Yay, next chapter.
I cannot promise that I will have another chapter ready for Christmas but I will have a bunch of time at hand then and probably work on another chapter to the new year. :)
Until then, enjoy what I have created so far.

Special Thanks to Sweetolebob18 for proofreading.

Her horn dimming, Celestia exhaustedly staggered back before falling onto her rump and sighing heavily.

The first time it had been bad, but now, it bordered on crazy.

Even though Celestia had reacted immediately as they noticed that Twilight had become hungry, a feat normally impossible for an alicorn if all the spells and enchantments would have worked correctly, it had been too late.

As soon as the young alicorn was levitated out of the Royal Bath by Luna, already curled up and clutching her sides in agony, Twilight’s nose had picked up the faint scent of the kitchens all the way through half of the castle.

What then happened will probably go down as another traumatic event for the royal cooks in only half a decade.

Driven as if starvation itself had stood before her, Twilight had, despite apparent pain while casting, lit her horn and vanished out of Luna’s grasp in a heartbeat.

Upon Luna’s squeak of surprise, Celestia had turned from the quickly running guard and her heart had practically sunk onto the floor. She would have preferred to keep Twilight in someplace where she couldn’t catch a waft of the kitchens and the bath was, due to its wet nature, a perfect place for that, though her sister had meant it well.

Lighting her horn herself, Celestia had quickly teleported Luna and herself to the only place her former student would probably have gone. Upon her arrival, and the subsequent affirmation of her worries, Tartarus had practically already broken loose.

Neatly stacked up in the middle of the room, pristinely cooked and sealed with magic, the castle chefs had already started to make preparations for every working staff member, guard and noble currently residing in the castle and bordering barracks.

The various pre-prepared dishes reached from fine cooked meals with adaptations to personal taste, over pots of potatoes, noodles, and flower-based products, to the abundance of sandwiches, burgers, soups and other calorie high meals for the working class in the castle.

Though in addition to the usually pristine and perfectly prepared stacks of food that greeted them, an almost miniscule abnormality sat beside one of the stacks of food, carelessly grabbing one dish after the other and wolfing it down as if it was nothing while all the while the many cooks had started to frantically gesture, insult and complain that their already complex job was currently being brought to ruin.

And after multiple attempts in which it proved to be impossible to separate Twilight from her next chosen victim, Celestia and Luna had settled in to attempt to redirect the castle’s cooks back to their usual tasks while their friend hauntedly gorged herself behind them as they waited on the guard that would finally bring chalk.

To their great dismay though, their attempts at bringing order back into the kitchens were mostly for nought as some cooks started to screamingly run around in panic while shouting in fear of being devoured by one of their princesses.

In the mutual agreement of both Celestia and Luna, the word ‘stupid’ did not describe those ponies sufficiently as they had been forced to watch panic ensue around them.

While time had felt like stretching out and approaching infinity, the oblivious guard who still questioned his orders finally made his way down the stairs with the requested pieces of chalk suspended in his magic.

Upon his arrival, Celestia had immediately snatched the chalk from the befuddled guard and began to draw one runic circle after another onto the ground, her lines precise and deliberate while Luna attempted to separate the few dishes that were left from the pile to goad Twilight to follow her.

Twilight, whose mind wasn’t consumed by the unbearable feeling of hunger anymore, at least for a short while, thankfully cooperated and slowly followed Luna into the middle of one of the pentagrams before plopping down and impatiently waiting for Celestia to finish. Her eyes already on the still complete and untouched stack of food on the other side of the room, Luna furthermore attempted to strategically place herself between Twilight and the food some cooks now seemed to worship as their only savior from their princess’s apparent wrath.

Though while doing so, Luna quickly came to the realization that it probably would not be a good idea to stand in between a hungry alicorn and the second stack of food if the young princess’s patience should run out, as Twilight’s intense glare made her fur stand on end as she felt Twilight’s attention briefly shift to herself.

As Celestia finally closed the last rune with a circle, she unceremoniously dropped the chalk, pushed her sister and some stray running cooks out of the way, turned around and lit her horn, letting the freshly drawn up chalk lines glow in golden light before she directed her spell at Twilight and weaved the enchantment all alicorns had upon them together with Twilight’s font of magic.

The effect had been instantaneous as Twilight moaned in relief and flopped forwards, still stuffed but happily embracing sleep while the enchantment rooted itself inside her and started to feed her a magickly created substance.

Relieved that it finally was over, Celestia surveyed the room a brief moment before she inhaled exhaustedly once more before she felt a gentle hoof touch her shoulder.

Opening her eyes, Celestia smiled gratefully back at the pony trying to comfort her and upon seeing that it was her niece Cadance, her smile changed from a fake one to a genuine one as she bowed her head slightly in a tired form of greeting.

