In the swirling chaos of the dreamscape, Princess Luna struggled to maintain her grip on reality. Shadows danced around the dreamscape. Ominous. Unrelenting. The Tantabus loomed ever larger over the valiantly fighting citizens of Ponyville. It was relentless. Luna felt their struggle. Her strength wavered with each passing moment. She blasted another strand of magic to tighten her hold on the dreams.
“I cannot hold this dream together much longer,” she called out, her voice straining with effort. “Equestria will fall because of me.”
The admission hung heavily in the air, casting a shadow of doom that sent a chill through everypony within vicinity.
“Am I crazy, or did it just get even bigger after Luna said that?” Spike called over his shoulder to Twilight, who had taken position next to the visibly struggling princess.
Twilight’s mind whirred with realization, her eyes wide with understanding. “I think it’s eating off your guilt, Princess Luna!”
The weight of her own remorse bore down on Luna like a physical force as the realization struck her as well. “If that is so, then perhaps that is how it grew strong enough to escape in the first place!” She gulped as she watched the Tantabus visibly grow at that moment. She could almost feel its triumph as it fed on her guilt.
“Say what now?” Applejack’s incredulity broke through the tension, a reminder of the stakes they faced.
Luna could only watch helplessly as the Tantabus tore a hole into the nightsky. The real world shimmered, her sister’s sun shining on the other side. She grit her teeth.
“I created the Tantabus to give myself the same nightmare every night,” each word was like a shard piercing her heart. “To punish myself for the evil I caused as Nightmare Moon.”
Fluttershy’s gentle voice carried a compassion that Luna struggled to accept. “But why would you do that?”
“To make sure I never forgave myself for how much Equestria suffered because of me,” Luna bit out, voice heavy with tension. “But it seems I have not learned my lesson, for now I have only made you suffer more.”
The weight of her words settled over the group like a mental shroud. The fight picked up as the Tantabus began to walk through the tore it created.
Twilight seized upon a thread of hope. “But that means you might just be the key to stopping all this!”
“Yeah, if it gets strong because you feel bad about what you did as Nightmare Moon, then you just gotta stop feeling bad for what you did,” Rainbow yelled with her characteristic bluntness as she circled the Tantabus in the air.
Luna’s stared helplessly, her heart wraught with despair and breath heaving as the weight of hundreds of dreams tightened on her horn. Oh, if only it were that simple. How could she forgive herself when the past was an unchangeable testament to her failure?
Her thoughts twisted in a spiral of self-recrimination. It was more than an obligation; it was a duty, a debt she could never repay. Her mistakes loomed large, an ever-present reminder that she should be doing more, should have done more. The past was a shadow she could not outrun.
“How can I forgive myself?” Luna cried out, her vision blurred with tears. “I am no better now than I was then. My creation is about to turn the world into a living nightmare!”
living nightmare
living nightmare
living nightmare
…
Despair enwrapped Luna, blocking out everything else. In the midst of her turmoil, she vaguely heard Twilight’s voice, a distant reassurance about how she was no longer Nightmare Moon, and to trust them.
“— look at what you're doing!” Twilight continued, her voice clear and steady. “Nightmare Moon would have wanted the Tantabus to turn Equestria into a nightmare. You're doing everything you can to stop it. Don’t you see?”
Luna did not see.
Her mind was a storm, her inner voice harsh and unforgiving. It’s an obligation, a necessity to make amends. Every attempt to change felt inadequate, a futile effort against an insurmountable tide.
Twilight pressed on, her sincerity piercing through the fog of Luna’s despair. “Don’t you see? You’re not the same pony you were then. Everypony who knows you knows that Nightmare Moon is in the past.”
Luna tried to shake her head.
“We all trust you, Luna. Do you trust us enough to believe we’re right?”
Luna managed a sad smile at Twilight’s hopeful expression, her heart aching with the weight of their faith. “I do,” she whispered, but the words felt hollow, a fragile hope in the face of her overwhelming guilt.
The Tantabus, sensing her doubt, grew more menacing, its presence an oppressive force. Luna felt its pull, a dark promise of absolution through surrender.
“You’re wrong about one thing, though, Twilight,” Luna said, her voice tinged with sorrow as her resolve hardened. “I’m not doing everything I can to stop it. There’s one last thing I can do.”
The Tantabus paused at the brink, and Luna could feel its piercing stare, could sense its anticipation.
Tears welled in her eyes, each one a testament to the burden she carried. The Tantabus hovered at the brink, as if waiting for her final act of defiance.
“The Tantabus will never be satisfied,” Luna continued, lifting her head high, a courage borne of necessity as she yelled over Twilight’s protests. “But there is one thing I can give it so it doesn’t make the world a living nightmare.”
The Tantabus can’t have Equestria, but it can have her.
She wouldn’t let it turn Equestria into a waking nightmare, but she could offer up something better. It desired not just her dreams but her waking world too. If she gave it everything, it would spare Equestria.
The Tantabus definitely knew it even before Luna uttered the words, but she said it anyway.
“Take me!”
The effect was almost instantaneous. The citizens gasped as the possessed books and demons all around town turned towards her and surged at once.
With a final, heart-wrenching scream, Luna released her hold on the dreams as the Tantabus engulfed her body as she surrendered her consciousness completely to the darkness.
The dreamscape shimmered, colors swirling and blending into a beautiful, ethereal display of light. It casted a mesmerizing glow across the dream world. If one could ignore the sorrow of Luna’s sacrifice, it would seem a breathtaking sight.
As their dreams faded, the ponies awoke suddenly, finding themselves back in reality.
The sun shone brightly through the windows of Twilight’s chambers, casting a warm glow across the room.
But as they looked around, the Mane 6 saw Luna lying on the floor, her body drenched in sweat, her expression one of peace and torment intertwined. They gathered around her, concern etched on their faces as they looked at her sleeping form.
Fluttershy gently tapped Luna’s cheek, but when there was no response, she looked sadly at the others and shook her head. Rainbow grunted in frustration, rattling Twilight’s bedframe with a kick of her hoof. Applejack held her hat against her chest, face somber as she dipped her head.
The weight of Luna’s sacrifice settled over them all as they looked around at each other, a heavy silence washing over the group.
Equestria was safe, but the cost had been immeasurable.
