Dreamscapes and a Slice of Life
The Dream Wolf and the Princess of the Night
By
Veestormcourage
“Remember this day, little ponies, for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night shall last forever!”
This was the ultimate expression. Ages of bitterness that grew slowly, dangerously, culminated into a despair that would make itself known to all of Equestria. She would show them all, and teach them all why the night's beauty lay in melancholy, and the nightingale's song so sad. If her sister considered her a petulant child, so be it.
***
Luna stood on the balcony, staring blankly out over Canterlot. It had been another long day, plagued with nightmares. But now it was nearing sunset, the perfect time for some breakfast. If she were lucky, she would catch her sister in the middle of dinner. Meal times were about the only moments the two got to spend together. There was comfort in company.
She gauged the distance to the ground lazily, interested finally sparking briefly in her eyes. She sprang over the railing with ease. She held her wings close, plummeting down, before snapping them out at the last instant to slow her descent, landing with an easy grace. She flicked a few strands of her pale pthalo blue mane out of her face with some annoyance. Once her powers recovered, she would never have a bad mane day again. For now, she had to simply show patience until she resolved the issues blocking her power.
“My little sister! So good of you to join me this evening,” Celestia greeted her warmly. She sat with a cup of steaming tea before her, half-finished salad nearby. “I was worried I might actually review these proposals if you didn’t show up soon,” she added with a chuckle, gesturing to a pile of papers.
Luna responded with a roll of her eyes. “Indeed, sister. Have I not told thee that I am more than willing to attend to such rote matters? Or art thou simply awaiting the moment I voluntarily subject myself again to this torture, lest thou be guilt-ridden?”
Celestia shook her regal head slowly. “Why sister, you make me sound positively conniving. How scandalous!” she added good-humoredly, throwing a hoof against her forehead for dramatic effect. “But yes, that was the desired effect. Thank you, Luna.”
“But of course.” The younger sibling hopped into her seat at the dining table. Not the formal dining table, but the informal dining table the sisters used when it was just them and maybe a few friends. She had been pleased to find it was in most ways identical to the one in their old castle, long ago. Luna ran a hoof over the polished surface of the wood, eyeing her reflection in it. “Say, sister, there’s a matter I’ve been meaning to discuss.”
“Oh? Very well. What is the matter?”
Luna flicked her eyes briefly upwards, weighing her next move. Casting her gaze away again, she leaned in, gesturing for her sister to do the same. Then, when the two nearly touched muzzles, the blue of dusk contrasting against dazzling solar white, she held her hoof to shield her lips from any unwelcome audiences and whispered, “Lay off the tea. It’ll stain your muzzle.” With a flick of magic, the teacup of the sun goddess rose up to the lunar deity, disposing its contents down her waiting maw. “Mm, orange pekoe.”
“Lulu!” Celestia exclaimed. “You scamp! You have your own teacup: get your own tea.”
“And everything goes according to plan. This shall be the time that I at last outwit my peevish sister! Behold, Equestria, the dawning of a new age!” Luna said in mocking triumph.
Celestia laughed merrily. "So is this your new weapon for resolving the rivalry of day and night?"
“Nay. We have a greater weapon. Allow Us to demonstrate it to thee, dearest sister. Behold!” And with those words, the little princess turned her wide teal eyes, welling up into the mightiest pout she could muster.
“Oh, Lulu, you’re adorable!” said Celestia, patting her sister on the head.
“Tiiiiiiiaaaaaaa! Can I have some of your cake? Can I? Can I can I can I can I pleeeeeeeease?” implored the lunar regent, dignity thrown to the wind.
“Oh. Oh my. Puppy eyes. Yes, puppy eyes are a very effective weapon, especially wielded by someone close to me; but cake frosting is tastier than blood, not to mention I haven’t gotten around to dessert myself. I’m rather…oh dear.”
“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?”
With a sigh, Celestia accepted the inevitable. “Very well. I’ll share my cake. But it’s unlike you to want sweets this early in the evening.”
