Dreams of Forever

Somnia? Are you alright?

Slowly opening her eyes, the filly groaned at the sight of the crow pecking at her mane. “Buck. Off...”

It’s been twenty-three hours, Som. You need to get up.

“What I need is sleep.” She pulled the bedsheets over her head. “Go away.”

That is a lie, and if sleeping this long was normal, I would gladly let you do so. Excalion used her magic to throw the bed sheets off of the fussy filly. Enough! Get up!

“Leave me alone!” She swiped at the crow, hoof passing through it without harm. “What the buck do you want from me?!”

Answers for a start. She tilted her head. Are you alright? Truly, are you?

“What the buck do you think?! I can’t buck, I can’t feel pain, I can’t even go to sleep on my own anymore without reliving it over and over again! What the buck am I supposed to be feeling?!”

The crow blinked with its eye. You do feel pain, just not in the way you understood before. Excalion hopped closer to her bloodied hooves. You’ve been biting your hooves while you attempt to rest. Both Grar and I also feel pain of the physical sort, but it takes getting used to the change in how it’s handled compared to how it was before. Think about the past few days, how you’ve been using your foreleg as a gag when practicing with Dawn. The pain you’re feeling is there, but you are choosing not to feel it.

I ask again, are you alright?

“Buck you!” She hopped down from her bed and trotted into the bathroom. One quick shower later, she marched from her room toward the dining hall where, hopefully, she would be alone.

“Good–“ Twilight yawned as her daughter came trotting in, Duskwing reading the paper next to her and Nightwind across the table dozing off. “–morning, Som. How did you sleep?”

“I didn’t.” She sat down, slamming her head against the table.

“That’s...” Twilight straightened up. “You didn’t?”

“I can’t.” The filly said under her breath.

“What–”

“I can’t!” Somnia shot up. “I can’t sleep! If I try, I get nightmares! If I try to stop the nightmares, I wake up!”

“Somnia, are you–“ Duskwing tried asking before she growled in frustration, jumping from her chair and cantering from the room. “That isn’t a good sign.”

“No...” Twilight leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder. “She’s had nightmares before, but she always seemed to push through them.”

He petted Twilight’s mane. “Has she spoken to you about what they did to her when she was foalnapped?”

“Wait, she was foalnapped?” Nightwind lifted his head up from across the table.

“No, she hasn’t.” Twilight let out a sigh. “But Dawn and Shield did talk to me about her. They’re worried about her mental health.”

“But why now? It’s been well over a month since the foalnapping.” Duskwing pushed Twilight’s head off of him as she almost dozed off.

“Maybe it’s settling in a bit more. She was doing so well for a while there.” Twilight shook her head. “I wish she would just tell me what she’s feeling. I want to help her, but she just gets angry if I ask.”

“Wait, she was foalnapped?!” Nightwind tried again. “When?! What happened?!”

“Remember how she looked at the Traders Exchange? That wasn’t even nearly as bad as what she looked like in the hospital.” Twilight nodded, letting out another yawn. “I need to get going to the boutique with Owlowiscious. Duskwing, can you please check on her while I’m gone? If she’s in the lab, talk to Shield and he’ll let you down there.”

“No problem.” He gave her a quick peck, giving a quick smile to her. “Try not to fall asleep on the way to your friends.”

Back again? Excalion set down on the headboard of Somnia’s bed. You can’t stay here forever.

“Why not? It’s not like anypony wants me around.” She mumbled as a knock came from the door. “Whoever you are, go away!”

“Somnia! It’s me, Nightwind!” The colt called out from the other side. “I-I didn’t know you were foalnapped. Are you alright?”

“Yes! Now leave me alone!”

Another minute passed before another knock came from the door. “I swear, if it’s–”

“I’m not leaving.” Nightwind said from the other side. “You need to talk about whatever happened.”

“What I need is for you to go away!”

A pause. “No. I’m not leaving you alone. I don’t like seeing you like this.”

Somnia pulled the pillow over her head and grumbled to herself as the door opened and her coltfriend trotted in while Excalion flew out, closing the door behind her. He sat on the edge of her bed and touched her back, sending shivers up and down her spine.

“I’m not leaving.”

She stayed silent in the hopes he would just leave, but he stayed put. Several minutes passed as they both waited in silence, his hoof moving in a slow line, rubbing her back.

