Here's part two of our gift! Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Sleepless Night

Graham found himself alone. He was in a room that seemed to be completely engulfed in a never ending darkness. He couldn't see even five feet in front of him. What he could see, however, was a long hallway. He couldn't see too far down it, but he knew it was there. He started to walk, the fear of the unknown slowly consuming his fragile mind. As he walked, he felt the sudden chilly air sweep over him. It sent a shiver down his spine as he continued on with his little walk into the hallway.

He felt for a wall; the feeling of brick at his fingertips. He felt a bit more at ease from the sense of security that came with the contact of a surface; any surface. He suddenly heard his name in the distance, and tried to find the source of it. It came from in front of him, as he soon felt fright creep back into his head, but the urge of finding out who was calling him was stronger.

He walked for what seemed like hours to him until he came across an empty room, at the bottom of some stairs he was on top of. He looked down them to see something staring right back at him. Two bright orbs simply floating in the blackness. He almost didn't want to get any closer, but he forced his legs that seemed frozen in place to keep moving. He neared them as they disappeared. A sense of relief, mixed with fear of where it hid still in mind.

He moved towards the middle, and looked around. He suddenly saw what appeared to be a burning town in front of him...He peered closer...to see Ponyville.

"This can't be right..." He said out loud as he walked towards it, to have it vanish right before his eyes. Was that really Ponyville burning? Why was it burning?

He couldn't help but have that same question run through his mind for what seemed like hours. His mind soon cleared as he saw what appeared to be a dim lighting down the hall, past the room he was in. He quickly held his hands out so that he could find the nearest wall. When he was sure he found one, he headed straight towards it, only to be stopped by a noise.

It was a low growl, and it was definitely close. He looked behind him, and then back to see what appeared to be a rotting pink corpse of a pony that was very familiar to him.

"P-Pinkie...?" Was all he said as she lunged at him like a ravaged animal, he screamed as he knocked her off, taking no glance back as he bolted towards the lighting, hoping for it to be an exit. What else could it be?

He found himself near the light, but soon regretted his decision as he was face to face with red glowing eyes. the light from them gave off what they were attached to; the face of a dragon...

Its color seemed the darkest of black. If it weren't for it's eyes glowing, this creature could practically be invisible. It had upon it fins on as its ears, a golden nose ring, and big pointy horn adjourning its head, with spines just as similar trailing down its head towards his neck, until the rest of his neck down was covered by the shadows. It over-towered him as it only bellowed a laugh.

"Equestria shall be purged..."

As it finished its sentence, a few more faces he recognized as the mane six crowded his space. He looked at one specific pony with fear.

"Twilight..." He choked out his words as they pounced upon him; the pain of flesh being torn away was unbearable; His screams echoing down the hallowed halls...

He soon felt a shake as he was being torn apart. "Wake up..."

It took a few minute but found himself sitting up with Twilight staring at him with a shocked and scared facial expression.

"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 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 red eyes like that dragon he saw first.

"That wasn't the only thing I saw..." He added as she looked up at him. "I saw this big dragon...or at least its head..." He started explaining what detail he could make out. The nose ring, the teeth, scales, everything he saw, especially the eyes of glowing red.

"I should've never ignored 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 with a guard at the door. They both looked at each other as the guard stated his purpose for interrupting.

"The Princesses would like to see everyone in the throne room immediately."

As soon as the order was known, the pegasus in gold armor 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 daily.

"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 chortled 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. Before I saw them, I saw this big dragon with a nose ring, black scales, and glowing red eyes! And he laughed really loud!" He said as he shivered. "All it said was 'Equestria was gonna be purged' or something like that..."

Luna's eyes widened as she turned toward her older sibling. "Sister, do you think that he could return?" Celestia turned towards her sister, the look of worry shown upon her face. "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, before Equestria was made, even before this planet was made, a god, known to us as Uriah, looked upon the vastness of space, and created this world. Uriah looked to us, like a White Dragon, with eyes a shining blue. He created all sorts of intelligent life, including dragons, Draconequus, and the different forms of pony, even the long since forgotten sea ponies. He gave life to all sorts of creatures, but the most prized creation he enjoyed, were the alicorns..." She said in a serious tone. The others sat down to listen, while Graham and Aramis only stood.

"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.

"The Alicorns were his favorite creation because we are the mixture of all three living races: Earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. We were granted life, as well as rule over the kingdom we all helped to create under his skies."

"So you ended up being lucky, and were given royal positions?" Aramis questioned. Celestia only raised a hoof to signify she wasn't finished.

