your highness,” she began formally. How were you supposed to act when royalty entered your dream world? She fumbled for the right words, “I, uh, humbly welcome your highness to my dream world.”

“Oh,” the princess said, softly, almost as though talking to herself, “you are already lucid. That is helpful.”

“Yes, your highness.”

“You may drop the formalities. Please, call me Luna.”

Moon Dream let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. Maybe she hadn't. Lucid or not, this was still a dream, and her body wasn't quite real.

“Thank you, your-- Luna.”

Luna smiled. It was a gentle smile, warm and reassuring but clearly controlled.

It helped Moon Dream feel confident enough to ask, “What brings you to my dream? I thought you only visited nightmares.”

Luna looked mildly surprised to hear that. “Has word spread of my visits already?”

“In my line of work, I talk to a lot of ponies about their dreams every day. You've visited some of them.”

“Right,” the princess said, “that is why I am here.”

A tinge of trepidation took physical form as a bunny that scampered into hiding from behind Moon Dream’s back. Moon Dream ignored the frightened rabbit. Does she want me to stop?

“I have heard of you,” Princess Luna continued in her grave voice, “and of your intimate understanding of dreams. I hear you have helped many ponies to understand themselves, and even the future.”

She's going to tell me to leave it all to her. She's going to ask me to not do what I've dedicated my life to do. She's going to take away everything.

The picnic spot was gone, Moon Dream realized, replaced by a bank’s interiors. An impressively tough vault door was embedded in the wall behind her, and Moon Dream had the distinct sense that the vault held everything she held dear.

Luna hesitated. She looked around, raising her eyebrows at the scene change. If she could tell why it had happened, however, she didn’t say anything about it.

Instead, she continued, in that same grave voice, “What you do is impressive. Few ponies have ever been capable of telling the future, yet you apparently do it regularly.”

She thinks I'm messing with forces I shouldn't. She wants me to stop.

“I don't tell the future,” Moon Dream said. An ornate shield bearing a crescent moon had appeared in her hoof. “Everypony’s dreams do. I just interpret what they're saying.”

“It is still impressive. Even my sister and I know very little of what the future holds. I do not say this lightly, but I believe you understand dreams better than I do.”

That gave Moon Dream pause. The shield faded away. “But… isn't this your realm?”

Luna smiled. “I may be the protector of the world of dreams, and I do understand it better than most, however my talent lies in entering and navigating it. Yours, I hear, lies in understanding it. Yet we are similar, for we both use our talents for the same purpose: To aid other ponies in understanding themselves.”

Any moment now she'll tell me to stop getting in her way. A mountainside was forming inside the bank, behind the princess. Several boulders were balancing precariously at the top, ready to come crashing down on them. Moon Dream knew they would miraculously miss Princess Luna.

“Which is why I believe we should work together.”

The mountainside vanished abruptly, and Moon Dream couldn't hide her immense relief as she said, “Together?” The bank faded into a grassy field, the moon once again shining down on the two of them.

“In a sense,” the princess elaborated. I help ponies understand their dreams from the inside. You aid them from the outside. I can see dreams, and you can tell what they mean. I can also bring you into the dream worlds of other ponies. If we keep in contact with each other, it may be beneficial for both of us, as well as for the ponies we seek to aid.”

She could be brought into other ponies’ dreams? If she could see somepony’s dream herself, she wouldn't have to rely on descriptions. A false Enterprise appeared briefly a short distance away, then vanished. Moon Dream hoped Luna hadn't noticed her.

Moon Dream didn't hesitate long. “Yes! That sounds like a great idea. I would be honored to work with you.”

Luna smiled - still gently, but slightly more widely than before. It looked more natural to Moon Dream. “Then it is decided,” Luna said in a pleased tone.

Moon Dream beamed. “It is decided,” she echoed.

Luna’s smile faded as she looked pensively at the spot where Enterprise had flickered in and out of existence. So she had noticed.

“May I ask you one favor before I leave?” Luna asked, the graveness having returned to her voice.

Moon Dream was surprised the princess felt the need to ask permission to ask a favor from her, but said nothing. She nodded.

“Please do not tell your marefriend of our meeting tonight, at least for the time being. It could be a sore subject.”

“Marefriend?” Moon Dream asked, before the realization struck her. She could feel her face turning bright red. The sky seemed to take on a tint to match. “Oh! Oh, oh, oh no-- no, it's-- it's not like-- we're, we're just--”

Luna blushed slightly herself, pulling back. “Oh! I apologize. I should not have assumed--”

Moon Dream hadn't thought she could possibly blush harder - perhaps she couldn't, but this was a dream - but Luna's slight blush caused Moon Dream to connect some dots, and soon she found herself wondering whether or not the sun was bright enough to match her own blush. Her dream was flickering through different locations, her bedroom appearing far too often for her liking.

“Oh my-- you saw-- last night-- didn't you--” Moon Dream was surprised her question was even that coherent. No, there's no way the sun is brighter.

Luna didn't say anything, but her blush grew stronger as well. That was answer enough.

Moon Dream dreamed up a cardboard box to hide under in shame.

“I…” Luna’s voice came from outside the box, hesitant, “Perhaps I should leave. I did not mean to embarrass you. But trust me, Moon Dream. Such dreams are normal.”

Moon Dream had assumed that. Ponies didn't often tell her about dreams like the one she'd had last night, but that didn't mean they didn't have them.

“I see them fairly often, though I may never be used to it. There is no wrong way to dream. And I do suggest you tell her how you feel… Perhaps not tomorrow - especially not if you wish to mention me and my advice - but some day, before it is too late.”

The idea tugged at Moon Dream’s heart. She just wasn't sure which direction it was tugging.

“Perhaps,” Luna continued, cautiously, “you may even find that your dream could become a reality.”

Cartwheels. Her heart was doing cartwheels. She could hear the rumbling of literal cartwheels passing by outside the box, too.

“But what do I know,” a lightness entered Luna’s voice, an odd tinge on her normally grave voice. “After all, you are the one who can tell what dreams say about the future.”

“Thank you,” Moon Dream whispered to the alicorn outside the box.

“I shall talk to you again soon, Moon Dream. Until then, take care.”

Moon Dream could hear the light flap of wings as the Princess of the Night took to the sky, leaving Moon Dream behind to blush furiously underneath a cardboard box in a field of roses.