//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: The Choice 
// Story: My Little Dream Becomes Reality 
// by Tilltheafterlife 
//------------------------------//

"Leave me Twilight! I'm far too weak to escape." Cadance fell and pointed in the direction where the creature had fled. Twilight didn't have a better choice other than to leave her behind. Helping Cadance escape would only slow her down.

"O-Okay." Twilight galloped into the dark alleyway. She watched the guards pile on top of Cadance and dragged her away. "I'll come back for you!" 

Twilight kept running and running while making as many turns through the alleyway as possible to avoid getting caught. Many thoughts ran through her head with no end. Most of them being thoughts of how worse this day could get. There were two Cadances, one of them being evil, and an unknown creature stealing Equestria's strongest defense. Not even the Lord of Chaos, Discord, could withstand its power. Just what does the creature want with the Elements? Power and control?

The chase went on for a while. Twilight was beginning to run out of breath but smiled at the sight of an exit. Twilight jumped out of the alleyway to see the bakery right in front of her. The bakery was pretty big which made it a good place to hide in. Although there are a few ponies in there that could possibly give her away for a handsome reward.

The doors to the bakery opened, getting the attention of a few mares including Applejack. "Twilight! I'm so glad ya decided to show up. I've been meaning to have ya try our delicious food. I even finished carvin' the ice sculpture." Applejack took something in her hoof and shoved it in Twilight's mouth. 

Twilight stood there in surprise as to how good it was. "Wow! A job well done Applejack." 

"Oh shucks, ya givin' me too much credit," Applejack replied.

Twilight smiled nervously. "Eh heh. Say, Applejack, you wouldn't happen to have someplace to hide around here, do you?"

"Uh. Why do ya ask?" Applejack became a little confused as to why, though Twilight knew Applejack had no suspession on her just by looking at how joyful the orange pony was. 

"Well, I don't know how to explain it. You see-," Twilight was cut off by the sound of a loud bang coming from outside. Every mare in the room ignored it until the same sound came again multiple times.

"What in tarnation is goin' on out there?" Applejack and every pony else walked out into the open to see hundreds of pony sized bugs surrounding Canterlot. Many of them kept hitting Shining Armor's spell, attempting to break in. 

Twilight sighed in annoyance. "This day just keeps getting better and better. Dealing with one monster was hard enough, now we have hundreds to deal with." Applejack and the other mares stared at the changeling horrid. 

Twilight thought to herself whether she should let Princess Celestia handle this herself or reunite her friends along with the elements. Reuniting her friends would take a while and who knows where the creature could have gone with the elements. Then again, Twilight is being hunted by the guards patrolling Canterlot, all thanks to an evil version of Cadance. 

If Twilight were to help in the situation, Cadance/Chrysalis wouldn't be able to convince Princess Celestia to put her in the dungeon or something. "Ok Applejack, we need to find the rest of our friends. I'll search for Pinkie and Rarity in the castle. You search for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. We will meet back at the castle courtyard. Got it?"

"Yeah, I sure did. I just hope ya know whatcha doin' Twi." Applejack took off at a high speed. "Good luck sugar cube." 

Twilight ran into the castle avoiding any contact with the guards. Most ignored her while some looked at her with suspicion.  For the most part none of them seemed to care. Once again it took quite a lot of Twilight's time and energy to locate only two of her friends. It was as if she was trying to find the exit of the alley way all over again. By the time she found Pinkie Pie, Twilight was out of breath again. 

"Hey Twilight! You have got to try this!" Pinkie Pie grabbed and pulled Twilight towards one of the tables with balloons. The table was fine and well built, but what wasn't fine, was the familiar bottle that stood on the table. A quarter of the dark fluid filling the bottle was now gone. 

"Pinkie! Don't tell me you just drank out of it without evening knowing what its effects are!" Twilight observed Pinkie Pie's entire body. To Twilight's surprise, Pinkie Pie seemed perfectly fine. She was still the same goofy pink pony Twilight could remember. "You're not sick, are you? And how did you steal it from Lyra?"

"Steal? Oh, you silly filly. Lyra gave it to me. And you know what? It wasn't good. It was AMAZING!" Pinkie bounced around Twilight in excitement. "Not only does it satisfy your tongue like chocolate rain, but it can also give you possibly forbidden information no pony is supposed to even know! Like, did you know all of Equestria with every pony in it, isn't even real! We are merely made of imagination, not flesh and bone! This entire world is a dream, not for us, but for the human, or rather the monster who came here to steal the elements!" Pinkie took a deep breath and let it out.

