Chapter 1: A New Lesson
"Sister I'm fine... Really." Luna grumbled as she stuffed her face against the black and blue cushions she lay on.
A sigh escaped her older sister as she made her way to the younger's bedside, "Those bags under your eyes say otherwise..." Tia commented as she gave her little sister a nudge, "Luna, I think there's something you and I need to discuss."
"There's nothing to discuss-"
"Yes there is." Celestia refuted, "Every night you go out and help not only ponies but creatures as well with their dreams or nightmares and every morning you come back exhausted. I'm getting really concerned for you. You've stopped eating breakfast again."
The younger's wings flared up, "We still eat breakfast!" Luna argued as she raised her head to glare at the other.
"Not the breakfasts I've made for you. You come in, eat some chips or an apple, and leave. Your dish always ends up cold."
Luna blinked in confusion. "But I- huh... I guess maybe I am more tired than I thought..." She considered the thought before pulling herself over to the side of the bed, "Okay. Then what do you suppose I do? I can't just leave the dreamworld to fester on its own. Somepony must take responsibility!"
"Hmm... Perhaps there is another powerful pony we could go to for this kind of problem. After all, we have passed down the ability to raise the sun and moon... why not the ability to walk through dreams as well?" Tia suggested.
"Twilight Sparkle?" The blue mare raised a brow at that, "But she already has many responsibilities in Canterlot. Are you sure she could take one more?"
"Well," Celestia's horn lit up as she plucked up a blank parchment and quill to pass over to Luna, "It wouldn't hurt to ask, would it? It'll be her choice if she wishes to learn your spell or not."
With her own magic Luna held up the parchment and quill as she contemplated what to write. Her older sister Tia sat down nearby, curiously peeking over the dark alicorn's shoulder to see what she'd say in the letter. After the little sister acknowledged the older one she began to scrawl down her concerns.
Dear Twilight Sparkle...
Spike, now older by some years and growing, suddenly felt his cheeks puff up as a surge of heat went through his body. He let out a cough before producing a green dancing flame into the air... through a burp. Said green flame dropped a letter that fell right into his purple claws. He looked down at the parchment and smiled, "Twilight! Letter from Princess Luna!" The dragon called as he held it up in her direction.
Princess Twilight lowered the scroll she had been working on. It was a big check list now mostly filled with check marks besides each duty. After several years a significant change had appeared on the purple alicorn. Her muzzle became more square-ish and slim, her wings have become bigger than last years, and she was definitely growing much taller than the ponies around her. Still smaller than Luna mind you, but still growing every day.
She plucked up the letter from Spike and read through it at speeds that any loyal book lover would crave. Her eyes went wide and she gave her assistant a beaming smile, "It seems like Princess Luna wants to pass down her dream spell!"
"The dreamwalker spell??" Spike perked up with interest as he leaned against the princess's throne, "Wow! That sounds amazing Twilight! You'll be able to go through any creature's dreams! Just imagine what you could do in this vast dream world- unlimited possibilities!"
"Hah, as fun as that sounds Spike the spell requires a lot of responsibility and restraint. At least that's what Luna says here," Twilight pointed a hoof at the parchment, "She wants to make sure I'm perfectly okay with learning this spell and gaining another duty on my... already long list. Apparently managing the dream realm is, well, tiring work."
"Well I think you'll be able to have room for it! Especially since-" The purple dragon reached over and took the long scroll from Twilight, "We could halve most of this! There's some duties here and there that you don't even have to do! I could handle them on my own time! Or maybe some creature from the staff team could?" Spike suggested with a grin.
“I suppose so... but I really do enjoy reorganizing the royal archives and scheduling all the events-“
“But we could get another pony to schedule and reorganize for you!” Spike pointed out as he silently gestured to himself, “I’d be happy to do just that, actually!”
"Oh Spike. I really couldn't ask that of you!" Twilight insisted.
"But in learning this spell you could help creatures everywhere during the night! Not just in Canterlot! Aaand... You'll be able to see your friends again!" Spike hopped up on the throne as he happily scanned through the list, seeing what possible royal chores he could permanently cross off this scroll once and for all.
"My friends... Well, I suppose that would be nice. And Luna is in retirement. She shouldn't be working while Celestia and her are taking it easy. You know what? Okay. I'll write back to Princess Luna."
"Yeah! That's the spirit!" Spike cheered!
