Cinnamon took a deep breath, “I think I need… therapy.”

Luna stood silent, waiting for something more to be said, but he didn’t continue with anything. “Doth thou desire a recommendation? The Castle Therapist would not be here if her ability could be questioned.”

“Actually, if it’s not too much to ask, I was hoping you could help me.”

“Us? Art thou sure? Our methods are considered… unorthodox… in the current time.”

He shrugged, “You’ve helped me before so I trust you, even if it’s unorthodox. I’d rather not talk about the topic to castle staff.”

“Is that so? Then tell us what matter weighs heavy on thy mind?” She asked, walking past him and into her bathroom. Cinnamon turned to face her direction and could see her start brushing her mane.

“It’s about Celestia… I’m having a problem that involves her and I don’t know why.”

She glanced in his direction, “we require specifics Cinnamon, refrain from beating around a bush. What was the problem?”

“I… I froze up when I wanted to hold her. I don’t know why.”

She stopped brushing and turned to look at him through the open bathroom door. “Thy plight is confidence?”

He shook his head, “No… Or at least, I don’t think so... I don’t have an issue when it comes to… having relations with her-“

“Breeding,” Luna interjected.

“Uh… Yeah… but I can’t just hold her? If it was confidence, wouldn’t breeding her also be an issue if just holding her does?

She nodded and returned to looking at herself in the mirror while brushing her mane. “We see merit in thy concern. 'Twas wise to approach us of this rather than permitting it to fester and become worse. When thou attempted to hold our sister, did she take notice?”

“Yeah, she noticed.”

“Did she comment on it?”

“Yes.”

Luna brought a hoof up and gestured for him to continue, “Well? Do not keep us waiting, what did our sister say of it?”

“Well, she asked me what was wrong and I… well, I didn’t know why, so I may have… lied, which she called me out on.”

She paused brushing and looked at him through the reflection of the mirror, “It would be wise to refrain from lying to our sister Cinnamon.”

“What was I supposed to say? That I didn’t know?”

“Yes,” came a sharp reply, “ ‘Tis better to admit ignorance than to speak falsely. When thou becometh known for deceit, ‘tis difficult to change that perception. Aside that fact, we believe we can assist thee. Though, if we should take the time to assist; we require a favor as payment for our time.”

“A favor what kind of favor?”

Luna gargled mouth cleaner and spat it into the sink. She wiped her mouth clean with a small towel before exiting the bathroom. “During thy trial period to become our sisters consort, we noticed something that… concerns us. We seek permission to enter thy dreams and investigate the matter.“

He waited for more, but when nothing came, he gave her a confused look. “Is that it? Couldn’t you just do that.”

“Yea and Nay, when thy title became that of our sister’s consort, thy privacy must be unquestionable. We never wish for thee to question if we enter thy dreams or not. As such, we refuse to intrude on thy dreams without thy explicit permission unless our intervention is strictly necessary to dispel a nightmare.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I give you permission to do that. I also don’t mind if you enter my dreams afterward if you need something.”

She smiled at him, “We appreciate thy permission, however, ‘tis not as simple as that... Now, return to thy quarters to slumber. We shall enter thy dreamscape after we tend to a matter that cannot be ignored.”

Cinnamon entered Celestia’s room to find her already in bed, reading a book. She glanced in his direction when she heard the door open but immediately returned to her book when she saw it was him.

He proceeded to the bathroom to take care of the usual pre-bed business of brushing his teeth and using the bathroom.

“Did you get new teeth cleaner?” Cinnamon asked as he walked out of the bathroom and shuffled into bed with Celestia.

He received a small nod in affirmation, “Yes, a new brand some ponies made in the Crystal Empire. They call it Cool Mint; I am finding it quite nice.”

He forced an exhale to feel the odd sensation in his mouth again. “It’s like a small part of the Frozen North is in my mouth.”

