It loomed above the little griffon town. It had finally arrived, and the griffons there - they couldn't escape thanks to the nightmare shield it'd put over the village - were squawking about in panic. Their actions hardly mattered to it though, because soon they would be in nightmares forever more. Far away in Equestria, the Crystal Empire and beyond, pieces of itself maintained the delicate network of magic keeping the inhabitants alive and in terrorized slumber.

It brought a limb to its side, and swung it out sideways. Where it went the air rippled, and that same ripple shot downward into the town like a meteor. The hybrid animals slowly fell into slumber, falling to the ground and being locked into sleep paralysis. Then the nightmares began. It spent a few more minutes making sure no fires would start, then several hours longer setting up the mechanisms to keep the griffons alive. Then it dispelled the barrier around the town and focused its gaze onwards, towards Griffonstone. The capitol was on full alert, but where were the griffons going to go? After all, the entire Griffon Kingdom was under a nightmare shield.

It continued on.

.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

Luna

She didn't sleep well, but was that any surprise?

Luna had been left in a hard steel cage, her limbs tied up in intricate knots that constantly put them under stress. A colossal metal bit, far too foul to be only metal, strained her jaw wide open. Both her mane and tail were tied together with a very short rope, forcing her head to tilt back and the slightest movement to tug at the roots of both her top and bottom. Too-large vibrators strained her flesh as they buzzed away in her ass and cunt, their presence for so long causing her tender flesh to turn raw. Her fur coat stuck together in itchy patches by cum. All in all, she was miserable throughout the night, her agony punctuated only by brief moments of blessed unconsciousness.

By the time the sun rose, Luna was desperate for anything to release her from her bonds, even if it meant hours more of being raped by the foul king and her own flesh and blood.

Of course, she only knew the sun was coming up because the light streaming past her blindfold grew in intensity, and as such she wasn't even afforded the ability to look around what used to be her sister's living quarters.

She heard the shifting of bed springs, and a cold flicker of anger reminded her that those were her sister's bed springs. The caribou king groaned and his hooves clacked as he stood. There was the whoosh of his unnatural wings. "Up, pet." Celestia was silent as she awoke on her bed, only speaking when told to. "Mmm, there you go." Luna heard the sound of Celestia's muffled gagging and sputtering, and narrowed her eyes under her blindfold.

I will kill you, some day, she thought as he continued to violate her sister. Eventually there came the sound of her drinking, followed by a gasp of air.

"Unfortunately, I have a lot to do today cunt. Take care of your sister in my absence."

The clip-clop of hooves. The click of a door opening and shutting, then Luna heard Celestia crawling over to her, opening her cage.

"Morning sister," she said glumly. "Are you going to at least try to be good today?"

"MMPH!" she spat out. She couldn't even make a lying nod, given her mane and tail were tied together.

"I'll take that as a yes, sister mine." She heard the cage open, and the first thing she felt was fingers around the massive bit in her mouth. She choked as it momentarily was pushed deeper, but then Celestia got a good grip and slowly began to work it out from her mouth.

Once it was free, Luna began coughing and gasping for clean air. "T-Thank you," she wheezed, even though she knew there were ulterior motives. There always were. "Please, get these ropes off of me."

Celestia moved behind her, hugging her from behind and mercifully avoiding her braided hair. "Master Dainn says they're there for a reason, Lulu. I know you hate hearing it, but you're being punished for a reason."

"Damn you," she whispered as Celestia began groping her, biting an ear. "Stop it, stop, please sister," she implored.

"You know I can't do that."

"It hurts," she complained, thinking mostly about the agonizing vibrators still lodged in her.

"It'll hurt less if you stop fighting. What's even the point, Luna? What are you going to accomplish?"

"If it means even frustrating that son of a bitch, I'll do anything it takes," she ground out. "At least let me see, at least let me see!"