Cadance, who had followed the sudden commotion to the kitchens, now let her gaze sweep over the room. As her glance found the sleeping heap of Twilight, who Luna was currently picking up and carefully levitating onto her back, she sighed slightly and redirected her gaze to Celestia, “Please don’t tell me it is what I think it is,” she said allowed, her ears falling flat onto her head.

Blinking once, Celestia looked distracted for a second before she gave her niece another tired smile, “I would have to lie to you then,” she said, her voice holding a sheepish note in it, “I am afraid it is exactly what you think it is,” she explained.

Sighing and nodding, Cadance dropped her hoof and looked on in acceptance.

Memories of when she had ascended and found herself in the place Twilight had been in just a moment ago flashing through her mind, a small wince escaped her as she pictured herself having to go through that ordeal once more.

Shaking her head, Cadance thought for a second before opening her mouth once again, “While I hopefully assume correctly that she didn’t actively drop the spell on purpose,” she said, voicing her thoughts while glancing at the chaos around them and turning her eyes to Celestia, “W-who or what in Tartarus could have caused her to lose that enchantment?” she asked, her voice filled with sudden worry.

Humming in thought, Celestia let her gaze sweep over the room as well. As she remembered yesterday night and because of that the struggle they had faced to break into Twilight’s dream, a small part of her dismissed it as impossible but she still bobbed her head slightly, “I do believe I have my suspicions, yes, but I honestly cannot tell you anything with a certainty yet,” she said, her gaze growing thoughtful once more, “Though if my suspicion proofs to be correct, I believe it stretches further than just that enchantment.”

Nodding in acceptance, Cadance waited and watched as Luna, with Twilight on her back, walked past them before turning her head and looking at Celestia, “So… um… will she be alright?” she asked while watching Luna out of the corner of her eyes vanish into the castle.

Breaking Celestia out of her thoughts, the elder alicorn blinked before wearily smiling at her niece, “Of course she will,” she said half distracted, “it isn’t as if anything could have happened really. You should know that we cannot starve and that the purpose of the spell is to merely keep us from experiencing hunger,” she said absently, “If we were to go a week or two completely without anything to eat, our bodies would get accustomed to it and the hunger would eventually subside, as long as we do not start to eat again, that is,” she clarified, a palpable distaste mixed into her voice.

Shaking her head, Cadance searched for the correct words and gestured with her hoof in a circle, “I didn’t mean that, well… I meant… in general… is she going to be alright, generally speaking,” she said, her voice small, “You know… Shining isn’t around to make things even more complicated,” she explained, her expression growing sheepish and her ears laying back again, “So… I would like to know now if I can help in the long run or something,” she clarified, cringing at the notion that she hoped to learn more while Shining wasn’t around yet still looking at Celestia in search of an answer.

Snorting, Celestia had to suppress a hearty chuckle as she shook her head, “My dear niece,” she began, her voice honey-sweet, “Of course she will, Luna and I will take care of her for the time being and just to make one thing clear,” she said, her voice suddenly hard as steel, concealing her honest apprehension from her niece, “Shining Armor would never forgive me if I were to conceal something from him about his sister,” she explained, “Besides, I have it on good authority that he is already on his way here. He… has his way to get information about his little sister,” she said amused as the doors on the other side of the kitchens burst open and Shining Armor, flanked by two pairs of both Night and Day guards standing beside him, stood in the middle of the doorway, huffing and puffing in exhaustion yet still frantically looking around.

“Where is she?!” he called, making the cooks that hadn’t noticed him jump while Celestia calmly stood up and walked over to him.

After having explained everything that happened to Twilight’s brother and consequentially calmed him down and promised to keep a close eye on his sister, Celestia had returned to her chambers and noticed that Luna, with Twilight on her back, had returned there as well.

Having laid the young princess back onto Celestia’s bed, Celestia had settled down in front of her fireplace, a book in her magic and her tea next to her, while Luna had settled herself next to Twilight and was carefully showering the young Princess with subtle affections and rubs to soothe her churning stomach and troubled sleep.

While the book in front of her was merely a distraction, Celestia was thinking and so her mind raced and thought over everything that happened in the last two days while the hours of the evening flew by.

After having received their evening meals, through which Twilight had thankfully not awoken, Celestia found herself staring at her sister, who periodically tried to lay her head down onto her hoofs while in reality she all but fussed over their sleeping friend next to her.

Seeing the obvious, a small smile spread over Celestia’s lips as she regarded Luna, “You seem pretty affectionate lately, sister,” she said into the silent room, breaking a silence that had endured for hours and making her sister look to her with her head held askew.

