A great day was approaching. It would make a year since the Light Kingdom was awakened thanks to Twilight and her friends and there would be a great celebration. In addition, it would happen on the same day that the star seeds from the light plants collected would be delivered to the sky. After that, the two great towers would play the first song they played, the same that spread light for the kingdom and revived it. It could see the joy and enthusiasm flowing throughout the kingdom. But of course there was a person who was to hate the day it was coming.
The Lord of Chaos watched the peaceful kingdom, while its inhabitants enjoyed a beautiful soothing sleep under the watchful care of the moon and stars. The sight of that bright kingdom raised his anger immensely.
"Look to them" he said to Fire Punch. "All the light ponies, sleeping quietly... with a smile and having sweet dreams, eagerly waiting the Light Kingdom Recovery Day. It give me nauseous just thinking about that!"
There was a pause of a few seconds, while the Lord of Chaos tried to control the anger that was coming to a head, and then he said:
"It will make a year since that filthy ponies humiliated me and they are thinking in celebrating that day. It’s unacceptable!"
Fire Punch was startled when his master shouted the last words. Giving two deep breaths, the Lord of Chaos said:
"I have to find a way to spoil the day. If I do it, not only will ruin their special day, but also I will be able to prevent them from making the offering to the sky, which will make the kingdom soil sterile. But what can I do to make it happen?"
"I'm sure you'll find an amazing plan, my lord" Fire Punch said.
But the Lord of Chaos gave him a look that made Fire Punch look down and said:
"I will shut up."
The Light Kingdom was immensely peaceful, until, suddenly, an earthquake began to shake the kingdom and all that was around it. Twilight and Blue Sword were asleep in their bed when they were awakened by the same earthquake.
"But what is this?!" Twilight asked, trying to hold to the bed.
"I don’t know" Blue Sword said. "It must be an earthquake."
"Star!" Twilight exclaimed. "We have to get our son, Blue!"
The two got up and left the room to get Star Knight. It was then that they found Golden Paladin who was patrolling the hallways.
"Golden Paladin, quick, we have to get our son" Blue said.
"Please tell us that he is safe" Twilight asked.
“Calm down, Your Highnesses" Golden Paladin said. "It's all right. Melody is with the little prince."
Both parents breathed relief, but then Twilight asked:
"But what about this earthquake? I didn’t know that happened in the Light Kingdom."
"And they don’t happen" the General of Peace replied. "At least when they are natural. But this is being caused by Heartbeat."
"What do you mean it's Heartbeat who is causing this?" Blue asked.
"She doesn’t do it intentionally" Golden Paladin said. "It turns out that my sister likes to sleep, although she didn’t need it."
"When she was with us in Ponyville, she didn’t sleep" Blue said. "We had to arrange things for her to do for entertainment."
"That's because she didn’t have her star seed" Golden Paladin explained. "But now that she has it, she can do it. And when she does, she dreams and her dreams, because of her empathetic power, have effects on the environment that surrounds her. Good dreams can convey the same tranquility and happiness through the world of dreams, which allows people close to her also have good dreams. But the bad dreams... These emit an intense energy that is able to shake the world, literally."
"So this is all because Heartbeat is having a bad dream?" Twilight asked.
Golden Paladin nodded and then said:
"But as I said, you don’t have to worry about. As you know, the Diamond Heart keeps our kingdom above the ground. It can absorb the resulting energy of Heartbeat’s nightmares and thereby stabilize the kingdom. This has happened several times. In fact, the light ponies have come to expect. This should not take long to stop."
And indeed the earthquake stopped the same way as it began. After that happening, Twilight asked Golden Paladin:
"So the Diamond Heart can absorb all the energy of Heartbeat’s nightmares?"
"Up to a certain degree, yes" he replied. "But if the energy is greater than what the Diamond Heart can handle, it would break and our kingdom would eventually collapse on its foundations."
Twilight was horrified at the thought of such a thing. Seeing her like that, Golden Paladin said:
"But you don’t have to worry about, princess. For this to happen, Heartbeat would have to have a really bad nightmare and have it for a long time, something that it’s almost impossible. And even if that happens, we will be prepared."
The Chaos Lord heard that. He meditated and then he had a great idea.
"Don’t care about offerings" he said. "I can end the whole kingdom at once."
"What do you mean, sir?" Fire Punch asked.
"The General of Affection is the key" the Lord of Chaos said. "I can use her nightmares."
