There was a shudder in the dreamscape on that night. Any pony, griffon, zebra, minotaur, dragon, or even diamond dog that might have been asleep at the time would have a chance to recount the exact same experience. Whatever dream they might have been having, however warm, pleasant, strange, or nonsensical, seemed to grow ever so slightly colder. Even in the territory of dreams, where the hope of said dreams was to leave some memory within an individual's mind, this one moment was cemented inside the minds of many others. And there was a reason for that.

It was the moment where the dreamscape, the natural ebb of the less-than-waking world, had witnessed something long since abandoned—the consumption of another dream. Even worse, the defeat of their caretaker. As it stood, there was a resolute silence within the realm as two opposites, yet equals, faced off against each other for the third time.

Nightmare Moon, not so long ago beaten, battered, broken, and almost disintegrated, silently breathed in through her nostrils, taking in the familiar ebb and flow of the world between dreams. Her armor, long thought to be a concept that seemed more like a fever dream to her, yet consistently described in the many stories and retellings of her tale, held taut against her furred exterior. There was no weight to them. How could there be? They were little more than a natural part of her at one point, after all. She had never thought about it before, but now that she was once more held within the confines of the familiar metal layer of magical protection, she realized just how bare she had felt this entire time.

Her former self, Princess Luna, no longer stood against her foe. She couldn't, restrained as she was. Her magic was weakened by the collapse of the human's dream, as well as her efforts within it. Furthermore, her horn, wings, and legs were being held within the grasp of Nightmare Moon's all-encompassing mane, practically serving as a semi-sentient veil over the small area around them as it shifted and shuddered with its newly gained freedom. Forms of all kinds came at the whim of the mass, similar to those that had previously been seen within the mind of the human's innermost machinations. Yet, these were not threatening in nature. Yes, one could certainly see them as threatening, especially when in the position of the princess that was held down by them, but there was more of a perception of understanding and deeper thought within them than one of violence and fear.

Luna struggled against these forms, caring not for their deeper meanings, as she instead prioritized her escape. She wanted to do something. Anything, really. But as it were, if the mass around them so wished--or worse yet, if Nightmare Moon so wished--any of her limbs that were held within the mass could be snapped like a twig. As it was, she was within the frog of Nightmare Moon's hoof. However, the princess of the night would not simply allow herself to be the damsel, nor the abiding hostage.

"So, how was it then?" She spat, adding as much venom to her voice as she could muster. "How was it to use the emotions of another to placate a hunger thou perpetuated?" She had given up on trying to correct her Canterlot accent. There was no need anymore, really. "T'is all that other beings are to thee, after all. A source of thine own personal vigor. T'was just as all those many moons ago..."

Nightmare Moon stared at her opposite for a moment with all the interest as one would a small spider they had found in their bedroom. One that could easily be crushed at their own pace. She rolled her tongue through her mouth for a moment, faintly regarding the fading sensation of copper between her teeth. A remnant of her recent activities.

She could almost swear that her fangs had sharpened. Or perhaps 'sharpened' was not the accurate word. They had been 'satiated', rather. They had found relief for something she had not even known she was suffering from, like a foal that was teething for the first time. She held her eyes closed for a moment, searching her rabble and incessant thoughts.

"... T'was..." She paused for a moment, hesitating to speak as the sound of her own voice seemed alien to her. It was so much closer to how it had been when she and Luna shared a body.

She could not hear the voices. The ones that had been screaming at her to feast not moments ago. The ones that brought about invisible aches and stabbed into her mind with all the sharpness and precision of a freshly-forged yet red-hot needle. More importantly, though, there was no sense of abject happiness. There was no sensation of sick satisfaction or odd curiosity that had been solved. No false hunger had been sated only to ask for more. Instead, Nightmare Moon was left with a terribly bitter aftertaste.

"Vitriolic..." She struggled not to gag. She struggled not to spit and choke on the sensation in the back of her throat. She struggled just trying not to wipe off whatever foul taste may still have remained around her lips in front of her other half, who now looked towards her with a bemused yet darkly tickled expression.

Like a rat that sought out the promise of crumbs of its favorite meal from the garbage of another, only to be met with a mouthful of poison and rot, her cravings were silenced in the same way that a child would suddenly come to the grim realization of how painful it was to touch a hot stovetop. There was no joy. There was no satisfaction. Only a sick sense of disappointment, shock, and betrayal. A faint whisp of thought wondering what they had found so enthralling about this practice in the first place, about what had changed.

Luna gave out a mirthful low chuckle at the words of her other half, using the opportunity to spit out more of her frail poisonous barbs in the hopes that it would at least wound the ego of the one that held her in their magical grasp.

"Oh? Mayhaps the dreams of humans are not within your tastes after all?"

