You pay no heed to the time that passes as you rest alongside Luna. Even after the sexual heat has worn off, endless bliss can be found just sharing the bed with her. From her raising of the moon, to her late-night passion, to the slice of heaven that is simply resting alongside her, she is truly the princess of the night.

Luna is the first one to break the silence; "I... have a confession to make. About that dream you had."

You place a paw on her side, and roll her over so she's face-to-face with you again. "The nightmare with the cave collapsing?"

"No, the, um, the one with the magazine."

"Oh." You feel a little bit of heat rise in your face upon remembering that moment. How embarrassing.

"That wasn't part of your dream," she shyly rubs the back of her head. "That was mine. You recall how most ponies don't fantasize about me? Not like you do, at least? Sometimes I dream about just that; being loved, accepted, and in some cases, fawned over. When I first entered your Diamond Dog dream, I was having difficulty adjusting to your dreamscape. A part of my own psyche sort of... slipped out into yours."

"Wait a second," you raise a paw. "That was you? Why didn't you say so?"

Luna's eyes break contact with you. Her foreleg instinctively covers her reddening muzzle. "Sorry. I didn't want to seem, well, inadequate in the realm of dreams. Even if I'm not used to the your version of the dreamscape."

"Hey," you grin to show her it's okay. Luna's the only pony in Equestria who doesn't mind the fangs. "It was only between the two of us anyway. No harm done, right?"

"Even so..." Luna picks herself up slightly, shifting closer to you. "I still feel like I owe you something in return. I'm sure you'd like to sleep alongside me tonight, correct? It would be easier for me to enter your dream if we slept side-by-side. I want to help amend that nightmare problem of yours."

"Sleeping next to you, Luna? Sounds perfect."

The princess' velvet wings unfurl once more, enveloping you like a silken cover from heaven. Your Diamond Dog limbs hold her in kind, for what that's worth. Calmly and sweetly, you both drift off into the night's embrace.

*******

The echo of claws upon stone rattles through the complex of caverns. You smell the scent of dirt, sweat and gemstones. In your dreams, the sounds and smells are as familiar to you as your own heartbeat.

You're back in those accursed caverns.

You look down. Both legs are present. No tin-leg or stump where your left leg currently resides. You're definitely dreaming. But where's Luna? She said it'd be easier to enter your dreams if you slept alongside her.

Looking around, you see the same unfocused, blurry faces of forgotten workmates, clawing their respecting parts of the cave. You hear the occasional self-content grunt of someone who managed to pull up a decent gemstone, followed by more clawing. You catch the faint glimmer of a huge diamond half-buried in the cavern's top.

Oh no. You remember this part.

You take a few tentative steps towards it, just so you'll follow along with your own mind's twisted "script". As always, the next steps will involve you pulling the diamond out, destabilising the cavern's integrity, causing it to collapse, and you getting crushed half to death under the rubble and re-emerging minus one leg. This nightmare's all too common now.

Uncontrollably, your paws reach out towards that damned diamond, getting ready to yank the thing from its earthy prison and set the whole horrible chain of events into motion.

Out of seemingly nowhere, a dark hoof whips across your chest, stopping your from getting any closer.

"Luna!"

A spark of hope flickers within your heart. She made it. Perhaps you stand a chance after all.

"Listen to me," she commands. "I know it's difficult to take control of your own dreams, but you must resist! If you pull that diamond out from there, you're giving in to this nightmare, and letting it break your spirits once again."

"But I can't stop myself, Luna!" you protest. "I've tried everything, but..."

Your eyes are drawn from Luna's beautiful face towards that tempting gem. Surely a sin if you've ever done one.

"I see. I've come across this sort of case before. We may have to think outside the box," Luna replies. "But my usual powers over the dream realm still feel stifled here. This might sound strange, but could you help me... twist the cave?"

"Uh, what?"

"Don't forget my friend; this is your dream," her hoof no longer stops you. Instead, she places it reassuringly on your shoulder. "Twist this cave. Rotate it. Turn it upside-down. Trust me."

