Anastasia was sleeping soundly, curled up under the blankets. By her side, Wind Rider lay, a pink tint adorning his cheeks. He knew she didn't mean anything by it, but they were in the bed together. It wasn't the first time he shared a bed with a filly but it was never this way. He didn't feel anything for other fillies, he invited the girl to a date, and the two spent some quality time together, even if it was a bit awkward from his side. And there he was, sharing a bed with her. It was nothing sexual, it wasn't even romantic, but it still made him think of things.

However, he didn't know what was going on inside her head, and it was definitely far from being romantic.

Anastasia dreamt of a small but colorful village. It was full of different but friendly ponies who greeted her as she passed by. Her eyes darted around in fear as something appeared in the corners of her eyes but she could never see what it was. Ponies were there to ask her if she was feeling okay, and she replied to them that she was, and everything was fine. They looked at her with worry but didn't push further, allowing her to go. She passed them, slipping into one of the houses. The inside of it was empty, only bare walls stood, covered in dust. She let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor. However, there was something very interesting nearby.

In the center of the first room, she could see a hatch. Reluctantly, she made her way to it and opened it. Under the hatch, she saw a ladder. Something pulled her there, an invisible force of sorts, and she went down. The hatch closed above her, and yet she could still see everything clearly. She was more interested than afraid, and so she went further. She had to go prone and crawl through a low pathway through the concrete. After what seemed like an eternity, she came to three windows, all of them leading to the same room. She crawled out and was finally able to stand up.

She looked around. Everything was silent, completely. Nothing but her own breath could be heard. In the room she appeared, there was nothing, only bare concrete covered in dust. No marks of any kind, no one around, everything was bare and empty. However, there was a doorway to her left. With nowhere else left to go, she headed towards the doorway. Once she went past it, she came upon a stairway. She ascended and came to a heavy but old wooden door. With some struggling on her part, she managed to open it and go outside.

A bleak sun was shining through the gray clouds, snow was falling from above, covering the ground. Anastasia was in the middle of a small field, which was surrounded by a pine forest. At the edge of the said forest, a domed Orthodox church stood, slightly tilting to the side, its originally white walls having a gray tint, some of the paint had fallen off, and the domes were no longer shining gold as they used to be.

Anastasia looked back and saw that the door closed behind her, leaving her unable to go back to the basement. The house that used to stand on the said basement was abandoned long ago, its roof collapsed, glass on the windows gone, and one of the walls already crumbled.

The girl noticed a path in the snow. She followed it and soon came upon a small lake. It was free of ice, snow melted as soon as it fell on the water. The shores of the lake were dotted with red. Anastasia kneeled to inspect one of the dots and found a few moderately-sized red leaves that were slightly covered in fresh snow.

Suddenly, bubbles appeared on the lake, making it seem like it was boiling. A few moments later, Wind Rider appeared from underwater.

"Let's go." he said, looking at Anastasia. Reluctantly, she nodded and followed him with slight hesitation.

In what seemed like just a second, the two appeared in some sort of town. Anastasia realized that it was her hometown. It was nothing remarkable, featuring many four-storey houses with multiple apartments like many other towns built during the times of USSR between 1970 and 1990. This time, however, the town seemed abandoned. The snow was still falling, covering the ground. The playground between the two apartment blocks was abandoned, toys lying around chaotically with no children to play with them. However, among the snow, something was shining. As she made her way to the object, she heard a voice.

"Strangers are human beasts," the unknown person began talking, its age or gender unclear, its voice emotionless. "As soon as you see one, they see you, and they will get to you and kill you if you don't kill them first."

Anastasia froze in place, shivers running down her spine. The object lying in the snow was a revolver.

"Wave?" she called, looking around. However, the colt was nowhere to be seen, she was alone. Her heart rate increased, her shaking hands grabbed the revolver, pulling it from snow. As she rose to her feet, she saw someone from far away. It was a humanoid figure, and that's all she could make out from such a distance.

As soon as she saw it, it saw her. It started sprinting towards her, closing in very quickly. In a few moments, she could see its eyes, wide-open and looking directly at her. Underneath the torn clothes, pale skin was visible, white as snow.

Panicking, Anastasia started running away, stumbling through snow, holding the revolver tight. She ran and ran, not seeing the way, hoping to get as far away as possible. Soon, she reached her old house. It was abandoned like everything else surrounding her, but she went inside, closing the door behind her. The creature banged against the door, trying to get in. However, the nightmarish creature itself was silent.

Stumbling, Anastasia ran up the stairs, soon coming to the second floor. She stopped to take a break, and everything was silent again. Her heart was beating fast, she felt like it would jump out of the ribcage, breaking it in the process. However, she soon took everything under control. Her body shook with adrenaline but she knew she had to do something, to go somewhere.

Where was Wind Rider? Anyone at all? Aside from those beasts, there was no one around.

Something made her look to the right. A door to an apartment was wide open, revealing a room. In the visible part of the room, there was an armchair, and in it, a familiar figure sat. As soon as she noticed it, it opened its eyes. They were bloodshot, their irises purple, and the eyes themselves were sunk deep into the skull, hidden in shadows. The nightmarish creature was pale, looked extremely malnourished, and lacked ears. It stared at Anastasia in silence.