“Want to hear about what Apple Bloom and I have been up to?”

“Probably bucking like changelings during mating season.” She grumbled into her pillow.

“We haven’t.” He laid down next to her, taking the pillow from her head so their eyes met, frowns complimenting one another. “We’ve been talking a lot about our fears and doubts. She’s still worried about getting her cutie mark. Thinks it’s too late for her, or that it’s going to be something she doesn’t like. Sweetie and Scootaloo have been trying to help get her away from all that cutie mark stuff, but she won’t let it go.”

The filly stayed silent, stewing on what he said. “I’ve been helping her get through those feelings. It hasn’t worked so far, but she has cried on my shoulder more than a few times. I want you to know that I’m here for you, like I am for her.”

Somnia sniffled, turning to the blood stain between them. She brought a hoof to her mouth and bit down on it, making Nightwind a bit more uncomfortable as fresh blood dripped onto the sheets.

No pain... She closed her eyes, trying to get anything from it besides the feeling of pressure. With a simple touch on her face from Nightwind, she let go of her hoof and opened her eyes to stare down at the self-inflicted wound rapidly healing. But why do I feel like I’m in pain?

“Som, do you want to tell me how it started?” He asked, scooting closer to hug her. “I won’t judge you, I promise.”

She took a few deep, ragged breaths, fighting back the thoughts. Would he understand? Did he remember when they first started dating? Her eyes slammed shut, muzzle scrunching up as she fought back the words. Nopony could know. H-He’d tell her mom and dad. He’d...

He’d be there for her. “I-I was raped.”

He flinched against her, but kept holding on, staying quiet until she continued. “I was foalnapped from the edge of town and brought into the forests. The griffon mercenaries used me as their personal plaything. T-They kept going, and going...” She choked back on her tears. “T-They threw me to the ground like n-nothing but a toy. T-Then... T-Th-Then–“ She hugged Nightwind even tighter, letting out a breathy sob into his chest.

Nightwind held onto her tight for several minutes, Somnia occasionally letting out another sob into his fur. It terrified him to know that his special somepony had gone through that, his trembling hoof rubbing her back to let her know he wasn’t going anywhere. That he would be there for her. “I-I’m scared.” She said after a bit. “I d-don’t want to feel s-something like that ever again.”

He moved his hooves along her back, getting a flinch out of her as he touched her wings, his marefriend whimpering into his shoulder as he rubbed them slow. “They pulled out your primaries, right? Had to regrow them from the root?” She gave a nod into his fur. “They feel like they’re back now.” He turned his attention to her horn. Besides the weird second-horn-thing growing from the back, it had healed back to how it was. Using his tongue, he licked it from base to tip, getting a moan from the filly before the whimpers took over.

“You’re one of the strongest ponies I know, Som. But even you aren’t invincible. You’ve healed in every way except one, and that’s what seems to be hurting you. You need to let go of the pain, to replace that bad with something good, and I think I know how.”

They kept in that same position, Nightwind rubbing her wings and licking her horn for a few minutes until her body tightened up and her breathing became labored. He persisted until she finally turned up to his face, wanting more.

With her body rolling atop his, she brought him in for a deep kiss while she coaxed his shaft from its sheath with a hoof. Her marehood ground against it, her hooves rubbing his dick as she repeatedly kissed him, lips parting against his member and exciting him further. Once she released the kisses and moved up a little, she positioned it for entry. Slowly, she lowered herself onto it, whimpering out loud as she pushed it deeper and deeper.

Now fully inside, she kept her eyes closed and shook her head, but moved her hips up and down, each one taking several seconds to complete. He stayed still, letting her do what she needed to while giving her an encouraging, gentle smile. A minute of laborious motions later, she pulled him out fully and rolled onto the bed beside him. “I-I c-can’t...” she whimpered, breaking down into another fit of tears. “I-I’m s-so sorry...”

“You have nothing to be sorry about. It wasn’t your fault. None of it was. You just need more time, and I’ll be with you the entire way if that’s what you need. Even if it takes years. I may have never gone through something like that, but I want to understand what you’re feeling so I can help you. You have the strength to overcome what happened, Som. I know you do.” He cuddled against her as she wept, petting her mane.

There they laid for what felt like hours, cuddling closer into one another’s embrace. After waiting for a while, her whimpering died down, Nightwind giving one last kiss on the forehead before closing his eyes to have a nap. She would be safe with him.

