My Little Dream Becomes Reality

*Disorderlot*

From the outside gates of Disorderlot, Celestia and the mob army she convinced relentlessly marched towards their destination. They didn't understand or actually know in the slightest why or how the changelings even managed to start the Crystal War, but if it was told from Princess Celestia herself, then it had to be true.

The return of Sombra and his dark reign was a part of their work. The nightmares, wars, and the increase of other conflicts rising in Equestria; all of it was because of the changelings. It was their fault Equestria was suffering.

And the ponies supporting their deranged princess from behind believed it entirely, not having any second guesses of any other possible cause for the disasters.

Since the changelings took Canterlot it was time for the ponies to take it back.

"Forward my little ponies!" Celestia commanded. "The Queen of the Changelings will be no more when I am through with her!"

As the mob roared with pride and pressed forward, two fillies who both had chaos magic abilities received by Discord, were watching a mad sun princess advance from outside of the front gates.

"Geez. When you said Princess Celestia was angry, I didn't think you meant THAT angry," Scootaloo said to Sweetie Belle.

"I know. Something's wrong with Celestia, don't you think? It's seriously not like her to be this...brutal. Even to a creature like Discord himself."

"Well, Sweetie. Princess or not, we gotta stop her. I'll have to fly above them and make it rain chocolate as a distraction, then you will cast a spell to make all of their weapons come to life and fight for us."

Sweetie Belle immediately shook her head. "No, we can't! Have you ever thought about how this could make us look in front of our older sisters?"

"...No?"

"Exactly! We would look like monsters using some of Discord's chaotic powers against the princess! We should try to convince them that Discord isn't as bad as he seems," Sweetie Belle reasoned.

Scootaloo's small little wings started to flap as she left the ground and forced herself into the air. Facing her unicorn friend with disagreeing lips and eyes, she flew off towards the rampaging army without a word.

"Scootaloo!" the unicorn filly called out but to no use. "ERGHHH!" she clenched her hoof and teeth, irritated by the stubbornness of her friend. With no better option in her mind, Sweetie Belle followed Scootaloo in a galloping pace, hoping she would be fast enough to persuade the princess before Scootaloo can turn to recklessness against the raging mob.

******

One filly of the three stood pointlessly still in the Disorderlot gardens, Apple Bloom. She stood there feeling bored, but at the same time nervous over her lack of purpose at the moment. While Discord did give her a big task to eliminate all plant life in the gardens with the death hooves she was given, she had already finished that task within a couple hours. Now there was nothing left for her to do.

With a sigh, Apple Bloom gazed off into the night sky, allowing her mind to get the tranquil peace required to think things over. As minutes felt like seconds her mind began forming questions that made her think back to her previous decisions throughout the most unique week of her life thus far. Was her decision to side with Discord the right thing to do? And...was her decision to follow the mysterious creature: Sam, into the unknown her smartest or stupidest choice? She didn't know for sure.

"Excuse me, Ms. Bloom."

Apple Bloom jumped with an uncontrolled squeal coming out of her mouth. She recognized the voice for sure, but of all places where she would hear it, she was hearing the near whispers of Luna's voice in Discord's claimed kingdom?

"Huh?" Apple Bloom's eyes met what she heard, and she quickly felt deceived by The Princess of the Night's random appearance and need for interaction. Normally, in any casual day of peace without chaos, Apple Bloom would not hesitate to bow and respond with a: 'yes ur highness?' or anything else respectable as a response to royalty. But after going through so many of Discord's inflicted tricks in her new home, Apple Bloom believed she was catching on to something, when she really wasn't at all.

"Apologies for such a startle, but there is no time my dear filly," Luna took several hoof steps closer to Apple Bloom as the young filly shook her head.

"No, Discord. I'm not falling for any more of your tricks," she stated, remembering the countless illusions Discord had used to play with her mind. "Just stop it! It's getting old!"

Luna froze, appalled by the filly mentioning Discord's harrowing actions.

"I am not one of Discord's tricks!" the princess came up to Apple Bloom and pulled her face so that it was facing a strict and beady pair of eyes. "Before you my dear filly stands the princess of the night. And I am here to rid the chaos of this land once and for all."

The apple filly blinked, her suspension of a fake Luna fading away. "Huh? Princess Luna? Is dat really you?!"

Luna nodded and began to reassure her young subject with a little presentation. "Tis I, Luna. The night princess who enters pony dreams and protects you from your most disturbing nightmares that ill you. And I am here now to stop that accursed draconequus from creating any more havoc."

Apple Bloom could only give a neutral face after hearing Luna speak. While she now had her full trust and loyalty to the princess standing before her, she also didn't have a pleasant feeling about Luna 'stopping' Discord. Despite the amount of crimes Discord had done and the amount of irritation he brings every ten minutes; Apple Bloom still considered him a friend.

"W-what do ya mean by 'stop?' You ain't gonna hurt him, are ya, ur highness?" the filly asked in concern.

Luna slightly narrowed her eyes at Apple Bloom. "Nay. Even if I had such a desire to 'hurt'; I doubt my magic or strength will have any effect alone against a mighty creature of chaos. Though...if I could try and negotiate with him, I may be able to put an end to Equestria's current madness."

"Negotiate? With Discord?" the filly awkwardly scratched the dirt with her right hoof and momentarily took her eyes off the princess. "I know I'm just a young pony with a tendency to not know any better and such, but...dontcha think Discord would rather do the opposite of what you're planning?"

"Maybe so, Miss Bloom. Though, doing the most ignorant things in hopes of a solution is better than not doing anything at all to solve your biggest problems that require your care. He may find it difficult to cooperate, much less cooperate at all. But I have faith that there is reasoning in that creature. Even if his own chaos blinds him from rationality."

"But...what if he doesn't listen? What will you do then?"

Luna chuckled with a bit of exhausted air exiting her lungs. "I would act how any mature pony such as myself would in such a disagreement; silently depart and allow life to take care of him. Even he has his limitations Bloom, and I know there will be a time in his life where he'll understand the importance of eliminating his wicked desires. And maybe, in time he will understand...the power of friendship."

Apple Bloom's hopeful smile faded as fast as it formed. "But it's Discord you're talking about. Do ya really think he'll give it a shot?"

"I am not sure of that, but it is worth a shot," Luna turned to one of Canterlot's many entrances and asked something out of Apple Bloom without facing the innocent filly. "Miss Bloom. If it is true, that you now serve under Discord. You must know where he might be in this...mess of a castle. Would you care to speak? It's alright if you wish not to. I'll understand if you fear the penalty that may come forth if you aid me."

"I...Discord would..." Finally, Apple Bloom's sadness and doubts left her, and her energy returned. "Oh, shucks! I can't believe I was bein' such a downer to ya ur highness! I guess I was all caught up in the things that were happening these past days."

"Please, my dear filly. It is alright, don't blame yourself. Tis quite normal to think negatively during these times, especially when you are isolated from those you love for quite a period of time," Princes Luna said, smiling at her young subject who in return smiled back.

"Yea, I guess you're right. If ur lookin' for Discord, he should be in the throne room. But I don't think you should go through that door or any other door in the castle," she warned, walking over to several sets of thick vines that seemed to be covering an entrance to someplace. "My friends kinda made a real big mess with their powers and I wouldn't want ya to walk through all that trouble princess. It just ain't safe."

Apple Bloom planted a hoof on the vines and the two watched as the vines died out. After dying, the vines fell off like crumbled leaves and a metal trapdoor became visible in Luna's eyes. Then, Apple Bloom used the same hoof to gently press open the square iron door.

