The corridor of dreams is a place filled with the glittering jewels of all living being’s nocturnal imaginings. Walking through them was both a privilege and heavy responsibility for the one known as the caretaker of dreams. Each night brought new insight into each of her subject’s innermost psyche. Whether they were populated by peaceful dreams or terrifying nightmares she always kept a watchful eye.

Lately her nightly vigil had her concerned for one particular jewel out the untold plethora. It belonged to someone who she had come to know through the actions of his… caretaker? The relationship between Twilight and her charge was always a mystery as it was never quite clear where the line was drawn between the two. Did the newly crowned royalty consider the boy family or was he a mere servant? During the times she spent with them it seemed to lean more towards that of a slave than having familial bonds.

Putting such matters aside, her interest in the young drake came when she wanted to learn more of her saviors. At first it was merely a whim as he was deemed unimportant compared to the rest but wanting to know more of Twilight Sparkle meant exploring every aspect of her life. The first time she traversed his dreams it was relatively uneventful. The scenario was one she was familiar with foals having even during her time before being imprisoned. The hero saved the damsel and the townsfolk showered him with unending praise. Truth be told it was rather boring to her as she’d seen such things in many other dreams throughout her many years.

Her interest only truly peaked when she realized that, even after the many months she had known her saviors in the waking world, Spike’s dream never changed. It would never deviate from the same scenario she’d seen the very first time traversing it. At first she just pushed the thought aside as the dragon not having much of an imagination. It was only after the incident with the Crystal Empire and Sombra that it was more than just lack of imagination.

The young dragon had experienced terror of which he could barely explain when he opened Sombra’s door. The magic was ancient yet potent and dark enough to rattle anyone’s psyche no matter how mentally sound they considered themselves. She thought that surely even Spike would have nightmares in the aftermath of the situation but, that was not the case. The night after the crisis she ventured inside to help the young drake only to find nothing had changed.

“This is impossible… there cannot be someone this resilient against the dark arts. Even Celestia and I would have something close to a nightmare after experiencing such a force.” She said as the familiar scene of celebration played in front of her.

She watched as the crowd cheered and the hero thanked them alongside his damsel. Nothing wavered about the scene from all the other times she had come to witness it. She actually found herself staying much longer than she usually did due to being lost in thought as to how the dragon could have withstood the trap when something caught her attention.

It seemed insignificant at first. She mainly attributed this new found revelation over-thinking the situation. No dream lasted long before changing its focus into something else. No dream save for Spike’s whose dream would reach a certain point then cycle once again from the beginning. It was only something she’d notice as she left and revisited the dream within the same night. Though this time with her increased curiosity she stayed much later than her usual point of departure.

She witnessed the crowd disperse along with the rescued maiden and watched as Spike was left alone. He stood there amidst the small hovels simply staring into the sky as a soft drizzle started. Once he started to move Luna followed after to find him traveling outside towards the outskirts of the village and into a forest. It seemed like she had followed him far longer than the dream should have lasted but it was just a strange feeling to begin with as time was never a solid idea in dreams. He reached a small cottage dilapidated by age and walked through the wooden wreckage that could be called a door.

Luna waited in the shadows for a bit before walking closer and looking inside through one of the many holes in the wall. She could see Spike merely sitting down in front of a weathered and dusty table with only one other chair opposite of him. It was quiet, despite the sounds of the wind and rain, the silence surrounding both her and the dragon inside was nerve wracking.

“You’ll catch a cold if you stay out any longer.”

The voice caught her off guard and it showed as she cautiously stepped inside. She looked around and saw the abode was empty save for the table and chairs. She took a seat, never letting the dragon out of her sight, and waited for whatever came next.

“I knew you were watching if that’s what you want to know. I noticed it from the very beginning.” Spike said taking on the vision of his original self. He sat there with a rather blank expression yet the air around him seemed to signify he was in control.

“Is that why your dream kept restarting every time I came to check on you? You’ve just been having lucid dreams this whole time?”

“No, not all the time. It’s just my only way I can deal with everything else around me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Luna, have you ever wondered why you were born?”

“Well, if I’m being completely honest, yes. There are, or should I say, were some instances where I questioned my very existence. However, that was in the past before my return and such thoughts left unchecked can lead a pony down a mental downward spiral.”

There was a bit of silence between the two as Spike tried to process the information. Luna, waiting for him, used her magic to clean the place and some water to the center of the table only to find herself unable.

“Sorry, let me get that for you.” he reached out and pantomimed pouring water. It was a strange sight to see until he set down the invisible glass only for it to appear in front of Luna. Before she could ask, he set down another for himself and had a slight grin. “It’s my dream remember. It goes how I want it.”

It was a surprise, but not unheard of, to Luna for such things to happen. It had just been about a millennium since such a thing happened. Back then there were more ponies that could do such things but none would ever be able to actually block her powers. It was concerning to say the least to find that Spike had such an ability. Though, she didn’t really know why such a thought would cross her mind.

“Thank you, I fear that even in a dream the mind seems to want for such things. Spike, may I ask as to why you’d offer such a question? Is there something troubling you?”

There was an echo of tapping as one of Spike’s claws went against the glass before he took a drink. “Luna, who am I?”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand the question.”

“In your eyes, how do you see me? What are your impressions?”

“I…” Luna hesitated. It was strange to be asked such a question but she felt his anxiousness in the air. He wanted to know what she really thought and it seemed he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Yet, what exactly did she think of him? Who was Spike the dragon? What exactly was his role in life? What did he do other than be caretaker for a newly crowned princess?

“I don’t know.”

“You…”

“It’s not to say I don’t think anything of you Spike. It’s just… I don’t know you that well. We rarely interact and it does nothing for whatever opinion I might have of you. What I can say is there are times where it is hard to imagine as to why you aren’t with other dragons.”

