As I should have suspected, Luna had taken my oath with all due seriousness. For her, the age of Chivalric knights and high valour was no long gone memory, but only yesterday.

So, after her acceptance of my fealty, I stood and looked around, biting my lip. “So. . . I’m in the lead, huh?” She nodded, and I reciprocated, looking around in thought, and this time not in an attempt to come up with something lewd to create.

“Who was the last one to have a nightmare?” I asked, figuring that was our best bet for a lead.

“Lyra Heartstrings was visited, earlier tonight, before I came and found you. That was the dream that I lost his trail in.”

“Lyra? Hm. Do you think she’d still be dreaming?”

Luna nodded. “Tis likely, Fyren. I left her in better spirits, and a happier dream. I only hope he did not dare to return after my departure.”

“Can you not trace him?”

“No. It vexes me most direly. As I said, he appears to be beyond the skills of a normal mortal dreamer. Even a lucid dreamer should not so easily lose me in the Dreamrealms.”

I frowned thoughtfully, and nodded. “Alright, then. To Lyra’s dream! Um. . . I might need a little help, getting started, though.” I say, smiling weakly. She returns my smile with one full of confidence.

“Of course, Sir Fyren. Make yourself comfortable, and meditate in the same way you used to get here.” She said, settling herself on the ground, and I did the same, shifting my sword aside as I sat cross legged before her. I let my eyes drift shut, focusing on my breathing. In, out. . . in, out. . . in. . . out. . . . . . . in. . . . . . . . . out. . . . . . . . . . .

”Good, Fyren. Now. . . . Picture Lyra, in as much detail as you can. . . . . Picture her, and focus upon her image.”

Obeying without thought, I saw her in my mind’s eye, her minty green coat, and lighter, wintergreen mane and tail. Her big golden eyes smiling at me in awestruck wonder, and the little gold lyre on her flanks. It was the way she looked the first time we met. I had not spent much time around her, mostly due to her insatiable curiosity, and odd obsession with my hands. . . .

It made me feel a bit bad, though. She always seemed like a nice enough pony, and probably a good friend to those she cared for. It was just hard to spend time around her when all she wanted to do was touch my hands and talk about how humans sat.

With her image in my head, firm and concrete, I felt something shift, and, without being told to, I opened my eyes. Before me lay a door, green and with an image of lyres painted on it’s face, a small, round window looking out onto nothing on the other side.

Sensing movement, I glanced to my left and saw Luna step up beside me. She gave me an encouraging smile and a nod, and I smiled back, before turning to the door. There was no telling at this moment what might lie on the other side, and I must be ready. Settling my sword on my hip, I walked up and, once again feeling it was the right thing to do, lifted my hand and knocked, softly.

Upon receiving no answer, I glanced back at Luna, seeing her smile. “Not all are lucid dreamers, Sir Fyren, and even fewer are Dreamwalkers. Lyra will not be aware enough to answer your knock, I believe. We should simply enter. It is alright, she is unlikely to even know we are there, unless we make our presence known, first.”

Nodding, I bit my lip, turning back to the door. Reaching out, I gripped the knob, gave it a slow turn until the latch clicked softly, and then I pushed the door open, revealing once more a gaping darkness. Luna walked through without hesitation, and, taking a breath, I followed her, deep into the unknown.

* * * * *

It seemed that we only walked sideways down a vertically horizontal hall for a few seconds, and then we stepped out of a doorway that, on the way out, seemed identical to that which we came through. I even heard the door swing shut behind us, however upon turning, I discovered nothing but a clock ticking away on a low mantle above a crackling fireplace.

Turning back to our present location, my eyes surveyed my surroundings, looking for every little nuance of evidence that there might be, hidden about the area, which might lead us to an inevitable, and no doubt awesome showdown with our nemesis.

What I found was a very, very ordinary looking living room, by Equestrian standards. It featured a sofa, a couple of chairs, all arrayed before the fireplace, and therefore us. Sitting on the sofa was the minty green unicorn who, upon my princess’ orders, had filled my minds eye but a moment before.

