It was a bright clear morning, and Twilight Sparkle sat at a shaded table outside Sugarcube Corner, looking at the pastry levitating before her face. "You know, these things are kinda weird when you stop to think about it."
"I know!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie from the chair opposite. "And I should know, I make 'em, after all."
"That you certainly do," Twilight agreed, turning the confection end-over-end. "The way the top of the pastry horn curls around into itself, you'd think there wouldn't be any way to fit the cream inside. But there it is."
"Oh there's a trick to it all right!" Pinkie said. "But it's a super duper trade secret! Mr and Mrs Cake would be ever so upset if I told anypony how we do it. They'd probably fire me. Forever!"
"Well, we certainly wouldn't want that, would we?" Twilight smiled, opening her mouth to take a bite of the delicious-looking glazed donut.
A brief flash of light behind her made Twilight glance back over her shoulder.
She turned.
She guessed that the flash must have been a reflection of the setting sun in one of the tiny windows, far below. The view from the cliff top where she stood was quite breathtaking. Ponyville was spread out like a tiny jeweled map beneath her. Looking out toward the horizon, past the Everfree Forest, she could even make out the gleaming spires of Canterlot in the far distance. She felt as though she could almost reach out her hooves and wrap the whole of Equestria in a loving embrace, just as the last warm rays of the sun seemed to be doing now.
"Whoo-ee! Quite a climb, ain't it?" Applejack rose into view, her wings beating rhythmically as she cleared the last few inches and settled lightly by Twilight's side. "Worth it for the view tho'. I love it up here. Feels like I have a mite more room to think, ya know?"
"I know just what you mean," Twilight said. "I feel just the same way when I look at the stars on a clear night. I feel as though I'm just a tiny speck in a great big world. A sprinkle on a cosmic donut."
"I prefer to think of it as a crumb o' sugar on a cosmic apple fritter, but I take your meanin'." Applejack chuckled.
Twilight tore her eyes away from the beautiful view, and gazed at the orange and blonde pegasus beside her. "I'm very glad we could share this moment. We don't get enough time to just talk, you and I."
"Well that's hardly my fault now, is it?" Applejack bristled.
"What? Wait, I didn't mean…"
"Ohhh no, now don't you go tryin' to backpeddle on me. Not now the truth is comin' out."
"Applejack! Please, I just meant…"
"I know very well what you mean! It's those darn books o' yours, ain't it? Fillin' your head with all that nonsense about science this, and history that. It's no wonder there ain't no room in there for honest hard workin' ponies like the rest of us!"
"But…"
"No buts! That's an end to it. I don't want to hear another word out o' you, Twilight Sparkle. Not now, not ever."
Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "Y - you mean," she stammered.
"I mean 'goodbye' is what I mean. Land's sakes, what do I have to say to get through that fuggy brain o' yours?"
Twilight couldn't take any more. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she put her head down and ran.
She raced down the street as far and as fast as her legs would take her. She didn't care where she was going, she turned left and right at alleyways and intersections whenever it felt right, letting her instincts guide her. It only mattered that she was running away. Only ever away.
Pony Joe was standing on the sidewalk, locking up his storefront. Twilight barely saw him in time to stop her headlong sprint.
"Whoa there! Easy, Twilight! Where are you off to in such a tearing hurry?"
"Oh, Joe! I'm so glad I caught you. I'm late! I can't believe I'm late, and I haven't even picked up the donuts yet." She glanced at the clock tower in the nearby square. Ten minutes before five. There was still time. Barely, but there was still time.
"You said you'd be here before five. It's almost six! I sold 'em already."
"What?"
Twilight looked back at the clock. Five minutes before six. "But that means…"
She paused. "Wait. Wait, hold on. This makes no sense." She looked away from the clock, and looked back again. Two o'clock.
She froze. "This means… This means I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming! I can't believe I've done it!"
Pony Joe grinned. "Well good for you Twilight," he exclaimed, slowly fading and turning grey.
