There are lots of different times in a pony's life. Some of them better, some worse. There are times, at which one has to save the world. At other occasions, the same pony may need to take a break from the ones previously mentioned. For Luna, Princess of Equestria and ruler of the night, now was such a time. Quietly resting on the room's sole comfortable spot left unoccupied, crouched down on a soft pillow made from scarlet silk like only the home of another princess could offer, the nation's second-in-command put down her duties for time being, and called it a day. Quite literally that was, since her next shift wouldn't start until nightfall. As of now, she did have all the time in the world.
Mind you, Luna was not alone. Six mares and one dragon of all different kinds and colors now stood gathered around her napping self, most of them generously smiling upon the princess who enjoyed her well deserved rest. All of them, except for a certain cyan pegasus, who considered herself high above that kind of emotion.
But that was just how Rainbow Dash worked, and none of her friends ever thought of holding it against her. Especially not at a time of shared empathy like this one. Right now, their eyes rested firmly on the exhausted alicorn mare lying before their hooves. And despite their own weariness, the seven of them weighed themselves in the serene belief that their struggle was finally over, and - all things considered - ended up to be a job well done.
After a moment or so, the ponies' eyes shifted upwards, looking at each other instead of their beloved queen. And as they did, their expressions turned from sincerity and gratefulness to one of some rather clueless nature. Eventually, it was their gentle, but somewhat socially restrained friend Fluttershy who managed to break the silence.
"W-well, shouldn't we let her get some rest? She deserves it more than anypony, and...I'd hate to wake her up." Her voice was hardly above a whisper, but for once, she did have a good reason to keep it that way. As did her friends.
"I'd also hate to just leave her on the floor like that," Twilight answered her in a similarly low tone. "But if we lift her into bed, we'd probably gonna wake her. I wouldn't want that either..." She trailed off, seeing one of the surrounding blankets already hovering over towards them, engulfed in a light blue aura of magic. One, whose shade perfectly matched the one around their unicorn friend Rarity's horn, non-surprisingly.
Also quite obviously, the element of generosity didn't hesitate a second to use her own sheet for doing so, despite it being a special brand, which she had produced and brought along herself.
"Quite the decent solution, if I may say so," the white unicorn declared with a grin. Looking at their sleeping princess, she added, "I do suppose she requires it a bit more than I do, at the moment."
Needless to say, her words carried a message that effectively conveyed what everyone else already thought. With another smile, Twilight soon motioned towards the exit door with her head, then took the lead, guiding her friends out of the bedroom one-by-one. Shortly before leaving herself, the Princess of Friendship had her horn light up one last time, as her magic quickly but quietly tucked at the room's curtains, enclosing it in a soft and gentle darkness. One that the Night Princess would certainly find welcoming, no matter her current state. Twilight grinned; hopefully, Luna wouldn't be too embarrassed by her sudden slumber after waking up. There really wasn't any need for that.
Having the heavy brass door close behind her own exit with a low click, the purple unicorn turned around to see her friends standing around her, continually exchanging nervous glances. Except of course for Rainbow Dash, who kept hovering in the air, about two feet above the rest of them.
"I hope she'll have some pleasant dreams from now on," Fluttershy again broke the silence, briefly looking at the door. "After having the same nightmare each night for over a year...goodness, I wouldn't even want to think about it."
"Ah suppose so," Applejack added. "Wonder what that gal's dreamin' about now, though. I'll bet she'll have one hay of a story ta tell when she wakes up."
"Pleasant, huh? Come on! She's probably going through the most bad-ass places she ever visited in years, right now," Rainbow Dash called out, sweeping down from her floating position. She proceeded to slowly and horizontally run one foreleg through her field of vision. "Heh. I'm picturing her right now, fighting a bunch of robot ponies with a giant laser gun...whatever. And when she's done, she'll just jump on her motorbike, tell them I'll Be Back!, and there she goes: Gone with the wind and born to be wild. Or something like that."