"Wow...that is a lot to take in right there. But to be honest Pinkie, I don't think you should leave it out on the table for some pony to dri-," Twilight was cut off as Pinkie Pie shoved the bottle into Twilight's mouth forcing her to drink it. Twilight levitated it out of her mouth with her magic. "Pinkie! What was that for!?" Twilight began to feel dizzy, and after a few seconds her eyes glowed and changed color. Her entire right eye turned completely white, and her entire left eye turned completely black. The next thing she knew was a black void surrounding her.

"Pinkie? Where did you go? This isn't funny!"

Twilight couldn't feel anything. It felt like the entire world didn't exist anymore. There was nothing but darkness. Then, a white flash hit her in the eyes. When it cleared, she found herself in a cave with six other ponies. One of those ponies seemed all too familiar to her. Looking at the familiar pony closely it was a unicorn with a wizard hat and a long beard. Twilight stood there overjoyed to see the one and only Star Swirl the Bearded. 

"Star Swirl?!" Twilight didn't get an answer even though she was only a few inches away from the legendary unicorn wizard. This was Twilight's dream. The greatest unicorn wizard in all of Equestria was standing right in front of her.

Star Swirl pulled out a shiny glowing seed and planted it into the ground. "This seed will protect Equestria in our absence. It will grow into a powerful being of pure magic. No evil will ever set foot in Equestria at the sight of its power."

"Hey, Star Swirl, have you ever thought of giving it a name since it's going to permanently replace us," one of the ponies asked.

"Hmmm. It shall be known as Harmony. The spirit of order. Now no time to lose. It is time to put an end to the Pony of Shadow's rampage." Star Swirl casted a teleportation spell and in a blink of an eye the six ponies were gone leaving only Twilight in the cave.

Twilight didn't know what was going on. She remembered being in Canterlot trying to assemble her friends, but then she randomly ends up here. Before Twilight could leave, she heard a strange voice whisper her name into her ear. "Twilight."

"Huh?" Twilight looked down to see something small glowing from the ground.

"Castle of the two sisters. Find me there. This world will fall without you, your friends, and him," the strange voice warned.

"Wait. Just who are you?" Twilight asked.

"I am known as the spirit of Harmony. It is my job to protect and keep Equestria at peace. I am here to ask for your help. Your friendship will be the key to defeating the monster that threatens Equestria's entire existence. Find me." Harmony's voice became quieter until no sound could be heard. The cave was then consumed into utter darkness. 

"Hey wait! I have so many questions!" Twilight once again didn't get an answer, only silence. After several seconds have passed the darkness cleared. Twilight found herself no longer in the cave, but in a grassy meadow. She walked around for a few minutes and stopped after she saw Ponyville in the distance. 

'First, I was in Canterlot, then a cave, and now I'm near Ponyville. Is this all a joke?'  As Twilight got closer to her hometown the bright blue sky started to slowly turn purple and black the closer, she got. When she finally reached Ponyville, it was all but empty, except for six mares and a two-legged creature. 

Twilight looked at them in great confusion. The six mares standing in front of her were an exact replica of her friends. Twilight thought she had gone crazy. She was seeing herself. The only thing different between Twilight and her copy was that her copy had wings instead of a horn only. And the two-legged creature is the same creature that stole the elements, only this time it looked stronger than ever, and it carried a gigantic sword.

Twilight could see the Elements of Harmony trapped within a gauntlet. Was this the only reason why the monster stole the elements? To use them as a decoration for some gauntlet.

They all stood there with a serious expression on their faces. Twilight wondered what they were readying themselves for, until a strange darkness came out of nowhere. 

"This is the end of the line for you, Samuel," a creepy voice said out of the darkness.

"Nah. I think you got it all backwards." Sam leaped towards the monster hiding in the darkness and slashed it with his bright sword. The sword's brightness caused Twilight's eyes to melt like marshmallows and the damage it caused made a loud explosion enough to wake Twilight up from her...dream?

"Hey. Are you alright sugar cube?" Applejack tapped a hoof on Twilight's head.

"W-What. What happened?" Twilight sat up in her comfortable bed again. She was back at her library with her friends grouped together.

"Well, after you drank out of that thing called Coke or whatever during the Canterlot invasion. You fell asleep for so many hours and Pinkie had to drag you all the way back to Ponyville. None of us could wake you up. I even grabbed a bucket of water and splashed it all over you," Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Wait. What exactly happened to Canterlot while I was out?" Twilight asked in fear.

"Huh. Where do I start? I hanged out with the very beautiful Rarity, then suddenly the changelings invaded Canterlot. Every pony panicked until Princess Celestia gave out orders to retreat to Ponyville. Hundreds of guards are now surrounding our peaceful village. And Chrysalis, queen of the changelings, is feeding on the love of all the ponies that failed to escape, or she is enslaving them. Oh, and you just abandoned me when you were searching for your brother," Spike gave Twilight a stern look, expecting an apology. 

