I felt a sudden twitch and looked up to see nothing out of the ordinary except seeing Rarity on my right side, sleeping away with her sleep patch on, so I smiled and went back to sleep. Several hours past and I woke up the next morning to find Rarity not at my side again, I really gotta stop having these late nights.

I got myself up and after a quick breakfast, I walked to the boutique and opened the door, walking in to find the other girls busy grooming their pets which was a bit odd, but then again, I didn't own a pet and I don't plan to anytime soon.

"Morning girls." I greeted.

"Oh, morning Bond." Rainbow said before she yawned. "Thanks for setting this all up, Rarity."

I then noticed that all of them had sacks under their eyes, I guess they didn't sleep well or they've been working overtime.

"A grooming day was a really good idea for all our pets." Fluttershy commented.

"Except for me, but that would explain why I'm the last to know." I replied. "Anyways, why do you all look so...tired?"

Just then, Rarity dosed off and with her magic, accidentally pointed her cat comb into Opalescence, causing her to screech and jump on the ceiling light. I walked over to her and kissed her to wake her up.

"Oooh, thank you darling." she kissed me back before seeing Opal hanging above her. "Oh my, I'm sorry. I didn't get my normal beauty sleep last night."

"You know," Twilight said before yawning. "I didn't sleep well either."

The others murmured and nodded.

"I'm totally beat to!" Pinkie exclaimed, rolling across the room.

"I can see that." I said. "But I would like to know why."

"Ah guess we're too tired to explain." Applejack replied.

Fluttershy yawned. "I only went to bed early last night, but then I had a really scary nightmare."

"Me too." The others replied.

I was confused. "Wait, a scary nightmare? What was it about?"

Twilight tried to explain. "There is this blue smoke monster and-" she paused, seeing the other girls eyes wide open. "-what?"

"I dreamt about that blue smoke thingy too." Fluttershy replied.

"Me too." the rest added.

"Hold on a second, you all dreamt the same nightmare." I said. "But how come?"

"So what, it's probably just a coincidence." Rainbow retorted.

Spike then turned up with a few towels, possibly for Twilight who has been bathing in the wooden tub.

"That's an awfully big coincidence." Twilight said.

"Huh, I wonder why I didn't have that nightmare." Spike pondered. "I slept great."

"Actually, I was gonna ask that." I replied. "If you girls all had the same dream, how come I didn't get the dream. Cause all I dreamt about was seeing the future of me and Rarity's lives together, there wasn't any nightmare involved."

"So then what could've given us girls the same nightmare?" Rarity asked as I wrapped my hooves around her pregnant waist gently.

"I don't know, but I do know who might." Twilight replied. "Spike, could you send a scroll to Princess Luna?"

"Sure." Spike replied, bringing out a scroll. "Say it."

"Dear Princess Luna, last night, my friends and I all dreamt of a creature made of blue smoke. However Prince Bond Racer did not dream the same as we did. I'm sure you're very busy but..." Twilight paused to yawn before continuing. "...when you have the chance, please let me know if you have any idea what it could mean. Yours, Princess Twilight Sparkle. You can leave out the yawns."

I looked at the scroll and saw yawns on it, I put my hoof on Spike's to let me remove those and he finished it off before wrapping it up and sending it away through the open window. For a moment, things were very quiet, this was a good time for me to wonder why I didn't get the dream they did.

"Okay Twilight, do you have any ideas on why I didn't get the dream?" I asked.

"I don't know, there has to be something else." Twilight replied. "Maybe the nightmare can't get to you because of your element."

"You mean my element of faith? That could be a reason, but it seems a little far-fetched."

Suddenly, the door flung wide open, we looked back to see Princess Luna.

"Which of you saw the creature of blue smoke in your nightmare?!" she asked, feeling concerned.

"Woah..." I said quietly. "...that was fast."

"We all did..." Twilight said. "...except Bond."

"And not me." Spike intervened, walking away.

"So you encountered the smoke monster too?" Twilight asked Luna.

Luna walked in and explained. "The Tantabus is a creature of my nightmares. It escaped from my slumbers yesterday."

"But how did it get into ours?" Fluttershy asked.

"The Tantabus is like a parasite, my dreams must no longer be enough for it. Now it seeks others to infect and corrupt, they must've learnt of you six girls from seeing you in my dreams." she then turned to look at me. "As for why you didn't have the dream Prince Bond, it's quite simple, you bear the element of faith, don't you?"

I nodded.

"Faith is in fact one of the strongest elements in Equestria, it is entirely difficult for even the worst of nightmares to break. With the visions of your element inside you, combined with the magic and spells you have learnt, you are able to have the dreams that shine so bright that the nightmares cannot bare to battle your visions."