"Princess, you should go down here," she pointed down to the creepy dark tunnel beyond the trap door. The princess curiously walked closer and observed.

A concerning frown daunted Luna, disliking the idea. She had lived in Canterlot for countless of years since she was a filly, and never had she known or even heard of a secret underground passageway built in the garden. "May I ask where this tunnel leads?"

"It leads ta da crystal caverns underneath Disorderlot."

The princess tilted her head. "Dis...order...lot?"

Bloom nodded. "Yep, Disorderlot. It's the new name Discord came up with after he took over Canterlot. If ya go through theze caverns, I heard you'll find a dungeon with a long thick ladder. Climb it and you'll be in the hall closest to the throne of Disorderlot in no time!"

"Really?" Luna gave one last look into the darkness and bravely casted a spell that gave her night vision. She could barely see the crystals from below the tunnel, which meant it had to be a long way down, but at least she knew utter darkness wasn't going to be a problem for her. "Thank you, Miss Bloom, I will make sure to show you my gratitude when you are sleeping. And know that when you're dreams become nightmares, I will always be there to help you."

After they gave one another a smile, Luna proceeded downwards with one very slow hoof step at a time.

"I swear your highness! It was her who wanted to mess with you all in the first place!" Sweetie Belle hoof pointed to Scootaloo.

"Is not!" the young pegasus shot a glare in retaliation.

"Is too!"

"Is not!!!"

"Is TOO!"

The two fillies who were both miserably tied together by magic sealing chains kept on with their arguing. A group of soldiers were then given an order to point spears towards the innocent fillies as a threat. When Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle caught the pointy sharp objects from the very end point of their vision, their mouths instantly lost fuel.

A spotlight shined onto the trapped young fillies, and they couldn't help but to wince over the pain it brought to their sensitive eyes. Then, a pony came up to them with a video camera in hoof, a tiny light flashing red to indicate it was recording every footage. And with no time for the two to ask if this was an unpleasant interrogation, the sun princess herself used her horn to pull the fillies closer, the spotlight and camera following their every movement.

Instantly, Celestia demanded they answer what she wanted, in such a way that it felt almost threatening. They were of course unfond of complying to her demands, but she was the princess of Equestria. And any form of disobedience towards aggressive loyalty would more likely result in cruel punishments. That reason alone is why the two made the decision to answer her.

"What do you want to know, your highness?" Scootaloo asked nicely, holding back her comebacks over Celestia's ill attitude.

The sun princess's eyes scanned Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle carefully before the questions came to her mind. And she bent down in sought for a better position to interrogate the two face to face. "Ah, yes. I'd like to know where you little brats got those... powers."

Sweetie Belle gulped, telling the princess nervously. "W-well you see, princess, Discord gave them to us as part of being his servants and-"

"Discord?" Celestia interrupted, frightened by the name mentioned. "You're servants of the Lord of Chaos?!"

"Y-yes," Sweetie said, shaking like mad and hearing gasps from the civilians and guards around them which only increased her nervousness over shame and guilt.

"Hmph. Young traitors... you two don't deserve to walk peacefully amongst other ponies in Equestria! At least, not anymore."

"Please your highness. We're sorry! Please, forgive us!" Sweetie begged. "We didn't have a choice! It's all the changelings' fault that we got under Discord's influence. They're the reason he got free-"

"SILENCE!" Celestia shouted, making Sweetie flinch out of her body. "Your reasons don't matter to me in the slightest! You will be punished for your betrayal on pony kind no matter the reason."

As the princess's tone became more vicious as she ranted and the surrounding chains becoming tighter due to her raging telekinetic magic, Scootaloo had decided enough was enough and dropped the nice act she had put on for Celestia during the past suffering minutes.

"Yea, we are kind of his servants Ms. high and mighty. Is there something wrong with that?" Scootaloo raised a brow.

Celestia had a quick wide-eyed reaction before glaring down at what she believed was an 'attitude' that was spat intentionally on her personal face by the little pegasus. "What did you just say...about me???"

"I must ask, what happened to the smart and compassionate sun princess?" Scootaloo asked, ignoring Celestia's question. "It sure is horrible that she was replaced by this thousand-year-old sun abusive jerk that can't think twice about going against Discord. Didn't it take the elements of harmony and your younger sister combined to merely turn him into stone? If so, why send all of these ponies into a battle they'll for sure lose and suffer from?"

"..." Celestia caught hundreds of shocked ponies staring at her. "In my defense, I thought those changelings along with their queen were still sitting on MY throne. I never had thought Discord would break free of his stone prison so soon and take Canterlot for himself so easily."

"But that's not all. Princess Celestia would never let her anger get the best of her so soon. She would always have the will to listen to reason rather than seek vengeance."

"Are you saying I'm an imposter?!" she yelled, beginning to lose her cool.

Scootaloo smirked and shrugged. "Either that, or you got an attitude problem from a wicked magic spell of some sort. Honestly, why are you even taking me seriously? You know I'm just a filly, right?"

Celestia's muzzle began to smoke, literally. "I know...BUT...you... really... don't talk like one!"

Laughing, Scootaloo's obnoxious grin grew even wider. "Maybe because I have a much more mature mentality than you do, considering of how you're thousand-year-old mentality is more 'foal like' at this point."

With the words getting into Celestia's head, her mane flamed up like the burning sun. With gritted teeth she attempted to harm the sassy filly with a burning attack of her own: 'sunny inferno magic'. Though regardless of Celestia's horn flaming up for an attack, Scootaloo kept wearing a smile, as if it were all a game.

"YOUR A FOOLISH WORTHLESS LITTLE PIECE OF TRASH! I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T TAKE BACK WHAT YOU SAID!"

Just like that, Celestia's true colors were shown across the ponies around her. The ponies and even the guards themselves were confused as they took several hoof steps away from the princess. While it was understandable to them that Celestia's sudden anger onto the changelings for seizing Canterlot had its fair cause, they didn't expect their own compassionate hearted princess to outrageously threaten a filly to their grave over a bit of smack talk.

At this point, all of the ponies were siding with the young pegasus filly in their heads. The filly was right. This wasn't Celestia. Or rather, Celestia is currently not being herself. One way or the other, Celestia needed to be stopped. But how? As far as Sweetie Belle could tell, many of the ponies were too scared to even take a hoof step closer.

"Aw, boohoo. Somepony obviously can't stand being made fun of-" Scootaloo was immediately cut off by a flame attack that had directly been shot towards her position. The surrounding ponies flinched and covered their eyes as they witnessed their very princess incinerate a couple of innocent fillies.

The resulting smoke from the attack covered Scootaloo's and Sweetie Belle's remains, but Celestia was confident that she had ended their lives to a crisp. But her pleasure of cruelty quickly left her as her attention was forced onto every pony looking at her in a way that made her feel...disagreed.

"What?" Celestia stomped a hoof while angrily eyeing her servan- subjects.

"Y-you k-killed them!" one of them spoke up.

Celestia didn't like hearing that. "So what? I'm the princess of these lands. And I decide what's best."

"B-but, princess, don't you think-"

"QUIET!" her royal Canterlot voice activated, indicating her seriousness. "Do not argue with me. I am your princess. No. I am your queen. So, unless you want the same fate as those two fillies, keep your mouth shut, peasant!"

The silence amongst every pony only told Celestia no pony was daring to protest. She could sense their fear and she nodded, knowing that they came to an agreement. Albeit she forced them into the agreement using threats, she of course didn't care.

"Now then, we will enter Canterlot, kill Discord, and take back my throne! Are we clear?"

Before her servants could answer, a voice quickly intervened.

