Cadance was way more gravid than she should have been. If she wasn't wandering the halls of the crystal palace, she definitely would have been sitting down. She wasn't sure why those two things were connected, but they were, so she kept walking. Her hooves ached, except when she looked at them, they weren't there.

She spent a good couple of minutes trying to understand why she couldn't stop, and why her hooves were invisible before she was joined by another figure in the halls. She had passed by the tall mare in a shadowy alleyway that wasn't there before. For sure, not something that would be in the palace. Cadance shook her head and kept walking. The figure came rushing out of the dark hallway, or alleyway. Something, Cadance wasn't sure, they caught up with Cadance, walking side by side with her.

Cadance's breath became heavy like her head when the mare spoke.

"Cadance?"

Cadance shook her head, she was busy. Couldn't this mare take the hint?

"Cadance. You are dreaming."

Cadance's intangible brow furrowed as she began stomping harder as she walked, obstinately resisting the idea. This couldn't be a dream could it? Cadance had work to do regardless, she couldn't ju-

The dream solidified, Cadance's body appeared all the way, rather than just being a phantom. Luna became visible as well. Cadance stumbled forwards, no longer weighing far more than she should have as her mind caught up with the environment. The crystal halls suddenly gained sharper features, and details like magical sconces that lit up the room.

"Oh." was all Cadance had to say as she came to a stop.

"Are you feeling okay, Niece? I've never had your dreams resist my presence so..."

"Passive aggressively?"

Luna pursed her lips.

Cadance took a deep breath. "I'm okay, it's just been a stressful couple of days."

Luna's head tilted, "Did your vacation not go as planned?"

Cadance smiled, thinking back to said vacation.

That feels like ages ago

The scene around her morphed to the kitchen, a massive mess they had made while reveling in dumb fun.

"It seems like a war had happened in here." Luna said, lifting up a baking sheet with a spatula shoved through it.

Cadance tried to fight down a blush, which worked, it was a dream after all. "When all of the ponies fighting are either Alicorns, or skilled warriors, adventurers... Play fighting can get a little heated."

Luna glanced at the egg embedded in one of the crystal walls. She smiled in mild concern. "I see."

Cadance continued, "And no." Luna met her eyes, "The vacation was great, I just got back and everything started kicking off. There's this stallion named Banana that's trying to 'sue' the entire Crystal Empire nobility for their actions during Sombra's reign. The court date got set today, and all the nobles wanted to tell me their thoughts on the subject. Construction just began on the intercity ring and a new section of the palace, Silver is... still being herself, Homeward kept trying to meet with me but I never had time... There was this one faculty report that went all the way past PR to me, which says enough I think... it's all just a little overwhelming."

Luna's expression grew more sympathetic as Cadance went on. "I honestly cannot speak much to the subject. I stay away from the limelight as a public resource, but..." Luna trailed off and then stepped forwards, spinning herself around so she was side to side with the slightly shorter Alicorn. A hug was shared. "I believe this is an adequate response?"

Cadance smirked under Luna's wings. They were far larger than her own, despite their similar size. "Do you do the archaic voice structure on purpose?"

"Uh..." Luna didn't try to defend herself.

Cadance giggled. "Okay ancient warrior princess, just use some contractions from time to time and I won't complain." She joked.

"I will make an effort." Luna released the hug, "Though to explain, I find... The New Equestrian dialect..." She tried to figure out how to phrase her thoughts.

"Bad." Cadance supplied, "The word you're looking for is 'bad.'"

"Yes, I believe so."

"It's been like that for a while. I know it's an evolving language but... at least ponies could say words that genuinely make sense, instead of..."

"I heard one of the Solar guards say 'sick' out of context, and may have reacted a certain way." Luna grumbled.

"I get that." She did, it was kinda funny as well. "I'm sure you can find a nice bookish stallion somewhere that appreciates older speech patterns."

Luna raised an eyebrow in response.

"What?"

"You say that as a joke?"

"It was meant to be funny, but hold on for a second." Cadance's mind viscously grappled onto the opportunity to finally have a chance at exercising her special talent. "You're not looking? I take it?"

"Looking?"

"Looking for romance?"

Luna smiled but shook her head, "No, I don't think I'll be partaking in anything of that nature anytime soon."

"Why not?" Cadance frowned, the wall of a 'no' was seriously disheartening.

