Light of the moon

“Good. Again!” Luna’s voice echoed in the clearing. With a grunt, her student shifted left without even moving a hoof. The strain was evident on his face, and sweat ran into his eyes, causing him to bite back a curse.  Luna smiled. The practice was exhausting him, and tomorrow would be a rough day for the boy. “Good. Take a five minute break.”

Moon collapsed into a heap. He didn’t know someone could get so exhausted in a dream. It didn’t make any sense, but when a Princess was involved, sense was not important. While dream-porting was handy, it was extremely difficult. He looked up at his teacher, as she created a glass of water out of air. “It’s fun,” he gasped, “but what are you teaching me for?”

Luna paused for a moment and handed the boy the glass of water. “It is a job. I want you to teach others to control their dreams. It gets tiring having to dive into others’ dreams, and I don’t want to do it anymore. When in somepony’s dream, everything is different, and sometimes, the simplest action can cause their life to change. I do not want that on my hooves.”

Moon rolled his eyes, and stood up. “So, you want me to make it so that you don’t have to go into ponies’ dreams. Fair enough. But, why?”

Luna looked down. “It is not something I wish to speak about yet. Suffice it to say, I can not protect others from myself. That is all we shall say on the topic for now. Would you like to try some fixing right now?” As Moon nodded vigorously, Luna’s expression smoothed. “Stand by me. This is going to be rough.”

Once Moon was safely by her side, she began focusing on a dream. The dream was small, far away, and simple. She did not know who this particular dream belonged to, but it would serve as a suitable training ground. Any mistakes that were made could easily be smoothed out. She imagined herself there, with Moon beside her, and began to slide into the new dream.

The platform of clouds Moon found himself on was strange. It didn’t have the consistency of any other clouds, and bits of the cloud stuck to his feet. On his left was a photo-negative rainbow, reaching across the purple, sun-less sky. He looked to the right at his teacher.

“Where are we? Did you make this? What’s with the colours?” He questioned her earnestly.

“Calm yourself, and behave. We are in another’s dream. This is a minor one, just so that you may experience what it means to be a Dream Guardian. As for the colours… I do not know.”

The two heard flapping wings in the distance. Based on the speed and energy behind each flap, the wing-bearers appeared to be carrying something. Behind him, Moon heard a sharp intake of breath. Spinning around, he found himself face to face with a black unicorn.

The unicorn was being held aloft by strange creatures. Physically, they seemed to be a cross between a gryphon and a snake, and their colours were vibrant blue and orange. Following Luna’s lead, Moon knelt before their dreamer, and she smiled down upon them. Jumping down from the gryphon-things’ arms, she walked over to them.

“Now, I know the clouds hold many secrets, so why not explain this one? I’m Reader. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an alicorn, apart from Princess Celestia.”

Moon was in shock. The news of Nightmare Moon’s return and Princess Luna’s redemption was common knowledge, and almost everypony had heard of it. Remembering his manners, he looked up at the strange black pony. “I’m Moon Light. I come from Ponyville, and I—“

Moon broke off as Luna kicked him lightly. She stared daggers at him, and realized what he had done. As he buried his head in the clouds, Luna raised a hoof. “I am nopony. I am simply a figment. Pay no attention, ok?”

Reader shook her head slightly, her hair parting. Moon looked past her off-white hair into the green fields that were her eyes. They seemed to be unfocused, and some part of them made him feel sad.

Luna shook her head at him and sighed. “Now, seeing as we are here to serve you, I suppose the first order of business would be to fix the strange lighting here! Behold, and be amazed, as I raise the sun!”

Reader stopped in shock, staring at Luna, as the blue aura around her horn brightened. A blinding white light hit them, stunning them all. Moon winced, and opened his eyes again slightly. At the sight that he beheld, he nearly vomited. As he watched, the sunlight began to cause Luna and Reader to start to smoke. Reader’s eyes rolled around, and quickly began spinning too fast to clearly see. She opened her mouth, and out poured a scream that chilled Moon to his soul. As she screamed, her eyes began to melt, running down her cheeks like macabre tears. As Moon looked around, he noticed that he was beginning to burn too. He didn’t have much time. Most of Princess Luna’s flesh had caught fire, but remained eerily silent, while her face betrayed the agony she must be feeling.

Quickly building a ball, he hollowed it out, and then grabbed them all together. He focused on the dark interior of the sphere, shielded from the blinding sun. With a sickening pop, he was there, along with the other two. Light still filled the inside of the sphere, and it seemed to have stuck to Reader, burning her flesh and filling the air with a horrid stench. With no other options left to him, the Pegasus reared back and kicked Reader in the head to knock her unconscious. Reader dropped, and the world shook. Thinking back to his own private forest, away from this horrid nightmare, Moon began to shift back. The sphere around him shattered, leaving the three open to the scorching rays. Moon’s awareness was almost completely shifted back when a strange glint caught his eye. Looking up quickly, he noticed that the sun had eyes, green eyes. And then all was dark again.

Dream Reader awoke in a cold sweat. She listened for a moment to the soft, soothing sound of silence. She made a slight click with her mouth, and, satisfied that nothing was in the room, stood up. She quickly left the small, unfoldable tent, and clicked again. Listening to the sound, she went to wash her face in cold water. As the water dripped off her face, she realized she must look awful. Without anypony to assist her, she would most likely keep looking awful for quite some time. The hum of crickets filled the air, and she realized that it must be approaching dawn. It was time for her to pack up and continue traveling. This time, however, she knew exactly where she was going to. Ponyville.