Bryan groaned. He had barely slept 4 hours that night, and he had important work to do today.

Getting up, he combed his hair and put on his work attire. Bryan was 18, and had recently landed a job at a local restaurant. It paid him about as good as a restaurant would pay an 18 year old - about $10 an hour - and was generally an interesting job.

It was summer break in California, and while most teens his age were watching TV or going on trips, he’d gone to work. Bryan exited his home and got on his bike. He rode to the train station and took the train into the city.

Strangely, the train was packed, but Bryan thought nothing of it. He’d been doing this same thing for about a month now, and had gotten used to riding the train. He took a seat and put his earbuds in.

In no time, he’d arrived at his job. Still very tired, he worked wearily throughout the day, wishing he could just go home and sleep.

During lunch break, Bryan plopped down on the couch in the employee break room and tried to nap. He had an hour, why not try and get some sleep?

Shutting his eyes, he slept lightly, but strangely enough he dreamed. Normally, you can only dream in REM sleep, but this dream was different.

Bryan awoke in a starry plane, seemingly expanding onwards into infinity. He looked around, seeing nothing until he spotted a black dot on the horizon. It was moving, or was that just his imagination? Dream visuals can be weird sometimes.

“HEY! WHO’S OUT THERE?” He yelled in the direction of the black dot, his faint Californian accent coming out in the sentence.

The black dot stopped and seemingly turned towards him. Suddenly, it started to grow bigger and bigger. Bryan watched as the black dot morphed from a dot, to the silhouette of something faintly equine. Except horses don’t have wings, or giant spires on their head, or massive cat eyes! The equine-shaped figure was upon him, staring him down from its insanely tall stature.

Bryan scrambled backwards, clearly intimidated by the now more familiar equine. Having watched his fair share of My Little Pony as a child, he knew who was standing before him, but he couldn’t quite place it.

“W-w-whaaaaaat? What’s happening right now?” Bryan stuttered, racking his brain for an answer. Finally, he found it, and was not pleased with the outcome.

“Y-You’re N-Nightmare M-Moon!” He exclaimed, scrambling further back, terrified of what would happen to him in the next few seconds.

“Indeed,” the now smirking Nightmare Moon said in response. “We are Nightmare Moon, but how do you know us?”

Bryan sat in silence, sweat dripping from his long brown hair, eyes wide open.

“We await an answer,” Nightmare Moon said.

Bryan was still recovering from the shock, and Nightmare Moon finally noticed this. She was never really adept at empathizing with others, but she would try anyway.

Stooping down, the alicorn put on a little smile.

“Do not fear, we will not hurt you,” she said softly. Nightmare Moon stepped closer. Internally she hated meeting the eyes of her “subject”, whatever it was.

Bryan looked up at her, still quite pale but otherwise well.

“You sure? Last I heard you were trying to bring about eternal night. Hope you know that would kill everything, including your entire empire,” Bryan said in his usual joking manner.

Nightmare Moon looked at him, a wave of fury passing through her head, but subsiding just as quickly as it started.

“Yes, what we did was wrong, and our reasoning was flawed,” Nightmare Moon said defensively. “Please refrain from discussing this topic.”

She turned her head away from Bryan and looked up into the sky of the dream world. A tear ran down her cheek.

“So uh, why are you in my dreams exactly?” Bryan asked quizzically, still slightly afraid.

Nightmare Moon looked at him, not turning her head. She had a pained expression on her muzzle that made Bryan rethink his choice of words.

“Have you been getting enough sleep recently?” Nightmare Moon disregarded his question.

“Not sure what you mean by that, but I have been really tired this past week. Lots of work to do at my job,” Bryan said tiredly.

“We hope you know by not sleeping you’re killing yourself slowly,” Nightmare Moon deadpanned.

“Yes, but I couldn’t care less. Who will be there to miss me?” He shrugged and laid down, putting his cap over his face. He had been orphaned as a child, and his adoptive parents weren’t too concerned with his well-being.

Nightmare Moon felt pained by that response. She had been sent to comfort him and ease his sleep, but she found herself with a strange creature who didn’t care if he died from sleep deprivation, and was clearly troubled with other things. She had to do something, because she did not want to see someone succumb to her night.

