Echoes of her Guilt

by wingdings

Chapter Two - Headspace

Luna did not venture out of her room for Nightmare Night. She would not. She would not stoop to scaring children for their amusement.

You sound like her, the voice in her head whispered. You are Nightmare Moon.

Luna argued back. I need my strength to deal with the dream realm tonight.

And so she sat and waited. Using her magic, she entered the dream realm and filtered through dreams as they flowed around her. Good dreams were light, and cool, and soft. Bad dreams were sharp and fast, slicing past her. She was able to easily sense the stress spiking from the ponies’ minds and locate them. The first one was small. A little filly, trying to run, being chased by a dangerous shadow, but unable to move. Luna shifted the moon until it was bright and directly overhead, and the shadow faded away. The next was similar. They were caused by the stress and the excitement of Nightmare Night. Many times, the shadowy figures Luna would chase away had sharp teeth and gleaming aqua eyes, with sharp wings instead of soft round pegasus feathers.

The night dragged on, until light filled the dream realm. Like the stars, the light faded the dreams away, and many would only have fuzzy memories and vague feelings. Some would forget them entirely. Luna drew back from the world of sleep and fluttered her eyes. Celestia would be raising the sun now. She left her room and glanced out the nearest window haggardly. The sunrise was pink now, but soon would be too bright for her tastes. She retreated back into her room and sunk into her bed, ready to forget the past night.

“Luna?”

It seemed that she had only just closed her eyes. There was a knock at the door, and the voice of one of her advisors called again. “Princess Luna?”

A pause.

Then more knocking. “Princess Luuuuna!”

Luna swung the door open with her magic as she dragged her body out of bed. “What is it…” She squinted down at the pony at her door. “Quote Quill?”

“Your presence is requested in the Crystal Empire today.”

The alicorn stared blankly down at the grey and black unicorn. “Pardon me?”

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza of the Crystal Empire requested an audience with you early this morning.”

“It is early this morning.”

“It’s eleven in the morning, Princess.”

Luna nodded tiredly and closed the door before realizing she had more questions. Quote Quill’s hoofsteps were already receding. Why did Cadance want to see her? Why not Celestia? Or Twilight, her sister-in-law? She approached her dresser and ran a brush through her mane, then donned her yoke, crown, and shoes. Using a combination of unicorn and pegasus magic, she summoned a cloud in the middle of her room and strode through the middle of it, appearing on the other side clean and glistening with water droplets, but not soaked. Shaking herself lightly, she exited her room and made her way to the grand hall.

***

“Fetch Quote Quill.”

The guard nodded and set off on a canter to find Luna’s assistant. Luna was sitting on her throne beside Celestia, who was reading through letters from all over. Requests, information, legal issues, Celestia looked through them all. She always formed two piles after she skimmed the letters - ones to leave be, and ones to read through and deal with herself, or have her advisors and assistants deal with. Luna had less to do, and simply watched Celestia’s nimble hooves sort letters until Quote Quill trotted into the throne room. “Your Highness?”

“Tell me more about the details of my audience with Cadance.”

“There are none, your majesty. We simply received word that she requested your presence there as soon as convenient.” The light grey unicorn bowed her head, then pushed her glasses up.

“I hope nothing’s wrong,” Luna remarked, half to herself, half to Celestia and Quote. “I’ll fly there. It’s faster than the train.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“It’s not faster,” Celestia said suddenly, looking up from one of her letters. “You skip over tunnels and winding tracks, but you move slower than the train. It’s about the same length of time. And the snow and cold as you get further north will delay you.”

“I can defend myself from a bit of bad weather, sister.”

“It’s rather unceremonious to fly into the Crystal Empire, too.”

“I desire to fly there.” Luna felt rather snubbed, but Celestia’s disagreement only made her want to prove her wrong.

“Yes, your Highness,” Quote Quill added.

Luna lit her horn. “I assume there are no other pressing matters I have to attend to? If anyone or anything comes in for me, I trust it will be dealt with.”

“Of course, Princess.”

Hearing her assistant’s confirmation, Luna teleported.

She reached the outskirts of Canterlot. Several ponies walking into the city startled and gasped when they saw that a princess had just appeared next to them. Luna jumped into the sky and flew north.

Luna enjoyed flying. It gave her lots of time to think, while also giving her physical exercise that she needed, since most of her job was stationary. She felt the wind lift up under her membranes. It was a different feeling than having the wind ruffle feathers, and still felt a little strange to her.

The Crystal Empire was a long way away, and soon Luna found herself tired and hungry. She descended, finding herself in an out-of-the-way mountain village. Casting an illusion on herself, she became a simple pegasus with a dark blue mane and a pale grey coat inspired by Quote Quill. She explained to the villagers she was traveling and needed food, paid for some of the local street food, which was hot and filling, and rested at the small public library before continuing her journey. The moonrise had to be delayed slightly as Luna had lost track of time, then hastily got out of sight of the village before lowering her disguise and floating the moon up into the sky.