He then made the Diamond Heart appear in his mirror and then said:
"The Diamond Heart. Its size is proportional to its power, because it is what make the Light Kingdom being on surface. However, if something happens to it, all the kingdom falls."
He gave an evil laugh and continued:
"Why didn’t I thing ever in this. It’s as simple as effective."
"But how will you do this, master?" Fire Punch asked. "I am sure using Heartbeat’s nightmares will not be an easy task."
"You're right" the Lord of Chaos agreed. "Therefore, I will use a professional. And I know the perfect villain to help me."
The next day, the day so expected by the light ponies had come: The Light Kingdom Recovery Day. The streets were all decorated and even brighter than usual. Ponies from everywhere came to celebrate with the light ponies that special day and to see their traditions. There was a place where light ponies responsible for gathering the star seeds were putting the baskets with them, preparing them for the time they would ascend to the sky.
Twilight and Blue, which have Star with them, walked through the kingdom to make sure everything was in order, accompanied by Spike who was taking notes. The ponies, when they saw them, greeted those who had saved their kingdom, always with a cheerful smile.
"Just look at them" Blue said, after receiving greetings from more ponies. "Even after what happened last night, they remain cheerful."
"Well, Golden Paladin said they were already accustomed" Twilight said.
"What are you talking about?" Spike asked. "What happened last night?"
"Spike, yesterday there was an earthquake caused by Heartbeat’s bad dreams" Twilight replied. "Did not you notice it?"
"No, I was sleeping" he said. "Did that really happen?"
Twilight sighed. She was already expecting something lije that. Spike was so fast asleep that he didn’t felt the earthquake. It was typical of him.
Golden Paladin was walking through the the streets, trying to find Hearbeat, because since he had seen her to go to bed the night before, he didn’t see her again. He saw Melody and Purple Smoke playing games with the last winning each one.
"And one more!" Purple Smoke exclaimed happily after winning another game. "I'm now unstoppable."
"You just won the games because you can imitate any talent" Melody said.
"No, little sis, I don’t imitate. I do. I have no guilt of having so many talents."
"Yeah, right."
Golden Paladin reached them and asked:
"Have any of you seen Heartbeat?"
"No, why?" Melody asked.
"I have not seen her since she went to bed" Golden Paladin said.
"Perhaps she is sleeping" Purple Smoke opined. "With the nightmare she had last night, I wouldn’t blame her."
"Maybe, but normally, with or without nightmare, she is always here running and jumping immediately after the sunrise" said Golden Paladin. "Well, I'll keep looking for her. Alert me to come."
And then he walked away.
Twilight’s friends came to the Light Kingdom and became amazed with what they found.
"This is... awesome!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Ya bet, partner" Applejack. "Ah never thought light ponies were such good hosts."
"Wow, I never saw anything so bright and luminous in my entire life" Pinkie Pie said. "And look that I remember of all the bright and luminous things I've seen, you can believe. I’m glad I brought my sunglasses."
And having said that, she got some sunglasses from nowhere and put them.
"Don’t you think this is wonderful, Rarity?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes, amazing" she said, but without the enthusiastic tone that she does when she sees something as fabulous as the light ponies’ celebration.
Her friends were saddened by her. Rarity had been more or less sad after Shadow Claw have been captured and imprisoned in the prison-book. This had affected her deeply.
They walked the streets until they found Twilight and the others.
"Twilight!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed who catch up with her friend quickly and gave her a big hug.
"Hello to you too, Pinkie" Twilight said, trying to keep Pinkie away from her before she strangled her. "You can drop me."
"Oops, sorry" she replied, finishing the hug, while the others approached. "So did you receive my letters?"
"Of course I received" Twilight replied. "I liked to know what you were doing each hour, Pinkie."
"Well, you know, at first I thought of writing in five minute intervals, but then I thought that maybe would not be able to find topics to talk about and write and send the letters, so I chose the option more practical" Pinkie Pie said.
"An’ look this guy" Applejack said, approaching Star. "He's huge. Of course not as huge as mah nephew Jona."
"Well, it’s in his genes" Blue said.
"And how he, Cherry and Big Mac are?" Twilight asked.
"Very well" Applejack said. "They sorry they cannot come, but somepony had tah stay on tha farm an’ tha hospital is full of work. It's that time of tha month when a certain pink pony makes her culinary creations."
"Applejack, if that’s an indirect for me, I just have to say that I don’t have the fault ponies aren’t able to appreciate the art of cooking of the great Pinkie Pie" Pinkie Pie said.