"But first I'm going to finish everything, sort it all out, and THEN tell Luna I'm ready!" Twilight interrupted as she stole the scroll back from Spike and made her way off the throne, "Come on Spike. Lets finish everything up for today first."
"Aw. Alright..." The dragon groaned before trailing after to help his friend with the last bit of their busy afternoon.
It had taken several days of scheduling and planning just to make this meeting come together. Once Twilight was assured that her new and improved list of responsibilities were now up to date and revised she felt more confident than ever to proceed with the lessons and take on this new task. So now here she was in her large room- once Princess Celestia's- pacing the floor as she waited for Luna's appearance.
Her attention went to the clock and then to the the large window nearby. The bright sun beamed down on her as it calmly hung in the sky expecting her to do her thing. Twilight, with a smile, happily did so. She plucked up an amulet off of her dresser and held it firmly close to her chest. On the amulet was a radiant image of the celestial figure in the sky. She spun it and clicked it in place so the moon now took over the sun. With her magic the princess was able to create a beautifully golden sunset that shimmered with red and orange colors like a soothing fire. Once the heavens grew darker Twilight relinquished her control and allowed the sun and moon to position themselves where they need to be with one out of sight and the other high above resting along the glimmering starlight skies.
The princess let out a sigh as she took in the view of the brilliantly luminous full moon.
Knock knock knock, "Princess Luna has arrived."
Twilight kept her calm despite the excitement bubbling up in her chest, "Let her in."
The guard proceeded to open the door with his magic to allow the dark alicorn of the night to make her way in. Twilight happily greeted Luna with a joyful bounce in her step, "Luna! It's been too long!"
The blue alicorn grinned back and pulled Twilight into a hug with her wings wrapped around the smaller one, "That it has! Though I must apologize. I do not want you to take more tasks than you need to." She pulled away with a concerned flash in her eyes.
"Oh no it's fine! Spike and me worked it out. We made a new list and everything, created a few new jobs actually, and scheduled a better plan so I can rest after I help every creature in the dream realm! I can assure you I am plenty prepared for this new responsibility." The younger alicorn assured with certainty.
"Hm. If you've made it so then I shall start immediately. The sun has set, it'll not be that long before ponies begin to fall asleep." Princess Luna made her way to Twilight's bedside and gestured for the alicorn to follow after, "While I can do the spell standing, I think it's best if you lay down for this one Twilight. You are just starting after all."
The princess of friendship gave a nod before hopping up onto her large fluffy purple and golden bed. While minding the wings she laid down and faced Luna to await more instructions.
"Now... The spell is of mind and of dreams. Usually it takes a magic user a long time to get used to such a spell because in order for it to work on your own you must be a lucid dreamer. At all times you must know that what you're in is a dream. You can control it. For this lesson however, I will help you through it. In future attempts I will keep helping until you have become a lucid dreamer through time. As for the spell itself..." The older alicorn closed her eyes and focused until a white glow began to appear and surround her horn, "I want you to picture what you feel the dream realm could look like. Is it full of doors? Bubbles? Maybe something else entirely? Now consider yourself. Consider the last vivid dream you can remember that had you, either alicorn or unicorn, standing there and using magic. Now take control of that memory and that image. Become the Twilight from your dreams and open a doorway to a realm of your own. Once the world goes dark around you except for this door, walk through. I will be with you shortly."
Twilight slowly followed this new information. She closed her eyes and pictured everything she needed to... Her horn glowed with a familiar purple light until she took control of dream Twilight and opened a door through realms. A white blooming gleam would appear instead and the purple alicorn found herself heading forward into both the known and the unknown. The moment she took control the room around her vanished and she now stood there standing face-to-face with the door she had envisioned. It was wide and lined with a crystal-like material with the sun and moon carved into it in playful patterns of swirling stars and gentle clouds. She stepped through and found herself in a large blue-ish void of some sort full of small flurries of white light. On either side of her were bookshelves stocked to the brim with varying kinds of articles and novels by the plenty. Sounds of laughter, music, and much more rang out through the library leaving it forever noisy but also forever lively. Twilight's first instinct was to pick up a book and scan through it. When she did, she found a large image in the pages that moved on its own like a film. There was a dream playing out in front of her of an older Sweetie Belle singing in front of a live audience. Different colored lights poured down on her as she sang a beautiful song of two bunnies roaming the land for a new home. Twilight let out a happy chuckle and placed the book back where she found it.
"This is an interesting concept of what the dreamworld could like." Luna's voice appeared beside the younger alicorn.
