She had been hesitant about returning to her duty. Ponies had gone with their dreams unwatched and unaided for a thousand years. In her absence, generation after generation had long forgotten what it was like to have somepony watching over them when nopony else could.
And the population! When Celestia had told her of the population boom and the extended life expectancy of the average pony Luna had felt many things. Elation at the ease of their suffering. Joy at the prospect of so many subjects in their kingdom. An overwhelming sense of responsibility at the thought of so many ponies in their care. How would she possibly watch over all of them?
But it came so naturally to her, the dream walking. Every new dream was another pony whose unconscious mind gained some much-needed rest. Every victory against some horrible illusory creature of the Dream Realm was a victory she cherished. She knew that if she stayed the course and fulfilled her purpose, she would be doing her duty to her subjects.
She had felt the familiar swell of magic once again that night, raising the moon over Equestria with a practiced motion of her horn. She had been at this for a while since her return from her imprisonment, and she enjoyed the sense of complacency. This was where she was meant to be. What she was meant to do.
She looked out over the rounded spires and ivory towers of Canterlot, watching as the lights went out one by one. She retreated from her balcony, slipping into her room where she would do her nightly duties. Another sense of magic flooding her very being and she was surrounded by darkness. But she was not afraid.
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The familiar starry scape of the Dream Realm surrounded her. She kept her ears and eyes open, watching the orbed windows of ponies dreams float gently around her. So far, everything seemed perfectly pleasant. She witnessed their dreams as their protector. One floated close and she recognized the dreamer.
“It appears Pony Joe is dreaming of some sort of…tropical paradise.” She smiled, letting the window float away. “It seems he could use a vacation.”
Another whisked gently by her ear. She nodded, recognizing this one too.
“And Upper Crust!” she smiled. “Why, that’s certainly a lot of foals running around her estate. I think she might have some news for Jet Set. Or…perhaps just wishful thinking.”
She looked around to the many windows into her subject’s dreams. So far, everything seemed peaceful.
She heard the voices of ponies dreaming, their laughs and chatting, no screams of terror or desperate cries for help. No nightmares quite yet.
Another window floated close to her ear, but oddly enough, in this one she heard nothing.
“A peaceful night?” she wondered aloud. It came into her line of sight and she saw the most curious sight.
In the portal through which she looked, she saw nothing but a single wooden door floating alone in a dark realm.
“Odd.” She said simply. The sight was not menacing, per say. But something about it called out to her in the strangest way. What pony might dream of something so…ominous?
With no nightmares to fight for the moment, she didn’t see any reason not to at least check in on this dreamer. Perhaps this would be a surprisingly nice deviation from her nightly routine.
She stepped into the portal, surrounded by the darkness. But she was still not afraid.
She trotted on an invisible solid ground to the lone door, finding the lack of distinctive features around her odd, but no more unsettling than the larger Dream Realm. As she reached out to open the door with her magic, she considered something.
Bringing her hoof to the wooden surface, she knocked. The sound echoed in her head and she waited for a response.
The silence filled her senses as she wondered who could, or would, answer her. It was only a door. She reached a hoof above the frame, met with nothingness. The same for all other directions.
What pony would dream of a door with no purpose?
“Oh!” a voice suddenly called from nowhere, ringing in Luna’s ears. It surprised her, she covered them with her hooves, a bit shaken. “Where are my manners? Come in, dear! Door’s open.”
Before she could question anything, the door slowly opened on it’s own, flooding the darkness with a warm light.
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She was suddenly inside what looked to be a cottage. She was surrounded by simple pleasantries: a comfortable-looking chair in front of a cozy fireplace, shelves of knick-knacks and baubles. A bookshelf stuffed with good-sized novels sat on one wall, with errant items in the empty spaces. She could smell a pie somewhere.
“Well, don’t just stand there, dear.” The voice chuckled warmly, but Luna still could not see it’s owner. Though it did have the most curious accent. “I’m in the back. Come say hello!”