"When we created the first towns, we created a castle for ourselves, somewhere where the everfree forest now stands...That castle was in tribute to the almighty god...as well as hold our dearest treasure...the Elements of Harmony. The elements were a symbol of our strength, but there was more to them...they held the power to create magic in our world..."

"So the elements were used to give you the powers of magic...Hasbro never mentioned that..." Aramis mentioned towards his friend. Celestia only tilted her head.

"Who is this Hasbro you speak of Aramis?" She asked. Aramis only scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed that he was heard.

"Um, nothing really important." He said, hoping they wouldn't go further into questioning. Luckily, they made no further comment about his pondering and went onward with their story.

"As other races became known, foundations were formed, and the alicorns were known as royalty. we ruled these lands for centuries. One day, just as we finally had gotten settled down, he brought forth wicked curses upon us! He brought terrible storms! Diseases! Even the curse of mortal life upon the creatures of Equestria!" She yelled with some anger in her voice. Celestia hushed her sister as she sat back down.

"Uriah created these things, but we have no idea why. The alicorns questioned his plans, but he only refused to talk. We did the only thing we could do...we turned to the elements."

"So what did you do with them Elements?" Spike piped up. Celestia looked towards the young dragon.

"We learned how to wield them as a weapon against our foe, thanks to a certain draconequus..." Luna muttered.

"You mean Discord? I thought he was around just to cause chaos and such? And isn't he immortal like you?" Aramis pointed out, as the others started whispering to each other, asking the same thing.

"Discord wasn't as chaotic as he is nowadays, his chaos was only small pranks that made even me laugh." Celestia admitted with a smile. "He was our closest friend during these times, and him and I once had a special bond..." Luna suddenly looked towards her older sister with a shocked face.

"I was right all along?" She asked. Celestia only sighed and nodded.

"It was long ago, and him and I were young at the time..."

"Could we get on with the story already? Sorry to be so frank, but we might as well finish it." Aramis said blankly. The two only nodded as they continued.

"Uriah was trying to dismantle what we created, and we found a way to use them. The alicorns waged a war that changed the face of Equestria forever, against our former god. The battle was won in our favor, but our race, was diminished. My sister and I are the last known alicorns to exist, not weighed down by death. We can only watch as the evil Uriah brought is still working, even after all those years ago..."

"That's a nice story, but one question...What does all that have to do with me and my stupid dream?" Graham shouted, his patience wearing thin, Celestia only looked towards him.

"We believe since we are no longer truly connected with the elements, Uriah might return. He might have entered your mind while you were most vulnerable to give you a hint on what may be to come...or rather, what could happen if we don't imprison him once again. If we fail upon ridding Equestria of him, he could very well destroy everything we've helped work for, and end all life as we know it."

"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. Graham leaned towards him and whispered again.

"Remember the older series? Humans were able to interact with the ponies a while back...I think that's what they're talking about..." Graham answered as he turned back.

"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.

"Graham and Aramis have a bigger purpose than they know...and they shall find out in due time." 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..you really do like me, huh?" She suddenly asked him. Graham opened his eyes to stare at her, a blush threatening to creep on his face.

"Well, yes...actually..." he quietly spoke. Twilight only smiled and giggled. "Well, you're a very nice human, so...I just want to get to know you a bit more first..." Graham understood what she meant and nodded.

"Alright. We'll talk some more 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 even get a wink of sleep 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 would'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 strong flap of her wings she managed to shake him off for the moment or so she thought until he came crashing on top of her, sending both of them to the floor. The two were stuck in a pile of limb until they carefully unraveled themselves only to bump into another surprise— each other's lips.

The two held the kiss; whether it was from shock or bliss neither knew, but what they did know was that it was oddly enjoyable.

Rainbow Dash cut the kiss early. "I-I think we should be getting to bed..." She said nervously. She enjoyed it, but at the same time, felt wrong about it in some way she couldn't make out. Aramis felt a bit disappointed, but at the same time felt a bit unsure of himself so he understood why she cut it a bit short.

Both hopped up on the bed again, hoping to get a good night's sleep out of what transpired. Both wished each other a good sleep, and were off to their own dream lands.

Author's notes:

Doomlord: Hello everypony! I just wanted to apologize for the brief delay on the chapter posting. Long story short, someone fell down some stairs, and were re-cooperating. Spoiler alert: it was me. Don't wanna get into it, but it was a nasty fall. Hit my head pretty hard too. But now I'm back, and wish to let you all know, It won't happen again.

Henry: Hey there everypony, a new chapter for all you awesome faithful readers that have patiently been waiting. I also want to apologize for the somewhat long delay especially after Graham's incident. Since this chapter was more of bonding chapter of sorts, it isn't as long, but don't fear as the next chapter will be as long as prior chapters and will have a lot more going on.