//------------------------------//
// Garble's Nightmare 
// Story: Garble's Nightmare 
// by Matthais Unidostres 
//------------------------------//





Garble's Nightmare


The red teenage dragon lay on his back on the ground. He yawned as he got to his feet, stretching a bit. The Sun was already up, as it always was whenever Garble woke up, seeing as he always liked to sleep in late. Picking a large sapphire out of the ground, Garble began taking bites out of it as he flew out of the gorge and into the nearby forest.

Leaning against a tree, waiting for him, was a tall purple dragon with yellow wings and yellow hair over his eyes, and a pair of purple horns. The other teenage dragon looked at the gem in Garble's hand and whistled.

"Whoa, where did you get the Fire Ruby?" Fume said.

Garble looked down at the gem in his claw. It was indeed a Fire Ruby.

"Uh. . .whoa. . .I. . . just found it, I guess," Garble said as he stared at the large heart-shaped gem. It also seemed to be set inside a gold clasp. He gave it a lick with his dragon tonged, and then frowned, "It isn't aged enough. . ."

Fume shrugged, "Whatever. Come on, let's go."

Garble and Fume when deeper into the forest, where it was much darker. Gathered there were the rest of Garble's friends. There was Shakes, a lanky grey dragon with a pair of white horns and green hair. There was Puff, a white dragon with pink hair. There was Vex, a bluish dragon with a pair of white horns sticking out on the back of his head. And lastly there was Clump, and overweight brown dragon with red wings and a pair of stumpy baby-blue wings.

"Okay, so here's the awesome idea I had the other day," Shakes said excitedly, "A play about the Namby Pamby Pony Princess!"

Everyone chuckled except Garble, who was staring at the Fire Ruby in his claws.

"Yeah, and we can charge everyone a. . .uh. .. uh. . .a whole lotta gems to see it!" Clump said, licking his chops.

Everyone nodded, but Garble still paid no notice to his surroundings. Puff was the first to notice Garble's odd behavior.

"Uh, hello? Garble? Anyone in there?" Puff asked.

"Huh?" Garble said, sounding completely out of it. He shook his head and snapped back into reality, "Oh, sorry, it's nothing."

"But-?" Puff started.

"I said nothing!" Garble said as he discretely dropped the gem on the ground behind him and kicked it away. "For claw's sake, can we get to Shakes' idea already?"

Shakes nodded, "Okay. So the Pony Princess walks up to the center and announces she's gonna raise the sun. Then she flies up a few feet into the air, but then, just as she raises her arms, uh, hooves, she farts!"

Garble just stared at Shakes. "And. . .?" he asked, not sounding very impressed.

Shakes kept on smiling as he continued, "After that, she falls down and cries that now all of the ponies in Equestria will think she has a farting problem. And then, a Royal Guard comes over and tells her to suck it up, and then he slaps her across the face!"

Garble shrugged, "Okay, that's something. . ."

"But wait, it gets better! Since all ponies are sissies, the Royal Guard then starts crying about chipping a hoof. Then the Princess calls for cake and milk, and a chef wheels in a cart with a baby bottle and a huge cake, and the chef has to spoon feed her!" Shakes chortled.

Everyone started to laugh at this image, Garble included. After their mirth had died down, Garble smiled and said, "Well, I think their Princess is white and has pink in her mane, so Puff would be the best one for the part."

Shakes raised an eyebrow, "Who?"

"Puff," Garble repeated.

Vex scratched the side of his head, "Who's Puff?"

Garble turned to give Vex an "are you kidding me" look and said, "What do you mean, 'duh! Who's Puff?' He's standing right-."

Garble stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that Puff was no longer standing among them.

"Where'd he go?" Garble asked.

"Where'd who go?" Fume asked, looking a little concerned for Garble.

Garble frowned, but then he smirked and folded his arms, "Ha-ha. Very funny guys. Oh wait, no, it's not funny. It's stupid. If you're gonna pull a prank, make it interesting."

"Garble, what are you talking about?" Shakes said in exasperation.

"Seriously guys?" Garble said, "Puff sneaks away, and then Shakes and Vex act like he doesn't exist-."

"Vex?" Fume asked.

Garble turned and saw that Vex was gone as well.

Garble sighed in frustration and said, "Look guys. What's the point of this?"

"Oh for pete's sake, will you at least try to make some sense, Garble?!" Shakes growled.

Garble studied the faces of his three remaining friends. He couldn't detect any insincerity in their eyes, and as far as he knew, his group certainly weren't exactly Poker Face Masters.

