Author's Note

Warning: The following chapter has various characters being introduced, and while I've tried my best, I feel there might be some weak points. So if there's anything off you find about any characters in this or future chapters, please comment down below so that I may address it and maybe incorporate it should I edit this story. I want to make things as perfect as they can while avoiding various errors like the 'Purple Unicorn Syndrome'. So some advice would greatly be appreciated.

The following chapter may also have moments that might unsettle some people so please take note that when it comes to Dream and his friends, most of their interactions are acted, and would definitely not be done in real life (Ex. Dream blowing up a nation or Dream's Friends Hunting Dream IRL would never occur). Some moments are references to previous videos made by Dream and his friends, and thus anything that is written here or done in their videos should not be taken seriously, given that everything is just a game.

And games aren't meant to be taken seriously.

I want to thank you guys for supporting this story. Even though I'm a bit saddened that there are some people who chose to try and pull this story down with their dislikes, we've managed to push through.

Now sit back, grab a glass of water, and enjoy the episode.

And upon either ending or before starting the story, it'd be recommended to watch these two clips for better knowledge. They're the same event but in a different format. Also please support anybody who I use their videos here. Whether it'd be Dream, an animator, or one of those guys who likes taking clips out of the original video/stream.

And if you're confused as to where the links are, you have to click/press on the numbers.

(1)
(2)

ℸ ̣ ⍑ᒷ ⋮𝙹⚍∷リᒷ|| ʖᒷ⊣╎リᓭ

Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

“I must say Twilight that this Friendship Council Idea of yours has hit off very well!” A silver-white unicorn said, using her magic to levitate a cup of tea to her mouth. She had beautiful blue eyes and a curly violet mane. She wore a fluffy blue coat around herself as well as a light blue scarf. “It’s been… how long? Ten to eleven months since you were coordinated? I must prepare the proper clothing for the anniversary of your coronation then!” The white unicorn exclaimed, quickly making a notepad and a pen appear in front of her where she began to write down some ideas. Her name was Rarity, a well-known fashion designer who became one of Twilight’s closest friends ever since the then-Celestia’s student came to Ponyville.

“Yeah! I can’t wait for that party!” A pink mare with blue eyes and a poofy mane exclaimed, hopping around the room’s walls. She wore a blue and yellow dress as well as a pink skirt. She had some balloons tied up around her waist, making her jumps last longer than usual. Her name was Pinkie Pie, a hyperactive pony who loved creating and attending parties. She lives in Sugarcube Corner, a pastry shop that had become her home after moving from her rock farm many years ago. Her parties and delicacies were some of the best in Equestria, and she knew how to make everyone smile.

“I can have the critters sing a song at the party if you want,” Fluttershy said, having been inside the room since Discord dropped her off. Suddenly a white bunny popped out from one of her pouches, causing the butterscotch pegasi to let out a very quiet gasp.“Angel! What are you doing here!?” Fluttershy yelled at the small bunny, who simply shrugged and began ignoring Fluttershy at all costs. He was a rebellious bunny, and it usually took entire minutes to tame him for just a few moments.

“Well if that’s the case, then we best announce this plan soon. Me an’ ma family gotta prepare the food in time, and we’ll probably have to edit our schedule as teachers.” An orange mare said with a Southern Accent. She had blonde hair and a cowboy hat on top of her head, and her eyes were apple green. She wore a checked black and red shirt and blue shorts. Her name was Applejack, part of the massive Apple Family that stretched all over Equestria, and one of the many owners of Sweet Apples Acres, the best apple farm and cider producing company. What she said at the end was true. Ever since Twilight had founded the Friendship School, all of her friends had become teachers there. Though it had a rough early start when it clashed with the Board, Friendship was soon allowed to be spread to other nations as well, which planted the seed of future harmony through the various distinct races.