"Pinkie, the problem is not they don’t appreciate, the problem is really their stomachs" Rainbow Dash said.
That made Twilight laugh. That was her favorite part in the middle of all that celebration: being with the ponies she liked, in addition to her husband, her son and her number one assistant.
Spike approached Rarity and greeted her:
"Rarity, how are you? I see you are as beautiful as always."
"Oh, Spikey-Whikey, you're always so dear" Rarity said, as she scratched his chin Spike liked so much. "I'm also happy to see you."
Although Rarity pretended having a good humor, Twilight, like the others, noticed her sadness.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash, it’s about to begin a jousting tournament" Blue said to Rainbow. "Maybe you want..."
But he didn’t finish the sentence because Rainbow Dash flew away quickly in the direction of the tournament.
"Apparently, you want."
Golden Paladin was still looking for his youngest sister, but without success. He was already getting worried. Or one of two things: either something happened to her or she was up to something. Either of the two hypothesis could not work good thing.
Rainbow Dash had registered herself in the jousting tournament and was about to enter in her first confrontation. She and her opponent were prepared and then started running toward each other. When they were about to strike, a tremendous earthquake began, starting to shake everything and everypony. Rainbow Dash was thrown back against the floor.
"What the hell..." she said.
The ponies were concerned about what was happening, many of them were scared. Even the light ponies were concerned because they never had an earthquake as intense as that.
"But what’s happenin’?" Applejack asked.
"I don’t know, but I like it" Pinkie Pie said, following the tremors.
"I didn’t know there were earthquakes here in the Light Kingdom, Twilight" Rarity said.
"And usually, there isn’t" she replied.
"So what the hell is happening?" Rainbow Dash asked, arriving.
Twilight and Blue mediated and then said, trying to calm Star that seemed frightened by the tremors:
"Twilight, don’t you think..."
"I just hope it's not that" she said.
"What are you talking about?" Spike asked.
But she and Blue didn’t respond and began to walk away. The others exchanged glances and followed them. The prince and the princess reached the edge of the castle where there was Golden Paladin. Twilight asked him:
"Golden Paladin, please tell me Heartbeat is here playing."
"I'm afraid not, princess" he replied. "I can’t find her anywhere."
"This is bad" Twilight said.
"But what is it, Twilight?" Applejack asked, as she and the others arrived.
"Hearbeat is who is causing this" she said. "More precisely her nightmares."
"Wait, so all this is happening because Heartbeat is having a bad dream?" Rainbow Dash asked, not very convinced.
"Well, don’t remember what happened in Ponyville when she started crying?" Fluttershy asked. "She caused a huge storm."
But then the villain activity alarm began to ring, something that still left the ponies even more frightened.
"Perfect" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "Just what we need. Another villain."
But Golden Paladin didn’t seemed convinced. He thought for a few seconds and then said:
"No, an earthquake of this magnitude caused by Heartbeat during day and villain activity at the same time is too much coincidence. There must be a link between the two."
"So you think a villain is causing all this?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, and he or she is making Heartbeat having nightmares" Golden Paladin answered.
"But isn’t the Light Kingdom protected from all evil?" Spike asked. "How can that be?"
"Our villain is not attacking the same plane as ours" a voice replied.
Mirror Coat appeared, doing some off guard ponies started.
"Man, do you really have to appear like this?" Rainbow asked. "I almost died of fright.
"What do you mean, Mirror Coat?" Twilight asked.
"What I mean is that the villain in question is using the dream world to get to Heartbeat" he explained. "It's a world that connects all dreams to each other as if they were grapes in the same bunch."
"You're right" Golden Paladin said. "And there is only one villain capable of doing this. Mirror Coat, can you go get Princess Luna?"
Mirror Coat nodded and then disappeared.
"Why did he go call Princess Luna?" Blue asked, who shared the same question as the others.
"You’ll know soon" Golden Paladin said.
Before long, Mirror Coat returned with Princess Luna.
"What's wrong?" she asked, when she arrived.
Then the earthquake began to increase in intensity, making some ponies momentarily lost their balance.
"This is what’s wrong" Golden Paladin answered. "Heartbeat is having a nightmare, a great one."
"And at the same time, we received a villain alert" Twilight said. "Golden Paladin and Mirror Coat say it’s the villain who is tormenting her dreams."
"Princess Luna..." Golden Paladin said. "It's him."