It won’t go away, even in here. Grar commented as the filly paced around her own personal prison.

“Well, what the buck am I going to do?! Nothing has worked! Nightwind and Dawn tried getting me used to it, but it isn’t working!”

Have you tried reliving the memory? Coming to terms that it happened and that it is over?

“Isn’t that exactly what I’ve been trying to do this entire time?!”

No, you’ve been avoiding it like the Chillrend Blight. Every time something reminds you of what happened, you shove it away into another part of your mind to fester into something different. You haven’t opened it back up to relive it on your own, only experiencing it when you didn’t want to, at least as I’m aware. I know what that does to you, Som. I've done the same thing before. The pain gets worse, and will only continue getting worse.

Somnia continued to pace back and forth a bit more, scratching her head until her scalp bled. It was temporary, as is everything in the dream realm, but it still–

It hurt. It actually hurt. Her eyes went to her now bloody hoof, the hoof reaching back up to touch the spot. The area had been completely healed, but it still hurt...

Wait, hold on, something is attempting to breach the protections on our external dreamscape.

With a quick transfer into the other segment, Somnia opened the way for whoever it was. A blackish-blue blob resembling the night sky entered, spotting her before moving forward to try encircling.

“Oh, please.” She lit her horn and threw it into a mental ‘cage’, closing the entrance she had made. Whatever the thing was, it was now trapped. “Do you communicate, or are you just a malevolent entity?”

It didn’t answer her, only attempting to free itself from the cage by ramming into the ‘bars’. With an ignition of her horn, she scanned it over from top to bottom, scrunching up her eyebrows. Luna? “Huh. So she sent a messenger? Or are you supposed to be some sort of pathetic assassin?”

The blob responded by trying to break the cage, pounding against the surrounding barriers in a futile attempt to escape.

“Not talkative?” She scanned it deeper, confirming it was indeed from Luna. That much was obvious based on the ‘memories’ it had in storage. Somnia laid next to the cage and began sifting through the thoughts, closing her eyes.

Different scenes played out before her eyes.

“Let’s see how much our subjects appreciate the night when you’re trapped on the moon, Tia. The night shall last forever, and you will NEVER stand against it again!”
“Commander, we need thou to mobilize the garrisons in preparation for the fourteenth of Sol Maxia. Strike at noon, and give no quarter.”
“There can be only one princess in Equestria! And that princess... WILL BE ME!”‘
“Oh, my little pony, you have nothing to fear. The sun is often cruel, yet the night should be a time of joy. Come to my embrace. For unlike the sun, the moon gives peace, and the nightmare protects.”
“Oh, my beloved subjects. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your precious little sun-loving faces.”
“Do what you need to... just make sure she’s ours by the end of it.”
“I don’t care what you do! As long as it isn’t permanent and you don’t kill her, break her however you see fit!”

Opening back up her eyes, Somnia laid not in front of the blob, but a fictitious version of Nightmare Moon.

“What are you?”

“Tantabus.” Its wispy voice echoed around the dreamscape.

“What is your purpose?”

“Nightmares.”

“Why?”

“Guilt.”

Somnia winced and checked the memories again, this time related to this ‘Tantabus’.

“This is what happens when you try! LOOK AT THEM! Why would we ever forgive you?!”
“P-Please! NO! GO AWAY! I-I don’t want to! N-No! Not again! P-Please n-no...”
“My, she just looks hideous, doesn’t she? Whatever did the designer think when making something so vile? Good riddance, I say.”
“H-Harry, I- EEP! P-Please stop! I-I- H-Harry?! STOP!”
“weoch wseuncth wofewnuof quofow ginsfguo hehehehe”
“P-Please get up... Please... D-Dusking, I-I can’t lose you...”

She jumped to her hooves and backed away. “What that buck?!” She knew Celestia and Luna were behind the foalnapping, that they played a part in the rapes, and that Luna genuinely felt bad about it, but this was just... No, no more. Enough ponies have already suffered.

Discover anything? Grar asked.

“Yeah. Luna needs help.” Somnia released the Tantabus and reopened the way out for it. Once gone, she awoke.