“May we know your name?” Nightmare Moon asked softly.

“It’s Bryan. Don’t know why you’d want to know,” he responded, still with his cap covering his face.

The Princess of the Night walked over to Bryan and laid down beside him, bringing a wing across his chest.

“We were sent to comfort you and ease your sleep, but we can see there is much more going on that meets the eye. Are you comforted by our presence?” She asked, her sultry voice flowing over the dreamscape.

Bryan flinched when her wing touched his body. Regaining composure, he removed his cap and placed it nearby.

“I guess so,” he said, looking into her cyan eyes. “I haven’t ever really thought about interacting with you before, but it’s better than what I expected.”

“That’s good to hear, Bryan,” Nightmare Moon said softly. “Now tell us, what did you expect from us?”

Bryan thought a moment before responding.

“I kinda thought you’d be really angry or something, like you are in what I’ve seen and read. Never thought you’d try and comfort me,” he said with a smile, slowly warming up to her. “And to be honest with you, I like it.”

Nightmare Moon smiled. “We’re also enjoying your company. We don’t usually get to venture far from where we’ve been imprisoned, but it seems we have wandered off into a different world, where Celestia’s magic does not apply,” Nightmare Moon spat Celestia’s name, a look of anger appearing on her muzzle, before she calmed down and smiled.

The two laid together on the floor of the dreamscape for a while longer. The dreamscape was surprisingly comfortable to lay on.

Suddenly, Nightmare Moon stiffened, and stood up with a start.

“Bryan, the dreamscape is fading. You’re waking up,” Nightmare Moon said softly.

“Interesting, guess I’ll see you later?” Bryan responded back.

“Possibly, if our assistance is required in the future,” Nightmare Moon said as she turned away, preparing to take flight into the sky of the dream world. “For now, this is goodbye. Get some rest.”

The Princess of the Night flapped her wings, and within moments she was streaking across the strange sky of the dreamscape. Moments later, Bryan awoke, still on the couch at his workplace. He still had half a day’s work ahead of him.

Bryan lay awake on his bed. It had been several days since his first encounter with Nightmare Moon in his dream. Since then, he’d been thinking about what she’d said to him.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Bryan thought. “She’s one of the coldest, cruelest beings to ever come from a TV show, yet she was being nice to me?” He looked over at the clock, which read 1:33 AM. “Maybe she was right…probably ought to catch a few hours of sleep.”

Bryan fell asleep shortly, and awoke to the still strange but familiar dreamscape.

“Here we go again,” he thought, walking around. Nightmare Moon was nowhere in sight, but he spotted a strange wall in the distance. Heading over, he noticed the familiar ethereal mane of Nightmare Moon, flicking and floating lazily on one side of the wall.

Before he could go any further, she teleported in front of him, seemingly sensing his presence. Surprised, Bryan jumped and fell backwards onto the floor, and scrambled backwards.

“We meet again, Bryan. Have you not followed our advice?” Nightmare Moon said, her characteristic grin plastered on her muzzle. Her eyes stared him down, reminding Bryan of a certain drug-dealing villain from a TV show his dad watched.

“I-I guess not,” Bryan replied, still reeling from the sudden teleportation. “Why did you have to scare me like that?”

Nightmare Moon looked concerned for a moment. “I did?”

“Yeah, you just teleported straight in front of me,” Bryan said sternly, a twinge of annoyance in his voice. “Do that on Earth and the right person will shoot you.”

“Ahh…we apologize for startling you like that. That was not our intention,” Nightmare Moon stammered.

Bryan was starting to get annoyed with Nightmare Moon.

“Drop the ‘we’ and ‘our’ and that crap. There’s nobody around us besides you and I, and frankly it’s getting a bit annoying,” Bryan deadpanned. “In fact, I read up on you some more since you first visited me, and I think you’re pretty stupid. You didn’t feel loved enough so you decided to instill a state of eternal darkness, to MAKE ponies appreciate you? You’re crazy!”

“It was not our inten-” Nightmare Moon started, before being cut off.