"No! Wait!" Twilight gasped. "I can't wake up, not now… OK, keep calm, keep calm, there were instructions for this."
She concentrated, took a deep breath, and began to spin. She span, as fast as she could manage, until everything around her was a blur. She imagined with all her might the familiar street where she had just been standing. The cobblestones beneath her hooves, the smells of Canterlot, Pony Joe's face. She remembered, and she willed herself there.
Gradually she stopped her spinning. Pony Joe was looking back at her, right there on the sidewalk. She could hardly contain her excitement.
"This is so amazing! I'm dreaming, and yet I know it! That means I should be able to…"
She concentrated again, and hopped a few inches in the air.
She hung there, floating gently.
"YES!"
Pony Joe waved, as she began to glide slowly upward towards the clock tower.
"Hmm, I wonder how fast I can go?"
She tried to speed up, but it felt almost as though she was swimming. She experimentally flapped her hind hooves up and down, and found that it helped a little, but she was still only gliding along at a fast walking pace. "Oh well, I guess I can work on that. Now let's see…"
Her eyes took in the city she knew so well, albeit from an angle she had never quite experienced before. She stepped lightly onto the roof of the clock tower, perching next to the weather vane.
"If this works the way the books say, I should be able to control most aspects of the dream world." She thought of Fluttershy, standing on the roof behind her. She turned. Fluttershy was there, smiling.
"OK, so that works. I wonder if I can control what she does, too?" She concentrated again.
Fluttershy took a deep breath, filling her lungs, and yelled down at the crowded square, "I AM FLUTTERSHY AND I AM THE GREATEST OF ALL PONIES! LOOK UPON ME AND DESPAIR!"
As her words echoed around the city, Fluttershy simply stood there, still smiling benignly.
"Ohhhkay. Yep, that works too," Twilight laughed to herself. "Alright Fluttershy, thanks for your help. I'll seeya around!"
She began to spin once more. This time she thought of the night sky. The beautiful, star-filled, velvety night, and a quiet hilltop from which she might enjoy it.
"No, wait. Dream big, Twilight. Even better." She changed her mental image, removed the hill, and imagined floating up in the sky itself, amongst the stars.
She stopped spinning.
She stared.
Everywhere she looked, tiny points of light shone back at her, all the colors of the rainbow. Galaxies hung as if painted on fabric just out of reach. Nebulae drifted, cloud-like, their gossamer threads fading away into nothingness at the limits of her vision.
"Oh my Celestia," she breathed, "I could get used to this."
"Strange that you should invoke my fair sister at this particular moment," a soft, amused voice came from behind her.
Startled, she revolved in place and gasped as she came face to face with Princess Luna. Not the filly she had seen a few months before at the ruins of the Summer Palace, but a creature of heart stopping power and majesty. Her coat was the same rich midnight blue that Twilight had known, but she was now easily Celestia's equal in size. Her mane and tail were floating waves of deep blackness, like holes cut out of the fabric of reality. Innumerable tiny points of silver floated within, more dazzling even than the stars in which the two ponies now drifted.
And then there were her eyes. Her kind, mischievous, ancient eyes. Twilight could scarcely look into them, and yet when she dared, she could not look away. Two brilliant cerulean orbs, flecked with silver and gold, and reflecting every star around them like a million dancing fireflies.
"Welcome to my realm, Twilight Sparkle," the Princess smiled. "I am glad to find you here, although I will confess I am impressed that you have come so soon. I did not expect you for a few years yet."
"I… You expected me?"
"Why yes. I know that you have been experimenting with all the different forms of magic, under my sister's guidance. It's only natural that you would eventually find yourself here. But it's rare that one should make it this far on a first journey."
"This is just my own imagination talking, isn't it?"
"Come now, you have the tools, you saw for yourself. You are a scientist, are you not? Try a little experiment. You will not offend me."