Keeping herself from giving out a shudder as her body once more tried to deny the sensations that slid down her gullet, Nightmare Moon gave a moment of thought to the words of her former self. The words of a certain changeling rang through her mind; ramblings and theories about pure sources of water that were far more stained by even the smallest of toxins than any less pure source might have been.

But as she searched through her mind, a brief glimpse into her memories as her dying cravings wondered where everything had gone wrong, a realization came.

When had been the last time that she had consumed a nightmare? A dream of any sort, really?

She focused her gaze on the fallen princess before her, her muzzle giving a slight twitch as the last of the horrid dregs of the nightmare were swallowed within the depths of her body in earnest.

"... 'Tis not the flavor of the dreams that have changed, " she stated, walking forward with an elegant yet deadly practice that seemed to cause the very realm around them to shudder with each step, "but rather, we are the ones to have changed."

Luna was taken aback by the odd reply given to her by the being before her, her eyes narrowing as she watched them come closer and closer to her.

"Glutton. Thou require even worse nightmares, then? Thine time without cravings being fulfilled has dulled thine palette so deeply that thou art no longer able to gain satisfaction from only the worst, most craven delusions of those that might fall victim to thee?" She struggled against her restraints, teeth practically grinding against each other as she assumed the worst from the creature before her. Nightmare Moon gave an unconcerned glance towards the restraints that held her down, noting that they weren't budging so much as an inch. "Pray tell then, creature, how dost thee plan to find that forbidden ambrosia of thine? Hast thou begun to create worse nightmares for the human under the pull of thine strings and silvered tongue to suffer for benefit?!"

The restraints that held Luna so effectively tightened even more. Another tendril shot forth from the floor, like a serpent striking an unwitting target, before wrapping tightly around the lunar diarch's throat. It was not enough to suffocate her, but the pressure was certainly there, pulling at her from behind and forcing her to raise her head painfully and awkwardly so that she could more directly gaze into her captor's eyes.

Nightmare Moon, for her part, provided the most subtle of reactions. A twitch of an eyelid, barely perceptible to anyone save for those that might have been searching for it. She did not personally will the shroud surrounding the two of them to do as it had done, but evidently, some part of her mind was more than willing to take the opportunity. She held no reason to argue or fight against that part.

Instead, she leveled her head to be on equal ground with her other self, her voice low as she spoke.

"You will not speak of him." She warned, slit irises within oceans of bluish-green reflecting off the more rounded irises within two similarly colored oceans. The two simply glared at one another for a moment, an air of still tension surrounding them as they simply searched one another's eyes for any signs of weakness or retreat. Neither provided such signs. "And you seem to misunderstand. As we said, 'tis not the flavor of the dreams that have changed, but rather," she jabbed her armor-cloven hoof just barely into the chest of Luna, "we are the ones to have changed."

She allowed her hoof to stomp down onto the floor between them, letting out a breath through her nostrils which caused Luna to flinch as a result of their proximity.

"We are, after all, only half the being that we were prior."

Luna blinked, allowing a moment for her words to sink in before she could practically feel her heart beating against her eardrums from fury.

"Thou art suggesting that our presence within the body thou stole caused thine cravings for the nightmares of others?" She fumed, her chest heaving at the very notion.

Nightmare Moon scowled, allowing her eyes to close first between the two's impromptu staredown as she picked her words.

"We stole nothing. Our time as one was just as much chaos for us as you believe it to have been you. Yet still-," she leaned ever so slightly closer once again, the tip of her muzzle barely touching that of her original self, "you accuse me of crimes while invading and manipulating the dreams of another for your self-defined sense of justice and law. You have them fear their own dreams, just as you dreaded your subjects did when we were first created, as well as how we both ensured that they would in our time together. You show contempt for actions while repeating the very same past that brought them about in the first pla-"

"We are not the same!" Luna yelled, denying not just what was being told to her, but the very idea of listening in the first place. Nightmare Moon's earlier elegance and careful tones were shattered, much like her patience.

"PRECISELY, YOU DALCOPPED SOW!"

The dreamscape shuddered under the cries of one of their irked visitors, drifting away ever so slightly faster from the two foreign yet familiar entities walking among them as they sought refuge from their anger.

"We--niether you nor I--are not the same! Not anymore! What we were when we were together was an entity that was nothing like we were when we were separated! In body, in mind, in our very essence, we were neither you nor ourselves. We were something entirely different! Two parts of a woefully uncontrollable whole!"

Despite her somewhat ringing ears, the lunar princess did not back down.

"Thou does not change. We spent enough time with thee to know that. Vividly."

Nightmare Moon gave out a frustrated grunt as she once again stamped her hoof against the floor beneath her.