“Hey! Maybe I can invite my team to do a performance and then finish everything off with a Sonic Rainboom!” A cyan pegasus with a raspy voice proposed. She had a rainbow mane, magenta eyes, and a blue Wonderbolt uniform. Her name was Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in all of Equestria and part of the famous group of fliers called the Wonderbolts. She along with the rest of the girls were part of the Elements of Harmony, a group of ponies tasked with protecting Equestria using the Magic of Friendship. Ever since Nightmare Moon returned from the moon, they had all faced various trials and prevailed, ultimately leading to the coronation of Twilight and her job as ruler of all of Equestria. Whenever one of them needed help, the rest would be there, and whenever Equestria was in danger, they would face the threat down until they won.

“That all sounds like a wonderful idea girls!” Twilight Sparkle exclaimed, lifting herself from her chair. She was a purple alicorn said, who by now easily overtook each of her friends by a few noticeable inches. Twilight wore a purple royal dress, a royal crown with a star at the center, and various amounts of gold jewelry around her body, due to her status as ruler of Equestria. “If all of you are on board with this, then we could start preparing immediately! I probably would’ve hesitated at first, but considering that there have been no major problems since my coronation, I think we can start right away! Right Spike?” Twilight asked as she turned around to see a purple on a chair beside the royal throne chair. He had green eyes, a green underbelly, and a gold medal around his neck. He smiled when he heard her address him.

“Yep! While things have been a tad difficult when it came to maintaining peace and friendship between our neighboring nations, thanks to the help of your Royal Advisor, me, things have been relatively calm. At least you won’t have to stress yourself on preparing, managing, and attending the various meetings you’re required to. I easily can help you with those.” The purple dragon said as he flew down towards the girls. Long ago when Twilight was still a filly, Spike was born from an egg after a nearby Sonic Rainboom caused Twilight’s magic to go into a frenzy, and from there he had been like a little brother to her. Apart from that, he became her assistant to her, which helped once Twilight became the sole ruler of Equestria and Spike became her Royal Advisor. While it was true that Celestia and Luna would pop in once in a while to help, as of now it was up to Twilight, Spike, and their friends to manage and protect Equestria, and they’ve been good at it.

“Thanks, Spike.” The purple alicorn said, smiling at the young dragon. “Hopefully when the celebration arrives it doesn’t become a hotspot for a new group of villains to come and begin stomping things around.” The purple alicorn stated, causing Spike to laugh out loud.

“Oh, Twilight! I don’t think anything can go wrong at this point!” The purple dragon said, laughing. When he noticed that nobody else had joined him he frowned and gave a confused look at the girls, who looked at him with disapproving looks. “What?” Spike asked, confused as to their sudden shift in tone.

“Spike. Don’t you remember whenever one of us says that ‘Nothing bad is ever going to happen, something does occur?” Rarity asked, causing him to blink as he began to think back to all of his memories.

“That- oh… oh… I jinxed us didn’t I?” Spike asked, his eyes had widened as he realized what he might’ve unintentionally unleashed. Rarity was starting to nod when suddenly Pinkie Pie’s body began to shudder, flipping everyone’s attention to her. Spike began to sweat as he noticed all of this, especially when Rarity turned back to face him once again.

“Yes. Yes, you did.” Rarity said, sighing as she went towards the pink mare and tried to hold her in place, only to begin vibrating herself. The white mare was forced to let her go, and the party pony continued to vibrate rapidly. “Alright Pinkie! What’s the doozy this time?” Rarity asked as Pinkie Pie continued to shake until she was able to calm herself down by pressing her nose with her hoof, if just for a moment.

“The Pinkie Sense doesn’t work like that Rarity… it doesn’t tell me what, but it can tell me where.” The party pony explained before her body began to shake and twitch again. Twilight soon stepped near Pinkie Pie, using her magic to slow down her twitching and help her friend calm herself down. Even so, Twilight could feel the subtle motion of her magical aura vibrating because she was shuddering.

