Luna stretched her wings a bit, staring at the moonlit night sky. She had only raised the moon a few moments ago. A lot of thoughts stirred in her mind. She decided she would visit Shiera's dreams again. Hopefully, this time will be easier for her, as she finally knew who the dreams belonged to. And it should also be easier considering that they had just met earlier morning. Hopefully, being a familiar face and name will help her. If not, Luna knew not what to do in that scenario.

Luna took a deep breath, focused her magic, then entered the Dream Realm. The many doors of all the sleeping ponies of Equestria appeared before her, and as Princess of the Night, it did not take her long to find Shiera's door. She hesitated a moment, but only just a moment, before entering through the door.

The world was dark and shifting. Shadows formed and flickered about. Unworldly whispers echoed throughout the place. Luna glanced around, but did not see Shiera anywhere. "She must be deeper inside, then." Luna walked for what seemed like hours, but Luna knew it had really only been a few seconds. The flow of time was but an illusion in the Dream Realm, after all. Still, she frowned as she still did not see Shiera anywhere. The scenery around her had only mildly shifted. She now walked upon a bridge of cyan light, but other than that, everything else still looked the same. The bridge went ever upward, but did not seem to lead anywhere in the distance. "T'is odd. I wonder where is it she hides here? And what is the cause of these strange dreams?" she pondered aloud.

Just then, she noticed it.

A large shadow swam underneath the bridge. Luna readied her magic, assuming that the shadow was an oncoming nightmare. As Princess of the Night, she had more than her fair share of dealing with Nightmares. She was ready for whatever may come....

Large didn't quite describe the shadow beneath the bridge justly enough. It was huge, easily larger than any dragon or Ursa Major that Luna had ever seen. Still, she was used to the prospect of nightmares being larger than life, so she was ready for it.

That was, until the shadow emerged. It was a mangled beast that defied all laws of nature. It's pitch black body writhed and twisted in ways it clearly shouldn't have, even in ways that weren't even possible for a broken body to twist and writhe. It smiled at her with a maw of uncountable teeth. It's three long, twisted, spindly arms each ended in a clawed hand, but the number of fingers on each hand kept changing in no conceivable pattern. It had eyes, so many eyes, but also at the same time, it had none at all. The....Beast was so large that she swore it could swallow the moon whole.

Luna suddenly felt something primordial in her snap. A fear and terror she had never known swept through her body, and without even thinking, she fled as quickly as she could down the cyan bridge. She watched as the....Thing...swallowed up the other shadows and began rippling its way towards her. What scared her the most was that in some small part of her mind she recognized something. This was no Nightmare.

This was a Memory....

Luna was unsure how much time had passed by the time she regained her senses. Her body was still running, though the Thing was no longer chasing her, or even in sight for that matter. She slowed herself down to a trot, and began taking deep breaths to calm herself down. "T'is only a dream. This is Dream Realm. You are the Princess of the Night." Slowly her hooves stopped shaking, and once more she could walk with a calm demeanor.

She once more took a look at her surroundings, and noticed in the distance a familiar light grey mare with an iridescent mane of white. She was sitting with her back turned away from Luna, and her head looked only down at the ground beneath them.

"Shiera. I have come to talk with you," Luna said cautiously, slowly approaching the mare. Familiar whispers began to echo around her. Whispers that she recognized as Shiera's voice.

Stranger. A stranger is here. Do they belong? No, they do not belong. Remove the intruder? Remove the intruder...

"Shiera, be calm! i mean you no harm!" Luna pleaded.

RemovewhatdoesnotbelongRemovewhatdoesnotbelongRemovewhatdoesnotbelongRemovewhatdoesnotbelong.

The whispers began to encircle her, spinning around her, gathering like an increasing storm. Luna then a felt a force begin to push her away.

"Shiera, wait, it is I, Princess Luna!" she called out, hoping to reach the mare.

The voices suddenly stopped, as did the force that was shoving her away.

