That night...

Luna's POV

I sat in my private quarters, enjoying the dark and the quietness of night. But there was one problem; I was bored. Nopony really have many nightmares any more. Back before I became Nightmare Moon, a lot of ponies got nightmares, and I was able to help them with their fears. It was a great thing to do, and I enjoyed doing it. But nowadays, everypony has so many wonderful dreams. I don't get to do anything at night. I sighed as I looked up at the moon. It's not like it's a good thing that more ponies had nightmares more often back then. It was just more exciting than it is now.

All of a sudden, I felt my heart ache. Somepony somewhere was having a nightmare. But this nightmare in particular was very sad, tragic, and violent. Somepony was having a horrible nightmare. And as the Princess of the Night I have to help the pony. I just hope I didn't get a nightmare from a demon. Those even scare me a bit, even if I know they're not real. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the emotions. I felt the pain, the sadness... everything. I haven't felt this in a very long time. What could possibly scare somepony so bad in the peaceful land of Equestria?

A blindingly white light glowed everywhere for a split second and all of a sudden I was at a tree house.Wasn't this the tree house Twilight's friend's sisters play in. Hmm, if I concentrate enough, I can see if it is one of them. I thought and concentrated. I felt my blood run cold when I found out that is was Applejack's little sister having the dream. Little foals should not have these feelings at all. Even grown ponies usually didn't have such strong, negative emotions. I looked up to the tree house and prepared myself for the worst as I trotted up the ramp and looked through the window. I won't stop the nightmare, as that could leave me clueless as to what to do to help her. It could also cause her to wake up if I do it too early. And there's nothing more horrible than nearly wetting yourself just to come to an abrupt ending that makes you sit up really fast. Oh how that gives a pony headaches.

My heart stopped as I saw exactly what was happening in this nightmare. It was... the worst thing a filly could go through. A stallion had Applebloom under his hoof while she writhed in his grasp. She then yelled.

"SOMEPONY HELP ME!"

Only to have a gag stuck in her throat. The stallion then smirked.

"This won't hurt too bad." He whispered and then did what I was fearing he'd do the whole nightmare.

He raped her.

This can't be a nightmare, no matter how much I want it to be. No, this is a memory. Sure, there might be a few minor things changed to make a bit more creepy, but other then that, there'd no way she'd be able to just... just dream it up. I concentrated really hard on the dream. It was going to take a lot of power, but I will stop this nightmare at once. It took a bit of effort, but I soon got the stallion to disappear off of Applebloom. She looked around confusedly, wondering where the stallion was with panicked eyes. I walked up to her.

"Dear Applebloom. What has happened to make you have such a nightmare?" I asked her.

"W-were is he? Oh Faust he's gonna kill me... oh Faust oh Faust oh Faust!" She whimpered.

"Applebloom, he's not coming back. He's gone. This is a nightmare Applebloom." I told her.

"But it happened. He got me... an he's comin' back. He's gonna do it again. H-he's gonna get me!"

"No Applebloom, he's not. I promise."

"But it doesn't matter..." She whispered solemnly.

"What?"

"I'm carrying his baby. My first time... my first child... everything I lost... with him. Him..." She growled.

My eyes widened. He got the poor filly pregnant? She's probably just became a teenager... she wasn't ready for this. She shouldn't have to deal with this.

"A-and I can't get rid of it. I jus' cant. It's wrong to take away a life like that, even if I don't want it. I feel dirty just because I have it." She muttered.

I was speechless. There are no words I could possibly say to ever make this better. The stallion got to her... and I'm powerless to do anything about it. From looking through the thousands of reports of ponies going to jail because of something minor, I figured out that this is the same stallion that went to prison a week ago. He was charged for rape and attempted murder and was almost sentenced to life in prison. Almost. A scowl formed on my face. That stallion deserves execution!

I calmed down. Anger won't help this little filly. It will only make things worse...

"H-he called himself a monster..." She whispered.

"Monster?" I said in a confused tone.

"He said... that if he didn't do this... ponies would die. He said that he's saving lives."

"H-how... what?" I was getting dizzy.

"Ah looked in eyes and... he didn't want to do it. He looked sad. He said he was sorry."

I was so confused. The stallion said he was sorry... and that he didn't want to do it... and he was saving people? That could mean only one thing.

It wasn't weird and disgusting fetishes that drove him to do it. There's more ponies involved. Somepony must've threatened to kill him if he didn't or... hired him to do it. Persuaded him. Another pony was just as responsible as him. It looks like somepony will have a visit from me at the prison tomorrow.

"When he hurt me... he said... he was gonna turn himself in. He said he was awful. He degraded himself."

"And then... he beat me up. But ah felt nothing. Nothing at all. All there was... was emptiness. And it was cold." She whispered.

I looked into her eyes. They showed nothing. No sadness, no fear, no pain. Not one emotion was even suggested in those eyes. It was creepy. Really, really creepy. Especially to see that in a little filly... How empty they were. It was haunting.

"Applebloom..." I whispered and walked over to her.

Finally, there was an emotion shown in her eyes. I didn't want this to show. I wanted to get rid of it. It was fear.