Celestia sighed. "Fine, fine." Luna felt her sister's hands wrap around the back of her head, and the black cloth over her eyes was lifted. She looked around frantically, her eyes eager for any form of light. The sun streamed in through a window, and the bedchambers of Celestia, once noble and refined, had been desecrated with hunting trophies, maps of Dainn's worldwide conquest, and posters urging her to give in, there's no point, you're weak, it's the only way to be happy. She looked down and swallowed the urge to vomit when she saw her sister's fingers kneading her breasts. She gagged back her retching -

Celestia moved behind her, hugging her from behind and mercifully avoiding her braided hair. "Master Dainn says they're there for a reason, Lulu. I know you hate hearing it, but you're being punished for a reason."

Luna jumped. "Why did you - how - why did you repeat yourself?" she demanded.

Celestia moved her head back. "What are you talking about? I didn't repeat myself."

Her blindfold was still off, so Luna looked around wildly. That had happened. She couldn't fool herself, that had happened. How had Celestia done that? She had no magic.

Unless Dainn gave her some measure as a reward.

That was ridiculous, the thought wouldn't even cross his pea-sized brain.

How do I know that?

It was in the way he behaved. Something had happened, but what? Luna's eyes glanced around and settled on a poster, of young, desecrated Twilight Sparkle on her knees, wrapping her hands around a stallion's cock and it wasn't there until she looked at it!

Her breathing sped up, and she realized the agonizing buzzing in her rear had stopped. She glanced down out of the corner of her eyes, only for the vibrators to reappear as if they were a mirage. Luna breathed faster, and she dared, dared to hope. Her eyes roamed around, ignoring Celestia's repeated ministrations. Everywhere she looked the world was bland, but if she focused on parts of it details appeared, vanishing when she turned her attention away.

No, she thought, unwilling to believe it was so simple. Could it be? Is it possible?

Luna lurched forward, out of Celestia's grip and out of the cage. She stood up, and she could because for a moment the rope tying her mane and tail together had ceased to exist.

Even if this is a dream, I'm still trapped. Nothing will change.

That wasn't true. Celestia looked startled. "L-Luna, what are you - "

"Silence" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at her blurry sister. "Silence, you are not real! Begone, phantom!" It was a dream. She could control her dreams. She had to be able to, as the guardian of them. From her finger came a lance of teal power, but it flickered and died halfway to not-Tia.

She stumbled back. It had failed, probably due to self doubt, but that was enough to confirm her suspicions. None of this was real. How long had she slumbered, trapped in this wretched world? What was going on in the real world? Was her sister - her true, noble, gentle sister - sitting at her bedside, fearing for her life?

"Lulu, stop!" Celestia shouted, standing straight up through a cage that wasn't there. "Master Dainn will be so angry with you! I don't want to see you hurt!"

"I SAID BE SILENT, IMPOSTER!" she roared, willing the phantom to vanish. And so she did; Celestia was there, and then she wasn't, and Luna was alone. Nopony with her, and the not-Dainn was -

A rough hand wrapped around her mouth and she screamed in panic. "This is the last straw, moonslut! When I'm through with you it'll be the purple for you!" She was shoved down on her back to see Dainn lowering his pants. The pain was so real. Everything was so defined. It couldn't be a dream. This was real, she was going to -

Shut up! None of this is real! I have to wake up, now, or I never will! She pulled up her hooves and lashed out, bucking the caribou in the groin and scrambling to stand. She shut her eyes and told herself repeatedly that when she opened them, she would be awake, when she opened them she would be awake, when she opened them -

• she opened them, and found herself at the top of Canterlot Mountain, still naked as the day she was born, with a blurry, chill breeze ruffling her coat. Luna fell to her hands and knees, shaking. She did it. She did it. But... she wasn't awake. She had to wake up somehow!

Luna began breathing heavily on purpose, trying to accelerate her heartrate to wake herself up. Then she ran to the edge of the mountain and threw herself off, aiming for the land many miles below.

There was no wind as she fell, only the sound of her quick breaths and a rapidly sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as the ground grew closer and closer, and suddenly she had her doubts because what if she was wrong? What if she was awake and the dullness of the world was just her senses being unused, what if -

.......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........

