"My little sister, up early and eating her breakfast?! Now I've truly seen in all!"

Luna raised her head from the fruit-filled plate in front of her. "Good morning to you as well, sister," she greeted Celestia with a small smile.

"Good morning, Luna. I didn't expect to see you here. Not that I am complaining. It's been some time since we've had a chance to steal a few moments for ourselves," Celestia beamed at her in her usual enthusiastic tone. Walking with her typical grace, she pulled up a chair and joined Luna at the table.

"Indeed," Luna simply stated. She wasn't least bit surprised to see her sister start filling her plate with sweet pastry, waffles, and pancakes. "Although, at least yesterday, the fault was not mine. It's a shame you couldn't join me for dinner."

Luna was surprised to hear that her tone remark came out with a hint of accusation behind it. It wasn't like she blamed her sister for being busy, was it? For a split second, the smile on Celestia's face faltered a little, but she quickly recovered.

"Yes, I am sorry Luna. Our little ponies seem to find new issues to squabble over each day."

"No need to apologize. You were just conducting your duties."

An uncomfortable silence set it. The princesses continued eating their breakfast, neither of them sure how to continue their conversation.

"I was thinking about going flying today in the afternoon. Would you like to join me?" Luna asked suddenly, surprising even herself. Her sister seemed caught a little off guard by the proposal.

"Flying where?"

"Nowhere in particular. I merely thought we could stretch our wings a little."

"Why not. I think that's a wonderful idea, Luna," Celestia replied after a moment of thought, in a tone that Luna could only describe as 'motherly.' She noticed that her sister often used it when talking to the other ponies. Luna didn't particularly like it when it was directed at her, although she couldn't really put into words why.

"Then it is settled! We can meet in the throne room after the evening trumpets are sounded."

"Let's just hope nothing comes up today. Yesterday, I went to bed well past midnight… By the way, how are the preparations for the masquerade coming along?"

"Well enough I suppose," Luna shrugged: "The décor is picked, or at least I sincerely hope it is, now we just need music... and costumes for the servers and fireworks and food…"

"...and a million other things," Celestia laughed: "Trust me, I know how it goes. But I think you'll enjoy it once the night comes. It's been a while since we've hosted a masquerade."

"You sound rather excited."

Celestia happily beamed at Luna: "I am! I prepared a special costume, and I just can't wait to see how ponies react to it!"

Luna's attention was sparked. "Special costume? Rarity's latest creation, I presume?"

A sly smile crept to Celestia's face: "Not this time. Actually, I made it myself!"

"You? Sewing?" Luna laughed: "Should I be worried?"

"Har har, just wait, and you'll see! I think I outdid myself," her sister replied playfully, feigning being insulted. "What about your costume?"

"Still plenty of time for that. I'll just visit Rarity and ask her to make one for me. I am not feeling as crafty as you, dear sister."

"Suit yourself. Just don't wait until the last moment, else I'll also have to make a costume for you," Celestia winked at her. She then proceeded to devour a plate full of pancakes. Luna silently watched the massacre unfold before her. No pancake survived.

-

On the eve of the day, Luna was quite pleased with how her day went. A relatively rare occurrence. She leaned back in the warm bath and relaxed as the warm, bubbly water soaked her coat and feathers. Maybe it was flying with her sister, or perhaps she was just finally getting used to the never-ending stream of royal duties. In any case, her day passed by fairly quickly, and to Luna's pleasant surprise, when she got to the throne room after the trumpets rang, her sister was already there waiting for her.

The princess twisted her body in the bathtub and adjusted her wings. Long time of little activity took its toll on her, after only a few hours of flying today her wings were sore. It was the pleasant kind of soreness however. She would have to find time to do it more often.

Luna closed her eyes. For minutes, she remained motionless, her thoughts occupied with nothing. She just lay there, resting. It wasn't until the water began to feel cooler that Luna moved again.

'Time to go to bed,' she thought, suppressing a yawn.

The water dripped from her coat all over the smooth marble floor of her bathroom, but she cared little about it. No doubt the maids would clean it up in the morning. It took Luna but a few moments to dry herself, and she quickly trotted over to her bed. Once wrapped under her soft duvet, she allowed herself five more minutes of comfort before she got to work in the dreamland.

