Luna stretched out in her bed languidly, looking as much like a cat as a pony as she worked out a night’s worth of stiff joints. Hopping down to the floor, Luna effortlessly lifted her brush from the nightstand and brought it over to begin brushing out the luminous, flowing mane that she’d gotten back just days before.

The indigo alicorn smiled into the mirror as she worked; she looked much more herself these days, though still only about the size of most ponies. Not large enough for Celestia to be comfortable, she was sure, but on her way.

Once she had finished preparing for the night, she left to start her rounds changing out the lavender. On her way past, she glanced up at the North Tower, where she could see flickers of lantern light, and smiled warmly. She made a note to check in on the two lovers when she began her other rounds.

Luna’s dream magic had begun working again at the same time her mane had regained its ethereal luster. She still continued her ritual of hanging fresh lavender every night, but it was a relief to finally be able to intervene directly when ponies had bad dreams. It was just best to keep down the amount of work she had to do in the castle, before she ventured out into the rest of Equestria.

Once she had finished with the flowers, she returned to her own chambers, settling in to her bed and closing her eyes to meditate. Shortly, her magic reached out to open the veil between worlds, and Luna’s consciousness slipped into the Dream Realm.

Within the starry void of the Dream Realm, Luna began strolling casually down the faintly glowing path that led through the passing dreamscapes. She glanced at Raven’s, a pleasant enough looking dream about being the co-judge along with Celestia at a baking contest. The next to pass by was the dream of Plover Brush, Raven’s sister, doubtless cuddled up with her big sister in the North Tower. Her dream, like those of so many young ponies in love, was rather more carnal in nature. Luna smiled smugly to herself, certain that Cadance couldn’t have done much better, and then moved along.

Fortunately, the dreams of Equestria seemed fairly calm. The land was still peaceful enough that, except for a few dreams about Nightmare Moon that would be too risky to interfere in directly, the worst she was finding were standard anxieties about life. Bills, relationships, class tests… those, she was certain, would pick up as the school year progressed. Nothing that required her intervention, though there were a few she could smooth over. Just before she could decide between a stallion afraid his wife was having an affair and a filly struggling between two different crushes, she heard a faint whimper off in the distance.

Like a flash, Luna was off, galloping across the starry skies towards the sounds of distress. Though slightly smaller than a full-grown pony, this was her Realm, and so she covered leagues of distance in the waking world with each hoofbeat in the dream. She raced past Ponyville, Detrot, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, all the way to Manehattan before she slowed down, starting to pay attention to individual dreams so she could find the single source of pain floating amongst teeming swarms of mundane dreams both good and bad.

The whimpering was louder now, a mare, afraid and in pain. Luna’s horn flared to life, and she blasted a path through the dreams obscuring her target. They swarmed off, like gnats fleeing a disturbed basket of fruit, and Luna leaped into the portal that remained.

On the other side of the portal, Luna found herself inside a closet, watching the scene in front of her. A grown earth pony mare, her coat orange and mane a rusty red, was curled up on a gargantuan bed that made her look like a filly. The impression was only made stronger by the towering stuffed toys surrounding her, each one easily the size of a grown manticore. A soothing voice crooned in a disembodied, sing-song voice in the darkness surrounding the bed.

Little filly pretty,
Let Daddy pet your kitty.
He knows you’re bad, he knows your sin,
But forgives you if you let him in!

Luna’s fur bristled as the tone became more menacing. A heavy hoof beat at the bedroom door, like thunder rolling through the night. The mare on the bed shivered and pulled her blankets up over her head, exposing her cutie mark, a simple bowl of soup emblazoned on her flank.

Little filly falling,
Your Daddy’s come a-calling.
Open the door, let him inside,
Or else he’ll beat your rotten -

”Enough!” Luna bellowed, the door to the closet bursting open as she sprang out into the room proper. With a powerful beat of her wings, she was on the bed next to the cowering mare.

“Oh no, nononono! I can’t have friends over!” She wailed under the blanket. “You’ve gotta hide, before -”

The main door, tall as the palace spire, slammed open as though it had been bucked in. On the other side, a towering, drunken, misshapen thing of a pony loomed tall into the night. A miasma of alcohol, cheap nachos, and musky arousal wafted into the room as the leering stallion stepped in.

“Wake up, Venus!” It crooned in a thunderous baritone. “Daddy wants to play!”

Luna glared up at the monstrous mockery of ponykind, and put a hoof gently on Venus’ withers. The Princess’ horn flared with actinic blue light, and the horror was gone.

In its place, on the floor, dwarfed by the bed and other furnishings, was the stallion himself, reduced to his normal proportions.

“It is safe, Venus. Look at thy tormentor for what it truly is.”

Reluctantly, Venus’ orange muzzle poked out first, then bright amber eyes, blinking in shock first at the lack of a monstrous stallion to torment her, and then at the blue-furred alicorn who was speaking to her.

“Wh-who are you?”

Luna winced internally; of course most ponies wouldn’t recognize her yet.

“We are Princess Luna, Sovereign and Protector of the Dream Realm. Thou hast nothing to fear in Our presence.”

“Princess?!?” Venus quickly scrambled out from under the covers, prostrating herself before Luna. “W-why are you here?”

“We are here because the Dream is Our duty, and thy fear called to us. As I said, Venus, look upon thy tormentor, now monstrous only inside.”

Venus crawled over to the edge of the bed as she was told, and looked down at her father, slumped over in a drunken stupor by the side of the bed. She looked back up at Luna, putting together what the Princess had told her.

“This… this is just a dream?”

“A dream of memories no filly should hold,” Luna confirmed, gently stroking Venus’ back and making herself speak less formally. “But know this; you survived what happened to you. You have come out of it stronger, no matter how hard that thing tried to break you. If it ever returns, just remember what it truly is, and remember that you are stronger than it could ever be.”

“I-I’ll try, Princess. Thank you, for saving me.”

“‘Tis Our duty, fair Venus. One which We have had to neglect for far too long. May thy dreams be pleasant for the rest of the even’. Go ahead, and leave this room and its terrors behind thee.”

With that, Luna dematerialized, returning to the Dream Realm proper, but not before making a few adjustments.

Venus, now properly sized for the bed and toys surrounding her, climbed out of bed and around the drunken memories that had tormented her. Curious, she stepped out into the light beyond her bedroom door, just beginning to hear the voices beyond it.

“Welcome, to the Twenty-Third Annual Canterlot Soup Celebration!” An announcer called out, as Venus passed into the pleasant dream beyond.

Back outside of Venus’ dream, Luna shook herself out. A thousand years gone, and still the deepest horrors of her realm remained. She started back towards the path home, staggering a bit as she did. Pausing, she closed her eyes to regain her balance.

”Surely thou did not think thy magic was up to such tasks without a cost yet,” she chided herself. At least there did not seem to be any other nightmares of that scale remaining for her to deal with tonight.

Standing tall, Luna opened her eyes again, picked another, easier dream to assist in, and went back to her night’s duties.

Author's Note

Unauthorized guest appearance by Venus Springs