As Celestia had said, soon the snow began to whip at her as she flew. She lit her horn and created a magical construct, a barrier like a windshield to keep the snow off. It obstructed her vision slightly, but worked well enough. Rather proud that she had shown up her sister, Luna got a second wind and put a burst of speed in her wings.

Finally, the sparkling blue shield the Crystal Heart made to protect the Empire came into view, and Luna knew she was getting close. The cold was becoming much more intense, but with a bit of focus, she was able to change her snowshield into a bubble surrounding her whole body that followed her as she flew. The only issue was oxygen, as she found out in time, and landed in the Frozen Wastes to make a few small air holes in the construct before continuing. How smart she was!

When the lights of the Empire came into view at last, Luna was walking at a slow trudge. She felt defeated and exhausted. Her wings ached. Frustration and tiredness was building up and she could only aim it at Celestia. Smart, perfect Celestia. She rolled her eyes and stamped in the snow. It’s unceremonious to walk or fly to the Crystal Empire, Luna! You have to take the train, Luna! I know everything, Luna!

The feeling of the Crystal Heart’s magical barrier made Luna stop in her tracks. It was electrifying, and she wasn’t sure if it was in a good way. The Crystal Heart ran off of light and love - positive emotion. One of the ways it prevented enemies from entering the Empire was by blocking out strongly negative energy, like King Sombra. Luna was caught halfway through the barrier, but every time she moved, her body tingled painfully, like it did when one hoof had fallen asleep, but more intensely. Pushing through the pins and needles, Luna forced herself to take a deep breath and calm down.

Then came that negative voice in her head again. The Crystal Heart knows you’re a bad pony.

I was just frustrated. I’m tired. I’m not in my right mind. I just need rest.

Luna slipped the rest of the way through the Empire’s border and shivered to rid herself of the last of the numb feeling, then began the trot towards the central castle.

***

Luna let her gaze wander through the Crystal Castle as the Empire’s guards led her to the Empress. The high ceilings and majestic pillars were a sight to behold. The doors to the throne room were opened and Luna stepped inside. Cadence sat on her throne, a giant crystalline structure that a seat was carved into. For comfort, pillows were piled onto the flat surface. The guards bowed and one of them announced Luna with a low, yet projecting voice. “The Princess of the Night, her Highness Luna, has arrived, your Majesty!”

Cadance immediately jumped from her throne and ran down the long hallway to greet her friend. “Luna!”

Luna smiled softly and bowed her head in respect to the Empress. “Cadance.”

“Thank you so much for coming on such short notice. I needed your expertise to deal with a problem.” Cadance motioned out of the throne room with one wing and Luna began to walk with her. “I wouldn’t have asked for your help if I couldn’t fix it myself.”

“Of course.” Luna nodded. Cadance was often underestimated, much like Luna, but she was a strong and capable leader of the Crystal Empire, and had remained unshakeable through multiple rising threats against her.

“I have a few guesses on what’s been going on. It’s a bit worrisome,” she admitted. “The Crystal Ponies, the guards, even I’ve been afflicted with nightmares. The first mention of it was about a week ago. They’re about Sombra, and you know how the ponies are sensitive about their memories of him.”

Luna’s gaze hardened and she nodded again.

“We’ve all been a bit on edge and tired recently. Dreams aren’t my forte, but my two cents is a curse or some lingering magic Sombra still has was activated.”

“So you’d like me to investigate the ponies’ dreams?”

Cadance gave Luna a weak smile. “I’d really appreciate it. I haven’t found anything, and we all need a good night’s rest.”

“I see. Of course you’d want me aware of the issue as soon as possible, but I cannot access anypony’s dreams while they are awake.”

Cadance nodded. “I didn’t expect an immediate result. You’re welcome to enjoy the rest of the day here until the night, if you’d like?”

Luna deliberated. Quote Quill did say she would manage anything that came up while Luna was gone, and she did deserve a little bit of pampering…

“What exactly would that entail?”

***

Cadance grinned at Luna, who stared at the pit of green slime dubiously.

“It’s a traditional crystal empire mud bath.” Cadance glanced at Luna with a mirthful expression. “Very rejuvenating.”

“I’m sure,” Luna muttered suspiciously, poking one shoed hoof into the pool of wobbling semi-liquid.

“After the bath, you’ll be relaxed and ready for a makeover. Several of the royal manestylists are here today!”

At the mention of a makeover, Luna’s ears perked. She did love trying different styles of makeup and mane. “Very well, I shall ‘give it a shot’, as ponies say.” She lowered her hoof back into the slime, but before she could step into the bath, a spa pony trotted over to her.