“And besides, this is probably making it harder to sleep! Can you just leave me alone for a bit?” Bryan said loudly, almost yelling. He walked a ways away and sat down, head in his hands.

Nightmare Moon’s expression changed from one of concern to one of sorrow and sadness. She had been…hurt…by his words, and she contemplated shutting down the entire dreamscape, but sadness took over her consciousness, and she collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

Bryan heard the thump as Nightmare Moon hit the floor, and saw the once imposing mare in a vulnerable, sad state. “Drama queen,” he thought, but the pangs of guilt entered his head, and he began to reconsider his words. “You don’t have to be an asshole to someone you’ve just met,” Bryan thought to himself.

After a few minutes, he took a deep breath, stood up and walked over to Nightmare Moon. Kneeling down, he put a hand under her chin and raised it up.

“You know, maybe I said some things I shouldn’t have,” Bryan said to the alicorn. “Humans make mistakes, and I probably ought to apologize,”

“Don’t bother. I am not deserving of an apology,” Nightmare Moon said softly. “I have done many horrible, terrible things to my subjects and-”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Bryan interjected. “We all do stupid stuff, just don’t dwell on it or anything.”

“But-”

“Quiet. Don’t even think about it,” Bryan said sternly. He sat down next to Nightmare Moon and the two watched the strange landscape warp and warble like it always did.

Nightmare Moon’s ethereal mane danced around herself, sometimes venturing near Bryan, tickling his neck. To him, it was almost as if she was wearing the night itself.

“Hey, your hair is tickling my neck, can you get it to stop?” Bryan asked the alicorn.

“Well I really have no control over what my mane does when I am not doing anything. I have a theory that it is being controlled by my emotions, but I can’t really prove that at this time,” Nightmare Moon responded flatly.

“Controlled with emotions?” Bryan thought. “I would imagine she has some level of control over her mane-”

Bryan was broken from his thoughts after he realized her mane was tickling him again. Yet when he looked over at Nightmare Moon, she had a slight smile and had turned away from him. Bryan started to laugh, a strange look appearing on his face.

“I knew it, you’re doing this on purpose!” Bryan exclaimed.

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” Nightmare Moon snickered, looking back at him. “Either way it’s funny.”

Bryan suddenly remembered this was still a dream, and that he could do almost anything. With his mind, he summoned a long, white feather, but it disappeared shortly afterwards.

“Don’t try that on me!” Nightmare Moon said with a grin on her muzzle. “I sensed you thinking about doing that before the feather even appeared,”

Bryan gave the alicorn a small punch to the shoulder. “You’re no fun! I was trying to liven the mood,” he said back.

“I have already done this, have I not?” Nightmare Moon responded, content. “I was fully aware I was tickling you with my mane.”

“I suppose so, it’s better than fighting over senseless stuff and brooding,” Bryan said to Nightmare Moon.

“I have to agree with you on that one, I would imagine it becomes harder to sleep,” she said back. “Speaking of sleep, I can already feel the dreamscape fading away,” she added, standing up, ready to fly away.

“Well I’ll see you later I guess. Before you go, I’d like to actually say sorry for what I said a while back. I’m sorry, Nightmare Moon, and I’ll try not to be such an asshole to you. It’s just how I act after years of neglect, I guess,” Bryan said.

“Thank you, and I apologize for anything I have done that may have made you feel…annoyed,” Nightmare Moon responded.
Bryan stepped back, allowing the Princess of the Night to take flight. She flapped her wings and took off, racing away from the dreamscape. Moments later, Bryan was shaking off the sheets from his bed, and getting ready for work.

It had been several weeks since they’d last communicated. There had been intermittent dreams where the two had been able to talk a while, but they were mostly a few minutes long before Bryan awoke or the dream switched.

The few minutes they had together were spent talking about meaningful things, such as Bryan’s work and life, and Nightmare Moon’s experiences in Equestria.

It was the weekend now, and Bryan thought it best that he’d catch up on some sleep he’d lost after cramming for a high school exam.

Climbing into bed, he felt the similar strange sensation of entering the dreamscape. When he entered, Nightmare Moon was seated nearby, sipping on some coffee, one of the things Bryan had told her about in past dreams. Somehow, she managed to get some.