'I wonder if I'll see him again tonight,' a random thought crept into her mind as she lay there. Her two visits into Winter's dreams, albeit brief, were a pleasant change of pace compared to her usual work in the dreamland. Unlike the troubled dreams and nightmares of ponies, Winter's were soothing and pleasant - indeed, dreams born from a focused and content mind. He didn't need her counsel or a shoulder to cry on; he didn't even need her to speak. She could just sit and observe.

'It is not like I am doing anything wrong!' Luna reasoned with herself: 'I am already in his dreams before I even step in. Surely he wouldn't object if he knew.'

'Surely he would!' another part of her argued. 'You are not the same Luna as the one in his dreams. He would be terribly embarrassed if he knew you were there!'

Deep down, Luna knew what the proper thing to do was. She had no right to invade the privacy of a pony she barely even knew by name. And yet… the temptation was there and surprisingly hard to resist. As strange as it sounded, even to her, a part of her felt flattered at the realization that thoughts of her occupied somepony's mind.

Realizing that she was on the verge of falling asleep, Luna snapped her weary eyes open. As she prepared the spell, she decided she would decide what to do about Winter's dream when the moment came. If it even came – for he might not dream of her again soon.

That thought proved to be prophetic.

Luna's night went on as it always did. Gliding from dream to dream, at first not even allowing herself to look around too much lest she'd be distracted if Winter's dream was there again. As a few hours went by, Luna allowed herself to pause every now and look around. If somepony were to watch her, they would hardly notice the first few of her fleeting glances into the distance. In any case, she didn't find what she was looking for.

While her day passed swiftly, it appeared to Luna that today's night would never end. The troubled dreamers were many and utter silence of the dreamland in-between visits provided little respite. Her pauses between entering the dreams became longer and longer. Many times, she caught herself aimlessly drifting between the dreams, trying to spot the one she was actually looking for. It was a hopeless search. Between the many thousands of dreams, even if it was there, she would need either a great deal of time or a great deal of luck to find it.

Either the dream was hidden in the corner of the dreamland she didn't think to explore… or Winter was not dreaming tonight. She couldn't help but feel disappointed. Begrudgingly, Luna returned to her duties and pushed the thoughts of Winter's dream out of her mind. The night dragged on.

Finally, after what felt like eternity the day arrived, dreams faded and Luna begrudgingly opened her eyes. She was tired. Her wings that felt a little sore yesterday seemed to have been transformed into solid lead during the night. Luna dragged herself in front of a mirror and inspected her reflection. Bloodshot eyes, droopy wings, grumpy expression… her good old morning self was back in full force.

With her eyes half-closed, she shambled over to the bathroom to splash some water over her face. As one would expect, or rather should expect, the splashed water from yesterday was still on the floor, and it proved too slippery for tired Luna. Her hooves slipped, and with all the grace of a newborn calf, she collapsed on a heap, her flank receiving a not-so-gentle kiss from the hard marble floor. If anypony was within earshot, they would have assumed that a sack of potatoes had just been tossed into her bathroom.

An incoherent stream of groans and half-curses escaped Luna's mouth as she slowly collected herself and got back on her hooves. Now, she was both tired and annoyed. Truly the perfect way to start a new day!

The cool water did little to ease her irritation. When she stomped out of the bathroom, her frustration reached new levels when she noticed the clock on her nightstand. Half past nine. Half past nine?! How was it that late already? Just yesterday, she promised Celestia that she would partake in the jury for a proposed architecture contest. Already, she was running late by almost an hour!

She stormed out of her bedroom and, in a walk so swift it could almost be called a trot, crossed the long hall that connected her room to the main wing of the palace. Out of the corner of her eye, she registered a flash of golden armor to her side, but she paid the guard no attention.

"Good morning, Princess Luna."

The guard's greeting was only acknowledged by an incoherent grunt from Luna, whose mind was too preoccupied to pay him much attention. She made a few more quick steps before her legs stopped, seemingly of their own volition.