Luna obliged, still curious. She stepped onto a plush, knitted rug and felt the fire’s warmth on her coat as she passed. She glanced out the small window on the other side of the room, seeing a dense forest just on the end of a beautiful meadow. Before that was a garden, lush and colorful.
“This is a lovely home you have.” She said to the voice, still making her way through.
“Oh, aren’t you a sweet thing.” The voice chuckled, and Luna noticed it sounded decidedly feminine. But she still couldn’t place the accent. “Come come, we’ve lots to talk about.”
She passed a rustic kitchen, spying the pie sitting to cool in a windowsill. It smelled heavenly. Luna tried not to indulge in too many treats in the Dream Realm, as it left her coming back to the Waking Realm with a painfully empty stomach. But they were always so delicious before she returned.
She entered a room on the end of the house.
A mare sat at a loom, working away at a piece with many colors. Her workspace was stuffed with shelves, and sitting upon them were threads of every color Luna could imagine. They were of many different varieties and something about the sight put Luna at ease. It was so…involved. This mare was very serious about her trade. Even in her dreams she simply worked on her loom.
The mare herself was a pale grey, with a fiery red mane with wild curls that threatened to spill out of her casually done up-do. She stopped her work, checking over a few details and nodding before spinning her stool around.
Luna was met with the face of an Earth Pony with freckles and pale brown eyes. The mare smiled at her, and Luna found herself oddly charmed. She wore a knitted shawl around her shoulders that matched her cozy environment.
“Oh, come now.” The mare smiled gently, reaching out a hoof. “Come here for a proper hello. I don’t bite, promise.”
Luna blinked, thrown by the familiarity but still feeling very welcomed. She shook the offered hoof.
“Princess Luna, I presume?” she chuckled warmly. “I’m Weavy. Come, make yourself at home. I’ll put the kettle on.”
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Time didn’t mean much in the Dream Realm, so Luna let herself enjoy this bit of leisure. She sat on a comfy sofa opposite the chair by the fire with a hot cup of delicious tea. She didn’t recognize the blend, but the new world she lived in often gave her lovely new surprises.
“Are ya sure I can’t offer you a slice of pie?” Weavy called from the kitchen. “You’re a bit of a skinny malinky longlegs, ya are.”
“A…no, I’m fine, thank you.” It was perplexing Luna with every word this mare spoke. “Pardon me if it’s an intrusion, but…I can’t quite place your accent.”
“It’s no intrusion at all, dear.” Weavy laughed, coming back to the living room with a slice of pie in one hoof. “Trottish. And you’ve got a bit of one yourself, no? Old Equestrian?”
“Yes, that’s right.” She blew on her cup, taking a sip. “I’ve never met a pony from Trottland.” And it was true. The country had formed during her banishment, and there hadn’t been any reason to travel now that she was free. Not to mention she didn’t socialize as often as she should. Not that that bothered her any.
“Issat so?” she smiled, holding a fork in her fetlock and getting a bite.
Luna looked at the mare across from her, studying her face. It was almost…strange. Weavy was by no means old, but she was wizened just in the slightest. But her face held a youth to it that gave her a certain energy about her. She looked like a mare who had lived a good life but had worked most of it. She had just the slightest bit of thickness to her barrel, pleasantly plump from a comfortable living, but strong from working with her hooves. They seemed dexterous in a way seen frequently in craftsponies.
“You’re a starer, you are.” Weavy grinned, and it made Luna tense with embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to leer like an empty-headed teenager. Weavy smiled at her, waving her hoof dismissively. “Don’t mind me none, dear. I’m only teasin’.”
“I apologize.” She sat up straighter, hoping to regain some of her regality. “I sometimes find myself lingering in my own mind longer than one should.”
“Never mind that.” Weavy took another bite. “I will say though, it’s quite a treat to finally meet you, Princess.”
