After the epic winter of Ever After High and watching a movie, our favorite adventure group was shown to be asleep in the living room, having a non-traditional sleepover together since they suddenly fell asleep there. Pillows and blankets were left for them, presumably from Cherry's parents as they were all sound asleep right now, drifting off into the world of dreams. Patch dreamt about maybe being a superhero dog with Thunderbolt and Krypto the Superdog, Mo dreamt about being with her birth parents as well as Gloriosa and Timber all together, Cherry was even dreaming about being in the cemetery as she was looking forward to Halloween coming next season, and Atticus dreamt about having his powers back like Mary Ruth had told that he would after eating the soup. However, their dreams would not last long that night as something, or rather, someone dark and spooky was hiding deep within their dreams to turn their dreams into nightmares.
"Okay, this should be easy," Atticus said in his dream. He soon grabbed hold of what looked to have his powers and once he did that he felt empowered. "Feels good to have my powers back even if I did have them taken away a while ago." he then said.
As each of them enjoyed their dreams, shadows started to spread in their dreams, making them pitch black.
Cherry soon looked around as her dream looked darker than usual and she soon left her dream to come into the Dream Realm to see what was going on. "What is this...?" she asked herself as she went to explore. "Could it be a new Nightmare King that Luna warned me about?"
"What... What's going on...?" Atticus asked. "Something's wrong..."
"This isn't good..." Mo frowned. "Where's my family?!"
"Thunderbolt? Krypto?!" Patch cried out in the darkness. "Come on, guys; this isn't funny!"
Each of them soon began to hear someone chuckling evilly.
"Who's there?" The adventure group asked from their dreams.
The group was suddenly together in the same dream as they were trapped in the darkness.
"Wait... Where's Cherry?" Patch asked.
"Either she's trying to celebrate Halloween early or she's trying to figure out who's behind this." Mo guessed.
"Whoever is behind this I am not enjoying this." Cherry glared.
"Whoever it is we better make sure we stick together." Atticus said.
"Cherry, what's going on?" Patch soon asked.
"I don't know, Spot, but I want it to stop," Cherry replied. "But for your own safety..."
Then suddenly, they appeared in the Dream Realm hallway, away from the darkness.
"You should stay here until I can figure something out, hopefully before we wake up." Cherry continued before she walked down the hallway.
"As long as we're out of that darkness I'm all for it," Patch said. "It seemed like there was nothing but darkness."
"Maybe it was The Boogeyman?" Mo suggested. "Ya know, that guy who hides under your bed or in your closet, waiting to scare you?"
"You were one of those kids who believed in monsters in the closet, huh?" Atticus guessed.
"Yeah," Mo rolled her eyes. "Didn't help that there were bullies who sometimes told me about them just to mess with my head... Luckily I had Angel there to protect me at least."
"When I was a small puppy, we used to believe in The Boogeydog," Patch replied. "Though, that's actually Annabelle from Heaven's evil cousin, Belladonna."
"When Cherry and I were kids and while we lived in the orphanage I use to have nightmares about The Boogeyman next to that one monster that I faced in the Dragon Ball Z world when I still had my fear of thunderstorms." Atticus said.
"Maybe all of our fears are just coming true," Patch shivered. "We got nervous or scared before we fell asleep and now we're having nightmares."
"I don't know if it's that simple, Patch," Mo frowned. "I'm sure Cherry can figure out what's going on though."
"Yeah. After all she has learned a lot from Luna so I'm sure she'll figure it out." Atticus smiled.
"Pitch Black!" Cherry's voice yelped.
Atticus, Mo, and Patch looked around as they thought they heard Cherry's voice.
"This is just what I feared," Cherry said nervously. "Pitch Black... The Nightmare King... H-He's wreaking havoc... He's giving everybody nightmares!"
"Not good." Mo said.
"Cherry, do you know who that is?" Atticus asked.
