Remnants

“They have the same message…” Princess Luna softly spoke after she saw the dreams. The revelation of others having her similar nightmares was still raw in her head, even if she knew about it just minutes ago. She knows how it feels to be in their position, and it was terrifying. Those kinds of nightmares would haunt their minds for hours and even days, and she knew all too well what that was like. None of them deserve it.

She looked at the other orbs to see if anyone else experienced the same horrific nightmares. She looked far and wide, and she couldn’t find any other dreams similar to theirs. The nightmares were only infecting her and the other four. The knowledge is supposed to be soothing, but she felt horrible for having such restricted powers at the worst time possible. She needed to talk to Celestia, and the matter was too urgent to wait until morning.

The dream realm felt like a labyrinth, but she finally found her sister’s dream. There she was, having fun in a field of flowers without a care in the world. If only she had the privilege to feel happy and bliss in her dreams and not deal with the horrors of evil counterparts. Lucky her.

She felt stupid for trying to enter a dream after failing to do it five times in a row. Perhaps things would be different if Celestia weren’t haunted by the evil spirit? By the grace of the stars, the princess was able to fly her way into the dream without any problems. She let a sigh she didn’t know she was holding. At last!

“Luna?” Princess Celestia turned her head to see her come after her name had been called in the distance. Princess Luna teleported in front of her. Her feet stumbled as she regained balance.

“I saw your dream, and I had to come find you.” She informed her gravely. “This whole nightmare drama is worse than I thought!”

Princess Celestia looked heartbroken. “That's what I feared,” her eyes softened with concern. “Who’s affected?”

“Discord, Trixie Lulamoon, Starlight Glimmer, and Stygian,” She spoke the names without missing a beat.

She slowly looked down at her hooves in shame. The guilt of hopelessness was seeping into her mind. “Those poor creatures. I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I wasn’t powerful enough to enter their dreams. I feel like I’m not doing my job correctly.”

“But you entered my dream,” Princess Celestisa reminded her gently. “Luna, you shouldn’t doubt yourself. You still know how to do your job. I think the reason you couldn’t enter their dreams is because it’s taken over by the thing that’s haunting it in the first place.”

Princess Luna hadn’t thought of that. That does explain why she couldn’t control the nightmares the fiend was in. Again, the thought of being powerless left a bitter taste in her mouth.

“But how is that possible? No one controls the dream realm except for me!” Princess Luna objected angrily.

Her sister raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure the dream realm wasn’t attacked before?”

“Of course not,” Princess Luna scoffed. “I can’t recall any—“

Her words caught in her throat. Actually, she can think of one time the dream realm was attacked thanks to her own doing. Can it be? No, surely it didn’t…?

“I defeated it,” Princess Luna spat through gritted teeth. “It’s not possible for it to come back.”

Princess Celestia didn’t seem convinced. “Come on, Luna, you know as well as I do that it returned.”

“How?!” Princess Luna raised her voice, feeling completely aghast with denial. “I saw that thing walk into my own body! It’s weak! I made sure it was gone for good!“

“And are you sure it didn’t leak into the real world?” Princess Celestia inquired carefully.

“No… I thought it didn’t,” Luna’s voice was more resigned into horror. “I could’ve swore that I stopped it before it made its way to our world.”

Her memories flashed back to the time when the Tantabus, a thing created purely to torment her in her dreams, had its body almost completely emerged into the white light of the real world until she accepted her past and forgave herself. She knows the Tantabus walked into her body. She even felt it!

…unless she didn’t contain all of it.

“I guess the Tantabus was powerful enough to leak its power into our world before it was defeated,” Princess Luna thought over after some time to process the information. “I guess that lingering power was so weak, no one was able to detect it until now: when it grew powerful enough to create horrific dreams and stop me from changing it.”

Princess Luna sat down and put her hooves over her eyes. “Sweet you, even after all these years later, I’m still responsible for this huge mess…”

“Hey, hey, look at me,” Princess Celestia put her hoof underneath her chin. She gently lifted her head to look into her eyes. “You can still fix this. I know you’re stronger than this Tantabus when it comes to brains. You can revert this problem for good. You just need to have faith,”

“Faith…” Princess Luna echoed. “I suppose that’s all I need? Faith?”

Princess Celestia nodded. “I do. Also, I suppose you need allies as well. The nightmares are not only directed towards you. Perhaps you can find solace with them.”

Princess Luna pondered over the thought of allies. A support system is always important, and it would be wise to inform them of the situation they were unwillingly facing. The reaction she’ll get won’t be pretty, but she’s prepared for it. Somewhat.

“How are you always so wise?” She asked with a little smile.

“Thank you for coming,” Princess Luna placed her hooves on the table to begin her meeting. Discord, Trixie, Starlight, and Stygian were trying so hard to stay awake to even pay attention to her. The nightmare completely drained their energy. They were like soulless shells of themselves.

“I suppose you know about the nightmares you had,” Princess Luna started with an awkward smile. Her hoof was tapping the glass surface of the table.

“Hah! Funny words, princess.” Trixie chuckled bitterly before passing out on the table. Starlight gently prodded her awake with her hoof.