'That voice…'

Her head snapped back in one quick, jerky motion, startling the poor guard whose eyes widened at the sight of a frozen princess.

'It is him,' Luna realized. Even though the elegant

golden armor hid most of his body from sight, if she still had doubts after hearing his voice, one look at him dispersed them all. His amber eyes and snow-white mane appeared exactly as they did in the dream.

"Princess Luna? Are you okay?" Winter asked tentatively after overcoming the surprise. Suddenly, Luna realized that she was just staring at him without saying a word. She quickly tried to gather her composure and appear relaxed, but it certainly didn't feel to her like it worked.

"Yes, certainly! We- that is - I mean – we are perfectly fine. Good morning to you as well," she quickly stammered out. Cringing a little as she was reminded that the royal 'we' still had a nasty tendency of sneaking its way into her speech when she was nervous.

Judging by the concerned look on his face, Winter seemed unconvinced, which wasn't hard to understand. Despite her best efforts, Luna remained very obviously stiff and flustered.

"Ehm, yes… very well then," Winter said finally.

The awkwardness refused to dissipate between the two ponies. Luna kept staring at Winter without a word, without even knowing why. For some reason, in that very moment, the fact that she was seeing him while awake refused to be processed by her mind.

With concern growing on Winter's face, he made a small step forward: "Are you sure everything is alright, princess? You look as if you've just seen a ghost," Winter added, his mouth twisting into a small, nervous smile as he said the last words.

In that instant, whatever fog it was that fell on Luna's mind finally lifted. This time, it was her turn to smile nervously: "W- I am sorry. It is just that you said 'good morning,' and I didn't say anything, and then I realized it was rather rude of me, so I turned to say something, and then I forgot what I was going to say, and you asked…" she stopped herself when she realized that she was rambling. Why was she rambling? She never rambled. At least now, the look of concern on Winters's face was replaced with an amused smirk that he was trying - and failing - to hide. Luna took a deep breath.

"Let us start again," she said finally in a defeated tone. That earned her a proper hearty laugh from Winter, and for a split second, he looked at her exactly the way he was looking at Luna in his dream. It was a strange sensation to Luna… but not an unpleasant one.

"All the way from the start?" he asked, the smile still on his face.

"Yes, please."

"Very well," he paused for a moment and, in an exaggerated movement, straightened himself to stand at attention.

"Good morning, Princess Luna."

"Good morning to you as well," Luna carefully replied in as formal a tone as she could muster.

Winter smiled, and his posture relaxed a little again. "I think that went rather well," he stated.

"Yes, I'd be inclined to agree."

Luna opened her mouth to say something more but then briefly closed it as she suddenly remembered why she was in a hurry in the first place.

"We—I mean, I need to go! I am already running late!" she said, turning on her hoof to leave.

"Of course, Princess Luna, have a pleasant day."

Luna paused mid-step and looked back: "You too…"

'...Winter,' she almost added but caught herself just in time. She couldn't remember ever actually talking to him before. It would have seemed odd if she knew his name.

"Winter Dust," the armor-clad pony finished for her, interpreting her sudden pause as an invitation to introduce himself. Luna was grateful for that; at least now she wouldn't have to watch her tongue around him if they met again.

Instead of saying anything more, Luna, not trusting her mouth anymore this morning, just nodded and gave Winter a quick smile. Then, she was off at a pace that hardly could be called anything other than a trot.

Winter waited until she was gone from sight and then turned his gaze to a polished vase that stood not too far from him. He carefully inspected his reflection, looking for anything that might seem off. As far as he could tell, though, everything seemed in order. His uniform was polished and gleaming, helmet snugly fitted on his head, mane carefully tucked under the armor. Nothing on his face, nothing stuck between his teeth… Really, the only thing slightly out of the ordinary was the noticeable dark circles under his eyes – the consequence of the night shift that would hopefully end any minute now. Even after a thorough scrutiny of his reflection, he could see nothing that would explain the reaction he received from Princess Luna.