"I believe it is unclear, Princess Celestia. Do you really think you can defeat me?"

Celestia knew that voice and turned to the source of it. But she was surprised at what she saw. "What?! Impossible! How?!"

The two fillies were still alive, untouched even. How was it possible? Celestia swore she had burned them alive about a minute ago, and the attack she used was extra lethal due to the power of the morning sun. So, it didn't make sense to the wicked princess at all.

One of them still looked afraid on what was going on, but the other filly, Scootaloo, still wore a grin before speaking. Her voice also wasn't the same.

"Oh, dear Celestia. Will you ever learn that when I'm around, nothing is impossible?"

Celestia stomped a hoof, realizing the filly was Discord in disguise, and the fact that Discord had toyed with her the whole time. "Shut up, Discord!"

"No, I'm afraid I can't. After all, my speeches certainly are the most pleasant in Equestria. And my words would never anger a naughty princess, like you for example. Hahahaha."

There were suddenly pebbles levitating from the ground, and Scootaloo/Discord both freed himself and Sweetie Belle out of the chains. Celestia definitely became disappointed at what she witnessed. Those chains were pathetic for their price! And for Discord in the form of a filly to just disable its purpose like an on/off switch was humiliating for the princess.

As Sweetie Belle witnessed Discord abandoning the Scootaloo disguise and returning to his actual physical form, she wondered where the real Scootaloo was the whole time. Of course, that got answered right away as soon as Discord started rambling his mouth again to get on Celestia's nerves even more.

"Oh, I can't believe you fell it for it! Hoho! I love it when I'm a dirty trickster to those who oppose me," Discord reluctantly wiped a tear with his claw while he passively floated carelessly around everypony. "If you didn't know, the real Scootaloo is on break, sleeping near the fireplace in my kingdom. Because of course she would prefer the flames of chaos rather than the flames of a sun princess."

A great hatred grew in Celestia's eyes as her face started scrunching up. It became clear that Discord was simply calling her 'worthless'.

"What?" Discord said, seeing an extreme hater in front of him. "Are you jealous that a filly would prefer my chaos over-"

"Enough of your foolishness, Discord!" Celestia rudely took control of the conservation, desiring to get straight down to business. "What have you done with the changelings? I was expecting to enter Canterlot without any trouble and take care of them myself!"

Discord laughed at her. "Oh them? Well, it looks like I beat you to it. Now, Canterlot is under my rule, even though... only four ponies really are a part of my newfound kingdom...but who cares! I have the whole place to mostly myself and I can do whatever I want whenever I want there. And the best part? Nopony will be there to judge me or stop me from being myself. And that also applies to you too, Celestia. You wouldn't dare set a hoof in Disorderlot with the intent to crush everything I built, do you?"

A shade presented itself on Celestia's face as the princess became unresponsive in words. She stood there motionless, and she could only grin.

"Celestia...come...to...me!"

"Actually..." her wings unfolded, and her horn began flaring up.

"Burn that buffoon's existence to ash and come for me. I will give you power to burn down anything you desire my dear pony."

"That's exactly what I was planning to do!" her expression grew wild over her sudden lunacy. When her horn finished it's charging, she intentionally unleashed a great inferno of flames. But Discord, being the being that he is, snapped away those flames into harmless balloons.

"See how pointless it is? You can't defeat me. Why even try? Unless you're just playing the bad guy for the fun of it, I don't see the point in this," Discord kept on snapping his claw and paw, effortlessly degrading every flame attack into something goofy or fun.

"You are wrong, Discord. Because I will keep going until you are DEAD!"

Discord flinched. "Uh. That's a little too dark for you don't you think?"

"GET OUT OF MY WAY OR DIE!!!"

"Ooooookaayyy, I'm gonna take that as 'you have seriously lost your mind' kind of sentence. But, if it's a fight you want, then I will have no problem giving you one."

Discord snapped his claw and transported everpony in his vicinity to the throne room. Once there, he took a moment to enjoy their shocked faces as they saw the chaos he and his little helpers had been busy making as part of the transition from Canterlot to Disorderlot.

But that wasn't all there was to Disorderlot. Discord still had so much to show off. And he would be proud to show his work, regardless if it were appreciated or not. But unfortunately for Discord, things never usually go the way he plans.

When Celestia made it clear that she wasn't in it to wait for an intermission after making a violent gallop in an attempt to stab Discord with her horn, Discord wagged a finger which resulted in him freezing Celestia still with his magic.

"Now now Celestia. Just because you're a princess that doesn't mean you can just ruin my moment with your wrath," he unfolded his arms and forced his claw and paw to unleash the chaos.

Luna traveling down a tunnel to the depths of the earth wasn't quite part of her plan to seek her answers. While she was aware that as princess, she could simply hire maybe a few coal minners to join her on cave exploring in the one she was currently trotting down in specifically. But she couldn't. Not right now during this time at least.

Ever since the dream demon invaded her realm, Luna had done a little research on pony civilization conditions. Based on what she read, there were at least 66 ponies with cases of extreme negative effects due to the demon's actions in their dreams. Almost every victim suffered mentally from facing their worst fears. But that wasn't all in the reports. Some even suffered physical pain during their sleep as the demon managed to somehow make it so that their mind would believe they were being attacked for real. So any scratches, bites, or even punches that are recieved in the dream realm will translate to reality upon their awakening. And worse, a few ponies were reported dead in bed by their relatives. It wasn't understood how death came to those poor souls. Even the greatest doctors couldn't detect any physical damage that would have been the reason. All they knew, was that the demon had every reason to be blamed.

Because of those damages, Luna thought it'd be best to give ponies time to rest up rather than force them to work until their bones crack. But alas, Celestia wasn't into the idea of a 'break' period. And Luna was given a big fat no in return to her suggestion. Because Celestia was technically first in line of being ruler, Luna had no way of stopping her older sister from twisting everypony's tails mercilessly into a daily working inferno. Whether it was over a bad day or something terrible in the past, she couldn't think of any reason that would have made Celestia so...wicked and authoritative just randomly out of nowhere.

The task Luna was holding responsibly in her hooves was vital. If she wanted her subjects to be safe, she needed to fix or eliminate Equestria's problems. If she wanted her older sister to let go of the hate raging in her heart, she needed to reason with the alicorn just like the alicorn did with her thousands of years ago.

But what if things go the wrong way? If the tempting bitterness in Luna's heart overcame logic; how would the present bitterness in Celestia's heart be any different?

Over her extreme envy, Luna turned into Equestria's well known terror of the night. So she could only wonder what will become of Celestia over the extreme anger that came to her heart just yesterday. But of course she wasn't willing to find out. More than likely, if Celestia's behavior continues, she will become something very unpleasant and mean.

Then out of nowhere, a couple of concerning thoughts started bitting the back of her mind. With Celestia taking charge of all the defensive ponies in Ponyville and advancing them to Disorderlot for an all out attack, Ponyville was now nearly defenseless. And it was only worse that a powerful princess in charge of the night had just put her concerns for that place aside over the concerns for answers.

"No," Luna said to herself, her voice echoing across the cavern she now stood in. Apparently, she already reached the end of the tunnel and found herself where her young subject, Apple Bloom, said she would be. Now, she needed to find the dungeon.

"I will not think that way. Twilight Sparkle is a talented and bright unicorn mare. Surely she is capable of taking care of the village on her own, without the help from me or my sister." She strictly diggressed her thoughts and ventured deeper into the cavern of crystals, acknowledging a sudden dark mist that pitfully clouded the place the deeper she trotted.