SLAM!

Luna awoke in a cold sweat with a desperate scream, and immediately her body was on fire. The scream turned into a strangled whine as her seemingly body wide bruise ached all at once, and then she settled down.

Her bedroom. Her chambers. She was in her room, she was home! The crescent moon bed in the middle, the dark blue coloring, the tree-like lanterns, the wardrobe. None of it had been real. The caribou invasion, Celestia's fall, it was all just a terrible, terrible nightmare. She was fine. Now to go about letting everypony know she was awake. Nopony seemed to be in at the moment, which was worrying, but surely she could find them before long.

Princess Luna was on the floor, on her side. Her entire body ached, as if she'd spent the entire time she was asleep on the ground. She moved an arm up to her head, needing to check. Her arm moved slowly and weakly, and it was far too thin. How much had her muscles atrophied? Luna wasn't entirely sure she wished to know, but she could at least move it.

Her hand found its way to her head, and wrapped around a solid spire of bone. She moved her shaking hand up until she reached the tip of her horn, then let her hand fall down and she began sobbing. It was still there. She was okay. And while her wings were in disuse and the feathers cluttered, they were free of the wing binders. She was dressed in her sleep robes, not naked, and there was no black band around her throat. Luna continued crying openly at the revelation, water pouring from her eyes and heaving sobs filling the room. At length, she began to calm down.

"I - ach!" Her throat was so sore. Not dry, but it hurt from disuse. She cleared her throat, and spoke slowly to warm up her vocal cords. "I need to get up," she whispered. "I need to stand." She didn't think trying to stand under her own power would work, not with her legs so unnervingly thin. She crawled her way over to her bed and pushed herself into it. Just that action, though, had her panting for breath. Still, it was progress, and she took a few minutes to indulge in the softness of having an actual bed for a change.

It all felt so real, she mused. At least up until the end, when the nightmare had shown its true colors. Luna didn't bother wasting effort on trying to determine why; that could come later, after she figured out what was going on. Though she'd need a way to get around more efficiently. She could barely drag herself into her bed, her aching joints popping every step of the way, and she didn't trust her wings either, no matter how much pegasus magic they carried.

Her magic. She could use magic again, and magic didn't atrophy like muscles did. Luna crossed her eyes to catch a glimpse of her horn in the corner of her vision... and started crying again. Her horn. Her horn was back.

When she again got a hold of herself, she decided to start small. After so long, she barely even remembered what magic felt like to use. Princess Luna screwed up her face and looked at her wardrobe's door. Slowly, long-unused nerves flared to life and a weak, flickering blue glow spread along her horn and on the doorknob. She couldn't stop an airy laugh from escaping her, and she increased the flow of power until the aura was steady and healthy, then opened the door.

Her vision blurred with tears as she floated a dress over to herself, cradling it in her arms like a newborn foal. The clothes she were in were dirty and sweaty from her long stay in them - which was worrying, because anypony taking care of her would change them regularly - so she hesitantly got out of them and then eagerly put on the crisp - though admittedly a little dusty - blue and black dress that went down to her fetlocks.

Next step, moving. She looked at her back and extended her right wing, before immediately regretting it as agonizing pain shot through it. "Must've really slept on it wrong," she muttered. But why hadn't anypony adjusted her? In fact, why wasn't anypony in to check on her? Surely they'd have monitoring spells or equipment to keep track of her well being. Surely, in the time it had taken her to crawl to bed, somepony would come by?

Surely she would've been moved to the hospital, not left on the ground in her chambers? How had she even gotten there? The last thing Luna remembered...

There would be time to worry about that later. Luna didn't trust herself to even get so far as the door, much less investigate where everypony was. She needed another way. Her magic perhaps? It was the only immediately obvious answer.

Luna's horn lit up again, and this time her aura spread along her own body. Loathe as she was to leave the comfort of bedding, she had to do this. The alicorn levitated herself up into the air and towards her bathing room. She opened the door and hovered inside, then collapsed in her large, princess-sized tub.