"Nah, that ain't like her," Applejack interrupted her friend. "More likely she's dressed in some black poncho, some torn stetson on her head, while trottin' outta Dodge Junction late at night. She's goin' west, approaching the sunset, while the rest o' th' good guys look on. They jest met her, and don't even know her name. But she's done some good today, and they'll always see her as a friend. Some mysterious stranger, maybe, but a friend. And there'll be some dramatic music playin' in th' background 'n all..." She smirked. "Ah'd like ta see that happen, actually."
Unfortunately, not all of her friends seemed to share that opinion. Rarity for once kept calm until now, but listening to her companions' stories, her expression grew more and more appalled, her eyes darting between both of them in turns.
"Puh-lease," she finally stated, bursting in between them. "Both of you. That's hardly the way a princess would behave now, is it?"
"Exactly! She's probably out at some super-duper fun location, throwing the best I-finally-got-rid-of-my-inner-demons party EVER! Oh, and of course all her friends are gonna be there, and, and Celestia, and lots of cake, and balloons, and hidden confetti cannons...Can you imagine how totally-spectacularly amazing that would be? I can't believe that this is actually happening, even though it's not. Aw, if only she invited me to organize it all, since we can get into each others' dreams now, and all that..."
The response, brought forth by the sole pink earth pony in the room came across extremely vividly, quickly, and unexpected. In fact, Pinkie Pie's entire monologue contained a sort of non-stop velocity. It didn't even give the narrator enough time to squeeze in a short comment between her words. Damn forth-wall breaks. Just let it be said that despite her enthusiasm, she did deflate a little during the last sentence. The rest of her short speech didn't contain anything out of the ordinary, however.
Or whatever else would be a decent description for that hyperactive mare's upbeat behavior.
"Well, I for once like to imagine her somewhere in a calm, reserved atmosphere," Fluttershy interrupted. "Don't hold it against me, but after all the trouble she was having, all this time? I think she just likes to relax in the woods among some cutesy little critters. Or maybe up on a cloud with some birds...she can fly after all."
"...or she might just enjoy a good book," her princess friend interrupted. "Those can be quite relaxing, if it's the right content. I should know, I've got some experience on the subject."
"Aw, come on! I would never want to think of our princess to be as lame as you guys!" Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, even as the words crossed her mouth. "Besides, Luna isn't an egghead. Didn't you see all the cool stuff she can do? She totally kicks some butt, if she wants to."
"Yes, well. Sometimes everypony needs to lay back for a bit, don't they?" Twilight asked with a teasing grin. "I'm sorry, Rainbow. Looks like the boring ones won't give in that easily, today."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Dash sarcastically replied, her eyes turning towards the window. "It's too much of an awesome day for staying here, anyways. I gotta do some stunts, or at least flex my wings a little." She turned to the orange earth pony at her side. "You comin' or what, AJ?"
After a moment's hesitation, Applejack shrugged off her request, replying, "Sure, why not."
As both of them turned to leave, an excessive pink menace started bouncing up and down behind them. "Oh, oh, oh, can I come, can I come? Please say yes, I totally wouldn't know what else to do with myself, otherwise!"
The two of them froze for a second, sarcastically rolling their eyes at one another. Which wasn't meant to be mean towards their friend, but more the sort of natural reaction towards her stereotypical behavior. "Like I said," Applejack subsequently told her friend. "Sure, why not."
And with a final "Weeeee," the three of them jolted out the door and disappeared into the wide world. The remaining ones kept to their spots for another moment, somewhat amused by the show put on for them.
"Well, it's probably for the best," Twilight concluded with a giggle. "Spike and I have some books to re-organize. I can't believe we've lived in this castle for so long, and we still haven't completed the library section." A low groan escaped her number one assistant at the mention. One, which hardly anyone else became aware of, however.