"Then why do we not simply fulfill your beliefs, then?" She growled, eyes full of rage as a faint glow came over her horn. The parts of her mane that held Luna in place pulled and tightened even more, causing her to strain just to breathe, as she was forced to watch as Nightmare Moon leveled her horn. All it would take was one spell. One simple amalgamation of magical foci, incantations, emotion, and intent to end it all. A perfect way to deal with the princess before her. To seal her within the dream realm in a sort of eternal sleep, never able to return to her physical body so long as Nightmare Moon willed it.

Luna said nothing, simply staring at the horn pointed toward her with narrowed eyes and absolute focus. She would not play the damsel. She would not simply close her eyes and attempt to hide from the reality of the world around her; not like she did all those years ago when Nightmare Moon first began to whisper in her mind.

Nightmare Moon spared one last glance towards her other self, their two similar yet different eyes meeting one last time before a bright flash enveloped the both of them, changing the fate of the dreamscape and all that rested within it for the rest of eternity.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I blinked as I looked up at the ceiling. The first thing I noticed was how uh... damp, I felt? Actually, no, that doesn't really get my meaning across. Do you know how some folks talk about waking up in a cold sweat? Okay, multiply that by some random factor of, like, ten, and you'll understand just how wet I was from sweat. So, already a lovely state to wake up in.

Add to that the fact that my entire body felt as though it had just about gone through every conceivable exercise known to man, with my spine and neck seeming to take the worst of it as they throbbed with soreness that seemingly came out of nowhere, and you might just be able to understand why my first few words upon waking up were along the lines of:

"Fuck me with a silver spoon and two forks, I regret so many things right now..."

As I muttered the words in my somewhat less than fully conscious state, the first instinct that came to mind was for me to rub my eyes to at least try to rid myself of the bleariness that they held. And whereas one of my arms was able to raise without issue, the palm of my hand massaging my closed eye, the other found itself rather occupied. Specifically, it was dealing with some weight cast over it, keeping it from moving. A rather furry one, which was now giggling directly into my ear.

"Be cautious of your wandering hooves, Sir Jeremy. We are not very inclined to move at the moment."

I blinked, suddenly far more awake than I had been before, before turning my head towards the source of the voice. The next thing I know, my entire vision is flooded by the eyes and snout of Nightmare Moon, who was partially laid down right next to me with a rather smug expression on her face.

I took a moment or two to piece things together in my head, totally not looking like an absolute idiot in the process--trust me on this one--before finally being able to remember enough bits and pieces to understand the situation I was in.

"Uh-huh... No hooves, remember?" I replied simply, raising my free arm and wiggling my fingers ever so slightly so as to accentuate my point. I watched as her eyes shifted, turning their attention towards my hand as I provided my example.

"Hm. Yes, we suppose you do not." She stated just as simply, returning her attention to me not long after. I decided to address the elephant in the room bluntly.

"So, did your magic need you to sleep next to me to go through, or...?" Nightmare Moon responded to my unfinished question with a shake of her head and a roll of her eyes.

"Nay."

"Then is there any particular reason that you're laying on me?"

"Do you dislike this particular occurrence?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Nor you ours."

There was a silence between us as we stared one another down, our expressions deadpan as we waited for the other to give. Evidently, though, I wasn't in a very competitive mood, considering I just ended up looking back toward the ceiling. The edge of my lips practically raised on their own as I just softly shook my head.

"So... how'd the dream magic go?" I ultimately asked.

"You do not recall?"

I shrugged my shoulders--at least as best as I could, considering the circumstance--and let out a sigh as I continued to sort through the small fragments of memory I had. It was more than a bit of a struggle to remember what I had just dreamed about, frustratingly enough.

"Bits and pieces," I answered, shifting slightly as I did my damndest to layer my thoughts. "I remember my old room; Canterlot; Snow..." I stiffened ever so slightly as the next portions of my memory came through concerningly clearly. "... A lot of sun."

My sudden tenseness hadn't gone without notice, it had seemed, as I felt the form of Nightmare Moon seems to shift closer to me as if doing her best to distract me from my thoughts. To her credit, it kinda worked, because there was another memory that her presence there reminded me of.

"Did-", I turned toward her slightly, "Did you take me flying? Or am I going nuts?"

Her expression, which now held some form of concern and sadness to it, softened as I asked this.

"Yes. Yes, we did."

I nodded, closing my eyes for a moment as I took in a deep breath of air.

"Okay. Cool. Not as nuts, then."

Another giggle echoed near my ears as the soft sensation of a wing gently slapping against my chest made itself known.

"Crazy is hardly the word we would use."

"I... didn't say 'crazy'."

"Correct."

I could practically feel her smirking against me. I didn't even need to look at her to know the expression on her face.