How in Equestria are you supposed to do that!? You're not a unicorn, you can't just flick a magical horn and make the world topsy-turvy on a whim. But you are a Diamond Dog. And a strong, capable one at that! If you can't use magic, perhaps the old-fashioned way could work.

"I'll give it a shot," you finally say. "For you."

"No my friend. We're doing this for you." she rebuts. You pay it no mind; instead, your large arms reach out and grab a nearby stalactite and a stalagmite respectively. You dig the claws from your feet into the ground for a steady grip. Luna's horn lights up, surrounding various other parts of the cave. And on the count of three, you twist like a seafarer hurling a ship's wheel.

Strangely, no dust seems to fall, and no distant rumbles of turbulence can he heard as the world contorts around you. Sure enough, you stop once the floor becomes the ceiling and vice-versa. Luna's arcane grip on the cavern relents as well. She gasps as if she's just placed down a heavy box that she was carrying.

"Are you okay?" Without thinking, you rush to help the princess.

"It's just the dreamscape," she rubs her head. "I'll be fine."

You look around the newly-rotated dream. The idea of stalactites and stalagmites seem utterly moot at this point. In true "it's-only-a-dream" fashion, the other workers don't seem to have noticed as they go about their workload like nothing has happened. You scan the floor by your feet; the glimmering diamond is right there, taunting you.

"You can take it now," Luna says gently.

"I don't understand. Won't that cause-"

"-a cave-in? Of course not." the princess of the night smirks. "Whoever heard of a cave-in due to picking something up from the floor?"

Of course! The fact that it was jammed in the ceiling is what caused the collapse in the first place! But since the cave's upside-down now...

With a few lighting-fast swipes of your claw, you clear the dirt from around the gem, and harmlessly pry it loose. Your arms weigh it for a moment or two; it's still just as heavy as your dream-self remembers it. And it's right here, in your paws. No rumbling. No cave-in. Nothing.

"How does it feel, my friend?" Luna asks. "To know that you've finally conquered your nightmare?"

You say nothing. To think the solution to all those restless nights would be so ridiculous, yet so simple.

"Come on," she cheerfully wraps a wing around you. "Let's leave this cavern behind forever. And you can finally take the diamond with you."

"No."

That word didn't mean to sound vicious. But it dripped from your mouth like venom.

"Is everything alright?" Luna's voice carries the tone of concern. Because of course it does. She loves you.

With more than enough spite, you shove the shiny waste of effort back into the hole from whence it came. Your foot - your left foot, for the sheer poetry of it - presses it deeper and deeper into the dirt, until it can no longer be seen. This isn't how the dream was meant to go. And you savour that.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not carrying that diamond out of this cave," you tell her. As you stare into Luna's perfect eyes, your paw gently caresses her face. "I've already found something far more precious to take with me." Just as a blush starts to form on her face, you sweep Luna off her hooves, with one arm around her back and the other around the bend of her hind legs.

Her face is beaming with a deep red as you confidently stride past the other Diamond Dog workers to the exit, who at this point are cheering and whooping for you, complete with the occasional wolf-whistle. And as a cherry on the cake, Luna's warm lips press up against yours in a congratulatory kiss as you leave your nightmare behind once and for all.

*******

Leaving the cave, you find yourself in the open streets of Canterlot, of all places. Specifically, you find yourself at the Starglow - the romantic restaurant you and Luna ate at in the waking world. Everything's as you remember it, from the tables, to the scent of food, to the music.

"Is this part of your dream," you ask Luna, still cradled in your buff arms. "Or mine?"

"I feel a lot less stifled," she muses. "But we haven't left your dreamscape. I think we're in a shared dream now."

"Perfect," you smile, gently setting your princess down, just as the familiar sound of a guitar stumming passionate flamenco music fills your ears. "And I still have my real leg here. Care to dance with me again? With both working legs this time?"

You offer your paw out to her. She happily takes it.

And, with the moon glowing brighter than ever in the dream-world's sky, you and Luna dance.

Author's Note

Spoiler: You now have a fetish for waiting three bloody years for a fic to finish.