Misadventures in Dreamland
Chapter 1 - Desires of the Sun
Princess Luna sat on a cloud, high above her beloved kingdom. Below her, all the ponies of Equestria went about their daily lives, while a hardy few of them slept through her sister’s daylight.
Part of her consciousness simultaneously patrolled the reality that she called the Dreamland. It was a rewarding job for her; she experienced few things that came close to besting a rogue Timberwolf for one of her subjects, or humouring the younger colts and fillies with a tea party or a swashbuckling pirate adventure.
However, for all of its rewards, it was a demanding, sometimes mentally exhausting occupation, and it had taken a near-disaster in the Dreamland for Princess Luna to realise that this was a job she could no longer do alone. She needed… an apprentice; a pony who could learn the mysterious and sometimes paradoxical ways of the dreaming world under Princess Luna’s tutelage, and occasionally take charge of overseeing the subconscious nightlife of her subjects.
Her search had been long, and yet the pony she decided on was in hindsight obvious; yet Princess Luna hesitated to call upon her in the wake of her imminent responsibilities.
Princess Luna decided that now was the time to depart, as the sun shone beautifully in the throes of mid-day. With a swift beat of her wings, she departed her cloud, and soared into the morning sky, setting her sights on the town of Ponyville. Princess Twilight’s crystal tower was impressive even at this distance, the sun shimmering majestically off of the crystalline surface.
It wasn’t long before she was preparing to land, seeking out the large aerial entrance in the middle of the structure. With grace and practice befitting her lineage, she came to a stop, and tucked her wings against her sides. Taking a moment to take in the interior, she eventually spotted a pony working frantically to add books to an already-impressive library.
Twilight was too busy fretting over the semantics of her implementation of the D’filly Decimal System to notice the nocturnal alicorn walking towards her. “Twilight Sparkle! Thou must speaketh with thee at once!”
Twilight was caught off-guard, causing her levitation spell to fail, and her books to fall to the floor of the chamber. Once the shock had worn off, Twilight turned to face her visitor with a face of thunder, but that was dispelled immediately upon recognising her guest. “Princess Luna! You… caught me by surprise! Is there something I can do for you?”
Princess Luna walked over to the purple-furred alicorn, and placed a hoof on her haunches, “There is indeed something that you can do for me. Something of vital importance to Equestria.”
Twilight’s eyes immediately lit up, and she placed her hoof on Princess Luna’s. “I’m… I’m honoured, Princess Luna. What is it you need of me?”
The Princess of the Night removed her hoof from Twilight, and walked over to the massive bookshelf in Twilight’s library. “An impressive collection. You might yet exceed the library in Canterlot Castle one day. You believe that each book is worth treasuring, do you not?”
Twilight nodded without hesitation, “Yes, I do. This might sound difficult to believe, but I, uh… when I was given charge of the Golden Oaks Library, I felt at times like the library was my own personal kingdom… and that the books were my subjects. Kinda weird, right?”
“Quite the opposite, Twilight Sparkle. What I am about to ask of you requires every bit of that dedication. As you know, I watch over the reality that our subjects dream in. It is like a kaleidoscope; each dream is self-contained, yet they all exist within that reality.”
Twilight immediately pulled out all the books that she had on the subject from her bookshelves, “Oh, you want me to read up on your dreamwalking abilities and the Dreamland? When you do you want to administer the test? I’m a quick study, so it shouldn’t take long for me to revise, I only ne-”
Princess Luna raised a hoof, succeeding in stopping Twilight’s mouth before it ran afoul of her brain, “I do not require you to study. I intend for you to be my apprentice.”
That last statement stopped Twilight’s mind in its tracks, “Y-You… want… apprentice… m-me?” she stammered. “How… why do you need somepony else to help?”
Luna bowed her head, “There was an incident that recently transpired. I discovered a chaotic force within the Dreamland. The ensuing struggle to remove it took a great toll on my mental well-being, and as a result, my ability to patrol and defend the Dreamland was impaired. It is with reluctance that I seek the aid of another, and I can think of nopony more qualified to assume this charge.”
Princess Luna approached Princess Twilight, and stroked her cheek with a hoof, “We will begin your tutelage this nightfall. Pray steel yourself, Twilight Sparkle, for this will be like nothing you have encountered on your adventures so far.”
Without offering Twilight a chance to respond, Princess Luna strode toward the balcony. Looking back on her new protégé, she spread her wings and flew away into the warmth of daylight.
Princess Luna spent much of that evening coming up with a basic lesson plan. Part of the lesson would be about demonstrating that, in the Dreamland, everypony is equal. The perfect example was obvious; Princess Celestia, Twilight Sparkle’s teacher and mentor. Lesson one would be showing that even Princess Celestia dreams the same as every other pony.
Well, that was mostly true, she mused; in actuality, Princess Celestia, like Princess Luna, had far greater control of the dream world than most other ponies, but Luna had hoped to show Twilight that, even a pony as well-respected as Princess Celestia could dream about the same things that Twilight herself did.
Luna’s attention was caught by the sound of her ornate clock chiming ten o’clock. Twilight’s ascent to the world of slumber was almost upon her, as Princess Luna’s subconscious counterpart quickly sought the dream boundary of Princess Celestia’s domain.