A shower. She needed a shower, she was sweaty and all around disgusting. She took off her clothes, shivering and glancing around nervously, then reached her magic to the spout. She didn't trust herself to remain standing long enough for a proper shower, so she would bathe and keep the drain opened, running the water over herself before letting it flow out.

At least that was the plan, because no water came from the spout. Luna's eyes widened, and she waited a few more minutes. Nothing. She closed the spout and levitated her clothes back on, grateful for their protection. She used her magic to get out of the shower and back to her soft, welcoming bed.

The water systems weren't functioning. That seemed to indicate there was something more to this mystery than Luna being trapped in a horrible, inescapable nightmare for who knew how long. She wasn't going to find out anything from within her room though, Luna had to go outside.

She hovered over to the door and reached out, grasping it with a shaky hand. She twisted it and pulled the door, wincing as her weakened muscles pulled angrily against each other, but the door opened regardless. Outside it was dark and quiet, dusty too. Cobwebs clung to the corners of Canterlot Castle, and it was as silent as the grave. Princess Luna made her way out, bereft of her crown and torque, and looked around.

It wasn't long before she found the first pony. It was one of her Night Guards, the thestral mare collapsed against a wall not five paces from her spear. Luna settled closer to her to investigate. Underneath the pony's lids, her eyes twitched violently left and right and the bat pony whimpered almost inaudibly. If she looked closely, Luna thought she could see dark stars shining just above her atrophied body.

She gulped. Luna wasn't sure what had knocked her into Tartarus, but it appeared she wasn't alone. As much as she loathed to leave her little pony wracked with horror, she needed to learn what she was up against, first and foremost.

"I'm sorry," she told the thestral before picking herself up in her magic again and floating onward.

She soon came across more ponies, though she had to bite down on her lip to keep from screaming when she saw a stallion. All of them, to the last, were in deep slumber and wreathed with glowing stars. The corridors were pitch black, vision afforded to her only by her preternatural night vision and her magic. Torches had burnt to cinders. Spiders made their webs in the cracks of the castle.

A growl tore through Luna's stomach, and she blushed. She turned around and floated towards where she knew the royal kitchens to be, drifting by passed-out nobles. She found the storage room and pushed open the door. Immediately Luna backed out and retched. Fruit. Rotten fruit, grain, so much spoiled food! Summoning her magic and this time wrapping it around herself in a shield, containing only the clean stale air, Luna pushed inside the storage room.

She passed several shelves, grimacing in disgust at the flies. She made her way to the back of the room, and found the emergency reserves of canned food, in case Canterlot was attacked and the castle staff needed to hole up. There was enough food there to feed her for the next hundred and fifty or so years, and by then she'd hopefully have found a way to fix whatever had befallen Equestria.

Princess Luna picked out a bottle of water and a can of vegetables, then drifted out of the storage room and closed the door behind her before dismissing her shield. She found a metal spoon, then wrenched the can open with a heave of magical effort. Luna found a clean corner to sit in and gripped the spoon, slowly feeding herself the mixture of peas, baby corn, and carrots. When the first spoonful hit her tongue, she moaned in ecstasy. Real food. It'd been so long since she'd eaten anything but aphrodisiac-laced kibble, even if she knew that she hadn't actually.

She finished up the first meal she'd had in far too long and thought back. What was the last thing she could remember before the events of the - fake - caribou invasion? The mare scrunched up her face as she tried to think. She remembered greeting her sister, having dinner with her, then retiring to her room. She remembered... she remembered waking up. She was at a conference of... some thing. She couldn't remember. The next thing she knew she was having her horn cut off by her Night Guard, so her memory extended to the conference she couldn't remember the importance of, and then she'd been trapped in a nightmare for an unknown length of time.

And apparently, so had everypony else. Including, no doubt, her sister!

She had to go see Celestia. If the phantom Celestia that had raped her and violated her was fake, then there was hope that she could free her sister and... and they'd be together again!