Opening her eyes, she spotted the drooling mouth of Nightwind in front of her, sleeping sound on her cloud bed. She had to smile at the sight. He really was handsome when he was embarrassed or tuckered out. As she sat up in the bed, her eyes briefly glanced along his flank, causing her to focus her vision on the sight.

He got his cutie mark, but it differed from the one he had back in Excalicorn. She crawled down to it, running her hoof along the design. Two brains, one dark and one bright, connected by six colored strands. Her mind ran through the possibilities of what it could mean, coming to only one sensible conclusion.

Checking the time, she realized it was getting close to sunset, shaking her lover awake. He choked on some of his saliva as he flinched back, slowly opening his eyes. “Som?”

“Nightwind.” Her smile grew as stared into his eyes. “You got your cutie mark.”

“Huh?!” He sat up and checked his flank, a smile crossing his face briefly before faltering. “B-But what does it mean? I didn’t even do anything.”

“I think I have an idea.” Somnia kissed him, holding it as long as possible for the colt, all the while rubbing his chest until he had to pull away to breathe. “It’s not the same as it was back in Excalicorn, but it’s so much better. You’ll come to understand what your cutie mark means on your own.” She bit her lip, tearing up. “I’m glad you were here for me when I needed you. I know what I need to do now, how I can feel better about what happened to me. Thank you.”

“Uhh...” He tried saying something, but the filly simply hopped down from her bed and left out of the room before he could ask his question.

“Spike!” Somnia called out as she trotted around the castle. “Spiiike!”

Moving down to the throne room, she continued her search for him. She tried knocking hard on his bedroom door, checking the bathroom with that vertical mirror he likes to check out his muscles in, even checked the attic in case he got stuck up there somehow. Somnia slowed time and sped her way to Carousel Boutique. As she checked the door, only a sigh escaped her lips. Locked.

Next stop was Fluttershy’s. She casually trotted through the town, watching the ponies go about their evening routines, leaving the streets to head for the cottage. Once she knocked on the door, Angel Bunny answered. But he was as helpful as always, even if he didn’t hate her guts. Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac had no clue where Applejack was. Finally defeated, she made her way back to the ‘Friendship Castle’, or whatever they were calling the giant crystal tree.

The sun traded places on the horizon as she trotted past Dawn; the stallion giving a lazy wave. “Som, just a heads up. Luna is coming by soon. Your mom wanted me to tell you so that you aren’t surprised.”

She stopped at the door. “Where?”

“Tartarus if I know. Just that sometime- Okay, there.” He pointed up at the incoming Princess of the Night landing on the upper balcony. Somnia entered the castle and proceeded to the upper floor, spotting her dejected dad walking along with a pillow and blanket draped over him.

“Where’s mom?”

“Our room.” He motioned his head back in the direction he came, the filly trotting past him. “Not even a goodnight?”

“Goodnight, dad!” she called back, making her way directly to the royal suite. Once she pushed open the doors, she saw the element bearers laying on several beds laid out around the room with Luna in the center.

“Somnia?” Twilight sat up in her bed. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”

“I’m not the only one.” She approached Luna, the regal sister standing firm, frowning down at her. “I know what you’ve done. I know about the Tantabus and your guilt. Are you ready to talk, or do you want to keep putting this off?”

The princess reached out a hoof. “Somnia, there is much you don’t–“ She slapped Luna’s outstretched hoof away from her.

“I know about you torturing yourself for what you’ve done.”

Each of the elements stared at Luna, the princess grinding her teeth. “I did this on my own. I must be the one to defeat the Tantabus.”

“Yeah, but you can’t do it alone. You need help.” Somnia hopped up onto her mother’s bed. “Take me with you. My dream manipulation is a lot stronger than it was before.” She gave a coy smile. “It’ll also give us an opportunity to talk.”

“I will not have you assist in defeating my own demons!” Luna snapped back at her. “Why do you even care? This has nothing to do with you!”

“Clearly, it does, otherwise my mom wouldn’t be here. I saw the nightmares it caused for my mom and her friends. I know the cruelty it inflicted because you designed it to serve as penance. It won’t work.”

“Somnia, what are you talking–“ The filly put her hoof over her mother’s mouth.

“Am I in, or not?”

“Fine. But stay out of my way.” Luna shook her head as each of the elements settled in for bed, Somnia closing her eyes and awaiting Luna’s prodding.

