It had been half a year since the Cozy Glow incident, and Equestria had put the unfortunate ordeal behind them.

Princess Luna smiled at the sight of the dream realm as it was tonight, not a single nightmare in sight, everypony slept soundly.

Luna enjoyed nights like these, she could just relax and observe the interesting dreams of her subjects.

She watched Scootaloo follow in Rainbow Dash's flight path and become the greatest Wonderbolt of all time, Trixie perform for herself and Celestia, Pinkie Pie...well, Luna didn't know what the hay was going on there, but it was definitely fun to watch.

Luna was about to peer into Twilight's dreams...when someone else fell asleep.

The dream erupted like a volcano, so violent and enraged that the hateful energies emanating from it poured into neighboring dreams and twisted them into nightmares.

Reacting in an instant, Luna dived straight into the horrible nightmare, knowing that things would only get worse if she didn't stop the source of the corruption before tending to the affected dreams.

The stenches of blood and fire assaulted Luna as she entered the nightmare, the sight she beheld was far more violent than anything she had ever seen.

Upon a burning world fought thousands of armored creatures that could've been mistaken for minotaurs if they only had horns, their armor resembled that of knights, colored white and an almost cobalt blue, their eyes glowed a firey orange, and there was a blood red circle with inward pointing spikes marking their shoulders.

The knights fought each other with beastly ferocity, painting their white armor red with their blood.

Luna couldn't understand it, they wore the same armor and bore the same mark, so why were they killing each other?

Luna focused her magic, trying to locate the dreamer, she had no idea who this pony was, or what could possibly give them so horrible a nightmare, but she had to resolve this matter fast or they would surely go mad.

Her horn glowed and shot a beam, which illuminated one of the knights.

Now Luna was completely confused, what in Equestria was going on?

The knight in question was no different than any of the others, it swung a blunt, boxy sword that seemed to roar as loud as the knight wielding it, it seemed to lack a cutting edge, but left wounds far more brutal than those of a normal sword, perhaps there was a blade on it, it was just swinging too fast for Luna to get a good look.

Luna flew towards the knight and tried to get his attention. "Sir knight, you are fighting phantoms, they're not- YIEE!!" Luna teleported just in time to avoid his strike, only to watch in horror as the knight was slahed and stabbed by no less than six of his like-colored enemies, only for fire to engulf the entire battlefield and disappate, leaving the now unharmed knight alone against an endless horde of horned, red-skinned monsters that wielded burning weapons.

Luna saw the knight overpowered in an instant only to fight his way out, his injuries disappearing as quickly as the knight was struck as if the very fact that the berserk knight didn't realize that he was struck nullified the damage.

Luna called out to him again, this time with the royal Canterlot voice. "Sir knight, this conflict is pointless, your enemies are not real."

It appeared that the knight heard her this time, but did not understand her words, as the sound of her voice resulted in him disarming a monster and hurling it's weapon towards Luna, who dodged with a shocked expression.

Realizing that she couldn't resolve this issue in her usual way, Luna declared "ENOUGH!!" and dispelled the dream through force, she hated having to do so, as her duty was to help dreamers overcome their nightmares, not avoid them, but this was a special case.

She had immobilized the knight, in the hope of preventing him from attacking her again, and approached him. "Do I have your attention now?"

The knight stared at her, it's expression hidden behind it's helmet, and said nothing.

"I apologize for the impoliteness, but you're dreaming, the enemies you fought were not real." Luna explained.

The knight did not respond, so Luna gave further explanation. "I am Princess Luna, guardian of the Dream Realm, it is my duty to assist troubled ponies overcome their fears."

"I am no pony." The knight spoke in an echoing, metallic voice. "I have no need for your assistance alien."

That piqued Luna's interest, but she had greater concerns right now. "I would honor your wish sir knight, but the hateful energies from your nightmare have affected other dreams, and it will only get worse if I leave you to fight this battle alone."

That got a reaction from the knight, though it was only slight. "...So the Daemons are pouring into the minds of others through me..."

Demons!? Now Luna was genuinely worried, she had to wrap this up and tend to the affected dreams. "I am sorry to trouble you, sir knight, but now that I've stopped the flow of hateful energy, I must aid my subjects, especially if demons plague them."

Luna released the calmed knight and turned to disembark. "I will join you."

Luna turned to face him, running over the pros and cons in her mind, she knew nothing about him, and less about the nightmare that plagued him, but he knew more about their enemy, and he didn't seem to be a threat. "Very well, stand close to me."

The knight approached Luna and she transported his consciousness with her's back to the Dream Realm.

Three dreams were burning the same orange and red that the knight's had, two were growing in size and ferocity, one faster than the other, but one seemed to be stabilizing.

In silent agreement, the two headed to the one most rapidly growing.

On account of the nightmare's rapid growth, Luna wasn't surprised to find herself in the dream of a young philly, Diamond Tiara.

The philly dreamt of being the ruler of Canterlot, in a far more flamboyant castle than that of Luna and her sister, with a great many servants.

Now, the castle was burning and the servants layed butchered but for a few guards who were putting up a hopeless fight, valiantly defending Diamond Tiara to the last stallion.