“Oh, thank you Tia!” the relatively little pony exclaimed, though even as a filly she was at least the size of a full-grown mare. Then, with more seriousness, she said, “I woke up feeling a tad sluggish. Since thou dost swear by sugar as the cure, I shall take thy word for it. I tire of the limitations of this form, regardless of the reasons why I fail to regain my true shape. Perhaps a little sugar and levity are called for, to draw my mind from brooding.”
During her thousand years on the moon, many things had changed in Equestria. Among the changes was the increased use of sugar in the culinary arts. Luna doubted she could ever understand why ponies insisted on dumping a cup of sugar in just about everything, when it used to be a rare and precious commodity. She suspected it was all related to Celestia’s less-than-conservative admiration of sweets dating back untold generations. Still, one must “get with the times” if one hoped to form any sort of connection with the present. With a small sigh, Luna faced her new challenge: dual-layered golden cake covered in clouds of whipped topping, with a simple strawberry filling and fresh strawberries arrayed on top. It was by no means the fanciest of cakes that presented themselves to the royal court, but a true connoisseur understood that the art of fine baked goods was not all appearances.
Tremulously, Luna approached her slice. To compliment her unusual choice of breakfast stuffs, coffee replaced her traditional tea. She took a tentative bite.
The sweetness barreled over her like a freight train to her tongue. The alicorn resisted her gag instinct and instead allowed the cake to sit until it mellowed out into its more complex flavors. She washed back the rush of sugar with the bitter; black coffee, the two balancing each other to achieve harmony in her mouth.
“Well?” asked Celestia.
“Tis divine. By serving it with coffee, the pleasure hath been doubled, if my opinion counts for much.”
Celestia smiled. “Good. Help yourself. I’m glad you’re taking an interest in something new besides the updated law codes.”
“Sister, I finished with the law codes a while back. The long nights aren’t so boring as to dwell on such dry material needlessly.”
“Oh? So what are you reading now?”
“Evidently, proposals.”
After the moonrise, Luna settled into her study to tackle the paperwork. The area was really just a part of her large bedrom, and decorated in like kind, with dark, muted colors. Navy blue curtains with swirls of black and lighter blues were flung back from the glass doors leading to the balcony. Dark rugs with astral motifs were flung haphazardly on the floor, which was carpeted in pale silver. The walls were a cool cream. To be perfectly fair, Celestia was the one who had appointed the quarters, and so who was to blame the servants for setting up a moon theme for a lunar princess they had never met? Waking up to an effigy of the night sky, she was never sure to be flattered or disturbed as the night's custodian; but there was an element only her sister could have arranged for that made the room into home.
Furniture.
Luna herself had forgotten the reason, but she had always had the stronger eye for art, so perhaps it was no surprise. The semi-immortal demi-goddess had a thing for wooden constructions she could blow apart and recreate with a mere thought as though they were the most precious treasures of all mortal crafts. Of particular magnificence were the pieces in her room, none of which had been built for the princess, but were scoured from antique shops in Canterlot with the skills of an aficionado. They were unique, but not mismatched. The dark cherry stain of her desk, with its classic executive styling, was by no means incompatible with the light maple of the bookcase. It just meant finding the cohesiveness in the disparate parts.
Powered by her sugar high, the alicorn gave her desk an affectionate pat as settled down with the paperwork, pulling a few books she imagined she’d need to reference off the shelves. Sugar granted her brain amazing clarity as she harnessed the energy boost to power through the proposals. It was as good of a way to distract herself as any.
The reason ponies did not rely on sugar to energize themselves, the princess realized, was because of the sugar crash.
With her attention flagging, Luna impulsively shoved the remaining papers away. She gave her head a quick shake and abandoned her desk altogether. She needed to clear her head. She knew the best way to accomplish that.