"Don't. . .you. . . guys remember a rectangle jawed albino named Puff or a chubby bluish dragon with horns on the back of his head named Vex?" Garble asked awkwardly.

"Uhhhhhhh. . ." Clump said.

Shakes and Fume exchanged glances, and then stared at Garble.

"Have you been having headaches, lately?" Shakes asked.

Garble sighed and sat down hard. He buried his face in his claws. "I distinctly remember those guys. I mean, this doesn't make any sense. . ."

"Garble, maybe you should just lie down and rest-," Shakes began.

"But why is this happening to me!?" Garble shouted. He then got up and stood eye to eye with Shakes' orange ones. "You're the brainiac here, Shakes. You got the ideas and you know stuff. What's going on here and why! Tell me!"

"Um. . ." Shakes said, managing to pull his eyes away from Garble's in order to look around, "Well, both of those nasty falls you, Clump, and Fume took while chasing those Phoenixes, and that little wimp Spike. Yeah, maybe you hit your head a little hard, and as your brain fixes itself, it creates random memories. Perhaps. . ."

Garble shook his head, "I don't know. Maybe. But wait. . ." Garble turned to Clump and Fume, "You were in those crashes. Have you had any memory issues?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"I doubt it," Fume said, "As far back as I can remember. It's always been you, me, and Clump."

"And Shakes," Garble added.

An expression of both confusion and fear passed across the faces of Clump and Fume. Garble felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he turned around to see that Shakes was gone.

"No," Garble said, shaking his head in denial, "No, no, no, no, no, NO!" Garble then took the air and began calling out at the top of his lungs, "SHAKES! SHAKES, WHERE'D YOU GO! SHAKES! VEX! PUFF! QUIT HIDING! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

Fume flew alongside Garble and grabbed his arm, "Garble! Get a grip on yourself!"

Clump flew up from beneath Garble and pulled him down by the tail. Garble considered struggling, but decided not to, seeing as his two friends were no weaklings.

Garble soon found himself back on the ground, his head spinning by everything that was going on.

"They're real. They're all real. I've known them for years," Garble said as he held his forehead in his right claw.

"Calm down, Garble. It's gonna be okay," Fume said, moving the hair over his eyes aside so he could she his friend clearly.

Clump shifted uncomfortably and said, "Uh-oh. I gotta take a leak. Be right back."

"NO!" Garble shouted as he jumped forward and grabbed Clump's arms, "If you go out of sight then you'll disappear too!"

Fume stared in horrified fascination as Garble dragged Clump over to him. What shocked him most was that Garble actually looked afraid and panicked, something he'd never expect to see in his normally tough friend.

Clump growled and wrenched his arm free, pushing Garble down.

"I GOTTA GO!" he shouted as he stormed off into the woods.

Garble moaned in anguish as paranoia and pain welled up inside of him. "I'm going insane. . ." he moaned as he lay on his stomach.

Fume few over to Garble's side and put a claw on his shoulder. "Hey man, don't worry," he said, "I got your back."

Garble let a puff of smoke come out of his nostril, "Doesn't matter. Soon you'll be gone too."

"Garble, I promise you, I am not going to go anywhere," Fume said strongly.

"Do you know who Clump is?" Garble asked quickly.

"Um-."

"There! He's gone," Garble spat, "Everyone's leaving me. Everyone! They're all getting taken away and become like they never even hatched. Just like. . ." Garble's voice got stuck in his throat at that painful memory.

"Like what?" Fume asked, lifting the air from off his eyes.

Garble prevented a sob from escaping his throat with all his might, and then hung his head and closed his eyes, utterly disgusted at all the sappy emotions he was going through. "Wow. Look at me. I'm pathetic," he said in what almost sounded like a whimper.

"No, you're not, buddy. I'm just trying to be the good friend you need right now."

". . ."

"Garble, let me tell you something."

"What?"

". . ."

Garble's heart skipped a beat.

He opened his eyes and slowly lifted his head.

Gone.

Garble shook with rage and disgust. His negative emotions weren't directed at anything in particular. In fact, they were directed at everything. Garble roared out a huge column of fire straight up into the air. When his fiery rage was spent, Garble slumped back onto the ground and dug his claws into the dirt.

"Alone. . .again," Garble said, "Why. . .I had a whole pack. . .I wasn't supposed to be alone anymore. . ."

