“You mean it!?” Luna cheered. She was standing in front of the closet while Silver circled the Princess, putting on the finishing touches on her gown for the evening and making sure everything looked straight. The task was made that much harder by Luna's excited fidgeting. Thomas and Talon simply sat and watched in amusement from the comfort of Luna’s bed.

“I said it, didn’t I?” Thomas sighed nonchalantly. “Tonight, I think I’m ready to let you in my dreams.”

Silver was left spinning when Luna bolted across the room to engulf her favorite (and technically only) concubine within her cleavage in a near bone-crushing embrace.

Once she regained her balance, Silver faced the hugging couple. “If I might speak?” she asked, and Luna nodded. Silver turned towards Thomas, an odd expression on her face. “You mean to say you haven’t been letting the Princess into your dreams? Why?”

“It was kind of a privacy thing.” Thomas shrugged as Luna released him. “But I’m willing to give it a shot now.”

“Even so…” Silver trailed off as she tried to make sense of this. “The Princess is the guardian of all good dreams. Without her, how have you not been plagued by terrible nightmares?”

Thomas turned to Luna. “Plagued? Was it so bad when you were, ya know, gone?”

Luna let out a disappointed sigh. “I know you act out of pure intent, but I must ask that you, the lot of you,” she motioned to Talon and Silver as well, “cease behaving like you must tread upon eggshells around me. I was banished!” Silver flinched at the bluntness of her words. “We all know the story of how my jealousy got the better of me and I was left vulnerable to be possessed by a spirit of darkness. However I am a Princess, not some foal constantly on the verge of tears. It was my mistake, and I ask that those closest to me have the courage to speak of it as proper adults.”

An awkward silence nearly set in until Thomas started leaning on Luna’s side. “Not to change the subject or anything,” he began idly as he patted her outer thigh, “but when we went to the museum and saw some of those paintings of Nightmare Moon…” He waited for a response, but none came. “I kinda thought that armor made you look sexy.” He smiled as Luna began chuckling, the tension sufficiently defused. “Glad I didn’t say anything inappropriate.”

“Good on both of ya,” Talon congratulated. “Especially you, Moonbutt. It takes real guts to hold up to one’s mistakes like that, no matter your age or station. Being able to laugh about it shows chimp’s not the only one who’s come a long way.”

Silver was taken aback by this latest turn of events. While what Talon said made sense, she swelled with pride at her Princess’ personal victory, such casual discussion of the dreaded Nightmare Moon still felt off to her. Even in her own home the name was only uttered under hushed breaths for fear of invoking some curse.

“But to answer your question,” Luna continued, “No. While nightmares were more prevalent in my absence, I do believe Lady Silver to be exaggerating a bit.”

“As you say, Princess.” Silver bowed. If the Princess said it was right, then it was right. End of story.

“Anyway,” Thomas shrugged with a grin. “I’d like to put an emphasis on the was part of my statement.” He added with a grin. “Cuz right now I just can’t think of a good reason to say ‘no’. Besides, after the way everyone’s been building it up, I’m a little curious to see what it’s like.”

**********

The night went by fairly quickly, but not quick enough for Luna. The humdrum of the Night Court was especially aggravating as the Princess wanted nothing more than to have it all done with so she could explore her lover on an entirely new level of intimacy. Since Silver already dreamed of Luna most of the time anyway, the Princess had had no qualms with simply slipping in and sharing a few moments. That these moments were mostly forgotten come the dusk mattered little, as feelings of comfort and contentment remained as strong as ever.

However, not to say that Luna had grown bored of spending time in Silver’s dreams as they were most flattering, but Silver was still a pony. The Princess knew how the minds of ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and the other races all worked and felt. The mind of a human was entirely unexplored territory and it took all of Luna’s might not to just cancel Night Court and maybe offer him a sleep potion on his next appointment. That said, she did ride him especially hard until he passed out from exhaustion.

**********

Luna’s eyes shot open upon entering the comforting familiarity of the dream realm. Per usual, there were few spheres at this time of morning, meaning she wasn’t likely to be distracted by anypony’s nightmares. Pursuing swiftly through the void, it was not difficult for her to spot the sphere that stood out among all others. As dream guardian, Perhaps I should make that a formal title?, Luna could easily tell the difference between dreams. There were markers in their size, the way they floated, their shimmer, glow, and other subtle cues which were a blatant to the Princess as somepony’s sex or fur color. Differences were more notable between species, as ponies’ spheres were more silver while griffons had a fiery orange tint to theirs. Celestia’s sphere was massive and glowed bright yellow, while the relatively smaller, but still impressively alicorn-sized sphere of Cadence’s dream had a bright pink hue.