Luna was completely stunned. But then she recovered and said:
"It would be expected" she said. "After Shadow Claw..."
"What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"We are dealing with a villain Princess Luna defeated long ago" Golden Paladin said.
"He’s an evil spirit who likes to cause nightmares to any creature" Luna said. "At first he worked as a counterbalance to my good dreams, but the Lord of Chaos made him get out of control and I had to stop him."
"Our villain is Oogie Boogie" Mirror Coat said.
On hearing the name, some began to laugh, especially Rainbow Dash and Spike.
"You're kidding, right?" Rainbow said. "Tell me you're joking."
"I never joke" Mirror Coat replied.
"But this..." began Spike. "But that's the name... more corny at all."
"The name may be funny, but believe that the nightmares he can create are not" Golden Paladin said. "He's a danger in the dream world."
"Oh, yeah" Purple Smoke said approaching along with Leaf Mane and Melody. "He is the reason why Mirror Coat don’t sleep anymore."
That made Mirror Coat make an intimidating look to Purple Smoke who hastened to say:
"I’ll shut up."
Then there was more intense shaking and then cracks began to appear on the ground, much to the fear of ponies.
"This is bad" Golden Paladin said. "If we cannot stop these earthquakes, the Diamond Heart will not take all the energy released."
"And what will happen?" Fluttershy asked.
It was Twilight who answered:
"So the Diamond Heart will break and the Light Kingdom will collapse on its own foundations."
"Is this mean that we are in a kingdom that can crumble in an instant?" Rainbow asked. "Perfect, just perfect."
"But that only happens if we leave these earthquakes continue" Applejack said.
"Applejack’s right" Rarity said. "We have to stop this."
"Why do you want to stop it?" Pinkie Pie asked, continuing to vibrate to the rhythm of the earthquake. "This is amazing!"
The ponies ignored her and then Luna said:
"I will enter in Heartbeat’s dreams and will stop Oogie."
"Yes, while we, the Generals of Order and Princess Twilight, will try to stabilize the Diamond Heart as much as we can" Golden Paladin said.
"Fine with me" Melody said. "I never miss a chance to go to the Diamond Domain."
"You’re aware that it is not a pleasure visit, aren’t you?" Leaf Mane asked to Melody.
"Of course I do" she said. "Who do you thing I am, Leaf Mane?"
"And what do we do?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"You have to help the Royal Guards to keep the calm between ponies and keep the star seeds for the offering to the sky" Golden Paladin said. "It’s imperative you do so."
"Well, I'll trust Star to one of our best guards and I help them keep order here" Blue said.
"Actually, Your Majesty, it’s better you go with Princess Luna" Golden Paladin said.
The others seemed somewhat surprised by that decision from the General Peace, especially Blue Sword.
"Me?" He asked, while a guard came to take the baby prince. "Why?"
"Princess Luna will be too busy trying to find a way to expel Oogie from Heartbeat’s dreams" Golden Paladin said. "We need somepony who has a close relationship with her to try and free her from the nightmares that torture her. I could go, but my power is required to maintain the Diamond Heart stable, just like the other Generals and Princess Twilight. Excepting for us, you are the pony who Heartbeat feel more comfortable with."
"He's right, Blue" Twilight said. "It has to be you."
Blue knew he had a close relationship with Heartbeat since the day he found her in the petrified Light Kingdom. After all, he was the first pony with whom she spoke in decades. However, the idea of entering in her dreams made him a little uncomfortable because he knew how unstable she could be. But it was his duty as a friend and a prince, so he nodded.
"All right, let’s go" Luna said to Blue. "We have no time to lose. I will teleport us to the dream world immediately. "
Luna acceded to her magic and then she disappeared with Blue.
Twilight, hoping her husband would be all right, turned to her friends and said:
"All right, girls, pay attention."
Pinkie Pie then appeared yet vibrating along the vibrations of the earthquake, only to be stopped by Applejack.
"Thanks, AJ" Pinkie Pie thanked. "I confess that my brain was about to become like a milkshake. Although, on second thought, this would be a really cool thing to see."
"Ahead" Twilight said. "You need to help the guards here and try to keep the calm between ponies and protect the star seeds."
"Ya can count on us, Twi" Applejack said.
"Yes, with our great help, we will certainly prevent the Light Kingdom become full of panicked ponies" Rainbow Dash said, turning then to the others. "Let’s move, girls."
And they just went to do their task, with some going to calm down the ponies, while others were going to the star seeds. Twilight then turned to her Generals and told them:
"Let’s go to the Diamond Domain."