"I am... Not really relationship compatible? At the moment. Maybe in a few years, if I ever retire completely. I'll consider it."

"And I'll be the first pony you ask for help, ~~right?" Cadance wasn't really asking, she leaned a bit into Luna's personal space.

Luna laughed, "Yes of course."

Cadance tapped the Luna on the chest, "I'll hold you to that." Cadance leaned back, "Oh and... Silver invited you back for next time."

Luna's head tilted, "You mean, tomorrow?"

"Today, technically, but yes."

"Really? How did she say it?"

How did she say it? Looks like Luna does know Silver pretty well...

"She uh..." Cadance trailed off, remembering the moment, "She invited you back after admonishing me for brining you, and then she threatened me."

"That sounds surprisingly genuine." Luna monotoned

"It was; as far as I could tell."

They fell into silence. Cadance looked around at the fraying edges of the kitchen in the dream.

"What should I expect?" Luna eventually asked, they were both still awkwardly standing in front of each other, not doing anything but looking around.

Cadance understood the question, Silver wasn't the kind of mare to really ever do the same thing twice, Luna knew that too. "Anything, I guess." Cadance shrugged. "We've gone out to drink, dance, there was this one time we went and fought a tribe of Kirin's for a dangerous artefact that I then broke."

"You went artefact hunting?"

"I guess?"

Luna shifted in place, "Did you enjoy it?"

Cadance tried to answer but failed, she'd not gotten the chance to even talk about the series of events with anypony, not even Shining. So what ended up coming from her was the bubbling excitement of finally getting to share. "It was crazy! There were, I mean, the Kirin could fly, I kicked open a door. We wandered through a jungle..." Cadance remembered the part where she tried to explode Silver, "Me and her fought, for a moment, nothing came of it. She was just trying to get me to relax."

"If you would like, I could..." Luna lit her horn, "We have access to the infinite expanse of creativity. I could generate any kind of adventure... If you'd like that, that is."

Cadance's emotion sense didn't work in the dream realm, though she desperately wished it did. Luna had a straight face, but her shifting hooves told another story. Cadance decided to just roll with it. "Sure, that actually sounds fun, a chance to blow off some steam."

Luna nodded as the dream around them shifted and expanded. The walls grew, and Cadance somehow recognized that they were now outside as Luna started explaining. "Aside from hunting the nightmares that come up from the Skein, and the demons that slip in from the Outside; this is generally how I spend my time in the dream realm."

"Adventuring?"

"Something like that."

Thank you. For the incredibly vague affirmation

The environment resolved into a massive open field with tall grass up to Cadance's neck. Both Luna and Cadance were submerged in false darkness, illuminated by the stars and moon. Cadance's eyes went wide as she saw the sky.

"Ah, yes. I suppose even you wouldn't be used to the night sky as I remember it."

"Whoah."

The sky itself wasn't dark. There wasn't a single section of pitch blackness that filled the sky with reams of void. It was all just stars, and slightly dimmer stars; sparkling blues, purples, and whites that covered the land in almost dusk levels of brightness.

"What is... What..." Cadance turned towards Luna, "What?" Luna's mane wasn't a tapestry of stars anymore, it looked more like a mirror that flipped the visage of the sky into a cascading rainbow of light, almost like Celestia's auroric mane, but made of thousands of little dots.

"Back in this age, I tended to the night sky, and the realms beyond. My sister tried her best while I was away, but like a field, the sky wilted without the proper care."

"You look gorgeous." Cadance said in awe.

Luna laughed, "Thank you Cadance, coming from you, that means a lot to me."

Cadance dragged her hoof around in the tall grass, trying to make a space that was anything other than just her head poking out. Then she remembered she had a horn, and telekinetically flattened out the space around them. Luna was taller, and her tail was just the same as her mane. Her fur was thicker, and it sparkled with the same kind of silvery metallic sheen that Quick Silver’s had.

"So..."

Luna looked down from the sky. "Right, of course. If I remember this dream correctly, this was a couple hundred years before I became Nightmare Moon, after the first defeat of Discord, there were monsters still left over that had to be dealt with so the major populations could plant new colonies away from the major strongholds. The land had become vicious and angry again."