“Oh?” Luna hadn’t met a “fan” since her Nightmare Night outing to Ponyville. “Did you have any plans once you did? I hate to disappoint, but anything I sign here won’t exist in the waking world.”
“No, dear.” She chuckled, looking at Luna warmly. “I’ve just been itchin’ to meet the pony that’s been muckin’ about in my business.”
It was a tone that gave Luna pause.
Weavy hadn’t lost her kind look, but her words were undercut by a note of…annoyance? Luna blinked at the mare, slowly setting her cup of tea on the low table between them.
“I’m…sorry?” she asked, thoroughly confused.
“Apology accepted.” Weavy smiled. “I hope you didn’t take it too hard.”
“Take it…I’m…” Luna was lost. “No, I meant that I’m…not quite sure what you mean?”
“It’s simple, dear.” She took another bite of pie, looking quite pleased with the taste. “You.” She pointed the fork to Luna, still smiling. “Have been stickin’ your hooves where they have no business bein’ stuck. Rootin’ around for a plum in a Hearths Warming pie, practically.”
“I beg your pardon?” Luna laughed, confused and oddly on edge. This was taking a turn but Luna had no idea why or where.
“Okay. I’ll lay it out as best I can.” Weavy sighed, setting her plate on the table. “I take a lot of pride in my work. I’m very good at what I do, and I’ve been doin’ it for quite some time. You saw my loom. All my thread? I spin that myself, I do. And every time you go flittin’ in an’ outta pony’s heads, “fixin’” things, you make a horrible snag. I’ve had to throw out perfectly good work thanks to you. Poor Mister Trunkers has been gettin’ fat off it.”
“Maester…who?” Luna said, so much more lost. “I’m sorry, I have never…met you before, I’m quite certain. How can I be disrupting your weavings?”
“…You have no clue who I am?” Weavy blinked, sitting back in her chair. “Really and truly?”
“Not in the slightest, I assure you.” Luna knew it was impossible to get a headache here, but she still felt the need to breathe and rest her head.
“Oh, well then, seems a proper introduction is in order.” The mare reached a hoof across the table to Luna, smiling brightly. “Greetings to you, Princess. I’m the Dreamweaver.”
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“The…dreamweaver?” Luna blinked again, feeling rather uneasy. “I don’t understand.”
“I, that’s me.” She pointed at herself. “Weave, with my loom. The dreams, what you’ve been floatin’ around in, what you’re in right now. What’s not to understand here, lass?”
Luna realized something, sighing and laughing with relief.
“Oh! I am embarrassed!” she sunk into the couch, smacking her head with a hoof. “This is a dream, of course! You’re a dreamer!”
“Dream…weaver.” She spoke plainly, tilting her head. “Ain’t a princess supposed to be learned and all that? Least learn to listen, they should…”
“You dreamt a lovely home.” Luna said, taking another sip of the tea. “But at the end of the night, it can all be such nonsense. I tend to forget once I’m inside that it’s all so inconsequential.”
“N-…nonsense!” Weavy sputtered, getting up from her chair. “Inconse-…Ooohhhhh! You!” she narrowed her eyes and pointed at Luna, who seemed much more relaxed. “You! I’m gonna get something! Don’t you move a muscle! Oooohhhhh…”
She exited momentarily, stomping her hooves a bit as she retreated to the back room. She came back with a length of weaving in her hoof, shaking it at Luna as she sat back down.
“Look what you’ve done, just yesterday!” she held it at it’s length in both her hooves, laid out like a precious tapestry. It was a beautiful piece, colorful and meticulous, but about three-quarters through it, there was an ugly snag and separations in the threads, ruining it completely. The end looked to be cut hastily away with some angry-looking scissor work.
“My goodness.” Luna looked at it, sipping some more of the delicious tea. “What happened there?”
“You!” Weavy growled, clearly annoyed. “You happened, ya doaty filly!”