Twilight seemed to startle at Luna's appearance but relaxed as she soon realized that she was in a dream. She was in control and she was here in the passage of dreams itself.
"I can happily say this first attempt was a success." Luna beamed, "You managed to create a place that resonates with you perfectly. A place where you can easily find any dream you're looking for. It's a good start!"
"Hah... Thank you Luna!" Twilight blushed before turning her attention back to the books on the shelf, "So how do you defeat nightmares?"
"It's not all just about defeating nightmares. It's about putting a stop to them and helping the pony through them. The nightmare is still a part of them, but it can be managed. Managed enough so that the nightmare will not appear again."
Twilight nodded and considered the thought, "So I need to understand the dreamer first before acting?"
"Precisely." Luna went to pluck up another book that took her interest, "Sometimes it might take a few nights before you are able to properly repair a creature's dream. Don't worry though, I will show you how."
"Whose dream is that?"
"Discord's." Luna grumbled just before a long tongue blew a raspberry in her direction through the book itself. She was about to retaliate before a pie was thrown through the pages to make the alicorn abruptly pull away in surprise. She did not hesitate to shut the book firmly closed after that.
Twilight swiftly grabbed the pie with her magic before it could land on one of the bookshelves, "I'm guessing he doesn't like us snooping through his dreams?"
"No. Not at all. Though I did catch a hint of Fluttershy in it~" Luna giggled as she placed the chaotic book back where it came from.
The pie disappeared in a flash of purple light, "Princess Luna, can I ask you something?" The purple alicorn joined Luna's side, walking along with her down the many rows of bookshelves before them.
"What is it Princess Twilight?"
"Well... Starlight told me that Celestia was able to go through dreams easily, enough to even pull you through them. If it takes a long time to lucidly walk through them, why was it so easy for Princess Celestia?"
"That's because of two things. Since our cutiemarks had switched for a day she was naturally able to do such a skill in one night. There's also the fact that she tried the spell herself many times before as well. You however? You have only just begun to use it. Like I've said, it will take some getting used to." She then came to a stop, her attention trailing up to one of the books that let out a terrible noise. Those noises soon transformed into the loud screech of a monster and the surprised shout of a filly.
"It seems this will be a good place to start." Luna plucked up the book with her magic and brought it down to Twilight and herself. The words scrawled onto its covers showed the name Flurry Heart along with a picture of herself cowering in the corner as an illustration.
"Flurry Heart?? Oh what could she be going through that'd give her such scary nightmares?" Twilight asked as she opened the journal.
"You'd be surprised. Sometimes a nightmare can be created by something small... Like a fear of shadows." Luna pointed at the moving image that showed Flurry Heart, a young filly alicorn still small but still growing. She was cowering near a candle and avoiding the screeching shadows that reached out for her. Each time one got too close she'd shriek and point the candle at them.
"Get away!!" The alicorn filly would whimper as she covered herself with her wings, "I don't like you!!"
Twilight's mouth hung agape in shock before she furrowed her brows and scraped her hoof against the void ground, "I'm going in."
Luna nodded, "I trust you will be able to handle such a nightmare?"
"I know how to help her," The purple alicorn confirmed before hopping up and diving for the book. Her horn flashed with the white gleam of magic the dream realm provided just before she fell into the upcoming nightmare. She fell through the pages and into the darkness on the other side.
After the dizzy spell passed the disoriented Twilight shook her head and looked down at the only light source in this entire dream. She was hovering just above Flurry Heart but somewhere out of sight just behind this sheet of shadows. The little filly was panicking. More so now with her little candle melting away. The circle of light was getting smaller and the creatures of the dark began to make their way towards her.
"No! No stay away!" Flurry yelped as she curled up in a little ball, her eyes wide as a unknown monster lunged for her.
Just as it did however, a bright flash of purple light appeared within the darkness. There Twilight was with a purple star behind her illuminating the shadows around them, "Don't worry Flurry!" The alicorn made her presence known, "They're just shadows! They can't hurt you."
The filly looked up in surprise and wiped a tear from her eye, "A-Aunt Twilight??" Flurry questioned before beaming with a bright smile, "Aunt Twilight!!"
Twilight nodded before gesturing to her niece, "Use your horn."
Flurry hesitated before looking up at her horn. She then used some of her magic to create a blue glow that began to light up the room around her. The shadows began to recede in astonishment as the filly waved her horn in their direction.