"Sorry Spike. I was just so upset with Shining Armor that I had forgotten my number one assistant," Twilight gave Spike a hug. "Pinkie. What have you done with the Coke bottle?"

"I did the thing you would obviously do," Pinkie's voice changed into the sound of a nerd. "Hand it over to the princess for her to study." 

Twilight's jaw dropped to the floor. "You did what?!"

"Well duh. What else would the great and magical Twilight do," Pinkie snorted.

"Pinkie! This isn't a joke! Do you have any idea how much trouble you have gotten us into?! If Celestia finds out, we have been messing with dark magic, we will all be punished severely!"

"Twilight, my dear, calm your nerves. It probably has nothing to do with dark magic. You and Pinkie have already tasted it and you all seem fine to me." Rarity put her hoof around Twilight to comfort her. "Besides we should all get some rest. Princess Luna needs our help anyways."

"Princess Luna needs our help? With what?"

"W-we have to fight against that...thing, in our dreams." Fluttershy shivered in fear.

"Relax Fluttershy. Every pony is going to be there to teach that monster a lesson, especialy me," Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves together repeatedly. "It caught me off guard last night, I will make sure it pays for messing with the wrong pony."

"Monster? What monster?" Twilight remembered what Princess Luna had said to her last night in the dream world. A great darkness had been unleashed into her realm.

"There's some kind of dream demon turning our dreams into nightmares, and we need to stop it ASAP. Once every pony falls asleep, we will be ready for whatever it throws at us. Now, all of you, let's get in bed. I want to be included in this fight. I might even impress the wonder bolts with my fancy fighting techniques." Rainbow Dash pulled out a few sleeping bags to sleep in, since Twilight's bed isn't big enough to fit all six mares.





Celestia teleported into Luna's room and woke her up immediately. "There is no time to waste sister. We must abandon Canterlot and save as many of our subjects as possible before they all become love sources." Celestia teleported both herself and Luna out of the room before Luna could say a word. The two sisters appeared in front of the last remaining guards left to defend. "All of you. Save everypony you so happen to come across and escort them all to Ponyville. Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am," The guards all bowed in unison.

"Sister! Why must you disturb my sleep! You know it takes so much of power and energy to fend off the awakened darkness in the dream world!" Luna let out a huff.

"My apologies. I did, however, have a very good reason to do so. The changelings have invaded Canterlot and have succeeded in taking it into their own hooves. Leaving you here would only result in your imprisonment."

Luna calmed herself after hearing those words and chuckled. "You just couldn't live without me. I'm assuming you also require my assistance."

Celestia smiled and put a hoof under Luna's chin. "I do."

Luna blushed and looked away. The two sisters then teleported themselves to Ponyville. They waited very patiently for the guards to hopefully return with survivors. Hours and hours passed until Celestia and Luna spotted the guards along with a few other ponies. Six of those ponies brought back to safety were of course the six special friends that wielded the Elements of Harmony. 

"Well, I'm impressed with you all. You managed to bring back a total of twenty ponies back to Ponyville. Did you all so happen to have any luck in retrieving the elements?" Celestia only stood there with a normal smile.

"Our apologies your highness, but the queen of the changelings has already secured the elements. A few of us had the chance to spy on the queen. From what we saw, she appears to be reviving the monster that you had defeated right before the invasion started. We have no idea what her plans are for Equestria right at the moment but can assume it is no good. And this is hard to say but, Shining Armor, is...dead your highness." After the guard had finished, Celestia's smiled faded and was replaced with a neutral expression much like Sam's.

"I see. You now have new orders. Gather every pony in the village and take them all into the town hall. Me and my sister have many things to discuss." Celestia and Luna flew away. 

Pinkie Pie was the first to enter the town hall, carrying an unconscious Twilight on her back and a strange bottle in her mouth. She gave the Coke bottle to Celestia and explained what happened to Twilight after she drank it. Pinkie then asked if she could skip the meeting and stay in Twilight's home to look after her. Celestia nodded and Pinkie left in an instant, leaving her friends behind.

Once almost all of Ponyville came into the town hall, they all stared at Luna. Already, Luna knew why. "Please protect us from that monster," one of the ponies begged.

"Yea. What kind of princess walks around the night and fails to care for her own subjects? No wonder you turned into that monstrosity, Nightmare Moon," the pony earned a slap on the muzzle from one of Princess Luna's nightguards.