“Oh?” she set her cup down again. “You’ve been dreaming of me ruining your work? That is curious…perhaps I was needed here after all.”
Weavy sighed, folding the piece once, eyes still narrowed.
“Here!” she tossed it, and Luna caught it in her magic. “Don’t just float it about! Touch it! With your hooves!”
Luna decided to oblige, hoping her gentle treatment of the work would set Weavy’s mind at ease.
As soon as her hooves touched the weaving, she was no longer in the cozy home by the fire. She was watching a scene from above, a scene that seemed oddly familiar.
A stallion was tearing out of a wooded area, chased by a giant, snarling timberwolf. Luna recognized where she was. It was a nightmare she had intervened in just the night before. Surely enough, her past self descended from a portal in the sky, blasting the creature to wooden bits with her magic. The stallion turned back, cheering and thanking her.
Then, she was back. The fire was still warm on her coat and her tea was still steaming ever so slightly. In her shock and confusion, she threw the weaving back at the mare, who caught it with ease.
“Why in Equestria do you have…And it’s…”
“I. Am. The…?” the mare pointed to herself with a raised brow.
“…Dreamweaver.” Luna said, barely audible.
“There she goes!” she was smiling again. “Was wondering when you’d finally get it!”
“No…this is impossible.” She shook her head firmly. “Dreams are the subconscious mind working away in a pony’s sleep to process-”
“Gobblety-gook!” Weavy shouted, waving it off with a huff. “Absolute havering, it is!”
Luna, in all her immortal days, had never heard of a pony…weaving dreams. She had lived for countless moons but nothing of the sort had ever crossed her path.
Before she could say anything further on it, movement caught her eye. Out in the garden, something was walking out of the tall grass and towards the house.
“What is out there?” Luna demanded. She barely knew what she was dealing with here in this place. Something new might set her off in the worst way.
“Calm down.” Weavy spoke, her voice commanding. “It’s only Mister Trunkers comin’ in for supper.”
She heard something enter through the back door. Luna was tense, but Weavy seemed just fine. And traipsing into the living room like it owned the place was a creature…unlike anything Luna had ever seen.
It was the size of a large dog, but a dog was the farthest thing from describing it, save for the folded ears. The creature was blueish-grey and covered in lighter spots, with curled reddish mane and tail like Weavy but closer to a lion. At the end of each of its legs were massive paws like a large cat. Most curiously, it possessed a trunk and a curled pair of tusks that jutted from it's mouth. It looked up at Luna with beady yellow eyes before snuffling at Weavy.
“I know, I’ve got something right here for you, ya great beasty.” She tossed the ruined weaving to it and the creature snapped it out of the air, settling next to the chair to gnaw at it like a dog with a bone. “That’s a good Mister Trunkers.”
“What in Equestria is that?” Luna said, keeping her voice low, not taking her eyes off of the creature.
“Don’t rightly know.” Weavy shrugged. “He came by the house so long ago, seems like he’s always been here. Some kinda dream-eater, he is. Likes to snack on my leftover work and he’s housebroken, so we make a good pair. As long as he’s got a full belly, he won’t go chompin’ on the sofa.”
“…It eats the furniture?” Luna was just talking at this point, trying desperately to understand anything that was happening.
“The furniture’s made by my loom, same as everything you see.” She beamed at her work. “Well, everything ‘cept for the books. I work with what creatures know and some studious types like to dream of books. So, I pluck out a copy here or there.”
“But this is a dream.” Luna emphasized her words, oddly worked up. “In the realm, I am a dream construct with my magic intact! What’s to stop it from eating-”
“You?” Weavy laughed. “Nothin’ in particular, I suppose. Just stay on his good side, tell him he’s a handsome boy.”
Luna felt exhausted. Her eyes drifted to the work the creature was chewing on.
Then, it hit her.
“No…” she whispered, and Weavy’s ears perked up.
“What’s on your mind, dear?” she smiled.