Luna wiped a tear from her eyes and levitated herself into the air. But she still needed more information. She knew next to nothing about what was going on, so she had to explore the castle a bit more. Perhaps Luna would find something.

She took a left and a right, suppressing the murderous rage she felt whenever she saw a stallion. They're innocent, she kept telling herself. None of them did anything wrong. It was all in your head, Luna. Get a hold of yourself.

The throne room was an exercise in juxtaposition. It was dark and dank, with guards collapsed near the locked doorway. Dust covered the ground wherever she moved, the air currents of her passing whipping up miniature cyclones. There were long-deflated balloons lying limp on the floor, and vases that may have once held water and flowers. There was a banner that stretched from one wall to another, though she couldn't see what was written on it from her position. It was tattered and covered with moth-eaten holes, though. All the windows had been shattered, revealing that it was night time.

Princess Luna went over to one of the Royal Guards and knelt by his side. The armor's enchantment, with nopony to renew it, had faded and revealed the stallion's blue coat and green hair. The muscles his training had once built up were gone, and he twitched uselessly in the grasp of some unseen terror. Luna's magic flared and she formed a blue sliver of solid magic and grasped it. She brought the magical blade to the guard's throat - then gasped and dispelled her creation. What was she doing?!

"Come on Luna," she whispered. "Get a hold of yourself. Find out what's causing this, don't hurt anypony innocent." She reached her magic around the guard and felt for the stars keeping him asleep. She 'tasted' the magic, so to speak, comparing it to the various types she knew. It was not her magic, nor was it her sister's, Twilight's, Cadance's, or even Nightmare Moon's. It was not chaos, it was not changeling, but she got the distinct impression that she knew this magic from somewhere.

Luna gasped, and the blood in her veins froze. "No," she whispered. The Tantabus. But it was only in her dreams! It couldn't possibly put her under permanent sleep and keep her alive all along, much less do it to anypony else! Last she remembered it was still a small puff of cosmic smoke. Unless she didn't remember it.

In theory the Tantabus, being a creature of dreams, could gather enough strength to escape into the real world. Luna had a sinking feeling that theory was confirmed, and that her memories had been damaged either as a side effect of its endless nightmare... or intentionally. If the Tantabus had truly escaped her slumber, if she was once again responsible for Equestria being in peril...

Luna drifted back from the stallion, shivering. She looked around at the guards scattered on the ground, then at the ragged banner.

Her heart stopped.

Written across the banner in tattered but still readily legible, black letters with the Equestrian crest on either end was the message 'WELCOME KING DAINN AND CO'.

Luna forgot to keep her magic going and fell down. She tried to push herself up on her elbows, but doing so was too tiring and NO NO NO IT CAN'T BE HE'S NOT REAL!

She was still dreaming. That had to be it. She hadn't gone through Tartarus only to escape and learn it had followed her. Or... what if she was missing more memory than she thought? Had the Tantabus... no, she didn't know. She couldn't process it.

Tia. She needed Tia. Tia could fix this. She tried to get up, but then her legs screamed in protest. Luna tried to carry her weight for a moment, but in the end she relented and grabbed herself in her telekinetic field, making haste out of the throne room.

She knew where Celestia's room was from memory, so she made it there in record time as she passed the slumbering maids and guards. She teleported inside the locked door - she could still do that, luckily - and lit up the room with her magic.

Celestia was on the floor, just as Luna had been, tangled in a dress with her torque and crown laying at arm's length from her. Stars glimmered around her sister, and she whimpered pathetically in fear.

"Oh sister, what has happened to you?" she whispered. Luna floated over to her and set herself down, grunting. She reached out and stroked Celestia's cheek, brushing aside a few stars. "I'll get you out, I promise." She wondered what her sister's nightmare was. Was it Discord turning back to his wicked ways? The same as hers, but their roles were reversed and Luna was the red collar instead? A simple unending dream of pain? Regardless, she had to help.

Princess Luna wrapped her magic around Celestia, feeling for the nightmare magic. There was no doubt in her mind, it was the Tantabus's power.