“Then where is this doozy coming from Pinkie? The last time you had a doozy this big was when I tried to reject the concept of the Pinkie Sense, and apparently, that was big. So where Pinkie is this new doozy coming from?” The purple alicorn asked, becoming very concerned at not only her friend’s safety but of Equestria’s as well. Considering that Spike had just perhaps jinxed the arrival of a new threat, it could be anything from the hydra in the Everfree Forest to a threat unlike anything that they’ve ever faced, even greater than all the villains combined. Before any answers could be given though, a massive wave of magic swept through their bodies. The entire castle began to shake as if an earthquake was passing, and it continued for a good amount of time before slowly subsiding. Something very big must’ve occurred to release this magnitude of magic. Finally, the party pony gave the answer they’ve been anxiously waiting for.

“Everfree Forest Twilight! Everfree Forest!” Pinkie Pie yelled, shaking once more before finally stopping. This news however caused everyone to release a gasp of fear.

“But that’s near Ponyville! Our home! We gotta go to Ponyville this instant! What if it’s one of those major threats and it comes and kidnaps everyone or ends up destroying the town!” Applejack yells, visibly shocked and terrified. Even though they’ve all faced various villains of various dangerous degrees, it doesn’t make facing another threat all that easier. “Twilight! Use your magic or somethin’ and teleport us there!” Applejack yelled out to the stunned alicorn, who quickly began to make preparations for the jump.

“You got it! Girls, get close to me, we’re going to Ponyville.” Twilight said, all of them standing up and holding their hands together. The ruler of Equestria spun to face her dragon assistant, who continued to remain stunned. “Spike! Spike!” Twilight yelled, causing the young dragon to jump out of his trance and face towards her. “Stay in the castle and make sure nothing bad happens. We’ve got work to do and if somehow this ‘doozy’ ends up being a threat that reaches to Canterlot I want you to defend it.” Twilight ordered, to which the purple dragon answered by saluting her.

“You got that Twilight!” Spike said as he placed some distance between himself and the girls so that when they teleport he doesn’t accidentally get sent with them. Twilight smiled at him before turning to her friends.

“Let’s do this!” Twilight yelled as she began to power her teleportation spell. A purple ball of magic began to form and expand from her horn, eventually engulfing the six of them, but to their surprise, as the orb began to dissipate, they were still in the room.

“...Well… that was unexpected…” Spike muttered, looking in surprise as he saw Twilight panting as if she used up most, if not all, of her mana resources. “I think the magical wave might’ve disabled your ability to do powerful spells at this point Twilight…” Spike said after thinking what could’ve caused her teleportation spell to fail.

“I can see that Spike…” The purple alicorn muttered, clearly displeased with herself. “Welp… Change of plans! We’re going to have to take the long route! Spike! Send a letter to the nearby train station and tell them that I and my friends are going to take a train towards Ponyville pronto!” Twilight ordered as she and her friends reorganized themselves and began to head out towards the main exit of the castle.

“You got it! Though why not ask the former Princess for help?” Spike replied as he began to quickly write up a message to the conductor before sending it away with his dragon breath. He pulled up a second scroll to write down a letter when Twilight stopped him.

“No. That won’t be necessary. As ruler of Equestria, Celestia and Luna have placed full confidence in us. We’ve proven ourselves time and time again to be able to defend Equestria and maintain peace, and this time will be the same. If this problem becomes too much to handle though, then you may write the letter, but for all we know it could be something minor that just me and my friends can take care of. Thank you for thinking about that though Spike, but I think we can take care of it.” Twilight said as she returned towards Spike and hugged him.

“No problem… I just don’t want anything bad happening to you ok?” Spike said with a worried look.

“It’ll be fine. We’ll see each other soon!” Twilight yelled as she and her friends soon headed out the castle, the large doors closing behind them, leaving the main throne room empty and silent. The young dragon looked at the doors where his friends went through before sighing.

“Hopefully I didn’t jinx something very bad…” Spike muttered out.

“Hopefully.”