"Have you and Chrysalis been talking more? Because I swear you weren't this sassy or sarcastic before." I mused.

"We've no idea what you are speaking of. We have always been quite keen on our use of wit."

"Uh-huh..." I replied, less than completely convinced.

"You doubt us?"

"Weren't we having an argument about something in my dreams?"

"You ended up conceding it to us, as we recall."

I sat up completely at this, squeezing myself out from under Nightmare Moon's form as I looked towards her with a raised brow and crossed arms. She seemed less than pleased by this occurrence if the little noises of protest she made were any sign to go by, but I was far more occupied with the fact that she had very clearly pointed out an inconsistency in her little story.

"Really? I gave up the argument? You sure about that?"

"But of course," she responded, allowing herself to sit up just as well, regaining her position on the floor next to my bed as she nonchalantly craned her neck from side to side to work out any stiffness she might have. "We are rather convincing, as you might recall."

"You mean stubborn?"

"Do you know of the comparison between the pot and the kettle?"

"Do you have that answer about how much Luna weighs?"

"You remember that, of all things?"

"Just that stubborn, I guess."

"Indeed."

Again, the two of us stared one another down. And, again, it didn't last long.

This time, though, I'm proud to say that I wasn't the only one that broke first. Instead, it was both of us that ended up falling into silent chortles and laughter, finding some sort of amusement behind just how ridiculous of a conversation we seemed to be having. Hell, I was so caught up in it, I never asked about what else had happened in the dream.

Nightmare Moon was more than willing to fill in the blanks, however. She was a bit surprised by how little I remembered, but, hey, pony dreams and human dreams work differently, after all.

Her explanations only seemed to slow as she got to the topic of Luna, and how we found her in my mind after all.

When I asked her how it went, she paused for a moment. She mentioned how Luna had overpowered her at first, how I had apparently purposely been consumed by a nightmare, and that she ended up getting an advantage because of said nightmare. She didn't go that far into detail about it, but, hey, I wasn't looking for details at the time. I just wanted to know if I was able to go to sleep from now on without having to worry about endangering everyone else from now on.

Her response was... well, I guess if I had to put it someway, I would say bittersweet.

************************

Nightmare Moon watched in silence as Luna sucked in air like a greedy dragon hoarded gold, a hoof against her neck where a tendril had, not moments ago, been all but strangling her. Her wings, her hooves, and even her horn were no longer restrained by the ominous presence of the mane that constantly flowed around Nightmare Moon's now unarmored form, allowing her to move as she wished.

The faint dregs of magic that faded away could still be felt in the air around them, remnants of the spell that Nightmare Moon had cast in order to suppress and hide away her own magic; a gesture that any unicorn with even the slightest semblance of magical knowledge and experience in combat could recognize as the equivalent of one sheathing their blade.

Now, rather than the prickling of fur under intense magical sunderance, or the grinding of teeth under great strain and emotional highs and lows, there was only silence. A newly formed tension; unbreakable and certainly not unnoticeable.

The dreams of the many watched from all around like living moths attracted to the slightest forms of light. They never closed in past a certain distance, keenly aware of their proximity to the two quarreling solid masses walking amongst them, but they tested that limit again and again.

"... What are-"

"We are not the same." Nightmare Moon interrupted, her voice firm as she looked down at her other half with an equally uncompromising gaze. "We were one. And now we are not. Of that, there can be no doubt. Equally, we --" She paused, forcing her eyes shut for just a moment before returning her attention to Luna. "I am not who I was. Who you think I was."

She took a step forward, closing the distance between the two by a few notches more. Luna did not react. Or rather, she was uncertain how to. The first time that she had been uncertain since the night had begun.

"And you are not who you were. Who you think you were. Time changes everypony. Even our sister, if what Sir Jeremy has been through is anything to go by."

Again, another moment of silence passed as the two looked at one another. Nightmare Moon opened her mouth as if to say something more, but ultimately no words came out. Instead, she spared one last glance at the alicorn before her, as well as the dream world surrounding them, and gave out a sigh.

"... You will leave us, and our compatriots, out from your walking of the dream world." She spoke with certainty in her tone. "I will be sealing their dreams in a realm where you cannot find them. They will be outside of even your purview. And in exchange," she glanced around her shoulder, as though seeking some invisible form that she believed to be alongside her, "you will be allowed to go free."

Luna, finally reacting to everything that was occurring, quickly stumbled onto her hooves, as though expecting some sort of imperceptible attack or trick to approach her from out of nowhere. But of course, it never came. Nightmare Moon simply continued looking behind her, in an almost melancholy mood.

"We-... I-"

"However," Nightmare Moon once more interrupted her voice once more taking on a deadly serious tone as she didn't spare so much as a glance back to her other self. Luna allowed herself to be silent once more.