“Oh, yes. . . You’re so . . . so handsome! So strong, and dextrous! And you know alll the right spots!” Her words were spoken in a breathy moan that made it seem she might be seconds away from orgasm. Surely, you might think, she was being made sweet love to by some dashing rogue of a stallion, or perhaps she was dreaming of her dearest friend, BonBon. Yes, that must surely be it!

But, no, you forget who you’re dealing with. No, in Lyra’s dream, at present, she was being massaged by a disembodied, larger than life floating human hand.

Because of course she was.

I will admit, the sight, and the sounds the mare was making, were somehow oddly arousing, and I had to fight to keep my budding excitement from being visibly noticeable. Clearing my throat, and I took a step forward. “Uh, Lyra?”

She moaned softly, stretching under the continued ministrations of the hand, and I tugged at my collar, licking a tooth in thought, before shifting my feet nervously and glancing back at Luna. The princess simply smiled slightly and lifted and eyebrow, looking between myself and the unicorn before us.

I gulped and turned back to the sight, biting my lip. Then, clearing my throat once more, I stood up to my full height. “Lyra Heartstrings.” I said, in a louder, firmer tone of voice, in some attempt to gain control of the situation. This time Lyra noticed. And that might not have been such a good thing.

She blinked and looked about, her golden gaze falling upon me. She froze for a second, her eyes widening, mouth opening, before it curved into a manic grin. In a flash, the disembodied hand disappeared, and she had leaped from the sofa, coming to a halt in front of me, standing on her hind legs, her face about level with my chin.

“Fyren! Ohhh! You’re back! FYREN!” She exclaimed, grinning like an idiot, then, while I was attempting to formulate a response appropriate to the gravitas of the situation, she leaped upon me, bowling me over onto my back. She pinned me to the floor, and her mouth found mine, her tongue sliding into it without a second’s hesitation.

Lyra practically ate my face for several long moments, before coming up for air, and leaving me a tousled, mind-fucked mess on the floor. “Whaaa?”

Luna’s muffled snickering brought me back to myself enough to glance up at here, where she stood nearby.

She smirked down at me. “The waking mind is oft beleaguered by inhibitions and fears, societal constraints. ‘What would my neighbours think? Or the pony at the shop?’ The sleeping mind, on the other hoof. . . . “ She glanced at Lyra, and I followed her gaze, just then realizing what I was feeling. The unicorn had one of my hands between her hooves and was sucking on the middle and ring fingers, in a very. very sexual manner. There was no hiding my reaction at this point, and I sat up uncomfortably, looking at Luna with a blush.

She simply smiled. “There is nothing wrong with enjoying it, my knight. However, we are here on business, not pleasure, and it would probably be best to snap her out of it.”

“Happily.” I said, grinning like a loon, before glancing down at the lust maddened mare who was still nomming, quite adorably I might add, on my digits. “How?!” I asked, looking up at my princess with panic in my face. Luna simply giggled.

“How indeed, my knight? What do you think?”

I bit my lip, and glanced down at Lyra again, thinking.

Finally, after wracking my brain for some time, I had the thought to simply tell her she was dreaming and that we needed to talk.

It takes a bit, but sometimes I’m almost clever.

Not smart, just clever.

Don’t judge me.

Anyway. . . .

“Lyra!” I snapped, and she stopped her oral ministration of my fingers and rolled her big gold eyes up to look at me.

“You’re dreaming.” I said, narrowing my eyes. She sat for a long second, blinking at me, then slowly popped my fingers out of her mouth.

“Yeah, I kinda figured. . . . Was nice, though. Guess I’m about to wake up, huh?”

“Uh, no. Not at all. Actually, we need to talk.”

“Uh. . . What? I mean, usually when my dreams start telling me their dreams, it means I’m about to wake up. Wait, is this some weird, like, intervention thing by my subconscious? Is it about my hand fetish? Look, I don’t care what everypony thinks, I can’t help it!”

