Dreamwalker

by JwuTheHeadcase

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure
Length: 3065

Every night, after raising the moon, Luna reaches out and touches the dreams of all of her subjects

Every night, after raising the moon, Luna reaches out and touches the dreams of all of her subjects. But one night, something goes wrong. Horribly wrong. Or does it?

*Cover art by the artist Ama-Chan from Zerochan

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-12-10 11:30:01 UTC

A Cry for Help

“Once again we raise the moon and welcome in the night, once again we bathe the earth in glowing silver light.” Luna hummed to herself as she set up the sky for the night. The moon and stars were in place. Anytime now, the ponies of Equestria would begin their slumber. “And then they dream in moonlight’s gleam, and we work hard, their dreams we guard.”

Sure enough, after a couple minutes, the first wisps of dreams floated into the air. They were fine wisps, nearly invisible to the untrained eye, but extremely easy to spot for Luna, the princess of the night. She flew across the land, sailing with the cool breeze, touching each dream that came close and allowing them to feel her presence. Dreams of prosperity, of fame, of wonderful ideas all passed in and out of her body, warming her spirit. And of course, back at the palace, there was her sister’s dream wisp. Celestia had never allowed Luna to look into her dreams, and Luna had always respected that. She gave the bright gold dream wisp a wide berth as she patrolled.

A few small nightmares in Canterlot were dealt with. She snuffed out the fire burning donut joe’s bakery with a flap of her wings, she crushed the giant spider consuming Prince Blueblood’s favorite suit, and helped Fancypants find his fancy pants. It was then that she noticed a dark red wisp, a nightmare of the highest priority, floating up over Fluttershy’s cottage. Given her background knowledge on Fluttershy, this wasn’t very rare, but still warranted investigating.

Luna took a deep breath and flew towards the wisp, twirling around until her sparkly mane had mingled with its essence. She then projected her thoughts towards below, felt herself slip slowly into the dream world and braced herself for impact.

Fluttershy had not been so thoughtful as to include a moon in her dream, and Luna landed on cold, hard, unforgiving ground. She heard a cry for help. Fluttershy was probably the source. Luna zoomed off.

Dreams could get pretty weird. Ponies got themselves in situations so ridiculous that Luna would have no idea how these started out. This was one of those dreams. Fluttershy was hiding under a cliff at the edge of a forest, only this forest was… shrinking? Trees were disappearing at a rapid rate. A quick glance to the left showed a giant hungry bunny as the probably culprit.

Luna rushed off and charged up her horn. It was time to rid this dream of this nightmarish monstrosity once and for all. The bunny stopped and looked at her confusedly. Now would be the perfect moment to strike. Luna blasted the bunny with all of her pent up magic, using a disappearing spell she used for all terrible nightmares that grew out of hand. The anti-nightmare beam flew towards the bunny at alarming speed. All it could do was stare in fear. This dream would be normal soon.

Then it collided. And the dream froze. Luna found herself forcibly ejected from the odd dream, sending a cold shiver down her spine. On the bright side, the nightmare wisp was gone. However, the normalized dream wisp that should have appeared was nowhere to be found. “Odd, this has never happened before,” she thought to herself. “We had better go down and see if everything’s all right.”

She headed down to Fluttershy’s house and peered into the window. Fluttershy was wide awake, hunched over… something. “Excuse our presence Fluttershy, but is everything okay?” Luna called in a booming voice, causing Fluttershy to jump and hug a ceiling rafter, revealing the bunny she had been hunching over.

“Oh… Luna. I’m so glad you’re here.” Fluttershy said after about three seconds of hyperventilation. “Angel over there has been making odd noises in his sleep, like he had nightmares, so I’ve been trying to wake him up.” Tears emerged from her face. “But he just isn’t waking up. Could you please help? I mean, I know you’re supposed to be watching over the ponies, but just this once, please?” Fluttershy brought out the slumped figure of Angel over to Luna. It was definitely asleep, but there was no dream wisp coming out, happy or nightmarish.

Luna stepped back. Could she have just? No, she couldn’t have. She was certain that she could tell a pony’s dream from a bunny’s dream. But what if she did? What would have happened had she deleted the host from their dream?

Fluttershy cleared her throat timidly and nudged Angel closer to Luna. “We will do our best to cure your Angel, Fluttershy.” Luna said, and placed her horn against his forehead. Direct contact would ensure more powerful transmittance of thought. Whatever was left of his dream would surely become accessible. Luna let out a surge of magic, searching for Angel’s dream.

Nothing happened. The bunny remained asleep. She let loose another surge of magic, this one strong enough to lift Angel’s body two inches into the air. No results. Luna looked worried. Nopony was better at dream magic than she was. A growing sense of dread consumed her as she tried again and again to contact Angel’s dream.

“Fluttershy… there is something we must ask you.” Fluttershy was covering her eyes, not wanting to see the magical blasts being fired (albeit harmlessly) into Angel’s cranium. “We... detected a nightmare earlier tonight trailing from your cottage. Were you, perhaps dreaming a nightmare?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Oh no, I was too busy tending to my animals and making sure they got their rest first. I sleep much later than most ponies.” These words echoed in Luna’s mind. She spread her wings and with shaky knees took off. There was something that needed to be done, and urgently. “We will return, hopefully with a cure for your angel friend.”