Garble could feel it building up inside him. He jumped up and charged at dome tress, hacking at them with his claws. He couldn't let the sobs out, he wasn't a weakling. He'd already lost everything, he wasn't going to loose his pride. However, on the third slash, Garble recoiled in pain. It felt like the trees were made of iron. Garble fell back down and clutched his stinging claw, the vibrations running through it resonating with the vibrations in his chest. Unable to take it any longer, Garble did something he had never done since the day that had happened years ago.

Garble sobbed.

He tried to keep the tears from falling, put one managed to slip out during his sobs.

It rolled down his cheek and fell to the ground.

At that spot erupted an incredibly bright light. It even causes Garble to forget his sadness and cease sobbing. He crawled backwards and quickly got to his feet. He stood in shock as out of the light appeared a dark blue Alicorn with and ethereal mane. She wore the regalia of a princess, colored night-blue.

Garble could only stare at the Alicorn in awe.

"Greetings Garble," the Alicorn said.

"Wha…?" Garble gasped, "How do you know my name? Who are you? What are you?"

"I am Princess Luna, Princess of the Night, Guardian of Dreams, and younger sister of Princess Celestia. I knew your name because my power to walk through dreams allows me access to the thoughts and memories of those I visit."

"I… I don't understand," Garble said, but then it all clicked within his head, "This is. . .all just a dream?"

"It's a whole lot more than that, Garble," said a voice from behind him.

Garble turned around fast. "Fume?"

Fume smiled and nodded, and from behind him stepped Vex.

"This dream was created by Luna's probing of your mind to find that you and the Harmony Trigger shared a common origin," Vex said.

"Harmony trigger? Common origin?" Garble repeated, looking even more confused.

From behind Vex and Fume stepped Clump, who nodded and said, "Yeah. You see, Fate caused something to be taken from you in order to help awaken a force that could bring order to chaos, logic to insanity, and spread Harmony throughout all of Equestria. In spite of this though, your own Harmony was destroyed."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Garble asked nervously.

From behind the group stepped Puff.

"Your destiny had to suffer for the good of the destiny of the world as a whole. So when Luna entered your mind to find proof that you were that martyr, it couldn't handle the paradox of your own martyrdom. It wouldn't let you believe that you were of such great importance in the grand scheme of things," Puff explained.

"But what does this all mean!?" Garble shouted, getting impatient, "What was taken from me? What is this force? What is this Harmony of mine that got destroyed? What the heck is a Harmony Trigger? And what does any of this has to do with that weird nightmare?"

Puff pushed through the group and stood at the front. "It was part a test and part a punishment. Forged deep in the depths of your own insecurities and made flesh by Princess Luna. Now at last you know how important and how powerful the Magic of Friendship truly is, and how painful it is to loose it, if even for a moment. A lifetime of Disharmony atoned for at last."

The Alicorn unfurled her wings as she stood behind Garble. "And it's for precisely these reasons that you need to know the truth," Luna said.

"Truth?" Garble said as he turned back ot Luna, "What truth? What do I have to do with Equestria and your Harmony thing? I'm just another evil dragon to them!" Garble said bitterly.

"To some," Luna admitted, "But to one certain citizen of Equestria…"

Luna's voice trailed off, and Garble stared at her in curiosity, "Who?"

Luna smiled, and she walked over to Garble. He let her get close to him, but jumped when Luna touched her horn to his forehead, causing a huge blinding light.





A younger Garble is lying in a cave, not a baby but not a teenager either. It was most certainly a few years ago. In cave were Garble's mother and father resting on top of a huge horde. Also in the cave was a light purple egg with dark purple spots all over it. Garble got close to the egg and patted it, smiling as he though about becoming a big brother soon.

However, the scene was interrupted when a huge green dragon barged into the cave with the intention to take the horde. It was absolute chaos as gems, rock, dirt, dust, fire, and smoke went flying in every which way. The green dragon grabbed a stalagmite and used it to stab the mother. the father roared with rage and attacked the green dragon, while at the same time yelling out to Garble, "Take the egg and run!"

Garble did as he was told and made a mad dash to the cave exit with the egg in his claws, but a swipe of the green dragon's tail knocked him senseless and sent him flying.

When he regained consciousness, Garble was somewhere else in the Everfree Forest, but the egg was gone. Overcome with grief, Garble broke down into tears.





Princess Celestia looked at the egg that the Royal Guards had brought to her.

"It was found on the edge of the Everfree Forest. We knew that you have had a recent interest in possessing a dragon's egg, so we secured it for you, seeing as it was clearly abandoned."

Celestia nodded, "Yes, very good. Not only will I have what I need to create my test, but it will also prevent a life form being lost before it begins."