"Please! I need you all to remain calm. I am trying to handle the issue as best I can," Luna looked unsure of herself. The fight against Nightmare turned out to be a draw. Casting a spell to pull every pony into one dream to fight against the demon might result in a different outcome, but Luna didn't want any of them to get involved. Fighting the demon alone again, however, has a risk of her failing to protect every pony's dreams.

She could feel the negativity in Equestria has increased drastically, especially after the unexpected visitors in Canterlot. And if Luna didn't hear or notice correctly, the demon becomes stronger the more negativity floods the air.

The ponies waited for her answer impatiently. After a few moments of silence, Luna, had decided. "My fellow subjects. It has become clear to me I cannot win this alone. I require every pony's assistance if you want that monster to be no more. When you all fall asleep, know that you all will find yourselves in one dream along with the demon. Thou shall not worry, for I will always ensure a nightmare ends happily." 

The ponies stood there in silence. As much as they hated the idea of getting involved with the battle, they agreed to do so. The meeting was now over, and every pony left the town hall to go about their day.

Several hours had passed again. It was now time for Celestia to lower the sun and for Luna to raise the moon. The two closed their eyes and channeled their power into their horns. After a few minutes it was now nighttime. "Me and my guards will continue to guard this village. You on the other hoof have some unfinished business to attend to I believe," Celestia said.

Luna nodded and left her sister alone. She flew up to the windmill and harnessed all of the power she had into her horn. Hundreds of white glowing like strings came out of her horn and traveled into the homes of every pony. As the strings all connected to the heads of the ponies, a white flash of light covered Ponyville temporarily. 

Every pony found themselves outside of Ponyville along with Luna struggling to keep the dream together. They all looked around in awe. It was like a different world.

They all gathered around Luna after they finished wondering around. "My fellow subjects hear me. The demon is here. Do not fear him. If you do you are only giving him the advantage."

"HA! HA! HA! What do we have here?" The ponies turned to the voice and gasped in horror to see the demon once again. Most of the ponies backed away while only a few stood their ground.

"We're not afraid of you!" Rainbow Dash said. 

"Oh really? When I ruined your dream, you feared me before. What is so different now?" Nightmare's smile loosened a bit.

"That's because I was alone, before." Rainbow Dash flew in front of the crowd and tried her best to motivate them. "Listen up! That three eyed ugly sack of teeth ain't got nothing on us! He may be strong, but we are stronger if we all band together!"

"You can also do whatever you want in a dream!" Pinkie Pie pointed a hoof to Derpy, who seemed to be many times larger than any pony else.

"Wait! Who told you that?! Don't listen to her!" Nightmare pulled out his tentacles from his back, but before he knew it a chocolate cake covered in pink icing that was the size of a cottage, fell on top of him. Nightmare broke out of it in anger. He was about to manipulate the entire dream world into a full nightmare, but another unknown force is stopping him. Was it all of the ponies being in one dream?

A blast hit him in the chest. He looked up to see a red alicorn stallion glaring at him. Behind the stallion were now powered up ponies surrounded by loads of dream power. A few had different forms while some imagined random items like books turning into a weapon.

'This is going to be a rough night for me,' Nightmare thought to himself. "Are you all sure I am the only one you should be worried about?"





Queen Chrysalis walked through the hallway and entered one of the royal bedrooms she had kept Sam in to recover. "Wakey wakey my dear pet."



"Uh *yawn*. Five more minutes mom, and then you can make me read whatever useless information I don't even care about." Sam moved into a different comfortable position in one of the royal beds.

Chrysalis gave him a slap on the cheek. "Now is not the time for sleeping! I saved your life. And you can thank me by getting out of that bed you've been recovering in for the past five hours and begin training yourself for more battles to come."

Sam pushed the covers away and stood up lazily. He stretched around for a few seconds and looked Chrysalis right in the eye. "Alright, what do you want?"

"If you didn't know, I saved your life from the princess. Do you not remember being cooked alive? I spent so much of my time and magic to restore you all the way back to full strength and you repay me with laziness?"

The word laziness got to Sam's head. 'I honestly can't tell the difference between her and my mother.' It was in Sam's nature to be lazy, but of course his mother didn't like it. "So, what is it Ms. bossy pants?" Sam once again got another slap to the face. "Ow. Jeez."

"You shall address me as Queen Chrysalis. Do I have to make myself clearer?" Chrysalis's horn glowed bright green, and a green ball of energy could be seen coming from the tip of her horn, then she pointed her horn towards Sam's head.

"Understood my Queen," Sam said with a frown.

"Good. Now I've got plans to make with my subjects. In the meantime, Pharynx will take care of you." Right after Chrysalis left, Pharynx came in with a table filled with several large pieces of cooked meat, fried eggs, and three fillies tied together on a plate.