Slowly, she raised the revolver that was still somehow in her hand. She aimed at the creature's head as it continued to stare at the girl in dead silence with its wide-open eyes, piercing her completely with its emotionless and cold gaze.

The creature rose from the armchair, revealing its great height of about two meters. Anastasia's hands shook violently as she slightly adjusted her aim. The figure stood unmoving, looking at her.

Anastasia woke up, her eyes opening widely as she realized that it was just a dream. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she took deep breaths to calm herself.

"Mhh... are you alright?" Wave muttered to her side, slightly startling her.

"I'm g-good." she replied, her shaking voice betraying her.

"Um..." the colt rose slightly and looked at the girl. "I, uh, see that you're not. A nightmare, isn't it?"

"Y-yes." Anastasia nodded, deciding to reveal the truth.

"Maybe you should take a walk?" Wave suggested, his sleepiness gone. "You know, to clear your head and, uh, take some fresh air."

"I guess..." she replied, standing up. "Um..." she looked at the colt. "Go with me?"

"Sure, no problem." he nodded, standing up as well and following her to the outside.

Princess Luna was standing on her balcony, surveying the city. A frown was present on her face, her tail was swishing from side to side. Her ears swiveled around as she heard someone approaching from behind.

"Everything's alright, sister?" a familiar voice asked.

"Unfortunately, no." Luna shook her head, turning around to face Celestia. "There was a nightmare I couldn't prevent tonight. It came from one of the two humans. Everything was in a haze but I think it was Anastasia."

"There's more, isn't it?" Celestia asked quietly, fearing the answer.

"Indeed." the lunar alicorn nodded, her frown deepening. "The... creature I fought in Sirius' head. It is growing in power, it invaded the head of Anastasia. So far, it can't invade ponies' minds, thankfully." she paused for a moment. "However... it might grow even more powerful."

"What is that creature of nightmares?" Luna's sister asked another question, worrying about her two alien subjects. "Can it be defeated?"

"That creature is a part of Sirius. His guilty consciousness parasitizing on him, on all his negative emotions and feelings." Luna explained. "That is what I managed to understand, at least. This... figure feeds on Sirius' anger, hatred, shame, guilt, and it generates more from him. It is possible that the Alicorn Amulet gave it more power. The presence of that nightmare strengthened after my... duel with Sirius." she sighed deeply. "As for how to defeat it, I cannot say." she looked away, surveying the city again. "But if it is possible, only Sirius can do it, and I will help him."

"Better now?" Wave Rider asked as the two young ponies walked through the city, their way illuminated by the moonlight.

"Yeah. Thanks, Wave." Anastasia nodded, a small smile appearing on her face. The nightmare seemed so distant now, it already began to fade from her memory, leaving only vague, blurred images. "Um... you were in there."

"In your dream?" he asked.

"Yes. You... led me somewhere and disappeared." the girl explained.

"Don't worry, I will be here with you." he assured her, walking closer to her. "That was just a dream, Nastya."

"Thank you." Anastasia replied, her smile growing wider. Suddenly, for a mere moment, she lightly pressed her lips against Wave's cheek. She blushed, not really knowing why she did it. However, it felt right.

The colt was flabbergasted, his face red as a tomato, any words he wanted to say were stuck in his throat as he struggled to restart his brain. At first, he thought that it was fortunate that he didn't turn his head at the moment of the kiss or else things would've gotten even more awkward.

The strange silence continued as the two walked, and Anastasia thought about what she had just done. Was it culturally appropriate? Was it actually the right thing to do, to express a thank-you in such a way? He didn't protest but he certainly blushed when she did it, and now she wondered if she made him think that she liked him more than a friend. At the time, she couldn't say for sure, especially since there hadn't been much time since she appeared in Equestria.

Her mind shifted to the different aspect of the situation. Wave's fur on his cheeks was soft, that is what she got from the kiss she had given. It was nothing more than a fun fact she discovered. However, her mind didn't stop there — it went to Sirius and Iclyn. She knew the two had been in love for some time, certainly before she arrived, and she wondered how it felt on a physical level. The kisses, the touches... and more.

A pink tint appeared on her cheeks as she recollected the memories from when she saw the two making love in the bathroom. She caught but a glimpse but it did make her curious about how it would feel to be... loved from behind, so to speak. Despite having some relationship experience, if it could be called that, she was still a virgin and none of her relationships went beyond soft kisses, and even then, it was all from a long time ago she barely even remembered the sensations associated with them.

Meanwhile, Wave Rider finally restarted his brain and he realized that he had just been kissed. He had no idea what it meant. Was it just a common gesture of gratitude from the world of Anastasia or was it something else? He had experienced some teasing from fillies here and there, but it was never this... direct. Was it even teasing? He tried to stop the flood of thoughts; he knew he shouldn't overthink this, but he couldn't help himself, and so he wondered if what had just happened meant anything for the relationship between Anastasia and himself.

"So, um... Feel better?" he finally said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah." she nodded and then yawned. "Let's go back."

"Alright, no problem." Wave nodded and the two turned around. The colt silently sighed and decided to think about everything that had happened later, definitely after having a good sleep.

Author's Notes:

We're no strangers to love~

But seriously speaking, Anastasia and Wave Rider don't love each other just yet. They probably just need time, especially to get to know one another. Who knows, maybe something will work out?