“Are you happy now?” Luna grabbed the filly from her personal dreamscape to drag into the dream pathways.

“No, but it isn’t about being happy. It’s about setting things right.” She said as Luna and her transferred to the first dreamer. The magical energy tunnel reminded Somnia of some amusement park activities back in Excalicorn, with the rapidly shifting colors and strange geography.

Both were squished into one another as they were forced into the dreamer’s mind, pink surrounding them. As they burst from the fabric, Somnia saw they stumbled into Rarity’s dream with a darkened abstract indoor surrounding. Both ponies searched the area for the Tantabus, its demonic dresses taking notice and redirecting toward them.

Somnia trotted forward as Luna took flight. As she charged her horn, Somnia realized that outside of her own mind that it would require actual effort to defeat these nightmares. She fired off a few rounds in quick succession, vaporizing the attack-dresses.

The Tantabus continued to fly around corrupting more dresses as Luna and Rarity tried fighting them off. Closing her eyes, Somnia could see the connection to Luna now as clear as day, both entities connected by subtle strands that became more visible the closer they got. Her hunch was correct: this beast was a part of Luna that she sectioned off, not merely a created abomination. While she was thinking of how best to go about defeating it, the Tantabus made one last burst of corrupting energy before fleeing through an open window.

Luna blew open the ‘brick wall’ the Tantabus had filled the window with when it fled, rushing after it. Looking up at the opening, Somnia considered going after her. We can’t defeat it if we’re going to be rushing from dream to dream. It needs to be isolated with her.

“Somnia! Aren’t you going after her?” Rarity fired another laser at more incoming dresses.

“No, because this isn’t going to work.” Somnia let out a sigh, turning back to help Rarity fend off the assaulting nightmares. “She won’t be able to catch it like this.”

“What did you mean she felt guilty?” Rarity blew up another one, spreading ruined pieces of fabric onto the ground before they slowly faded away. “I don’t understand what she could possibly be guilty for.”

“Everything.” Somnia gritted her teeth while she charged up an energy shockwave. “All the harm and suffering she has caused. She believes it will offer her salvation for those she’s hurt, but it is only prolonging the suffering.”

Unleashing the blast, Somnia obliterated the remaining dresses and collapsed the dreamscape into an open field outside of Ponyville. “You should be safe now. I should go check on the others.”

“Thank you, Somnia.” Rarity waved off the filly as she flew back into the magical tunnels. A quick check on Pinkie Pie revealed she wasn’t having any issues. Not surprising, given her chaotic nature. Next was Fluttershy.

As she burst from the nearby forest, Somnia spotted Fluttershy cowering atop a tree while a giant grotesque parody of Angel Bunny tried scratching and clawing its way up to her. Quickly flying over, Somnia charged her horn and vaporized the nightmare abomination before repeating the process of collapsing the dreamscape into a generic field.

“Are you alright?” She asked as she landed next to the weeping Fluttershy.

“W-Why did you h-have to kill Angel?!” she cried into her hooves.

Somnia narrowed her eyes at Fluttershy, marching up and grabbing her. “That wasn’t Angel. That was merely a nightmare. Don’t think for a second that it would have shown you any mercy.”

“B-But you didn’t h-have to–”

“If it could feel something, it would have been over before it knew it. I did what I had to, for your sake.” Somnia let go of Fluttershy and looked around. With a great sigh, she focused on the pegasus that was slowly recovering. “We need to talk to each other about what happened at the gala.”

“A-Are you g-going to apologize?” Fluttershy crossed her forelegs as she glared at Somnia, giving a few last sniffles.

“No, I’m not.” She kept her gaze focused on Fluttershy’s. “I’m not going to apologize because I did nothing wrong. It may have sounded harsh, but I firmly believe it to be correct. Did my mom tell you why I think that?”

“Yes...” Fluttershy’s ears fell back against her head. “It’s just so–”

Both were thrown back out into the wakeful world as the dreamscape collapsed. All the elements bolting up in their beds gasping.

“What happened? Are you guys okay?” Spike hopped down from his bed and went over to Rarity.

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you to come along!” Luna turned on the filly. “Where were you?!”

“Helping Rarity and Fluttershy rather than chasing my own tail!” Somnia shot back. “We won’t be able to defeat it if it can keep bouncing between different dreamers!”