But that means I did this.

That was a thought for later. She began poking and prodding at the magic keeping Celestia asleep, feeling around for how it worked. It was... boggling. The Tantabus's spell was ironclad, it kept Celestia alive, it funneled power to some far off place, probably the Tantabus itself, and it maintained a solid, realistic nightmare. It made her wonder how she'd escaped it on her own at all.

But no matter how strong the spell was, she had to at least try. Luna knew that every spell had a weak spot that allowed its dispelling, it was just a matter of finding it. As she looked closer, it almost appeared as though the spell was... pulsing. Very slowly, but there it was. She didn't know as to the purpose of the pulsation, she wasn't in the habit of weaving nightmare spells, but it was something she could exploit. Princess Luna gathered all her alicorn magic around Celestia and, when the spell next fell to a weak spot, released it all.

Celestia screamed.

Luna was there in a moment, lifting Celestia with a heave of effort - she'd expended nearly all her magic waking up her sister - and wrapping her arms around her. Celestia sobbed and fidgeted, but she was about as weak as Luna was. "Sister, sister it's okay! None of it was real! None of it was real, it was just a nightmare spell! You're safe here, you're safe here," she whispered repeatedly.

Eventually Celestia calmed down. Which was good, because Luna didn't know how much longer she could keep her from thrashing around in the dark and hurting herself. "L-Luna?"

"It's me, sister. It's okay. You were under a spell, but it's okay. It's just me."

"I can't see."

"The lights are all off. I can see fine though, don't worry. There's a lot that happened. Can you use your magic?"

"M-My magic?" Celestia paused, then there was a brief flicker of golden light. "My horn! My horn, my horn, oh my horn!"

"Let me guess, you dreamed it had been cut off and your wings plucked and bound in sleeves?" she asked.

Celestia looked towards her voice. "How did you know?" she asked worriedly. "It was horrible. You were... we'd been..."

"I suspect I had the same dream as you with minor details changed," she said. "I'll tell you more after we get some food in you, but a force has trapped everypony in the castle, and possibly beyond, in a nightmare. I only just woke up from it recently."

"It wasn't real?" she asked hopefully. "I won't have to go back?"

Princess Luna shook her head, then realized it was pointless if Celestia couldn't see her. "You won't sister, I promise. None of it was real, though I suspect the force that created the nightmare had inspiration." Celestia began shaking violently. "But it's nothing more than a suspicion, Tia! Please, we need to get moving. I don't know if whatever did this is coming up, we've both atrophied horribly, and you need food. Can you lift yourself with your magic?"

A tense silence spread between them like a canyon. "I can try," Celestia said. Golden light illuminated her bedroom as it flowed along her sister's lengthy horn. The magic flickered precariously, then redoubled and stayed strong. "My magic, I never thought I'd have it again. Oh sister, thank you!" Celestia turned around until she was face to face with Luna and wrapped her arms around her.

Luna froze. It'll hurt less if you stop fighting. What's even the point, Luna? What are you going to accomplish? She sucked in a breath, but steadied herself and allowed it. Her sister was hurting, and given all the times in the past when her older sister had comforted her, she owed her at least this much.

After a few minutes, Celestia lifted herself into the air, groaning loudly as she cracked her neck. Her wings were in a sorry state, but anything was better than those cursed leather -

"Now what?" her sister asked, looking down at her.

"Now you need to lift me too, I burnt the remainder of my magic breaking the spell's hold on you," she explained.

"So much?" Celestia asked as she lifted Luna. She panicked a little at being in somepony else's grip, but forced herself to relax. "What creature could possibly pose such a challenge to you in the realm of dreams?" she asked, more than a little worried.

"I'll tell you more after we get some food to eat," she said. "But I'd bet my life that it's due to a creature called the Tantabus."

Author's Note

Idea from the Post FoE forums.

Thanks to thtiger for editing this.

Much to my disappointment, I don't own MLP. That honor goes to Hasbro.

Love it or hate it, please do leave a comment.