Luna lit her horn again, and ponies suddenly joined them in the field, campfires and tents sprang up from the ground and the sound of music and the revelry of soldiers joined them under the sky. "I had come out here with my comrades looking for a series of large spiders that had expanded from their jungle to the east."

"You're really good with this dream magic." Cadance commented, all of the ponies, mostly Thestrals, looked completely real, the actions they were taking were dynamic. Nopony repeated any actions, and the mares and stallions spoke with different voices, and their conversations were complex. "I can't believe you can remember things like this, with such detail."

"I am blessed in the dream realm with an accurate memory, though, these ponies are not memories. They are figments, and are just as alive as you were in your own dream when I arrived. They will speak and think without my input, so long as it is within line with who I think they were."

"Really?"

Instead of answering Luna began walking into the crowd, Cadance followed behind and conversation began to quiet as ponies began drawing their gaze to Luna. "Ponies!" She shouted, and many rose, with those already standing saluting or stomping on the ground. "Ready your equipment and weapons! Tonight, we hunt the monsters that hunt us! Tonight we remind the natural world who is the prey! and who is the predator!" Luna stomped her right hoof on the ground twice hard enough to leave a hole and kick up dirt. Thestrals and pegasi took to the air, cheering, and the camp became a whirlwind of activity.

Cadance smiled and leaned over to Luna, "Very regal."

"It's something I would have said, at the time."

Something clicked in Cadance's head.

Cadance was the kind of mare that liked having answers to questions, like most ponies; except she lived long enough to actually rationalize everything. When it came to her Alicorn nature, understanding the ponies around her was a key fundamental she'd taken upon herself to skill herself into. Taking conscious effort to try and understand why, rather than just know of.

How often does she come back here?

How far in the past is she living?

Luna was adventuring into the dream realm and reliving her past instead of making her own future. That'll be why she's struggled to get used to the new language, despite what she'd said.

No wonder she's so concerned about Silver... how often does she meet a memory of them in a dream?

Cadance wiped away the frown that had appeared on her face while she thought. "How often do you do this Luna?"

Luna snapped herself out of staring out at the flurry of activity in the camp ruffling her wings and taking a moment to parse what she'd heard, "Oh" She turned, gesturing out to the crowd, "Whenever I get the chance." Despite being an age old mare, Luna still ended up looking shy, somehow. "It's nice to... feel at home again."

Cadance put some important pieces together, and decided to be direct.

"You know hiding away from the future isn't good for you."

Luna frowned and looked away.

"Not that I'm judging you. I just want you to know that I care."

Luna sighed with her body. In an imperceptible shift, Luna was suddenly 'Luna' again. Her awe striking mane and tail went back to their flowing starlight sky, her fur lost its sheen, and she shrunk down a few inches. Cadance only noticed the tufted ears when they disappeared.

"You're right... My apologies for bringing you."

Cadance chuckled, much to Luna's confusion, and she walked up to the tall mare and slung a wing over her back, "Oh no, I'm interested in fighting monsters. This is cool, but you can't keep yourself locked up in your head. That's all I'm saying."

"You wish to stay?"

"Of course! I've never gotten to lucid dream without you, I'm not starting now." Cadance met Luna's rising smile. It was good to talk to an immortal not like...

Celestia or Quick Silver

The unconscious similarities she'd noticed between the two struck out at her, at least in comparison to Luna. The Alicorn of the Night was expressive and honest. It made Cadance feel like she was actually having an impact when she was kind, or made an effort to be understanding.

"So what usually happened next?" Cadance gestured out to the campsite. The fires barely lighting anything in comparison to the glow from the sky.

"You may want to cover your ears." Luna smiled, then rose up from underneath Cadance's wing while taking a deep breath. "PONIES! RALLY ON ME!"

The camp went strangely quiet aside from the stomping of hooves, the flapping of wings, and the clanking of armor. In less than twenty seconds, the entire camp was marshaled in two blocks of ponies. Cadance noticed that they had subdivided themselves by heavy earth ponies, and lighter clad pegasi and thestrals. Cadance saw a few unicorns mixed through the crowd, and the odd zebra, poking over the tops of the heads of others.

"This is Princess Cadance, my Niece, she will be joining us in the fight against the monsters that have risen to take this land away from us." Luna gestured to Cadance while speaking, and Cadance spread her wings and lit her horn.