Winter averted his gaze from the polished metal, none the wiser. At the very least though, the conversation with Princess Luna, despite how brief it was, presented a small highlight of his otherwise painstakingly boring day of service. It wasn't rare for him to catch a glimpse of her, his assignments often had him stand guard over the hallways of the palace, but their interaction was usually limited to a brief exchange of greetings as she walked past his post. While Princess Celestia was known to sometimes engage in idle chatter with her guards and knew most of them by name, Luna, on the other hoof, was known as being a little... aloof.

Thegraypegasus tried to put the whole matter out of his mind. Truth be told, the princess was probably on his mind a little too much the past couple of days. The previous two days, he was assigned duty in the library and, as a result, spent almost eight hours each day staring at Luna's portrait that just happened to be hung right in front of his station. Her visage was practically burned into his brain after that.

Suddenly, Winter's heart skipped a beat as he remembered his two recent vivid dreams in which the princess played a prominent role.

'Could it be that she knew?'

Luna's close connection to the world of dreams was well known. Maybe she knew or somehow found out… but it's not like it was Winter's fault. He could hardly be blamed for what his idle mind did while he slept. If that were the case, though, it would perfectly explain her behavior. She was nervous and awkward because she didn't know how to act around him.

Winter was positively horrified at the prospect. The dreams themselves were a little hazy in his memory. As far as he could remember, though, they were pretty harmless. Sure, the way he spoke to Luna in them was far from formal, but it certainly wasn't disrespectful, was it? Should he anyway apologize the next time he sees her? But that would be colossally embarrassing in case he was wrong in his assumptions.

His shift was refusing to end. Winter was expecting that any minute now he should hear the sound of his replacements armored hoovesteps around the corner, but he was left lone only with his troubled thoughts. As time went on and the picture of nervous Luna faded from his mind he managed to calm down again.

'There is no need to jump to concussions. She most likely doesn't know,' he tried to persuade himself: 'I don't know her at all, so how should I know how she acts normally. And in any case, even if she did know, I shouldn't have to apologize for my dreams!'

Winter managed to get a grip on himself again. He would just forget about the whole thing, and that was it. It was, anyway, rather unlikely he would dream of Luna ever again. Surely.

At last, Winter heard the sound of the hoofsteps he was waiting for. Soon after, a pony emerged clad in the armor just like his. Even from a distance, he could recognize that Sundance was coming in to replace him. The earth pony mare was one of his best friends among the guard, and as she approached, Winter winked at her while maintaining the official 'at attention' stance.

Sundance stopped directly in front of him and loudly announced: "Change of guard!"

"Change of guard!" Winter repeated right after, and the corner of his mouth twitched when he saw her return the wink. While nopony else was in the hallway, the two guards maintained the protocol to the letter. Sundance changed spots with Winter, after which both ponies saluted each other.

"Change of guard!"

"Change of guard!"

They repeated once more. With that, the exchange was over. Winter turned sharply to the right and, in a marching step, left Sundane alone.

The guard's barracks were not too far, a mere two floors below him, but it still took Winter about ten minutes of slow and steady marching to get there. It was only when his last hoof crossed the door to the barracks that he finally allowed himself to relax. Already, the rest of the night shift guard was in. Winter exchanged a few words with his colleagues, but none of them were in much of a mood for talking. Most guards, Winter included, were all too ready to go home and get some sleep. Back at home, his comfortable bed was already waiting for him.

"Princess Luna," the hushed whisper was not enough to rouse the princess.

Luna's eyes were open, albeit barely, and seemingly fixated on the construction plan laid out on the desk in front of her. To the ponies assembled around the large desk, she appeared to be engaged in deep rumination. The reality was a little less flattering as the princess was barely awake after endless rounds of discussions and evaluations of the proposed construction project.

"Princess Luna," the voice was now a little louder, a little more pressing. Luna shook off the slumber and slowly raised her eyes. She found that about a dozen ponies were staring right at her, evidently expecting an answer to a question Luna hadn't even registered.

"What is the matter?" she asked, turning to the pony who spoke her name.

