Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Voice of the Souls

"It's still there."

Luna didn't look towards Rainbow, but she could pretend it was for the sake of checking on the sea and making sure nothing was coming towards them.

"And it's Fluttershy's dream," the pegasus added. "And you didn't tell me anything." She kicked the wooden surface of the boat at Luna's continued lack of attention towards her, to little results. "You lied to me!" she pushed out, a little louder. She didn't fully believe it, but she just wanted the alicorn to say something.

"It shouldn't be a surprise by now," Luna replied, still not looking at Rainbow Dash. "It's what dreams are. Lies. Illusions. Deception. And yet they're built from and spun out of truth and reality, and help us understand it. You can move through my realms, but you should remember you don't control them."

Rainbow stayed silent. She'd learned what pauses meant Luna wasn't done speaking yet, and was instead just testing for an immediate reply.

"How do you know you're not dreaming right now? Or ever? How do you know any one of our lessons wasn't a dream I built for you you've merely convinced yourself you had control over?" Luna looked up at the sky for a moment. It was empty. "You could still be tricked. More easily than you think, precisely because you're not like others."

"None of this is about Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "And an omission isn't technically a lie. I've heard that come up often in Twilight's dreams, I should check on the source of it. With your permission."

"Granted," Luna said. She was back to looking at the sea, but it was still as flat and unmoving, just as black and lifeless as the sky. "What Fluttershy is doing, she is doing entirely out of her own will. Against my own desires, I might add, though seeing that she's free to make her own choice is more important than what I might think. I will intervene, if things get critical again, and I will go against her requests if the alternative is losing her. I trust you trust me on such matters."

"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Rainbow.

"Because it was a dangerous matter," Luna replied. "Delicate, complicated even for me, I was not sure what I would find and-"

"I would have acted far too rashly, yes," Rainbow interrupted her. "I wouldn't have been able to judge things clearly given a friend was involved, and I would have risked putting her in danger. That's not what I'm asking. When things got better, after you helped resolve them, why didn't you tell me anything? Why did you keep her hidden from me?"

Luna, again, refused to turn to look at Rainbow. But she didn't answer immediately. She stayed silent, for a few long seconds, as silent as the motionless sea around them. "I won't explain to you what the situation is yet. And I will keep her dreams away from you again."

"Why?"

"Because I value her life more than her decisions. I can't be sure the same is true for you."

Comments

[Saix]

"None of this is about Fluttershy," Rainbow said. "And an omission isn't technically a lie. I've heard that come up often in Twilight's dreams, I should check on the source of it. With your permission."

Fluttershy's situation is as vague as ever, but now that Rainbow Dash is finding answers maybe we'll get some too.