Cadance flinched a little as suddenly the entire crowd roared in approval. They simply went from dead silence and attention to cheering and stomping.

Luna whispered to Cadance from further away than was possible. "Another Alicorn joining the fight is a big deal, it means we are sure to succeed." She turned back to the crowd. "Let us not delay! Captains! Move these troops at speed! I want to see the jungle by midnight!" With smattering conversation, and the yelling of several pegasi that took to the air to relay orders, the troops moved forwards. Luna and Cadance watched them go by, and Cadance noticed the ponies lingering behind.

"What are all those ponies here for?"

"Those are the supply teams, and the curriers, and medics. They maintain the camp, send messages to and fro, they will pack up the majority of our supplies and meet us as we move forwards."

Cadance lifted or lowered an eyebrow, depending on how you looked at it. "Do they... need supplies?"

"No, but I figured I should give you an accurate experience." Luna smirked, "Battles like this were just as easily won by the coordination of our non-combatants. Even if an entire force is wiped out, the injured can make a final push with only properly maintained medical supplies and food. Several battles were turned simply because of a safety net, and the enemy thinking they'd won after a devastating retreat."

Cadance started walking through the tall grass, keeping pace with the troops as they trotted, walking rather than marching. "You've got a lot of experience."

"Ancient Warrior Princess is an accurate title, despite it being originally made in jest." Luna picked herself up with a bit of pride, and matched Cadance's pace.

"Sounds like you kind of like it too."

"I equally miss these times, and hope they never come again. Fighting monsters was so simple, back in the day; though ponies still died."

"It was different." Cadance summarized.

"Yes. It was." Luna accepted, thinking of something else.

"So we just walk for a long time now? Shining always says that soldering is ninety percent waiting, nine percent equipment maintenance, and one percent action." Cadance tried to pull Luna out of her musings with some idle conversation.

"Your husband is correct, at least when it comes to monster hunting. Though I will skip the night of walking."

"What are we hunting again?"

"I believe this night, I was ambushed by Akcanera, the Spider Queen." Luna blinked a few times, "She had devised that she had a chance to destroy me, so she rode out with her strongest forces to slay me while we hunted her children."

"Akcanera?" Cadance asked in mild confusion, "I don't think I've ever heard of- wait, so they weren't just monsters? They were a species of spiders?"

"During Discord's reign, he created many sapient and semi-immortal creatures from the insanity of the ponies he tortured, to torture more. Akcanera, Anubis, Chrysalis, Jelickfcha, and the yeti barbarians are the first that come to mind. I believe Anubis turned over a new leaf, until Celestia killed him some time after my banishment."

"Who are... the... the other two? and Chrysalis? Discord created Chrysalis?" Cadance calmly ignored Luna's last statement.

Luna nodded, "Jelickfcha was the first Sphinx, a fusion of a zebra and an abyssinian. We never actually found out about her and her children until long after he was in stone. Their kind is mostly harmless unless provoked; like dragons." Luna started to use her magic to flatten the grass in front of Cadance as they walked after having noticed Cadance struggling with it. "The yeti barbarians were much of the same, they accosted the fledgling Crystal Empire, far away from Equestria. I do believe there are still a few, animalistic yetis, living in the north."

"I have so many questions."

"Apologies, I had forgotten you have yet to experience a moot. I don't know how many immortals are left in the world, Celestia hasn't told me, and I am honestly afraid to ask." Luna shook her head, "But enough history, we have a fight to start. See up ahead?"

"Is that snow?"

It was not snow, it was silk. Spider silk so thick and dense it covered the grass completely; both weaving through and over the tall grass, strangling the field like a weed. The grass underneath it was sickly and browning, dying due to the lack of light and space. Cadance picked at it with a hoof, it did more than stick to her, the mesh grappled outwards and folded itself onto her hoof like it was alive. Cadance retracted her leg quickly and tried to shake it off before wiping her hoof in the grass. The tendrils that had broken off floated around in the air, reaching out towards whatever had disturbed them.

"After we tried breaching it-" Luna pointed off to where the sounds of shouting and the thumping of hooves broke out.

Cadance lifted herself into the air in one smooth motion of flexing her wings. Luna was right behind her, in the glowing light of the stars and moon, it wasn't hard to see what was happening. At the front of the group, ponies had met with and pulled in several large spiders. Most of them were pony sized, but there were a few that were even larger. Some of the more pony sized ones actually had the front half of a pony attached to the front.