"Cool!" I replied, I also smiled since I didn't mind not being dreamt in Luna's dreams. But thinking about it, I wondered why she didn't dream of me. I was thinking that Luna might know more than she is letting on, but my thoughts were interrupted by Spike.

"Woah, woah, woah." he intervened. "So what you're saying is, he dreamt about all of them and not me?"

We rolled our eyes.

"So smoky gave us some bad dreams, no biggie." Rainbow shrugged off.

But Luna continued. "I saw that the Tantabus had grown more powerful, but I did not realize that power was enough to enable it to escape my dreams. If it's power grows, it could very well find a way to escape into the real world, it could turn all of Equestria into a living nightmare!"

Rainbow began to worry. "Okay, okay, okay, I take it back! That does sound bad! Really bad!"

I then face-hoofed, took her long enough to realise how serious this is.

"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" I asked.

"I would advise you six to keep yourselves awake until tonight, I will explain the details then." Luna replied. "Prince Bond, I need you to come with me. I wish to speak to you about your important role in private."

"Of course, Luna." I replied. "I'll be back later, all."

I trotted to Rarity and kissed her before leaving the boutique with Luna, she then used her magic to teleport me right into the Canterlot castle. We then walked into her bedroom and shutting the doors and windows, she looked at me. "No pony will be able to hear us, Prince Bond. I must ask you first, what was your dream about?"

"It was about the future which had me and Rarity having a family in our home." I replied. "We had two children of our own, a colt and a filly."

Luna pondered. "And Rarity is pregnant and due to give birth, yes?"

"Yeah, I think she is due in about two months, the growth of her stomach has slowed down since last week."

"I see. Prince Bond, are you able to create dreams of your own or for your friends?"

"Hmm, I haven't done that or even imagined having my friends in my dreams." suddenly, I then opened my eyes a little. "Wait a second, there was one dream I had that happened before the one I had last night. It was just me and Rarity and the children, none of our friends ever came around...nor my sister or my cousin, I had wondered why."

"That is a curious dream, Prince. I will keep that dream in mind, but for now, I must make preparations for tonight. You should return to Ponyville and help the girls with whatever help they need today. I also ask of you to let Twilight know to set up a group slumber in her castle."

"I will Luna."

I opened the doors and smiled at Luna before leaving the castle and flying back to Ponyville, I told Twilight about Luna's group slumber and after that, volunteered to help out the girls for today. I was a little tired myself when it was night time, but I was strong enough to be relaxed whilst awake. Luna took us the Twilight's bedroom and she saw the beds all made up around in a circle shape.

"We've prepared everything exactly as you requested." Twilight said as we walked in.

"Good. As you six slumber here, I will pursue the creature into whichever of your dreams it infests." Luna replied.

"Ooh! It'll be like a princess sleepover!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Speaking of princesses, aren't you going to ask Celestia for her help as well?" Twilight asked.

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

"Even us?" Applejack asked.

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

Spike then made a gutsy move to yank on her mane. "I know you said nopony can help, and I'm no pony! I'm gonna stay up and watch over you girls, just in case!"

"Aw, thank you, Spike!" Twilight replied.

"What about me, Luna, what is my role?" I asked.

"I would like you to watch over the dreams they have and if any of them start having the nightmares at any point, summon me and I will be there to rescue them from the Tantabus." Luna replied.

"Well if I may ask, why can't I just go to sleep and find and torch the Tantabus myself?"

Luna put a hoof on my shoulder. "I'm afraid that would be a disaster waiting to happen. If the Tantabus learns of your involvement with one of the ponies dreams that isn't yours, he might come after you, putting yourself and your future dreams at great risk."

"But I use my born alicorn magic right?"

"I'm afraid it would be countered by the Tantabus's own magic. As I said earlier, it can infect and corrupt a dream and if we leave this for too long, it will grow powerful enough to even defeat you and use your magic to escape the real world. Do you understand what I mean?"

I sighed and nodded, there was no point in arguing. "I do Luna, let's get this smoke fiend under control before it's too late."

Applejack yawned. "One good thing about not sleepin' good last night, shouldn't be too hard to fall asleep now."

"Are you kidding?!" Pinkie replied. "This is so exciting, I don't know if I'm ever gonna-" she cut herself off when she suddenly fell slowly on her bed and began snoring.

