My Little Pony: Friendship is a Miracle

Chapter 7: Sleepless Night

Graham found himself alone in a black void, the surrounding darkness seemingly pressing down on him. He turned back and forth searching for something, anything. Off in the distance, he managed to make out four lines that seemed to form some kind of corridor that stretched on forever. Suddenly, he found himself inside the corridor, moving through it despite the feeling of fear festering in the pit of his stomach. A frigid wind swept towards him, making him shiver as he continued on.

Eventually, Graham saw a light at the end of the hallway. He ran towards it, hoping to escape the creepy passageway he had been in. As he neared it, a warmth swept over him, quickly intensifying until Graham was no longer shivering, but sweating. Graham suddenly smacked into a wall, rebounding off it into another wall behind him. He looked all around him to see that he was boxed in, the ambient heat rapidly increasing. His clothes caught on fire, and his mouth opened in a wordless yell as he tried to extinguish the flames. The walls around him began burning up, even faster than her was, crisping away to reveal a town filled with a sea of flames.

“This is…Ponyville…” Graham whispered to himself, “What happened here?”

He suddenly found himself dropped in the charred remains of a building, which he recognized as Sugarcube Corner. Graham looked around, observing the wreckage. He felt a chill run down his spine before he turned towards to door…

...to see a straight-maned Pinkie Pie scowling at him, half her face missing, exposing the skull and an empty eye socket underneath. What was left of her mane was singed at the ends, and chunks of flesh were missing from her body, fresh blood matting her coat. The human was frightened and jumped back, horrified.

“Pinkie!? What happened to you?” he asked nervously. The mare only growled at him before lunging, Graham barely dodging to the side. He quickly ran out the door and away from an angered screech, wondering how all this had happened.

In his haste, Graham failed to notice Twilight standing in front of him, waiting before pouncing on him. He hit the ground and came face-to-face with what could only be described as a zombified Twilight. Her mouth was filled with sharp teeth, her eyes were glassed over, and her horn was snapped to half its length. The two legs that pushed him down to the ground were missing patches of skin here and there, and the hooves were cracked and splintered.

Zombie Twilight snarled at Graham, who quickly pushed her off and resumed running. This time he kept his attention focused in front of him, even more scared than he had been before. The fright he felt was soon amplified by a deep chuckling that filled the air as the ruins of Ponyville greyed and disappeared. Graham found himself suspended in midair, floating in the same abyss he had begun in, except now two red orbs were suspended in front of him.

The orbs narrowed, becoming slits as the chuckling continued. They brightened to reveal a human-like head and face made of red flesh. The mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth, and two horns extended backwards from the top of the head. A voice rumbled through the void, sending vibrations through Graham as it spoke.

“The lives of you mortals are so fragile...” the voice said, before chuckling once more. “Struck with the smallest ember, and they are inflamed and consumed in an instant. Hellfire and brimstone, indeed.”

The man looked up at this frightening creature with both fear and awe. He had never seen this monster in any dream of his, or any of his books he had back home...except one...

“W-would you, b-by any chan-nce...be a D-Daemon?” He managed to ask with a shaky voice. The being grinned, staring at him with amusement as the human stood in his claw.

“So rudely inquisitive...but yes. I am what you would call a ‘Daemon’. And you, little man, are nothing but a bug I have allowed to rest in my palm.” The Daemon’s fingers twitched around Graham, startling him as they appeared to move to crush him, moving back at the last second. “Do not give me reason to deny you that honor. Remember your place, and do not ask questions you do not have the right to.”

Graham scowled at the Daemon. Even if he was going crushed, this was merely a dream. And in dreams you can't get hurt...can you?

He put on a angry face, and cleared his throat to sum up some confidence. “Alright, whoever the hell you are, who are you, what do you want from me, and why are you fucking with me in here! And these images of Ponyville...”

The being’s eye twitched. It’s lip came up in a snarl and it’s hand closed around Graham slightly. “Are you deaf as well as overconfident? It would seem so! You have no right to ask of my name, for you are unable to even dream of matching me! I am so far above your own existence, you cannot even fathom the limits of my power! DO NOT! PRESUME! TO CHALLENGE ME!”

Graham’s bravado faltered, and he took a step backwards, only to realize there was nothing behind him but the Daemon’s fingers. The Daemon frowned.

“Now that you understand exactly how precarious your position is, I will indulge ONE of your blathering questions. Choose one, and do not dare to ask my name again, or I shall show you what Hell is truly like.”