“Good night, Bryan, how are you?” She said in her characteristic, sultry voice, placing her coffee cup nearby.

“I’m well, just catching up on some sleep I guess. Had to cram for an exam recently.” Bryan responded.

“I am guessing that means you’ll be asleep longer, to recover the hours you missed,” Nightmare Moon said. “It will be nice to talk a bit longer than five minutes.”

“Agreed,” Bryan said with a smile. “But what do I talk about?” he thought.

Meanwhile, Nightmare Moon had finished her coffee and was waiting for what Bryan was going to say. After about three minutes, she had resorted to phasing things in and out of the ether, just to occupy herself. It was only when a loud MOO jolted the two of them out of thought to laugh at their unlikely visitor, a cow. Nightmare Moon lit her horn, causing the cow to disappear from the dreamscape, still snickering.

“Hey Nightmare,” Bryan started. “This is a bit strange of a statement, but you’ve been a great help to me.”

Nightmare Moon looked up from her musings, arching an eyebrow. “I have?’

“Yeah! You’ve really helped me with my mental state and all that. I can’t thank you enough, honestly. My adoptive parents have been quite neglectful as of recently, and I haven’t been able to get any kind of help from anyone, besides you,” Bryan said happily.

Nightmare Moon was taken aback, she’d never received this kind of praise for anything she’d done. She sat still for a minute, processing what Bryan had said.

“I....helped you? I…” she said, trying to process what was happening.

Bryan thought about his past experiences with Nightmare Moon. All of them ended up with the two of them learning something invaluable, and they had forged an interesting bond together. Over the past couple months Bryan had developed a liking towards the mare, surpassing even that of anyone he knew personally, but wasn’t able to find a way to express his love for her. He had a chance here, why not take it?

Bryan got up and walked over to Nightmare Moon. “Can you stand up?” he asked.

“How come? I mean I wouldn’t mind taking a walk throu-” she said as she stood up, but was cut off as Bryan wrapped her in a crushing hug. “Oh, I see now,” Nightmare Moon smiled, wrapping one of her forelegs around Bryan’s body, returning the hug.

After a short while, the two broke off.

Nightmare Moon blushed a bit. “I…really needed that, thanks…I haven’t hugged anyone in years,” she said softly.

They sat down on the floor, and Nightmare Moon closed her eyes, thinking about the recent events. She too had been developing feelings, and was unsure of how to put them into words, but Bryan’s hug had allowed the two of them to embrace each other, and express their feelings for one another.

Bryan suddenly had an idea, one that he thought might display his feelings towards Nightmare Moon. Recalling his experiences with animals, he knew one thing that would do this. Bryan reached over and scratched her ears. They were soft and velvety, as was the rest of her coat. He scratched them like he would a cat, as he had never scratched the ears of any other animal, not to mention an alicorn.

Nightmare Moon stiffened, but quickly relaxed and let out a sigh. She opened her eyes halfway and looked at Bryan with a look of content.

“I have not felt such emotions in a thousand years…” she purred. “Please, continue.”

“Whatever you say, Nightmare,” Bryan responded, a smile appearing on his face.

Some time had passed. The two had curled up together and Bryan was resting his head on her shoulder. Bryan felt a strange feeling, one that suggested to him that he’d never see Nightmare Moon again. He opened his eyes and tapped the alicorn, signaling that he had something to say.

“Hey uhh, I got a feeling that I won’t see you again,” Bryan said hesitantly.

Nightmare Moon looked at him with a saddened expression, signifying his fears were indeed true. “I…probably should have told you that my sister has been attempting to restrict my magical capabilities, which includes walking dreams. I may be able to work out something…but it could all be in vain,” she said, hanging her head in shame. “I hope you’ll be okay without me.”

“I hope so,” Bryan started, before he sensed himself waking up. Evidently he had sensed it before Nightmare Moon did, as the mare remained on the floor of the dreamscape. “Shit, I’m waking up!” he exclaimed.

Nightmare Moon’s eyes widened, realizing she had but a few minutes to say goodbye. “I understand this may be our last time conversing, but remember me, please. Remember the good I have done for you,” she said softly.