And everypony followed Golden Paladin who went ahead to the entrance of the Diamond Domain.
When Blue found himself, he was in a long, dark hallway full of doors. Each door had a name on it.
"Be welcome to the dream world, Blue Sword" Luna told him. "It’s from here that anypony can access the dreams of all dreamers, including Heartbeat."
"Where is her door?" Blue asked.
"Well, personally, I try to avoid it" Luna said. "Heartbeat doesn’t like invaders in her dreams, for obvious reasons. But I know where the door may be. Follow me."
And Blue Sword did so.
Twilight and the remaining Generals of Order reached the Diamond Domain and were quick to get to the Diamond Heart. It didn’t stop kept pulsing with increasingly intense and rapid pulsations. Twilight could feel its energy vanishing as it tried to stabilize the kingdom.
"We have to hurry up" Twilight said. "The Diamond Heart is running out of energy."
"All right, prepare yourselves" Golden Paladin said, while everypony prepared their horns. "Aim. Fire!"
And six magic beams came out and reached the Diamond Heart that began to absorb the energy it was receiving.
After walking through the immense hallway, Blue and Luna finally reached their destination: the door to Heartbeat’s dreams. Blue had to confess that the door itself gave him chills. It was dark red and was the one that had a more gloomy air, as if no one used it. Before opening the door, Luna cautioned Blue:
"Be very careful. We don’t know the things that may be behind this door. Oogie may have prepared something big to prevent us from reaching Heartbeat."
"Whatever it is, I am ready" Blue said.
"Very well" Luna said.
Using her magic, she turned the knob and opened the door, entering with Blue. They were amazed by what they found. They were inside of a lot of crossroads leading more doors. The problem was that the paths mingled and forked in a way that made it very difficult to find the path to follow, and there were hundreds and hundreds of doors.
"Okay" Blue said. "I am seriously thinking in rephrase my last statement, Princess Luna. After all, I'm not ready."
It was then that they heard an evil laugh to give chills up the spine up and then heard the same voice that laughed saying:
"Welcome, Princess Luna and Prince Blue Sword. I hope you enjoyed what you found when you entered. When the Lord of Chaos told me that I will have visitors, I had no time to straighten everything to receive two royal guests."
And laughed.
"The game is over, Oogie Boogie" Luna said seriously. "It's time for you to release Heartbeat."
"Don’t worry" Oogie said. "I will free her. Once the Diamond Heart had been reduced to dust."
He cackled again.
Unable to hide his anger, Blue began to shout:
"It's good you release Heartbeat or..."
"Or what?" Oogie asked, mockingly. "You will give me a royal lesson? For that you'll have to catch me."
He gave a laugh that infuriated Blue, so he prepared to start opening all doors only to find him. Fortunately, Luna could stop him.
"Take it easy" she told him. "You cannot help Heartbeat and the Light Kingdom walking around and opening every door just like that."
"So what do we do?" Blue asked. "We have not much time."
"We have to be careful" Luna said. "What you are giving to Oogie is precisely what he wants. If you start searching door to door for Hartbeat, you will never find her and the Light Kingdom will fall."
Blue realized she was right. He had to stay calm. Therefore, he took two deep breaths and then said:
"Let’s go then."
Luna smiled and said:
"That's better. Come on, we have no time to lose."
In the Diamond Domain, Twilight and the five Generals tried at all costs to sustain the Diamond Heart, but the task was becoming increasingly grueling. That task was consuming too much energy and they didn’t know how much longer they would resist.
"Come on, guys!" Twilight exclaimed. "We have to... continue to keep the Diamond Heart... stable!"
"We are trying, princess!" Purple Smoke answered.
"This is... very difficult to maintain!" Melody said.
"We can’t give up!" Leaf Mane encouraged them. "If we do it, our kingdom will collapse."
"Leaf Mane is right" Golden Paladin said. "Continue!"
And they did so, although at cost.
In the dream world, Blue and Luna were still trying to find the door that would take them to the place on Heartbeat’s mind where she was having her nightmare, but the task seemed impossible, because there were a lot of doors and all looked the same. There was nothing that could differentiate them.
But then, passing through a particularly one, Blue felt a strange sensation. He could feel something different about it, as if somepony was there. It could only be the door they were looking for.
"Princess Luna, I think I found it!" He exclaimed.
Upon hearing that, Luna began to address him, but that was when there was a tremor and a hole appeared beneath Luna and she fell, and the hole closed quickly before she could fly up again.