"HAVE AT THEE!!" Luna shouted as she shot a magic blast at the demon closest to the philly, grabbing their attention.

Luna charged full-speed towards the enemy, and was surprised to find the knight beside her was outpacing her by no small margin.

His sword, which she now realized was lined with dozens of sharp metal teeth, began to howl once more, the teeth traveling in a circle at such speed that they became a blurred line.

He beheaded the first demon and grabbed a second with his free hand, Luna couldn't pay attention to what happened next as she had closed the gap and fired another beam at the closest demon, sending it flying and disarming it.

She used her telekinesis to claim the blade and transform it, the burning bronze becoming dark blue and bathed in moonlight, the strange triangle-like symbol becoming a cresent moon.

Three demons leapt at her, but wielding a blade with magic gave Luna speed and agility far beyond that of the demons and their odd apendages, the three demons died in midair without blocking a single blow, the corpses exploding into pieces when they hit the ground before they disappeared in flames.

Luna expected more to come at her, but was surprised to realize that the remainder of the enemy had already been dealt with by the knight save two, one of which he impaled with his sword before grabbing it with both hands, one on it's throat and the other on it's waist, and ripping it in half with brute strength alone, his sword landing on his foot before he kicked it up into the air, grabbed it, and bisected the last demon, raising his screaming sword and roaring in triumph.

"Area secure, let's move." The knight said as he regained his composure.

"First things first." Luna said as her horn began to glow.

The knight watched as the fires were extinguished, the damage was repaired, and the dead ponies were resurrected, leaving but one piece of evidence of the attack, the frightened philly.

Luna approached Diamond Tiara with a motherly smile. "Are you all right little one?" she asked in a calming voice.

"I-I-I think so, what was that?" The young pony asked, shaking, but not as violently.

Luna's horn glowed again, as did the philly's eyes, when the glow faded, Luna's smile became snarky. "Didn't your mother warn you that sort of wheat causes nightmares?"

The philly's eyes grew wide. "Wuh, w-well yeah but, I never thought it'd be anything like THAT, ugh, I'll never eat that horrible stuff again!" Diamond shouted as she stopped shaking.

"Ah well, lesson learned, enjoy the rest of your night little one." Luna as she turned and walked towards the waiting knight.

"Thank you Princess." the philly called out, bowing to the night-colored alicorn.

Luna joined the knight and transported them back to the Dream Realm, explaining herself telepathically as she did so.

"While I will discuss this situation with my sister and our peers, a demon attack is hardly something a philly should know about."

The knight gave no response.

They surveyed the affected dreams again, Diamond Tiara's was stable, the second was still growing, but the other had started to fade.

Luna would investigate this dream last, curious as to who was fending off the demons by themselves, but more concerned with the one who wasn't.

Luna and the knight entered the second dream, and found themselves in a blood soaked ballroom.

Ponies fled for their lives with nowhere to go as they were cut down by the demons, the butchered bodies of those too slow becoming obstacles for the panicked survivors to navigate.

Luna and the knight took off in different directions, the former flying above the carnage so as not to be hindered, and the latter either throwing aside or simply trampling anything that stood between him and his hated enemy.

Luna focused her efforts on finding the dreamer, who was to be protected above the illusions of ponies.

She found that it was the earth pony Octavia, who was keeping a steady lead against her pursuers.

Luna dropped between them and blasted the demons with a large energy blast before turning to Octavia. "Are you all right?" she asked the cello player.

"Oh, thank you Princess, I have no idea why I'm having such an awful nightmare, but it feels so real." Octavia said, turning to show where one of the demons had cut her.

"Your dream has been invaded by foul creatures, my associate and I will drive them back, but I need you to stay close to me." Luna explained.

Octavia was about to say something, only for the words in her throat to come out as a scream as a demon came from behind Luna.

Luna teleported into the sky facing the demon, watching it's sword impact the floor that she had stood on, before blasting it backwards and taking it's sword, transforming it as she had before.

Three other demons attacked Octavia from different directions, the earth pony falling into the fetal position as they did.

Luna landed with authority above the smaller Equestrian, looking like a mother protecting it's child, the force of the impact stunning the demons.

The first to recover charged and brought it's sword down in an overhead slash.

Luna blocked his attack and, in a manner that only magic swordsmen can, spun the sword against the opposing blade, slashing the demon's throat, until it was all the way in her opponent's guard.

She then beheaded the demon and flung the sword into the chest of the second demon as it began it's charge.

The third demon, which was behind Luna, recovered and charged with a shoulder to shoulder slash.

Luna recalled her sword, but it wouldn't be fast enough, the demon swung, but Luna was faster on the draw, catching the demon's unarmored chest with a buck.

Luna flung her sword into it's head before it could recover again and surveyed the scene for more.

This time, she wasn't too surprised to see that the only demon left was falling dead in two halfs at the knight's feet.

Luna stepped away from Octavia and allowed her to stand up before repairing her dream. "There, everything should be as it was before."