“Of course, I would never forget you,” Bryan said back.

“Goodbye, Bryan. May we meet again,” Nightmare Moon said to him, as she prepared to take flight into the sky of the dreamscape.

“Hold on! There’s one last thing I need to do!” Bryan said.

“Hurry! I don’t have much time!” Nightmare Moon said frantically.

Bryan went in front of the alicorn, cupped her head in his hands, and kissed her. Nightmare Moon returned the kiss, and the two broke off after a short while. Nightmare Moon smiled, tears running down her cheeks.

“I love you, Nightmare, and I hope you feel the same way. I hope to see you again,” Bryan said, tears in his eyes.

“Goodbye, my friend, I hope to see you again as well,” Nightmare Moon replied, as she spread her wings and took off, streaking across the sky for the final time. Bryan watched the dark alicorn fade into the horizon, as the dreamscape warbled and warped into nothingness.

Flying back to the door that led to Bryan’s dream, I reflected on what had happened. “I had finally made a real friend. No, he was more than a friend. I loved him,” I thought. “Hopefully Celestia doesn’t object to anything.”

Stepping through the door, I found myself back in the main Dreamscape. Moments later, it faded to black, and I opened my eyes. I was back in my bed, in my room in the castle.

Shortly thereafter, a sharp knock was heard at the door. Getting up, I quickly put on my armor, before opening the door. At the door stood a member of the Night Guard. I watched as he bowed low.

“Good morning, your highness,” he said authoritatively, straightening up. “Celestia and Luna both want to talk to you.”

I looked at the guard with tired eyes, not saying a word.

“Ahh…I could always ask them to reschedule the meeting…” he stammered, noticing my tiredness.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said tiredly. “Why do they want to meet with me?”

The guard looked around frantically. “They…didn’t tell me, your highness.”

“Wonderful,” I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. “Well, take me to them. Let’s get this over with.”

“As you wish. Follow me,” the guard said.

The guard led me down several hallways. As I walked, I couldn’t help but notice that glass panes depicting my defeat had already been put up. Resisting the urge to blast them with my magic, I continued with the guard.

Finally, we reached the doors to the throne room. My expression changed from one of tiredness to one of surprise. “What were they going to talk to me about that required the throne room of all places?” I thought.

The guard, noticing my reaction, awkwardly smiled and opened the door, and I stepped through.

I could see Celestia and Luna sitting on their respective thrones. Celestia looked marginally happy to see me, while Luna was furious. I winced at her piercing eyes, evidentially some of my anger hadn’t worn off of her.

“Good morning, Nightmare Moon, I take it you slept well?” Celestia asked.

“Yes, dreamwalking went fine,” I said flatly.

“Well as of today, you’re no longer required to dreamwalk. Luna is perfectly fit to do so now, so she will be taking over your duties,” Celestia said apprehensively, noticing my furious expression form as she said those words.

Apparently, Luna did too, because she looked directly at me. “And do not THINK about trying to take back my job. You will be dealt with,” she said.

“I hadn’t planned on doing that anyway,” I snapped back. “Celestia, may we talk privately?” I asked her. She nodded, and we stepped out of the throne room.

“Celestia, you must allow me to continue to dreamwalk,” I said as we walked down the hallway.

“Nightmare Moon, you aren’t even supposed to be here. You were supposed to have been destroyed by the elements,” Celestia said authoritatively. “What makes you think you can come to me and ask for a favor, especially one of this magnitude, after all you subjected Equestria to?”

I sighed. “Celestia, you don’t understand, you never have. All I wanted was love and admiration, and I got that through dreamwalking.”

Celestia looked at me quizzically. “How so?”

“I-I met someone. Someone who understood me, someone who I could sit down and talk with, laugh with, enjoy my time with. I don’t know if I’ll ever see him again…” I said softly. Tears formed in my eyes as I realized the full implication of what was happening. “I may never see him again…” I repeated in my head.

The weight of my emotions was too much to bear, and I collapsed on the floor, sobbing. Celestia looked down at me with an expression of empathy.

“Couldn’t we just arrange for you to meet him?” Celestia asked me.

“H-he lives in a d-different dimension…” I said through the tears.

