A pale blue glow appeared in Luna's vision, flickering like a candle in the breeze. Slowly, Luna began to breathe, and her eyes flew open.
She was alive. She had survived the Nightmare.
Rising slowly, Luna thought carefully about what she was feeling. Was anything broken? Was she bleeding? But everything was fine. Actually, she felt....stronger.
Where was she? Luna looked around, and was amazed to find that she was standing in the glade that she and Orion had visited. "Of all places to fight the Nightmare..." Luna smiled grimly. She couldn't feel the Nightmare anymore, but Luna couldn't feel that she was gone, either. It was more like it was...conquered. Still there, as it might always be, but so beaten that it would never rise to full strength again.
Beside Luna, Orion (who had been lying on the ground) stirred, rose, and shook his head. When he saw Luna, his face lit up with the light of the full moon that now shone above. "Luna! Are you alright?!?" He took a few steps toward her, then stopped. "What happened to you?"
Luna laughed. "What happened to me? What happened to you, Orion?"
Together, they went to the waterfall pool and peered into the glass-like surface. Luna's eyes were slightly greener, her mane darker, and with more stars. Orion's change was similar, with the addition of a slight growth in stature.
Midnight Winter found the two alicorns on their flight back to Canterlot. She didn't ask about what had transpired, but Luna assured her that it had been a victory. They were reunited with Celestia and Solaris, who were eager to know what had happened, but understood that they must wait. All of them, in some way, were different.
But the most striking difference about Luna and Orion was unseen. They were slowly realizing that they felt stronger for a reason: because they were. Somehow, when the Nightmare and the Shadow Stallion were defeated, they had given up some of their power, that which was closest to the good that resided in the true Luna. That power, for Luna, was that of dreams. She discovered this the day after the battle with the Nightmare, when she walked in to Celestia's room while her sister was sleeping. It was as if a door opened, and Luna walked through into her sister's dream.
It wasn't a dream, however. It was a nightmare. Changeling hoardes flew over a desolate Canterlot, with ponies screaming in terror. A wild-eyed Celestia stood in the midst of the rubble, frozen in horror at the scene around her. Yes, this was only a dream. But it felt real, and, as Luna had learned, reality can sometimes be affected by dreams.
Luna had to stop it.
But before she even lit her horn, everything disappeared. No more Changelings. The houses were no longer in ruins. Ponies walked peacefully about the city, and Celestia was now standing in the square. Celestia, or the version of herself that she had in dreams, was immensely confused, though more relieved than anything else. Another door opened for Luna, and she stepped through.
What awaited her was far beyond her imagination.
A great expanse stretched beneath Luna's feet, so big that the end, if it existed, could not be seen. Along either side of her were a series of portals, each looking in to a different dream. Ahead of her lay the full moon, or a likeness of it, seeming to glow softly. This place was hers, and hers alone. She looked into some of the portals, sometimes laughing, sometimes shedding a tear. Carefully, she stepped into each of those dreams, chasing away the Timberwolves, the giant Parasprites, and the bats, at last returning each dreamer to a peaceful slumber.
Luna continued to do this every night, guarding the dreams of the creatures Equestria and singing to many a sleepless pony:
"Good night, my fellow ponies,
For I shall guard your dreams.
Until the moonlight lowers,
You're safe from troubles life can bring.
Close your eyes, leave behind
Worries, griefs and fears.
Listen to twinkling stars,
Whispers of the summer wind.
Night may not be light and bright
Like my sister's day.
But it can take you far away
To heart's desired lands...
Hush, my little ponies,
Catch your sweetest dreams.
Fly amid the planets,
Drift in starry streams.
Fear you not, I'll be there
Shall the nightmares come.
Lay to rest, be well prepared
To meet the sun at dawn.
Night may not be light and bright
Like my sister's day.
But it can take you far away
To heart's desired lands..."
And so Luna became Equestria's Guardian of Dreams, and Orion did the same for his homeland. They both created magnificent dreams, sometimes crossing paths in their work. It was after one particularly nice night of work that Luna settled into her own sleep, only to dream of Orion.
He stood with her in the glade, with the waterfalls shimmering in the light of the stars. He spoke, and it was as if she was really there. But maybe she was....
"Luna, I have shared secrets with you that I have never told anyone else. I have fought battles with you that I would have had to face entirely on my own, we're it not for you. But, dearest Luna, those things are past. Let me speak of the present: I love you, Luna. Please, let us speak of a future together, for I love you more than my life. Princess Luna, will you marry me?"
The dream dissolved into nothingness as a knock awoke Luna. Flying from her bed, she flung open the door with an enormous smile on her face and tears of joy in her eyes.
For she knew who was at the door.
YOU ARE READING
After Midnight
FanfictionLuna is home after one thousand years of exile on the moon. She has Celestia, and her old friend, Midnight Winter, by her side. She'll need them, for though she has repented from her deeds as Nightmare Moon, the ponies of Equestria still think of he...