“No, no! Lyra, calm down! This isn’t your subconscious! It’s me, Lyra. It’s Fyren!”

She paused, blinking at me again slowly. “Um. . . Right. . . How?”

I blinked back at her, opening my mouth and kind of blanked on how, exactly, I was supposed to explain the whole ‘reality hopping dream magic’ thing, when there was the soft sound of somepony clearing her throat, and Luna’s presence returned to my knowledge.

Lyra turned, laid her eyes on the princess, and they promptly went quite wide. “Oh! That’s how!” She exclaimed, then dropped into a low bow, blushing quite furiously as it all suddenly sunk in on her that not only had she actually been lavishing my fingers with her mouth like Linda Lovelace at a sausage stand, but she had been doing so in front of the princess of the night.

I’d be blushing too, if . . . oh, alright, I was blushing. A lot.

I mean, come on! I’m on a super awesome mission tasked to me by none other than Best Princess herself, only to find myself in the dream of a human obsessed pony who proceeded to fellate my freaking hand! Of COURSE I was blushing! But I would maintain my dignity.

“Fyren?” Luna asked, casually.

I gritted my teeth.

Maintain. Dignity.

“Yes, Princess?”

“I don’t mean to be rude. . . “

I exhaled sharply through my nose.

Dignity!

“. . . but I believe that you’re, how do the foals say it, these days. . . Ah, yes. ‘Popping a tent’.”

I glanced down at the obvious bulge in my trousers, and ground my teeth. “It’s ‘pitching a tent’, and yes. Yes, I am, thank you for noticing.”

Stupid dignity.

“No problem!” She said, and I could not decide whether she was honestly oblivious to my situation, or was gleefully trolling me.

“Wait a second!” I frowned, glancing sideways at her. “Most ponies don’t wear pants. How the hay is ‘pitching a tent’ a saying in Equestria?!”

In response, Luna simply shrugged. “How can a human be ‘hungry as a horse’? Who really knows the answers to these questions. Best not to ponder them too hard. Leads one to a headache.”

I glared at this obtuse evasion of what I felt was a very poignant question, all things considered. However, my mental anguish was brought to halt by Lyra clearing her throat. Ah, right. Mission for Best Princess, of course.

I turned back around and cleared my throat, looking down at Lyra in the most dignified manner I could, and she grinned up at me, in the most friendly manner she could. It took a minute or so, but I was finally able to get my mind out of the strange, back-alley gutter it had found itself in somewhere in the process of the preceding conversation, and back on track to the task at hoof. Er, hand.

Nah, ‘hoof’ works quite well.

“Lyra, you might not be surprised to know that this is about your. . . visitation, earlier. The nightmare you had.”

She blinked, looking at me, before she nodded, her mouth twisting awkwardly. “I might’ve guessed, especially with the Princess being here. What do you want to know?”

I stared for a second, glancing over my shoulder at Luna, who nodded to me. I looked back at Lyra, cleared my throat again and shrugged. “Well, uhh . . . What . . . What happened, exactly?”

She quirked an eyebrow and lifted a hoof to tap at her chin. “Well. . . I was dreaming, a perfectly nice, ordinary dream. The same one I usually have. . . .”

*Insert Twinkly Dream Intro Music Here*
Wh. . . why are you writing it down like?
What?! What do you mean? How else would I do it?!
Dude! Just, like, leave it to the anime angel!

. . . . . . . . . .
Show off.
Hehehehe!

Author's Note

Okay, well, this was awkward. The ending might feel a bit rushed, but that’s because this is only a bit over half of what I originally intended to write for this chapter. However, I was having difficulty getting it done on time, so I decided to end it here, and continue in the next chapter, so I could get the post made on time. Hope you all enjoy, and get ready for more Lyra in the next chapter! Oh, and feel free to let me know how I did with her, as it’s the first time I’ve ever written her! Until next time, ponies. Harmonia Resurgent!