The ballroom was newly refurbished and the guests were enjoying themselves, the only thing out of place was the band's lack of a cello player. "Ah, thank you Princess." Octavia bowed to Luna, before turning to the knight. "And thank you as well good sir, I am forever in your dept."

The knight seemed uninterested with Octavia's gratitude. "One still remains, let us be done with this."

"Yes, of course." Luna acknowledged and trotted over to him. "Fairwell Octavia, pleasant dreams."

If Octavia replied, it went unheard as Luna and the knight returned to the Dream Realm, locking their gaze on the last corrupted dream, only to find that there was only the faintest sign of corruption left.

"Hmm, it seems that this one may not need our assistance, though I feel that we should still investigate." Luna stated.

"Agreed, I am curious as to how one of your race can hold their own against the Bloodletters." The knight replied.

The name Bloodletters piqued Luna's curiosity, but she put it aside and focused on the task at hand.

Luna and the knight entered the final corrupted dream, and beheld a very different sight.

The dream in question was a stadium, almost completely untouched, with only two or three dead ponies, and several demon shaped scorch marks.

In the middle of the arena the last six demons surrounded the dreamer, who Luna recognized immediately. "Ah, of course it'd be her dream ahhahahaha."

Rainbow Dash smirked as her eyes darted from demon to demon, waiting to see which would strike first.

One of the demons roared and swung it's sword only for Rainbow Dash to dodge it without effort.

A second attacked, and Rainbow Dash tripped him, causing it to fall on it's own sword, before retreating to the sky to point and laugh, causing the demons to leap at her futilely, enraged by her amusement.

Luna observed the scene with humored smirk. "Should we help her?"

The knight turned to her. "These foul creatures see honor in killing indiscriminately and have no fear in death, I will not save them from this shameful defeat."

Luna could hear the delight in his voice as he watched the demons suffer, and agreed that they were getting what they deserved.

Rainbow Dash took notice of Luna's presence, and broke away from her opponents to greet her. "Hey Princess, what brings you here?"

Luna giggled at how lightly she was taking this. "You may not have noticed, but your dream has been corrupted by outside forces seeking to harm you." she explained while pointing a hoof at the charging demons, who were at least a minute away.

"Oh really, well I bet they won't try that again after the thrashing I've been giving them." Rainbow Dash smirked.

"You show great skill xeno, I had come to believe that your race relied on your rulers for protection." The knight said to Rainbow Dash who turned to him.

"Don't know what xeno means, but I'm gonna pretend it's something awesome, I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria, who're you?"

"I am Aries of the World Eaters legion of adeptus astartes, chosen champions of the Imperium of Man and the God Emperor of Mankind." The knight stated proudly, giving Luna more questions than answers.

"God Emperor, huh, with a title like that, guy must be proud of himself, oh, one sec." Rainbow Dash said before darting off towards the closing demons.

She smashed though their lines like a cannonball, turning back to strike those that she missed within the same second.

Before the first demon could recover, Rainbow Dash began to circle them at 5 times the speed of sound, the whether controlling magic of the pegasai generating a tornado that lifted and captured the demons.

Rainbow Dash tightened her circle at the base of the tornado, causing it to grow taller and taller, when she was comfortable with it's height, she took to the sky.

The tornado disappated and the demons screeched as they fell, but Luna's eyes were on Rainbow Dash, who was diving straight for them at ever growing speeds, causing a sonic cone to appear at her out streched hooves that shrank, and shrank.

As the demons came five feet from the ground, and Rainbow Dash caught up to them, the sonic cone exploded into the legendary Sonic Rainboom, forcing some demons into the pavement and killing them instantly, and sending others flying this way and that, Luna ducking under one and Aries allowing another to crash into him like an egg against a rock.

The crowd of ponies went wild with cheers and chants as Rainbow Dash, who had gone skyward after the explosion, trailed a rainbow colored streak into the shape of a lightning bolt underneath a conveniently placed cloud.

RAIN-BOW DASH!

RAIN-BOW DASH!

RAIN-BOW DASH!

RAIN-BOW DASH!

Her ego satisfied for the moment, Rainbow Dash returned to Luna and Aries. "So, what were those losers up to?"

"I have yet to determine their motives, all I know is that they came from Aries' nightmare and invaded three other dreams through him." Luna explained.

Rainbow Dash's arrogance disappeared the instant she realized others had been put in danger. "WHAT!? ARE THEY OKAY!?"

"You needn't worry Rainbow Dash, Aries and I took care of it, I will look into the situation further and inform you and the others of any developments in the morning, until then, enjoy your...fan base." Luna snickered.

Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief. "All right, you let me know if any of those bozos come back, later Princess." And with that, Rainbow Dash took to the sky and started performing aerial maneuvers for the entertainment of the masses.

"She's a capable fighter, although her personality reminds me of the sons of Gullimen." Aries stated as Luna returned them to the Dream Realm.

"Well, now that the threat has been dealt with, would you mind explaining...what exactly transpired?" Luna asked him.

Author's Note

I am gradually copying these chapters from another fanfic site, so these first 5 chapters are gonna come out rapid-fire until I catch up, I'm just spacing them out while get used to a new site.