Cadance landed in front of the combat, the enemies having been dispatched cleanly and effectively. There was no blood, or any of the other features of death and war that would accompany a fight like this. The spiders just laid in pieces, like broken toys.

It struck Cadance with sadness, for some reason.

Luna landed down behind Cadance, "Ah, the Arachne. Feral ponies combined with Akcanera's children."

"Is..." Cadance didn't really know what to make of what she was seeing, but she pushed away the strange upset feeling that had come to her. "Are these still around? These ponies?"

"Not any that I know of. It's hard to find a pony to procreate with when your lesser subspecies eat their mating partners."

Cadance made a face, "Oh... well I guess that makes sense."

"Princess! Princess!" An earth pony stallion approached and saluted, he had a striking gold mane, and orange-y red fur. "What do you make of these things?" He said, a little more subdued.

"Ah, general Heart. It's good to see you." Luna said, Heart nodded and Luna continued, "These monsters were dispatched with excellent precision and discipline. Their nature is that of the flesh, they have no advantage over us."

"How many more are out there your majesty?" He responded, nodding along with her confidence in their forces.

"Many." Luna said in tone, "Ready the troops in a defensive arch with me and Cadance in the middle. We will meet their ambush with nothing but iron and will, and their best will break as we fall back into the defensive line. They will try to surround us and meet only death when they do."

The stallion saluted and broke off, shouting orders.

"Are you ready?" Luna turned to Cadance, breaking her out of her observations.

"Oh! Right! So, what do we do?"

"The figments will stay behind, any of the overwhelming forces that do not target us will simply disappear for the sake of simplicity, we will fight the rest."

Cadance started to warm up her limbs, limbering up, stretching her flight muscles and stomping her hooves. Luna...

Luna summoned a mix between a glaive, a halberd, and a pickaxe. A crescent moon shaped blade that sprouted from a rune filled pole as thick as the base of Cadance's horn. It was a thing that ran the length of Luna's body, she pulled it from the mount that had appeared on her shoulder and gave the thing a swing. It extended with what looked like magic and hummed as it split the air and spun back over Luna's neck like nunchuks.

"Whoah. Right." Cadance said, remembering that Luna was not only a master tactician

"Ah, of course, what is your preferred weapon? I can summon one for you."

Cadance stuttered for a second, "I don't, really have one? I've only ever used my magic."

Luna tilted her head, "Surely you joke, you've never picked up a weapon? Not a single one?"

"Eheh..."

The taller alicorn shook her head, "A peaceful age."

"Maybe you can teach me something? Someday?"

Luna nodded in Cadance's direction, "Absolutely, you not knowing basic combat procedure is something I cannot abide by. Here." A sword the length of Cadance's arm appeared in front of her. It was made of silvery metal, and its hilt and guard were clearly designed for a muzzle, rather than magic. That being said, Cadance reached out and grabbed the thing in her mouth.

"The shortsword is the weapon of kings. It has the right length, for equal deflection and striking range, perfect for weight, and an excellent starting tool. Easy to learn, with a very high ceiling for skill." Luna lectured, and Cadance would have giggled at the strange thought of Twilight lecturing Cadance on proper sword technique.

That is, until Luna gave her the next piece of advice. "Point the sharp end at the enemy. When they get close, and are not about to hurt you, swing the edge at them."

Cadance was about to spit out the sword and ask a pointed question, but suddenly the grass in front of them began to screech, and Luna took to the sky and yelled.

"TO ARMS PONIES! LET THEM REMEMBER WHO OWNS THE NIGHT!"

Cadance's 'dream' heart leapt into action as a wave of chitinous monsters broke free of the grass line. Cadance pointed the sword at the enemies, sure, but the more reactive part of her mind fired a concentrated line of mana at the oncoming rush with her horn. A divot lasered into the ground where the masses were rushing forwards cut through a few, with limbs popping off and the majority just poofing away as her beam struck their centers or heads.

Luna crashed down to the earth in front of her just after her magic dissipated. The shockwave of the landing flattened every single blade of grass in the vicinity, and exposed hundreds of the onrushing swarm. The creatures near Luna were rended into poofing clouds of dust as her weapon struck out and spun through the air, practically alive, like a gymnast. Suddenly there were very few enemies.