Celestia smiled at the comment, “I could not have said it better myself. The advancements of my little ponies never ceases to amaze me. Did you know there are some Unicorns in Manehattan attempting to create a large flying carriage using a steam engine instead of Pegasus power?”

Cinnamon slid under the covers of the super comfy bed, “isn’t that just an airship?”

She nodded, “in essence, yes. Though, their idea for the ships propulsion system is… different. Something about gears and blades. Claimed it came to them in a dream with metal trains flying in the sky faster than any mode of transportation we have.”

“Sounds crazy… and menacing… and dangerous. Should they be doing that?”

She shrugged, “To be honest, I could not follow much of what they were describing since they themselves were not sure about the details of the contraption. However, I decided to allow them to use some fields on the outskirts of the city to do their tests.”

Cinnamon pulled the covers up to his neck and settled into a comfortable spot. He glanced at her with a curious look, “Think it will go anywhere?”

She flipped the page in her book, “I am not sure, though others appear to believe in the project. Last I heard, two old airships were donated to them to help in their tests. Coincidentally, this is exactly how Trains and Steam Engines were invented. A pony that had a dream.”

“Huh… well, if it works like it sounds, I hope I can see it working one day.” He tried and failed to stifle a yawn, “I’m going to turn in early tonight. Goodnight… Everbright”

A minute of silence passed before Cinnamon’s nerves got the best of him. “No?”

He heard her chuckle but couldn’t bring himself to look at her. “I do not wish to impose my thoughts on the pet name you wish to call me.”

“But I want you to like what I call you.”

He heard her book close and the sound of it being placed down on a solid surface. The bed shook a little with her movement before a white feather came to his chin and turned his head to face her lying beside him. “I appreciate your consideration but, if you desire to give me a pet name, I want you to like what you call me. So long as it is not My Sun or K.K.”

He gave her a confused look, “K.K.? What does that stand for?”

She gave him a small shrug, “It is one my faithful student Twilight informed me of. Her assistant Spike mentioned that Discord of all beings calls me that… Luna believes it to be short for Cup Cake which, given my fondness for sweets, would make sense.” She sighed, “But it is Discord; doing things that make sense is not something he does.”

“But… that’s C.C.”

“And is the only part of her logic that Discord would do; However, It feels far too… insignificant for him to bother with. Especially if he relied on a proxy to notify me instead of calling me that directly.”

He could only shrug in response. He’d only ever heard about the god of chaos and the mischief he achieved in the past, but he’d never met him before. “Maybe the power of friendship is really making him act better?”

She chuckled, “I suppose that could be... so… Everbright?”

He shook his head, “No… I liked it better when it rhymed but… doesn’t feel right.”

She giggled and leaned in to kiss him on the nose, “Do not force it, one will come.”

She draped a wing over him and they both drifted off to sleep.

Luna let out an exhausted sigh as she glided through the dreamscape. The night had been busier than she expected. The first and most surprising turn of events was her night court. Typically, she had a dozen Canterlot snobs attempting to circumvent her sister’s decision by proposing the same changes to her along with one or two ponies that couldn’t make it to day court to present their plea.

However, tonight she had nearly three hundred ponies show up for court. All of which couldn’t make it to day court… because it wasn’t open. Her sister took leave of her throne for lunch and instructed for the council to be assembled. Except, the only council member in the city today was Fancy Pants, who was going through a fertility medical procedure. When they couldn’t locate her sister to inform her of the situation, nor dare wake her from her slumber, the guard closed day court themselves.

A yawn escaped her mouth as she reached the Canterlot cluster of dream bubbles. She stopped by a few dreams that turned into nightmares since she first passed through, but she gave them a heavy dose of nostalgic magic instead of intervening in the dream. Unfortunately, this would only be a temporary fix, and she would need to properly solve the issues causing such nightmares tomorrow night when they inevitably return. However, she only had an hour to enter Cinnamon’s dream and converse with him before she needed to leave the dream realm and lower the moon. Not nearly the length of time she desired when she agreed to help him.