“You!” she pointed a hoof at Weavy, trembling with anger. “I give my entire being, night after night, to fight against what that beast is chewing on currently!”
“Yes, go on.” Weavy nodded blankly, taking a bite of pie.
“It is my purpose, my destiny! Fighting against the nightmares plaguing pony’s sleep has been my reason to live for centuries! And you, if you are the “Dreamweaver” as you so claim, that means that you are the source!!”
“Oh, look Mister Trunkers.” Weavy grinned impishly down at the creature, who looked up with the nightmare still in his mouth. “She’s gotten wise to me.”
“Reprehensible cur!!” Luna flew off the sofa and hovered above it, looking down at the mare. “Loutish monstrosity!!” She charged her horn, ready to attack or defend.
The beast rose to its paws, growling menacingly. It stepping forward with it’s head low and letting out a ghoulish hiss.
“Hey now, that’s enough of that.” She smacked the beast on the trunk lightly, disorienting it. “And you! Quit scarin’ him and sit back down. You’re a princess. For pity’s sake, show a little decorum.”
The mare tapped her hooves together twice and Luna’s magic fizzled out. She lost altitude suddenly and fell back to the couch. Stunned and angry, she pointed a hoof at her.
“You disabled my magic!” she scowled, a sliver of fear working it’s way into her mind.
“Only ‘til you’ve calmed down.” Weavy said with a raised brow. “One should mind their manners in another’s home.”
“What do you want!?” Luna demanded, glowering.
“I very much want to have an adult conversation with you, Princess. And not the fun kind.” She smiled, eating the last of the slice of pie. “Now, let’s talk turkey, how ‘bout?”
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The Night Princess sat, wary of the two creatures in the room. “Maester Trunkers” was staring at her, no doubt waiting to see if he was needed to defend his master. A long tongue slithered out of his mouth and lapped at the spot on his trunk where he’d been whacked. The sight made Luna grimace. Weavy leaned over with her head tilted, looking to enter Luna’s line of sight and get her attention. Once she had it, she smiled again.
“Sorry he got hissy with you.” She laughed. “He’s a good boy, most of the time.”
Luna did not feel like joking at the moment. She wanted answers.
“Why would you make nightmares!?” she raised her voice, eyeing the tensing beast before calming enough to be somewhat civil. “Why would you create such horrible things that plagues my subjects night after night?”
“The thread turns into many things.” She shrugged, so casually that it upset Luna more than she was willing to admit. “Dreams of inspiration, dreams of realization…Occasionally it weaves into something a bit more naughty, but I don’t choose that either.”
Luna’s cheeks bloomed with warmth, but her scowl stayed. The mare was still being impish, much to her annoyance.
“Stop trying to distract me.” She commanded, narrowing her eyes. “Answer my question. Give me a reason I shouldn’t bring my nightly problems to a permanent end.”
“What, by killin’ me?” she smiled, looking rather amused about it. But genuinely so, not taunting Luna, as far as she could tell. “You’re welcome to try, I suppose. But get ready for a whole lot of nothin’ out there.”
“See, I make all the dreams.” She leaned in, like she was delivering some big news. “Every single one, good or “bad”. And not just for pony-folk. You’d be stopping dreams for every thinkin’ creature in the world. And I think that’s a wee bit out of your jurisdiction, innit? As I recall, your sister an’ you had to put it in the new treaties with the dragons, griffins, zebras, even the yaks that you weren’t welcome in their heads. They don’t much like pony princesses pokin’ around in their nightly business. And they deal with their nightmares just fine, don’t they Luna?”
“Princess Luna.” She corrected her, not willing to lose face, even in a dream. This mare was no friend of hers to be calling her Luna so casually.