After several minutes, it was definitely becoming inconvenient for the princess to continue on. Drips of water little by little splashed on her back as the stalactites from the ceiling leaked out every ounce of fluid in store. And it became increasingly difficult to breath as the strange mist kept getting thicker by each passing minute.

Eventually, after she went straight through a few straight tunnels while swiping multiple pebbles out of her way, she found a torch and several matches lying somewhere on flat ground. She paused for a moment to think about how a torch may have gotten into such a dark place.

Her mind soon came up with an idea when realizing how the dark mist reacted to the light from her horn. For some reason, the strange dark mist would disperse as soon as it comes into contact with the magical light bubble surrounding the tip of her horn.

With her lungs begging for mercy from the dark smoke, Luna levitated the torch and supercharged her horn with the same lighting spell. When she fully charged the light up, she stuck the tip of her horn to the tip of the torch.

In the speed of light, a blue flame grew around the torch's fuel part. And Luna's idea quickly became a success as the flame unleashed a much more wider and brighter light that completely eliminated the darkness entirely which was near her surrounding area.

She sighed in relief knowing the dark smoke will not even have a chance to enter her nostrils and
toture her lungs. As long as she held that torch in her magic, she was in the clear.

"I should give thanks to whoever abandoned this beloved torch. Though, I don't know anypony who would explore these caverns with toxins destroying one's will to breath," she chuckled softly, pressing forward through yet another large tunnel.

After a while, a sudden feeling began to strike her. It was strange. It felt like she was getting closer, but at the time...something was starting to feel off. She couldn't quite understand the feeling well until she trotted even further. She eventually felt it again, but it was definitely much stronger than last time. She had to be getting close. However, the unpleasant part of the feeling struck, and it was as if the feeling was trying to warn her about something dangerous ahead.

Confusion held onto Luna's mind as she felt lost. Despite being the night princess who became use to the darkness, she struggled to find her way. The crystal caverns were full of twists and turns, much like a nasty maze. And never was she given a map or any specific directions on where to go.

But at this point, there wasn't any turning back. It would take far too long for her to reach the same entrance tunnel. Even Celestia herself was probably already at Disorderlot's front entrance, giving an unpleasant knock as Luna continues to trot through a maze.

The lit torch definitely helped Luna navigate, and she was still grateful that the dark smoke couldn't reach her. But she could still see it becoming thicker and thicker, along with the ominous feeling growing stronger inside of her. Those could only be signs that she was getting somewhere in this desolate place.

Soon, once her hopes grew so did her chances. Out of sheer luck, she found a large open vertical hole on the dead end she trotted to. When she got close her horn instantly picked up a familiar magical essence. A too familiar essence.

"Princess Mi Amore!" she yelled, assuming that the magic essence related to the pony was an indication that they were nearby. Sadly, there wasn't any pony or princess in sight when she entered through the hole. For what Luna could guess, her horn only picked up the past existed actions and emotions from the previous days in that area she stood on. From what she'd been told, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was imprisoned in an unspecified place by the queen of changelings before the giant bug took the form of the princess. So in theory, this place had to be where the real princess was kept during that day.

Luna wondered how her escape was possible. The giant hole in the wall was a clear indication that there was a breakout, but she couldn't detect any magic that could have created such an opening. She would then discover that it...was made by a physical brute force as she observed the opening. And Luna knew for sure that a peaceful princess such as Cadance is likely unable to bust a wall of thick rock with her bare hooves for an escape attempt. More than likely, the changelings drained Cadance of her love so she would not have the energy to leave her cell. So somepony must have come to the rescue and fled someplace safe with the princess before the invasion.

"Hahaha."

A distant laugh alerted Luna and she caught the sound coming from the other side of a thin wall. With the need for answers still clinging in her head she shot a miniature blast of her magic to create another hole in Cadance's former cell. Her eyes gazed at what she sought after the dust cleared. The dungeon room was right in front her. Better yet, she saw a ladder in the distance, but it was at the very end of the hall.

"Yes! I found my way in!" Luna said to herself in giddiness, knowing she had reached the end of the labradorite.

"Yes true. But you have also found me, Princess Luna."

"What?" Luna froze for a moment, acknowledging that she was no longer alone in these deep dark caverns of despair. Hearing no other response, she began her walk through the dungeon hall, checking each cell for the voice.

"Oh, princess, you're better than this. A 'what' is a terrible response."

Luna frowned, continuing to walk past each empty cell. "How do you expect me to speak to some pony who is a stranger to me?" she countered.

"Stranger? You don't recognize my voice in the slightest, princess? Hm. Maybe that fully explains why you aren't in a panic just yet."

"A panic?" she said, her voice becoming skeptical. "What do you mean? Do I know you?"

"Hahaha."

"What is so funny?" Luna asked, creeped out entirely by the entity speaking to her. The voice was familiar in an unpleasant way. But for some reason, she couldn't pin it in her head on who it was.

She was near the end of the hall and a glorious ladder was right in front of her as her young subject promised. As she took only a few more steps to the last set of cells to her left and right side, she suddenly heard a disturbing heavy breathing to her left. Was it coming from the one talking to her before?

She felt a freeze in her heart after facing the direction she regrated facing. Inside of the cell to her left was a creature, or rather...a monster. No. Not just any monster. A demon.

"Hello, Princess. Pleasure to see you again," the demon's purple eyes were the only parts of him visible in the dark part of his cell. He then took a couple of creepy steps towards the metal bars that were holding him contained in a square room of dirt and mud. A pair of magical chains appeared around his arms after he gripped the hard metal bars with his claw hands. "How about we get down to business."

"YOU!" Luna presented her anger, using her royal canterlot voice to intimidate the demon. "YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME AGAIN AFTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME AND MY SUBJECTS!?"

The demon chuckled with his teeth remaining closed, unfazed by Luna's aggression as he did so. "I understand that we both have done wrong to each other. But can we brush that aside for a while? It was nothing personal to begin with, princess."

"NOTHING PERSONAL!? ABSURD! WHAT BUISNESS OR BENIFIT IS IT TO YOU TO SPREAD NIGHTMARES ACROSS MY REALM!?" her voice was raging and growing louder as each word was spat onto the demon's face. But even so...his smile stayed, and the demon tasted a great negativity in the air.

"Oh, Luna. Complain, weep, shout at me as loud as your heart desires. I grow stronger the more negativity I taste. You won't accomplish anything. I know why you're here. And I know you're just foolishly wasting your time on me when there are things that are a much larger matter of importance. Isn't your older sister, Celestia, currently out of her mind?"

Luna let out a quick gasp. Her voice lowered back to its original tone after she paused in shock of the demon's awareness. "How do you-"

"Know? Ha! I can read anyone's thoughts, memories, and emotions when they are nearby. You're probably looking forward to asking me who or what I am, aren't you?"

The princess nodded, admittedly.

"I am the demon known as Nightmare. And I was brought into this world to cause pain and suffering for my own survival. However, I cannot fulfill those needs with these...chains keeping me locked in this cell."

Luna found it hard to believe. "You must torment other ponies and creatures to live? Why?"

"Because..." Nightmare gripped his torso with one of his hands as a red glow emitted itself through his chest. "My heart. It feeds and fuels itself from negativity. Especially, when that negativity is formed because of my doings. Without negativity my heart will die, and so will I. A pity for me, isn't it, your highness?"

"Pity? On you? Nay," she responded critically, narrowing her eyes at the demon. "You really think I'm going to show you sympathy after what you've done? You owe almost all of Equestria an apology, especially one for me. And I highly doubt any demon would have it in their dark heart to apologize for their crimes."