Blinking, Luna held her gaze for a second before she returned her attention back to Twilight, who slightly cooed in her sleep as Luna gently rubbed over her still swollen stomach, “We see nought wrong with that, sister,” she said, a small smile spreading over her lips upon hearing Twilight’s unconscious reaction.

“Oh, you misunderstand, Lulu,” Celestia said, her voice gentle and shaking her head slightly, “I never said that anything was wrong with that,” she explained, “yet still, you have to admit, it is so different from how you carry yourself normally.”

Nodding slightly, Luna held her gaze on Twilight and studied her face attentive while she thought. Finally averting her gaze and glancing at her sister, Celestia could see the determination of her sister flash through her eyes, before Luna gave her a happy smile, “We both hath seen what she dreams of, Tia,” Luna explained, her voice firm yet dimmed so not to wake the pony next to her, “We…” she started, turning her head away and looking down at Twilight once more, “We wish for it to happen,” she finally admitted before turning her head back, “As we explained tonight, since our return, we wished for something like this to happen… though we never could hath dreamt in our wildest dreams that She, our Savior, our Guide… our… Friend, could ever be among one to return the sentiment.”

“Why ever not, Luna?” Celestia asked, unable to stop herself in time while admitting all the same that she probably wouldn’t have asked something else as well.

“Because we do not deserve her,” Luna stated, a grim smile spreading over her lips while one wing gently laid itself over Twilight, “She could do so much better than us,” she explained, looking away and at the door, “thee, for example, thou wert always a picky one,” Luna said, a slight smile on her lips, “yet we can see that she could effortlessly win thy heart,” she finished.

Her gaze dropping at the floor and studying her outstretched hoofs in front of her, Celestia slightly shook her head and whispered to herself, “She already has, in some way,” before returning her gaze back up to her sister and squinting at her, “But Luna, why would you ever think you would be not good enough?” she asked aloud, her ears lowered and looking at her sister sadly.

“Because we art not, Tia,” Luna said, shaking her head almost dismissively, “We almost would have brought ruin to our ponies and have spent a thousand years on the moon as punishment for our crimes,” she started to explain, turning her head to her sister and showing Celestia her sad gaze, “And upon our return, the first thing we try to do is to pick up where we left off,” she said, her voice cracking, “and she had to be the one to guide us away from our darkened path.”

“That wasn’t you, Luna,” Celestia said, slowly standing up, but before she could walk closer, Luna shook her head and rooted Celestia with an icy glance.

“Thou knowest as well as we do that tis not true,” Luna said, once more averting her gaze, “she hath a kind heart, while ours hath been frozen over the centuries, and to make matters worse, she wast the first in as long, if not longer, to even attempt to melt it,” Luna explained.

Reconsidering her next move, Celestia sat back down again and shook her head, “You have changed, Luna, you are no longer the nightmare that sought to destroy ponykind,” she started to explain, “But instead you are now the wonderful pony that you were always meant to be.” She said, her voice calm and soothing, “You’re my sister in everything, just as you have always been, and everyone blind to that has not deserved our presence,” she continued and looked over to Twilight, “She… she knows who you are, Luna, and she admires you because of it,” Celestia concluded, nodding her head and returning her gaze to the floor before looking back up and at Luna, “but please, don’t consider her… affection… as something you have to repay her for, you are no trophy she has won or…”

“Maybe we hath,” Luna said, interrupting her sister, “and we wouldst never give us to her because we think we owe it to her, she wouldst not deserve something so low and degrading,” Luna continued, her head shaking and looking to her sister once more, “though we cannot deny that our heart leaps at the thought of her being happy because of us,” she finished. Laying her head once more onto her hoofs and drawing the wing draped over Twilight closer, making the young pony sigh in comfort and causing her to nuzzle her head into the warm crook of her neck.

Luna smiled.

Raising a hoof before stopping herself, Celestia nodded slowly and shook her head, turning away. She was about to bring her sister’s worries up once more before she dismissed the thought for now. “Try to sleep, sister, you will need it if you want to keep her company tomorrow,” Celestia said instead, remembering the plan they had come up with after Twilight had left this morning.

Humming slightly, Luna drew Twilight even closer to her and silently listened to her friend’s heartbeat while Celestia went back to the fireplace.

Her thoughts racing, Luna closed her eyes and lit her horn slightly, effortlessly slipping into the dream realm and leaving her body behind to rest.

Letting her hoof fall onto the shining floor of the plaza below her, Luna skillfully stepped out of her body and into her domain, the pillar of her sister and her behind her still holding both of their dream spheres as it had so dutifully done throughout the millennia.