"Princess Luna!" Blue called.
But then he was arrested by a rope that made him fall to the ground. He heard hoofsteps and then he saw what looked like a pony made of cloth like a giant puppet that had a smirk on his face. That should be Oogie Boogie.
"I see you're a bit entangled" he told Blue, giving a short laugh.
"And I see that your sense of humor is not very good" Blue commented. "I thought that a creature like you that cause of nightmares could have a better humor. Your time in Tartarus left you so decompensated, no?"
"No decompensated enough to cause a big nightmare to one of the Generals of Order" he said. "For all I know, it will not much later to the diamond be dust and the Light Kingdom to sink."
"That will never happen" a voice said.
There was a light and Luna appeared.
"Look who came out from the hole" Oogie said. "Did you like my surprise, dear Luna?"
"You should be more creative" she said. "The holes are so basic tricks."
"Do you mean like this?" Oogie asked, while blowing and creating a flame of fire that extended and formed a snake made of fire that began attacking Luna.
She turned away and tried to counteract the snake. Oogie jumped up to snake’s head, where he seemed to be immune to its fire, and began to order the snake successive attacks.
While he was entertained fighting with Luna, Blue began trying to free himself.
In the Light Kingdom, Twilight’s friend, as well as the guards, tried to stay the calm and order. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Applejack tried to keep the collected star seeds safe.
In the Diamond Domain, Twilight and the Generals continued to maintain the Diamond Heart stable, but things became more difficult as Melody was so tired that eventually stop. She tried again, but she no longer had forces. The same happened with Purple Smoke.
While Luna and Oogie fought, Blue managed to break free and started heading to the door where Heartbeat should be. Oogie saw him and said:
"Don’t even think about it."
He created another head in his snake and sent it to attack Blue, but when it approached him, a barrier arose and prevented its advance. It was Luna who made it.
"Go, Blue Sword!" She said. "Release Heartbeat!"
Blue came to the door, opened it, and passed it. The door closed behind him. Blue looked around and saw that he was surrounded by darkness. There was nothing but darkness. It was a cold darkness that seemed to surround and bind.
He then saw her. Heartbeat was a little further ahead, completely shrunken and with her head down.
"Heartbeat" he called, starting to move towards her.
That got her attention that looked him with an empty and sad look.
"Blue?" She asked.
"Yes, it's me" he said, approaching.
But then he crashed into a force that threw him back against the floor and then shadows appeared and tied his four legs and trunk.
"No!" He exclaimed, trying to free himself.
"Yes" a familiar voice said.
Oogie appeared there in the air.
"You?" He asked. "But I thought you were fighting Luna."
"You're not very smart, are you?" Oogie asked. "Don’t you see that now you are in the dream world? Here, everything is possible, once you know how to control your surroundings. However, Heartbeat’s mind is so full of darkness that it was fairly easy involves her with it. So I’m the one with more power. Not even Luna can overcome me here."
Blue looked at him furiously.
"But of course our bright red friend facilitated me so much" Oogie said. "She hides herself in the middle of so much joy, but the truth is that she is hugely susceptible to sadness and loneliness. And that's what I'm forcing her to feel."
"Your monster!" Blue called.
"True" the villain said. "I'm a monster. A monster able to create the worst nightmares ever seen. You don’t know what I felt during the whole time I was in Tartarus. And how much I had to endure to not cause nightmares to not call the attention on me after the Master have me released. It was the worst! But now I can finally stretch me and cause the damage I want."
"Not this time, Oogie" a voice said.
And Luna appeared there.
"What?" Oogie asked, completely surprised. "How did you...?"
"You're not the only one who can manipulate dreams" Luna said. "You can have the advantage, but I have more practice."
"That's what we'll see" he said.
And the two began a new battle, but Luna broke Blue free and said to him:
"Try waking Heartbeat. If she does it, all this is over."
Blue nodded and began to go there. Oogie, seeing that, tried to stop him, but Luna was faster and kept him focused on the fight between the two. The prince came to the edge of the General of Affection, but he couldn’t approach. It looked like a force prevented him from that.
"Heartbeat, you have to listen to me" he said. "You have to wake up. Just wake up and all this is over. All this darkness disappear."
"Go away” she said, without looking at him. "I want to be alone. After all, it’s the best for everypony, right? Thus, they don’t need to be afraid that my fickle moods hurt them."
