Nightmare Free Equestria

Princess Luna, the Princess Luna from another reality, shifted in her bed. A massive groan of pain escaped her as she did.

It felt like every part of her hurt.

It really should have been no surprise to her. Considering the battle the night before, and how much magic she used, it made sense that she was stiff and sore. Add to that the fight with Discord and all the pain that had included. It had been a very long week for her.

A week. Luna's eyes shot open and went wide as she got up, sending a burst of fresh pain through her body. Had it been a week already? Maybe she had miscounted.

After using her power to once again numb the worst of the pain and disguise herself as Moon Shadow, she got up and hurried out of her room. She needed to find out and make sure. She had to be wrong. There was still too much to do. She ran through the tunnels, hoping she was wrong and that she could find.

"Octavia!"

The grey earth pony stopped at the sound of her name. She turned and gave a small smile at the sight of the black alicorn quickly approaching.

"Good Morning, Moon Shadow," she said. Her face wrinkled as she noticed the anxiety on her friend's feature. "Is something wrong?"

"Octavia, you and Pipsqueak were the first ponies I met. Do you recall how long ago it was?"

Octavia stared at Moon Shadow a moment, blinking in confusion. The earth pony shifted, bringing a hoof to her chin as she thought about it.

"Unless I'm mistaken," she finally responded, "It's been one week today."

Moon Shadow let out a sigh, her head dropping as she looked at the floor.

"That was what I thought. Thank you, Octavia." With that, she turned and started to walk back down the hall.

"What is the matter?" Octavia asked as she moved to walk beside the depressed alicorn.

"If the... " Moon Shadow paused, thinking a second before saying "being... that sent me here is good at their word, then some time today, I shall return to my world."

"Yet you do not seem happy about it." Octavia stopped and placed a hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Why don't we get some tea and talk about this." Moon Shadow gave a nod and the two of them headed toward the cafeteria.

The room was dark as the two entered. As soon as they stepped in, there was a click as the lights came on.

"Surprise!" Pinkie Pie shouted, throwing confetti at the pair. Both Moon Shadow and Octavia looked at the pink pony who stood there grinning before looking around.

A large banner saying with "We'll Miss You" written on it was spread out against the far wall. Below was a table filled with cakes, cookies, and punch. Not only was Pinkie there, but Trixie, Lightning Dust, and Daring Do. Vinyl Scratch was also there, standing off to one side from the others with her music sound system set up.

"What is going on?" Octavia asked.

"We're having a surprise going away party for other universe Princess Luna, you silly filly," Pinkie Pie said, ruffling Octavia's mane with one hoof.

Octavia glared at Pinkie Pie before taking a deep breath. She straightened up, ran a hoof through her mane to get it back in place, and adjusted her bow tie.

"Out of curiosity," the grey pony said in soft tone, "may I ask as to why I was not informed about this?"

"Because," Pinkie replied, "if I had told you then you would have been here instead of there and we needed you there so you could bring her here instead of there." She rolled her eyes. "I mean duh. Isn't it obvious?"

Octavia opened her mouth, closed it, opened it and closed it again. Her left eyebrow raised up as her right eye twitched.

"But... I... you... we..." she stopped and shook her head. "How could you possibly know we were going to come in here?"

"Now let's get this party started," Pinkie Pie shouted. Turning, she pointed at Vinyl Scratch. "HIT IT!"

With that, Vinyl hit some buttons and flipped some switches. Lights flashed and danced as the bass speakers pulsated with the heavy beat as the music filled the room.

"But... but she didn't answer me!" Octavia squeaked, eyes going wide.

"Do you think you would get a suitable answer?" Moon Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow.

"But... she.... I... how..." Octavia sighed and shook her head. "No. No I suppose not."

An idea suddenly struck Moon Shadow. She narrowed her eyes at the grey mare, a smile spreading across her lips.

"Why don't you go get something to drink?" she asked. "I want to go see about making a request."

Octavia gave a nod and headed for the refreshments table. Moon Shadow watched her go before heading over to the DJ booth. Her grin grew wider as she got closer. An aura of magic began to build up and glow around her horn.

Octavia poured herself a cup of punch and took a sip. As she stood there, her eyes scanned the treats that had been made. That was another mystery of Pinkie Pie that no pony could ever figure out: how was she always able to get the stuff needed to make all these things? Still, it was nice that there was always something delicious to eat, and they always had tea.

"HEY!" Vinyl shouted. "What's the big idea?! What are you doing? PUT ME DOWN!"

Before Octavia could turn around to see what was happening, she was grabbed by Moon Shadow's magic as well. She found herself being picked up and floated away from the table. The surprise had caused her to let go of her cup. As she floated, she watched as the drink was set back down without spilling any.

Octavia found herself being set down on a spot that looked like was meant to be used for a dance floor, facing Vinyl Scratch. The music that was playing suddenly stopped. After a moment, the music for a slow dance began to play. As the song reached her ears, Octavia looked at Vinyl. She could feel her face heating up, but could not stop herself from smiling.

"I... believe we are expected to dance," she said. She reached out one hoof. "Shall we?"

"Heh." Vinyl grinned as she moved closer. "You know, I thought you would never ask."

The two of them moved to the center of the floor and pressed close to each other. The pair began to dance, moving gently to the rhythm of the music. They moved as one, swaying back and forth as their hooves moved in time to the song. The other ponies stood off from the floor, watching the two. Moon Shadow put several songs on to play after the current, then went to join the others.

"Why did you do that?" Trixie asked as she watched the pair. "I mean this is supposed to be your party, so why go out of your way to let them dance together?"

"Because they deserve it," Moon Shadow replied. She looked from the pair to Trixie. "You all deserve to be happy. Especially after all you have been through. They were just the easiest to make it happen for."

"Oh..." Trixie looked away, studying the room and the other ponies. "So... you're really leaving?"

"Pinkie seems to believe so. I had known my time was limited, but I didn't think it would go by so quickly."

Trixie dropped her cup of punch and pressed against Moon Shadow, hugging her.

"Trixie?"

"I'm sorry," she said as she pulled away. "I never thanked you. You were able to bring back Princess Luna."

"She means a lot to you, doesn't she?"

"Some times it seemed like it she was the only one who believed in me."

"Trixie?" Moon Shadow asked gently. "Have you ever told her that."

The question made Trixie tense. She turned to look up at the black alicorn. After a few seconds, she finally gave a slow shake of her head.

"Perhaps you should. If she is anything like me, than she has a bit of trouble expressing her feelings."

Before Trixie could respond, Lightning Dust and Daring Do approached the pair.

"It kind of sucks that you're leaving," Lightning Dust said as she moved to join them.

"Considering that Princess Cadence is supposed to lead a group of ponies to a place called The Crystal Empire," Daring Do added, "your aggressive fighting skills would be useful."

"I'm sure you will do better now," Moon Shadow said with a grin, "seeing as you'll have The Elements of Harmony as well as ponies that have some idea on how to plan battle strategies."

"Yeah," Lightning Dust replied with a chuckle. "You do seem to favor the 'head in without thinking and hope for the best' method."

Moon Shadow opened her mouth to retaliate-

-and vanished.