“See, that’s the part that gets me.” Weavy laid out on her back over the arms of the chair, her head hanging off the side, still looking at Luna. “If you were just some filly, I could give you a stern talking to and a mug of cocoa and send you on your way, simple as that. But you? You’re important. And I thought I got a break a while back when you up an’ disappeared for a thousand years. Nopony was stickin’ their hooves in my business for a good, long time. But you came back, and you went right back to it. Mister Trunkers was fit as a fiddle, getting only the end trimmings. Now look at him! He’s so round!”
The beast yowled at her, ending in a quiet trumpet from his trunk.
“It’s true!” she threw up her hooves from her upside-down position. “You’re still my handsome boy, but you need to run around the meadow every now and again. If you make yourself sick on nightmares, I’m not gonna be the one rolling you to your bed.”
He chuffed at her, lying back down.
“So. I’m supposed to just allow you to continue to literally haunt my subjects in their sleep?” Luna scowled some more. “How can I go on knowing that I exposed them to that and didn’t even try to stop it?”
“So serious…” Weavy sighed, sitting up properly. “Look, did you ever stop to consider that ponies, and other creatures for that matter, need nightmares? Ponies need a release for all the terrifyin’ things in their heads. Their worries and anxieties need a place to get played out and worked through where consequences can’t touch them. If you choose the wrong way to deal with a worry in a dream, who cares? Do that in the waking world and you got things like broken friendships, broken hearts, no wiggle room at all.”
Luna was not convinced but the words of this mare made sense to her, unfortunately.
“You have me here, in your home. Your realm. You’ve made it quite clear that I’m considerably outmatched.” She said bitterly. She’d yet to run into a foe in the Dream Realm she couldn’t defeat. “I’ll ask you once more. What do you want? From me?”
“You, at least once a night, every night, destroy my work.” Weavy gave her a fixed look. “Did ya ever stop to think that what you do is just a wee bit…invasive? I’ve seen you swoop in every time and just solve the problem, blast the monster, tell your ponies what they should and shouldn’t be doing and then you’re on your way.”
“It is my duty as their princess.” Luna told her, standing firm. “Why should I not do everything in my power to protect them?”
“I don’t care about you protectin’ them, dear.” She smiled gently. “I’m rather okay on that bit. You have your sense of duty and that’s all fine and dandy. Just…like I said, ponies need a chance to work out what they're afraid of, and why. If you just…I don’t know. Used a gentler touch? Then the dreams wouldn’t get quite so snagged and ruined like they are. You wouldn’t even have to show up if you didn’t want to. You could just use your magic to influence how the dreams flow to the best outcome. It’d flow right alongside my thread and we’d both get what we want.”
Luna sat, muscles tense and her eyes low to the floor.
“…Ooohhhhhh…” Weavy sighed. “Except…that’s not what you want, is it?”
Luna said nothing, too angry and silently ashamed. Weavy got in her line of sight again, smiling gently.
“You want to be the big hero, don’t you?” she looked sympathetic, but just slightly too condescending for Luna’s taste. “Bustin’ in and beatin’ up all the baddies and givin’ the ponies a chance to love you.”
“I do not do what I do for my own gain!” Luna shouted, her wings flared in a defensive position. “I am Luna, Princess of the Night and Protector of the Dreamscape! I need no adulation from my subjects to do what I do.”
“It’s fine, dear. No need to lie to me.” Weavy shook her head gently. “I’ve made all of your dreams too.”
It hadn’t occurred to Luna. All this talk of nightmares and dreams hadn’t applied to her personally until that very moment. She was a pony at her core, who dreamed during the day while her subjects rose to greet the sun.
“I’ve seen what you’re all about, Luna.” Weavy had dropped her title again, but Luna felt too small and exposed to put up a fight about it. “When you were just a tiny thing, you dreamt of simpler things. Presents on Hearth’s Warming Day, teatime with your friends…But you were suddenly royalty, and your dreams were muddled with anxiety and envy. Ponies dropping roses at your hooves only to abandon you the second your sister walked by.”