Enough for Cadance to refocus, tuning out the intrusive flashback to her wedding. She turned the sword over in her mouth and rushed up to Luna just as the mare did a standing corkscrew, dancing around and pivoting her large polearm like she was born to do it.

The sound was the worst part. It was definitely throwing Cadance off of the more light hearted adventure she was expecting, the screeching and yelling from ponies served only to make her nervous. She felt distinctly out of place here, in combat. On a battlefield. In a war.

She closed her eyes and remembered. She remembered how she felt when she was fighting the Kirin. She remembered how angry Silver wanted to make her, angry at how Silver wouldn't just stop manipulating her, and from there, the emotion flowed. Filling Cadance with righteous indignation as her subconscious reminded her of the life she never got to have, and all of the ponies that took it away from her.

Her wings already flared, she flapped hard and tackled the nearest target, the sword, evident to Luna's advice, dove straight into the creature like nothing. It poofed a moment after Cadance hit the ground, and she lifted the sword from the dirt while rearing up on her hindlegs, splitting another spider in half as she drew herself up and kicked out at another one, she didn't feel the blow in her legs, but contact sent the top half of the arachne bending backwards in a sickly display before it poofed into dust.

Cadance would have been surrounded if Luna's polearm didn't come spearing through the wave at her front like a missile. It dove through seven of the seething arachne ponies by the waist before halting in mid air due to a blue glow, and flying itself back over to Luna while spinning and adding more starlit dust to the fray of combat.

"WOOO!" Cadance exhaled as she launched herself into the air, there was a wave of force that spread away from the ground as she did so, knocking the spiders prone, and flipping several into the air from the gust of wind that followed. She only realized she had dropped the sword from her mouth once she was in the air.

"Oh... woops." She fired another blast from her, having calmed down, but still in the swing of things.

From the air she spotted a massive spider. Something with legs that towered over even the treeline in the distance. It lumbered through the grass, still faster than a speeding pegasi due to its size.

That'll be Akcanera then.

Cadance pursed her lips and fired a blast of magic at the massive thing. The spell sunk into the beast, disappearing beneath writhing chitin and fur.

"Uhh." Cadance's instincts drove her to the side as a strand of silk like a bullet shot out from a random section of the massive beast towards Cadance at the speed of a bullet. It barely grazed her, and the force was enough to send her spinning for a moment before she righted herself and dodged the next strand while returning fire with a less cohesive blast. It exploded when it reached Akcanera, but the creature was still unphased.

Suddenly everything stopped. All of the creatures paused in place as a barely perceptible wave of blue glow passed over everything. From the ground, Luna called up to Cadance, "Did you drop your sword?"

Cadance called back down sheepishly, "Maybe!"

Another one appeared in front of her, as Luna took the sky and met up with Cadance.

"Thank you."

"It is very bad form to lose your weapon in the middle of combat." Luna admonished with a smile.

"I know that." Cadance grumbled, crossing her hooves and trying to maintain an air of composure. She didn't want to let on how exhilarating that was. She was mildly upset that Luna paused the whole thing to begin with.

"Shall we face Akcanera together?"

Cadance grinned, "Yes."

Luna smiled, and everything resumed. Another strand of oncoming silk was sliced down the middle by Luna's weapon, and she flew towards the beast. Neither of them had to dive, that's how tall Akcanera was. "FOR ATIRIA!" Luna screamed

Cadance got the general message and joined in, "FOR EQUESTRIA!"

They fell upon the beast with thrashing steel and angry beams of magic. Like little bees with laser pointers and toothpicks, they attacked Akcanera from everywhere. The thing was far too big to deal with creatures so agile, and every time Luna danced away from its attacks and taunted it with archaic phrases to draw its attention, Cadance charged and fired blast after blast into its torso and backside.

"She's tough! I'll give her that!" Cadance yelled over the wind,

"Yes! Have you devised her weakness yet?" Luna yelled back,

"SCHEEEEEREEEEREEE!" Akcanera added constructively.

Cadance came to a stop as Luna spun around the spider's jaw again, leading it away as Cadance squinted. The thing hadn't taken any visible wounds, it's body was malleable, like when Shining kicked Silver in the face.