The proud older alicorn gently landed besides the younger one and rested a hoof on their shoulder, "You have the magic to chase all those scary monsters away. But don't worry, they're not all that scary. They're just shadows. All they do this is sit along the floors or the walls. It's what you decide to make of them." She gestured over to the walls of the room where the monsters transformed into nothing more but the shadows that rested next to the furniture or hid in the corners of the room, "And even then, you have family to prove it to you that they're not all that harmful."
The little alicorn considered the shadows and let out a giggle, "That one looks like a frog."
Twilight chuckled too, "Yeah! It does now that you mention it!"
Then on cue, said shadow Flurry had pointed out had transformed into a frog! A shadow frog but a frog nonetheless! It let out a ribbit and hopped around the room. The little filly watched before clapping her hooves together. Then, she threw herself into a hug with her aunt Twilight. Her wings flapped cheerfully behind her as the older alicorn did the same, "Thank you!! Thank you so much!"
"Flurry?" Cadence's voice called out from behind the large crystal door of Flurry's room, "Flurry! Where are you?"
"Coming mother! Thank you again Aunt Twilight!" Flurry grinned before rushing away, allowing her dream to take a new and better route than the not-so-scary shadows that lurked in her room, "Mother look! I made a new frog friend!"
Twilight waved her goodbyes and watched as the filly disappeared behind a door where Cadence and Shining Armor were waiting for her. The alicorn sighed in relief before summoning a star-shaped gate for her to walk through in order to pop back into the library through Flurry's book.
"That was an amazing feat Princess Twilight!" Luna cheered as she helped the other alicorn up on her hooves, "You managed to get through your first nightmare."
"Wow! I can't believe that worked!"
"I can. It was an easy nightmare for you. You knew the pony and you understood her fear. With light, family, and reassurance you were able to get her through it. Though not all nightmares will be this easy. Some may be more complicated than others. Some creatures have nightmares that can be beyond your understanding... Still, I think this concludes lesson one." The older alicorn smiled down at her prodigy, "You have done an excellent job thus far, Twilight Sparkle."
"Thank you Luna! I will continue to practice and study this spell diligently until I get it right!"
"I think you've gotten it down enough already." Luna giggled, "Now come on... There's still a few more dreams here and there that needs a little sorting."
After a long night of browsing through dreams and novels the two definitely found themselves exhausted. Who wouldn't be after they had to chase down failing grades, save a creature from drowning, and guide someone away from the terrifyingly high perches above all of Equestria? There were a lot of creatures and ponies that needed assistance. In the end though, it was time to wake up.
A knock sounded out through the room making Twilight stir from her bed. She did not get up but instead looked over at Luna who was at her bedside fast asleep with dark bags under her eyes. The young alicorn could only imagine how tired she must look herself after a long night of nightmare-hunting. The princess let out a sigh and nudged the other awake, "Luna... I prepped a morning breakfast for us... and some coffee... to wake us up. I hope you don't mind."
The other princess let out a grunt and raised her head, "No. No that- that sounds nice actually. Donminatall."
Twilight giggled into her hoof and called out for their server to enter. Spike came in pushing a cart of food and coffee into the room, "Good morning princesses! Help yourself to some french toast, fruit, and a small cake to the side!" He urged as he parked the cart up next to their bed.
"Ah... Thank you Spike," Twilight murmured as she plucked up a grapefruit, took a big bite from it peel it and all, and then fell right back down into the soft cushions of her comfortable bed while her half eaten grapefruit was tossed to the side.
Luna and Spike gave each other a glance before they hollered out laughing at poor exhausted Twilight, "Don't worry. Hopefully she'll grow out of it."
"So, how was it?" The dragon sat himself down on the bedside just next to Luna, "How did it go??"
"It went well..." The princess sighed as she plucked up a mug of coffee with her magic, "She's learning really fast. I'm happy to say that Twilight in my place might make a great dreamwalker..."
A loud snore escaped the purple alicorn.
"In due time, of course." Luna added in with a snrk. Sleep well Twilight, she deserved it.
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- Uz Naimat · 5.7k words · 30 3 · 644 views
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This is nice -- it's a pleasant, straightforward passing-of-the-baton story. You might follow it up with a story where Twilight faces a dream that's not so simple to unravel, and since you've got most of the dreamworld mechanics in place, you can delve into what can happen when things don't go so smoothly in the dream-realm, for the dreamwalker and/or the pony dreaming.
Urghh -- now I'm starting to sound like Discord...
Great work! Keep at it!
me too! they need more interactions
Nice story!