Most of the castle staff presumed that Luna was struggling to adjust to modern Equestria. She let it be believed popularly that she was studying modern Equestria to make up for her long absence. In truth, she spent countless hours each night staring out at the sympathetic moon. She watched as one stares at a loved one from afar, intensely, and with a full heart. The familiarity comforted her at all times, unconditionally, even if it were only to avoid some paperwork. During her vigil, clouds reached their misty tendrils out to coddle the silver orb. Dew began to form, wetting even the alicorn’s fur; yet she stood still as a gargoyle, night’s ancient sentinel keeping vigilant watch for evil roaming the earth below. The idea made her smile whistfully. This was a ritual older than Canterlot, but in this era, it was an empty gesture. All she could do was be an extra pencil-pusher in a time when guardians were no longer needed. She slumped to the floor, eventually allowing sleep to overtake her.
***
The dark heart of the Everfree stood as the seat of power for the Royal Pony Sisters dating back to the reign of Discord,an era in which the forest’s nature protected it from the chaos and made it into a bastion of hope and freedom for the ponies seeking refuge from the draconequus’s whimsy. And while after the return of harmony the majority of ponies had moved away from the eaves of the wild wood, further away from the predators, still they kept their castle where it had always stood. Before it was the palace of royals, it had been the Temple of the Two Sisters, maintained by the unicorns who worshipped the deities of day and night.
And just as she had seen, acknowledged, and repaid her worshippers in the most ancient times, just as she had shielded them from the primal magic most opposite ponies when the elder beings dragged mortals into their conflict; even more so she fought to protect them now that they were in fact her subjects.
A cottage near the forest was under attack by a hungry manticore. She remembered that battle: it managed to scratch her. She rewarded its impressive prowess by killing it quickly instead of reducing it to a smear on the forest floor. A rogue dragon descended upon the river valley: she beat it so soundly that it had to go into hibernation in order to recover; when it came for revenge, she shouted it down and reduced it to a blubbering wreck. Diplomacy had failed: the buffalo were charging. Their chieftain rammed into her chest, splintering bone, but she still managed to immobilize him with her magic and take him prisoner. Countless battles wore her down, until she desperately reached for the power she needed to protect and please those who relied upon her. And with her strength breaking her opponents like the surf against the rocks, she earned the name the griffons were the first to award her with: Nightmare Moon.
The power coalesced around her, altering even her appearance and voice. This power was born to destroy her foes. It wriggled and writhed like some unclean thing under her skin, but she accepted it as a necessary thing. Into the Nightmare she poured all her pain and suffering, and all her bitterness as her legends became laced with terror and even ponies beheld her with fearful eyes. All for them. Her sister could comfort them as she never could. Predators walked by night, and those who would harm others. She was Night incarnate. This was fate.
Why couldn’t fate change? If her efforts for harmony only cemented the duality, she would destroy that balance with just enough chaos to prove Change to the world. She had the power. She need only use it. She was not the only one growing weary. Surely trading burdens at times could lighten loads?
It was all so very simple.
She simply needn’t lower the moon.
***
Luna gasped and awoke in a sweat. The moon stood high overhead. She scanned it carefully, checking for any sign it was not following its usual path. Assured her dream had not spilled over into reality, she allowed herself a moment to regain her composure. It was always like this: every time she slept, instead of dreams she relived her memories, all jumbled together. It wasn’t pleasant to recall the decades spent in conflict. Taking deep breaths, she calmed herself.
The stars who aided in my escape.
Over and over she chanted those words, staring out at the open sky. Then, with a rush, she hurled herself out into the night, her wings carrying her away.
Long, long before Canterlot was the capital of Equestria, it had been the center of the unicorn holdings, where the old royal family had established their seat of government. Before the rule of Discord plunged the land into chaos and forced the rise of the alicorns, a young Luna would climb the mountain and look out on the entire land spread before her. Somehow, it was different from the view straight overhead, such as the pegasi commanded, and was the reason for Canterlot’s location. Luna’s wings carried her with powerful, sure strokes, propelling her up the cliff face to the summit.
The view, as ever, was spectacular. With the moon and stars out overhead, the land before was blanketed with velvety shadows, with greens and blues soft as a lullaby. Where there had once been vast stretches of woodlands, scrubs, and plains were now slumbering settlements and sprawling farmlands. A measure of tranquility returned to Luna as she gazed out on the familiar territories. Though her exile was long, she had been able to observe from the moon. She could see the triumphs and failures of her little ponies, though she could do little more than gaze longingly at the vibrant world below from her barren prison.
