"Sister.. Thou sister doth miss thee.." Celestia whispered as she gazed up at the moon in the sky, the only way her sister could be seen was by the gray circles that created Luna's depressing form. Celestia sank to her front hooves, her head hanging low. The aura that caused her mane to fly and remain colorful faded slightly, the mane itself turning gray in color. Blood splattered on the ground as the princess' many wounds bled her essence. Tears started to form, sliding down the Sun Mover's face to join the blood that already occupied the ground below.
"Thou.. Thou...." Celestia stammered, her mind fracturing under the weight of losing a pony who was her best friend in life. As the monarch cried, a silver sheen descended from the moon and hovered a hoof in front of Celestia. The princess did not look up, until..
"Sister?" A ethereal voice called to her. She immediately rose to her hooves, before grunting and sliding back to the position she had been in. The mare's wounds had started to scab over already. Luck of being a cursed ALICORN... Celestia thought lightly to herself as she finally registered what the shiny gray orb had said.
"LUNA?!" Celestia practically yelled as she stared at the orb that sounded OH SO MUCH like her sister. The princess began to cry again, but was pulled out of her deep-seated depression by the voice once more.
"Sister! Now is NOT the time!" The orb whispered, rippling like a stone had been thrown at it. Celestia immediately sat up, her tears drying by the sound of dire trouble in her sister's voice.
"O.. Of... C-c-c... Course.. Sis.. Sister..." She whimpered, staring straight at the orb as her wounds started to disappear.
"Thou can no longer protect thine subject's dreams. Thee must protect the-e-e-e-em!" Luna's last word repeated as though from the bottom of a lake in many bubbles or a faded recording spell, before the sphere burst and Celestia was alone. The princess' energy was gone, so she sank once more to the ground, but this time fell into a deep sleep.
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Light struck Celestia's face. She sat up immediately to the sound of nothingness. The Sun Monarch laid back down as she saw the royal bedroom, all the walls empty, the cream-colored bed messed up by the princess' dreaming sleep. The mare thought upon the dream which seemed to reflect a different finish from her battle with.. With.. Nightmare.. M.. Moon..
She gasped and glanced about herself, the wounds had faded.. While alicorns were notoriously good healers, they never healed that quickly.. Celestia thought upon what the orb had stated before realizing a simple idea: THE ORB HAD BEEN REAL. This meant that the dream Luna had made a real request! Celestia immediately rose and set about, trotting at a brisk pace to her sister's old room. The castle corridors of marble echoed with a clip-clip-clip as Celestia made her way down the new chambers. Endless halls of murals, paintings, drawings, and other such things had been created, but Celestia paid little attention as she trotted down to her sister's old room.
The door Celestia faced was old when she finally reached it. It was a dark-oak-stained-midnight-purple door, a simple quarter-moon hanging near the top. A golden aura surrounded the door as the princess opened it and peeked inside. Her nostrils were instantly invaded with the smell of mildew, mold, and.. Rotting flesh? The mare stifled a gasp at the horrendous smell, and instead stepped inside. Dark blue walls with a purple-yet-white-spotted-ceiling covered her vision, the light green carpet a stark contrast to the dark and oppressing room. Celestia timidly sneaked over to Luna's old book cabinet, daring a snippet of a look. The books were old indeed, covered in.. WAS THAT LEATHER?! Celestia recoiled in fear and backed up before her flank hit something cold on the opposing side of the room. Glancing around, Celestia spotted another silvery orb floating in the air.
"Sister? Is that thou? If it is.." The orb whispered.
"Then let the sun and moon light the way." Princess Celestia answered instantly, recalling her sister's favorite phrase.
"Sister, there isn't much time before the nightmares become to much for pony kind. Thine sister needs you to take this," A book covered in a blue flame levitated over to Celestia before dropping in her grasp, "and use what thee find within. This spell won't last fo-!" With that, the orb popped, leaving the sun mare with a flaming book in her grasp. Eager to do something for her now banished sister, Celestia flew out of the room before closing the door and galloping back to her own.
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A golden aura surrounded the flaming book as Celestia dared to open it, failing, and trying again. STUPID BOOK... OPEN!!! the monarch thought as the book once again refused her wishes. She sat and thought upon how to approach the opening of this book, before alighting on a simple solution. She turned toward the book with a grimace on her face and whispered, "Mare of Light, Mare of Dark?" To which the flames surrounding the book promptly disappeared as though they had never been there.