She flew with purpose, knowing exactly where his dream bubble would be. A few magical spells cast as she passed some other nightmares before she stopped at two bubbles relatively secluded from the rest but nearly touching each other. She was quite familiar with the one faintly radiating light as her sister’s dream, currently showing her laying on her back in a bright, green field peppered with flowers of all kinds of colors. Though she’s never needed to intrude to dispel a nightmare, she’s spent many nights talking with Celestia whenever she finished her dream duties early.

Then there was Cinnamon’s dream bubble nearly touching Celestia’s bubble in proximity. Though not nearly as familiar as her sisters, it was still uniquely noticeable compared to the rest of the bubbles due to two peculiar attributes. The first is the aura. Each bubble has a presence in the dream realm, leaving an impact on the plane. She could mentally feel each bubble around her to a certain distance. Cinnamon’s dream lacked this quality. Even as she placed her hooves under his bubble and gently lifted it to be level with her eyes, it felt like she was holding nothing.

The second trait, which annoyed her the most, is she could not peer into his dream from the dreamscape. The bubbles acted as a window into the owners dream. When nightmares occurred, It provided her with information on its contents before entering to help. Dreams on the other hoof, though Luna would never openly admit to it, could provide entertainment to a dull night or release to a pent up princess.

She peered into the dull grey of Cinnamon’s bubble and cast a spell to change whatever was happening inside into a lucid dream. She sighed when the contents of his bubble didn’t visually change.

She focused her magic through her horn, spreading to surround herself in her magic before being sucked into and enveloped by the dream bubble. When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing in a large circle of light from no source she could see and Cinnamon sitting in front of her. The rest of the dream was a black void.

She began walking toward Cinnamon, “Pardon our delay, our court ran longer than we expected.”

He stood up and gave her a confused look, “Delay? I just got to sleep and started dreaming.”

Hearing that caused Luna to pause in her step and mirror his confused look, “…Nay… We hath a mere hour before the sun is to rise.” Her expression changed into a stern glare, “Hath thou requested our aid only to spend thy night awake?!” Her royal Canterlot voice creating violent tremors in the dream around them, causing Cinnamon to lose his balance and fall on his ass.

She began to walk toward him once more, ”Had our court duties not delayed us, we would be waiting hours for thee!”

He looked up at her and saw the look of anger she was giving him. He instinctively backed away from her approach for a moment before his training stopped himself, “I didn’t! I went straight to bed when I left your room! I mean… forty-five minutes, tops!”

Magic swirled around her horn and shot upward into the void before colliding with something and spraying apart like a firework. The area around them changed from black to a light blue. She brough her head closer to Cinnamon’s and said in a low, gravelly voice; “Tell us precisely what occurred after thou departed from our chambers.”

“Uh, well, after I left, I went straight back to Celestia’s room…” He trailed off as the area around him changed once more, forming into one of the hallways of the castle and a second Cinnamon appeared, walking through it and glancing down the hallways he passed whenever he came to a junction. A few of the guards he passed saluted him and, not sure what to do back, returned an awkward salute back and earned confused looks from a couple of them. He made it to Celestia’s bedroom doors and stood frozen there.

Luna, who had turned her attention away from the real Cinnamon to watch the copy, glanced at him. “Proceed.” When she looked away, she added, “The guards salute to acknowledge thy presence being our sisters consort. Thou need not respond to it.”

“…Uh, well, I entered and Celestia was already on the bed reading..” He continued as his other self did the same. He gave every detail down to the taste of the tooth cleaner.

“Then I was here and you showed up.” The area around them faded from Celestia’s bedroom into darkness and an second image of Luna entered the area in front of a second image of Cinnamon sitting.