She mused upon the migration of Whitetail Wood until once more the pull of slumber became irresistible, from weeks of poor rest leading to a nigh-constant state of drowsiness.
***
Ahead of her was a blinding blizzard, the storm’s fury creating a wall of living white. Surrounding her, however, was the warm darkness of the vast expanses of the deep space. Luna took a long, steadying breath. This cosmos, she knew, was her dreamscape. Evidently she was entertaining a visitor.
“We do not recall any request for an audience,” said the pony with her most regal manner.
A voice echoed through the stars. “Nor did I make one. Yet I am here, even as I was summoned.” Then some of the white mist gathered itself into a form, and a wolf emerged from the snows. Her lower fur was as white as the snows; above, her blue was soft as the winter sky. Her eyes were dark green, flashing with emotion though her voice remained a soothing calm. “What ails thee, O Princess of the Night? Why dost thou call me into thy dreams by moonlight, when thou shouldst be keeping thy watch?”
“Thou knowest as well as We do, that Our watch serves to no avail in this age,” said Luna, not meeting the wolf’s gaze. “Why camest thou now, O Dream Wolf?”
“How could I reach thee ere now, praytell?”
“Dreams are thy domain, Wolf.” Luna shook her head, then raised her eyes, with a flash of bright, cold anger. “Why couldst thou not come before?”
The wolf blinked her green eyes slowly. With a longsuffering patience, she replied, “Thou, too, art an Elder. Thou knowest well the limits of our powers. I cannot touch even one of the ponies under thee without their permission; how much more so thyself?”
The alicorn stomped on the void, physics being meaningless in this space. “Leave. If thou hadst nothing to offer then, thou hast nothing now to offer us.”
“Hast thou not had time enough alone? Very well. As always, the Wolves answer the wishes of she who raises the blessed night.”
The lupine visitor vanished, and the dreamscape began to melt.
Once more the holy light of Harmony smote her, though her four most loyal ponies stood with her to shield her from the blast. She wanted to call to them, “Escape! Escape, my dearest friends!" She wanted to call their names, yet they stuck in her throat. Instead she screeched, “CELESTIA! This is not over!”
“Perhaps so, sister, but a long time it shall be ere we meet again.” Celestia’s voice was soft, full of sorrow. Then, the princess drew herself painfully to her full height, and with all the authority of the Royal Canterlot Voice decreed, “For thy act of treason, We bind thee to thy moon. We strip thee of thy title and shall assume thy duties of control over both moon and stars. Farewell, Nightmare thing, a mockery of the sweet and gentle Luna.”
Luna struggled with her memory, trying to force her will upon it. But it was to no avail. The four stalwart friends bound themselves unto the stars, to set in motion the power that would one day enable her escape; and this was within Harmony’s scope, because she was ultimately yet part of the balance, as were they. As she gazed once more on their faces, hazy with the passage of so many centuries to dull remembrance, she knew there was one way she could change this cycle, this cruelty that rubbed her loneliness in her face. Her own cruelty, she reminded herself. She need only lower herself to ask.
“Wolf.”
And into the ruined halls of the Temple of Two Sisters appeared the Wolf of the North, surrounded by snow and wind. “I am here.”
Luna did not turn to look. The Nightmare fell away from her, returning her to the default landscape of her mind. “Wolf, canst thou not grant me a sweet dream? Why have me relive this?” she spat accusingly.
“Lady, thou knowest dreams are made of stranger stuff than the visions that I send. If this is what dwells foremost in thy heart, then that only have thy dreams to feed upon.”
“Then how dost thou whisk away the nightmares?”
“I hunt them and slay them, but in no territory without permission.”
“We grant thee permission. Now go to the hunt.”
“I cannot.”
Silence hung between the two. Then Luna asked simply, “Why?”
The wolf padded up to the pony and reached with her long muzzle to the alicorn’s chest. “If I took that away, nothing would be left in here to fill the space.”