"Like I said, he's The Nightmare King," Cherry replied. "Luna told me a little bit about him. He haunts the closets and dark corners of childhood nightmares."
"What do we do now?" Patch asked.
"I think I need to give my grandmother a call." Cherry said.
"Agreed." Mo nodded.
"But maybe when we wake up so then you know who doesn't find out." Patch said.
"Fine by me," Cherry replied. "In the meantime, you guys should stay here."
"I didn't think anyone would be allowed in here except for you and Princess Luna." Atticus commented.
"Well, I think it's fine if it's an emergency," Cherry replied. "I might not show it a lot, but I really do care about you guys."
"Aww... We care a lot about you too, Cherry." Atticus smiled.
"Yeah." Mo nodded.
Eventually, some time passed and the next morning came in the Waking Realm. Atticus, Mo, and Patch soon woke up while Cherry tried to call her grandmother.
"Well, that is officially the worst dream I've ever had other than Cruella de Vil buying my family's farm and then getting my parents, brothers, and sisters killed." Patch shivered once he woke up.
"I don't understand though. How was Pitch Black able to get into all four of our dreams?" Mo asked.
"Well, Cherry did say he's The Nightmare King so he must have the same power to enter into more than one dream." Atticus said.
"Well, that's not a scary thought at all." Patch shivered.
"Oh, Patch," Atticus frowned as he hugged his dog. "Don't worry, we'll get through this."
"Together." Mo added with a small smile.
"Sorry, guys," Patch sighed. "I guess I just feel helpless right now."
"It's alright, Patch." Atticus smiled.
"I hope Cherry can contact her grandmother." Mo said.
"So, it turns out this is about Pitch Black," Cherry said to her grandmother on the phone. "Do you think you can come by?"
"Hmm... I suppose I could for a bit, dear," Mary Ruth replied on the other line. "Are your friends still with you right now?"
"Yeah, in the living room." Cherry nodded.
"All right, I'll be there as soon as I can~" Mary Ruth replied in a grandmotherly musical tone of voice before hanging up.
"Whew! That's good," Cherry sighed. "The sooner we get rid of this guy the better."
"I'll be there as quickly as I can," Mary Ruth replied. "We may need to contact my old friends though. I've been planning for you to meet them for a while now."
"Did Mom ever know them?" Cherry asked.
"But of course," Mary Ruth smiled warmly. "I even asked old Nicky to give your mother a wonderful and unforgettable present on her first Christmas with your grandfather, aunt, and I."
"He sounds like a jolly old soul." Cherry smirked, not aware of how true that statement really was.
"Oh, you have no idea." Mary Ruth smirked back.
"We're gonna get some breakfast," Cherry said. "See ya later, Grandma."
"See you soon, dear." Mary Ruth nodded before hanging up.
Cherry soon hung up the phone and went into the kitchen to catch up with her friends for breakfast.
"What to have? What to have?" Patch pondered.
"What can you eat and not eat?" Mo wondered with Patch.
"How about canned dog food like a regular dog, huh?" Cherry smirked as she went to get some eggs.
"Oh, haha. Very funny." Patch rolled his eyes.
"I'm gonna cook some eggs," Cherry said. "If you want 'em, lemme know." she then told the others.
"I could go for some eggs." Atticus smiled.
"Me too." Mo added.
"Same here." Patch added.
"All right," Cherry said as she took out a frying pan and began to cook up the eggs. "Eggs are a go."
"When's your grandma coming?" Patch asked.
"However long it takes," Cherry shrugged. "She lives in The Netherworld."
"Good to know." Patch said.
"Mm, eggs." Mo smiled.
Cherry soon cooked the eggs while everyone else waited at the table.
"Well, guys, one thing's for sure." Patch said.
"What's that?" Mo asked.
"I don't think we're going to see Jackie and Northwind Frost ever again." Patch smirked hopefully.
"You've got that right." Mo nodded.
"Especially since Jackie seemed much more evil than Northwind." Atticus said.