Her sanctuary, as she had come to call it, had not always served as her only retreat from the world as it had done in the years leading to Nightmare Moon’s disaster. In the years following her discovery of her powers over the dream realm, Luna had created this place in the hope that someday she might be able to show ponies through her domain, though this hope had died thousands of years ago when she was forced to realize that no one could actually follow her into her realm without her help.

Though in the end, it didn’t matter to her and she had crafted this place with as much love as she could muster. Ranging from elegant and soothing structures of crystalized moonlight over to beautifully carved fractals decorating almost every vertical surface, Luna had probably lost umpteen years in the construction of her small island in the middle of the nothing that was her surroundings.

All for her own enjoyment and for the eventual awe for the few ponies she ever showed this realm.

Her sister now amongst the select few to have ever laid eyes upon her creation, a sense of completion settled inside her stomach as she finished transcending into her realm.

Opening her eyes, Luna beheld the beauty that her realm was for a moment before she let her gaze drop to what she had created on her own. Her gaze sweeping from one pillar to another, all of them holding the dream of one whom she held dear, Luna smiled to herself as she started her descent down the stairs of her sister’s and her elevated position to the plaza as a whole.

Closing her eyes once more, her ears swiveling slightly to nonexistent sounds, Luna inhaled deeply and greeted the calming atmosphere around her.

Now that her sister wasn’t here with her anymore, the place had almost an eerie hue to it and Luna felt nearly compelled to seek out the company of her sister in the waking world once more.

Though in the end, she stayed, remained rooted in place and basking in the all-encompassing silence of her surroundings.

Finally letting go of the air inside her lungs, Luna slumped back into a more comfortable position and flicked a strain of her ethereal mane out of her face.

Surveying her surroundings once more, her gaze landed on the six pillars of Twilight and her friends.

Staring at the pillar in the center, which held the lavender-colored dream of Twilight, Luna curiously began to step closer to it before she stopped and sat down in front of it.

Her eyes wide as if she couldn’t believe what she saw, she watched the orb without its usual dulling shield around it and her eyes started to sting from tears welling up inside of them.

She knew that Twilight would probably raise her shield once more when she inevitably found out that it had disappeared, though for the moment, she couldn’t help but imagine the world as it was supposed to be while she watched the sphere for a time.

Her mind picturing a time in when Twilight would no longer have need for such a barring spell, Luna slowly reached out a hoof to the orb before stopping herself.

Blinking and wiping away a few specks of moisture which dared to find its way onto her cheeks, she gave in to her urge and slowly scooted closer to the pillar, her gaze holding a gentle smile as she hugged herself around it.

Laying her head down next to the lavender orb, she watched its surface ripple in lazy and comforting rhythms as if it would try to sooth her troubled mind before she closed her eyes and lit her horn with a faint spark of magic.

She couldn’t help it…

Opening her eyes once more, Luna found herself in Twilight’s dream.

While last time she had arrived with her sister in her mind directly, Luna now beheld the welcoming and soothing lit living room of a place she wished would not be lost to history.

Perched on top an almost comically too small pair of plush sofas, Luna found images of herself and her sister residing inside Twilight’s old library.

The two of them having been served an enticing smelling tea, whose kettle and cups had been placed down on a small coffee table in between them, Luna watched them observe the owner of the dream.

Twilight, while occasionally glancing back to earn affirming nods, was in the middle of explaining her upcoming plans for something lost to her mind as the whiteboard she stood before and scribbled onto was only filled with vague images and smears of color.

Their surrounding blurred out of focus, Luna observed how Twilight talked nonsense about magic, her friends and the picturality of lemons while both the image of her sister as well as herself seemed impressed with whatever she had managed to figure out.

A small smile settling onto her lips, Luna stopped for a moment and observed how Twilight’s wings bristled in excitement every once in a while.

As Twilight’s explanation finally came to a finish, both images in front of her cheerfully clapped their hoofs together before standing up and embracing the young alicorn in their wings.

Stepping closer as well, Luna tried to find the gaze of her friend in an attempt to read her mood, though as she set hoof in front of her, Twilight slipped out the embrace and cheerfully stepped through Luna and walked to the door.

Once she passed over the threshold, the dream around them changed from the warm and cozy library of her friend to an open field of high grass. A shadow spending tree stood on top a small hill in the middle of the meadow, Luna felt a gentle bristle of a warm summer wind gently blowing over her back as the sun stood high above them.

Twilight, who had changed from the grown alicorn she had been a moment ago to a small filly barely bigger than reaching to Luna’s barrel, was now cheerfully jumping through the high grass chasing imaginary things only she could see.

Looking around, Luna found that in the shadow of the tree, one pony had found purchase on a picnic blanket.

