Of Nightmares and Dreamscapes

It started as a normal dream for Love, The luminous shadows lighting his way to a garden of stars. Typical but enjoyable to Love as he had a fondness for the stars and heavens beyond. However, this dream quickly changes to something different. Love’s nighttime garden changed into a foggy forest that stretched onto the horizon. He walked its treacherous path for some time until he heard a noise, something faint like a mosquito buzzing around one’s ear.

    Love turned around to see a cloaked pony standing in the fog. he tried to talk to it but his voice had failed him as the cloaked pony moved closer to him with tiny steps. Love slowly backed away as the pony's head moved up to show bright yellow eyes. In an Eyre voice, the cloaked pony spoke.

‘You love the unknown...you should fear it...either way, I am going to enjoy your dreams…’

Love found himself confused but fascinated by this dream, until he felt a tingle in his throat. This tingle turned into a shaking feeling as Love’s bones ached and his muscles burned. Love opened his mouth to talk to the cloaked pony when out of his mouth came not words but a dark ooze that filled his mouth. This ooze crawled as if it had limbs from Love’s mouth all over his body as the cloaked pony smiled with a wicked grin. In seconds, the ooze consumed Love’s body leaving a dark puddle in his place.

    Love awakens, covered in sweat and tears in his eyes. Love’s mind races as he catches his breath. He never had a dream like that, as if he was being suffocated by darkness and fear. Love quickly began to think on what his dream means as most dreams have a subtle tale to tell.

Love gets out of the bed and blows to the writing table Luna had put in the room for him. He levitated a quill and begins to write down his dreams and a few new ideas for future books.

‘The oldest and strongest emotion of pony-kind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown…’

    Love wrote into the early morning and unto dawn.

.    .    .    .

    Love finally finishes his thoughts as Luna opens the guest door, He turns to see the Princess of Night smile.

    “Why, Luna what time is it?”

    “It’s morning, I wanted to get you for breakfast.”

    “Ah yes...Let me put away my papers.”

    “Did you say up all night?”

    “Well it wasn’t my intent too but it seems my mind has given me some new ideas so I had to write them down.”

    Luna shrugged as Love place his papers in his travel saddle. The two trotted to the dining room of Canterlot Castle. Luna during the walk talks about wanting to continue the Biography which Love agrees must continue.

    Love and Luna arrive at the dining room which to Love’s surprise was bigger than he thought it would be. It’s fancy drapes and gilded table put Love’s breakfast table back in the big city to shame. The two eat some privately grown royal fruits whose taste was fantastic to the city pony.

    “I must say this food is overwhelmingly good...not use to this kind of treatment.”

    “Really? it can’t be that different.” Luna says.

    “Well, in the big city I usually just eat hay-ramen all the time, it doesn’t have the same taste as this stuff.”

    Luna and Love finished their breakfast and leave the castle to travel thru Canterlot to the train station. Love asks where they are going as Luna says.

    “We are going to Ponyville for a ribbon cutting ceremony for Princess Twilight’s new library.”

    “Oh...well this might actually help with the biography, you interacting with ponies in a simple village compared to the city.”

    “Trust me, Ponyville sometimes isn’t that simple.” Luna smiled as Love had a confused look on his face.

On the train ride, Love and Luna were in a private cart as they moved closer to Ponyville.  During the ride, Love falls asleep across from Luna. Out of curiosity, Luna uses her dream magic to see into Love Crafter’s dream.

In the dream, Luna enters a garden, but a garden only possible in a dream. The trees, flowers, animals, and lawn furniture were made of shadows with stars shining brightly. It was like looking into the night’s sky. In the middle of the garden was Love Crafter who had his eyes closed as a stray shadow formed in front of him. To Luna’s surprised the shadow forming into her. This copy of Luna began to sing a lovely opera as piano music filled the air. This dream filled Luna’s heart with joy mixed with amazement.

The train stops at Ponyville which made Luna lose her concentration to the dream. Love awoke to see Luna with an innocent look on her face.

    “Did I miss something?”

    “Oh no, nothing really,” Luna said as she hummed the tune of the dream opera next to Love Crafter as they next the train.