Rarity was the next to answer. "If you say so, darling. I think I'll tend to some fabrics over at the boutique. They might need some rearrangement as well. Also, look at the time! It's only two hours until my next beauty sleep...I need to get going. Oh, and," already turning to leave as well, she shot a glance back at the remainder of her friends. "I do need some modeling for a thing or two. If my little Spikey-Wikey would like to come over for a bit this afternoon, he's always more than welcome." The little dragon gave a short salute and a grin as an answer. With a last wink, the unicorn mare trotted outside, and left.
After another short chat, Fluttershy was the last one to depart. Though she couldn't think of any exact reason to leave, she was certain that seeing her little animal friends again after this night of horrors certainly would lift her spirits a good deal. Only as Twilight and Spike left the entrance hall to get some breakfast, and move on to their new library later on, the still resting Princess Luna was finally left to her own good.
As far as guesses went, however, the seven friends couldn't have been more off about her current mental whereabouts. Probably because they didn't fully understand the way the dreaming realm of a night princess truly worked. Because as opposed to any regular ponies, an alicorn that lived for the dreams of others for millennia had a lot more complexity to herself on that particular subject. Which, for example, included having a dream that consisted of multiple layers. Being asleep in one dream, then constructing another one originating from the first. Luna was able to stack more layers in her dreams than Sugarcube Corner on an average wedding cake, whenever she felt on top of her ambitions. Only today, there were just two of them.
Her first dream self was quietly resting on top of a small pink island, that drifted around somewhere in the middle of a lake. Which, in turn, calmly lay itself out beneath her hooves, its surface reflecting the midnight hour's dark, purple sky. In this dream, she was just as much at ease as she was in the real world. And out of this relaxation, there originated another dream world, from another layer of her mind.
The scene showed a medium-sized room, dimly lit, with no light source coming in from the outside. Instead, every wall ran in an uninterrupted pattern of crimson bricks. Only a number of framed, sepia-colored posters hung from them in regular intervals. In this presumable basement room, there was no way telling the outside time or location, and it didn't matter. This could be anywhere: Manehattan, Seaddle, Fillydelphia, even somewhere around good old Canterlot. Luna didn't pay these details any attention.
She stood atop a small, elevated stage, looking down on a small number of ponies. They were seated at circular, wooden tables in groups of three or four. A decent-looking counter occupied most of the opposite wall. From behind it, a bartender in a tuxedo and a black bow tie occasionally provided his guests with long drinks and martinis. A microphone just about the height of Luna's muzzle had been placed inches in front of herself.
Despite the relaxed atmosphere in the room, the assembled ponies were looking upon her with a certain sense of expectation. Including one special guest, which she hadn't even recognized until now. Seated amidst all those regular business was no-one less than her own sister.
Celestia, with all her majesty and grace, quietly sipped some tea from a white, ornamented cup (what else?), while looking on just as excited as everyone else around. As if she wanted to tell her little sister about how this night was all hers. And nopony would dare steal the spotlight. Tonight, as every time during her half of twenty-four hours, all eyes turned to her.
Luna, princess of the night, gave a grateful smile to her sister, who smiled right back with a slight nod. This was her first good dream in over a thousand years, and she felt determined to make the most of it. And for some reason she couldn't quite explain, it felt like she did owe this particular dream to her sister's doings as well. The white alicorn in the audience seemed much to real to be just another reflection of her own mind, to say the least.
A slow piano tune came on from some undetectable source. And Luna knew better than to wonder about that; the laws of physics don't exist in dreams, after all. She knew better about that than anypony else. Breathing calmly, she didn't have herself distracted, as she confidently stepped up to the microphone. If Celestia truly had created this dream for her, however she did that, there was only one way Luna could think of in repaying her. It all came down to a tune, which their mother would always sing to them as a foal. And one of the earliest, pleasant memories that she knew the two of them shared. They already had the music, so why not roll with it? Slowly, but confidently, she started singing out the first line.
"There is a house in New Orleans they call the rising sun..."
