The day was finally over. I wasn’t cold anymore, the fillies weren’t covered in anything, and it didn’t seem like it was going to storm. Everpony was in bed and I believe snoring already. I was reluctant to go to sleep for fear of having the nightmares again. It has been happening ever since Dashie came here. I go to sleep, dream about that town, if I get hurt I wake up. But I always seem to think it’s real. I’m beginning to question my reality more often. Plugging my nose to see if I can breathe.

I couldn't resist any longer. My eyelids felt heavy and my head hit a pillow. I was out cold.

=======================================================================

The light faded and everything I thought was real was now pitch black. I was in the middle of some neutral space, like a void of some sort. That’s when I remembered. Was this even real? I plugged my nose and held my breath until I was ready. I let out a huge exhale through my nose. My plugged nose. This wasn’t real. None of it. I was in a lucid dream. But why?

I didn’t fully understand dreams. Nopony ever will. Lucid dreams are dangerous. If I die here I may die for real. I took a shaky breath. Then, I saw a little filly sitting down in the middle of the void. But the dream wasn’t a void anymore. It turned to a little hill in the blanket of night. The moon hung high in the sky. The filly seemed to be captivated by it’s beauty.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” The filly said. I recognized that voice.

“Luna?” The filly turned her head, and sure enough, Luna was sitting on the hill. I had the ability to connect dreams, but I could only do it while I was awake. This wasn’t me. I knew it wasn’t Luna either. In connected dreams, it’s obvious who controls the dream. They normally make themselves known or you can feel when they are in charge. Luna didn’t yet have the power either.

“Yes?” Luna replied

“How did you enter my dream?”

“I thought you entered mine.” Luna said with a confused face. We were both aware that this was a dream. Connected dreams are one thing, but connected lucid dreams? That’s a whole other level.

“Luna, have you ever done this before?”

“No. I don’t think so Starry. Is it okay if I call you that, Mr. Light?”

“Oh it’s quite alright.” I sat down next to the small alicorn. “Do you know what this is?”

Luna shook her head. “I’ve never even heard of something like this. Could you shed a little light?” She snickered.

“That was horrible. Please never do that again.” I’m terrible with kids.

Luna seemed hurt and her head fell. “I’m sorry Starry.” She perked up. “Hey! That rhymes!”

I rolled my eyes. “Sorry for being so harsh.”

“Don’t worry. It’s okay.” She smiled. “Okay, back to the story.”

I took a deep breath. “This is called a connected, or shared, dream. It is where two ponies have one dream. That specific dream connects their separate dreams forming these. Normally somepony from the outside would have to connect the two somehow.”

“So are ponies normally aware that they are dreaming?” That question was a good one.

“No, not in my experience. When you are aware that you are dreaming it is considered a lucid dream. Lucid dreaming is when the dreamer, in this case me and you, are aware that they are dreaming. A connected lucid dream is a connected dream that both the dreamers are having lucid dreams.”

I could tell she had no idea what I just said. I decided to down size.

“We are having the same dream and we are aware we are dreaming.” I said promptly. It felt good to be able to explain it that simply.

“I like it.” Luna said as she returned her attention to the moon. “I want to do it more often.”

I looked down at the filly. I considered telling her what I thought was a secret that only my kind knew. I decided against it in my mind, but my mind was connected to the dream. “There is one way you can do it more often.”

She beamed up at me. “Really!? Show me show me show me!”

“Okay, but you have to promise to only use it for good, okay?”

She nodded her head fiercely. This drew a quiet smile from me. I had told Dashie this but she didn’t seem to care about spilling the beans to somepony else. “I promise!”

“Okay. What sets you apart from others is well, you’re an alicorn and you’re royalty. But what sets you apart from other alicorns is that you seem to have a special connection with the moon.”

She looked at me, the moon, then me again. Then back to the moon. “Okay...”

“You could tell I was having a nightmare, right?”

“Yeah.”

“That means you have a connection with the dream realm too.”

She looked back at the moon. “Dream realm? Never heard of it. Is there cake there!?”
Of course. “Moving on... you can use this connection to acces other ponies’ dreams. You can also use it to make dreams like this though. But be careful. The dream realm is like the real world. If you die there. You die for real. Lucid dreaming is the same way too.”

Luna seemed alarmed by these remarks but shrugged them off. “Okay. I’ll be careful! Maybe I’ll mess with you!”

The dream began to fill with cracks. Instantly, Luna jumped onto my back. “The dream is splitting!”

“What does that mean?!”

“It means we are going to wake up!”

“But I don’t wanna!” Luna said it to late.

===============================================

I heard a scream awake from the other side of the house. I was now upright in my bed, breathing heavily. I couldn’t figure out why, but I didn’t care. I was happy I wasn’t the only pony with this ability. I caught a grey streak out the window in th corner of my eye. I noticed a slip of paper sitting on the ledge under a rock.

I walked over, picked up the note, and got scared by all 3 fillies bursting into my room. “Hey knock next time!” I yelled. They shrunk back. “It’s okay. You startled me.”

Luna walked over. “Thank you.” She said. I made the mistake of looking into her eyes. It was to cute for me to handle. I scooped them all up and held them tight.

“Don’t worry.” I said. “You girls can stay as long as you like.”

Dashie noticed the note I had in my hoof. “Hey what’s that?”

I looked at it. “Not sure.”

“Read it!”

“Okay, okay.” I plopped them down on the floor and faced them. I held the note up with my magic and began to read it aloud.

”Our first encounter as a dream. A filly who is more than she seems. We are the same, yet different in many ways. These alicorns you raise have been here only a few days. Rainbow colored eyes in tune, in 6 years the clock will strike noon. A nap you three shall take. Whether in the home or by a lake. I hope to see you soon. Starry Light, the clock, will strike noon.”

Sorry for delayed chapter and late posing time.