Graham looked down in deep thought for a second. After figuring out his choice, he looked back at the towering menace before him. “Alright, ugly. I made my decision. I wanna know what that image of Ponyville was. Why were the ponies I saw all zombie-lookin’? What does this mean?”

“Confidence born of ignorance...Fine. I shall tell you what your dream ‘meant’.” The Daemon let go of Graham, who began hovering in mid-void again. “What you saw was but a glimmer of the future. You are but a single human, alone, weak, powerless, and carrying a broken soul. And one broken human cannot stop the darkness that is to come. Not two, nor four, nor four thousand.”

The Daemon grinned again. “You small-minded mortal. Can you not see it? Equestria will burn, and you along with it. And NOTHING you can do will stop it.”

The man let the information sink in. He was horrified beyond all belief. What could possibly come that would make Equestria end up in flames like Ponyville? Would other Kingdoms fall along with it?

“Und ... sie sind wahnsinn!” He screamed at the top of his lungs at the monster before him. He wanted to smash it’s face in so much. To even come near the ponies with that mindset, how dare he!

“Oh, far from insane, my little sack of flesh. If I am to tell you one thing, it’s that I never lie.”

A line next to the Daemon lit up with crackling flames, which were wrapped around a long, silver blade grasped in a clawed hand of red flesh, armored with a black gauntlet. The Daemon chuckled.

“Sweet dreams.”

The blade swung towards Graham, and as he screamed, he felt the sword meet his skin as it tore him in two....

(V);,,;(V)

It took a few minutes, but Graham soon found himself sitting up with Twilight staring at him with a shocked and scared face.

“What happened? I thought you were screaming in pain!” She said, as she hugged him. The big fellow sighed a bit as he returned the hug.

“I...I saw this strange vision of a burning Ponyville, and you guys as some form of...zombies...” He shivered at the thought, the last thing he really saw was Twilight. Her eyes red like that Daemon he had seen.

“That wasn't the only thing I saw...” He added as she looked down at him. “I saw this big demon guy...” He started explaining what detail he could make out. The horns, the teeth, red skin, everything he saw, especially the eyes of glowing red.

“I should've never tried to ignore you...This is my fault...” Twilight looked down while she sat in her guilt. Graham brought her eyes to stare at him with a pull at her chin.

“It wasn't you, really it wasn't. I just had a bad dream. That’s all! You didn't do anything to cause it, nopony did.” He reassured as she smiled innocently.

Suddenly, a knock was heard at the door. They both looked at each other as a stallion, a Royal Guard most likely, announced his purpose for interrupting.

“The Princesses would like to see everypony in the throne room immediately.”

As soon as the order was known, the guard left them to get out of bed. Everypony was given the same message, as they all met each other in the halls. Nopony said a word to anypony as they all quietly made their way towards the Throne. Princess Celestia looking as majestic as ever while her younger sister sat in a chair quite like her own, only fitting to a design reminiscent of the beautiful nights she brought upon Equestria at the end of every day.

“It’s not even two in the morning yet!” Aramis irritatedly muttered out loud. Celestia didn't even budge from his outburst.

“I called this meeting early, because my guard told me of a nightmare one of you had. One about Ponyville.” The other ponies only looked towards Graham. He felt completely uncomfortable, but admitted it.

“It wasn't just that, but a vision of Ponyville under fire or something, and I saw all of you as some flesh eating zombies!” He pointed at each of them. Pinkie Pie only giggled.

“That’s silly, everypony knows that we’re not zombies! I eat candy, not brains!” The pink earth pony snickered in laughter at the absurdity of his statement.

Graham rolled his eyes as he turned towards the Princesses once more. “That wasn't the end part. After I saw that, I saw this big Daemon, and holy mother of buck he was scary! And he laughed really loud!” He said as he shivered. “It started babbling some “Equestria’s gonna burn” and all that...”

Luna’s eyes widened as she turned toward her older sibling. “Sister, do you think that he could return?” Celestia turned towards her younger sister, a look of worry pulling at the edges of her composure. “I’m afraid so...Just like Discord, he might have found a break in the magic that held him prisoner—” She was cut off by Graham’s sudden retort.

“Who are you talking about, and why are you all so worked up over some stupid dream?” He snorted as the two alicorns whispered to one another. Luna rose onto her hooves and stared directly at the human.