"Should you dare to invade their minds again; to peer through the memories that they so treasure for your own means, however noble you might believe your intentions to be, then I will live up to the stories written of us. I will truly become- No, exceed the nightmare that every being in the realm of the waking and dreaming will fear."

Her mane began to sink, ebbing into the floor below as though it were tar, melting into the pseudo-existent floor until a small pool of blackened mire began to surround her immediate footing. Her horn glowed faintly as she began the incantation to return herself to her physical body.

Finally, finally, Luna found her voice as the guardian of the dream world.

"We shall not let thee harm a soul. Dost thou hear me? Not a one!" She yelled, piercing through the relative silence and quieted speech that had formed the atmosphere between the two.

Nightmare Moon's ear twitched, making it obvious that she had heard as if there were any sort of doubt. She showed no vitriol towards the threat returned to her. Rather, Luna could almost swear that she spotted a small, hopeful smile on her face.

"Good. Then the dream realm remains in safe hooves."

And with that, she vanished, alongside the dream of the one she wanted to protect from any more harm.

It would not be long before more dreams would disappear from the mass of dots that made up the dreamscape, imperceptible to Luna despite her best efforts. Yet right now, there was no thought of that. There was no focus on such a possibility. There was no care for such concepts.

Instead, the lunar diarch simply stood as a statue, looking at the spot where her former self had just been standing, suddenly with far more thoughts filling her mind than she ever thought possible.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, you let her escape then?" Chrysalis asked, far more than a little infuriated after hearing Nightmare Moon's debrief on what had happened during her time in the dream realm. Nightmare Moon, for her part, busied herself by simply enjoying a muffin that Gilda had purchased during one of her haggling escapades into Canterlot.

"We suppose-", she began, her voice somewhat garbled by food in her mouth before she remembered herself enough to swallow before she spoke. She put a hoof to her maw as if to excuse herself for the uncouth behavior, before continuing her response. "We suppose thou could see it that way. However, we much rather would focus on the victory that came forth from the expedition. Prithee, did thee not hear of our triumph, or was thine mind far too busy with the intricacies of the floors thou will be needing to scrub within the coming days?"

Chrysalis gave out a faint growl at this attempt at sugar-coating -- something which was not aided by the sudden evocation of her miserable work schedule that she would once again have to endure within the next 30-something hours.

"Seeing as I'm the only one earning the bits right about now, including the ones used to buy those muffins, I would strongly recommend you keep your mouth shut." She retorted, her eyes narrowed as she stared down the rather aloof alicorn that lay partially across the sofa.

"You know, she's not entirely wrong." Chimed in the human sat next to her, now sporting new clothes and somewhat damp hair from the shower he had taken just moments ago. He, as well, was enjoying a muffin. Evidently, their little detour through the realm of dreams had been more famishing than one would have thought.

"Ah, so you would take her side then? Truly, you wound me, Sir Jeremy."

"Says the one who left vampire marks on my neck." He responded coyly, reflexively finding himself rubbing at the pair of small, practically indiscernible, yet nonetheless present pinpricks on the side of his neck. They had certainly been a shock, at first, but fortunately, Nightmare Moon was able to calm his nerves somewhat when she explained how it had happened.

Her swallowing of nightmares was more than just an incorporeal thing, it would seem. Something that. if Jeremy would attempt to describe it, apparently had to do with the physical body and the magical body being invariably linked. It also served to provide just a bit more context on why Nightmare Moon had been laid so close to Jeremy when he had woken up, though the two had left that detail out when explaining things to Chrysalis, Halfy, and Gilda. Of which, Gilda was just as well occupied by their examinations, looking on at Nightmare Moon from her spot opposite on the couch.

"So... none of you think she looks taller? Like, at all?" She asked for what must have been the third time since Nightmare Moon and Jeremy had exited the bedroom. Of course, it was a far better train of thought to follow for everyone involved than the one mentioning biting, sweating, and subsequent hunger in another context, but still.

"W-Well, I wouldn't say 'taller', but she definitely seems... glowing, I think?"

Halfy's commentary, of course, was not helping the conversation away from the sexual.

Fortunately, Chrysalis was more than happy to intercede.

"Would the lot of you please keep focused on what's important? Our one-way ticket to having all of the information we needed is gone. Vanished. Let go without a trace and allowed it to make its way freely into the ocean of self-merriment and joy like a metaphorical 'Free Wally'!"

"You mean 'Free Willy'?"

"WHAT THE EMPRESS IS A 'FREE WILLY'?"

"Depends. What's a 'Free Wally'?"