Twilight understood. She concentrated hard, as she had with Fluttershy, and tried to imagine the Princess performing one of Applejack's line dances.
Luna did not dance.
But at least she laughed. "Oh good, very good. Thank you for not attempting anything more embarrassing. Your concern for my dignity is appreciated."
"It's really you?"
"In the flesh. Or not, " the Princess chuckled. "But yes, you are talking to me, and I to you. Do you understand where you are?"
"Well, I'm definitely still dreaming. I would imagine I'm physically still at home in bed. Or at least I hope so."
"Have no fear, you are quite safe. Your corporeal form is indeed safely tucked up under your covers in Ponyville. But your mind, Twilight. Your mind is free. You have entered the Dream Lands, a place older than Equestria certainly, and perhaps even older than the world upon which Equestria sits. My realm.
"Ponies come here each night when they sleep, but they rarely stray far. They may dream that they are floating amongst the stars, but they never venture far from the fringes of this world, merely peeking in from the outside.
"A select few, however, can learn to harness the dream, as you have. To control it. To explore. There is much for you to learn here, and there are dangers to be sure, but I keep a watchful eye over all my subjects."
"You mean like nightmares?" Twilight ventured.
"In a manner of speaking. Most of what ponies call nightmares are simply facets of their own imaginations, their subconscious minds toying with their worldly fears. But from time to time they will face true peril here, and in those moments I am with them."
"You can't save someone from a regular bad dream, then?"
"I could, but why would I? After all, without our fears, what are we? If I stopped a pony from experiencing a nightmare about failure, might she not lose her resolve in life? Might she not lose her motivation to strive for difficult goals, if she was not occasionally presented with the unpleasant alternative?
"No, I do not interfere with the mundane. But you have likely experienced my influence from time to time. You recall a dream of falling, for example?"
"The ones where you wake up just as you're about to hit the ground?"
"The same. Who do you suppose wakes you? You wouldn't want to stick around to see how the landing plays out, I can assure you."
Twilight shivered. "In that case, thank you."
"You are quite welcome. Now come, there is something I would like you to see."
Princess Luna reached out a hoof, and touched Twilight lightly on her shoulder. The view shifted, and Twilight found herself standing in a vast room, stretching away into the distance in all directions. And in all directions were books. Shelves upon shelves, row upon row, books beyond number. She wondered briefly whether perhaps the Night Goddess had taken her to her own personal heaven.
"This is the dream library," Luna explained. "Every volume you see here contains the dreams of a single being, and every single being that has ever dreamed has a book. Including you."
"So all the dreams I will ever have are here, written down, waiting for me to have them?"
"Not the ones you are yet to have. But all the dreams you have had in the past, yes. The books are written as you experience each dream. Including this one."
"Can I see?"
"That's a large part of why I brought you here, yes," Luna said. "Imagine a familiar old book. Something time-worn, large but comforting. Perhaps a meaningful book from your childhood. Something associated with a good memory."
Twilight thought for a moment. "Hmmm. Yes. My mother's old recipe book. It was one of the first books I ever learned to read. I still remember her handwriting, and the heavy pages. She used to read along with me when I was just a little filly, as she cooked dinner or baked cookies. I would try to help, but I think I mostly just got in the way. She seemed to love every moment, all the same."
"I'm sure she did. It sounds perfect. Hold a picture of that book in your mind. Feel its weight. Smell the paper."
"Alright." Twilight imagined the old black book, its pages dog-eared and well read, the cover slightly blotched with flour.
There was a soft pop, and a flash, and floating before her was the old cookbook. But in place of the flour and the handwritten label was a neat silver inscription: The Dreams of Twilight Sparkle, Pony of Equestria.
"Very well done, Twilight. That is your dream journal. It will record every dream for you, and you may come here to review it whenever you like. Simply will yourself here, as you were doing in Canterlot, and call forth the book. You should find it useful in your studies, and at the very least it will likely kindle some fond memories."
