The moment Luna leaps into the nineteenth dream bubble on her list, she feels the cold, sees that no stars are present, hears no breathing and finds no image.
She sighs. It is time.
She waits. And waits. And waits, in the middle of the final void, for the denouement to begin.
An orb of light flickers into existence and then shimmers and wavers, fluttering and flitting about here and there. It settles in front of her, on the reflective water-like surface that stretches far beyond where the eye can see, and then slowly morphs into the shape of a young pegasus.
Luna lights up her horn, and her beacon casts shadows of the two wanderers on the dark water. She watches as the light in front of her shapeshifts past a troubled history. First, the changes in hair. Then, the breaking (and then disappearing) of the left wing. The wing itself shifts and changes, multiple prosthetics manifesting in its place and vanishing soon after, but then what follows is the growing and fading of wounds and scars, the cuts on the hooves hidden beneath tufts of fur, the slicing and scarring and healing ever so continuously repeated, and then, finally-
“H- hello? I. I can feel.” The young mare’s hooves tap the surface of the water once, twice, thrice. “It’s cold. Where- where am I?”
Luna offers her hoof to the lost pony. “In your Dreamscape, my child.”
The pegasus opens her eyes and looks around. She sees nothing but a starless night, and a vast ocean with no life, nor waves, nor movement. She looks towards Luna, then straight past Luna. “I- I can’t see. I can’t see. What- what is this floating light?” She reaches out, straight towards the light in front of her, unknowingly phasing through Luna’s body.
The princess knows this all too well.
“Have no fear, daughter. Come. Walk with me.”
The pony fumbles around, not used to walking on water, but then finds her hoofing. She scrambles for the solitary blue light, which has already begun its slow pace forward.
They step into the distant void. The young mare cowers and trembles in fear under the vastness of the expanse, but after a while, she finds her breathing slowing down, relaxing - the fear and pressure slowly releasing from her. Her hooves gain solid ground. She slowly trots up towards the hovering orb of blue light, and then continues the walk.
A thought enters her head. “Little… little light?”
“Yes, my child?”
“Is this the afterlife?”
The little light sways left and right, as if to shake, no. “Like I said, my little pony. This is the land of dreams.”
“But… I’m not sleeping.” The question everybody asks. “Why… why am I here?”
“A final goodbye, my child.”
Luna looks back at the small pegasus, aware that the lone pony cannot see her at that moment. She notices little scars poking out from places where her fur had not regrown, wounds and blood seeping from under her ripped clothes. She sees the wings - battered, bruised, most likely unable to lift herself or even fly. But most importantly, she notices the neck now defiled by a black mark circling around it.
As she observes, from the corner of her eye, a little star begins to twinkle. It is beginning.
The pegasus thinks for another moment. “I’m… dead.”
The little light stops its gentle swaying for a moment, then shakes again. “Almost.”
“Almost?”
“When the mind of a pony reaches near-death, it begins to react. The inherent mana of a live, breathing pony, interacts with the oxygen and the neurons in your brain, all intent on giving you a chance to rest.” Luna notices more of the twinkling lights. “You are, right now, the final external manifestation of your harmonic lifeforce. And we are in your final dream.”
The pony processes the words for a moment. “So… in a moment, I’ll be gone?”
“Correct.”
“And in the real world…” she trails off. Her body begins to shiver again, and the twinkling lights stop their shine.
Luna stops walking, then heads over to hug the pony. The young mare’s eyes widen as the orb nears her, but the presence feels… comforting. The violent shivering slows down under the invisible embrace.
“I- I feel… cold. But warmer, too.” The pony closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and then exhales. “I…”
“It is all right, my dear child.” Luna watches as the mare lowers herself to the ground. “Sit. I will watch over you.”
“T- thanks, little light.”
The little light gently bobs in acknowledgement.
A pegasus and a little light stop marching in the void, and instead watches as the space changes. The little light stands tall, as a guardian should. The pony sits on the water, rests, and paces her breathing. She looks up.
“There are… stars in the sky. In my dream?”
“Not stars.”
“What are they?”
“Other dreams.”
“Why can I see them?”
Luna sits beside the pegasus. “Only in death can most mortals see the full majesty that is the dreamscape. Would you like to watch?”
The pony nods at the little light. “I… I’d love that.”
The night sky begins to populate itself, creating shapes, constellations, auras and nebulae. The pony sits in silence, watching it all glow. She slowly lies down on the ground, back to the water and eyes looking up.
“I loved stargazing.” The pony sighs. “I only ever did it alone.”
Luna nods. “Thank you for appreciating my night, then, my child.”
“I’m curious, little light.” The pony turns to ask her companion. “Those. Up there. Those are other dreams, aren’t they?”
The little light nods with Luna.
“But… they’re bright. They’re so, so bright.” Luna notices a slight twinge of sadness. “If you saw my dream bubble from the outside, would- would it be as dark as it is here?”
A simple truth. “No.”
“Oh.”
“Dreams… like many things, only reflect the best of us. They glow white, pink, yellow, lavender, purple, blue, and whatever color you’d like to mention. But they never dim.” The orb of light bounces up, as if gesturing towards the stars. “That is why everything above is bright.”