Thomas’ dream was a deep emerald green that sparkled even more brilliantly than his eyes. It was larger than she’d expected of one his age, suggesting either that he’d accumulated a surprising number of life experiences, or perhaps some other trait which she had the pleasure of discovering for herself. Luna’s mind raced with excitement as she imagined the possibilities. Thomas was a rather timid sort, so maybe she’d find him relaxing on a quiet little island in the middle of a peaceful ocean; a perfect place to hold a picnic. Equally likely was his foalhood, or rather childhood home, granting her the privilege of not only getting to see a younger cuter version of him, but also perhaps gleaming some new insight into his character. Unable to contain her giddiness any longer, she took a deep breath of nonexistent air and dove in.

*Boom!*

Luna was only barely able to pull back at the last second and dodge the terrifying metal contraption as it whizzed by. It had no wings, but spinning metal blades at the top seemed to be keeping it airborne. The contraption, which Luna gleamed as a helicopter through accessing dream logic, was not alone as dozens of the things circled high in the air. Beneath them were ruins covered in indiscernible glyphs, along with soldiers fighting along a poorly constructed ramp. The armored soldiers appeared to have no marks distinguishing one side from the other as they wielded swords, along with strange clubs capable of firing unseen projectiles, which she identified as guns, into their foes as countless soldiers fell into the hazy abyss below. At the center of it all was an especially large rectangular pillar where the soldiers seemed to be making their last stand as the helicopters pelted them with explosions.

Luna pulled clear as she beheld the scene with shock and horror as a single word emerged in the forefront of her mind. War. She gasped, her mind racing with alien words that made up the code of the dream’s matrix. “Thomas… is a child of war?” It was the only thing that made sense, for who else could imagine a battle in such vivid detail. Her heart sunk at this revelation. “I… I had no idea.” Luna confessed to herself as she felt her eyes begin to water. That Thomas, her Thomas had been forced to live through such tragedy, and yet keep it hidden for so long… This must have been what he feared I would see. She reasoned. He told me that humans still fought one another, but he feared how I would react upon seeing it for myself.

Pushing back feelings of hurt at the implications that Thomas still didn’t trust her, Luna resolved to first put an end to this wretched nightmare and save Thomas from reliving such a terrible tragedy. She dove down into the center of the fray, bold in her certainty that the dream would remain intangible until she decided otherwise, as she searched for her beloved. The soldiers’ faces were either obscured or poorly rendered, suggesting they were little more than background, though the lack of any distinguishable faces only brought on a new kind of worry.

Was Thomas’ condition so terrible that he could not bring himself to even befriend his fellow soldiers?

Feeling out the flow of the dream, unfamiliar as it was, Luna soon picked up on the prominent position where the dreamer was most likely situated and looked up to where the helicopters were attacking. “Is that… a screen?” Sure enough, as she closed the distance, she found herself following a white screen as it joined the helicopters in circling the central pillar. Such a thing was rare, as it suggested the dreamer was only passively watching the events unfold and not actually participating, which was especially odd considering where they were.

This makes no sense. How could he be a passive observer in his own battle? Luna queried as she followed the screen. Surely he’d be positioned in one of the helicopters, either as pilot or passenger? She thought as she noticed many of the helicopters had open hulls where other soldiers stood and watched the carnage below. Could it be that human minds are able to disconnect from their bodies? It seemed ludicrous, but she was grasping for any sort of explanation to make sense of all this. Suddenly the screen doubled in speed as it zipped through the fray down onto the central pillar, where the flow of the dream told her it would merge with one of the soldiers. Luna felt torn between a sense of relief at finally having something to interact with, but also dread at coming face to face with her gentle love at what was surely his darkest hour.

No. Luna told herself as she chased the screen with newfound determination. “I am Luna, Princess of the Night. It is my sacred task to protect all Equestrians from that which lurks in the darkness, and I will not allow my Thomas to suffer this ordeal alone. At last the screen slipped seamlessly into one of the soldiers and Thomas’ smiling face was finally… revealed. “What?”

To Luna’s utter befuddlement, there Thomas stood, a ferocious smile upon his face as he swung his blade and indiscriminately cut down foe after foe. So shocked was the alicorn that it took a moment to realize the emotions the dream radiated. It was excitement, pure and simple. It was the thrill of pumping adrenaline and cheering fans as one raced or participated in a gladiatorial match. As Luna processed this, she was able to take note of several other indescripancies. For one thing, in addition to the armor, Thomas’ physique resembled that of an earth pony in being nearly seven feet tall and just so darn buff. After suppressing the tingle between her legs at seeing such a powerfully masculine specimen, Luna had had enough of all this and grabbed Thomas’ metal plated shoulder, pulling him into lucidity. “Thomas!”