Her sister, with her usual calm demeanor, idly watched the young filly chase through the grass while sipping gently on a cup of tea she had prepared herself over a small flame she had conjured with her magic.

While her sister’s coat had always been pure white, Luna imagined that right now, her fur seemed even more immaculate than it usually was.

Pushing this stray thought away, and explaining it to herself with the fact that she was inside Twilight’s dream and that here everything the young pony could think of could happen, Luna absently shook her head as she found the occasionally bouncing form of a young Twilight once more in the midst of the high grass.

Watching the young filly play for a while, Luna wandered over to her sister and settled down next to her, aware that she hadn’t properly entered the dream and was only able to observe.

Though the thought of watching Twilight while she was young was enticing and a small part of her heart hated herself for not having been able to be there as she was then still banished to the moon.

Looking over to her sister, Luna wondered briefly on the reason why they were here in the meadow, though as her eyes fell onto the picnic basket, which had aside from the usual food and beverages also books and notes inside of it, she slowly realized that this must be something her sister had done with Twilight when she was young.

Though as soon as the thought had played through her mind, Luna felt Twilight jump through her and onto her sister.

The young filly laughed and bounced playfully before her sister, while Celestia merely raised an eyebrow before she slowly levitated her cup down and gave her full attention to the young pony.

“You promised to play with me when I managed to teleport,” the young voice of Twilight rang through the meadow with an enthusiasm only youth could muster.

Luna’s eyes widening in awe, she stared at the young pony in front of her.

By the looks of it, Twilight was barely older than 8 or 9 at the most, and while she had read and seen on multiple occasions that her friend was brilliant, her having mastered the ability to teleport at such an age should not have been possible.

The spell for teleportation was advanced and only a select few unicorns ever mastered it at all. For Twilight to have even understood the concept of such a spell with her age would have been a wonder, but for her to be able to cast it while beeing so young was outright preposterous for Luna as she watched her sister agree and stand up.

After both had agreed on certain rules for a game Luna could only vaguely recall having played with her sister when they both had been young, Celestia turned to the tree and started to count loud enough for the filly to hear.

Watching Twilight, the young pony quickly looked around and pondered over what she should do, before she lit her horn, stuck her tongue out in an intense gesture of concentration and vanished in a small burst of lavender magic while Luna had to work hard not to gawk at the space she had occupied only moments ago.

As it turned out, her sister’s ability to find the young pony was above the level Twilight was comfortable with while her own ability to find the large white pony had only occasionally scored her a point.

After a couple rounds of the game Luna found out was now called hide and seek, both Celestia and Twilight found themselves back under the tree, the later tired from her constant teleportation while the former provided her with a place to rest beneath her wings.

Watching Twilight snuggle into her sister’s side, Luna couldn’t help but smile at the adorable sight before the dream changed once again.

Finding herself on a balcony high above Canterlot, Luna found an image of herself perched on a large and comfortable looking cushion in the middle of a cloudless night.

Standing next to her was a relatively large and expensive telescope which her image seemed only too eager to eyeball every once in a while.

As realization struck, Luna’s eyes widened as she recognized the exact day Twilight’s mind had conjured up before her right now, as it was only weeks after her return from the moon and the third time Twilight had visited her that week alone.

Back then, Celestia had asked of her student to teach her sister a bit of the modern world and to bring her up to speed with current events.

And while the young unicorn had only too happily complied, the two of them had started to get to know each other over the many hours they had spent together which resulted in Luna telling her eagerly that she had now finally raised and lowered the moon of her own accord once more.

Throughout the resulting conversation, Luna had made it abundantly clear to her young friend that she enjoyed spending time beneath her night sky for multiple reasons and that she felt still saddened that only a select few ponies ever took the time to even glance at her daily work.

And while Luna was by then still convinced that this would probably never change, Twilight, who only too eagerly listened to Luna talk about the night sky as it was one of her favored hobbies, had brought up the relatively new scientific direction called astronomy of which Luna was, understandably, only too eager to learn more about.

In the wake of her excitement, Twilight had promised to teach to Luna everything she knew about it and the two of them had agreed to meet at midnight on a cloudless Wednesday.

Eager not to be too late for their meeting, Luna had come almost one and a half hours early to their scheduled appointment and so had thoroughly ruined Twilight’s plans to prepare.

Not that she needed it, though the young pony had truly been distraught by the fact that Luna had come early and not on time.

Sensing the presence of the dreamer behind her, Luna turned around to see that Twilight, with a few strands of her mane out of place, was holding a few refreshments she was able to gather in her magic while giving her guest an uneasy look.

Stepping to the side to let the young pony pass, as the sensation of someone walking through oneself wasn’t very comfortable, Luna watched her settle down next to her image.

