The New Problem

A month had passed since Sombra had been dealt with. Equestria had returned to normal and all of the ponies had gone about their usual lives. However, within Canterlot Castle a dark blue unicorn lay in her bed tossing and turning, fighting some unseen enemy. "No, I won't become you again Nightmare Eclipse!" she screamed. A burst of flame erupted from her horn that hit one of the curtains, catching it on fire. The fire started to spread across the room as the screams got louder, prompting the guards to investigate. When they saw the fire, they quickly leapt into action to wake the unicorn and carry her out of the room. Twilight Sparkle quickly galloped into the room and cast a spell to put out the flames.

"If you don't like it here, you don't have to set the castle on fire!" the youngest guard reprimanded the unicorn.

Moonlight looked up at the smoke in her room, the damaged curtains and covers. She then looked back down at the floor, her heart racing in her chest from both fear of the nightmare she had and of the potential punishment. "She was having a bad dream. One that was extremely powerful," the Princess said to defend the investigator.

"You mean that she was casting magic in her sleep?" the guardspony asked.

"Yes, but it wasn't a conscious effort, she was attacking something that only she could see. Something that I couldn't reach. You're not in trouble, Moonlight. You can calm down," Twilight declared.

Moonlight nodded and walked away from the scene in shock. She was shaking uncontrollably. The nightmare she had felt so real and she could still feel the pull of Nightmare Eclipse at the back of her mind. She wanted to take over, she wanted to be the one to control her. The unicorn made her way up to one of the towers and sat down watching the sky as the moon hung there. She had heard legends of one pony that could enter anyone's dreams, but they were just legends as far as she knew.

A few hours later Twilight Sparkle had arrived at the tower to raise the sun as she had been doing for the last twenty years. Her horn lit up and the moon set as the sun took its place, signaling daytime in Equestria. "A beautiful sunrise, though it's a bit quick for my taste," a voice said to her right, startling her.

She turned to face the creature who said that to see Moonlight Gleam standing there with a sheepish smile on her face, "I didn't mean to spook you, Princess," she said apologetically.

"You've been up here all night?" the alicorn asked with an arched brow.

"Yeah... can't really set anything on fire from up here. My spells don't really have the range unless I focus," the unicorn said quietly.

The two nodded to each other, understanding the predicament. The lavender pony didn't have any solutions at the moment, she was going to have to find some way to enter the dreams of this pony in order to help her. She started to walk towards her library when she felt something grab her tail. She turned to see Moonlight standing there with her tail in one of her hooves. "I can't very well help you if you won't let me go, Moonlight," she told her.

The unicorn sighed and let go, she looked away to hide the fear that she was feeling. She didn't want to be alone, she hadn't ever since she woke back up after she had been returned to normal. "Princess, I've not slept since I woke up. I'm tired and I need some rest. Is there some place that I won't be a danger to myself or anypony else if I cast another spell in my sleep?" she asked, worried.

Twilight Sparkle paused as she thought, there weren't really any areas of the castle where Moonlight wouldn't be able to set something on fire aside from the balconies and those had the issue of her falling to her demise. She brought the unicorn close to her with her wing and expected a bite, but instead she squirmed out of the embrace. "Moonlight, you have to trust us if you want us to help you," she stated, disappointed in the unicorn's actions.

Truth was, the investigator wasn't retreating because of a distrust for the Princess, it was a distrust of herself. She backed up towards the railing, tired and afraid. Her rump touched it and she let out a yelp, her horn ignited instantly as she wheeled around to torch whatever it was that hit her. She saw nothing and the light of her horn extinguished, she backed away from the railing and fell on her backside with a heavy sigh.

"It's not me, it's you... you're scared of yourself," the alicorn observed.

Moonlight nodded as she looked at her hoof, she still vividly remembered being controlled. She remembered her transformation and what the Tree of Harmony told her and forced her to confront. The memories haunted her deeply and were possibly the source of her nightmares, but she couldn't be sure. "I'll cast a fireproof spell on everything in a different guest room, you can rest there and if you have another nightmare, you won't damage anything. I promise," Twilight offered with a smile.

The unicorn replied with a weak smile and followed the Princess quietly to the room in question. The alicorn cast a spell on everything in the room and to test it, the investigator cast a strong fire spell at the bed. The flames hit and died out immediately on contact without doing even the slightest bit of damage. Satisfied the unicorn entered the room and flopped on the bed to go to sleep. "I'll be in the library to find any sort of solution to your issue, Moonlight. I promise that I won't stop until I find something to help you," she offered.

The only response from the unicorn in question was a wave of her hoof. Twilight took this as an acknowledgement of her words and headed to the library.

Hours had passed and Twilight Sparkle was no closer to an answer. She had called all of her friends to the library was well as Luster Dawn and her friends. None of them had any luck on finding a book about dreams and how to reach into them. If there was one thing the Princess wished her predecessors did, it was keep better documentation on how to preform their duties. She sighed and buried her face into a book in frustration.

"Darling, we've searched this entire library and we haven't found anything. Perhaps the answers aren't here?" Rarity offered her.