"What?" Blue asked. "Heartbeat, how can you say such a thing?"
"It's true" she said. "I see how everypony looks at me. I’m able to break this world in two. The best thing to do to prevent this from happening is to move me away as much as possible."
"No, Heartbeat" Blue said, realizing that make her awakening could be a very difficult task.
In the Diamond Domain, things were getting more and more complicated. Without the help of Melody and Purple Smoke, it didn’t take long until Leaf Mane also stop, completely exhausted.
"Princess, there are only the three of us remaining" Mirror Coat said to Twilight, referring to the two of them and Golden Paladin.
"We have to resist" Twilight said. "Resist as much as we can. At least until Blue and Luna release Heartbeat from her nightmare."
"The princess is right" Golden Paladin said. "Quitting is not an option."
Then a crack appeared in the Diamond Heart that released a pulse of energy that tried to shoot the three back. Fortunately they had managed to hold on, but it was not long until Mirror Coat begin to weaken.
"Mirror Coat!" Twilight called.
"I think... I can no longer" he said.
And he stopped.
Without Mirror Coat’s magic, more cracks began to appear. This meant that the Light Kingdom was becoming increasingly unstable. The earthquakes were more intense and already had homes beginning to sink. At that moment, it was almost impossible to control the panic that was there.
In Heartbeat’s dreams, Blue continued to tell Heartbeat:
"Heartbeat, stop it. Listen to me. You are not alone. You’ll never be alone. It’s true that if you are not careful with your powers you can cause damages, but you have us to prevent this from happening. You have me, Twilight, your brothers and sisters, little Star."
Heartbeat began to raise her head and Blue continued:
"You are one of the most amazing ponies I know. You carried on you everything that's wrong with the ponies, all their bad emotions, but you can always show your joy, you can make it shine above the rest and, therefore, you can infect the other ponies with the same joy. Don’t let your fears tell what you have to do. Be the pony you want to be. And above all, don’t let the darkness win."
Heartbeat looked at him for a few seconds and then a smile began to appear.
"That's right" Blue said. "That’s the smile I want to see."
Seeing what was happening, Oogie broke free from the fight against Luna and began to move to Blue and Heartbeat, but she let a bright red light get out from her and that illuminated everything.
In the Diamond Domain, Golden Paladin finally gave in to fatigue and also ceased his magic.
"Sorry, princess" he said panting. "I cannot do it anymore."
Twilight then used all of her strength, but the Diamond Heart had huge cracks and seemed to be about to break. The energy that was being released was growing and difficult to contain. Then to Twilight gave in to fatigue and also ceased hern magic.
"It’s over" she said. "Everything is lost."
It was then that the earthquakes stopped much to everypony’s surprise. The Diamond Heart began to shine and then they saw that the existing cracks began to be repaired, while the large diamond recovered its brightness of always. Twilight and the Generals couldn’t believe it. Blue and Luna had managed to do it.
On the kingdom, the panic subsided slowly, as all the ponies saw the houses that had begun to sink to back up.
"They made it!" Applejack exclaimed.
"Hurray!" everypony shouted.
Blue came to himself and then noticed where he was. He was in a magnificent bedroom. It seemed to be a child's bedroom. The walls were bright red and the room was full of toys and sweets were floating around the ceiling. One of the side walls was covered by a huge tapestry with golden ornaments and in the bottom was a large four-poster bed. That should be Heartbeat’s bedroom.
He looked and saw Luna at his side.
"We did it" he said.
"Yes" she replied.
It was then that the two were pushed by a force, but they have managed to stay standing. They looked and saw that Oogie Boogie was also there.
"You will pay for what you did!" He exclaimed. "You blew the Lord of Chaos’ great plan!"
"Well, that's kind of what we do" Blue answered.
"You dare to mock him?" Oogie asked. "You'll pay for your insolence."
"If I were you, I would put me miles from here quickly" Blue advised.
"Why?" Oogie asked cynically. "You're going to attack me?"
"No, but I will" a voice behind him said.
Oogie frozed when he heard that voice. Slowly, he turned and saw Heartbeat, fully awake. When he saw her, he shuddered full of fear.
"Please, we can talk, can’t we?" He asked, starting to retreat, with Heartbeat following him. "Come on, after all, I was just following orders."
Heartbeat’s horn shone and then Oogie was strongly thrown against a wall.
"You caused me nightmares" she told him. "I hate nightmares! Because of that, you'll pay."