Chrysalis' only response was to allow her face to fall into her forehooves, the sounds of frustration muffled by their presence as she did her best not to let out a scream so loud it would deafen the entire neighborhood. Jeremy, unfortunately, would have to wait sometime before he came to find out what this world's equivalent to a classic childhood movie from his world was about. Apparently, it had to do with a sea pony rather than an orca.

Halfy, ever as kind as she was, provided an awkward hoof to Chrysalis in her time of crisis, patting her gently on the back as she aired her grievances to the seat cushion below her.

"Chrysalis," Jeremy commented, "we're not any closer now than we were before. Believe me, I get that. And I get that it's frustrating. But, honestly, I'm just happy that we have one less thing to worry about. And besides," he added, motioning an arm towards the alicorn sat next to him, "she apparently has back a lot of her magic now! So that's a damn big bonus, I would say."

Nightmare Moon took comments in stride, seeming to beam with some hints of pride as she held her head high.

"Honestly, I'm jealous of ya, J. You got to watch two alicorns duke it out in plain view. Not many folks could say they did that!"

Jeremy simply scoffed, shaking his head somewhat as he leaned further back into his seat.

"I'd hardly say there's much to brag about. I couldn't tell you anything about how the fight started, ended, or anything in between. I'm just glad that Moony won out."

"Yeah, yeah, I guess that's fair-"

Just like that, the conversation came to a halt.

As though a pin was dropped into a quiet room or, more fittingly, a carriage had suddenly swerved off of the road and into a nearby orphanage. Whatever conversation, noise, or train of thought that might have been going on came to a sudden, violent halt.

Nightmare Moon and Jeremy continued eating their muffins, though it seemed only Jeremy took note of the sudden change in mood as he slowed his progress into the small delectable in his grasp.

"Uh... What?" He questioned, watching as even Chrysalis raised her head from her previous placement of anguish towards the many brain cells she undoubtedly had lost in the process of her knowing everyone present, just to look towards him with shock.

"What?" He repeated, glancing back and forth between all of those present.

Halfy, oddly enough, was the first to respond.

"You... Y-you called her 'Moony'."

Jeremy blinked, looking towards the earth mare with an unreadable expression.

"... No I didn't."

"Dude. You totally did." Gilda chided.

"No, I did not."

"You most certainly did say, and I quote, 'Moony'." Chrysalis added on, even going so far as to copy his voice to do so.

"No. I most certainly did not."

"Sir Jeremy?" Nightmare Moon then said simply, garnering the attention of everyone, including Jeremy, as she casually finished off what remained of her muffin. "... You did." She stated matter-of-factly with a slim smile. Again, Jeremy blinked. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he looked toward Nightmare Moon, unsure of how to respond. "There is no need for concern. We do not mind."

Despite her words, Jeremy could feel the warmth in his cheeks, neck, and ears as he came to accept the reality that he had, in fact, just been the victim of the Freudian slip, otherwise known as ye olde foot-in-mouth syndrome.

Without so much as a noise, Jeremy simply stood up from where he sat and pointed towards the kitchen.

"Anyone else wants some muffins? I'm gonna get a muffin. Maybe two. And a glass of water." He said stiffly, before then quickly powerwalking his way to the kitchen.

Sadly for him, he would not escape without some commentary as Gilda quickly followed behind.

"No way. No. Bucking. Way. Bro!" She commented, swiftly chasing the human as they attempted to retreat from the situation. "Bro, what happened in that bedroom?"

"Oh no, u-uh, Gilda, h-he doesn't need to answer that! It's probably nothing!" Halfy interjected, following behind the griffon in an attempt to keep Jeremy from suffering any more embarrassment. She was well aware of the feeling, and as such felt more than a bit of sympathy toward the poor human.

"Uh-uh! No way! We are not pony trotting around this subject! I knew you smelled way too much like her when you came out of that room!"

"Gilda I swear on all that is unholy: In a trunk. Off a cliff. Into a lake."

Chrysalis, in the meantime, elected against following the comedy brigade to... wherever in the house they were going. Instead, she simply shifted her gaze to Nightmare Moon, who in turn provided her with an innocent smile.

"A lovely night, is it not?"

For a moment, she could almost swear that she was being challenged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Within the castle of Canterlot, things were beginning to grow silent once again. The later afternoon had come, and with it, many ponies were beginning to make their way home. In these times, only the most loyal, dedicated, or hard at work would even deign to remain on the premises to continue whatever assignment they might have had.

Of course, there were exceptions. Some simply lived within the castle grounds, after all. Guards in barracks, some servants in servants' quarters, and, of course, princesses within the castle they simply referred to as 'home'.

One of these princesses, in fact, was in the midst of her dinner. One last moment of peace before rest. Of course, it couldn't be a complete rest, what with her having to fill in a few duties that her sister was having to leave behind in order to search the dreams of others as she had requested, but it was some degree of rest nonetheless.