"Eat!" The purple eyed changeling demanded. Sam looked at his food. The fried eggs were the only things that seemed edible. The meat was undercooked and disgusting to look at. And of course, he wasn't about to eat the cutie mark crusaders.

"Um. What's this supposed to be?" Sam picked up a piece of meat and showed it to Pharynx.

"Are you stupid? It's pony meat of course. We didn't know if you preferred it cooked so we gave you raw meat as well," the changeling pointed to the CMCs.

"Thanks, I guess. Would it be okay if you were to leave me alone, please?" Sam let the meat go onto the plate and pointed a finger at the door.

"Ouch. Such hurtful words. But you know what, it's an even bigger pain to watch over a pathetic creature like you when I got better things to do. Oh, and just one more thing. Don't talk to those fillies. I have tied their mouths shut for a good reason." And with that, Pharynx left Sam be. Sam spotted his traveling bag storing the Elements of Harmony laying on the floor. He put the bag around his shoulder and sat down in his bed to eat whatever was on the table.

They didn't give him a fork or a knife to use, but this is Equestria. One of the biggest reasons why Sam dreamed of living here instead of his own hometown was of how free you were. You didn't have to show any table manners which also means you can eat like a pig. And wearing clothing is optional in public. And almost every pony was so kind and caring. If only the world he lived in were the same.

Sam picked up a fried egg with his hands and just in one bite, he wanted more. He took all of the eggs and shoved them right into his mouth. In less than a minute the eggs were gone. The fillies looked in horror at his sharp teeth, imagining how painful it would be for their flesh to be torn right through.

The horse meat took longer for Sam to clean. After he finished all that was left were the fillies. The CMCs wiggle wormed relentlessly, trying to break free from the ropes tying them together. When they realized escape wasn't an option, they tried to scream for help, but the ropes tied around their mouths prevented any sound from coming out.

This was it. The fun times they had trying to get their cutie marks ends here. In the end, they will all die as blank blanks. A tear ran through Apple Bloom's eye once she saw the monster standing in front of her and her friends. The three fillies looked at each other and nodded their heads as a sign of acceptance.

Sam turned his hand into a small blade and slowly he cut off the ropes. The CMC's eyes widened in shock as the monster carried them all in his arms. "I'm not going to hurt you three. I'm just going to need yall to prove my innocence." Sam opened the closet door and threw the trio in. Closing the door, he picked up an entire dresser and barricaded the door.

Sam trapped the CMCs in the closet just in time before a changeling came into his bedroom. "Queen Chrysalis is in need of you. Follow me."

Sam did what he was told. While he followed the changeling, he saw what changes they had made to Canterlot while unconscious. Sam had to admit to himself how cool the changes were, but it definitely isn't cute as it used to be anymore. A few changelings on his way to which he could assume was the throne room, bowed down in respect. 'Huh? I wasn't expecting that to happen. Normally they would hiss at any creature that isn't a changeling, especially a pony.'

The doors to the throne opened and there she was. Chrysalis sat on a new made throne. The same throne Sam remembered from the season six finale. "That's a nice throne you got there." Sam looked up and saw lots of ponies inside of green cocoons, hanging on the celling.

Chrysalis smiled. "I've been expecting you. How was the food?" 

"It was alright," replied Sam.

"Did you know that cooked meat is from that white military stallion you fought earlier? He was of no use to us since you killed him. Though I figured his corpse could provide of some use to you," Chrysalis made a look of intelligence.

Sam was in shock after hearing the words come out of the queen's bug mouth. "Wait. Shining Armor is dead?!" 

"Yes. And I have brought you here to also take care of this USELESS princess. I was expecting to get so much love from the princess of LOVE. But ever since Shining Armor died, she has become heartbroken." Chrysalis threw Cadance right in front of Sam. "She is in a very bad condition. It would be best if you ended her misery."

"So, you want me to kill her?"

"Or eat her, whichever way you prefer. I've been studying your body while you were in bed. You have a unique ability. The ability to gain power after killing your foe. The more ponies you kill, the stronger you become." Chrysalis smiled with greed written all over her. While Sam had already created some nasty thoughts for what is to come next in his head. The queen then laughed as if she was insane. "This will truly be fun. Allowing you to kill and devourer out foes for more power." 

'Great, she wants me to level myself up. I had no idea this dream would turn into some video game. Well, more like a dream game to be honest.' Sam had gotten sick of grinding after throwing elixirs at magic pots so he could kill them for large amounts of exp and ap. This only meant another long journey to level 99, but in real life. 

"I want you to become even stronger. I will make you into the perfect warrior. No pony will ever stand in your way. Whether you like it or not you're going to become my strongest, fastest, and smartest pony guard. Am I understood?" Chrysalis and the rest of the changelings in the room all stared at him. 