"I kinda thought Faybelle would trade her 200 years of service with them, but oh, well," Cherry shrugged. "Also hopefully, Faybelle is a little more behaved... If we see the Ever After High group again in the future."
"Would be nice," Mo said. "I like seeing them."
"I still like Monster High a bit better though." Cherry smirked.
"Yeah... 'Cuz of the monsters." Mo said knowingly.
"But it is always great to see the Monster High students and the Ever After High students." Atticus smiled.
"Too bad we can't have the Monster High students meet the Ever After High students." Cherry replied as she swayed the pan around so that the eggs wouldn't stick.
"Why not?" Patch asked.
"Eh... I dunno," Cherry shrugged before she slid the eggs onto a plate, giving that one to Atticus before making more for the others. "I never thought about that before."
"Maybe we can get them to meet." Mo said.
"Yeah." Atticus nodded.
"Yeah... Like that'll ever happen..." Cherry replied dubiously.
Soon, after the eggs were all served, they sat down to eat their breakfast.
"Not bad, Cherry," Patch smiled. "Probably the best eggs I've ever had."
"I didn't even know dogs were allowed to eat eggs." Cherry shrugged.
"Well, remember, I'm no ordinary dog." Patch smiled.
"Stop! The presses!" Cherry replied in simmering deadpan.
The others laughed a little as Cherry glanced around before they all suddenly heard thunder.
"Ah, good," Mary Ruth grinned as she slammed open the door. "You and your friends are still here, Scuzzlebutt~"
"Hi, Grandma." Cherry waved her hand.
"Hi, Mary Ruth." Atticus, Mo, and Patch smiled.
"You about done with breakfast?" Mary Ruth asked.
"Just about, yeah," Cherry nodded. "There's some extra eggs if you want them, Grandma."
"Ah... I'd love to, Scuzzlebutt~" Mary Ruth beamed as she decided to have some eggs before smirking. "Hopefully you make better eggs than your mother."
"Oh, I'm not sure about that." Cherry smirked back.
"So, uh, Mary Ruth, we're gonna see your old friends?" Atticus asked.
"Yes, dear," Mary Ruth nodded. "I must warn you though, they might come as a shock to you and when you meet them, I'll tell you a story."
"Has to be better than Pitch Black," Cherry remarked. "Also, I've seen a lot in my life, so I don't think it'll be that shocking."
"Oh, just trust me," Mary Ruth giggled. "Even if when I first met them, their names were unknown for a thousand years before I met them as a youth and helped make them who they are today."
"We'll take your word for it." Atticus said.
"You shall see in a little bit." Mary Ruth smirked.
Eventually, after breakfast, Mary Ruth took the kids upstairs into the linen closet to visit the Supernatural Realm and soon made it into the Netherworld marketplace and then came into a long hallway with several doors, not too dissimilar to the Dream Realm, but of course, had different things behind the doors than someone's dreams in action during sleep mode. Mary Ruth soon opened one door that said "Guardians of Childhood" behind the door, making the group curious of what that meant before they disappeared in a bright light after the door was opened.
After the door glowed, they made it somewhere pretty cold and shivered before Mary Ruth gave them winter coats with her magic and led them into following behind her to go and see her old friends.
"First in the summer, then it's cold as winter, then it's hot again and now it's cold again," Cherry sighed. "My life used to be so simple before these adventures."
"Yeah, but simple can be a bit boring after a while." Mo said.
"She's got ya there." Atticus nodded.
"Yep." Patch added.
"Whatever..." Cherry just rolled her eyes at them.
They soon walked further along in the snow to go and meet Mary Ruth's friend that she wanted them to meet.
"This makes me think of the North Pole." Patch said once they saw something coming into view.
Mary Ruth chuckled quietly to herself.
"Let's get inside and see who her friends are." Mo said.
"Yes, you should." Mary Ruth smiked.
Cherry and Atticus shared glances before shrugging at each other as they went on their way to meet the old woman's friends.