“Your Lunar Majesty?” The crystal pony asked meekly.

Luna looked back at the sparkling spa worker. “Yes?”

“I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but, ordinarily, ponies will remove their accessories before getting into the bath.”

“Oh.” Sheepishly, Luna backed up and stepped out of her horseshoes, then took off her crown and yoke. The spa pony picked them up and hung them on a nearby rack for the princess to pick up later.

Hoping she wasn’t doing anything else wrong, Luna submerged herself in the bath of slime. It was refreshingly cool and felt strange to walk through, but not unpleasant. It wasn’t sticky at all, just gelatinous. She glanced over at Cadance, who was reclining on her stomach as a masseuse worked her hooves into the princess’s back.

“This is truly royal treatment, I must admit,” Luna sighed as a spa pony brought her a glass of iced juice for her to sip as she sank up to her neck in the bath. “Proper for a princess.”

“Oh yes, the crystal spa is luxurious.” Cadance’s voice tremored as the masseuse hit her shoulders gently.

This is how princesses ought to be treated, Luna thought as she stepped out of the mud bath and was cleaned off with a wet towel by another spa pony. This is the respect I deserve.

She leaned down on a long chair and let the spa ponies clean her face and wash her hair before they started their makeover.

***
Luna was delighted at the way her starry mane had been interwoven with gemstones, small and twinkling blue. It and her tail were both braided, while Cadance had her mane tucked up into something shorter. The Crystal Empire was quite extravagant, and even their makeup was made of crushed gems that sparkled in the light. She felt prideful and satisfied with her regal, sparkling appearance, stepping back and forth in a mirror. The mud bath had given her dark blue coat freckled with black spots a sheen as well. She practically glittered.

“Oh, I haven’t had a real makeover in ages! It’s only for important meetings or when friends come over,” Cadance remarked, trotting up to Luna and looking at the two in the mirror.

Out of nowhere, jealousy and irritation panged up. The urge to push Cadance away from the mirror or snap at her. Luna shook her head, feeling disoriented. What was going on with her recently? This was her dear friend. “We both look lovely, don’t we?” Luna said instead, lifting a hoof to her mane.

Cadance nodded. “Now that we’re done spending some time together, I’ll let you go about the Crystal Empire. Do whatever you’d like, but be back at the castle when the lamps go out.”

Luna nodded, and Cadance trotted out of the salon, back towards the castle.

Now then. Luna put back on her regal attire, careful not to mess up her braids or delicate powder makeup, and left the salon herself, stepping into the Empire. It felt secluded here, safe. The ponies of the Empire still noticed her, still knew who she was, but they had their own royal family, and she could walk the streets without being mobbed. Her horseshoes clacked on the stone roads and she absently felt herself pick up her legs further to strike them down. It was a powerful sound, an authoritative sound.

She walked without a goal in mind, but eventually found herself at a communal garden growing Crystal Berries and other fruits and vegetables. A few ponies were watering them and pulling weeds.

“May I try the berries?” Luna asked, adjusting her wings.

“Of course, Night Princess,” one of the gardeners said, passing her a wicker basket. Luna held it in one hoof and plucked some of the small, round, red and pink berries. They were surprisingly hard when she tried one, and it burst in her mouth. They were somewhat sour but quite tasty. She picked a few more for her basket and departed, feeling satisfied.

By the time Celestia, back in Canterlot, was lowering the sun, Luna had talked with some of the Crystal Ponies about the nightmares and took a visit to the statue garden. When she noticed the sunset, she stood up and focused, darkening the sky as she lifted the moon and carved out the crescent a little more. She spun the stars overhead slightly before releasing the sky. Her basket of berries was empty now, and she teleported it back to the garden as she made her way to the castle to meet with Cadance.

The guards led her to the throne room, where Cadance jumped up from her throne to greet her. “Luna! I trust you had a pleasant time?”

“Very.”

“Are you ready to investigate some dreams?”
Shining Armor piped up. “We’re not exactly sure how you do your dreamwalking, but we can provide whatever will make it comfortable. A bed… a lounge room…?”

“And if there’s a way I could follow you?” Cadance added. “I know quite a lot about Sombra now; I’ve been reading up on the history of the Empire to be a better Crystal Princess. I think I could be of some help and I’d like to see.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. A lounge with a sofa, please,” she responded to the crown prince, who nodded and took with him a few guards to prepare Luna’s room.

Once everything was prepared, Luna and Cadance sat around a table and Shining Armor and a few guards were positioned near the door. Cadance had a history book with her that outlined Sombra’s dark magic and spells, and Luna was focusing on preparing a spell that would include Cadance in the dreamwalking.