Luna snorted and planted both hooves against the furry face, pushing it away, though the wolf was considerably larger.
“Lady of the Moon,” intoned the hunter, “I cannot grant thee peace. I can only grant oblivion, unless thou findest within thyself some other thing to dream upon.”
Luna’s tone grew subdued. “Is that why thou didst not come to me then?”
“Nay, Princess,” she said soothingly. “Thy sister, Regent of the Sun, came unto me and asked of me to devour thy Nightmare, but I could not. Thou wouldst not let me. And when thou wast willing, it was too late.”
“My heart had then fallen already into oblivion,” the pony concluded.
“Aye. But I am here now. Think thee on what this means. For I did see thy dreams when thou didst summon me.”
Luna thought this over for some time. The stars rotated about their fixed axis even in this dream realm. She watched their blazing forms scatter light against nebulae, and comets pass without their tails, and asteroids floating lazily in their belts. And she answered, “You know. I observed Equestria all those years with the deepest longing. I studied my little ponies, and how they lived their lives. Even when peace fell deeply upon the land, still, they played under Celestia’s sun and slept during my night. Those who think I am unacquainted with my land as it stands now are thoroughly unacquainted with me. I was prepared for my return. I had no plans to let the sacrifice of four noble ponies go to waste.
“I never meant to start a reign of terror. I suppose I did get off to a rather bad start. After all, I did rub it in their faces that I had just overthrown the day. But even so, I wanted all of my ponies to realize the beauty of the darkness, the quiet times; not just a select few. And yet…
“Harmony. It declared my actions to have slipped from chaos to discord. Beautiful Harmony arose in defense of the day. That beautiful, hateful light that stole so much from me. Yet it had fallen from Celestia’s hooves to those of her apprentice. The significance may have been lost on those little ones who became the Element Bearers, but it wasn’t lost on me:
“Celestia was incomplete. Without me around, she had lost the ability to maintain perfect harmony in herself. She, at least, needed me. Needs me. And I need her. A thousand years without her have certainly reinforced that idea in my heart.
“But I cannot help but to remember. Did I do the right thing? Was this what they wanted when they arranged for my escape? Can my sins be forgiven?” the alicorn said. She shrugged. After a pause, she continued, “They have been, else I would not be here now, overlooking Equestria from the surface of the earth. Yet I cannot bring myself to move on.”
“And so, though you know full well what customs this age follows, you cling to archaic speech and old traditions,” offered the wolf.
“They deserve remembrance! Not all the things of the past were of ill portent!” Luna insisted, wings flaring with indignation.
“Indeed,” said the hunter. “Then let us see what lies back further. If you cannot move on, let us look at what lies behind.”
Other memories flooded back to Luna as she tried to choose just one. Eventually, she realized there was no need. They were passing through her dreamscape, as visible to her visitor as they were to herself. She remembered the ways she met her friends. A captain from the Royal Guard’s Night division. After undergoing the usual spell to gain night vision, he never got over his reptilian eyes. In fact, he never ceased to insist that Luna was simply pulling an elaborate prank. Her insight was irreplaceable when dealing with the various diplomatic situations that inevitably arose; she often stood at Celestia's side. And that one, too, was closer to Celestia, but her laughter following a long night’s labor herding away cockatrices was sweeter than rest. But, her, she had sang the whole time to comfort her younger siblings during a manticore attack Luna had cleared up, then offered shelter and refreshment, and to dress the princess’s wound.
As she dwelt upon meeting, instead of parting, generations of other ponies, other friends flashed through her mind. They were not the first ponies to share some aspects of Harmony, she realized. Always, there had been other ponies with her, and with Celestia.
Armed with this knowledge, she turned to the wolf. “Wolf, I have lost many friends, and those I mourn now are not the least among them, but neither are they the first I have blamed myself for losing. Their loss is my fault entirely, but I will not dwell alone forever because of it. Harmony requires us to live together. In so much as we were in Harmony then, they would want us to rediscover it now.”
“We?” asked the wolf.