Gently making her way into Celestia’s dream, Princess Luna shrouded herself, a technique that allowed her to patrol the Dreamland without being noticed by her subjects; Luna had previously used it to great effect to prank her sister when they were fillies.
The Princess of the Moon found herself in what appeared to be the Throne Room of Canterlot Castle. Sat atop the royal dignity was a very familiar purple pony, wings outstretched behind her, with Princess Celestia bowing before her in a state of regal submission. Celestia also appeared to be lacking her crown; that same crown was now worn by Twilight, as she sat with authority on the royal chair.
Princess Luna felt increasingly uneasy watching the scene developing before her. She had previously watched her sister's dreams, even during her banishment when the Dreamland granted her, for a short time, the ability to break free of Nightmare Moon’s domination. At first, Celestia’s dreams were full of sorrow and regret, dreams that she was powerless to interfere with. It gave Luna a new perspective during her banishment, that her sister truly cared for her, and with time, came to understand that Princess Celestia had to put her subjects first, as any sovereign should. With her banishment, she could only observe the Dreamland, and had to witness many a nightmare that terrorised her former subjects.
But, as time wore on, loneliness and despair began to creep into Princess Celestia’s subconscious. Her dreams would occasionally become the platform for thoughts and desires that, in the waking world, the Princess of the Sun would never dare to hold consciously.
Princess Luna looked on as the scene developed before her. Twilight stepped off of her throne, and approached the submissive Celestia, “As of now, I am your queen. You may address me as ‘Queen Twilight Sparkle’, or ‘your highness’.”
Celestia looked up to Twilight, and nodded her head in understanding, “I am at your command, your highness. What do you ask of me?”
“Your queen requires immediate relief from her... taxing duties as monarch. I require… a massage.”
The purple pony finalised the order with two clops of her hooves, and two guards approached, one either side. One of the guards carried a luxurious towel that Luna knew Celestia had a certain… attachment to that she’d rather not hear uttered in public, while the other guard carried a small jar of… something, green in appearance, and presented on a soft, velvet pillow.
It was just as well that Princess Luna was hidden from view, otherwise Celestia might have noticed that Luna’s jaw was slacked, her mind now in a state of mild panic. I was going to show my sister’s dreams to her… and yet my sister dreams of her.
Celestia’s dream was fast becoming a train wreck, and Luna was stuck firmly in bystander mode. Celestia had laid the towel on the marble floor of the room, and Twilight confidently trotted over to her, the smile on her face letting everypony around her know that she was going to enjoy this.
Luna was struggling to hold back the urge to interfere in this… depravity; she understood her sister’s repressed desire for companionship, but Twilight was her student. Even after her ascendency to alicorn, Twilight still looked up to Celestia almost like she were a second mother. And Celestia… did tend to dream about her students on occasion. The princess had never acted on such feelings, of course, but Princess Celestia was not immune to the effects of isolation and loneliness, especially where it concerned affairs of the heart.
Celestia now had the aforementioned jar within the grasp of her magic, and she set about applying its contents to Twilight’s wing joints. After careful removal of her royal hoofshoes, she began to slowly knead the viscous liquid into Twilight’s fur. If the unfolding scene wasn’t distressing enough, Princess Luna could see that her sister was visibly aroused, her exposed nether regions winking for all and sundry to witness.
I have indulged you long enough, dear sister.
Princess Luna charged her horn with magic, and generated a powerful sphere of energy around her. With a blinding flash, her shroud spell was cancelled, and she fixed her gaze on her wayward sister.
“Cease this at once!” yelled the Princess of the Moon. Princess Celestia turned around, her mind snapping back to mental clarity. The facsimile of Princess Twilight was mildly annoyed by the intrusion into her private time.
“... what?” queried the Princess of the Sun, her eyes darting left to right.
“This is highly inappropriate. I demand that you dream about something else!”
“Come on Luna… it’s just a dream!” pleaded Celestia, as the facsimile of Princess Twilight faded from view.
“That may be so, dear sister, but I was about to teach Princess Twilight my dreamwalking abilities. I thought that your dreams would be the ideal starting point. Clearly, I was mistaken.”
Princess Celestia looked at Princess Luna, momentarily making eye contact. “Oh.”
“Yes, ‘Oh’.”
“She, uh… she didn’t see anything, did she?”
“Thankfully, she did not. Now, please go dream about something regal so that you don't scar the poor thing for life. You can go back to your... fantasies, when we're done.”
Princess Celestia's eyes narrowed, “You take all the fun out of dreaming, you know that?”
The snide comment caused Princess Luna to shoot mental daggers at her sister, followed by a verbal one, “At least I do not dream about submitting thyself to every single one of my students from the night I first start teaching them.”
Eyes widened, Celestia was now a picture of abject horror, “You saw those?! But you were banished to the moon! Does that mean... you saw...?”
“Yes”, Princess Luna replied, not even missing a breath. Dejected, Princess Celestia looked down at the floor, “I, um… I need to go lie down.”
“You are lying down. You are asleep, dear sister.” Princess Luna said, turning around, and steadily walking away.
“Tomorrow morning is going to be so awkward.” Celestia muttered to herself.