Out in the middle of a gigantic forest, a bird began to hop over to a figure on the ground, only to be scared away when it began to stir. Soon it began to move, one finger at a time, then a muscle twitching. The soft breaths from the sleeping creature began to become more pronounced until suddenly the creature’s eyes began to open. After blinking for a few moments, the figure suddenly began to lift itself, placing its hands and feet firmly on the ground before pushing itself up.

“Ugh… my head…” The figure let out a groan of pain as the sudden movement had caused its mind to feel disoriented. Looking around its surroundings it saw nothing but a dense forest, and it soon started to become confused, scared, and terrified at where it was. “W-Where am I… Where am I!? George! Sapnap! Bad! Ant! Where are you guys?!” Putting its hands up around its mouth to try and increase the volume of its yells, the creature began to move, going into a sprint as it began to run through the forest. Upon entering another clearing though, it tripped over a twig, falling over near a body of water. Upon picking itself up, a stunned look swept over its face as it looked into its reflection. His eyes were green, his hair was light brown, and his skin was light. He was wearing a green hoodie, black hand gloves, greyish blue pants, and black shoes. A mask was positioned on the side of his face, and upon taking it off, he noticed the familiar smile imprinted on the front.

“T-This… this can’t be real…” The figure said, looking at the mask while trying to remember his name. What was it? Clay? No… wait… was it? Another name appeared in his head, feeling more natural. It was-

“Dream…. Dream! Where are you!?”

Another voice began to shout nearby him. The young green-hooded man spun around, soon seeing another person running towards him. He had brown hair and light skin. His shirt was light blue with a red and white rectangle in the middle, dark blue pants, and black shoes. A pair of goggles sat in front of the newcomer’s eyes. For a moment the two stood still, studying each other, trying to recognize each other, before the realization kicked in and they raced towards one another, hugging one another in joy.

“George!”

“Dream! You’re here!” George yelled in excitement, glad to see his best friend again. George began to look around as he noticed something off. “Hey Dream! Where’s Sapnap? Bad? Ant?” George asked, looking around. Before Dream could respond they heard another voice.

“Over here, guys!”

The two men turned around to see another figure approaching him. His hair and eyes were black, and he had a darker skin tone. He wore a white headband around his head, a white shirt with a fireball symbol, black pants, and checkerboard-patterned shoes. Immediately the two men recognized the newcomer, smiling at him.

“Sapnap! You’re here!” George said as he rushed towards him and extended his hand towards their friend. Sapnap simply raised an eyebrow at him and began to laugh a bit.

“What. No hug for me?” Sapnap asked jokingly, extending his arms outward. George let out an embarrassed laugh as the two friends hugged each other as well. “Good to see you too Dream,” Sapnap said as he looked at the green hooded figure.

“You too Sapnap. Where’s Bad and Ant though? Have you seen them?” Dream asked Sapnap, who shook his head.

“They must be in another area, but they’re bound to show up,” Sapnap said until they heard a bush nearby shaking. The trio of friends began to walk towards it and looked quizzically at the bush until suddenly two figures popped out from it.

“SURPRISE!”

“GAH!”

The trio of friends suddenly screamed in terror as they saw what seemed to be a literal demon from hell popping from the bush. The creature wore a black and red hoodie with grey gloves and had a literal spear-like tail coming from the back. He also wore a halo on top of his head. The creature behind him seemed to be a light brownish anthropomorphic cat, but the three were too distracted to notice him. The trio was simply terrified at the ‘demon’ in front of them until it let out a familiar voice.

“Heh. Got ya, you three muffin heads.” The demon-like creature said, letting out a laugh. The trio of friends looked in shock before letting out one name.

“Bad!?”

“What’s up everybody! Like my new look?” BadBoyHalo asked, smirking at the three men who were still reeling from the shock. Upon hearing no response from Dream, George, or Sapnap, Bad simply sighed. “Huh. I think I probably scared you a little too much.” The demon-like figure said, before turning towards the anthropomorphic cat. “You still have issues getting used to that form Ant?” Bad asked, to which the furry creature frowned, clearly displeased with its new form.