While what they said was probably lost to history, Luna could understand the occasional sentence she or Twilight spoke and remembered the scene only all too well.

After all, it was one of the most treasured memories she had made upon her return and watching it play out before her once more made her heart soar.

Though as eager as Luna had been back then, she quickly was forced to find out that Twilight, while worrying the whole day that everything was supposed to be perfect for the sister of her mentor, was growing more tired by the minute.

After two hours of lecturing, explanations and questions from Luna, Twilight had conveyed multiple books worth of information to her eager listener while she herself had occasionally explained one or two things on the side.

While Luna was the mistress of the night, able to paint the night sky as she saw fit and frequently changing it to strike her mood, Celestia had not been able to do so aside her many duties and the strain to both lift sun and moon.

While surely her sister had occasionally changed the night sky to not let it become stagnant, the ponies observing the night had started to tell stories and see images in it both to the surprise and the joy of Luna.

She had been presented with maps of the night sky wherein ponies had marked things that stayed the same and things that changed, where astronomist had interpreted images or stories into constellations and created or placed myths of their origin and their purpose.

Luna had discovered that there are now books filled with images and paintings of the night how it once was and predictions of how it will one day be.

She had found great joy in reading the many ideas her subjects had from her night and had almost missed it when Twilight’s tiredness had gotten the better of her and the young pony had slumped over onto her pillow.

While the dream once more started to fade, Luna remembered that once she found out that Twilight had fallen asleep next to her, she had smiled to herself and placed a gentle wing over the sleeping pony to keep her warm.

While she had let Twilight be brought back to her own chambers throughout the night, she had wished to enjoy the company of the only pony she had by then called friend just a few moments longer.

Breaking with a shake of her head out of her thoughts, Luna looked around to see where Twilight’s dream had brought her this time.

Finding herself back at Twilight’s old Library, Luna noticed that now the dream seemed to stabilize itself slowly but steadily.

As she looked around, more and more details where added as Twilight’s dream grew more and more stable by the second. Book spines grew readable, blurred outlines formed into shelves and decorations. The many pictures on the walls which had previously been just a smear of color grew clearer and showed Twilight’s friends and family.

Everywhere she looked the outline of what had previously been out of focus and not relevant formed into actual objects and shapes.

Watching the progress, Luna briefly wondered why Twilight’s dream suddenly started to solidify.

Her eyes wandering over the room, Luna couldn’t help but feel as if the room and everything in it was not how she remembered the Golden Oaks Library, yet at the same time, she felt as if she had seen it once before already.

As the last details of the dream added themselves in, a slow realization dawned upon her that what she now could behold wasn’t Twilight’s old library at all, but an idealized version of it. One she had seen not too long ago.

The feeling nibbled at her mind and as she realized that she had seen this room just yesterday as they had visited Twilight’s mind before, a slight shock overcame her and she was about to rush up the stairs to find her friend in fear of her having created another nightmare in which she may have gotten trapped once more.

Though as she turned around, she found that three ponies had gently nestled around each other.

An image of herself, her sister and her friend.

Twilight lay in the middle of both her and her sister just like they had done tonight, and Luna froze in place.

It seemed almost surreal, the three of them looking as sharp as in real life and not at all like in a dream.

Yet, they all looked peaceful, not like a nightmare which was Luna’s concern just a moment ago.

Some part of her heart melted as she looked at the display in front of her. She had to admit, the thought of having exactly that when they managed to make Twilight confess was something to look forward to.

She herself, or at least her image, seemed to have fallen asleep mere moments ago as she saw how her hoofs gently squeezed the lavender pony in an attempt to nuzzle even deeper into her invitingly looking chest fluff.

Celestia on the other hoof was wide awake, though her expression was lost to Luna as her head was turned away and at the lavender pony currently tending to one of her outstretched wings.

From what Luna could hear, her sister seemed to enjoy every second of it as she heard occasionally a gentle coo or soft groan come from her sister’s mouth while Twilight seemed to gracefully dance with her tongue over her sister’s wing.

Feeling a faint blush settle onto her cheeks, Luna couldn’t help but stare.

Looking at the pile in front of her, she could see that the image of herself seemed to have undergone equal treatment as her sister was now receiving. Her wings looking pristine and her coat looking brushed, Luna briefly wondered if Twilight had dreamed this before and was now resuming her dream just where she left off.

As another gentle coo of her sister brought her out of her thoughts of the unlikeliness of such a thing, Luna couldn’t help but notice how Twilight looked in comparison.

The lavender pony who usually managed to look almost pristine regardless of her actions now looked ruffled as if on the verge of a panic attack. Though when looking at her more closely, her actions told a completely different story.