“L-Luna?” Thomas asked incredulously as he lowered his sword, the roar of battle dulling as he shifted his focus. “W-what’s happening?”

“Thomas! Focus on me.” Luna instructed as she grabbed both shoulders and positioned him to face her. It was nice having him so close to eye level, but that could wait till later. “This is a dream. Try to clear your mind and focus on the inconsistencies that tell you this isn’t real.” She had prepared an entire speech to reason with the human, some ponies were harder to convince than others in her experience, only for his eyes to widen as she felt his realization as he looked away to examine their surroundings.

“Hey now,” he commented casually as if impressed by what he saw. “This is pretty neat.”

“Neat? Neat!?” Luna growled in disbelief and frustration. “How can this be neat, and why didn’t you tell me you were in a war?”

“War?” Thomas pulled back in surprise at the remark. “I was never in any war.” He tried to laugh it off, but was growing increasingly uncomfortable at how Luna was looking at him like he’d suddenly grown a second head.

“Never…any…” Luna shook her head as her anger mounted and she gestured to the surrounding carnage. “Then what’s all this!?” She demanded.

“Oh boy.” Thomas chuckled as he shook his head. “I… I actually remember this dream,” he admitted, hoping his smile would help calm the mare down. It worked, to the extent that she no longer looked like she was going to explode.

Luna crossed her arms with a huff as she impatiently tapped her hoof. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, mister.”

“Guess so,” Thomas rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as the battle slowly faded away until they were left in peaceful darkness. “See, I’d been playing this game called ‘Halo’ and…”

He stopped as a new screen appeared off to the side between the pair. It depicted more ruins, like those that had been depicted in the dream, only set in a forest and overlooking a lake or ocean. The viewpoint character was navigating his way, because the dream code said it was a ‘he’, through corridors and along cliffs as he exchanged colorful projectiles with bizarre alien foes the likes of which Luna had never seen or even imagined.

“Halo.” Luna whispered. “Game. Yes. Those are words that kept repeating in the dream matrix.”

“Matrix?”

“The setting in which a dream is made up.” Luna describe, unable to take her eyes away from the screen as alien after alien fell before the viewpoint character’s seemingly unstoppable wrath. “Dreams are comprised of memories and emotions which cobble together to form the dream matrix.” She explained in awe as the game continued.

Being no stranger to lucid dreaming and not liking how he was being ignored, Thomas quickly found the will to banish the screen, causing Luna to blink as though waking from a trance.

“The, uh…” Luna stuttered. “While in this realm, we are tied to whatever memories and experiences were responsible for forming the dream.” She glanced disappointedly where the screen had been. “I am able to see the matrix as a whole, but it’s all just so alien to me. I do not think I can guide us through as easily as I would a pony’s dream.” She confessed. It was disheartening to feel like a stranger in a realm where she should have been the master. Then she blinked and the code rewrote itself as the pair found themselves sitting on a couch in a modest sized living room.
“Wow.” Thomas swayed a bit as he aligned himself to the new yet familiar setting. He turned to his chair-mate to find she’d shrunk to be equal to him in size, causing him to smile. She was wearing the dress she normally took to Night Court while he was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. “This is gonna take some getting used to.”

“Indeed.” Luna agreed as she surveyed the room, appreciating the more relaxed atmosphere as she read how the various items related to the new code. A glass door to the right revealed a backyard while the room’s interior all seemed comfortingly mundane, save for the black screen on the wooden stand at the opposite wall. “For example, through the matrix, I am able to identify that,” she pointed, “as a television screen, a device through which you observe news and entertainment. Although, in your case,” she turned an accusing eye upon Thomas, “mostly entertainment.”

“Not my fault the news is so depressing.” Thomas held up his hands defensibly.

“I do not doubt it.” Luna smiled gently. “Although I must confess considerable relief that our prior setting was derived from one of these… video games and not lingering nightmares from a true battle.”

“I think I’d have mentioned if I’d been in a war or not.” Thomas added.

“Not necessarily.” Luna said with an indiscernible look. “With your feelings of excitement as you fought, I was actually worried that you might have been trained as a berserker, one who lives for battle, and that that might have been why you’ve had such difficulty adjusting.”

“Well I can safely say that’s not the case,” Thomas bragged. “Any problems I might have are all due to pony weirdness and my own personal issues.”

“That is a relief.” Luna sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder and hugged his arm.