“Yes.” Ant responded with a dull expression, crossing its arms as it looked at the ground in silence.

“Well keep getting used to that form. Because I think I know what’s happening to us. Any guesses?” The black-hooded figure asked Dream, Sapnap, and George, who slowly began to recover from their shock.

“I… uhm… well considering that you two don’t look like that in real life… I presume we’re in a… a videogame?” Sapnap guessed, to which BadBoyHalo smiled.

“You’re correct Sapnap! And since these are the avatars we use in Minecraft, we must be in VR Minecraft!” Bad yelled, before facing Dream and smiling. “I guess the little program you found worked!”

“I’m not so sure about that. These trees… they don’t look like regular Minecraft trees.” Sapnap muttered out loud as he examined one of the nearby trees. Its trunk looked like it would’ve belonged to the Warped Forest Biome in the Nether, however, its leaves meant that it was from the ‘Overworld’.

“It’s probably a texture pack that this game can use,” BadBoyHalo explained, causing Ant to speak up.

“Is this even a game? Like this feels much more realistic than a regular VR headset. Like if this was a VR game, wouldn’t we be able to quit when we want simply by taking off the headset?” Ant asked, demonstrating his reasoning by trying to take off an invisible headset, which would’ve caused his avatar to disappear, but there was no headset, to begin with, and thus Ant remained with them still. The rest looked at Bad for answers, who shifted nervously as he tried to find an answer.

“Well then… uh…” The demon-like figure began to ponder on Ant’s logical question, before coming up with a solution. “Ah! I know! It’s like in the ‘Matrix’! We’re just plugged into a video game, and I’m sure that when we finish our objectives here we’ll be able to return home.”

“Then what would be our objective then?” George asked BadBoyHalo. Before the black-hooded figure could respond, Sapnap suddenly pointed into the distance, screaming.

“Look out!”

The five of them turned around to see a monstrous creature stepping out of another bush. It had the head of a white chicken, yet the rest of it was replaced with the tail of a snake, while also sporting green sickly wings. Sapnap’s shouting had caused the hybrid to turn around, revealing its red eyes. And it immediately began to run towards them.

“It’s a cockatrice! Everybody run!” BadBoyHalo yelled as the five of them began to run through the thickness of the forest, the cockatrice in hot pursuit. As they continued to run through the dark biome, Sapnap suddenly had an idea and began to laugh. “What’s so funny!?” Bad yelled at the black-haired person who continued to smile.

“You cursed Bad!” Sapnap jokes, causing the rest of their companions to laugh along with him. It took Bad a few seconds to understand what Sapnap was implying, and he immediately frowned.

“I did not!”

“Yes, you did!”

“DID NOT”

“DID TOO!”

“WELL, IT’S NOT THE TIME THEN SAPNAP!”

“Guys! Look out!” George yelled as he, Dream, and Ant pulled on Sapnap and BadBoyHalo’s clothing, saving their lives as the two arguing people realized that they were on the ledge of a cliff. The two arguing players had not realized that they were about to fall, and while it didn’t look steep enough to kill them through fall damage, none of them were keen to find out how realistic this ‘game’ they were playing was.

“Thanks… but the cockatrice is now going to corner us!” BadBoyHalo yelled. Sure enough, said creature sprung out behind them, staring at Ant with its red eyes. The anthro cat saw nothing out of the ordinary until he looked down.

“My legs!” Ant yelled as did the rest when they noticed Ant’s furry legs had begun to turn into stone. The petrification was rapid, with stone quickly covering his waist, stomach, chest, and arms, leaving just his head which was also rapidly turning into a statue. “HELP!” Ant yelled as now half of his face was becoming petrified. Dream spun around towards Sapnap and pointed at the cockatrice.