Killing ponies just for power didn't sound right. He had already killed some pony and that some pony was Twilight's brother. Sam didn't want to think about what would happen if Twilight were to know about her brother's death. Refusing to listen to Chrysalis is a big mistake. It's only him against hundreds of bugs. And if he couldn't get past Celestia, what are the chances of him winning a battle against Chrysalis.

Sam had no choice but to comply. "Yes mam. Can I leave now?"

"I don't know, cannnnnnn you?"

Sam gave her a face of annoyance. "May I leave now, please?????"

Chrysalis nodded. "Yes, you may." 

Sam carried an unconscious Cadance on his back and traveled back to his room. Making sure no changeling was around, he removed the large dresser and opened the closet door to free the CMCs. Grabbing the trio in his arms, he jumped out the window and made his way out Canterlot without getting caught.

A path could be seen leading out of the city. About fifty changelings guarded the area so Sam had to find a different way out. The idea came to him that jumping off the cliff would be extremely reckless. Though he could always regenerate any wound made by fall damage.

Sam jumped and slid down the longest cliff ever seen, into the Everfree Forest. The CMCs almost passed out from the long drop while Candance stayed on his back the entire time. As for Sam, it felt only like a trip down memory lane when he rode the Fury at Carowinds. Once they came to a stop, Sam released the fillies out of his arms once he was sure they had escaped changeling territory. "Okay, can you three promise me you won't go running off anywhere, and you will stay with me at all times?"

"Wait! Hold on! What is going on!?" Sweetie Belle moved around in panic.

"First ya tried to eat us, and now ur helpin' us!?" Apple Bloom glared at Sam with suspicion.

"Yea! And how do you expect us to follow you wherever you go. You could be leading us into a trap!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Well, if you haven't looked around were in the Everfree Forest. I highly doubt you three know your way around this area. And who's going to protect you if some dangerous creature comes out of the bushes to have you for lunch or something." Sam waited for a reply. He didn't get one. Sam shrugged and turned around to follow the path to the Tree of Harmony.

"Wait! What's your name mister?" Apple Bloom asked.

Sam stopped in his tracks to answer the question. "The names Sam."

Apple Bloom smiled at her new friend. "My name is Apple Bloom, and this is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. We're the cutie mark crusaders."

"Heh. Your all so friendly. I've never felt this much emotion since I was ten years old." Sam's non depressing moment was cut short once he saw darkness fill the sky. He could feel Nightmare's presence within the darkness and knew he was running out of time "Aw crap. I need to hurry up." Sam took off running to the Tree of Harmony, leaving the CMCs behind. Even with Cadance on his back to slow him down, he was still pretty fast.

"Hey! Where ya goin' Sam!? Don't leave us behind!"





Celestia stood on top of the Golden Oak library. Checking the telescope ever so often for any intruders. So far Ponyville has been kept in peace while Luna dealt with whatever was messing with every pony's dreams. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud crack from the ground.

Darkness covered the sky and the ground shook. Multiple cracks formed on the ground and opened wide. The guards surrounded the cracks and pointed their spears towards a strange creature rising from the underground. The creature was a pony with blank purple eyes staring into the abyss. Its entire body was rotten, and its tongue came out to lick its lips in front of the guards.

It galloped towards a guard and bit him in the leg. The guard fell unconscious as if the bite had extreme venom. The creature then screamed in agony once a few guards came to their senses and struck it blow by blow until it died. 

"What seems to be the matter!?" Celestia questioned from behind.

"We don't know your highness! It just came out of the ground and- sweet Celestia! There's more of them," the guard dropped his spear and ran away cowardly from the group of zombie ponies standing there ready to gnaw them all to death. The dead zombie's black blood oozed and came together to form something solid as if the blood had a mind of its own. The solid blood formed into a rotten hoof, and the same happened to the rest of the body.

The zombie pony got back up after it regenerated all of its wounds. The regeneration process was quite similar to the two-legged creature that stole the elements. It made Celestia wonder if all of these terrible events were really just a coincidence. 

Before any pony else could be hurt a strange rainbow beacon from the Everfree shot into the sky clearing the darkness. The army of zombies charged towards the princess. Only after a few hoof steps, they were instantly vaporized by a rainbow shockwave coming from the beacon.

Once the shockwave passed through Celestia. She stood there in shock. That power was none other than the Elements of Harmony. Could it be?

The guards stood there victorious and awaited new orders. Celestia took a moment to process everything. The source of that power came from the forest. Which means the elements have been returned to their original place, the Tree of Harmony.

