Slowly opening the door, trying not to wake up the sleeping patient, the nurse on duty peered into room 1.22 as she passed by during one of her nightly check-ups. With a worried face, she realized her fear to be correct, and the young man lying in the hospital bed seemed to struggle to find rest for yet another night as he was, like all nights before, mumbling incomprehensible things in his sleep while trembling with a pained expression on his face. It looked like it must have been another nightmare. However, she chose not to wake him up, since he was already having difficulty finding any sleep at all.

A cancer patient for many months, his condition worsened each day with no sign of improvement. After his cancer was declared terminal the day before, all treatment was stopped. He was given only a few more days to live by the doctors in charge of his case. Under the influence of strong painkillers, he was now waiting for the end of his suffering.

Although the nurse had seen this exact scenario play out repeatedly without end throughout her career, it still made her feel sad and helpless every single time she witnessed these unequal fights against inevitable death. When patients had most of their lives still ahead of them but were cut short by illness or accident, it was especially heartbreaking.

It all just seemed so unfair to her, she could never get used to this part of her work. In her desperation, and despite not being religious at all, she prayed that maybe some god would show mercy on this man and at the very least give him a chance for another go at life.

As the nurse was standing at the entrance, ruminating about life, she felt a light draft coming out of the room. She stepped in to investigate the source and found that the window on the far left was wide open. It was likely that one of the day shift nurses forgot to close it after airing out the room during the day. It would be noted in the night report and brought up at the next team meeting, though. The patients could do without catching a cold on top of their already fragile conditions.

As she closed the window and was about to leave, the nurse noticed something hanging on one of the corners of the bed. It was an almost otherworldly-looking dreamcatcher with blue feathers. She could have sworn it wasn't there just a moment ago.

The Princess of the Night, also known as Princess Luna to her fellow subjects, had already fought many nightmares and was about to get some rest for herself for the remainder of the night when she suddenly felt a strange disturbance in her realm. From one moment to another, it seemed as if the dreamscape had suddenly expanded beyond her usual domain. The unexpected sensation made her shiver for a moment as it felt unnatural to her. It was only moments later when she heard something in the far distance and she focused on that instead.

A faint voice reverberated throughout the void, but Luna was too far away to understand what it was saying. Despite the unclearness, she could feel the sorrow and pain the voice carried her way. Not questioning the circumstances, Princess Luna followed the voice and eventually found what looked like an old, fragile mirror floating in the air. The round mirror was pale and showed no reflection of her in it.

The mirror was quite similar to an entrance of a dream, but Luna believed there was something more to it than that. Holding out one of her hooves, she touched the cold surface of the mirror and closed her eyes. Luna somehow immediately knew she would not be able to pass through to the other side, but she could now clearly hear the voice and feel the emotions of the one in peril.

Without a doubt, the young subject had a nightmare, but not just that alone she feared. Luna also felt life itself fading away from the foreign being, and she wondered what she was supposed to do here and what led to this situation in the first place. However, there wasn't much time left and she had to make a choice sooner than later if she wanted to be of any help to the one in need.

"Please, someone help me!" Pleaded the man that was engulfed in flames up to his hips.

The unknown man tried to put out the fire by rolling on the ground, but the flames would not go out, no matter how many times he repeated the process. Despite being able to hear running water close by, he was never able to locate it. After a while, he was unable to find a clear thought, so in his frustration, he just wailed in pain, with the only source of light being the fire burning on himself. Nevertheless, even that light was about to fade eventually as there wasn't much left to be taken by the unending hunger of the raging fire. He could have sworn the flames were laughing at him as he collapsed to the black ground.

Luna had made a decision for herself. That being might not have been one of her own subjects, but she could not abandon it now when it needed help so desperately. If the nightmare continued it would take what little of the man's life energy remained that very night. She would deal with the consequences of her actions later.

Filled with determination, Luna put her horn to the mirror's surface and enlightened it like a beacon in the night with her magic. She then took a deep breath.

"Step into the light!" Echoed Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice.

While barely conscious the man on the ground heard a familiar voice that he couldn't place at the time. Above him, he could see what looked like the moon shining down a ray of light.

"Step into the light!" The moon seemed to command him in an almost terrifyingly loud voice.

Looking up to the moon and back down before him, he didn't hesitate any longer, and with what little strength he had left he obeyed and crawled into what appeared to be a beam of moonlight to him.

As the nurse continued to ponder about the origin of the dreamcatcher, she had an eerie but familiar sensation. She checked the patient's pulse and breathing to confirm her suspicion. The patient had just passed away. Silently, the dreamcatcher disappeared into nothingness as the nurse took note of the time of death.

Author's Note

This is my first story, hope some of you like it.

Constructive criticism and grammar correction very welcome in comments!

Possible title for next chapter: "Lost in the Dreamscape".