“I get it.” Weavy stepped over to Luna and put a hoof under her chin, tilting her head up to meet her eyes. “You do so much for them and when they thank you, it feels nice.”
“A princess cannot act so selfishly…” Luna muttered, shame burning on her face.
“It’s not selfishness.” Weavy said firmly, touching Luna’s cheek gently. “All creatures want to be admired and praised, even if they’re too stubborn to admit it. That doesn’t make them monsters.”
Luna still couldn’t bring herself to really believe any of it. Weavy took Luna’s hoof in her own and smiled, helping her off the sofa.
“C’mon princess.” She laughed, nudging her side with a wink. “I’ve got somethin’ special for ya.”
In the weaving room was a small cabinet, Weavy pulled a woven basket from it and set it out in front of Luna. Inside was a folded pile of weavings, in many different colors and patterns.
“What nightmares are these?” Luna asked, eyeing the basket’s contents. “They look perfectly intact.”
“Not nightmares, dear.” Weavy sat down next to Luna, nudging her again. “Dreams. I had Mister Trunkers go and recollect these ones after they were dreamt. I don’t usually do it, but these ones seemed important. I knew you’d be comin’ by eventually so I gathered these up for you. Go on now, take a looksee.”
Luna couldn’t help but admire one of the mare’s intact, finished products. They were intricate and beautiful, and she almost felt guilty for ruining them. Almost. She picked up the first one with her magic and set it down into her own hooves.
A dream of Luna in a floppy sun hat, attending a tea party with a filly she didn’t recognize. The were laughing and having a wonderful time. When she came back, she looked at Weavy with wide eyes.
“Are these…” her voice was so quiet Luna was afraid she hadn’t heard her.
“Dreams about you.” She smiled. “Go on, there’s more.”
Luna in full armor battling a mighty army. She gave a rousing speech and led her troops and one loyal general to victory.
Luna soaring over the streets of a town she’s never visited, new stars created in her wake and a gangly teenaged earth pony filly flying alongside her.
Luna showing up to the birth of a new foal, the mother asking for her blessing.
Even Luna looking somewhat monstrous, battling shadowy figures in a foals bedroom, receiving a hug from a grateful tiny colt who needed somepony to protect him. She was scarier than anything that could hurt him.
She looked through them all in silence, her emotions threatening to spill over. When the basket was empty, she looked to Weavy, who smiled and touched her face again with a gentle caress.
“Luna.” She spoke, her voice soft and comforting. “They already love you. You don’t have to try so hard.”
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Luna sat on the sofa again, this time indulging in in a slice of pie, if only to ease her mind. It was delicious, of course. And it was gooseberry, her favorite.
“Alright, now that we’ve had ourselves a good cry and a good pie, we can talk.” Weavy chuckled, sitting in her chair once more, patting Mister Trunkers on the head. “I think I’ve come up with a compromise that you’ll find fair.”
“I’m prepared to hear your terms, Dreamweaver.” Luna nodded, trying to remember all of her diplomatic etiquette. The mare laughed, snorting a bit. Luna, having lost most of her ill will and mistrust of her, found her actions once again eccentrically charming.
“It’s funny to hear it said all serious like that.” She sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. “Alright now, here’s how I think it could go. You give the “gentle touch” thing I mentioned a go, just help ponies through their problems without solving it for them. You can still be their hero, if you’re so inclined, that hasn’t changed none. And I won’t mind if you use your magic to stop any of the really nasty nightmares, every now and again. Mister Trunkers will get a good snack from time to time, he loves the scariest ones the most.”
“Of course.” That sounded favorable to Luna, who still knew of the horrors lurking in the dreams of ponies. “And in return?”
“I wouldn’t mind if you came by to visit every now and then, for tea and a nice chat. I don’t get much company, save for Mister here…and that damned Sandman. Always comin’ in whenever he pleases, hokin’ around in the fridge...”