Before her, a lovely dandelion, blueberry, tulip, and macadamia salad with a gentle vinaigrette. Some of her newer chefs would occasionally comment on her odd choice of food mixtures, mentioning that the rich, buttery flavor of macadamia likely shouldn't be paired with the sweet taste of blueberry and the... well, very concept of vinegar of any form, but she actually quite enjoyed the combination. An old habit from her youthful days, she supposed. That, and her enjoyment of cakes, of course.

She took hold of a glass of wine that sat nearby her plate of food with her magic, raising it to her lips before taking a careful sip of the beverage.

She held it in her mouth for but a moment, just enough to enjoy the intricacies of it, before swallowing it and giving out a content sigh.

In her state of momentary peace, she allowed her gaze to shift toward the other end of the table. Not far from her, she saw a specially made place at the other head of the table for her sister, with freshly shined and likely still entirely unused silverware, napkins, and cloth.

She chuckled as she looked at the evidently purely decorative pieces of dinnerware, well aware of her sister's tendency to forgo tradition and instead sit directly beside her older sibling, using what would apparently be the guest silverware without a care in the world, far more focused on spending time with her to make up for what had been lost. Even if they rarely ate together, differing schedules and all -- even if the few occasions that they did eat together typically resulted in the two of them only exchanging a word or two as they simply ate in silence, one their dinner, the other their breakfast -- they were enjoyable nonetheless.

A pang of guilt broke through Celestia's peace. One that reminded her that their rare instances of sisterly camaraderie had likely been made all the more uncommon because of her own fault, and nopony else's.

"Are you trying to leave her out again?"

She shook off such thoughts with a huff, instead far more intent on focusing on the meal before her.

Yet, fate would take it upon itself to be both kind and cruel at this very moment.

The sound of the dining room door opening was not a rare one, even at this hour. There were still ponies working, after all, and there would still be some skeleton crew going about during the night, ensuring that all the functions of the castle remained well-oiled and ready. Not to mention the members of staff that were specifically contracted with the night shift in mind, or that were simply working overtime to help further support their families.

However, the sound of silver-clad hoof steps was far too distinct to be mistaken for anything.

Celestia's gaze was quickly turned towards the door where, as she had assumed, her sister trotted into the dining room.

A smile worked its way onto the solar diarch's features as she greeted her sibling.

"Ah, hello, sister. I take it you are well?" She asked.

Luna, however, was seemingly unprepared for the greeting, jumping ever so slightly as she was broken from the thoughts she had apparently been far too focused on.

"Oh, uh, y-yes, hello, sister. We- I am well, thank you for asking." She responded, forcing herself back into the modern tongue. A small detail that Celestia did not miss.

Her lips lowered ever so slightly as she looked on at her younger sister. Since she had begun her lessons on attempting to commune more with the local changes in language and lexicon, Luna was quite careful she did not slip. In fact, it was rather rare nowadays whenever she did slip into her old habits. Specifically, it would only happen when she was far too focused on other matters to keep herself following her pieces of training.

Add to the slight nuances in how she walked, spoke, and even simply stood where she did; Celestia knew many things about body language. Another necessary concept to pick up when running a kingdom for as long as she had. Above all though, she knew her sister's.

"... Luna?" She asked, taking the opportunity to remove herself from her place at the table and take a step towards her sibling. "Is everything okay?"

Luna, in exchange, found herself reeling ever so slightly. Not out of fear, heavens no, but rather as some poor attempt at keeping herself controlled and calm.

"Yes, I-" She began, glancing around her as she sought pretty much anything else she could put her focus on. Yet, her eyes soon found purchase on those of her sister. And when they did, she remembered a rather important detail. This was Tia. Nopony else.

And so, she relented, allowing herself to give out a breath she had unknowingly been holding.

"... No, Tia, it is not."

Celestia, having long abandoned her meal, made her way toward her sister's side with an admitted amount of haste. As she did, her horn began to glow as she ensured that any doors to the dining room were closed. As well as that, she added a noise-dampening spell, to ensure that the two could speak in earnest, without fear of eavesdroppers.

"Luna, it's okay. You can talk to me. It's just us." Celestia cooed, finally closing the distance between the two of them as she nuzzled her head against her siblings caringly. Luna responded in turn, returning the nuzzles with some level of appreciation.

"Yes. Yes, I know. Thank you, sister." She responded, grateful that her sister was able to calm down and understand her so easily. Of course, she wasn't aware what had happened yet. "But I am afraid that I have unfortunate news."

Celestia leaned back somewhat, allowing her sister to speak to her eye to eye.