“I will eventually, so long as none of you dreamt about another pony, the Tantabus remains confined to your dreams, meaning I can continue to patrol you six until it finally is caught.” Luna looked at the others in the room.

“Phew, that’s good to hear! Although after you left, I did happen to dream that the whole town was partying with cheesy string and candy confetti for Filthy Rich’s birthday.” Pinkie added, to the shock of the other elements and Luna.

“Bucking. Seriously?” Somnia groaned, falling back onto her pillow.

Twilight facehoofed. “But that means the Tantabus could be turning every dream in Ponyville into a nightmare!”

“It is far worse than that. Infecting all those dreams gives it more and more power. Soon it will be able to escape into the real world and infect Equestria with its nightmare plague!” Luna bit her lip as she tried thinking of a solution.

“Hey, crazy idea, but what if we were all having the same dream?” Rainbow suggested.

“I... can create shared dreams, yes, but for so many ponies at once? I have never done anything like that. The amount of power it would take...”

“Well, it is worth a try, isn’t it?” Fluttershy provided a gentle smile to Luna.

“Of course. I will do anything to end this, including accept your help. I cannot allow the Tantabus to escape into the real world. All of you must now go back to sleep and hope that I can create such a dream.”

Everypony present began settling down into bed, all except two. With one last glare at Luna, Somnia didn’t even want to consider the ramifications of her misguided actions. She rolled her eyes and settled next to her mother, snuggling into her.

Here we go again...

“Yup, this is strange.” Somnia commented at the nighttime sight of Ponyville with flying muffins and dream logic. Buildings warped, lamp posts would be upside down or walk on their own, and everything had a fuzzy feel to it. The purple in the night sky was exaggerated more than the real world, her soul sight finding the tendrils of Luna’s magic within it. Okay, maybe she’s stronger than I gave her credit for.

Her mother gasped from beside her. “Luna did it!”

“Ponies!” Luna called out from the center of the town square, ponies rushing over to bow to her. “That is no time for bowing, my friends! There is something coming, something terrible! No, it is already here!” She pointed to the massive cosmic blob that flew over the town, letting out a growl which rippled the false air, ponies scattering screaming.

Somnia took flight to hover next to her mother’s ear. “Hey, mom, you and the elements distract the Tantabus. I need to talk to Luna.”

“Wouldn’t you like to help?” She suggested, rubbing a hoof along Somnia’s cheek.

“I am, but it can’t be allowed to escape. Please, just keep it busy.”

With a nod, Twilight went off to talk to the other elements while Somnia made her way over to Luna who was struggling to keep the dreamscape together, landing in front of her.

“Luna, we need to talk.”

“Everypony can hear, Somnia. Now is not the best time.”

“No, now’s the only time.” Somnia laid down in front of her, poking at the imaginary soil with a hoof. “The Tantabus cannot be defeated by normal means. It’s a part of you. To destroy it would be like cutting off your own leg. It needs to be defeated by you and only you.”

“I’m already well aware of that.” The Princess of the Night grimaced at the filly.

“No, you’re not.” She turned over to where the elements were assaulting the nightmare blob. “It is fed by your guilt. Without it, you lose that part of yourself. It can’t be defeated without you coming to terms with what you’ve done and moving on. You can’t keep it separate from you like this.”

“I needed to punish myself for what I did as Nightmare Moon, and for all the suffering I caused. I deserve this! I deserve to suffer for my actions!” She closed her eyes to focus on the shared dream, a roar from the Tantabus signaling an increase in its severity.

“You don’t need that to suffer.” Somnia stood back up, her eyes tearing up and her mind set. “You really don’t understand what suffering can do for you. But I do, and I will show you.”

The filly disappeared from the dreamscape, a confused Luna staring at the empty spot where Somnia once stood. In a blinding flash of light, the dreamscape began disintegrating around everypony as they ejected from the shared dream. The last thing heard was the horrendous screech from the Tantabus as its very being was forcefully sent back into Luna.

Everypony would awake from the nightmare.

Except for her and Somnia.

Each of the elements shot up in their beds, their eyes focusing on the scene unfolding at the center of the room. Bits of energy arced from the filly as she held her head to Luna’s, both frozen in place as the surrounding air ionized. Each didn’t breath, merely forced to watch on in horror as Luna was brought to her knees. Urine ran down the legs of both princesses at the epicenter, whimpers coming from each for whatever they were experiencing. Luna’s tears fell from her face, her body shaking along with her cousin’s.