Celestia cracked open the book, placing it upon her bed before she began to read.
Dear Journal,
The day draws to a close once more, and thy owner's night opens. Sadly, mine sister is being a plot again, and she doth not wish to speak with mine self. Thy have noticed that mine sister's subjects' dreams are growing darker as of late, and I shalt attempt a remedy.
Celestia skipped a few pages until she came upon a picture of a swirling, dark-purple pony-shape that was half pony, half mist. She studied the words intently as she read on.
Dear Journal,
Thine owner hath found a cure! Within the hour, this... 'Dream Maker' shalt save countless ponies from their dreams! Thine efforts may hath saved countless ponies! Not that... Our sister.. Noticed... Celestia....
Celestia gazed upon the spell within before trying to dare replicate it. She studied the form and patterns before she attempted it herself, and when she did, all faded to black..
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A pond. A blue light among the blackness. Celestia's vision once more recovered for the third time in twenty-four hours. She glanced about the area and noticed that only the pond was there. It rippled once. Celestia was shocked, and as she felt the emotion the pond rippled again. A dark forest with almost black grass sprang up, the foliage growing in milliseconds. Within this time, the songs of birds began to fill the air, stringing together a soft symphony as Celestia was lulled into peace. Her mind lost the fear that inhabited it only moments before, replaced by a simple peace as her sister's voice once more flowed from.. The forest?
"Sister... This spell was made specifically for you. Please, step into the pond. I will explain myself later." The voice ended, and the bird's songs grew quiet. Celestia's mind was once more bombarded, but this time by uncertainty. She staggered under heavy thoughts, believing that this might be an assassination attempt by Nightmare Moon. But even as these thoughts came, a moon slowly melted into the sky, a single beam flying down to the uncertain mare. As it came closer, the beam solidified into a pony.
A smile adorned the pony's face, a single tear dripped down like a diamond as she came closer to the frozen princess. Two wings came to life and beat in time with each other, each flap as silent as death. A horn glowed to life atop the pony's head, and a single beam snaked away from Celestia and into the pond. Smiling wider, the pony altered course and landed near Celestia before fading from view.
Celestia shook her head. This was her sister, not that monster! After all, if her sister had wanted to kill her with a spell, she would have done it very differently. While Luna may have been possessed by the darkness within, she still had a remnant of her old self within as well. The mare walked slowly to the pond and dipped a single hoof inside. As soon as her hoof made contact with the pool, however, she gave a shriek. This shriek echoed into the woods as the nearby-invisible-mare smirked lightly, noticing her sister's terrified screams and jerkings.
The pond held tight to Celestia's hoof even as she tried to jerk it back with all of her might. Celestia felt a single, pricking sensation on her leg before she mananged to drag the now-limp appendage out of the waters. The pond itself glistened red for a moment, before collecting into a single column of pure white, a white which matched Celestia's skin tone to a 'T'. The column grew in size and shape, twisting and turning until it resembled that of a foal. A few more colors jumped into view, creating a single image.
Where the demon pond had been, a white filly sat silently. Her purple hair fell slightly over one eye, and her orange eyes looked like the embers of a dying fire. The filly looked up and smiled at Celestia.
"Hello, Tia." The filly spoke, her voice more song than words.
"...." Tia stared back, her jaw slack and her body frozen once more.
"Tia?" The filly inquired, tilting her head 45 degrees.
"Y.. Yes?" Tia answered timidly, wondering what this filly was, and where it had come from.
"Oh, those are easy! Well mom, first of all.." The filly began. Celestia's eyebrows arched, and her jaw closed. " thou's daughter creates dreams. We don't know what that means yet, but we am sure we will find out! Also.. We came from thou! Is thine leg feeling better?" The filly rattled the answers off as if she had known them (and how to speak) all of her 50-seconds-long life. Celestia finally found her voice.
"What should mine voice name thee?" She asked politely.
"Thine art mine mom, shouldn't thou know?" The filly questioned. Celestia thought upon it for a moment before settling upon a simple name.
"Thine name shall be Dream Maker." The princess spoke firmly, but softly.
"Ok mom. Say, we better.." Before Dream Maker could finish, the world around Celestia shifted and faded, before being replaced by the castle of her and her sister, the place more lively than it had been in millennia. Before she could grasp what Dream Maker meant, she lost all ability to think and simply experienced the dream she was placed within. Little did she know that little Dream Maker had already set off to work...