Fluttershy looked around worriedly and cradled Angel in her hooves. “Please come back soon.”

The Waking Nightmare

There was a gargantuan bunny eating the trees of Sweet Apple Acres, being assaulted by a small pony with a large bow on her head. “Stop that Angel! We need these apples!” Applebloom shouted, ramming her face into Angel’s foot.

Applejack blinked the sleep from her eyes and groggily stared out her window. It took her almost a full minute to realize what was going on. “What in tarnation?” She headed outside, accompanied by Big Macintosh. “Got your lasso?” She asked him. “Eyup” he replied.

“On three! One… two… THREE!” She flung her lasso around the giant Angel’s tail while Big Macintosh flung his around Angel’s neck. They struggled to hold him still, and it seemed to be working.

And then Angel decided to jump, launching the two ponies into the air, where they landed in some apple trees a good distance away. “I don’t think this is working.” Applejacks brushed some leaves out of her hair and groaned. “Nope.” Big Macintosh shook his head.

It was not very difficult for Luna to track down the enormous rabbit. She summoned the full power of the Royal Canterlot voice. “Halt, Angel! Thou are dreaming and must wake up!” The bunny ignored her and kept munching on some dreams. “Princess Luna!” Applebloom was on the ground, jumping to get her attention. Luna descended.

“Applebloom? Tis’ too dangerous for a young filly to be fighting nightmares such as these.” Applebloom glared. “That’s our farm he’s attacking, and my home! Besides, he’s not a nightmare! He seems plenty real to me!” As if to prove her point, a large cloud of dirt blew past their manes with a thud of Angel’s giant feet.

“It is complicated and we do not have time to explain. Just trust that we can fix it.” Luna said. “And get indoors before thy body be crushed.” She picked up Applebloom with her teeth and set her gently down on the porch.

“All right, but he destroys any of Granny Smith’s zap apple trees, I’m holding you responsible!” Applebloom shouted as she headed back indoors. Meanwhile Granny Smith stirred at the sound of her name, peered outside, noticed an enormous bunny, and went back to sleep. “Really must stop drinkin’ so much cider before bed.” She mumbled.

  Luna charged Angel with all of her might, managing to pick him up by a tuft of hair on his head. He was lighter than his size would suggest, but still fairly heavy. She struggled to move him with a combination of might and magic to an area where he would do less harm to the Apple Family’s livelihood. The strain of it all had caused her to close her eyes, and she was just flying blindly for as long as she could hold out, but anywhere was better than here.

Eventually, her strength and magic gave out, and a very annoyed giant bunny was released into her surroundings. Luna slumped down on the ground. “Princess Luna? Are you okay? What’s Angel doing here, and why is he so big?” Twilight’s voice? But she lived in the middle of Ponyville. This was not good.

“Twilight Sparkle, we have no time to explain, but trust that we can handle it. Please stay safe. This is no place for a student.” Luna nudged Twilight back towards her library, despite the latter’s protests. “Are you sure I can’t help? I have been improving my magic you know.” Luna shook her head. “This is far too dangerous, and though we recognize the might of thy power, thou does not yet know enough about dream magic. I cannot risk any harm you may cause to Angel or yourself. Please just stay here for your own safety.” Twilight gave in. “All right. But if you need any help, you know where to find me.”

Luna flew off towards Angel, who had been heading towards Fluttershy’s cottage. This was not good. “If only we could fly faster.” Luna thought to herself. She barely made it, cutting off the giant Angel before she could reach the cottage. She took a glance back. The cottage showed no signs of activity, so Fluttershy probably had not yet noticed or was too scared to look outside. Either would work.

“Angel. WAKE UP!” Luna shouted, summoning whatever strength she had left, using an awakening spell she had picked up from the Royal Canterlot Library and tripling its power. The spell struck the giant Angel directly in the forehead and he closed his eyes, shaking. The cottage doors flung open. “STOP!” Fluttershy flew outside and knocked Luna out of the way. “You’re hurting him!” Indeed, the small Angel in her arms was writhing in pain.

Drained of magic, drained of strength, Luna could only stare helplessly into Fluttershy’s eyes. “Please, run away and be safe. I can handle this.” The first rays of dawn broke over the sky. Celestia would be up soon, she would find out the horrible mistakes that Luna had made.

“Just go… Please. I… Can’t handle this.” The sun fully rose and a booming, stern, yet familiar disembodied voice echoed all around. “Princess Luna.”

“Sister?” Luna called. “We are sorry. We have failed.” Luna looked weakly up at the sky to see Celestia descending, oddly calm considering the situation. Then she realized that the giant Angel was gone, along with the rest of ponyville. They were resting in her favorite clearing in the Everfree Forest. Her body was no longer sore and her magic felt full.

Luna stammered. “What is this? What spell could thou have used, surely this amount of magic is not within our limits of-“ Celestia put a wing around her sister and smiled. “Oh? Can the Princess of the night really not tell when she herself is in a dream?” Of course. It all made sense now. “I am here to tell you it is time to wake up and raise the moon. I was also investigating a nightmare, but it seems you took care of that yourself.”