Blood magic... or the visual equivalent.

Every time a blast of magic hit, the flesh simply swallowed it. Whenever a blade sunk into the chitin, more just grew around the hole. When a leg was severed, tendrils of tendons and bone extended to reconnect. Cadance dove, rushing up from underneath the creature's side and sliced out with her blade, the impact sent her spinning as the blade met the leg at the joint, but Cadance didn't bother catching air again. She wrapped the bottom stump in her magic and pulled, using her momentum of falling to channel it into the limb.

That's not really how telekinetics work, but it was a dream, so it did work like that.

The leg snapped away from the flesh as it tried to heal itself and went tumbling to the webs and grass below. Akcanera roared in rage as Cadance caught air and dodged another coming limb attempting to skewer her into the ground.

"Excellent work Cadance!" She heard Luna call out to her with genuine joy in her voice. Cadance smiled, and created some distance. She spat out her blade and held it in her telekinesis, the blade shot forwards and sank into the head of Akcanera. She pushed with her magic and the blade was consumed by the flesh of the beast.

Normally, using telekinesis on a living thing was extraordinarily hard, but as Cadance had learned from Silver: it was only hard because the soul of the creature rejected the magic. Also something Cadance learned from Silver: Blood magic doesn't define bodies as part of the soul. Cadance could have lifted Silver with her telekinesis with ease if Silver didn't weigh nearly a ton.

So as the sword sank into the body of the dream Akcanera, Cadance simply held onto the blade with her telekinesis. When she felt it stop moving, she yanked. The sword came up from the core of the creature, flying out of its head spinning sideways and upwards into the air. The head fell off, and a moment later Akcanera poofed into glittering blue dust.

Luna cheered, as did the ponies below.

I did it! Haha!

Cadance flew up to Luna, "That was fun!" She said, mildly but pleasantly surprised by how much fun it actually was.

Luna glomped her in the air. The dream magic kept them both floating, even though Cadance struggled to instinctively flap. Luna was silent, and the dream bled away as the hug went from: 'victory hug' to 'oh, this is really emotional.'

Luna held her tighter as Cadance realized what exactly was going on and returned the gesture.

"Thank you for letting me share this with you."

"Of course Luna."

The taller Alicorn didn't let go until Cadance pulled away.

"Just... next time, let's meet up in the real world, okay?" Cadance said with a soft smile.

Luna nodded, schooling her features, "I promise. Sorry, combat clears my head."

"Don't worry about getting emotional with me Auntie." Cadance snarked

"I..." Some unreadable expressions passed over Luna's features. "I will not." She eventually said.

Cadance yawned, somehow. She squinted and frowned at her own reaction to nothing.

"You require normal rest. Actively dreaming like this is draining to the psyche."

Cadance shrugged, "I can go for a bit longer. The sword was new, I'm... actually kinda interested in learning now; do you think Silver would show me some tips?"

Luna made a face nearing annoyance. "I doubt it. Du-er, Silver would almost exclusively fight with wit, traps, and magic. She wasn't a very directly confrontational fighter, often choosing to out plan or out maneuver her opponents. Although it is like you said, they are a different pony now, who knows."

"Will I see you tomorrow?"

Luna didn't expect the question. She thought for a second, "Yes you will. I will arrive at a slightly later time, with the same disguise?"

"Sounds good to me." Cadance approached for another hug, which Luna returned. "It's always great to see you Auntie, thanks for stopping by, and for the adventure."

"I-er" Luna flushed under her fur, visible because of the dream, "Anytime Cadance. I hope we can have a real one, at some point."

"Maybe we'll invite Silver?" Cadance offered

Luna's odd demeanor turned a little more stoic and her brow furrowed. "Maybe..." She said, lighting her horn.

Cadance fell into a dreamless sleep moments later.

Author's Note

The way dream magic works here is very reminiscent of Starscribe's work with the whole premise. A new creative step for me is that it isn't a carbon copy of it (lol), despite how much I love the ideas behind it and how it interacts with void creatures and the structure of the universe as a whole. If you like ponies at all, go read their work.

For dream realm specific stuff: Knight of Wands and Beyond the Veil of Sleep
(Though keep in mind that Knight of Wands is mildly unintelligible without reading through the rest of the series, starting with The Last Pony on Earth, which I also highly recomend as a whole)