"Is that so princess? You know it doesn't help when that 'creature of chaos' chained me down with nullifying ability chains to keep me here away from every living form in this world. He told me only an alicorn's magic such as yours can free me from these chains," his eyes locked onto Luna's horn in interest. "If I could, I would rip that horn out of your head and absorb its magic to counter that irritating 'Lord of Chaos.' If only if it weren't for these chains and bars keeping me separated."

"...What?"

"Haha. How about this princess. Your older sister's mind has been corrupted thanks to that pathetic crystal shadow king when he abused one of my personal spells. Am I right?"

"So what? It's none of your business."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. Knowing that fact, I can so do 'business' with you, Princess Luna."

"What is it that you mean, demon. Why would anypony do business with you? Unless they were of course out of their mind to agree to your terms."

"Well, would you at least hear what I have to offer?"

"..." Luna took a moment to think it through. While she soon made the decision to hear the demon out, she felt quite skeptical about the offer. Afterall, he was the first of all the other severe problems to appear in Equestria's so called 'Tartarus Period,' named after Ponyville's experience with the pain, suffering and death of many before the day of the wedding in Canterlot.

"If you desire your sister's freedom from her corruption, I can do just that. But I ask for only one thing."

"And that is?" she asked in a strict tone.

"My freedom of course. I want out of these bars. But first these chains have got to go. I'm sick of them making me feel powerless. "

If Luna hadn't had great caution, she would've taken the deal by now. But still, the choice to allow the demon to roam around Equestria once more in exchange for Celestia's sake was a heavy choice for Luna. She again looked at the demon and not once did his smile fade despite the sheer number of times she spat her hatred onto him over his action.

"How am I supposed to know whether or not this whole talk is meant to be reasonable for me and you, or nothing but a load of cunning filth from a dreadful fiend?" she raised a brow.

The demon kept calm without much of a reaction or expression change.

"Believe whatever you want to believe my dear. Either way, I will get my freedom. You will only delay my release if you refuse to take my deal. But this is your older sister we're speaking about. Don't you want her fixed?" he coaxed.

"I do. And..." the princess took a single heavy breath and slowly let it out. "I accept your offer. BUT. On two conditions."

"What are they?"

"When you are free, you will from now on be unallowed to enter the dream realm ever again. I am still disturbed by your trespass into my realm, and I'd prefer you stay out of the dream realm for good. And secondly, you must not harm anypony who may get in the way of you freeing my sister. I can assure you that I, Princess Luna, am one of the most reasonable ponies in Equestria now. I will talk things over if things get out of hoof."

Nightmare gripped the bars tightly. His unique extra third eye on his forehead rolled. "Fine. A deal's a deal then. Let me out of here and I'll do my thing."

******

The corrupted princess only had a few seconds to react. Before she knew it, Discord had started the battle, intentionally flattening her with a super-sized piece of chocolate cake with strawberry icing. After several seconds of silence, Discord believed Celestia was already knocked out, and he laughed.

"It seems I had just flattened one of Equestria's most powerful beings. That definitely was a piece of cake. Literally!" Discord floated himself down on his hoof and foot and danced randomly on the floor in celebration. He was about to set his attention to the army brought in as backup, but before he could an explosion of fire happened from inside of Discord's crafty bakery work. All the frosting and cake splattered across the room like mud, sticking to the walls and pillars of the room.

"Speaking a little too soon aren't we, Discord?" Celestia spoke, grinning wickedly to show her confidence. "You know you can't get rid of a princess THAT easily."

"Blah! Way to spoil the celebration, but you know, my video camera could use a bit more footage of entertainment for me to look back on and enjoy," he shrugged clapping his paw and claw together to signal his servants. In a flash, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, the real Scootaloo, and even Trixie appeared in front of Discord. "The princess is all mine. You four will deal with her subjects."

"I shall NOT!" Trixie spat in protest to Discord's command. "The Great and Powerful Trixie refuses to take order from the likes of- WAOH!!!" the world around her spun to invert. With her complaints ignored she huffed and acknowledged the fact that she and many other ponies were standing straight up on the celling. Apart from Discord and Celestia who were still both standing on the actual floor, it seemed as if Discord inverted the laws of gravity itself to affect everypony except himself and the princess.

"Wow! Soooo cooool!" the real Scootaloo's pupils enlarged at the sight of the room. "Discord flipped the castle upside down!"

Sweetie Belle came up next to her friend and gave a sweet correction. "Actually...I'm pretty sure it's just us and everypony else in front of us that were flipped upside down."

"Oh...that's still cool though!"

"Uh, girls...whadya sugges we do with des here ponies?" Apple Bloom asked, waiting for a nice answer.

"Those ponies?" Scootaloo turned to the crowd. "Psh. Well, I dunno. Discord said to deal with them so-"

"Honestly, I think we should put on a show for them," Trixie interrupted, causing the three fillies to eye her questionably. "Please, I mean a show for them in a nice way you foolish foals! They don't look like they want to hurt anypony. They're just here under Sun Stink's orders. They deserve some cheering up from the great Trixie. Plus, I for one can put on a dance after doing so many of them dozens of times thanks to one of Discord's temporary curses."

Then from above, a flaming ball of mass came crashing down behind Trixie, igniting a part of her tail on fire. The unicorn yelped in utter shock and broke into an unintentional dance, hoping her intense movements would put out the flames. Clearly, she wasn't an expert on extinguishing anything flammable as the fillies rushed to her aid as they saw the fire spread. That there alone was quite a scene for the civilians and guards to watch and keep distracted while the princess and Discord had their own private chat.

Out of their awareness, two beings were watching and listening through a crack on the other side of the throne room door. The conversation between the draconequs and the princess of the sun were catching their interest.

"Geez. Celestia, could you kindly explain your outrageous behavior? I seriously have no idea why you're being so ill towards me. Shouldn't we calmly and rationally talk this out like grown ponies? If you didn't know, this place is still technically changeling territory. I was just given permission to borrow this place from the queen because I'm one of her 'special some creatures'."

Celestia shockingly raised a brow. "You're considering reason?" she replied in doubt and shook her head with a laugh. "Oh, dearest Discord. It's far too late for reasoning. No matter what you tell me, I will never believe the words of a mischievous creature like you, Discord."

"Really?" he snapped his claw to get rid of another incoming fireball before continuing to run his mouth. "Then tell me, Celestia. What exactly do you believe about me?"

Celestia eyed him with a smirk on her face. "I believe you're trying to deceive me. I believe you think you can toy with me like it's all a game to you. I believe you took this kingdom right under the nose of those nasty insects without asking. AND, I believe you're not as powerful as things seem."

'Ah yes, there is definitely something up with this pony.' While Discord had his suspicion on Celestia's mind being tampered with, he didn't want to bring that up just yet. He knew for a fact this wasn't the Celestia he knew throughout the years in Equestria.

"If that is what you believe then I understand," Discord leapt up and used his wings to fly steadily in the air. "Let me tell you, everything you believe is false, but it's a shame I can't completely prove that to you. And if you think you can take me, then come at me with all you have," he challenged.

Celestia eyed him cautiously, took out one of her valuable swords, and prepared to slice the lord of chaos. Though, her timing for an attack preparation couldn't have been worse as she was left wide open for a barraging scoops of giant ice cream that soon landed on top of her just like the previous dessert. But instead of taking her sweet time, Celestia ragingly imploded the dessert and flew to Discord, her wings going off at full speed.