“So, with that screen back there, you can call up any of my past memories?” Thomas inquired.

“Memories, by definition, are set in the past,” Luna corrected smugly, earning a shake from her lover as she laughed. “You were actually the one to call the screen, not I. Normally I would have more influence to guide the course of the dream, but the intricacies of your human mind are far too different for me to fully interpret at the moment. Even then, I am only able to call upon memories and details that connect to the dream matrix, which is how I understood what a video game is.” She straightened up beside him and returned to examining the room. “That is also how I know that this was your house before coming to Equestria.”

“Can’t get anything by you.” Thomas hummed as he wrapped his arm around Luna’s shoulder. “Though I’ll admit it’s nice having you this size for a change.”

“As much as I’d enjoy exploring this topic to its logical conclusion,” Luna tittered, “I find myself more enthralled by the possibility of seeing an entirely new world.”

Thomas felt tremendously privileged as he was able to witness something he knew was a rare sight, Princess Luna fidgeting excitedly like a child who’d been told they were going to the toy store. As warmth grew deep within him, the human decided that resistance was futile and stood from the couch, carrying her with him. “Why the hell not?”

The next few hours of dream time were spent exploring the wonders of the human world. Thomas was unable to keep from grinning as Luna awed at what to him seemed so mundane, though he could hardly blame for having do the same himself for nearly four months now. As Luna made suggestions of things she wanted to see, Thomas was quickly learning how much control it took to keep his thoughts from bouncing all over the place so that Luna had the time to actually see what he was showing her. They explored shopping malls, schools, airports, highways, and a dozen other locations before Thomas figured Luna was getting too worked up and returned them to the living room at his old house. The Princess looked disappointed for only a second before rushing down the hall to, apparently, where the matrix told her his room was.

The whole thing was especially puny, even compared to Moonlight’s barracks. But Thomas decided against any disparaging comments, or else risk a tongue lashing from the easily excitable mare. Still, there was a bit of comfort in how familiar everything looked exactly as he left it. From the door in the corner, Luna beheld a messy desk covered in papers and clothes on the right side wall; a closet door, which she immediately opened with an ‘o’ face as she examined his old clothes; a tall window with gray drapes on the far wall; a half shelf continuing his relatively minor collection of video games, old school books, and crystals arranged lazily on a wash rag; two shelves full of old toys, cards, and dusty Lego constructs he’d been unable to part with over the years of donations, yard sales, and hand-me-down giveaways to the extended family; a dresser drawer on the left wall, also covered in old papers and other items that constituted a mess; one last window to the front yard; and on the final wall a made bed and a night stand.

Thomas did his best to explain the various items in the room, but became annoyed when Luna would simply access the dream matrix and finish the explanation about half way through. He reached out to stop her from messing with the Legos, only to pull back upon realizing these formerly precious creations were nothing more than figments of his imagination. However, besides the video games, what Luna took particular interest in were the crystals as she listed off the various minerals present.

“A modest collection, but you have a respectable variety.” She commented.

“Yeah.” Thomas shrugged. “I got them when I was on this spirituality kick for a while. Not sure if they helped with any enlightenment, but I do know my dreams got especially trippy after I charged them under a full moon.”

“You don’t say.” Luna’s voice rose in intrigue as she eyed the little rocks.

“You wouldn’t happen to be planning anything, would you?” Thomas asked as he came up behind Luna and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Because if you are, that’d be really sneaky.”

“Why Thomas!” Luna gasped in mock offense. “How could you possibly think that I, the benevolent and illustrious…”

“Did you know your left nostril flares when you fib?” He asked. “Celestia’s too. I think it might be a tell for all alicorns.”

“It does?” Luna asked, pressing her finger to the nostril in question.

“No.” Thomas gave a shit-eating-grin.

Angered at being tricked, Luna readied herself for retaliation, only to be stopped when Thomas wrapped his arms over Luna’s shoulders.

“I just know you.” He said into the side of her neck.

Luna pouted her lip at being so easily disabled. “You’re lucky you’re cute.” She fumed.

“I’m also lucky that you’re cute, Moonlight’s cute, Tali has her charms, and even Silver’s not too bad on the eyes.” He sighed, nuzzling the soft fur of her neck. “Seems I’ve been having a lot of luck recently.”

No more needed to be said as the pair simply spent the remainder of the dream enjoying each other’s company.

At long last, the inevitable has come to pass. Luna gets her first glimpse of Thomas’ dreams and boy was it a hell of a trip. Other than giving a glimpse into the differences in how human and pony minds work, not too much else happened here. Oh, except with Luna wanting everyone to stop walking on eggshells around her. That was cool.