Chapter 3

Pursuing the Tantabus

Soon after Princess Luna raised the moon for the night, Twilight made an arrangement to have several beds in her castle bedroom so she and her friends could all sleep together in one room. Sadly there were only 6 small beds and Twilight's large bed, but Twilight decided that she will let Neo sleep with her in her bed. This whole arrangement was Princess Luna's idea, she wanted Neo, Spike and the ponies all to sleep in the same room so she could come into their dreams and pursue the Tantabus.

Neo was in the room waiting for his friends to come, he had already had the beds moved into the bedroom with help from Twilight. Then Neo's friends and Princess Luna came into the room.

Twilight said to Luna, "We've prepared everything exactly as you requested."

"Good," said Princess Luna. "As you girls and Neo slumber here, I will pursue the creature into whichever of your dreams it infests."

Pinkie Pie felt excited, "Ooh! It'll be like a princess sleepover!"

"Speaking of princesses," said Twilight. "Aren't you gonna ask Celestia for her help as well?"

"There is nothing my sister can do," said Princess Luna. "She has no power in the realm of sleep. Only I can move from dream to dream. I am afraid nopony can help me tonight."

"Even us?" asked Applejack.

"Especially you," said Princess Luna. "You have all suffered so much because of me. You need only slumber while I hunt the Tantabus in your dreams."

"Luna," said Neo. "We believe in you, and I know you can stop the Tantabus. And don't think you caused any of this. You're a wonderful princess and I love you so much."

Princess Luna smiled at Neo and said, "Thank you Neo, you're very sweet. I won't let you down. Now you go on and go to sleep, I will be in your dreams in just a moment."

"I know you said nopony can help," said Spike. "But I'm no pony, and neither is Chucky. Chucky and I are gonna stay up and watch over you guys just in case!"

Spike and Chucky sat in Spike's bed and Twilight said, "Thank you boys."

The ponies got into their beds and Twilight got into her bed and said, "Come on Neo, you can sleep with me in my bed tonight."

"Thank you Twilight," Neo said as he got into her bed along with her.

As the ponies laid in their beds, Applejack yawned and said, "One good thing about not sleepin' well last night – shouldn't be too hard to fall asleep now."

"Are you kidding?! shouted Pinkie Pie. "This is so exciting, I don't know how I'm ever going to—" Pinkie Pie suddenly passed out in her bed and snored.

Then all the ponies were fast asleep, except for Neo.

Princess Luna came over to him and said, "Go on and go to sleep Neo. Don't worry, I'll be there for you."

"I'm just worried about you," said Neo.

"Don't be," said Luna. "I will hunt down the Tantabus and I won't let it hurt you or your friends,. It's my duty to protect my subjects, and that includes you most of all because I love you."

"I love you too my beautiful princess."

Then Neo gave Princess Luna a kiss on the cheek and said, "Good luck my princess."

Luna blushed and said, "Thank you sweetie. Now go on to sleep, I'll see you in your dreams."

Just when Neo went to sleep, Princess Luna kissed him on the cheek. Then Luna's horn glowed, she floated above the beds, she zoomed around the room in a circle above the beds and she disappeared into the dreams of Neo and the ponies.

In the dreams, the Tantabus took the forms of various things the ponies enjoyed in real life and made them monstrous. Princess Luna showed up in each dream and tried to stop the Tantabus, but each time, the Tantabus escaped into another dream.

In Neo's dream, Neo was walking through a forest while playing a song with his mind ("Sweet Dreams are Made of This" by Marylin Manson).

As Neo walked through the forest, The Tantabus appeared and took the form of a ninja.

"Okay motherfucker," said Neo. "Let's see what you got."

Then Neo started fighting the Tantabus. Neo was doing very well at first but eventually, the Tantabus overpowered him.

Then they stopped fighting when they both saw a man standing a few feet away from them, the man was wearing a red and green sweater and a hat, and he had knives on his fingers. The man was the famous nightmare man Freddy Kruger.

Freddy said to the Tantabus, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Then the Tantabus pushed Neo to the ground and approached Freddy, then Freddy began fighting the Tantabus. Freddy used many of his terror dream methods to fight the Tantabus. While they were fighting, Princess Luna came galloping as fast as she could towards Neo.

She saw him on the ground and said, "Are you alright my love?"

"Yeah," Neo replied. "That thing is getting stronger, I could barely fight it."

Luna helped Neo get up, "Don't worry my love, I'll stop it."

Right when the Tantabus took Freddy to the ground, Princess Luna tried to use her magic to capture the Tantabus. But the Tantabus opened a hole and got away.

"Son of a bitch," said Neo as the Tantabus escaped.

Then Neo woke up sweating and breathing hard, the rest of the ponies woke up as well.

"What happened? asked Spike, "are you guys okay?"

"That... that was terrible! I-I never want to have that nightmare again!" exclaimed Fluttershy.

"Me neither, that was the worst dream I ever had," said Rainbow Dash.

"Didn't Luna catch that creature?" asked Spike.

"No she didn't," said Neo. "That fucker got away."

Princess Luna appeared with a sad look and said, " I am so sorry, my friends. I failed. It will be back to infect your dreams the next time you sleep."

"Oh, no," said Fluttershy.

"Yeah. I reckon I could live without seeing that thing ever again," said Applejack.

"But you will," said Luna. "Again and again, every night, until it grows powerful enough to infect the waking world! After what I did as Nightmare Moon, the fact that I am once again responsible for harming others is more than I can bear."

"Luna, you have to stop thinking that way," said Neo. "You're not Nightmare Moon anymore and we all love you now. Your guilt from your past is what's preventing you from stopping the Tantabus. You have to let that go."

"I don't know if I can," said Luna, putting her head down in shame. "So many ponies suffered because of me and I don't know if I could ever forgive myself."

Pinkie Pie tried to make light of it, "It'll be okay! Everypony makes mistakes!"

"As long as none of you dreamt about another pony," said Luna. "The Tantabus remains confined to your dreams. I still have a chance to catch it before it's too late."

But then Pinkie Pie mentioned that after Luna left her dream, she dreamt that she was sharing ice cream with all of Ponyville.

Princess Luna gasped when she heard that.

"But that means the Tantabus could be turning every dream in Ponyville into a nightmare!" shouted Twilight.

"It is far worse than that," said Luna. "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!"

"Then you must let us help you stop it before that happens!" exclaimed Rarity.

"But how?" asked Fluttershy. "The Tantabus was able to escape Luna when it only had seven dreams it could get to!"

"It is true," said Luna. "With so many dreams to hide in, I do not know how I can catch it."

Twilight thought to herself for a second, then she said, "Hmm... What if everypony in Ponyville were having one dream?"

"I... can create shared dreams, yes," said Luna. "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?" said Fluttershy.

"Of course," said Luna. "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."

Neo took out a needle and injected a sedative into himself so he could sleep longer and help Luna fight the Tantabus.

But before he went to sleep, he kneeled down at the side of the bed and said out loud, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep, if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take."

Princess Luna loved that prayer. It gave her a sense of hope that she would succeed.

Then Neo and the ponies went back to sleep, Spike and Chucky went to sleep as well.

When they were asleep, Princess Luna used her magic to go into their dream.

Will Princess Luna be able to stop the Tantabus, find out in the concluding chapter of this story.

End of chapter 3.