Cozy Glow tried not to flinch as Princess Celestia gave her and her companions the harshest glare she had ever seen. "There isn't a punishment worthy of what you've done!"

Discord leaned over and whispered to the sisters, but Cozy heard them all the same. "You what I would do if I were..."

Celestia and Luna shared a knowing look. "Oh. That does seem fitting," Luna beamed.

Discord grinned. "May I help? Please?"

Celestia and Luna nodded. Combining their magic, they blasted the trio before them. Cozy felt her legs and then her whole body go numb as she was turned to stone. To the side, she heard Chrysalis snarl in rage.

She tried to fight it, but the magic was too strong. Her tears welled up as she looked again at the princesses. Both had looks that would have made King Sombra proud.

"Please. I never wanted this! I never wanted to be here," she tried, but the words barely came out as a whisper. "I just wanna go home. I want-" But she never got to finish the sentence as her mouth was turned to stone.

The last thing she remembered before her sight failed was the princesses turning away with a dismissive sniff.

"ENOUGH!"

Cozy's whole body jerked as the petrification was reversed. In a moment her body was flesh and blood again as she fell to the grass with a thump. Looking up, she watched as the scene around her faded into a starry void. From the void came a figure she knew.

"Princess Luna?" She asked, not trusting anything at the moment.

The Princess of the Night nodded, her face set in a calming smile. "Indeed. I had felt a disturbance in the Dream Realm this night. But I did not expect it to come from you."

Cozy looked around. "Golly. You mean all that was just a dream?"

Luna nodded. "Yes. Everything you saw from the moment you helped Princess Twilight with the fake Friendship University has been a dream. Or a nightmare to be more precise."

Before she could say more though, she felt Cozy Glow latch onto one of her legs and begin sobbing uncontrollably. Her smile softened as she looked down and wrapped the filly in a wing. They sat like that for a time before the sobs finally faded and her leg was let go. She still had questions, but for now, she waited.

Cozy wiped her eyes. "Why did it all feel so real? I felt myself turning to stone."

Luna nodded. It had been many a year, but she knew this magic. "Yes. It is called Elder Magic, or Deep Magic to some. In the Dream Realm, it makes everything feel as though it is actually happening to you for real."

Cozy wracked her brain. Professor Twilight had talked about this in her History of Magic Class, but very little of it had made sense to her. It seemed more fit for unicorns than Pegasi. She did remember one bit though. "Professor Twilight said that only the oldest alicorns know that magic."

Luna chuckled. "While I wish I could claim that is true, neither my sister or I know that magic. It is indeed beyond our ability to cast it."

That got Cozy's attention. "Then who did it?"

Luna shook her head. "We do not know her name. But there is one that even Celestia and I bow to. It is not this, Faust, ponies keep saying is one thing we know of for sure. One that is as above us in all sense as we are to most ponies."

Cozy didn't like the sound of that. "Is that a good thing?"

Luna shrugged. "I do not know. She rarely involves herself in matters like this as far as I know. But she must have seen a reason to do so now."

Cozy thought back to her dream and gulped. "Am I in trouble?"

Luna shook her head. "No. You are not the first to have such a dream of taking over Equestria. Nor do I think you will be the last either." She giggled after a moment. "Besides. If we delt with everyone who had the same dream, we wouldn't have time for anything else."

That did get a giggle out of Cozy. After a moment though, she gave Luna a look. "But I was with Tirek and Chrysalis, and some old goat named Grogar that turned out to be Discord."

Luna rolled her eyes. "It would just be like Discord to play the part of that old goat. But Grogar is long gone from Equestria thanks to Gusty. Chrysalis is powerless by herself, and Tirek is locked away in Tartarus. Sombra I will make sure that he is as dead we believe him to be."

She paused a moment. "I will make sure to check that Tirek is still safely locked away where he belongs of course." Her smile dropped though. "But I am curious as to why you had such a dream in the first place?"

Cozy shifted uncomfortably. Luna caught the shift and her smile returned. "I will not judge you Cozy Glow, but I cannot help you if I do not know more."

Cozy sighed after a moment and began her story.

***

Luna pondered this as Cozy finished her story. "I see. I must speak with Princess Twilight about all of this. This is out of my hooves."

Cozy looked worried at that. "Will I be in trouble?"

Luna shook her head. "I believe not. Princess Twilight is a reasonable mare with a big heart. She will know what to do."

That helped eased Cozy's fears a lot. "So um. Can I go back to sleep now? I kinda need it. I have a big test tomorrow with Professor Fluttershy."

Luna giggled as she patted her shoulder. "Indeed you can. I will make sure you only have good dreams for the rest of the night."

And true to her word, for the rest of the night, Cozy Glow had no more nightmares and dreamed only good dreams.

***

As she retreated from Cozy Glow's mind, Luna's own mind was troubled by what she had seen in the filly's nightmares. Discord doing something so stupid like this was not beyond the realm of possibility of course.

That King Sombra could somehow still be alive did worry her to a degree. But he relied on fear far too much and mind-controlled slaves. It had been how the Crystal Empire had first fallen to his rule.

She would be sure to go and speak with Princess Cadance and Shining Armor to make sure that it would never happen again. In the time since she and Celestia had developed ways to break his hold on any he could command.

Luna hoped it would not be needed in the days to come. But that was not all she had taken away from the nightmare that stood out to her.

She would have to talk that over with Celestia in the morning at breakfast. It would be an interesting conversation, to say the least.

Author's Note

Say goodbye to a lot of season 8 and all of season 9 as we know it. Everything past Friendship University now will change from what we know in some way.

What Lies Beneath has been erased entirely because the Tree of Harmony now has no reason to screw over the Mane 6 and go to the Young Six.

Past that, it's only minor changes to episodes. Chapters set during or after them will point the changes out.