To Dream in Red

“May thou sleep peacefully tonight, little one,” cooed the Princess of the Night as she stepped through the door and out of the foal’s dreams, “Nightmare Moon is no more. Thou has nothing to fear. We promise.”

The pink and blue filly snuggled deeper into her pile of oversized ursa plushes as she gave a timid wave. She did not seem wholly convinced, but was happy enough that Luna could leave her be. With the foal’s nightmare of Ursas dispelled, Luna could continue her rounds satisfied; and so the Princess closed the door gently behind her.

Pacing the aetherial halls of Equestria’s dreamscape slowly, Luna searched for any signs of distress amongst her subjects. She had worked hard to restore order to this place over the course of the past month, and although her own sleep had suffered for it, she was happy to know that the ponies of Equestria rested easy now that she had returned to them.

It was not easy, of course. Returning from her thousand year imprisonment had been… tumultuous, to say the least. Thankfully, her sister had prepared well, and there were worthy heroes waiting to meet her and restore order where Celestia had failed all those centuries ago. The defeat of Nightmare Moon was swift, even if recovery was difficult.

Luna was thankful, of course, to once again be herself; but she felt deep pangs of guilt as she trotted along the psychic corridors. Had she been more mindful, more careful of her own misgivings and fears, the ponies of Equestria would not have had to fend for themselves in their sleep the past thousand years.

Her first night in the dreamscape was as terrible as it was disheartening. All across the land of dreams there were dark tendrils of terror and misery that had spread and rooted themselves in the minds of countless ponies; an insidious corruption that infected their slumber with fear and dread. Her thousand years of absence had let it grow unchecked like weeds, and she was ashamed to see just how many such nightmares involved her more insidious alter ego.

As Princess of the Night, it was her duty to tend to such things, and so she did with all the fervour and tenacity she could muster. It was exhausting work, to be sure; but seeing her beloved dreamland free of nightmares was worth the effort, even if not all denizens were particularly happy to see her at work. If nothing else, it helped her regain some good will, and it meant that perhaps someday soon she would be able to make public appearances again without foals running in fear of her.

When she didn’t sense any more nightmares in her domain, Luna prepared to return to her own dreams for the night. Just before she slipped out of the Equestrian dreamscape, however, something stopped her. It wasn’t a nightmare, but something… strange. Off-putting, yet subtle enough that she wouldn’t have picked up on it while there were more obvious nightmares causing issues in the dream world.

Unfurling her wings, Luna took off in the direction of the disturbance. She couldn’t determine what it was, but at the very least she could tell something wasn’t quite right. She flew for a long time, longer than she expected to. As she glided along the aetherial currents, she could slowly but surely feel the unease worsen the closer she came. Looking down, she saw that she was approaching the outskirts of the dream world. Fewer and fewer doors were visible, until none at all. Still, she hadn’t arrived yet.

Luna flew for another several minutes until she had come to a strange island of dry and barren landscape floating amongst the starry space that made up the dreamworld. There, in the middle of the small platform was a single red door. It sat completely alone and completely disconnected from the rest of the minds of Equestria; a drop of crimson amongst a backdrop of charcoal. She wondered if it was even a pony to be hidden so far away that even she had trouble finding it.

It was as she landed beside it that the smell struck her. It was faint, but eerily familiar to her. Like a perfume worn by a passerby from years ago. That proved to her that whatever was going on inside of this dream was extremely unusual. Such tactile sensations should be imperceivable from beyond the door, yet they were so potent here that it leaked out into the dreamworld beyond.

Reaching forward, Luna pressed a hoof against the door to open it, but found that it did not move. Almost like the door was stuck, or even locked. She raised an eyebrow in confusion, as she had never encountered something like that before. She gave a sturdier push, and felt the door give slightly, but the scent hit her stronger now. It was harsh and bitter, but she still couldn’t quite place it.

Frustration growing, Luna’s eyes burned with light as she mustered her strength. “Who art thou to deny us in this place? This is our domain, and thou shall yield to your Princess!”

Rearing back, Luna stomped forward against the door, and finally whatever was stopping it gave way. With a satisfied grin, Luna took a step forward but was immediately stopped again by the scent that reached her nostrils, now paired with the sight of what laid beyond the door.

Blood. That strange, disconcerting aroma she had smelled was blood. Not just a small amount, like a scrape from a fall or from a broken bone. It wasn’t the acrid bitterness of a single pony’s blood, but the choking miasma of an ocean of gore, like a hundred mass graves filled to the brim with eviscerated carcasses. The source of the scent was plain to see, as just beyond the threshold of the door was red. Pure, unending red. Luna shivered as she resisted the urge to retch at the sight of what seemed to be unending mountains of bodies. Ponies, dragons, griffons, and countless other species were stacked together in a display of bloodshed on a scale that she didn’t even think was conceivable.

Her horn flared with magic as she yanked the door shut again, unable to bear the sight or scent for a second longer. Her gagging finally got the better of her as he emptied her stomach’s contents onto the dry ground beneath her; something she didn’t even know she could do in the dreamworld.

The dead soil beneath her hooves mixed with her sick, turning into a foul slurry as questions flooded her mind, racing to understand what she had just witnessed. She glanced back at the crimson door again, wondering how whatever that was wasn’t a nightmare. She questioned why such a dreamland was here, so isolated from every other pony in Equestria. She knew that the world of dreams existed even before her, but she was so certain that in all of her years as a dreamwalker she had learned everything there was to know about the primordial place, but she was clearly sorely mistaken.

She couldn’t approach it again, not now. She could tell at the very least, whatever was here was no threat to her subjects with how far away it was. Her heart filled with dread, Luna absconded away for now. She was determined to return someday, when she mustered the bravery to face whoever or whatever was beyond that door, because as horrible as it was, it was in her domain; and that made it one of her subjects.