“Long ago, in the vastness of time and space, there was a being, one among many, that was know as Uriah.” She said in a serious tone. The others sat down to listen, while Graham and Aramis stood. Graham whispered into his friend’s ear.

“I thought this whole deal was made by Hasbro?” Aramis said into Graham’s ear.

“Remember, this place is real? Hasbro only gave us a good show, nopony would ever really think this place really existed...” He answered. His friend only looked back at Luna as she continued.

“Uriah created a vast world, filling it with mountains, deserts, plains, and seas. He filled it with all sorts of creatures, but there was one race he favored above all others: the alicorns. You see, alicorns are the perfect unison of all three pony races, and so Uriah saw us as the purest of his creations. He placed us in charge of his world, guiding us in its care-taking.”

“Then he left.”

“Nopony can ever say why, most thought it was a test, but Uriah left his world abruptly, and was never seen again. In his absence, another god, this one by the name of Sin, came to our world, seeking to take it for himself. He-”

“He created an envoy, a being of his own essence, to take over our world for him.” Celestia interrupted. “The envoy clashed briefly with us, but was quickly defeated. Instead of killing it, we offered it a place alongside us. You know it as Discord.”

Luna looked at her sister. “Are you sure you wish to-”

“I’m fine.” Celestia said sternly, before continuing. “Discord and I formed a...relationship, which angered Sin. He chose to come and fight us personally, and our world fell into ruin. We prayed for the return of Uriah, but our prayers were not answered. Discord and the other alicorns went to fight Sin, while us younger foals and fillies hid and hoped we would win. We could only put Sin to a standstill, though, and as the fight raged on, Sin gradually pushed us back. I ran on what had been called a ‘foal’s errand’, looking for anything that might help us defeat Sin. When I found the Elements of Harmony, the physical manifestation of Uriah’s power, I brought them home and gave them to the other alicorns, who used them to banish Sin to the beyond.”

Celestia stepped back, and Luna began to speak again. “Sin had one last curse for us, however. His last act as a free god was to create a host of demons that continued to torment our land even after Sin was long gone. With many of our kind dead, we only had a short respite before the older alicorns set out to purge the land of all Sin’s creations. We called this event the ‘Daemoncaust’, and many of our kind gave their lives to see it succeed. Those that remained eventually died off, for a myriad of reasons. War, incurable disease, magical mishaps, even old age. These things took their toll until we were but a shadow of our race’s former glory. Celestia and I were left as the only remaining alicorns in this country, now called Equestria, and it fell to us to rule the land.”

“But wait, what about Cadence?” Graham spoke. Luna answered him.

“There are other alicorns out there that share our Royal heritage, as they were lucky to have survived the horrors of the past. Cadence was one of those alicorns to not be hindered by this. She now rules alongside Twilight’s Brother, Shining Armor. Unfortunately, she does not share our gift of agelessness, that the Elements gave us.”

“Oh, that explains it.” He nodded and crossed his arms. “Well, if you could, please go on?”

Celestia once again took over for her sister. “While it was our duty to rule, we had no idea about how to do so. Discord taught us, having ruled with the alicorns before Sin’s massacre. We were able to rule effectively and kindly, and for a time, everything was peaceful. However, as you know, this didn’t last.” The white alicorn closed her eyes, and a tear could be seen falling down her face.

“While Discord had rejected Sin, his chaotic nature still existed deep inside him. Eventually, it got the better of him, and he went on his rampage of chaos that so few ponies remember today. Luna and I were not strong enough to stop him, so we set out in secret to find the Elements of Harmony once more. It took us some time, but we were finally able to locate them and use their power to seal Discord away, for what we hoped would have been forever.”

“This time, however, we didn’t simply use the Elements. We bonded ourselves to them, on the chance their power would be needed in the future. As you know, I and Luna eventually lost our bond with the Elements when I used them against Nightmare Moon, and I considered the Elements lost. But lo and behold, one thousand years later, the Elements have bonded themselves to new ponies, the ‘Mane six’, as they are sometimes called.”

Luna started speaking again. “After we imprisoned Discord, Celestia took over his duties, and I was left in a...less than appreciated position. As you know, I became very jealous, maturing rapidly to match my sister’s power. I listened to whispers in my head, whispers that turned me into Nightmare Moon. And the rest is, as they say, history.”

“Well...that was interesting, to say the least.” Aramis said silently. Graham looked at him.

“I’m surprised. Thought you didn't think ponies were interesting!” Graham chuckled as he looked back at her.