She cast the spell, and entered the dream dimension. Thankfully, when she opened her eyes, Cadance was with her, looking slightly ghostly and transparent.

“You’re not corporeal here; nobody will see or hear you,” Luna explained. “But you can see everything, and help me.”

Cadance nodded, and Luna morphed both of their appearances from their Crystal Empire garb to something more practical - their manes tucked up, their crowns and jewelry removed, and cloaks. Luna gave herself a blade, and manifested Cadance’s spellbook from the lounge.

“Get ready,” Luna said, pulling the dream dimension forward to start the flow of dreams past them. “Tell me when you sense nightmares or Sombra’s magic.”

It didn’t take long. Luna felt the sharp, cold fear of a nightmare. It looked like an infected cut, black and oozing at the edges. She brought both of them into the dream.

The crystal pony who was dreaming was in the arctic wastes, the empire nowhere to be seen, while Sombra, in his shadow form, whirled in the distance. It was dark, and the wind whipped at the small blue pony. Their tears flew away from their eyes and turned to ice shards.

Cadance flipped through her book, unaffected by the harsh winds. “Sombra commonly used fear magic to keep his subjects in line. It targets their insecurities and terrors.”

Luna tried to ignore the nagging voice that said that she was the same as he and approached the shivering pony, wrapping her cloak around them and then flying into the black cloud that was Sombra, attacking him with her blade and slicing through the nightmare. Once he dispersed, the wind calmed.

The pony hugged Luna and shivered as Cadance inspected the dream, finding a small worm of purple and green magic that squirmed in the snow. “Here’s the remaining magic.” She lit her horn and cast a spell to identify it.

“What is it?”

“Fear magic. I can’t make out much more than that.” Cadance tossed the wriggling blob to Luna, who caught it in her magic and inspected it herself.

The little worm was indeed made of fear magic, but it wasn’t a curse. “It’s a little parasite that magnifies the crystal ponies’ fear of Sombra. It feeds on their fear of him.” She destroyed it with her magic, crushing it into nothingness. “Nothing to do but go through everyone’s dreams and get rid of them.” Luna resigned herself to a long night, patting the crystal pony on the back and standing up. “It’ll just be monotonous. You can go now.”

“Isn’t there a way I can help?” Cadance bounced on her hooves. “I’d love to crush Sombra a few dozen times over.”

Surprised at Cadance’s willingness to help and seeming penchant for violence against Sombra, Luna nodded and returned them both to the dream dimension. “Just jump into any dream you see that’s infected. I’ll make it so the dreams will close once the fear worms are gone.” Luna folded and shifted the dream dimension. Usually she left herself some time to resolve emotional conflict once the threat was gone, but this would already take forever without counseling. There was simply no time.

And so the two princesses went at it, destroying bad dreams and then the little parasites that infected them until the sun rose and the dream dimension evaporated along with the stars in the sunlight. Luna took control of the sky as the sun rose and whirled it around, hiding the moon. She was too tired to make the dawn look pretty.

Shining Armor and Cadance were asleep on the couch together - Cadance’s physical form was still in the lounge, after all. Luna herself blinked, stretched her hooves, and nudged the two awake. “You should go get some sleep while you can. I’ll be in one of the guest rooms,” she said curtly before teleporting herself into said guest room and closing the curtains. She collapsed into the bed and almost immediately passed out, exhausted but satisfied by a job well done.

Author's Note:

and thus luna starts thinking about putting stuff in people's dreams. im sure this isn't ever going to backfire /s

we'll get into plot in the next chapter!

Comments

[Polak23]

Another very good chapter. I can tell that you are trying to write as good as possible, and actually it’s working. The story is very good for now, the same with lore. I’m very interested in future chapters of this timeline

I rate this chapter 9/10

[Darkevony]

A pretty fantastic start with these chapters. If you don't have an editor, this is definitely the work of an experienced storyteller! Good pacing, natural dialogue, and like Polak said, an interesting narrative. It feels like it's a very pausible extension of Luna's character and what could happen in the show. It's some great work.

It can be a little hard networking our stories at first as I can tell you from experience, but keep up the good work! If you want your story to reach more people, definitely add it to any appropriate Groups on FIMFiction and find more avenues to promote it like in their forums if they allow that. I think it definitely deserves that kind of attention.

Hoping to read more from ya!

[wingdings]

11377200
Thank you for the kind words! I don't have an editor, I write as a hobby so I've had some practice before this one ;P
Thanks for the tips as well, I'm not super familiar with FIMfiction so I appreciate advice with using it.

[Witch_King_of_Angmar]

Hmm… An interested premise. The storytelling is rather acceptable as far as I can read, the pacing is rather good, and while it hasn’t gotten anywhere yet (still on Chapter 2) I can see this becoming an enjoyable adventure!