After two minutes of agonizing crackling, the entire field collapsed. Somnia fell to the ground, her body undergoing a seizure while Luna jumped into the air, crashing into the ceiling before falling to the floor. She scooted along her haunches toward the wall, hyperventilating and looking around in terror before quickly getting onto her shaking hooves and blasting the doors to the balcony to pieces, leaping into the night.

A moment later, a bright light engulfed the room, Princess Celestia hovering above and looking around at each of the terrified ponies. “Twilight, what happened?”

Twilight finally let go of the breath she was holding along with the others. She took several deep breaths as she stared at her daughter that finally stopped seizing on the floor.

The princess landed and stepped over the urine puddles, making her way to Twilight’s bedside to check on her student. “You don’t know what happened, do you?”

“Heh... I...” Her face contorted as she let go a few sparks from her horn. “Wow...”

Rainbow rubbed her erected wings. “Woah, right...”

“T-That was even more intense than last time.” Rarity giggled a bit, magical overflow sparking from her own horn.

“That’s because it was the same as what happened at the hospital.” Celestia checked Twilight’s eye movement. “I don’t doubt the rest of you are in shock still.”

“What in tarnation did she do to Princess Luna?” Applejack wondered aloud as the filly slowly got to her hooves. Celestia turned to Somnia, examining her with narrowed eyes.

“I did what she needed. I showed her the results of her actions.” Somnia stated, keeping her gaze on Celestia. “Maybe you could learn a thing or two as well, but right now, you need to go stop her from killing herself.”

“What do you–“ Twilight didn’t finish before Celestia bolted for the balcony and took flight. “Somnia?” Her daughter walked past her. “What happened? What did you do?”

“Accepted her apology.” Somnia said before walking out, leaving the elements to only wonder what happened.

Trudging her way back to the dining hall, Somnia let out a satisfied yawn. A good night’s sleep, finally. No nightmares, no rude guests, nothing but blissful sleep.

As she pushed open the doors, it didn’t surprise her to see Celestia’s scowl and her mother’s nervous concern. Also unsurprisingly, her dad was calmly reading the morning paper while sipping his coffee. She sat down next to Celestia and put her head on her hoof.

After a painful minute of silence, Celestia finally spoke. “Did you sleep well?”

“Better than I have since I was foalnapped.” Somnia grinned up at her.

“Well, I’m glad you are happy with what you’ve done.” Celestia said, voice dripping with sarcasm and eyes narrowing on her. “Do you have any idea what I had to do in order to get Luna contained?”

“No, but you did get her contained, did you not?”

“Somnia, Luna tried killing herself in the Ghastly Gorge.” Twilight gulped back the lump in her throat. “What did you do to her?”

“Even I don’t know what you did. Luna wasn’t very keen on sharing, besides repeating ‘I’m sorry’ again and again.” Celestia added.

“I showed her the consequences of her actions, or one particular action, anyway.” She turned to her mother. “I also ‘defeated’ the Tantabus for her. If Luna wants to hurt herself because of her actions in the past, I’m going to make sure she understands the full weight of those actions. She can live with the guilt on its own, not just the illusion of penance through a perceived third-party.”

“I have her under house-arrest for the foreseeable future.” Celestia sighed, turning back to Twilight. “Which means she won’t be attending any events. I’m also taking over her duty of raising and lowering the moon since she cannot be trusted with her magic. Twilight, are you willing to take over her administrative duties while she recovers?”

“Y-Yeah, I can do that.” She kept her eyes on her daughter, wondering what she could have possibly shared with Luna to cause such an extreme reaction.

“I would like to talk to her when she starts feeling better. It’s only appropriate that I follow-up about what I showed her.” Somnia stared down the eldest princess. “I’m certain that won’t be a problem?”

“If she wants to see you, I’ll allow it.” Celestia glared at the filly before turning back to Twilight. “The papers will be by later tonight. I’m afraid I must return to Canterlot to perform damage control for the magical burst.”

With that, the Princess of the Sun got up and left, leaving three ponies sitting at the table.

“Would somepony care to explain why I had to sleep on the couch last night and rudely awoken by a wingboner?” Duskwing put down his paper. Twilight sighed, turning to him, and began explaining the situation.