While Twilight always had seemed awkward and hesitant, here and now, she seemed as if what she was doing was her birthright and she enjoyed herself to her heart’s content as she lovingly nosed through her sister’s messy looking feathers.

Not that Luna had seen her sister’s feathers messy in a very long time, but again, a part of her reminded her that it was Twilight’s dream and anything the young pony could wish for would happen in her mind at a mere thought, unconscious or otherwise.

While a small part of her was grateful that she was not seeing more explicit scenes right now, Luna’s mind halted for a moment mid-thought as the question of why she wasn’t seeing… more… suddenly popped up in her head.

She was in Twilight’s dream after all, and while the young pony was all too oblivious sometimes, surely, she would know or wish for something more than mere cuddles and nuzzles in the safety of her mind.

Though as she looked on and watched her sister’s image occasionally trying to return the gesture, once even conjuring a piece of fruit and offering it to Twilight, Luna watched as time and time again the young pony denied the attempt with a gentle application of magic, intent to keep the target of her affections from doing anything to her and focusing on her own work.

Shaking her head slightly, Luna was about to light her horn and do something about it when a slow realization struck her mind.

What if Twilight was somehow aware of this being a dream?

The level of detail the surroundings were in spoke for it, though Luna couldn’t be sure.

Though, if her theory was right, Twilight was actively avoiding having such things transpire in her mind and was possibly even fighting temptation time and time again as the image of her sister was surely controlled by her subconscious much more than her active mind.

If she was right, forcefully changing the dream in any way would assuredly reveal her presence and give the young pony even more reason to worry and distrust her.

If she were to reveal that she was doing exactly as Twilight feared, finding out through her dreams how she felt for her sister and her, Luna was almost certain that Twilight would wake up screaming in fear and flee from their presence immediately.

The potential damage she could do to their eventual and current relationship was something Luna wasn’t willing to risk, and so she, after lengthy discussions with herself, forcefully tore her gaze away from the display and stepped forward, a gently glowing light blue portal appearing before her as she quickly stepped through it and out of Twilight’s dream in fear of suddenly being detected.

Shifting out of the dream and back into her realm, Luna opened her eyes and looked at the still calmly glowing orb in front of her.

From the outside, Luna could see nothing wrong with it, except maybe a few too many erratic ripples. Thinking of what she could do, she closed her eyes once more and reached with her mind out to her real body before carefully drawing her wing even closer around Twilight’s body, watching the dream’s ripples slowly subside.

Returning her whole consciousness back into her realm, Luna detangled herself from the pillar she was still hugged around and looked down at Twilight’s dream with a heavy heart.

“We will not let this go on for much longer, my friend, we promise thee,” Luna said into the silence. Watching the orb pulse softly as if affirming her promise, Luna hesitated just a moment longer before closing her eyes and inhaling the calm spirit of her realm once more.

Swiveling her ears once more in another attempt to catch nonexistent sound, Luna felt her heartbeat and tried to follow its rhythmic beating in her mind to calm her racing thoughts.

She wasn’t okay with leaving Twilight at that state, though right now, she couldn’t really do anything except maybe wake her, which, again, sounded like a heinous crime to her as she knew that Twilight would need every bit of rest right now that she could get.

So, with a heavy heart, she turned away from her friend’s pillar and briefly stretched out her tendrils of magic to check if any of her friends were in any kind of distress.

Rarity was sound asleep, her dream calm and organized. Pinkie’s dream was unlit, suggesting that she was still awake as was, oddly enough, Rainbow Dash’s. Fluttershy was, to her surprise, not suffering from a somewhat bad dream right now as well and Applejack’s dream was as sturdy and stubborn as ever.

Satisfied that she had checked on those who she had sworn to never let anything bad come to in their lives, Luna turned around and wandered to the dreams of both Shining Armor and Cadance.

Cadance was, unsurprisingly, having a rather ‘pink’ dream again, and Luna refrained from making the great mistake of peeking too closely. Though once she turned her attention to the dream of her husband, Luna discovered that Shining Armor was obviously in distress, his dream rippled erratically and the light inside it was almost dimmed as if threatening to wake up.

Making a face, Luna lit her horn and gently touched her magic to the stallion’s dream, recognizing the fear in it and attempting to ease his mind.

He feared for his parents and for his sister, he blamed himself for not having worked hard enough to protect them and he was suffering an unrestful sleep because of it.

While somewhat empathizing with the young stallion, Luna wasn’t about to let his worries and his protective nature to get into her way and carefully eased his mind and restructured his dream into something he could draw strength from.

Nodding in satisfaction, Luna turned her attention to the brightly glowing bubble of Flurry Heart, without having to look closely, she could almost see the near-boundless happiness a young heart could hold and saw it reflected in her dream.