"What is it? Are you ill? If so, feel free to take the next few days off -- I understand that the recent changes to your schedule must have been less than favorable."

Luna simply shook her head.

"No. It is about... Nightmare Moon."

Celestia stiffened at that. Only for a second, really. A small, barely noticeable second. But, it was there.

"Did something happen?" She asked, her voice far more serious and concerned. Luna took in a breath, steeling herself to explain her failures to her sister.

"She discovered me within the dreams of the human. And in the process, she-"

"Were you hurt?" Celestia suddenly asked an amount of terseness to her voice.

"Nothing more than a headache and some soreness."

"So you were hurt?"

"Sister, please." Luna suddenly pleaded, piercing through her sister's concerns with both a tone and a look of earnest dismay. Celestia, for her part, grew silent, nodding her head and momentarily putting aside her worry for her sibling -- difficult as it might have been -- so that she may speak her mind.

"I... I failed. She has expelled me from the dreams of the human and sealed them away from the dreamscape. And I suspect that she will do the same for any others that may be involved with them. I couldn't beat her!"

"Luna, it is fine, we-"

"But it isn't! She is my responsibility! She-"

"Lulu, you are not alone. It is not your sole responsibility to react and seek her out. She is an enemy of the kingdom, of the world perhaps. And as such, we both bear the duty of the crown. You will lean on me as I will lean on you. No more. No less."

"But I-"

"No buts, Sister," Celestia stated, her voice far more firm. "You did not fail. You provided us with so much when we previously had nothing. We will make do. Of this, I can assure you." Once more, Celestia nuzzled against her sister, doing as best as she could to comfort her.

Luna took and returned the gestures in silence, her eyes closed as she simply accepted that there was nothing more she could do for now.

"Take some time to rest, sister. You need not worry about searching the minds of others for information on the escapees anymore. Focus instead on your own duties and health. For now, that is the best thing you can do for me."

Luna nodded, taking in her sibling's words with some bitterness in her mind, but accepting them nonetheless.

"Would you like to eat dinner with me?" Celestia asked.

"No, thank you, sister. But, I would like to return to my normal duties post-haste. So I feel it would be wise to rest for whatever remains of your day."

"I could always have the sun set a little later if you wish?"

Luna chuckled, the idea of ponies looking at their clocks with confusion as the sun continued to remain in the sky well after it should have been nighttime providing some semblance of humor to the lunar diarch.

"There is no need. But I appreciate the offer nonetheless."

"Very well." Celestia conceded, allowing herself to pull away from Luna as the two shared one last heartfelt gaze of understanding. Luna made her way out of the dining room, likely toward her private quarters, and once more Celestia was on her own.

As Luna made her way through the castle grounds, however, her mind was still muddled. More specifically, there was something itching away at the back of her mind that she just couldn't escape.

The nightmare she had found herself in not long ago; the visions that she had seen.

The hunger. The thirst. The pain. The fear. The light.

The words of her former self -- her other self, as she had stated to be -- rang in her mind.

'Time changes everypony. Even our sister, if what Sir Jeremy has been through is anything to go by.'

Just what exactly had she meant by that?

What exactly was this Jeremy? And, more pressingly, what had happened to him?

Celestia, just as well, was dealing with her own thoughts. Thoughts that were proving to be far less kind and logical.

"You did this didn't you?"

She made her way back to her seat, sparing another glance at the spot left for her sister as she picked up a forkful of salad with her magic. It suddenly seemed far less appealing than it had just moments ago.

"They probably figured out what was happening when you confronted them. How bold of you, endangering your own sister just so you could make another oh-so-important appearance."

She allowed her fork to fall back onto the plate, eyeing her glass of wine as her throat felt suddenly dry and parched.

"Or maybe it was because you just had to give another offer? Couldn't leave well enough alone and come to the understanding that maybe not everypony is willing to be friends."

She brought the glass to her lips, careful to take small calculated sips. Those sips quickly became more and more generous, however, until all she had left was an empty glass.

She blinked, looking at the glass for a moment, focusing on her reflection as she wondered if she even tasted anything at all on the way down.

"Who else are you going to hurt?"

Under immense strain -- strain Celestia had not been aware she had been putting on the glass with her magic -- the glass began to crack.

At the same time, a far-off train continued on its path, occasionally met with a small bump as a stray rock or uneven part of the track met its course. Aboard this train, a hooded being gripped at one of their bags, making sure that it never felt so much as a single tremor from the trip.

A bag that held an item of utmost importance to somepony she knew: one she could not afford to allow harm to come to, at least until it had been safely given to her once again.

Hi.

Life hard.

Short chapter.

Long wait.

My bad.

But hey, the good news is the story is really gonna pick up again starting next chapter!

So uh... There's that?