"Woops," Discord dodged the assaulting princess and countered the attack by slowing time and lassoing a long thick ribbon on her back hoof to swing her around in circles. He continued to use the chaotic strength of his lion hand to whirl Celestia around until he had his fun. After letting lose, Celestia tumbled onto the floor, slamming into a pillar. "Hoho! Now that was hilarious! Hahahaha!"

Celestia only got up in an instant and shot a glare at him as a way to show her thoughts over his act. Then once again, out of no surprise, she pulled out her secondary blade and flew forth a second time.

"Oh poo. You obviously have no idea what 'fun' is, do you?" he summoned a great number of pies, each one having a different flavor under their crust. Of course, Discord wasn't that basic, and he attached pairs of wings to his creations, giving the pies the ability to home in like a missile.

After Celestia saw the chaos in her way, her speed decelerated. Having no time to get away, Celestia unwillingly took a raspberry pie to the face, and along with taking several other pies to the rest of her body. She was slammed down on the floor for a third time after the tenth pie homed in.

"Now that's what you call 'fighting in style'. You should try it Celestia. It's really fun!"

"Quiet..." she demanded dangerously.

"Oh? Is that salt I hear? Are you upset that I'm indirectly calling your fighting style 'plain'? Because to be honest, it really is."

"SILENCE YOU CHEAP PUTRID LUNATIC!" she gritted her teeth as her mane lost its gentle fluff and turned to nothing but flame.

The draconequus idly floated in the air, completely unnerved. "Well, that is rage I don't see every day. Did your parents ever teach you how to control your temper? Actually, no, why am I asking you that? You're a thousand years old for chaos's sake. How can I be so dumb to think that you, Celestia, have never been taught how to be rational in a sense? So, for you to act this deranged over my words of honesty, it is truly a bit...humiliating, don't you think?"

"EURAGHHHHHH!!!" Celestia screamed from the top of her lungs, unleashing a magical attack that blasted through Discord's torso. The attack continued forward devastating a huge chunk of the celling, but fortunately it missed the ponies who were still waiting things out in peace on the celling's surface.

"Now that just isn't a way to act, for a princess to say the least. I know I may sound like a foal asking this, but I want to know. What's gotten into you all of a sudden? And I'm being literal. Something or someone is secretly on your mind, and it's trying to control you," Discord claimed, putting his body back together and regenerating every part of it that was decimated.

"Why do you care?! I'm here to take back my kingdom! And then I'm going to destroy every creature or even pony that was responsible for this mess! My anger is none of your- *GASP!*"

"Your power. Your energy. Your kingdom. Your HATRED. Give it to me!"

There was no need for the demon to repeat what he wanted. It happened instantly after he finished speaking. Celestia's mane gradually returned to normal, and the flames extinguished. Her eyes began transitioning into a gray color along with her mane losing its sparkle and ability to flow passively on its own. Discord looked at Celestia in concern, not knowing what exactly was causing the decaying princess to lose so much energy or magic.

"Um, Celestia. Is everything fine with you? You look a little..." Discord drew multiple circles with his claw, failing to come up with the right words for a description. "How do I say it?"

"Don't think about it too much spirit of disharmony," the demon said from behind Celestia, this time aloud so that everypony could hear. Taking notice that the sun princess was fully drained of her negative energy, Nightmare pushed the alicorn out the way with force and smiled at the legendary draconequus standing in his way. "I recommend concentrating more on your pointless existence before I DESTROY it entirely."

"What the?! Okay time out," the draconequus clapped his hands and reverted gravity to everypony standing on the celling, causing them to fall miserably on the floor. "Now how did you escape? I thought only alicorn magic could break free of my chains of chaos. Unless..."

"Hahahaha! Foolish creature! You are far too unaware of many things. You are powerful, but you lack the knowledge and understanding on how this world really works." Nightmare shifted his hand into a sharp thick blade.

"Oh really? Then how about I show you what I know about magic. Then we will see who really knows more," Discord raised his lion paw and squeezed a thumb and finger in challenge.

"This will not be a competition. I have absorbed her power."

"And what good will that do for you? You stand before the Lord of Chaos and the spirit of disharmony. What makes you think you'll stand a chance with Celestia's power?"

"Isn't it obvious? You clearly have fatal weaknesses regardless of your power. If you're chaotic chains can only be broken by an alicorn, then surely one of the only ways to subdue you is with alicorn power. And just by looking at you at first glance, I can tell you have a carefree attitude I can take advantage of."

Before Discord could say or do anything to respond with a dirty comeback, Nightmare turned out to be one step ahead. A tentacle of Nightmare struck out of the marble floor, and quickly took a hold onto Discord's paw. In that moment, Nightmare saw an opening. With the time he gave himself to spare, Nightmare charged forward and delivered a nasty blow onto Discord's right arm.

Discord screamed in a way he never did in his life. The pain. It was agonizing. The draconequus couldn't diagnose exactly what damaged him, but he could tell it was nasty. He then felt a strange numbness in his body as he fell helplessly on the floor.

"Discord!" the CMCs called out, realizing he was randomly on the verge of defeat.

"It doesn't matter how many ponies, mythical creatures, rainbows, or even gods that Mr. Samuel places in my way. It's pathetic on how he depends on these witless fantasy creatures like you for an example to stop my plans. I WILL destroy him. And I WILL destroy this world."

Luckily Princess Luna was watching the whole time, and she immediately came busting through the front doors to help Discord.

"NIGHTMARE! STOP THIS MADNESS THIS INSTANT!" she yelled, noticing Nightmare raising his blade hand above Discord's head for a finishing blow. The demon paused and faced the princess behind him. He was wearing an ugly smile after what he did.

"If you insist, princess," Nightmare intentionally melted into a puddle of dark goop and lazily made his way to the throne, with his sludge form leaving a slimy trail. He then reverted back to his real form and sat on the throne like a king. "My poison of darkness will gradually end him anyway."

"Nightmare, we had a deal! I specifically told you not to harm anypony during this time! And you said you would free my sister from your curse, not drain her of her magic!" Luna spoke up to present the fact that Nightmare had not held his end of the bargain.

"Well..." Nightmare extended his arm by a long length and grabbed an unconscious Celestia by the neck. Luna's eyes widened as a reaction. "The part where I agreed to not hurt anypony in the process..." he slowly positioned the very sharpest part of his hand blade to Celestia's neck. "And considering of how we didn't exactly shake hooves or hands on that deal, I'd have to say..."

Barley. Only barley did Celestia get to open her eyes and see her younger sister. Luna was able to see the remorse in Celestia's face. And only a few tears could make it down her face. Nightmare had actually freed her from the curse. Though, at what unexpected price?

"L-Luna..." Celestia said dreadfully, finding it difficult to even focus on her surroundings due to the amount of energy drained out of her.

"I lied..."

*SLASH*

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Luna watched in despair as her older sister tumbled down the stairs and landed flat on the carpet. Her entire body was motionless.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! CELESTIA!!!!!" Luna cried out, approaching her older sister. While Nightmare didn't go for an attack after realizing Luna was completely vulnerable upon her sorrows, he was still watching the two. Watching them very closely. Too closely. With his smile widening at the sight, it was obvious he was taking great pleasure over his cruel actions.

Checking for a pulse or any sign of life, Luna couldn't find any. Celestia's eyes were closed shut and the warmth of her body started to decrease.

"No, no, no, no. Please no! This has to be a nightmare!"

"Hehe. Hahaha! AHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, you've just spoken my name. I like that you know. It is a sign of how terrible you feel. Mmmmm. And I can taste the bitterness inside of you. It's so delicious!" Nightmare caught an extreme look of anger from the young princess. "And here comes the madness. It happens to every vessel I mess with. I believe the greatest nightmare you've ever had was your sister passing away before she was given the chance to give a perfect goodbye. Ha! You can say that I just made your little nightmare a reality."