“Roast him Sapnap!” Dream yelled. It took Sapnap only a few moments to remember a memory from long ago, when he, Dream, and George were playing a challenge video in Minecraft where they could only see one chunk. The black-haired man grinned as he pulled some black sunglasses onto his eyes, held up his hand near his mouth as if he was using a microphone, and stared at the cockatrice as he began to shout at it.

“YOU’RE UGLY YOU’RE DUMB YOU’RE STUPID YOU’RE SMALL”

As Sapnap began to throw hurtful words after hurtful words, the cockatrice’s morale began to drastically lower. Even when it tried to petrify Sapnap as well, his word severely injured the hybrid emotionally, especially when it was being called ‘Ugly’ and ‘Stupid’. George quickly joined with Sapnap in roasting the poor animal that by the time they ran out of ideas to call the cockatrice it was crying. Ant’s body was no longer petrified, and while he felt he should be celebrating, he felt bad for the cockatrice. Suddenly Sapnap closed in on the chicken with a grin.

“LET’S BURN HIM!” Sapnap and George yelled as George picked up two stones from the ground and struck them against each other. A spark was activated, touching the cockatrice and causing it to catch on fire, much to the two’s glee.

“YEEEEEEEES!” Sapnap yelled in victory.

“Kill him Sapnap kill him!” George yelled out as the cockatrice began to run around the forest, trying to find a source of water to put out the flames. Grabbing a rock from the ground, Sapnap threw it at the chicken hybrid, the pebble head-shooting the chicken and making it drop unconscious, leaving it to burn until its health dropped towards 0 and becoming dust and ash.

“Was that necessary?” BadBoyHalo asked as George and Sapnap began to cheer as they continued to roast the now ‘cooked’ chicken.

“I know it was trying to turn me into a statue… but I have to agree with Bad… you kind of pushed it too far.” Ant said, frowning at Sapnap, before realizing something and causing his frown to become even more pronounced. “But then considering that you killed everybody’s pet in the Dream SMP and also killed Dream’s pet parrot in the last Manhunt we did… it’s not a real surprise anymore.” Ant said, causing Dream to have flashbacks to when he lost Spirit, a horse he loved in the Dream SMP, the unnamed parrot that was shot by Sapnap in their last game, and another parrot that he lost when it collided with an ice block. Dream immediately frowned but kept it to himself. Instead, he decided to change the subject, since he felt the direction they were going was starting to become… uncomfortable to say the least.

“Say Bad. How did you know that it was a cockatrice in the first place?” Dream asked, to which Bad both smiled and frowned at the same time.

“Well, me and Skeppy were playing RLCraft as part of a youtube video, and let me tell you, it was not fun. We died so many times without making any progression, and while I don’t think we encountered a cockatrice in that video, I did some research and it turns out it does spawn in RLCraft. Don’t remember which biome, but this kind of proves my point that we’re in a VR Game of Minecraft.” BadBoyHalo said, smiling. “See! Told you I was right!” Dream and the rest simply nodded at his exclamation.

“I think we were talking about objectives before right?” George asked, to which the rest confirmed by nodding. “What would it be then?” The blue-shirted male asked. The group of five friends began to think until Dream came up with the answer.

“Defeating the Ender Dragon. When the Ender Dragon is defeated, the exit portal would appear, and thus our ticket out of this game.” Dream said, and the rest nodded in agreement until Sapnap had his idea.

“But wait! The owner of this pack said that it was for Manhunts as well! So apart from defeating the Ender Dragon, killing Dream might be the best option! It’d be the quickest way out of here!” Sapnap yelled out to the rest. Bad, George and Ant nodded in agreement as well, seeing Sapnap’s thinking.

“Yeah, that could work! We just have to kill Dream- wait where’s Dream?” George asked as the rest looked around their surroundings until BadBoyHalo noticed Dream far into the distance who was singing/yelling a line.

“Running away I’m running away!”

“He’s getting away! Guys let’s go get him!” Bad yelled as he went into a sprint, the rest of them following in pursuit of Dream.

And thus the Manhunt officially began its first phase with the Hunters chasing Dream through the thickness of the forest.