Luna was searching throughout the ponies' dreams. Sure, it was hard keeping track of everyone, but she managed, even if she struggled sometimes. Every night she would wander throughout a dreamy, distorted version of Equestria, finding dreams everywhere. To anyone else, the realm would be horrifying, but Luna was used to it. After all, she preferred the tranquility over a hustling and bustling normal day in Equestria. But something didn't feel quite right to her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was a sort of lingering feeling in her chest. Not to worry, she thought. If I search through some ponies' dreams, this feeling will be sure to go away.

She came across a dreamy Ponyville, yet it looked peculiar. Twilight's castle had no door, the buildings all looked the same. She decided to find some dreams in the area.

There were none to be found.

Luna knew there were two options- one, no one was asleep, or two, an outside force was stopping the dreams.

She sincerely hoped for the former.

She had checked everywhere in Ponyville until finally, she decided to check the castle's inside. She took a while finding a dream, and saw a strange new room in the castle. She had no idea what it was, but it lead down. So she descended the steps downward, and she found herself in front of a metal door. She tried warping inside, but she realized the outside was protected by a magical barrier.

"SCANNING..." the door said suddenly, a ray of magic circling her body. "CUTIE MARK FOUND. SCARS - ABSENT. ACCESS GRANTED."

She stepped into the room, and it was so big and grand, it looked almost like a castle. But it was empty, with nine beds and a giant cupboard full of hay. She was curious as to what was going on, but she knew something bad was happening. Could it be an effect of the unstable dream world? Maybe. But she didn't know for sure. Suddenly, a dream popped up above one of the beds, showing Spike surrounded by smiling ponies. She leapt into the dream, and she popped up next to Spike.

"Luna!" Spike yelled in a horrified tone. "Help!"

Luna created a shockwave, turning the ponies into dust. "It is alright," Luna said. "They are gone."

"Woah, thanks. You really saved me back there," Spike said.

"Although I do understand everyone is afraid of something," Luna said,"why are you scared of smiling ponies?"

"Those aren't just ponies," Spike squeaked, "They're... they're..." He pointed behind Luna. Behind her was an army of smiling ponies, each with the same cutie mark. She saw almost everyone in Equestria- and she even saw herself among the crowd.

She let out another shockwave, destroying all surrounding her. Suddenly, it was just her and Spike, floating in an inky abyss.

"It is alright. Your dreams are safe," Luna said.

"Wait-I'm dreaming?" He let out a sigh of relief. "So everyone ISN'T brainwashed by Quill yet."

"Brainwashed by Quill?" she asked. "What do you mean?"

"Okay," Spike said, taking in a large breath. "So the map called me, Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, the CMCs, and Starlight to the old village but everyone there had the same cutie mark and was brainwashed and tortured into doing so then we got locked up and Rainbow dash was subjected to the torture and Pinkie freed everyone and Discord decided to help and then Rainbow got indoctrinated-" he inhaled-" then Rainbow shot Discord with a magic beam prohibiting him from using his magic and knocking him out and Twilight magicked us up a fallout shelter full of resources and now we're here!"

Luna looked shocked. "I'm sorry, Spike. I must go alert Celestia about this."

"Alright," Spike said. "You're not the first person to bail on me today." He sat down and dreamed up a comic book to read.

Luna was ready to exit the dreamy realm, but suddenly, a flash of light appeared in her eyes. Suddenly she was at a hallway, lined with doors. She knew where she was. She had been there a million times. It was the limbo between the dream realm and the Celestial Plane, the memory hall. She wondered why she was here of all places; she never chose to go here often, only when dreamers needed help. Since she was there, she decided it might be for a reason, so she tried the knob on the nearest door.

It opened, but it only showed a brick wall behind it. She opened several more, yet there was only walls.

She knew there must have been something keeping those memories out.

Suddenly, the doors disappeared, leaving one left. It was large, and was plastered with different cutie marks. She was frightened, but she entered the door. All of a sudden, she was transported into a dark room, with memories and thoughts everywhere, some blocked out with an equals sign. She decided to see what there was, so she checked the nearest one. It opened to a group of ponies marching down a village, led by... Starlight? The memory was on loop, the ponies singing, their words echoing in the realm. They chanted, "You can't have a nightmare if you never dream!" Suddenly the memory went black.

Quill's voice came echoing out of the memory. "Funny how I made that literally true... They can't be equal if they all have different dreams..." Then the memory started back again.

Luna realized she wasn't reading ponies' old memories--she was reading the current state of mind of Quill. And if Quill eradicated dreams, then the dream realm would eventually gain so much dream energy, the kind she used to create Tantabus, causing the dream realm to rupture and turn the world into a living nightmare, on top of all the ponies being equal. She couldn't let that happen. Not to anyone. Not even to Nightmare Moon.

The room suddenly went completely black, and Quill's voice echoed: "Once we take Ponyville, we take Canterlot.

She teleported out of the realm to alert Celestia, sound asleep in bed. Luna called out, "Sister?"

Celestia opened her eyes, seeing her sister next to her. "Hm?" Celestia asked. "You are finished with dream searching already?"

"There is an emergency," Luna responded. "We must position the Royal Guard for battle."

After explaining everything to Celestia, Luna reached the barracks. "Fellow ponies," Celestia said to the troops sternly, "Now that Shining Armor is with Cadance, I will be the new leader of the Royal Guard, along with my sister. A problem has arisen, and we must protect ourselves from a powerful menace."

"Yes sir! I mean, ma'am!" the troops said in unison, adapting to Celestia's newfound power.

"We must stand our ground," Luna said. "A war may be upon us."

Author's Note

If you didn't know, I'm referring to the weird dimension Twilight teleported to in Magical Mystery cure as the Celestial Plane.