Princess Luna? I've heard that name....name....name....oh. Luna.... The voices whispered. Suddenly everything went quiet. The world flickered, and Shiera disappeared. Suddenly Luna stood upon a grassy hill with a gently breeze swaying the grass. Glancing around, Luna noticed a city off in the distance behind her, but in every other direction it was nothing but grassy hills and forests. The sky was forever frozen in an evening sky, just before the sunset. It was lovely. She could even hear the sound of chirping of birds. Were this any other dream or scenario, Luna might have found it all to be calming. But here, she only found it be even more unnerving.

It was then that a form appeared and approached her. Luna could sense that this was Shiera, but she did not appear as a pony. She walked on two legs, and seemed to be a creature of some relation to monkeys, though she had no tail and a lot less fur. Her hair was still the same snowy white it had been before, though now it was tied up neatly behind her. Luna also recognized that she was wearing armor, though it was relatively light, clearly made with mobility in mind. She also noticed the two familiar swords sheathed at Shiera's side. Shiera stood a few heads taller than Luna, and there was familiar regal air around her as she walked towards Luna.

"Luna? Why are you here? How did you get here?" Shiera asked curiously.

"This is a dream. I am the Princess of the Night, it is my duty to watch over the dreams of everypony in Equestria. Plus....i wanted to talk..." Luna explained.

Shiera frowned, "A dream? Hmm....oh...now i remember. I woke up in your world, and somehow got trapped in the body of unicorn....are you sure that's not the dream?"

"I assure you, that was all real."

"So your world is called Equestria? Strange...." Shiera asked as she took a seat in the grass, admiring the evening sky.

"Yes, but i have other things i wish to ask you. I've tried reaching before, but i couldn't. You kept blocking me somehow," Luna said, wanting to get some answers before it was time to wake.

"You have? And i did? Hmm....I don't recall anything of the sort. What is that you wanted to ask me?"

"The shadows from before, what were they?"

"Shadows? What shadows?"

"Do you not remember them? They seemed to be every where in your dreams before."

Shiera's frown deepened, her face almost scowling as she tried to think. "No, i haven't seen any shadows, at least nothing out of the ordinary, i'd say. But then again, i never remember my dreams. But still, i have no idea what you're talking about."

"What of the creature that i encountered earlier? I saw it. It was no nightmare. That....thing...was a memory. Something you have seen before and remembered. What was it?" Luna asked.

Shiera frowned, "I...It...it was....hmm....its gone. I can't seem to remember. It was there, and then it was gone...don't you hate it when that happens? You have a thought and it just leaves...doesn't happen often but when it does, isn't it just the worst?"

Luna frowned, it was clear she wasn't going to get the answers she was seeking. Not only that, but this Shiera before her was only an aspect of the original, not the core and center that she was searching for. "Shiera....Where's the real you? It's okay, you can tell me, i mean you no harm...."

The Shiera Aspect giggled, "I am the real me. See? It's me, good old, happy me!" she said as her form flickered revealing a much younger Shiera for but a brief moment, before flickering again revealing a slightly older Shiera dancing with a man whom Luna could only guess was Shiera's husband before it flickered back to the Shiera that had first greeted her.

"No, this is not you. You are just Shiera's Happiness. I know you are trying to protect her, but you need to let me in. I must speak with her. I told you, i mean her no harm," Luna urged in a calm and gentle manner.

The Aspect just smiled, flickering back into the form of a much younger Shiera, "Maybe next time. She's waking up now."

"Wait wh---" Luna didn't get to finish as she felt herself be pushed back into the Dream Realm, with the many doors that led to the dreams of all the other ponies of Equestria once again appearing before her. Luna stomped a hoof in frustration. "Why is this so difficult? Perhaps i should speak more to her while she is awake...hmm but i'd have to figure out a good time to schedule a visit to Ponyville first. I mustn't shirk my other duties as Princess of the Night."

With a frown, Luna began her usual routine of protecting the sleeping ponies of Equestria. She would definitely have a talk with Celestia about all of this. But that was for later.....

Author's Note

Sorry that this took so long! i had a busy schedule with Thanksgiving, and then i had relatives that were visiting so i wasn't able to post anything then. But, now here it is, i hope you enjoy it!