“Sand…what? Actually, never mind.” Luna shook it off, not sure if she wanted to know. “And that’s all you wish for? Both of those ends lead to me doing something in your favor. What will you do for my benefit?”
“Oh, do you hear that Trunkers?” she cooed to the odd beast, batting her eyelashes at Luna before waggling her eyebrows in an exaggerated fashion. “She wants to discuss our benefits.”
Luna stiffened, her whole face going hot.
“But that…I didn’t mean to imply-”
She saw Weavy trying to contain a laugh behind her hooves. Luna’s feathers ruffled, puffing up in embarrassment. The indignities she suffered in the name of good will…
“And with that, I think it is about time I take my leave.” Luna rose from the sofa, trying her best to look composed. Weavy stood up to see her out.
“If you would return my magic please?”
“Oh, I did that ages ago.” Weavy waved a hoof, and sure enough, Luna felt her magic again as if it had never left. “And, if we’re bein’ honest, I never really took it away. I just made you think I did by tweakin’ the threads a bit. I wasn’t too keen on getting blasted in the face, mind you.”
“Yes, well…” Luna felt an embarrassed smile creep onto her face. “It was nice to meet you, Weavy.”
“Well, aren’t you sweet.” Weavy gave a bright smile. “Nice finally meeting you too, Luna. You ever want to stop by, just call for Mister and he’ll show you the way.”
“I…believe I will.” It seemed through all the…oddities, Luna had managed to make a new, interesting friend. “Despite everything, this was a fascinating encounter. You’re a very interesting pony, Miss Weavy.”
“Hm?” the mare blinked, before her eyes flashed with understanding. “Oh, pony. Right, I almost forgot about that bit.”
Before Luna could ask what she meant by that, the door opened and the warm light surrounded the two of them, and Luna was unafraid.
“Haste ye back, bonnie lass. She’s pure braw, that one. Int she Mister?” Weavy’s voice echoed into the void, still kind and soft.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ☽ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Luna returned to the Waking Realm, with an atrociously empty stomach and a confused look on her tired face.
“What was that mare even trying to say?” she mumbled, shaking her whole body in an attempt to stay awake until she could eat breakfast. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that accent.”
She headed for the private dining area she and Celestia shared, drowsy but eager to relay what she had seen to Celestia. She had a newfound fondness for what awaited her once she rested her weary head.
“What kind of dream will she weave for me?”
Author's Note
Luna meets an interesting mare. is Weavy really sweet on her or is she a bit of a trickster? i'd be neat if she was, luna might've found herself an immortal gf. plus for once, she wouldn't be the older half of the relationship. Rated T for eyebrow waggles.
i think Weavy, in her kindness, might've created a "universe" in which Luna never created the Tantabus. Luna knows somepony i watching over her own dreams now, can't start with that self-loathing with an audience, now can she?
i don't know why i made her scottish, i really don't but i think it adds to her charm. if i used any of the scottish bits in the wrong way i'm sorry. this is for any translation, if you didn't already do it. i kept trying to figure out how "Mister" would sound in that accent, and funnily enough the internet said it would sound like "Maester" (may-ster). Luna thinks his name is "Maester Trunkers".
to clarify, Weavy is not a human, or a figure from human mythology. she is entirely based in Equestria, but does get visited by odd figures from other universe's Dream Realms. (note, i have never read neil gaiman's Sandman, so this is more a traditional sandman figure) what she "really is" might be saved for a sequel, if people like this one-shot. but i don't expect her to be very informative on that front.
Here she is:
Mister Trunkers is a baku, a japanese mythological creature that eats dreams and nightmares, and i based his description on this art i found while trying to picture him. i like the idea of baku that are cute little tapirs too, but it's not very accurate to the mythology. Mister Trunkers is cute to Weavy but probably nobody else. Additionally, i do not know if baku can talk, but now i'm imagining Mister opening his mouth and a grown man's voice says something in japanese and Weavy's has no clue what he's saying. comedy gold.