“ ‘Tis… ‘Tis not possible… Thou possessed hours to dream before we came to thee…” She sat down and gave an exasperated sigh, hung her head low and rubbed her temples with her hooves, grumbling to herself, “How can this be? ‘Tis nonsense.”

Meanwhile, Cinnamon watched on as Luna became lost in her thoughts. Frustration evident as her face turned into a deeper pout as time went on. He couldn’t help but crack a smile at the thousands year old princess making a face that reminded him of his school years.

She noticed the look he was giving her and froze. Her cheeks turned red before she shook her head and composed herself. As frustrating and confusing as the situation was, she wasted half her time over it. “Forgive us for the way we acted Cinnamon, such a situation… infuriates us. It does not excuse turning our displeasure unto thee.”

Cinnamon was at a loss of words, mostly due to not understanding the reason for her outburst. “it’s, uh… it’s ok.”

She shook her head, “Nay, we should have given the benefits of doubt to thee. Thou hath given us no reason to believe thou wouldst do this to us. The jumping to conclusions…” She looked down to her hooves, “… is something we are working to quit.”

“Then… apology accepted.”

She looked back up to him with a small smile “We thank thee. Now,” The room around them returned to a light blue color and two large pillows appeared between them. She took a step onto one and laid on it, pony loaf style, “let us finally come to why we are here. Thy concern with our sister. We shall require details of events leading to the incident.”

He took a seat on the empty pillow across from her. “Do you want the entire day or just the moments before the problem?”

“If we had the time, we would request for thou to recall thy day; however, we were delayed in court earlier this night and wasted much of our time on… ultimately, a pointless endeavor. Detailing the time before thy episode shall suffice for now. We shall dwell on what information thou reveals to us and, if necessary, request for more on another of our nights.”

He nodded in understanding, “Alright, well, she led me to a spa in Canterlot Mountain.” The world around them warped into the hallways of Canterlot Castle. Translucent forms of Celestia, Cinnamon were walking through, talking to each other. The mention of Stunclaw guarding them bringing her into the area as well.

Luna watched the vision unfold before here while listening to Cinnamon’s slightly broken account of events, but it didn’t matter to her. The vision would show what happened with sure accuracy. Talking about the Dragon stone, testing the waters and eventually to the impromptu cuddling session. That’s she saw the issue Cinnamon was worried about. Her sister was snuggling up to him and he was having trouble doing it back. Tia called him out on it and he struggled to explain what was going on. Then it all stopped moving. She looked to Cinnamon and saw he was finished with recounting the events.

“If you don’t mind me asking… what was that? It happened when I talked about going to bed too.”

“ ‘Tis a living memory. Recalling events is flawed; omitting facts whether it be on purpose or accident. It has the added benefit of catching lies, of which we are… less proficient to catch compared to our sister.”

“Was before to make sure I wasn’t lying? Or seeing what happened?”

“ ‘Twas a little of both… as we said, ‘tis something we are working to improve upon…”

“So, did you see anything that could be causing it?”

“Nay, while we now fully understand the event that concerns thee, we do not see the cause… so long as thou hath been truthful about breeding our sister.”

He nodded, “I am, I could tell you about our first time-“

He cut himself off when Luna started shaking her head, “Nay… we trust thou knoweth lying to us shall hinder finding the root problem. So we shall trust thy word.” She glanced at the stilled memory of her sister resting her head against Cinnamons chest. “We shall give it some thought, arrive to some ideas and return to thee to ask more questions.”

She stood from her pillow and hopped off it, “for now, we must depart. We wish to chew into our sister on her dereliction of duty before she wakes. We shall return to thee another night.”

“Dereliction of- wait, do you mean-“ but before he could finish his sentence, she was gone, leaving him alone on the comfy cushion.

“Well, I guess she’ll find out either way.”

He glanced over to the still image of Celestia resting on him and walked over to them. Sat himself on the ground and looked at the face of his other self, “What’s wrong with you?”

Author's Note

Let me know about any spelling errors!