Making sure that their youngest addition was sleeping soundly as well, Luna turned once more and looked up with her magic to the dream orb of her sister.

It was dim, just as expected, her sister was still up and going and so she gently shook her head.

She shortly pondered if she should wake up and help her sister to go to bed, dismissed the thought though as she figured that even her sister sometimes needed time to herself.

Turning away, Luna walked past their shared pillar and onto the road leading out of the plaza.

Once reached, she stopped and closed her eyes. Without lighting her horn, Luna stepped in two directions at the same time, dividing her consciousness and walking in two different directions at once.

With both of her bodies free of each other, she opened her eyes once more, repeating the progress twice more before stepping close to the first dream she encountered.

While working to ensure the safety of her realm, Luna went, while continuously multiplying or merging with herself if needed, from one dream to another, covering thousands of dreams of ponies, griffins and dragons alike in the timespan of mere seconds, soothing, calming or changing dreams so the soul in question wasn’t about to suffer. Though some nightmares she let remain, dimmed, yet still present as Luna saw the lesson some of them tried to teach or the value they tried to convey.

Not every nightmare needed to be bad, sometimes one or another needed a reminder or a little shock to come to terms with something or another.

Such dreams where valuable and Luna wasn’t about to take them away if she could help it.

Gently nosing through Celestia’s beautiful plumage, Twilight enjoyed herself greatly.

Her former mentor’s feathers tickled her nose every time she straightened one out and the satisfaction of seeing her progress along her wings made her chest almost swell with pride.

Though oddly enough, there was a problem.

She was once more finding herself in one of her dreams.

She knew she was in a dream, but the inviting scene her mind had created here was too much to pass up.

Though while she lovingly caressed her former mentor’s wings, she couldn’t help but feel empty.

She knew this wasn’t real and she wished she didn’t.

Some part of her wished to just give up all pretense, though she knew what would come of it.

If she were to indulge herself here and now, giving in into the princesses with as much love as she could muster, she knew that tomorrow her sheets would be damped once more and she would not be able to look either of the princesses into the eyes for at least a week.

Besides, having to explain to Spike or Starlight just one more time why she had to wash her sheets again was something she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Also, something told her that this was a very bad idea right now for a different reason, though with her mind occupied, she couldn’t remember for the love of it why.

So, settling for at least something, as her desire was almost too strong for her to handle right now, Twilight had to repeatedly push back an attempt of not only Celestia but now also Luna as she had suddenly stirred from her sleep.

Silently cursing, Twilight almost moaned as she felt Luna gently press down upon her back, her eyes fluttering shut as she felt the night princess firmly knead just below her wing joints.

It made her blush on her cheeks only grow, and she had a hard time swallowing as she tried to clear her mind from the temptation.

She needed to stay strong.

She couldn’t give in.

Shifting her body slightly, she tried to flee from Luna’s temptatious hoofs before she returned her muzzle to Celestia’s feathers once more, making the sun princess almost purr in approval.

Somewhere in her mind, she knew that this was not making it better by any means, though she couldn’t help it, she felt as if she was going to burst otherwise.

And while another gentle yet firm application of pressure on her back had her shiver, Twilight finally had enough and stepped out of her body and into the room, leaving her old body behind to be taken over by her subconscious which swiftly gave in into the affections both princesses offered.

Averting her gaze quickly and trotting away, Twilight clamped her tail between her legs as she made her way to another section of her library.

Settling down on a soft pillow she willed into existence, Twilight tried to inhale several deep breaths of air.

Shuddering once more and rustling her wings, she looked at the display on the other side of the room only to wash it away with a heavy heart.

Sinking down, she tried to breathe normally, making herself comfortable on the pillow and looking around.

The room felt familiar and looked beautiful, though a pang of regret pierced through her heart as she remembered her old home and the memories forever lost in its halls.

Looking down, a small tear dropped down onto her hoofs before she shook her head and raised her gaze once more as she looked around the room in hopes to find distraction.

Sighing in resignation, she lit her horn and tried to change the scene only for both Celestia and Luna to reappear next to her, sideling up to her and beginning to nibble at her ears.

Groaning in resignation, Twilight cursed as she found that her subconscious had betrayed her once more.

Slowly but steadily becoming more and more unable to fight it, Twilight sank onto the floor, her tongue somewhat poking out of her mouth as she panted as Luna resumed her ministrations once more.

As suddenly - “They should be ours!” - dangerously echoed through her mind her eyes went wide, for a split second, before the image of Celestia gently bit down onto her right ear, making her moan once more before she couldn’t stop herself any longer and finally succumbed to the ministrations the two ponies put her through.