The pony’s eyes trace the constellations of lights above her. “So… when this dream is over, what happens to it?”
The little light hovers still for a moment, before another orb of light pops up right beside it. “From the outside, it’ll seem as if you’ve disappeared.” The second, newer orb blinks out of existence, leaving behind a strange astral dust that glimmers. “You leave your residue behind, from all that you’ve done for this world.” The dust, too, stops glimmering. “And then, given time… the dream-dust, too, fades as your mana returns to the leylines of this world.”
The pony sits in silence for a moment, watching the little light as the sparkling dust around it twinkles away into nothingness. “Have I done enough, then?”
“Enough?”
“Will I leave dream-dust, too?”
The little light nods. “Every dream leaves behind dream-dust, my child.”
The lights in the sky grow in intensity, the darkness of the bubble beginning to fade. From very, very far away, the two notice a horizon beginning to approach - a black line dotted with starlight sitting right above it.
“But… Princess Luna?”
“Yes?”
“That’s- that’s you. Right? I’m talking to you.”
Luna nods. “Correct.”
The next essential question. “Why can’t I see you?”
The little light sighs.
“Not… everypony who passes gets a chance to see me.” Luna moves her horn right in front of the pony’s face, and the young pegasus’ eyes widen again at the closeness of her companion. “Some of our souls are tired, and battered.”
The pony nods, listening to the little orb in front of her speak. “I’m… tired.”
“You are. And as much as the world loves the living, in time, everything grows tired.” Luna touches the pony with her horn - a gentle, caring kiss of the light. “When I enter the final dreams of ponies, I see them in various stages of finality.”
Luna projects another orb of light. This time, it morphs into a tiny miniature light pony, sitting lonely in the sky and looking around like most dreamers do.
“Those who feel wronged in their death, or feel as though they had much more to live for, see life - see my physical form.” The light punches the air, demanding another chance at life, another bid for survival - revenge, change, anything. The orb only hovers in silence, watching as the miniature person disappears in a blinding fury.
“Others… feel content, and see my lifeforce.” The light is now standing in front of another like itself, but taller, more majestic. They talk, converse and gesticulate, share stories of life - then, slowly, both rest, one disappearing into nothingness and the other staying, keeping vigil.
A final orb appears - a cowering pony. Scared, lonely, in the void. “Others yet find that the world of the living has been too cruel, and so, in their final moments, they can only see the one thing that has never betrayed them - a living, innate soul.” Luna brightens the light from her horn. “I used to shape this light after myself, too, but in time, I have found that a simple beacon is the best guide to… wherever you go next.”
The pony nods. Then, after a while, she moves her head downwards, downcast.
“I wanted more. I wanted to do so much. I wanted to- to have what I couldn’t get.” Luna’s physical form begins to flicker into view - for a brief moment. “But- but I… I’m so tired. And… I don’t want to stay.” She looks straight ahead, and sees only the orb. “Surely I’m not in the wrong?”
Luna shakes her head. “There is no wrong decision here.” She hugs the pony again, knowing that if anything else, her warmth will provide. “In the end, everybody has to go.”
The pony gulps, then nods. Tiny, stifled sobs begin to come out. “W- will I see my family again?”
Luna hugs the pegasus tighter. “No.”
“I- I…” the pony trails off, unable to form another sentence. The sobbing turns into a despaired wailing, the sound of a tired and tormented soul - the broken song of a tainted shard of magic. Luna can only hug, can only cry with the lonely soul, as the stars begin to shine brighter and the water begins to recede.
When the pony stops crying, the sky is already blinding white. She notices the horizon at the distance, now only a few hooflengths away, slowly coming in. The bubble is filled with a strange, twinkling dust, that glows purple and pink and yellow and all the different colours of a world to be departed.
The pony’s sobs soften into stifled, choking sounds. She rubs her eyes despite the absence of tears, hugs herself despite only having magic left. Luna, too, can no longer see the pony’s clothes, coat, or eyes. The only thing standing in front of her is a vaguely pony-shaped light, glowing a bright white-blue - as her coat once was colored.
“It’s… time to go, isn’t it?”
The little blue light nods. “Rest awaits you, my child.”
The light-figure pony nods, and with a smile, the final vestiges of a broken, betrayed life rises into the sky. The remnants of the dream bubble recede around her, glowing a vivid, brilliant blue, with streaks of light orbiting and sparks flashing with a blinding brightness. Luna can only see the brightness of a final dream’s swan song; the beauty of a soul making its final return to a home once lost. But… beneath it all, she swears she can still see a daring, powerful smile shining through.
The orb grows smaller, and smaller, and brighter and grander, but before it disappears into nothingness-
“Thank you.”
The orb explodes in a magnificent supernova, sending waves of brilliantly colored light soaring through the dreamscape. The explosion blows back Luna’s ethereal mane, littering it with stardust and a trace of finality. When the waves recede and fade away, Luna finds herself surrounded by little twinkling things, shining in all colors of the rainbow.
Luna stands there for a moment, just before she feels the origin spell tugging at her.
It is time for her to recombine with her other selves. But before she, too, recedes, she gives a simple nod of acknowledgement.
“Thank you, child. May you find rest, wherever you are.”