The Sonic Rainboom's shockwave went across the land. It zoomed across Canterlot, causing a young Twilight Sparkle to become enveloped in magic. A beam shot out of her horn and hit the egg, causing a baby purple and green dragon to hatch out of it.





Twilight Sparkle stood in front of her friends as the Elements of Harmony Activated and defeated Nightmare Moon.





Spike and Twilight hugged as Owlicious hovered nearby.





Spike's eyes turned to hearts as he stared at Rarity.





Spike burped up Friendship letters in rapid succession as Twilight read them, slowly turning from grey to her normal color.





Twilight and her friends used the Elements of Harmony to turn Discord to stone.





Spike rampaged through Ponyville as a giant, but shrank back down at the sight of the Fire Ruby around Rarity's neck. Both were caught by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and Rarity kissed Spike on the cheek.





Spike hugged the Phoenix egg as Garble stood over him threateningly. But then Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash jumped in to his defense.





Spike jumped out of a window of the Crystal Castle, holding the Crystal Heart. He ran frantically as dark crystals grew around him to stop his descent. Spike soon fell off and was headed straight for King Sombra below him. However, Cadence flew by and caught Spike just in time.




A stained glass window depicting Spike heroically holding the Cryatla Heart.





Spike stood in front of Applejack as a giant Timberwolf stood over them. He threw a rock into its thoat, causing it to choke and fall apart.





By the time the final flashback had played, Garble was on the verge of tears once again.

"Oh… my… gosh" he said, but then he snarled, "THAT EGG SNATCHING BITCH! Do you have any idea how much loosing my entire family scarred me? Do you have any idea the hell I had to go through? I failed my father on his last request! I lost my only brother even though I had the perfect chance save him!"

Garble's knees suddenly felt weak and fell down to the floor. Despite his sobbing, he still spoke angrily and clearly, occasionally wiping his eyes and nose with the back of his claws.

"On the day I finally got to see my brother again, I bullied him because I didn't know who he was! I tried showing him how to be a proper dragon but he just wouldn't listen to me! I would've ruthlessly beaten him, perhaps even killed him if that unicorn hadn't teleported him away! My mother and father had to look down on that day and see their first born son abuse their only other son and make him feel worthless! And finding out what I did, finding out how close I was and yet so far away to truly never feeling alone again, finding out how I forever became a bully and a monster to him instead of the loyal, edifying, and supportive big brother he needed!? This has got to be the worst possible punishment that could ever be devised for me!"

That was all Garble could take. Garble completely broke down into tears, filled with the pain of knowing that he had failed his little brother.

Luna boldly walked up to Garble again, and draped a wing over him.

"Do not be ashamed of your tears, Garble. They show you have remorse, and that you are not a monster," Luna said.

Garble sniffed as he appeared to have suddenly run out of tears. "But. . .Spike. . ."

"Did you not see how he has grown into something much greater than merely the Harmony Trigger? Did you not see the bonds he created, the heroism he showed," Luna said as she pulled her wing away and stepped in front of Garble to look him square in the eye, "Through him, Twilight Sparkle realized her full potential, the Elements of Harmony were gathered, the darkness was purged from my heart, Discord's reign of chaos was thwarted, the Crystal Empire was saved, and Twilight was finally crowned a Princess. So, in the end, this twist of fate allowed Spike to experience much more of this world, as well as save it from the forces of evil multiple times."

Garble blinked as Luna's words sank in. But then he shook his head fast and said, "And me?"

Luna stared hard at Garble and said, "And as for you, this window into Pony Society that has taken the form of not only a fellow dragon, but your brother, will make you a little wiser. You know have a connection, and an understanding, of the race that you criticize and put down. In every way, Ponies are just like Dragons. They work hard, they feel pain, they laugh, they cry, and they all have the same potential to understand how wonderful friendship can be. When you mock them, you also mock yourself, Garble. You can still criticize all you want. But deep down inside, thanks to Spike, the way he's grown, the things he's done, and the connections he's made, you'll always know that the lives of ponies have just as much value, credence, importance, and potential as the lives of dragons. And thanks to this nightmare, you have also learned that the value, the Magic, of friendship is not restricted only to ponies, and is every bit as valuable to dragon-kind."

Luna leaned in close to Garble's face.

"And that is something you will never truly forget."

The time for tears had long since past, so now the only feeling Garble felt was a feeling of awe.

"So. . . now what?" Garble asked.

"Now it's time to wake up… and become a big brother again," Luna said.