"They have to be!" the alicorn protested.

"Now now, Twilight. Ah know that ya rely on books a lot, but ya can't jes use them as yer solution to everythin," Applejack said.

"Maybe if she's having a nightmare, we could all try to help you get into it. We've always been stronger when we worked together," Fluttershy pointed out.

"Fluttershy, you're a genius! Quick, follow me!" Twilight replied as her head lifted off the book.

She galloped out of the library with her friends following her. She hoped that Moonlight would still be asleep so that they could help her. When she opened the door to the room however, her heart sank. The bed was empty, the investigator wasn't there and there was no signs that she had ever even been there. "Fan out and search for her, she's a dark blue unicorn with a faded yellow mane in a ponytail! We have to find her!" she panicked.

"That won't be necessary, your highness," rang out the tired voice of the investigator.

Moonlight walked into the view of everyone, she had puffy bags under her eyes which were struggling to remain open. Her mane was disheveled and she looked like she was ready to fall over at any moment. The unicorn in question was obviously fatigued and looked like she had been pushed further beyond her limits.

"How horrid, you could use a makeover right away!" Rarity protested.

"I don't want your makeup!" the investigator snapped.

"Hey! There's no need to be rude to my friends!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she zoomed into Moonlight's face, their muzzles pressing against each other.

"She's very tired and irritable, Rainbow. She's been having constant nightmares and by the look of it, she had to help the staff out with something. While yes, it doesn't excuse her rudeness, you should try to go a little easier on her," Twilight said in an attempt to defuse the situation.

"She ain't a bad gal, Rainbow. Just a tad standoffish is all," the farmpony said.

Pinkie Pie pulled out a party cannon to try to introduce some cheer into the situation, but this set Moonlight off. The dark blue unicorn's teeth grit and her horn erupted in flames. "I think it would be best to put the party cannon away, Pinkie," the Princess said to her friend.

"Aww, but I wanted to cheer her up," Pinkie protested.

"Party... cannon?" the investigator asked, her face contorted in confusion as the flames around her horn extinguished.

Pinkie set off the cannon, spraying confetti everywhere. There was a loud thud as the dark blue unicorn hit the ground. She was surprised by this, but also confused. "I'm... just going to go back to bed," she stated.

The investigator stood up and walked into her guest room, she left the door open because she didn't want to close it on the Princess. "I don't know what the six of you are here for, but if you're going to try to enter my dream together, I wish you the best of luck. Any sort of relief would be preferable to the torment that I've been enduring," she stated.

Moonlight climbed onto the bed and closed her eyes. Within moments, she was asleep and Twilight held out her hooves to her friends, "Come on, let's do this together and help out this pony in need," she requested.

The other five ponies formed a circle with each other, each one holding another pony's hoof. The Princess closed her eyes and with her friends entered the dream world. She looked around for a singular dream, that of the pony that was in her guest room. Being that there weren't too many nocturnal ponies, this wasn't too great of a task. She found the bubble she was looking for, but it looked different. It wasn't a normal bubble. It was red with spikes around it and it pulsed ominously.

Undaunted, she tried to enter the dream, only to be thrown back away from it. This wasn't like Moonlight trying to fight her before. This was something different. She tried a different approach and tried to force her way into the dream, only to be thrown back again. She could hear the screaming of the pony she wanted to help. She thought it was within the bubble, but something was different. She usually only heard the sounds of dreams when she was inside of their dream.

Her eyes opened up in the waking world, all five of her friends were staring at the unicorn that was thrashing about on the bed, tearing her covers and sheets with her horn. Primal screams erupted from the unicorn's mouth as if she was fighting something for her very existence. Twilight let go of her friends and the six of them rushed over to the unicorn's side. She gently shook the unicorn with one of her hooves, "Moonlight, wake up. Wake up, it's all a nightmare, it's not real," she said soothingly.

The investigator's eyes opened widely and with a primal scream, she leapt from the bed and tackled the alicorn. This action caused the Princess to stumble back a couple of steps out of surprise, but she embraced the unicorn who started sobbing into her chest. "There there, it's okay," she cooed.

"All six of you couldn't even help me, am I going to be like this forever?" Moonlight cried.

"No, I have one other option to try. I'm going to take you to see one of my predecessors and Luster is going to come along. I'm sure my friends would like to see them as well, but for now, I need them in Ponyville in case Sunrise tries something," Twilight stated.

"Aw man, why can't we go?" Rainbow protested.

"You heard Twilight, we are needed here, Rainbow", Applejack scolded.

"Thank you friends. Moonlight, get ready. I know you haven't had any sleep lately, but I'll cast a spell to refresh you before we leave. It won't be the same as sleep, but it'll help you keep going in this emergency situation. I'm going to go get Luster," the alicorn stated.

Moonlight nodded with a smile and as the six ponies left, she closed the door. Once she was alone, her smile turned to a frown. She could feel the presence of Nightmare Eclipse, it wasn't just in her dreams. She could feel her in the waking world. She hoped that this predecessor of Twilight's would be able to help her, but deep down, she doubted it.