I had a feeling that they were all going to snore, Rarity's snoring I can tolerate, but six snores is too much. I used my magic to make a set of earmuffs appear whilst Luna began to fly to the ceiling and she used her magic to create six lines and each of them went to one of the girls heads. The first bolt of light went to Rarity, I was glad she went with her first.

I looked around the whole bedroom of the girls sleeping and for a while, nothing was happening. Spike was getting bored quickly though and pulled out a book from under his bed and began reading. Then after a few moments of silence all the girls suddenly gasped and woke up and Luna flew back down, looking disappointed.

"I am so sorry, my friends. I failed." she said. "It will be back to infect your dreams the next time you sleep."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"Yeah. Ah reckon ah could live without seein' that thing ever again." Applejack added.

"But you will. 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."

"It'll be okay! Everypony makes mistakes!" Pinkie said.

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

"Phew, that's good to hear! Although after you left I did have a new dream that I was eating a giant ice-cream cone with all of Ponyville and taking a test we had to study for. See, what'd I tell ya? Everypony makes mistakes!"

Luna cringed at what Pinkie just said, I guess this was bad news to her.

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

"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!"

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

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

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

"Hmm. What if every pony in Ponyville were having one dream?" I asked.

"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?"

"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."

And with that, the girls went back to sleep, this time with Spike who fell asleep as well. I watched over them and then suddenly, Luna vanished and six moon pieces went into each of the ponies. Luna is full of surprises and then some.

But however, the same problem was happening again and it seemed like they were struggling even worse then before.

I sighed, there was no other way I could stand back...I decided to get involved by getting into a spare empty bed and I waited till I fell asleep, then with my creative mind, I walked into a dream where everypony was out in Ponyville, I could see the blue smoke, that must be the Tantabus, there was also Luna who seemed to be straining on her magic.

"I cannot hold this dream together much longer!" she yelled with tears. "Equestria will fall, because of me!"

"Is it just me or did it just get even bigger after Luna said that?" Spike asked.

"Wait a second, I got it!" I exclaimed. "It's feeding off your guilt, Luna!"

"Wait a minute, Bond, you're right!" Twilight agreed.

"If that is so, that may be how it grew strong enough to escape in the first place!"

"Say what now?!" Applejack asked.

"I created the Tantabus to give myself the same nightmare every night, [pants] to punish myself for the evil I caused as Nightmare Moon!"

"But why would you do that?!"

"To make sure I never forgave myself for how much Equestria suffered because of me! But it seems I have not learned my lesson, for now I have only made you suffer more."

The Tantabus then began to take shape of a pony and created a torn line which showed off a bright light.

"But that means you might just be the key to stopping all of this!" Twilight replied.

"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 added.

"How can I forgive myself? I am no better now than I was then." Luna said as the Tantabus began exiting the dream realm. "My creation is about to turn the world into a living nightmare!"

I took a deep breath and replied. "But look at what you're doing! Nightmare Moon would've wanted the Tantabus to turn Equestria into a nightmare, you're doing everything you can to stop it! Don't you see? That proves you're not the same pony you were then! Everypony who knows you knows that Nightmare Moon is in the past! We all trust you, Luna! Do you trust us enough to believe we're right?"

That did the trick, Luna stopped crying and looked at us, she then smiled warmly. "I do!"

Suddenly the tear in the world vanished and the Tantabus began to shrink to the size of Luna before it walked inside her body. "Thank you. Thank you all."

Just then, the dream ended and I woke up first to hear a rooster call, soon the others woke up with smiles and Luna appeared, falling slowly down on a few pillows and began sleeping away.

"Morning girls, Luna did it!" I whispered loudly.

"She sure did!" Applejack replied. "Only...ah'm not exactly sure what she did."

"Luna created the Tantabus to punish herself!" Twilight replied. "The worse she felt, the more power it had! But when she finally forgave herself for what Nightmare Moon did..."

"She went poof...and girls, we should be quiet here..." I pointed to Luna who was sleeping.

"Huh. Wonder what she's dreaming about now?" Spike asked.

"Whatever it is, we should probably leave this room quietly, so we don't disturb her."

"Good idea, Bond, let's go everypony...quietly." Twilight said.

The others nodded and soon we gently walked out of the bedroom and then into the dining room. As we got ourselves some breakfast, I looked back to last night. I never knew that Tantabus was Luna's own creation which was made out of guilt and shame. She was also right on one thing, at least it didn't found out about me. But I wondered why, was it because my magic had more than enough power to move out of one dream and into the real world?

All this thinking was giving me a headache though, so I thought not to think of it now and just move forward with my future dreams with Rarity...and maybe this time with my best friends too... Next Chapter: Canterlot Boutique Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 3 Minutes