Anything for My Princess

Pip's mind was racing too fast in in too many different directions to have a stable dream. Luna had to pop out every twenty minutes or so to tell the guards to stand down and just let him sleep this time, and after an hour, they were allowed to leave and come back in a few hours. That meant a long lunch break for two of them, and some sleep for the other two.

Despite not having had a full rest, Luna woke up with Pip, wanting to keep an eye on him this morning. She'd need to, with the guards not being present.

"Good morning, Pip," she smiled.

"P-princess?"

Luna nodded. "Did you sleep well?"

Pip fidgeted with his hooves. "I had a really weird dream. I don't know how to describe it; it was a weird one. Just colours and textures and amorphous blobs. It was... weird."

Luna nodded. "Pip, what do you remember of last night?"

He shrunk down. "You had these four guards doing stuff to me. I didn't like it. Kind of..."

"Kind of?"

He began to tremble. "Is it bad if I liked some of it?"

Luna shook her head. "You're allowed to like what you like, Pip. I'm not punishing you for having desires."

"Isn't that what dreams are?"

Luna shook her head. "Dreams are far more complicated than that, Pip. For most ponies, their dreams are merely windows. You, Pip, have something more akin to a door and a carriage. That's why I have been trying to convince you to control your dreams of late."

Pip looked scared and confused. "What are you saying?"

Luna took a deep breath. "When a normal pony dreams, I can show them what they need to see from behind a protective barrier. When they dream of me, specifically, it may not actually be me, but a facsimile. A puppet, wearing my skin. In their dreams, it's not really me."

"Well, yeah, dreams can't really hurt you. They're just illusions."

Luna nodded. "For most ponies. Pip, the reason you need to keep a strong handle on things is because you're not looking through a window. There's nothing separating you and I in your dreams. Every time I've been in your dreams, it's not a puppet or an illusion. I wasn't hurt by what I saw, Pip. I was there in the dream with you, for real."

Pip's eyes had gone wide, and his pupils had retracted as the horror of what he'd done washed over him. "Y-you mean..."

"Every time you held me down, I felt every centimetre."

He was shaking by now. "Th-there were good ones, though, right? You were smiling the whole time in some of those."

Luna shook her head. "Pip, you put that look on my face. Your dreams are very powerful. That's why I was relieved to see so many faceless ponies in them. The rest really were puppets, puppeteered by you. Everypony else was a cheap imitation, but you brought in the real me."

Pip grabbed the back of his neck in both hooves and began to rock back and forth.

"The reason I didn't tell you was to keep you from trying to call somepony else. If you'd harmed one of your classmates by making them a part of your dream when they didn't want to be, something you did to me several times, we would not be having this conversation. For their safety, you would have already had your imagination removed in secret. As I was your only victim, I had some say in how you were dealt with. I tried so many times to just calm your dreams to simple, easy things that weren't harmful. But you continued to force me into these horrible situations."

He whimpered, unable to cope with what he'd done, given the new information.

"That's why this is your last chance, Pip. I tell you this to give you something to latch onto pushing forward. A reason to be better, more than just because I said so. I want to meet you on a more equal standing, Pip."

He didn't move, aside from rocking back and forth.

"Pip?"

"I'm a m-monster..."

She wrapped her hooves around him and pulled him to her chest. "You're not a monster, Pip. And I don't want you to turn into one, either. I want to help you, Pip. You are dear to me, and I want you to have a happy life. But I don't want you to make others suffer to make that happen."

"B-but... What I've done--"

"Was to me, and me alone. Ease your mind, Pip. Let us make forward progress together."

He sobbed, tears running down his face as he thought about every dream he'd ever had about Princess Luna, knowing now that she was in anguish every time. He hated what he'd become, and now understood why she'd been so aggressive in trying to make him change. He'd never wanted to hurt anypony, least of all her. He couldn't stand the thought of harming the very pony he'd loved so much for so long.

The two of them sat there for awhile on their own, with Luna rolling them over so he could lie on her chest. She did what she could to comfort him, humming softly and stroking his shoulders. They didn't talk or perform tasks, they just lay there. While Luna was upset to see Pip crying, she knew he had to come to grips with himself and fully understand his actions before this particular method would do anything at all. He was a good boy, and he wanted to be a good boy, but he had to know if he was going to improve.

After almost an hour, he nudged her. His tears had not stopped, but they had slowed considerably. His thoughts had caught up with him, and he could form his thoughts into words. "Princess Luna?"

"Yes, Pip?"

"I have to pee."

With a smile, Luna moved him to the side of the bed. He managed to stand up and walk on his own, being better at walking to the bathroom than he had the night before. She followed him, of course, and watched him over the toilet, and once he was done, and she was, too, she invited him into the shower. They both needed to clean up from the night prior.