And so, she invoked the cell blaster with a life cell and she carried the cell blaster with her magic and she casted a reddish light that hit Oogie and he began to be sucked into the cell life. When he was completely sucked and his image appeared on the cell life, Heartbeat invoked the prison-book and put the life cell inside. After that, Heartbeat made the book disappear.
Blue went to Heartbeat and said:
"Wow, but what a good job. You really gave him a great lesson."
Heartbeat turned to him with her jovial smile and said:
"And all thanks to you. Thank you, Blue."
And she hugged Blue.
"You're welcome, kid."
After the hug, Heartbeat said:
"Well, now you two leave my bedroom."
That made Luna and Blue give a slight laugh.
"No, I'm serious" the filly said. "Get out."
Blue, Luna and Heartbeat went to the outside of the castle, where they were greeted by a standing ovation. All ponies were there to receive those who prevented the Light Kingdom from collapsing. Twilight and the other Generals of Order came and she went hug Blue, saying:
"You got it."
"Well, I had a great help from Princess Luna" Blue said. "It was her who fought against Oogie, while I tried to free Heartbeat."
"And where is he?" Golden Paladin asked.
"I booked him" Heartbeat said. "Finally I had the opportunity to book a villain."
"Good" Purple Smoke said. "It would be bad enough if we were to take our kingdom under the ground."
Twilight turned to her friends and told them:
"I also have to thank you. You have made a great effort to maintain order here besides that you also protected the star seeds."
"Ya don’t have tah thank, sugarcube" Applejack said. "We jest did our duty."
"Yes, you can always count on our help" Rainbow Dash said.
"Although I liked to have the ground trembling under my hooves, I'm happy to have helped" Pinkie Pie said.
"I say the same" Rarity said. "Except the trembling ground part."
"Despite all my fears, Twilight, I will always help you" Fluttershy said.
Then Heartbeat appeared before Fluttershy suddenly, looking at her with great attention, something that put her a little nervous.
"It’s something wrong?" she asked to the General of Affection.
"You look different" she said. "There's something about you that... I cannot explain. It‘s... Wait, I know! You have the same light that Princess Twilight had when she was pregnant with Star."
That made everypony look at Fluttershy, something that put her even more nervous.
"Fluttershy..." Twilight began. "You are..."
Seeing that her secret had been exposed, Fluttershy said:
"Well, the truth is... I'm... pregnant."
"WHAT?!" everypony asked, completely amazed.
"I knew it" Heartbeat said. "I always guess these things."
"Why didn’t you tell us anything, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked. "We are your friends, by pony sake."
"I just discovered it recently" she said. "Thundy and I wanted to wait for the indicated time to tell."
"By tha way, there is anythin’ else ya wanna tell us?" Applejack asked.
"Well, by chance..." Fluttershy said. "Thundy and I... We are... engaged."
That new caused even more surprise.
"AMAZING!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, full of joy. "I love getting two great and happy news!"
"Yes, congratulations, my dear" Rarity said.
"Ya deserve" Applejack said.
"You bet" Rainbow Dash added.
"I am very happy for you, Fluttershy" Twilight said. "If you want, I will be happy to offer my castle to host your wedding."
"Thanks, Twilight" Fluttershy thanked. "But I think Thundy and I prefer something more... simple."
"Well, if you change your mind, just say" Twilight said.
"Your Highness" Golden Paladin said, approaching Twilight. "It's not that I want to spoil this wonderful moment, but we have to continue with the celebration."
"You're right" Twilight agreed. "Well, that the Light Kingdom Recovery Day continues!"
And so it continued. The ponies returned to their laughter and fun until night fell and the time has come that everypony waited. Everypony gathered the baskets full of star seeds that were placed in rows and then the luminous seeds ascended to the sky, as thousands of fireflies flying, and settled in the sky, decorating it with even more light and shine.
After that, Twilight and Blue went both to the chamber were the music machine of the two large towers were and activated it, doing the Jewel of Life play its music that enabled the special structure of the castle, creating the light wings that spread all light through the kingdom. It could hear a lot amazed sounds from the ponies that were not in the Light Kingdom when it awaked and so was the first time they saw something like that.
The Lord of Chaos was watching everything with a great fury. Another of his plans had failed. Fire Punch had retreated to a safe distance, fearing his master’s anger.
"That’s right, celebrate everything you can, because your happiness will not last much longer" he said. "I still have more villains to use and more opportunities to create chaos. One day, I will delete the damn light of your kingdom and your precious original star seed."