“We know all about it,” Discord remarked dryly. One of his lion paws pointed at his eyes. “Can you tell?”

She ignored Discord’s complaint.“I know that all of you want to get some sleep and dream your woes away. Believe me, I feel the same way.” She continued. She tried to make her voice heard over the several tired yawns.

“But I’m afraid it’ll only make your drowsiness worse.” She said, having so plans to sugarcoat the situation.

The group went silent. Princess Luna stiffened. The way their gazes suddenly turned intense was terrifying.

“So… whenever we sleep, we’ll have the same nightmares?” Stygian blinked his eyes in a rapid pace. “Is that… what you are saying? I pray it’s not so.” His voice was drowsy and exhausted, but laced with worry.

The princess nodded. “That’s sadly the case,”

“But why now?” Starlight asked while rubbing her eye.

“I think I have an idea of what’s happening, and none of you will like it.” Princess Luna was already grimacing from the angry expressions she knows she will receive after telling the truth.

“A long time ago, I created a creature for my own torment. It’s called the Tantabus. It’s sole purpose was to transform me into Nightmare Moon in my dreams so I could never forget and forgive myself for what I have done,”

There was complete silence in the room again. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Nonetheless, she resumed her tale.

“However, thanks to Twilight and her friends, they helped me overcome my past and the Tantabus was vanquished… or so I thought.”

“What do you mean ‘so you thought?’” Discord grumbled irritably. “Did you defeat this thing or not?”

“You know, can’t you just use your powers to not make yourself tired?” Trixie asked him in annoyance.

Discord blew a raspberry. “I can, but I would rather have sleep be my cure. However, we can’t do that because…”

He extends his paw back to Luna as a signal to continue her story.

Princess Luna’s ears flattened nervously. They were crankier than normal, and they were already snapping at each other. She needed to get this over with and now.

“Yes, erm,” Princess Luna stammered for a bit. “Though the Tantabus was quiet for a while, it seems like the silence has ended. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but the Tantabus’s power grew stronger and infected all of us. Just us.”

“Just us?” Stygian tilted his head to the side. “The others aren’t involved?”

Princess Luna raised her hoof. “I don’t think so. I believe this because of the words the Tantabus said to me: ‘Try as you might, but—‘“

“‘—your dreams are mine.’” Trixie and Stygian started to recite.

“‘For your deeds will never rot—‘“ Starlight and Discord spoke along.

“‘—with time.’” They ended in unison.

“Same words,” Princess Luna softly gasped.

“I kept hearing it every time I tried to fight back from those… monsters.” Starlight spoke up, her voice tinged with anger. “Yet I felt powerless in my own dream,”

I know how that feels. Princess Luna thought to herself.

“My past kept replaying over and over and over,” Trixie’s voice trembled. “I even got eaten by an Ursa Minor. I swear, I could still feel the teeth rip through my skin…” she shuddered.

“Replays?” Discord muttered scornfully. “I lived through it. I never thought I would be the one to hate the chaos I used to do in the past. My own cruel deeds led to my own nightmare!”

Stygian didn’t even say anything about his time with The Pony of Shadows. How can he? Poor thing was terrified to the core.

“So, it only happens to us because we were once… evil, right?” Starlight asked the princess.

Princess Luna blinked. “That seems to be the pattern. Why do you ask?”

“Oh,” Starlight’s hoof prodded on the table as she hesitantly spoke her next words: “Then we might gain one more member after tonight.”

Princess Luna stiffened. “Why after tonight? Who’s joining us?”

Starlight looks at the table, not wanting to meet her gaze. “…Sunset Shimmer.”

“Sunset Shimmer?” Princess Luna wanted to make sure she heard the name correctly. “Doesn’t she live in the human world?”

“Usually, but not for this time.” Starlight told her. “She’s staying at Twilight’s castle for a week.”

“The human world? Isn’t that where the Sirens are?” Stygian pondered. Starlight shrugged her shoulders.

“The one time to visit and this happens,” Princess Luna rubbed her forehead. Just when it couldn’t get worse. “Another poor victim in the Tantabus’ trap.”

“So, what can we do to prevent this Tantabus from stalking us?” Trixie asked the princess. “I would like to have my beauty rest back, thank you very much.”

“I don’t know how,” Princess Luna tried to not let her temper flare from Trixie’s condescending question. The unicorn is just cranky and she had to mentally understand that. “All I know is that the Tantabus is still around and will continue to be around for as long as it feeds off of your past experiences.”

“So we’re at an impasse?” Discord growled tiredly.

“I’m afraid so,” Princess Luna agreed reluctantly.

She knew this meeting didn’t go as well as she hoped it would. It was unrealistic to think so at all. The blame she received was valid, and it wouldn’t be long before another blamed her as well. The princess hoped to find the source of the Tantabus. She doesn’t believe it’s in the Everfree Forest because of the Tree of Harmony, yet its range was powerful enough to reach five individuals. Soon to be six.

For the first time since she reformed, this is a problem Twilight and her friends couldn’t fix.