Chapters At one point, Princess Luna had created a nightmarish creature called the Tantabus to punish herself for the terror she caused as Nightmare Moon. Twilight and her friends urged Luna to forgive herself, and she did, which destroyed the Tantabus before it could escape the dream realm and turn Equestria into a living nightmare.
Little does anyone know that a smalll fragment of the monster has managed to escape and seclude itself in the frozen northern regions, where it has mutated and become strong again. Luna is about to experience the worst nightmare in her life. Can the Tantabus be stopped for good, or will Equestria be turned into a living nightmare this time?
One evening in Silver Shoals, Celestia and Luna were about to go to sleep when the room suddenly became basked in an eerie violet light with white sparkles. Looking out the window, the two sisters saw a mass of violet light filled with sparkles similar to stars.
"What's happening?", asked Celestia in a state of worry.
Luna suddenly realized what she and her sister were seeing.
"This is impossible. I destroyed it when I forgave myself for what I did as Nightmare Moon.", said Luna with a shudder.
"Are you talking about that nightmarish creature you created and called the Tantabus?", asked Celestia.
"Yes."
Before either of the sisters could do anything, a stream of energy shot forth from the mass of light and smashed through the window, grabbing Luna by the horn. Celestia tried to use her magic to pull Luna back, but the Tantabus had other ideas. It released another blast and struck Celestia in the face, knocking her unconscious. When she woke up, Luna was gone. Knowing time was critical, Celestia sent a scroll to Twilight, detailing the situation.
**
Flurry Heart was visiting Twilight on vacation when the scroll came in the morning. After Twilight had read the message; she summoned Flurry to meet her as fast as possible.
"What seems to be the sudden problem, Aunt Twilight?", asked Flurry.
"Celestia is calling for help. Luna has been captured by something she thought was destroyed. Years ago, she created a nightmarish creature, called the Tantabus, to punish herself for her evil deeds as Nightmare Moon. We thought it had been destroyed, but a small piece has seemingly escaped and captured Luna.", Twilight explained.
"How come I never knew about this at an earlier time?", asked Flurry.
"This happened before you were born, Flurry. So it happened long before I had the idea to create a friendship school.", said Twilight.
Once Flurry agreed to help rescue Luna and stop the Tantabus, Twilight sent a reply to Celestia as Flurry Heart geared up and set off.
When Luna awoke, she was held tight against the wall in what seemed to be a cavern. When she tried to move, she saw to her horror that her hooves were bound in shackles made of purple light. Just then, a figure made of the same light and in the shape of her entered the room. Luna knew all too well that this was the Tantabus.
"How in Equestria did you get out? I was sure that I had destroyed you completely.", Luna asked in an angry confrontation.
"That's what you think. There was a small fragment of me that broke loose before you reabsorbed me. That fragment was far too weak to release the dark energy. I secluded myself in this cave until I had grown strong enough to try again. Now I can drain the darkness and guilt from your heart and mind until I am ready to envelop this world in a pure nightmare.", growled the Tantabus in reply.
Luna shuddered nervously as beams began flowing from her horn and her chest. This feeling was cold and was very similar to hypothermia. Before passing out, she concentrated enough of her power to create a beacon and hopefully show rescuers where she was.
**
Flurry Heart met Celestia in a flash after traveling to Silver Shoals. As she began searching for any clues that would point to Luna's whereabouts, she felt something in her horn. Closing her eyes, she examined the feeling in her mind and determined it was the beacon that Luna had created.
"What do you see?", asked Celestia.
"Luna created a beacon to show where she has been taken. I will save her myself.", said Flurry.
Celestia wished Flurry good luck as she set off. Flurry headed north to the frozen regions and eventually found the cave where Luna's beacon was originating. She charged up her horn to prepare for the worst.
As Flurry snuck quietly through the cavern, she began to hear the sound of heavy breathing and suspected that Luna was in pain. Arriving in the main chamber, she saw the Tantabus with several beams running from it to Luna who was bound to the wall. Charging her magic to its maximum, she fired a blast which struck the Tantabus square in the back, knocking it unconscious. Luna suddenly felt warmth again and woke up with a snap. Flurry rushed over and began using her alicorn magic to break the shackles.
"Princess Luna, are you alright?", Flurry asked as she released the last shackle and Luna dropped to the ground.
"Yes, I'm okay. However, we need to destroy the Tantabus before it unleashes its nightmare plague on Equestria.", replied Luna.
The Tantabus was starting to wake up as Luna replied to Flurry, but Flurry saw this and quickly fired a blast to hold it back.
"So, another alicorn has come to challenge me.", said the Tantabus with a grin.
"Final showdown.", growled Luna as she charged up her horn in unison with Flurry Heart.
As Luna and Flurry charged up their horns, the Tantabus began charging up its power in order to envelop Equestria in an eternal nightmare. The two princesses noticed this and got in position to block the nightmarish waves from exiting the cavern. When the Tantabus released the blasts, Luna and Flurry put up shields to protect themselves and to seal the cavern's entrance. The blasts bounced off the shields and struck the Tantabus, which had the effect of weakening it at the same time. Seeing an opportunity, Luna and Flurry dropped their shields and fired their blasts of light and purity.
The beams wrapped themselves around the Tantabus and gave it the feeling of being burned by hot coals, which resulted in agonizing screams being let out. Once the light had cleared, Luna saw that the energy which the Tantabus had seized from her was leaking out. In the blink of an eye, she fired off a beam to reabsorb the energy. The Tantabus was greatly weakened at this point. Luna knew that the final blow would be a breeze since the power had been reduced. She looked at Flurry and they both nodded.
"Your goal was never meant to be.", said Luna as her horn lit up.
"You will never terrorize Equestria.", said Flurry as she charged her horn.
The two princesses fired off their beams in a way that they converged into one and struck the Tantabus where its heart would have been.
"NO!", cried the Tantabus as the energy neutralized its own power.
After 20 seconds of constantly blasting energy at the Tantabus, Luna and Flurry had completely neutralized the threat and destroyed the nightmarish creature. Letting out a sigh of relief, they parted ways and headed home after hugging and wishing each other the best for the rest of their life.