"No... don't touch me!" She yelled and then, all of a sudden, the dream shifted, and I was in a jail cell.

"What in the?"

"Princess Luna? Hoo boy is it great to see you! Ah needed company in this empty dream. Just look at the place... it's baren. Got nothing in it. Jus' a room." said a familiar southern accented voice.

"Applejack?"

"Yep! The one and only! What brings ya here to my dream?" She asked.

"Well, I was pulled here suddenly, probably from a tear in the last dream." I said.

"Tear?" She asked.

"Well, sometimes dreams have errors. It's usually in a nightmare and it can cause dreams to really not make any sense. It could create things that don't belong such as a glowing pony with a happy face inside a creepy nightmare. Tears were made when Discord was evil and he went into ponies' dreams causing chaos. I never was able to fix them because they suck me into other ponies' dreams without warning before I can sense one. It's truly chaotic and unnerving." I explained.

"Makes sense." She said.

"Why do you seem so... happy?" I asked her.

"Happy? Princess Luna, ah am nowhere near happy. I am devastated." She said.

"Wha?" I asked confusedly.

"Yes, ah feel horrible. But... I can't just sit an' cry all day and night. Fer one, this is jail, an I ain't gonna sit here mopin' and hopin' nopony wants to try an' start a fight. Also, if I sit in one spot moping for an entire year, how will that help me? If I stay like that and get out of prison looking like crap in one year, that'd make Applebloom feel even worse. I figured that maybe if I try to keep up a smile or something, everything's gonna be alright. Even if this is one of the roughest things ah ever went through. Ah know it sounds stupid but.."

"It doesn't sound stupid. It is true that moping never solves anything. If anything, it'll fog your brain and you wont be able to think straight. But make sure you don't bottle your emotions and at least talk to somepony about it. That is why I lost all of my common sense when I became Nightmare moon. I let my negative emotions get the best of me and didn't tell Celestia..." I said.

"Well, at least everythin' turned out good in the end." She said and put a hoof around my shoulder.

I tensed and blushed. This was the first time any of my subjects ever hugged me. I wasn't used to anypony treating me like a regular pony besides my sister, and she only did that every now and then. I sat there awkwardly in her embrace, wondering what to say.

"You okay there Princess? You seem a bit tense." She asked.

"I... uh... yes. I just... um."

"Never had anypony hug you besides Princess Celestia?" She finished.

"Y-yes. How did you know?" I asked.

"Just a lucky guess." She said and shrugged her shoulders.

We sat there in silence, not knowing what to say next. But that was okay as it was more of a peaceful silence than an awkward one. After a long period of silence, Applejack finally spoke.

"This is nice. I really needed a break. I never got a chance to really just sit down and have no worries." She said.

"I too needed a break, as I've been busy trying to fit in with modern society. The only thing I've fixed so far is my speech. Mostly anyways." I told her.

"Well, I think I know how you can do that faster." She said.

"How so?" I asked, intrigued at the idea of fitting in faster.

"Just get a friend. How about you start now?" She asked.

"You... want to be my... friend?" I asked in an unsure voice.

"Of course I do!" She exclaimed with a smile.

"I accept!" I said with a big grin.

She then held out a hoof. I sat there confused for a moment. Am I supposed to give her something, She looked at me expectantly and then her face turned blank.

"You... don't know what a hoof-bump is?" She said with hesitation.

"Ehh..."

She smiled.

"Just bump your hoof with mines. That's all ya have to do." She instructed.

I blushed. That's all I had to do? Of course it is! She literally called It a hoof-bump. I mentally face-hoofed myself for my stupidity. I then looked back at her hoof and lifted mine. I bumped my hoof into hers, although a bit softer than a usual hoof-bump, and smiled.

"Applajack?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever need to talk to me, just call my name in a dream. I'll hear it and come straight to you, okay?"

"Okay. It's good to know I can talk to somepony around here. Even if it is in a dream. I only made two friends in this place and it smells like plot." She complained with an irritated look on her face.

"You don't deserve to be in here Applejack."

"But the law is the law, Princess. Ah bet this happens lotsa times. You can be the nicest pony and break after so much pressure. And it gets you stuck here."

"I should get you out of here."

"No." I looked at Applejack, bewildered at what she just said.

"Ahm a coward princess. I don't want to go back and see mah sister in the hospital bed, flinching at anything that moves, and crying until she has no more tears left. The only helpful thing I could possibly do is sit there and tell I sis that it's gonna be okay although I don't even know if it really is or not. It doesn't matter where I am, I'm useless. There's nothing I could possibly do that would help her."

"Don't say that Applejack!"

"BUT IT'S TRUE! What am I gonna do. Sit in the hospital, not be able to hug her because of her paranoia and tell her stuff that I'm not even sure of? Tell me, Princess, what could I possibly do? Try to force her to talk although her mouth won't budge? Sit there and look at my sister that I can't do anything for and cry like I'm doing now, making her feel even worse? Tell me, WHAT COULD I POSSIBLY DO!?" She yelled.

I was speechless.

"Exactly. There's nothing I can do. Nothing."

It was then that Applejack had decided to wake up, forcing me out of her dream.