"When the sun rises once again, I want several of you to volunteer to go into the Everfree Forest and search the Tree of Harmony for the elements. The ones who have volunteered will be accompanied by the six ponies who wielded the elements along the way. The dark forest is filled with dangerous creatures, and I want you all to show bravery. Any more questions?" Celestia smiled at the silence. She already knew her guards would never question her orders. "Very well. You have all night to decide."

All night ended rather quickly. It has been about 5 hours which felt like 50 minutes to Celestia after all of the stress and worrying. She then saw her sister, Luna, jump from the windmill and glided all the way down. "So, did all go well?" 

"Indeed, however, not in the way I intended." Luna remained calm. It wasn't a sign of anything bad, but it also wasn't a sign of anything good or exciting news. "We all have managed to stop him from damaging any pony else's dream."

"That's good. Right?" Celestia struggled to decide whether to keep her smile up or not.

Luna let out a sigh. "We have only banished Nightmare from the dream realm. My intentions were to destroy him, but my subjects failed to do so. They instead gave all of their power to me, and I unleashed it all. Nightmare won't be hurting any pony anytime soon, but he is still out there, waiting for some pony to aid him in his horrible quest."

"Nightmare?"

"Yes. That is his name," Luna closed her eyes and lowered her head slightly. "Nightmare."





Bush after bush and tree after tree, they were all cut down by Sam's rush. The trio kept following him asking countless of questions.

"Wow Sam. How do you run so fast with only two legs? It'd be so cool to be the first pony to ever stand on two hooves. I might even get a cutie mark for that." Scootaloo pushed her front hooves off the ground and lifted herself up to stand like Sam. She immediately fell on her other two friends causing Sam to take a moment to stop and laugh. "Aw come on. It's not fair! I have no cutie mark and I have wings that I can't even use!"

"Why can't you just be happy with your scooter? It does fit your name anyway. I remember when I was like nine years old, I used to ride around on the sidewalk with my scooter at my grandma's house. Well, I used to. She's dead now. And after her death, my aunt and uncle turned out to be traitors and decided to sell the house. Later on, my life just got even more depressing. Welp, not like it matters anymore. I'm now in a different world, a world I'm possibly not going to be leaving."

"You never did tell us anything about you. Like, what are you? What's your home like? I want to know so bad." Sweetie Belle walked up to Sam with a cute sad face. "Pretty please."

"Uhhhh. I'll tell you later. Right now, I need to return the elements really quick. It'll be in a jiffy because were already here." Sam chopped down the last tree standing in their way and there stood the castle of the two sisters only several feet away. "I swear, the tree better have something good for me."

The human and the fillies traveled down a staircase and into a cave to meet face to face with the tree. "I see you have brought what is mine."

"Uh huh. Now I want some answers. Just how in the world did I end up here?" Sam put Princess Cadance safely on the ground for her to rest and tapped his left foot on the ground repeatedly.

"You are here now because of your thoughts. This world is your dream. All beings like ponies, dragons, griffons, changelings, they exist only because of your existence."

"Ah, so I'm lucid dreaming right now. But if this really is all a dream, then why can't I manipulate or control this world at all? I remember creating a nice coke bottle before Nightmare came out of nowhere and interrupted everything."

"Both you and Nightmare are connected to this world. To have full control of this world one must destroy the one that seeks the same power."

"So, you're saying I have to kill Nightmare before he kills me. I guess sometimes that flower is right. It's either kill or be killed." 

"You do have the choice to give up and go home."

"Eh?"

"Once the elements are given to me, I can cast a spell to send you back home. You will find yourself in your bed, Nightmare will no longer exist, you will feel like none of this had ever happened. Or, if you choose so, you can stay in this world permanently and risk your very own life. The choice is yours."

"Hmmm. If I choose to stay here, how am I supposed to get rid of that demon?"

"It's simple, I can sacrifice myself to delay the demon's true power from being unleashed. You on the other hoof must play your part by gathering enough power and friends to prepare for a long and tremendous battle."

"Sacrifice. There always has to be sacrifice involved if you're fighting for something worth your while. I'll stay, it's not like I got anything better to do at my hometown." Sam pulled out the elements from his bag and held them out for the tree to see. The elements were levitated out of Sam's hands and placed into the tree.

"Before I do, there are somethings you must know," the tree's voice had changed.

"And those things are?"

"Killing off monsters to make yourself stronger is good, but keep in mind there is a limit to your growth. If you want to gain true power, you must seek out the new and improved elements of harmony."

Sam was about to lose it if he was getting himself on another quest to find more artifacts. "Okay, where exactly are they?"

"They are not just out in the open. You must obtain them one by one with certain actions. First, find the golden treasure underneath the castle of the two sisters. Then, find each individual element. Space, Reality, Time, Mind, Soul, and POWER. The six ponies you know are the key."