"You...YOU!" Luna mindlessly charged forth, wanting to buck the demon with her bare hooves. When she came close, she instantly got slapped away by a hardened demon hand and landed about halfway across the throne room. But she wasn't going to give up. SOMETHING needed to be done. SOMEONE needed to take the blame. "YOU FIEND! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU ARE SLAINED NO MATTER THE COST!"

"No matter the cost? Are you so sure of that?" Nightmare spotted her horn glowing, meaning she was about to resort to magical attacks instead. "You do know that I have just absorbed the power of your older sister. The strongest pony of all ponies in this world. What makes you think you'll stand a chance against me by yourself?"

"STOP SPEAKING TO ME! I WILL-"

"No. Don't," Discord cut her off, holding his lion paw miserably across her neck. "We should retreat, Disorderlot has fallen."

"WHAT? RETREAT?! WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME SUCH A THING?! THAT IS NOT AN OPTIO-"

*BOOM*

Again, Luna's outburst was interrupted by a loud explosion outside of the kingdom. Then suddenly, the ground began to shake, and Nightmare's grin grew wider than ever.

"Well, well, well. Look what finally decided to come to its senses."

"What nonsense do you speak of demon?!" Luna questioned, feeling an uncomfortable vibration on the floor.

"My TRUE power is now strong enough to chip away that nullifying barrier of harmony!"

Rumbles of the earth continued to roar, cracking the marble floors all across the castle. In addition to the quake, a massive swirly storm of darkness formed out of nowhere in the sky above the kingdom. And massive purple bolts of lightning shot out of the clouds and struck the ground.

"Okay, things are only getting worse from here on," Discord complained, coughing out of his mouth as if he were sick. "I'm taking us someplace much safer to think things through before somepony over here does something stupid."

"I BEG YOUR PARDON?!" Luna took notice of the look Discord was giving her after he finished that sentence.

"Yes, run away. Enjoy the uncorrupted parts of this world before I turn it to zero," Nightmare laughed and watched the draconequus weakly snap his claw to teleport three little fillies, a bratty unicorn, an army of ponies, and a broken princess out of harm's way.

*The Changeling Hive*

In actuality, it had taken only several mere minutes for Pharynx and his crew to reach the hive. But, with the bitter heat of the sun draining their energy, and especially the annoying skeleton creature thing that wouldn't simply shut up about his jokes, the whole trip felt like an hour to endure.

The changeling hive wasn't what the skeleton expected when the actual height of the place took him by surprise. He was expecting the hive to be more round in structure, but it was built much more like a castle. It certainly was far from being one of the most pleasant castles in the world as there were several giant holes in the walls. Though, when he spotted multiple other changelings using those holes as entrance/exit tunnels for whatever reason, he came to sort of understand.

The skeleton looked upward to find an army of other changelings flying someplace else. The place on which they were going made him question the changeling escorting him to the queen. "hey, you with the purple eyes. i've got a question for ya."

"Save it," Pharynx responded rudely.

"oh, c'mon buddy. it's just one little question. i promise there aren't any hidden puns in answering," the skeleton smiled gleefully after the changeling came to a stop.

They were near the entrance of the hive and the changeling guards who were given the duty to guard the entrance with their life had stepped aside for them enter right away.

Pharynx sighed with a good amount of frustration lingering in his breath, and he asked what the skeleton wanted aggressively. "What?"

"where in the world are those bugs flying off to?"

"None of your business," Pharynx answered without even giving a glance at anything except where they were heading. "Let's get a move on already, unless you want us to break your spine and carry you to our queen ourselves."

The skeleton was shoved forward from one of the changelings after Pharynx gave the order to advance. He gave a slightly uncomfortable look to the changeling that shoved him, but he received a shameless hiss in return. After hearing that, the skeleton shrugged and followed the leader.

"geez, aren't we a friendly bunch of bugs. too bad those bugs i mentioned are 'winging it' out there compared to all of you ground bugs."

Pharynx and the other changelings ignored every word as they trotted through the hive, and had to resist the urge to buck the skeleton creature in the face for being irritating as tartarus with his puns. Fortunately, for the benefit of Pharynx's and every other changelings' sanity, they knew every part of the hive from the back of their hooves.

Even if a tunnel that primarily led to the queen's chamber closed, there would always be another hole that would form an alternate route. Even if those routes took longer, the changelings knew their way no matter how many times the hive changes its former structure.

But for the skeleton, he wanted to ask whether his escorts knew where they were going. All he could find throughout his little tour around the hive was rock, green resin, a few stuffed green cocoons, and more rock. There weren't any kinds of signs or any hints that the skeleton could see to possibly use as navigation.

"Alright, we're here," Pharynx claimed, right when the skeleton was about to run his mouth once more.

"whew, finally. it sure took long enough. or maybe it's just me. i'm not actually the type of skeleton that loves walking. truly, i prefer talking and taking short cuts to make things easier when it comes to traveling from place to place."

"Yea, we've already figured that part out about you," he said, turning to the skeleton. "Now can you do us changelings a favor and shut up for the next few hours? Your terrible jokes have seriously caused a constant buzz in our ears."

The skeleton chuckled, shaking his head. "sorry, pal. no can do. i'm not the type of skeleton who makes promises to strangers i've just met. at least...not ever since that old lady......eh, forget it."

Pharynx raised a brow. "You are aware that you're in a place with hundreds of us, right? I don't think it would be smart to act all cool and mighty around here if I were you. I bet even I all by myself can pin you down on the floor and stuff you into a cocoon without a sweat."

"woah. no need to add any threats to your attitude buddy."

"Well, 'buddy,' do yourself a favor and wipe that smile off your face. The queen will not tolerate or accept those who act like pathetic clowns in the hive." Pharynx buzzed his wings as a command for his fellow mates to advance.

The skeleton followed along, walking through one last large tunnel to enter the queen's chamber. "i don't think my smile is going to go anywhere, but hey, look on the bright side. at least we're 'walking' this argument off. aren't we?"

Again, Pharynx and the others didn't respond, but he could tell by the look on their faces that they weren't deaf. Pharynx was clearly about to lose it, while the majority were simply just giving an eye roll to the whole sentence. And while it felt like the skeleton's jokes weren't welcome in any place of the hive, the skeleton could've sworn he spotted a single changeling giggling after the joke once they reached the center of the queen's chamber.

"My Queen!" Pharynx called out. "We have brought an unknown stranger during our return. He claims to have been wondering the badlands for hours. And he requests a place to stay in our hive."

A pair of green slitted eyes appeared in the dark shaded part of the celling. The skeleton then heard a creepy hiss and couldn't resist but to look up to find a large bug slowly but surely climbing their way down using their sticky smooth but steel like hooves as suction cups to stick onto the hive walls.

The skeleton quickly came to the conclusion that it was the queen. She had her eyes stuck onto him like food as she approached like a predator about to feast on their prey. And after she licked her fangs and got close, her face changed to a more relaxed and controlled expression.

"You demand a place to stay in my hive? Hmph. Why should I give you a place to stay? Here, I'm the one who gives out demands, not you, foul meatless creature."

The skeleton became astonished by the queen's attitude. He certainly wasn't expecting this. Though, what exactly can a poor skeleton like him do in this case? "uh. i dunno. maybe this place needs me to liven things up. y'know, in exchange for my basic essential needs to live and all that stuff."