“What do you mean?” he stopped from pouring another glass and set the pitcher down slowly.

“There was an instance I recall my sister talking to me of where Twilight told her about the Dragon Migration. I recall her saying that you left to find what it meant to be a dragon.”

“Yea, I didn’t want to be seen as just a child and a false dragon by the others. It started with them just commenting on my lack of acting like a dragon. It felt as if they were denying my existence at the moment. It made me realize that the way I was acting seemed to be just that. An act.”

“Yet, through the journey, you came to realize that you belonged with Twilight and the others. That was why you came back was it not?”

“I think so, but it was so strange. In the back of my mind I wanted nothing more than to keep going. To keep traveling and see for myself who Spike could become if left alone.”

“I see. Then why did you go back?”

“It… I… I wanted to see Twilight smile. It felt wrong for me to do something on my own without her. As if I was going against every fiber of my being.”

Luna watched as the young dragon seemed to wrestle with what he had just said in his mind. The turmoil could be seen plastered across his face and yet something seemed to stop him from coming to a conclusion. What was keeping him from finding the answer? Why did he rely on Twilight so much despite being only such few years apart?

“Luna.”

“I apologize. I was caught up in my own thoughts. Did you say something?” she asked taking a moment to drink.

“I asked if there were ever times where you thought it didn’t matter whether or not you were around.”

“Wh-What do…” she was taken aback from the question coming from one so young. She couldn’t deny feeling such things long ago but they were just feelings being fueled by petty jealousy.

“Twilight… she has me do practically everything as far as housework goes. She’s done so for as long as I can remember. I cook because she couldn’t and gave up once I learned. I clean because there were times I would find myself under an avalanche of books. I shop because of her neglecting to keep stock of anything once she finds a subject to focus on.”

“Spike…”

“I keep thinking that it’s all because she needs me that I had to learn everything. It’s because we’re family that we look out for each other. But, if that was true, why would she let the others leave me trapped in the middle of a lake during winter wrap up? Dragons regulate heat naturally through our flame sacs but during the winter we migrate towards hotter climates due to still having reptilian bodies. Yet, they left me sleeping on top of a sheet of ice only to fall inside a still freezing lake. It could have killed me.”

“By the stars!” An aura of blue magic wrapped around Spike suddenly as he was brought immediately to Luna. She held him for a while as his body shivered. Whether it was due to remembering the feel of the lake or just trauma, she didn’t know. “Why have you not said anything of this before?”

“I didn’t feel the need to bring it up. I felt like I deserved it somehow. Like I had forgotten to do something I was supposed to do or I was getting in the way. I just… I just didn’t want to be a nuisance.”

“Spike, you are not a nuisance.”

There was a sudden flash and Luna found herself thrown hard into the wall knocking some of the dust off the ceiling. She tried to regain her balance and look for the cause onto to see a black smoke enveloping Spike. It seemed to seep from his body and grew in size as if trying to take shape.

“Spike!” Luna shouted only for it fall on deaf ears as she witnessed the young dragon clutch his head. His claws digging in deep enough to draw blood but not actually doing so due to being in a dream. Yet, that didn’t seem to stop whatever pain he was in as the claws dug deeper and deeper. Through all of the screaming there seemed to be a voice echoing through the air.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’msorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorryimsorry.” kept repeating as Luna tried to move closer only to have something block her way.

A sense of dread crawled throughout her body as she kept trying to tear down whatever barrier separated the two of them while containing whatever this was to only his dream. It seemed to take every once of magic to try and break through but she didn’t give up. After what seemed an eternity she could feel it giving way but before she could reach Spike everything stopped. The barrier fell which caused her to recoil from her magic dispersing everywhere and the black substance crawled back inside of the dragon as he collapsed.

Luna rushed to his side while in the midst of a massive magical migraine. She picked up the dragon in her hooves and tried to check his pulse. While it was only a dream, it was still a threat if the manifestation of the psyche suffered greatly. It would have unknown consequences towards the actual body outside the dream. While it was normally too much shock from such things as nightmares or false awakenings which caused slightly higher stress or anxiety. This was far from something so minor.

“Spike. Spike. Can you hear me?” Luna called out to the still body in her care. It took a bit more yelling before he began to stir and she conjured a couch for him as his hold on the dream seemed shaken. “Spike, are you alright? Do you know where you are?”

The young drake groaned and sat up holding his head. It was a bit before he opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. His sight came upon Luna and as it did he immediately smiled a familiar yet eerie smile. “I’m alright. Thanks.”

“Do you have any idea what that was?”

“Sorry, I don’t remember what happened. All I remember was you holding me and then I found myself here.”

It was a slight shock that such an event would be stripped from his mind in such a short amount of time but the psyche was a mystery even to her. While it raised more questions than it answered she didn’t have anything else to work with on what had just happened. It would require research and that meant returning to check on the drake regularly. It wasn’t something she was reluctant to do alone but something told her to search for more clues as to the condition before informing anypony else. As if sharing such a thing would lead towards an untold disaster.

“Spike, it will be morning soon. I will be back the following night to check up on you. For now, I’ll leave you to your dream. If there seems to be something different when you awaken contact me immediately.”

“Of course, Princess. Anything for you.”

Author's Note

Whoa. Look at what we got here. I finally got time to sit down and write and suffice to say I'm satisfied with the chapter. I apologize for everyone waiting on this story but life does not hold back for anyone. I will be working a chapter for another one of my stories since this one is done and will be going back and forth between the two for the foreseeable future.

As always, thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please leave a comment or critique below as any critique will help me grow as a writer. Have a great day! (Ha, never thought I'd see this line again.)