Sam could've sworn those names sounded familiar, until it finally clicked in his head. "What the. Do I look like Thanos to you? Sure, I got muscles here and there but it's not like I'm some beefy grown man who weighs 985.5 pounds."

The tree ignored Sam's words and continued. "The space element is found in the land of crystals. Reality is in another world. Time is underneath the sands of the badlands. Mind can be found in the area surrounding us. Soul has been destroyed a long time ago in the past. As for POWER, it doesn't exist yet. Find them all. You will become my replacement. Sam, the new source of harmony for Equestria." The tree glowed bright. Sam covered his eyes while a rainbow beam of light came out of the tree and into the sky.

The darkness covering the sky had cleared, the Tree of Harmony exploded leaving thick amounts of smoke in front of Sam's face. Sam closed his eyes and held his breath, waiting for the smoke to clear. After a couple minutes he opened his eyes to see a pony, no, an alicorn, standing where the Tree of Harmony once stood.

The alicorn was white coated with a red mane and tail, and its cutie mark is a quill being dipped into an ink bottle. "Thank you," the alicorn said. 

"Um, your welcome?" 

The alicorn smiled and slowly disappeared into thin air. "What was that all about? Eh, whatever," Sam realized something was missing as soon as he almost left the cave. "Wait a second. Where are the cutie mark crusaders?"

"Oh, my my my. This adventure of yours is certainly getting interesting," a voice said out of nowhere. 

Sam already knew the owner of that voice which put him on high alert. Looking around aimlessly, he found nothing. "Show yourself!"



The voice laughed. "Oh, now isn't that adorable. You sound exactly like Celestia. The two of you should totally get married," a white flash of magic appeared and disappeared, revealing the CMCs along with the epic troublemaker himself, Discord, the lord of chaos.

Sam looked at the draconequus dead in the eye. Sam surely enjoyed Discord as a character because all he would do was create chaos to get the ponies on edge like turning the roads into soap or making it rain chocolate from cotton candy clouds and it was funny to watch. The main concern Sam had now was if could keep his sanity if the same were to happen to him. "Are you here to cause trouble?" 

"Who? Me?" an angel halo appeared above Discord's head. "I would never. I'm here to do quite the opposite actually." Discord signaled the CMCs to drop the gold gauntlet on their backs. "They were starting to get bored. So, I did you a favor and gave them a field trip around the castle. And look what we found. Now I will be known as the best teacher in all of Equestria."

"You were spying on me this entire time?! So, you heard the conversation I had with the tree. Wow, what a way to be nosy. And how did you even break out of your stone prison?"

"Well, my very uncomfortable stone prison is made of magic. Ever since those bugs took over, a throne for the queen has been built. The throne isn't ordinary. It has the ability to surround Canterlot with some kind of anti-magic field. Thus, I was free once it was built, however, I had no magic to easily escape, my escape had to be done on foot. Then, I saw you and took my chances to follow." Discord floated up in the air a few feet above Sam and positioned himself to make it look like an invisible beach chair was there floating along with him.

"I'm guessing that gauntlet over there is what the golden treasure the tree was talking about huh?"

"It sure is. We had ourselves a fun time explorin'. Right girls?" Apple Bloom pulled both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo into a hug.

"Right," said Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"I did overhear your conversation with the tree. It seems you have yourself a destiny to fulfill. Normally I don't take things seriously even if it means being turned to stone for a thousand years, but Equestria on the verge of destruction is something I can not ignore. Without Equestria, there will be no chaos for me to create and enjoy." Discord snapped his fingers and a few tents appeared out of thin air. "In the meantime, lets-, oh. Looks like we have some unwanted pony guests."

Sam turned into the direction Discord was in. They saw six mares blocking the cave exit with several guards by their side. Sam was excited to be able to meet the mane six face to face. He also had a bit of concern things were about to get ugly.

"YOU!" Twilight shouted. "HOW DARE YOU KILL MY ONE AND ONLY BROTHER! A MONSTER LIKE YOU SHOULD BE BURNING IN THE DEPTHS OF TARTARUS!"

The CMCs took cover behind unconscious Cadance on the ground. While Sam turned his hands into long blades. "You got my back on this one Discord?"

"Sure. It's not like I have to even try to win." Discord snapped his fingers and pigs with wings appeared. "This is when pigs fly."

"Oh boy. It's going to be a bumpy night."





Meanwhile, somewhere in the Frozen North. "My crystal slaves. I have returned!"

"You fascinate me. Shall we form an alliance," Nightmare smiled at the new dark entity similar to himself.

"Who might you be?"


End of Part 1/4