Garble looked away in shame, "I can't go back. What about all the horrible things I did? I mean, I tried to force Spike to kill something. I attacked him and his friends. How could he ever forgive me. He must hate me now."

Luna smiled and lifted Garble's chin with her hoof and smiled, "It's all right. My sister recently had someone who did many terrible things and, in my mind, didn't deserve forgiveness, redeemed and forgiven by Spike and his six pony friends. If they can forgive a monster like that, I'm fairly certain that you have no reason to worry."

Garble stared at Luna as she removed her hoof from his chin and walked a few feet away from him. She stopped and turned around to face him.

"So, what are you waiting for, Garble? You and Spike have a lot of catching up to do."

The space behind Luna warped and twisted until it became an area of white light.

Garble suddenly felt as if all the pain of loosing his family was starting to slowly melt away, like snow under the Noon Sun. "My brother. . ." Garble thought. The red dragon smiled and started to move towards Luna. But then he suddenly stopped and looked back at his friends.

"But wait. . . all of this is pretty deep and heavy stuff," Garble said, "I don't think I'll be able to put all of this into words and explain all of this to my friends when I wake up-."

"They already know," Luna said, "For you see, the dragons you see before you are your friends. I used my magic to pull all of your minds into one dreamscape. In short-."

"We're all having the same dream. . ." Garble said as he stared at his friend's smiling faces.

"That's right, so don't worry about us!" Vex said.

"Yeah, we already know all that stuff," Clump said.

"Luna went to each of us and explained it," Puff said.

"How else do you think we were able to give that explanation before!" Shakes said.

"We all understand what this means to you," Fume said.

Garble wrung his claws nervously, "So, you don't mind saying goodbye?"

"Not 'goodbye'! Just 'so long'!" Clump said optimistically.

"I'm sure we can find time to visit," Puff said.

"Don't forget to try and befriend some of those ponies. That'd be a first. . .for a dragon not raised by ponies. . ." Vex said sheepishly.

"But if you ever want to see your old friends again, you know where to find us," Shakes said.

Fume just smiled and walked over to Garble. The pair smiled at each other. Out of the group of six, Garble and Fume had been friends for the longest. That's probably why the nightmare held onto him for the longest. Unable to find the right words, the two dragons simply hugged fondly. Fume let go and smiled, pointing to Luna. "Now walk through that portal! A true dragon never leaves a younger sibling behind!"

As Garble looked at his five friends, he could've sworn that for a brief second, perhaps a fraction of a second, standing in their place were the five friends of that purple unicorn. However, knowing he had important business to attend to, Garble simply gave a final wave, and then walked boldly beside Princess Luna and into the white light. . .





When Garble opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the Moon. Luna's Moon.

Garble slowly got to his feet, thinking that if Celestia was anything like her little sister, then maybe she wasn't as Mamby Pamby as he thought.

The next thing Garble noticed was that his wings were really sore. Why? Garble looked around, and saw that he was on a cliff side. Further away was a large, concrete dam. Garble put tow and two together and realized that he must have been "sleep flying," which he assumed was similar to sleep walking.

Garble closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. His extra sensitive dragon nose took in scents from miles around, and he detected the scent he was looking for in a matter of seconds.

Garble turned around to see Ponyville spread out before him.

He smiled.

He jumped off the cliff and spread his sore wings, gliding down towards the town.

Towards the large tree in the center of town.





Princess Celestia sat in her throne, going over a letter she had written for the umpteenth time. Suddenly, Princess Luna teleported in besides her.

"The deed has been done," said the Princess of the Night with a smile.

Celestia smiled back, and with that she sent the letter with her magic.





"Twilight, you need to get to bed. It's 10 P.M." Spike said sleepily.

"But there's so much I need to know! Flying techniques! Law making! Economics! Diplomacy! I can't let up for an instance!" Twilight said from behind a pile of book, her wings sticking out from behind either side.

Spike huffed and folded his arms, "Well, excuse me, Princess!"

Before Twilight could respond, Spike burped out a scroll.

"A letter from Celestia? Now? It must be important. . ." Twilight said as she levitated the scroll over to her.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Spike grumbled as he went to answer the door.

Meanwhile, Twilight had opened the scroll and proceeded to read it. Her eye went huge and her jaw dropped. The scroll fell from Twilight's telekinetic grip, and the purple Alicron fainted.





We all have nightmares, but what are nightmare but bad dreams? And what are dreams but our innermost thoughts and desires. Perhaps in hidden in all dream, both good and bad, is a message that can tell us what to do, where to go, or how to best travel the path of life we have been given. Garble's nightmare was no exception.


THE END