“So...what are we here for?” Graham asked out of nowhere. The two princesses looked at them.

“Originally, you were here to see if humans were really ready to be able to interact with pony kind once more...”

“Once more?” Aramis tilted his head.  Celestia looked him.

“I was told stories when I was but a young filly.  Before Sin came about, there was a legend of a centaur that wanted to enslave pony-kind. From what the legend told, he rode the chariot of midnight, forcing the ponies he captured to work its corrupted reigns. His weapon, was an artifact known to us as “The Rainbow of Darkness”.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I know this story. A pony that went by the name of ‘Firefly’ actually brought about the very first human. I’m guessing your race  may have helped a little, due to curiosity?”

The Celestial being nodded.

“Was the human a girl name ‘Megan’ By any chance?” Graham asked. Celestia was quite surprised.

“Why...yes! The story indicated that her name was Megan! How did you know?”

“Well, let’s say I know alot. ”

Celestia understood. “This girl saved this kingdom with the power of a special magical artifact, known as “The Rainbow of Light” to counter the centaur’s own power. When the battle was won, the Centaur was claimed to be imprisoned in his castle of Midnight, and the Artifacts were lost, never to be seen again...”

“And the human?” Aramis asked out loud.

“The human was sent back to her home on earth from what I was told. Simple as that.”

Graham looked at Aramis. “Wouldn’t that be awesome if we found those lost artifacts? I swear, we’d make names for ourselves for sure!”

Aramis groaned. “Yeah, yeah, dream on buddy. They said they were lost.”

Graham then turned around to face the Princesses once more. “So, because of Megan, you wanted to bring humans back, and see if we could live in peace with pony-kind, right? I’m guessing that’s the premise here.”

“Yes, and so far, you are making our choice feel like a good one.  For now, this meeting is adjourned.” Celestia ordered as everypony cleared the room to go back to bed. As they left, Celestia muttered.

“Hopefully, our decision was made without consequences.” Luna nodded upon hearing this as the Spike was the last one out, closing the door behind him.

“So I really have a purpose then to be here? Am I some ambassador for the humans?” Graham asked Twilight as they reached their destination.

“I suppose so. I mean, I don't see any other way of putting it.”  Twilight put it out blandly. They soon reached for the covers as both laid still. neither one feeling tired now that they were abruptly woken up by recent events. Twilight turned her body to look at Graham.

“So...how much of Equestria do you know? You obviously knew a lot about this Megan girl, and you’ve never met her in person I take it?” She suddenly asked him. Graham opened his eyes to stare at her, a thought bubbling up to try and answer this.

“Well, yeah, remember that TV thing? It’s hard to explain...” he quietly spoke. Twilight nodded. “I wish to let you know, that anything else you know, will definitely help me understand your kind more, as I have taken it upon myself to study you from every angle. That means I’ll be studying what makes you tick, how you think, and everything else I can research so that I will put this in a book, so that human information will be added for further use.” Graham understood what she meant and nodded.

“Alright, well we’ll talk some more about this  in the morning then.” He said with a yawn. He closed his eyes as Twilight disappeared from his vision. He drifted to sleep as well as the purple mare. They deserved a good night sleep.

Over in another room, Rainbow Dash and Aramis found themselves without sleep either.

“I can’t fall asleep after that whole talk.” Dash complained while shoving her pillow on top of her face in frustration.

“Same here. That was a tough pill to swallow if you ask me.” Aramis said with a blank expression as he stared at the ceiling mindlessly.

“Got any ideas on how to fall asleep?” the pegasus asked tiredly.

The human contemplated until a smirk came over his features. “I got one...” he suggested quietly, the same devilish smirk clear on his face.

“And that would be?” she asked with a curious tilt of her head.

“This!” he shouted playfully as he jumped on the pegsaus and started tickling her sides.

She laughed heartedly as she tried to get away, but he seemed to hold an iron grip on her and wouldn't  let go. They rolled over one another several times until an idea popped in Rainbow Dash’s mind that made her smirk competitively at him.

With a flap of her wings, Rainbow gave Aramis a faceful of feathers, causing him to flinch and back off. “Okay, that’s enough, I’m pretty tired. I think we should be getting to bed...” She said as she flew towards her side of the bed.  Aramis slowly got up from the floor, and agreed silently.

Both managed get somewhat comfortable once more, hoping to get a good night’s sleep out of the tale they had just heard. Both wished each other a good sleep, and were off to their own dream lands.