“We. Not the royal pronoun. Two together, I and another. It is time for my sister, too, to regain her balance. Mortal ponies will not wield the Elements forever, as we can. They will pass to us again, someday, or else we enter a new era, like the one of long ago, before Discord’s reign, when mortal ruled mortal. That, too, could be for the best, as then we sisters can once more have each other.”
The wolf smiled. “So be it. Callest thou me when the need for the hunt is upon thee, going forward with the burden of the past. Returnest thou to thy night, O Luna.”
“I shall. Send my greetings to Ben’Oni. Go forth once more with my blessing upon the Hunters of the Northern Wastes, O Nyaga.”
***
Luna felt the weight of her years and of her sins. A petulant child, indeed. And yet if that were all she was, at least she had wisdom to recognize that she was blessed to be able to behave so. Her eyes swept around, but they saw nothing truly, gazing beyond time to a past in which she knew how to have fun despite the pain. It was high time she learned to laugh again in truth and not merely in jest. She had an idea that would certainly bring her one step closer to that goal. She would take responsibility. She stood on the top of the mountain, fresh with revelation, spread her wings, and plunged once more. Her wings were broader, her limbs longer. She had fear. She had doubt. She moved forward regardless, ethereal, star-spangled cobalt mane billowing automatically, midnight-blue fur blending into the darkness. Her powers were returning.
***
Dear Princess Celestia,
I just wanted to let you know that I think it’s great that Luna is finally starting to take a more active role around the castle. However, I was wondering if you could explain why she chose to rename those four particular stars? If my memory is correct, they were the ones to aid her that Midsummer's Sun. She never really seemed to give a reason, however. Of course, you don’t have to explain if you don’t want to.
Also, I have found the spell that can dissolve any kind of physical glue without damaging what it’s holding together. I have tested it on various objects and have reasonable confidence it will work. I have also looked up the Spell of Permanent Corporeal Bonding, as per your instructions. I confess to some small curiosity as to what use these will be employed for.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
***
“So how was it?” asked Luna teasingly. The afternoon sun beamed into her sister’s quarters.
Celestia finished casting a spell on her muzzle, remaining tight-lipped. When she finished, she glared venomously at her sister and swore. “By the ancestors!”
“What of them?” asked Luna with a grin.
“Your mane! Your fur!” Celestia exclaimed.
“Are as they should be,” Luna said dryly.
“You showed up to breakfast looking like that, and of course I’m a little distracted, not to mention you’re rarely at the table before me. But really? You’ve recovered your powers and the first thing you do is put glue on my flapjacks?”
“I cannot claim credit for the idea, dear sister.”
Celestia sputtered, “But that was thirteen hundred years ago!”
“To be more precise, it was 1,287 years ago. I remember because that was the year you had blessed the mead a bit too well, and an entire season was lost to a drunken stupor.”
Alicorn memories are long.
“Oh, was it that year? Well, what makes you think something from the year we were chronically drunk is a great stunt to pull now?” Celestia asked, raising a divine and pristine brow.
“Because I had a thousand years to come up with repayment for every single prank thou ever didst pull on me and come out smelling like a rose. Meanwhile, thou hast been refining thy craft against the servants and staff. Dear sister, the night shall be a time of feasting and laughter. Where better to begin than stepping up ye olde slapstick routine? Day and night alike shall prank and be pranked!”
“This is war, you realize.”
“And this is my declaration thereof. Now if thou wilt excuse me, I waited up with thee until thou didst find the cure. This daylight frolicking is highly overrated. I shall be getting to bed.”
With that, Luna made to jump off Celestia’s balcony to soar to her own room. Celestia watched, calling out at the last instant, “Wait, Luna, one more thing!”
“Yes, sister?”
“Month of Barley 31, 15 A.D.”
Luna puzzled over the cryptic hint. Fifteen years After Discord? Translated into the calendar of the Harmonic Era, that would be 1,432 years prior to now. What happened –
Her beloved furniture. It was bonded to the outside of the tower.
Alicorn memories were long indeed. But they had nothing, if not time, in which to sort everything out. A little confusion was okay. It could bring change. It could balance Harmony.