Celestia thought for a moment. “I don’t know if I can trust you to use the dreamscape, but even if I did, your power has been revoked anyway. I’m sorry, but there’s no way you can see him anymore. It’s just impossible,” she said to me.

I stood up, tears still in my eyes. “Then I will find a way,” I snapped. Turning, I spread my wings and flew out of an open window. I could hear Celestia calling my name, but I didn’t look back.

I had been holed up in my old castle for a few days now, flipping through old spell books. It was somewhere I could go without fear of being shunned or running into Luna and Celestia. I missed my room in Canterlot, but I had fixed up my old room here to be somewhat usable.

When one book didn’t have what I needed, I moved to the next, before I had exhausted all books in the entire castle. Evidently, my library, once the best in the nation, was now extremely outdated. I had to find other sources of information.

It was nighttime when I took flight from the castle. One advantage of having a black coat is stealth at night, so I took full advantage of it whenever I could. My first stop was, regrettably, Twilight Sparkle’s house. I really didn’t want to go there, but she was likely to have the most up-to-date literature available.

I swooped down onto the road nearest to Twilight’s house. Walking along it, I wasn’t surprised to see nopony out, but I didn’t care. I had a goal in mind, and I needed to focus on that instead of other matters.

Knocking on Twilight’s door, I watched as lights turned on in the house. I could hear Twilight say something about people knocking on her door at this late hour.

Soon I found Twilight standing in front of me. “What do you want at this hour?” she said flatly.

I sighed. “I need a favor, Twilight Sparkle.”

“And that would be?” Twilight said, rolling her eyes.

“Can we first go inside? It’s freezing out here,” I said to her.

She nodded, and I stepped inside, shutting the door behind me.

“Okay, what do you want, Nightmare Moon?” Twilight asked again.

“I need you to show me any and all books on magic. I’m looking for a specific spell allowing for interdimensional travel,” I said to her.

“Why? That’s an awfully strange request…” Twilight asked, cocking her eyebrow.

Using my magic, I grabbed a chair, and sat down. Grabbing a second for Twilight, I motioned for her to sit. “It’s a bit of a long story, but I hope this will explain why I came to you at this hour,” I said to her.

After I had told my story, Twilight finally understood my request, and began to search for a book that would suit it. Finally, she emerged from another room, and presented to me a book that looked like it had been sitting for a millenia.

“It’s in Old Ponish, but I have a feeling you’ll be able to read it just fine,” Twilight said to me.

Skimming over the book, I closed it and smiled. “Thank you Twilight Sparkle, you have earned my respect,” I said to her. I stood up and made my way to the door, opening it and stepping out into the night.

Before I made my way to my next destination, I decided to take a walk through Ponyville. “Nopony is out, why not explore?” I thought to myself. Walking through the silent town, I found very few homes with lights on.

As I walked, I couldn’t help but notice the smell of something being baked. Following the scent, I came across a strange building, shaped almost like a cake. A light was on inside, so I decided to have a look around.

Stepping through the doorway, I was surprised when a bell rang, signifying my entrance into the building. I froze immediately, and watched to my horror as one of the Element Wielders walked out of the kitchen area.

“Hi Black Snooty!” Pinkie Pie called out, a wide grin on her face.

“That’s not my name-” I said to her, as I tried to back out of the store.

“Whatever, what can I do for you?” she said to me. “Do you want cakes? Cupcakes? Cookies? Ice cream? Pies? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“A-actually I was thinking about going…I have somewhere to be…” I said back, looking around frantically.

“Oh come on, you’re no fun!” Pinkie Pie said excitedly. “I’ve got just the thing that’ll make you stay.”

I watched as she ran back into the kitchen, and brought back a pie. On it was a depiction of a crescent moon. She set it down on a table nearby. “I was waiting for you to show up so I could give this to you!” she said to me.

“Thank you, but why?”

“I don’t know, it just felt right! I’d imagine it hurt getting blasted by that rainbow, so here’s my apology!” Pinkie Pie said, thrusting the pie in my face.