Twilight held the book with reverence. "It sounds like a really useful thing to have on hand, if I'm going to learn about dream magic!" She opened it and fanned through the pages, turning to the last one with writing on it. Sure enough, words were appearing neatly on the page.
"Best not to try to follow along in real time, dear. It can get a bit self-referential that way."
Twilight turned back a few pages. She had a brief pang of regret as she saw her conversation with Applejack, but then realized that her friend had been flying all along. "Wings? Really? Why didn't I notice that at the time?"
"You'll learn to pick up on discrepancies like that in due course, but to most ponies, realizing that they are dreaming will make them wake up. Ignoring all the strange things that are different in dreams is almost a necessity for a good night's sleep. You'll be surprised what your mind can get away with behind your back sometimes," the Princess smiled.
Twilight thought for a moment. "I have a question. Can I read anybody's dreams here? That seems a little, well, invasive."
"You are quite right. An individual's dreams are their most private and intimate possessions. They are not to be treated lightly. I am glad that you seem to understand that already. You would technically be capable of reading whatever you wished, but I trust you to resist that temptation.
"And bear in mind," Luna added with a wink, "that I am aware of everything that transpires in my realm."
Twilight blushed. "I'll keep that in mind, thank you."
"As I said, I trust you. But even family are forbidden from intruding upon each other's thoughts." Luna began walking towards one side of the library. "There are exceptions, however."
The Princess indicated a nearby shelf, carved more ornately than the rest, and in a lighter wood.
"These volumes are edited versions of the dream journals belonging to important individuals, intended for the benefit of students such as yourself. I compile them personally, and only ever once the dreamer has passed from this world. You are free to examine any of these when you wish. You might find a few names you have heard, and undoubtedly a few you have not. All of them contain valuable lessons.
"But now, alas, it is approaching time for us to take our leave. I have other business to attend to, and your night has almost run its course. There is one more thing that I would like to show you, before you go. Or, rather, something that I would like to give you. A gift, of sorts."
Twilight blinked "A gift? In a dream?"
"Yes," Luna said. "I hope you will visit me from time to time. You seem a very promising student, and while I do not wish to usurp my sister as your teacher, I would enjoy showing you more of my realm, and its workings. I would like you to have this."
There was another soft pop and flash, and a dark blue book floated in the air between them.
"This is a work of my own. Please read it when you have the time. It should answer some questions for you, and provide a few ideas for further areas of study. I hope you enjoy it."
"Thank you, Princess. I'm sure I will."
Luna smiled. "Good night, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you for spending time with me this evening. I hope I'll see you again soon."
The room began to brighten, and Twilight found herself trying to shield her eyes from the growing radiance all around. "Must I leave already? I've hardly even begun to explore!"
Luna's voice seemed distant, and strangely nasal. "What?"
Twilight couldn't see anything at all now, the bright light washing away the walls and shelves alike. "I've barely even arrived, and there's so much to see, so much to read!" she called, with a hint of desperation.
A voice came again, familiar, but no longer Luna's. "Twilight, what are you talking about?"
She blinked blearily, starting to adjust to the morning light flowing in through a nearby window, and found herself looking at the green and purple visage of her dragon assistant.
"Spike, what are you doing in the dream library?"
"Dream library?" Spike said, with a puzzled look. "Boy Twilight, I know you love books and all, but sometimes I think you take it a bit far. Anyway, breakfast is ready. Come on down when you've woken up properly."
He trotted away down the stairs, and it dawned on Twilight that she was in her own bed. She groaned softly. "Oh wow, that was quite a dream. I can't believe I actually achieved lucidity there. I wonder whether any of that Luna stuff was for real, or…"
She sighed, and rolled over in bed, but sat up with a start when her horn bumped against something solid on the pillow beside her. It was a dark blue book. She lifted it, and turned it so that she could see the front cover. In flowing silver script, she read:
Voyages in the Moonlight Realm: A Dreamer's Guide
by Luna