If the chief architect Hazelbloom was annoyed by her lack of attentiveness, he didn't show it in the slightest. "There is an ongoing debate about the proposal to extend the aqueduct a little further towards the small community in Stablia. If the town continues to grow at the current rate, their local supply of water will not

be sufficient in a few years," the older stallion explained calmly while pointing out the proposed extension on the map laid out in front of him.

Luna understood what he meant and try to shake her mind awake to form a coherent reply. With the eyes of the ponies still on her she finally stated: "Would its capacity still be sufficient if we were to narrow the aqueduct from here to Stablia?"

Hazebloom was silent for a moment, thinking over her proposal. Luna hoped that it was at least a little reasonable. As part of her studies in preparation for royal duties, she also briefly studied architecture, but those days were a long time ago.

"I think it's well worth consideration. It would reduce the cost of construction, and I believe it would still be enough for the town. Thank you, Princess Luna."

Hearing the Hazelbloom's words, the rest of the gathering nodded approvingly as well. It seemed that for the time being, Luna's reputation as a knowledgeable ruler remained unscathed.

Hazlebloom continued to elaborate on the proposal for a little longer, but despite her best efforts, Luna again lost track of the debate. Try as she might, Luna just couldn't shake off her tiredness. The heavy air in the study where the meeting was taking place and Hazlebloom's calm, monotone voice did little to help.

"-so the soil here will need to be reinforced before the foundation can be built, but I think that-"

In the sudden silence, Luna perked up, unsure if she had missed another question that was directed at her. Fortunately for her, Hazlebloom just paused to adjust his glasses. In the process, his eyes fell on a large winding clock in the corner of the room.

"I must apologize; it appears you let me ramble on for far too long. We were supposed to have a recess forty minutes ago! I propose we can continue in one hour from now after everypony has had some time to refresh."

The earth pony's proposal was met with no opposition, and ponies quickly started dispersing out of the crowded study room. It didn't take long until Hazlebloom and Luna were the ones left. The old stallion looked at her calmly.

"Princess Luna, I couldn't help but notice a certain lack of enthusiasm for the topic at hoof from your side," he noted with a hint of a smile in his brown eyes.

Luna sighed and slowly got up from the pillow she was seated on: "I am sorry, my mind has been... elsewhere," she replied, not bothering to hide the tiredness in her tone around the old stallion. "I'll do my best to be more attentive."

"No need to apologize. It is only that at one point I had to poke you as I feared you were about to use our geographical survey as a rather uncomfortable pillow," Hazlebloom laughed a little but quickly grew a little more serious when he noticed Luna's expression. "That is… what I am trying to suggest is that you should use the recess and rest a little. A little nap in the afternoon does wonders for me."

"I'll consider it," Luna replied dryly and, without more words, left the study. The hallway outside was deserted. After a moment of hesitation, Luna decided that, indeed, a short nap might not be a bad idea. She'd have to cross the whole palace to get to her room, so instead, she decided to make use of her sister's 'rumination balcony,' as Celestia insisted on calling it.

The 'rumination balcony' was, in fact, a rather large niche in the palace's library that was at some point occupied by what must have been a large statue. The statue was gone now, and the niche was shielded from view by thick red curtains. Luna had no idea how her sister found it, but somehow Celestia managed to drag a spacious mattress and a large assortment of pillows there. The niche's location right under the library's tall ceiling meant that when the drapes were pulled over it, it was practically impossible to see it from the ground. It was the perfect hiding place.

Luna was hardly surprised to find the palace's library abandoned. It only ever seemed to be used when Twilight was visiting. The fact that its dusty shelves were filled almost exclusively with dusty tomes that dealt with obscure branches of magic probably had something to do with that.

Luna'swings cried in protest as she stretched them to their full width; they didn't have to work too hard, however. With only two quick wing beats, she catapulted herself right to the niche and quickly slipped in. The heavy curtain closed behind her, cutting off the outside light. As Luna sat on the soft mattress, her horn lit up to provide the little light she needed to find a small alarm clock Celestia kept up here. Should any pony wander into the library, the thick curtain should be enough to muffle its sound when it goes off.

With the alarm set and Luna comfortable, she relaxed and almost instantly fell asleep.