I took the pie with my magic. “It didn’t really hurt all that much. It was just…tingly,” I said. Grabbing a fork and a knife, I cut a piece of the pie out, and took a bite. The taste was…amazing, and it reminded me of that apple I had eaten in Big Mac’s dream. My eyes lit up as I savored each bite, and when I was finished I had to stop myself from taking a second piece.

Magicking the pie away for later, I thanked Pinkie and walked outside. Taking flight, I started towards my home, disregarding my other destinations that night. I had a lot of research to do, and no time to waste.

It’s been three months now. All I’ve been doing is constant research. I had to get the spell right, or I risked killing myself. I had no idea how to get to Bryan’s dimension, but I had a faint clue. I was able to analyze his dreams to get a dimension signature. From there, I could rewrite the spell to send me to his dimension by including the dimension signature.

I knew that the spell would drain me of most of my thaumic energy, but I didn’t care. I would be able to see Bryan, and that was all that mattered.

What I didn’t know is that I was in grave danger.

I heard a noise behind me. It sounded like a door closing, so I walked out of my room and onto a balcony above the main hall. There stood Luna, an obsidian scythe held within her magic, and a tainted expression on her face. Thankfully, she had not noticed me, so I made myself hidden.

I heard Luna walking along the floor of the castle, and I watched as she looked around for any signs of me. I then observed Celestia entering the castle.
“Luna, you cannot hurt Nightmare Moon!” Celestia said, trying to prevent Luna from taking further action.

“Why not? She is the scum of Equestria, not fit to exist on the same ground as us,” Luna snapped back. “I will take great enjoyment in watching her suffer, as she did with me.”

“But can’t you see that she’s changed? There have been zero reports of her doing anything wrong since she was defeated, and according to Twilight, she’s been nicer than ever,” Celestia countered.

I smiled when Celestia said that. It was true that I had not caused any trouble, and had been a law-abiding pony since my arrival. “Please stop her, Celestia. Stop Luna from harming me,” I thought to myself.

Suddenly a wave of magic pulsated through my body, dissipating my invisibility spell. I froze up, as I heard Luna run towards my location.

“LUNA! Do NOT harm her!” Celestia yelled.

“IT IS FOR THE GOOD OF EQUESTRIA!” Luna snapped back in her Royal Canterlot voice.

I watched as Luna came around the corner, eyes blazing with hatred. I decided that was it, and I lit my horn and teleported away, causing Luna to slam into a wall.

“COWARD!” I heard her yell. I looked at Celestia, and I could tell she was afraid. Afraid of her own sister. “Shouldn’t she be afraid of me?” I thought. “That’s not the point, I’ve got to get out of here!” Grabbing my interdimensional spell scroll, I hurriedly modified it to send me to Bryan’s dimension, threw it into the air, and casted it. A rift opened in the room, and with a quick nod at Celestia, I went through, taking the spell with me.

Luna, having recovered, noticed my departure, and flew towards the rift, but it closed just before she was able to go through. She hit the floor and tumbled, landing nearby, her scythe clattering on the floor. Celestia grabbed it with her magic and with but a glance, broke it in half.

“Sister! Why did you break my scythe?” Luna said angrily.

“Because you do not need it. That weapon was to be used on the worst of the worst, not on ponies who have clearly improved,” Celestia spat. “You failed to see what I saw, and you will pay the price.”

As the rift closed behind me, I was sucked into an invisible current. Tumbling through the void, I watched as doors flew by, likely leading to dreams. That didn’t matter though. As I straightened out, the spell seemed to pull me towards the correct location.

Letting the spell drag me along, I relaxed, knowing I had finally escaped Luna’s wrath, and Equus altogether. I couldn’t wait to see Bryan’s face again, and kiss him. It would be amazing.

As I continued along, a bright light appeared, and the spell directed me towards it. It got closer and closer, before I was enveloped.

Suddenly the world changed from bright white to a pitch-black night. Extending my wings, I flew above the ground. It was a peaceful meadow, with cows dotted around it. Flying along, I found a small house and a road. Following the road, it led to a wider one, made of some sort of stone. Small metal boxes dotted the road, moving under their own power somehow.