Luna was confused. “We did? But we failed. If you had not intervened, Ponyville would have been destroyed!” Luna pawed at the ground with her hoof.

“I was watching the whole time. No matter how questionable of an act you committed, it was always in the name of the greater good. And in the end, you faced your worst fear- your irresponsible use of magic and the consequences that followed. By admitting that it had grown out of your control, you have conquered your demons, however interesting a form they may have taken.” She added with a smirk. A large bunny rabbit hopped by in the background, smiled, and waved.

“Now I suppose you’ll be needing this. It’s time for the rest of the ponies to get their sleep.” Celestia held out one of the scrolls Luna had discarded during her raid on the Royal Canterlot Library. “Awakening spell, to wake oneself from nightmares.” Luna read, then blushed deeply. If only she had used that spell sooner, so much of this could have been avoided. “Not as useless as you may think.” Celestia added, then flew off, into the sun.

“I’d use that spell soon if I were you, I’ve had a long day and could use some sleep.” The disembodied voice echoed. Luna smiled and unrolled the scroll, casting the spell and waking herself from her dream. “Once again, we raise the moon and welcome in the night.” She mumbled groggily.

A Complex Reality

Luna flew towards the Royal Canterlot Library at her top speed. She noticed several nightmare wisps in the distance, but they could manage without her for a night. This was far more important. After ten long minutes, she finally arrived in the courtyard, landing gently on her hooves. The royal guards stood aside and allowed her to pass.

“Princess Luna! You’re back? But what happened to dream patrol?” A guard asked nervously. Luna shot him a look. “We will decide what we do in the night. And we require use of the library.”

“Of-Of course. Let me just unlock the door, and we’ll-“ Luna ran past him as soon as the door was unlocked, galloping towards the Dream Magicka section. “Starswirl the Bearded dabbled in dreams, perhaps he knew something.” She mumbled. But these scrolls were all of basic magic that she had memorized long ago. She dug deeper, into the rarely used magics. There were sleeping spells for the jumpy, restorative sleep for headaches, even a spell to wake oneself up from a nightmare, all of them useless. This section of the Library was rather bare, as dream magic was not very popular in the past, as they had been more interested about magic affecting the physical world.

Luna grunted in frustration. “They’re all useless!” She scattered the scrolls and turned around, finding a large mirror. “What could this be doing in the library?” She wondered and approached it. She looked a mess. In her hurry to return to Canterlot, her mane had accumulated several leaves and bugs. She shook it clean and stared at the mirror. “What can we do to cure this? What happens when the host is deleted from the dream?” She called, hoping for a response, answered only by the hollow moaning of the wind.

The window was open. She walked over and peered outside, staring at the statues in the garden. Starswirl the bearded loomed back at her, with a look of… disapproval? Then there was Discord, a master of reality, but one who knew absolutely nothing about the complications of dreams. She let her gaze wander until she saw one statue that the moon just happened to shine the brightest on. It was a statue of the one pony who knew more about dream magic than she did. The moonlight had fallen upon a statue of Nightmare Moon.

Luna thought for a while, allowing the night air to cool her mane. How long had it been since she raised the moon? She had forgotten. What if Celestia woke up and found her? That would be terrible. An image of Fluttershy cradling the unwaking body of Angel crossed her mind and she made up her mind. She wasn’t stupid, of course, there would be safeguards. But even contacting her darker self could have disastrous consequences.

Luna steeled herself and stared into the mirror beside her, imagining herself larger, stronger, more powerful. She felt the rage begin to consume her, but this time, she held it at bay, focusing hard on the mirror until her reflection warped. Her blue skin became black and her horn grew, her teeth became sharp, her wings spread out, and tail flared. Her reflection blinked and stared out from the mirror.

“Why have you summoned me here, if you have no use for me?” Nightmare Moon hissed through the mirror. Luna glared back. “You are a manifestation of our desire for an eternal night. We now realize that this concept is wrong. But you still have more power than we. Allow us to explain.” Luna summarized the events that had happened thus far.

“And you expect me to help you?” Nightmare Moon laughed. “What reason would I have to do that?” Luna pulled out a book she had taken earlier from a shelf in the Royal Canterlot Library. “Because we have the elements. And we know how to use them.” True, she had only used them once, but Luna was confident she could use them again.

“How unladylike of you, Princess Luna, to threaten an imaginary friend with torture. You must really need my help badly. Very well then, I will help you with this simple task. All you need to do is think back to when you ended the dream of that pathetic rabbit. What happened?”

“We were forcibly ejected from the dream.” Luna responded. She still remembered that feeling of being shut out.  Nightmare moon smirked at her. This couldn’t be good. “Then what do you suppose happened to the giant monster bunny?” Another scream could be heard from Ponyville. Luna was about to fly out the window to investigate when the mirror spoke again. “One last thing… If you cannot wake the rabbit, there is… another way to stop it.”

Luna glared at the mirror, focusing hard until her reflection returned to normal. “We will never resort to that.” She flew off in the direction of the scream.