Chrysalis frowned. Seeing no way of toying with the creature for her own fun, she didn't have a better choice but to only get straight to the point with the skeleton. "And what exactly do you mean by 'liven things up.' What kind of work did you do to productively make a living in the past?"

"hm. not sure. maybe telling some entertaining jokes and creating some tricky puzzles could put a few smiles around here. after all, everyone around this place looks so burnt out."

Chrysalis lowered her head and menacingly stared down at the skeleton. "And what exactly makes you think that entertainment around my hive will do us any good? It really sounds like you're just trying to convince me to lend you our food and supplies free of charge!"

"uh...not...exactly..."

"Don't bother lying. That smile of yours will not fool me. You obviously have guilt written all over your face," Chrysalis believed, licking her fangs after stating what she thought. "But...if you need to stay here so bad, then how about this. Instead of us bringing you food, YOU will give us a delightful meal of unique love each and every day."

A drip of sweat formed on the side of his skull after understanding what she meant. The conversation was going down a wrong path. "sorry, bug lady. i'm really not in it to be anyone's daily meal. how's 'bout we start this whole thing over. i'm sans. sans the-"

A loud chirp from Chrysalis interrupted Sans from finishing his calm statement. His eyes instantly darted to a few changelings giving a solute to their queen. He also heard multiple sounds of hissing and crawling coming from the tunnels that had just formed into the walls of the chamber. And the nasty toothy grin the queen was expressing on Sans was just icing on the cake to confirm why she chirped in the first place.

An extreme wave of concern struck the very back of Sans's bone. He believed the place had just turned hostile. And the changeling guards, who were given the order to tackle him down, found themselves tackling nothing but thin air. The guards blinked in surprise, unable to find the skeleton's position.

"Umm, what?" one of the changeling guards began, getting back up on their hooves and searching the whole chamber with their well-trained eyes. "Where did he go?!"

A load of other changelings maneuvered into the chamber from the entrance tunnels due to the queen's previous command.

But alas, even with backup, the skeleton creature was nowhere in sight. It was as if in just a blink of an eye, the skeleton escaped so fast that no changeling got a chance to see him take off. But that was impossible. He couldn't have just...disappeared out of their sight. There was no way.

"I swear my queen! We were right behind his back!" the other guard spoke up. "We didn't see him make a move at all!"

"I know. I was right in front of the whole thing. Do you really think reporting it was necessary?" she snarled, searching for her supposed additional food source to add to the hive's food storage.

Then, there was a change in the atmosphere.

"welp, looks like we've just reached a disagreement. honestly, i don't underst-" Sans sighed, watching the same changeling guards come at him with their might.

To avoid the inconvenience, Sans took one of his nice 'shortcuts' again. He ended up on the other side of the chamber.

"don't you bugs know it's kinda rude to cut someone off while their trying to spread some reason around the place? oh wait, i know what it is. you've all been born and raised by a mother who could seriously use some manners herself, huh?" he remarked, getting quite the amount of hissing in return.

"Nopony dares insult the hive!" an approaching changeling shouted, presenting his sharp fangs to Sans. "Surrender now, or we changelings will give you a beating you'll never forget, bonehead!"

Sans showed no sign of a reaction in front of the dozens of changelings that had cornered him. He only responded with a faint chuckle and an added joke. "bonehead, eh? that sure is a name. though i prefer to keep my name as sans."

A semi large bone came diagonally out of the ground and smacked the heck out of an assaulting changeling that had threatened the comedian.

"hehe. you could say that you just took a 'bone' to the 'head' for attacking me."

Sans's attackers immediately lost their courage to go for a direct capture after acknowledging that the skeleton could actually fight back.

"well, would you look at that. the feeling you have on me sure is 'changeling' for the better, isn't it? hehe," he carelessly opened his arms out of his pockets and created a bone wall which tripled his height. "but you know, jokes aside, i think we need to understand each other."

Chrysalis stood in her place, observantly watching the skeleton plow away any of her children that came close with thick magical bone attacks. Some of the bones struck out of the wall or ground as a surprise attack, while some miniaturized bones appeared out of thin air to somewhat smack her children all around.

Thankfully, none of the attacks Sans used were deadly. The changelings attempting to take him saw that as a good thing. But, for Chrysalis, something felt WAY off.

Out of curiosity, the changeling queen magically scanned the skeleton's power using her horn to sense his magic out, and she froze in shock.

'W-what? His magic is... No way. Is this a joke?' she thought.

Based on what her horn picked up, the skeleton's magic and abilities were on a high level out of expectations. It turned out to be read so high that the skeleton's power could nearly match even her own power as a queen. And as her pointless order to capture the skeleton continued to be a recurring thing to no avail, it soon became understandable in Chrysalis's head for why the skeleton was doing this.

Sans was holding back ever since the start of the battle. And he didn't seem to want to cause any trouble for the hive.

"sweet asgore, when do you bugs plan on giving up?" Sans asked his attackers, pushing all of them back with another maneuvered bone wall. He then pulled out a bottle of ketchup from one of his front pockets and drank out of the bottle in enjoyment. "ahhh. now that's the stuff. if you all didn't know, ketchup is one of the best energy substances i can drink up to keep this fight going on for hours and hours. so, if you don't want to keep fighting for that long, then now would be a good time for you bugs to lay off on the whole capturing me thing."

"We changelings NEVER give up! I'll end this now and satisfy my queen," Pharynx secretly whispered to himself and attempted to crawl from the ceiling and down from the corner wall to catch Sans behind. The unique changeling managed to creepily make it close, but Sans reacted quick and threw his entire bottle of ketchup at Pharynx.

The ridiculous amount of ketchup that splattered all over the poor changeling had stunned him momentarily. Then, Sans took the chance he had and summoned a bunch of long blue bones out of the ground to surround Pharynx.

"blue means don't move bug. just think of stop signs except their blue instead of red. as long as you don't move, you'll be unharmed."

Pharynx hastily shook away the ketchup and touched a blue bone with one of his hooves to make sure it wasn't a lie. He then regretted his choice after the blue bone he touched inflicted a nasty shock that damaged some blood cells on his insides.

"heh. see. what did i tell ya? you shoul-"

"Enough..."

A loud but calm chirp came from the queen who interrupted the battle. The rest of the changelings halted their every movement and bowed before their queen.

Sans recognized the chirp and he put his favorable attention to the queen while still keeping an eye for any sneaky changelings like Pharynx.

"It's clear to me now that this isn't going anywhere. Tell me...Sans. WHY are you here? I know you didn't just venture around our turf for only a place to stay."

"what? why are we being respectful all of a sudden? not long ago you said i was going to be bug food for the rest of my days."

"I did. But I've changed my mind," Chrysalis responded in a soothe tone.

"huh?" he tilted his skull for a head. "i don't understand. you really want to know WHY i'm here? why is that? i'm a total stranger to you and your hive."

"Because something about you seems..." Chrysalis hesitated greatly to say the word. "...Special."

"really?" Sans closed his eyes in thought as the changelings around him freely talked amongst themselves. "welp, if you want to know so badly then..."

A great sigh escaped from Sans's smile as he shoved his hands right back into his pockets. He glued his eyes on Chrysalis and stared at her blank expression for a short moment.

"look, i'm not going to go into full detail, but long story short, i've been through a lot of hell before i even found myself here. and as i walked through an endless hell in hopes of finding a way out, a certain person caught my interest. i was hoping...well, maybe you would know him by chance."

"And who would that person be?" Chrysalis asked automatically.

"i don't know. but throughout my journey in Equestria, i've been told that he worked for you changelings to spoil a wedding not too long ago. sound familiar?"

The hive became free of all sound.

"if so. do you know where he is?"