Following the road, I came across another road, made of gravel and two metal sticks. It reminded me of the railroad tracks of Equestria, and my suspicions were confirmed as I passed over a train. I scrunched up my nose at the horrible smell the locomotives made, it was nothing like the smell of burning coal.

As I flew, homes began to dot the landscape, and more metal objects appeared on the roads. Soon, the homes grew in size, before doubling, tripling and quadrupling in height. I realized I was in a massive city, home to possibly hundreds of thousands of humans. It reminded me a lot of Manehattan, with the tall skyscrapers off in the distance.

The road I was following had grown even wider at this point, and looking up most stars were blotted out by the intense light of the city. Looking at my spell scroll, I noticed it had changed from a dimensional signature to measurements of latitude and longitude. “Coordinates, maybe this will tell me where Bryan is!” I thought to myself.

As I navigated myself to the coordinates, a small house came into view next to some railroad tracks, likely the same ones Bryan had mentioned in a past dream. They seemed to have strange wires above them, but I disregarded this.

The house was of decent size, and I landed in the front yard. Nearby was a small extension of the house with a large door on it. Finding the front door, I noticed a sign with Bryan’s last name on it. “Good, I’ve got the right house.” I thought.

Using my magic, I attempted to open the door. The door didn’t budge, so I again used magic to turn the lock and open the door. Stepping inside, I discovered quite the assortment of items I had never seen before. Moving past, I found several doors. Two of them were open and led to other rooms, which I did not care about.

One door, however, had a stream of light coming from it. Using my magic, I turned the handle, and opened the door.

Bryan got home from work, tired from his long shift. He’d dealt with just about every customer imaginable today, and was ready to relax and unwind. Tomorrow was Saturday, and he was going to hang out with some of his friends downtown.

Opening the front door of his house, he saw that his foster parents weren’t home. A note on the refrigerator confirmed this, stating they had gone on a trip to Portland, Oregon, subtitled as a “vacation”.

“Great, they’re gone,” he said, half-sarcastic, half-serious.

Bryan sat down on his bed, and booted up his Xbox. He played a few games with his friends for a few hours, before shutting the machine off and browsing social media on his phone. It was 9:12 PM.

Suddenly the front door opened, and shut loudly. Footsteps were heard within the house, echoing on the wooden floor. Bryan thought about who it could be, before ultimately deciding on burglars. Dropping his phone, he moved towards his closet to grab a weapon.

The strange footsteps continued, making their way towards his bedroom door. Grabbing his baseball bat and a plastic box lid, he armed himself and waited.

The door handle glowed a deep blue before opening up. A familiar sight, but one Bryan couldn’t quite place. Bryan gripped his bat tighter, and braced himself for a gunman, a guy with brass knuckles, really ANYONE dangerous, before he actually took stock of the situation. Looking towards the now cracked-open door, he couldn’t believe what he saw.

In the shadows blinked two large cyan eyes, with catlike slits. A faintly equine form could be made out in the dark. The figure entered Bryan’s room with a smile. He dropped his bat and box lid, and watched as Nightmare Moon herself closed the door and walked up to him.

“So, remember how I said I’d try to work out something to see you again?” Her characteristic sultry voice flowed through Bryan’s ears, as he realized who was standing before him.

Blinking his eyes to ensure he wasn’t hallucinating, he walked towards Nightmare Moon. “Of course, Nightmare. I’d never forget you,” Bryan said calmly. “You’ve done so much for me…”

The two locked eyes, unsure of what was happening next, before Nightmare Moon took the plunge and kissed him right there. Bryan had sort of expected this, and he kissed back.

Eventually, Nightmare Moon broke off the kiss, but before Bryan could say another word, she grabbed him with her magic and placed him on the bed, tucking in the sheets and comforter.

Nightmare Moon looked at Bryan. “My love, don’t you think it’s time you got some real sleep?”

“Yes, as long as you’re here with me,” he responded, patting the space on the bed next to him. Nightmare Moon took the hint and got in with him, a look of content on her face.

“I would never leave you,” she reassured him. Nightmare Moon wrapped her forelegs around his chest, and together the two drifted off.

“Sweet dreams,” Nightmare Moon whispered with a slight chuckle.

“Good night, Nightmare,” Bryan responded, before closing his eyes.