Greetings, Tantabus.
I am ready.
Do your worst.
Princess Luna's turning into
Nightmare Moon again!
Yeah?
Well, we've got the cure for that!
Wait!
What is it doing?!
No!
It's gone!
What?
My dream ended...
happily?
That.
Cannot.
Happen!
Ooh, this is amazing!
Yeah, Rarity.
Thanks for setting all this up.
A grooming day for our pets
really was a great idea.
Oh, my!
Oh, I'm sorry.
I didn't get my normal
beauty sleep last night...
You know...
I didn't sleep well either.
I'm totally b*at too!
All right, Winona.
Time for your brushin'.
Oops. I guess I'm too plum
tuckered out to do this right.
I even went to bed
early last night...
but then I had a
really scary nightmare.
Me too!
Uh, only, you know,
I didn't think mine was that scary!
Well, mine sure was.
There was this blue
smoke monster and...
what?
I dreamt about a blue
smoke thingy too!
Me too!
So what?
Probably just a coincidence.
That's an awfully
big coincidence.
Huh. I wonder why I
didn't have that nightmare.
I slept great!
So then, what could've given
us all the same nightmare?
I don't know,
but I do know who might.
Spike, could you send a
scroll to Princess Luna?
Sure! All set!
Dear Princess Luna,
last night my friends
and I all dreamt of a
creature made of blue smoke.
I'm sure you're very busy,
but 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.
Which of you saw the creature
of blue smoke in your nightmare?!
Wow.
That was fast.
We all did.
Not me!
Ugh, we know!
So you've encountered
the smoke monster too?
The Tantabus is a
creature of my nightmares.
It escaped from
my slumbers yesterday.
But how did it get into ours?
The Tantabus is like a parasite.
My dreams must no
longer be enough for it.
Now it seeks others
to infect and corrupt.
It must have learned of you
six from seeing you in my dream.
Whoa-whoa-whoa.
So what you're saying is...
you dreamt about all
of them, and not me?
Uh, so Smokey
gave us bad dreams.
No biggie.
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 its 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!
Okay, okay, okay,
I take it back!
That does sound bad!
Really bad!
We've prepared everything
exactly as you requested.
Good.
As you six slumber here,
I will pursue the creature into
whichever of your dreams it infests.
Ooh!
It'll be like a princess sleepover!
Speaking of princesses,
aren't you gonna ask Celestia
for her help as well?
There is nothing
my sister can do.
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?
Especially you.
You have all suffered so much because of me.
You need only slumber while
I hunt the Tantabus in your dreams.
I know you said nopony
can help, but I'm no pony!
I'm gonna stay up and watch
over you guys just in case!
Aw, thank you, Spike!
One good thing about not
sleepin' well last night –
shouldn't be too hard
to fall asleep now.
Are you kidding?!
This is so exciting,
I don't know how
I'm ever going to—
Oh, my!
This is simply divine!
How avant garde!
Forget avant garde!
I should have said en garde!
It is here!
It was such a
pretty little chiffon...!
What kind of monster
would do this?!
The Tantabus.
Then let's stop it!
No, please! I don't want you to
suffer anymore because of me.
I will catch it.
It has jumped into
another dream!
I am sorry, but if I
am to stop it,
I must follow it
where you cannot.
Go! I should be able
to handle things here.
I hope...!
I followed the Tantabus here.
Now I need only find—
Sorry, can't help it!
An idea pops into my
head, it—Ooh, cake!
Ew, cake!
No!
Sorry!
Who wants ice cream?!
Mmm, it's so nice to
be the pet for once.
N-n-n-n-nice... giant...
evil Angel...!
Phew!
Oh, thank you, princess!
Now this is what I
call an incredible dream.
I can see the Tantabus
has already turned
your slumbers into
a nightmare!
What are you talking about?
This is my favorite dream!
We are such happy flowers
We will now sing for hours
Aren't we unbearably cute?
Watch me solo on this flute
Huh?
Luna!
What happened?
Are you guys okay?
That... that was terrible!
I-I never want to have
that nightmare again!
Me either!
But Luna caught it, didn't she?
I am so sorry, my friends.
I failed.
It will be back to infect your
dreams the next time you sleep.
Oh, no!
Yeah.
I reckon I could live without
seeing that thing ever again.
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!
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 happen to dream that I was
eating a giant ice-cream cone
with all of Ponyville while
taking a test we hadn't studied for.
See, what'd I tell ya?
Everypony makes mistakes!
But that means the
Tantabus could be turning
every dream in Ponyville
into a nightmare!
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!
But how? The Tantabus
was able to escape Luna
when it only had six
dreams it could get to!
It is true. With so many
dreams to hide in,
I do not know how I can catch it.
Hmm... What if everypony in Ponyville
were having one dream?
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.
Princess Luna did it!
Big Mac!
Boy, I'm glad to see somethin' familiar!
Eeyup.
Ponies!
Princess Luna!
There is no time for
bowing, my friends!
There is something
coming, something terrible!
No, it is already here!
I am so sorry!
I brought this upon you!
But I will end it now!
Princess, what's wrong?
It... is taking all my strength
just to hold this
massive dream together!
You will have to stop it!
I truly wish I did not
have to ask this of you!
Then you're in luck.
Yeah! We're already on it!
Please! I'll pay you anything!
I got you!
Oh, no!
Big Mac!
You can do anythin' in a dream, remember?
Come on! If that
Tantabus thing turns
any more of this dream against us,
we'll be too busy saving
ponies to catch it!
And it'll grow powerful enough
to escape into the real world!
How are we even gonna
know when it's able to escape?
Oh, I think we'll know.
Hurry, my friends!
What the?!
Please, we need your help too!
Fluttershy's right!
We've all got to work together
to stop it from escaping!
But how can we help?
Nopony in Ponyville has
your magic or your speed!
That's true... in Ponyville!
But this here isn't Ponyville!
It's a dream!
Eeyup!
And not just any!
This is your dream!
Anything you can do in
your dreams, you can do now!
Well, if you're gonna dream,
might as well dream big, right?
It's working!
But it's not enough!
Then do more!
This is a dream, remember?
I cannot hold this dream
together much longer!
Equestria will fall because of me!
Am I crazy, or did it just get
even bigger after Luna said that?
I think it's feeding off
your guilt, Princess Luna!
If that is so,
then perhaps that is
how it grew strong enough
to escape in the first place!
Say what now?!
I created the Tantabus
to give myself
the same nightmare every night...
...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!
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!
How can I forgive myself?
I am no better now
than I was then.
My creation is about to turn
the world into a living nightmare!
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?
...I do!
Thank you.
Thank you all.
Luna did it!
She sure did! Only...
I'm not exactly sure
what she did.
Luna created the Tantabus
to punish herself!
The worse she felt,
the more power it had!
But once she finally forgave herself
for what Nightmare Moon did...
Poof!
Shh!
Huh. Wonder what she's
dreaming about now.