//------------------------------// // Phantasms // Story: On Lightning's Wings // by Seawolf //------------------------------// Sapphire looked around. The first thing she noted was that she was a pony, which was more than a little surprising. The second thing she noticed was that the land was covered in snow and ice; cold air nipped at her coat, ears, hooves, and nose. A thin layer of fog rested at knee level, in the distance trees rose into the air judging by the smell they were pines, and in the sky, stars twinkled. Curiosity getting the better of her, she started trotting toward the trees. The snow crunched under her hooves and she breathed in the nice crisp air. It felt so good. That’s when her ears perked up at the sound of a roar and she froze. Instincts from who knows how long ago went into overdrive. “Oh Christ a bear,” she breathed. Now, she didn’t know much about bears, except that they could get very big, had one hell of a bite, were powerful runners, and had some very nasty claws. The bear roared again in the distance, but it sounded closer this time. She could tell it was coming from likely behind her. Wanting to get away from the bear, she broke into a canter, trying to get away from the predator stalking her. She was wondering what else could happen besides having a bear stalking her in this dream and then promptly froze at a sound she’d never expected to hear: the sound of rotor blades from a helicopter with contra-rotating propellers. This sound continued for several long moments and caused Sapphire to look around frantically. When she spotted it, she recognized the helicopter design instantly as a Ka-29, the Russian made helo was casting an angry beam of light from its searchlight on something, however the helicopter also seemed distorted as if it was wavering in heat. Sharp yellow flashes appeared from multiple sources and then the sounds reached her and it chilled her for she recognized them. The first was the sound of a Kalashnikov rifle firing on full automatic and the second was the sound of a Five-Seven pistol firing, no, two of them That’s when a voice, distorted slightly by the sound of a radio crackled from seemingly all around. It was male and filled with terror, surprise, and resignation. “Igloo base this is Ghost Hawk! I’ve been engaged by Russian infantry!” “JAKE!” Sapphire yelled, exploding into a gallop toward the hovering helo. One of her fellow airmen, Jake “Ghost Hawk” Byod was in trouble, she had to rescue him! The sound of the grenade exploding surprised her, again it sounded distant,almost like a firecracker going off, but the sound was unmistakable. A new voice, again distorted and crackling like it was being spoken over a radio reached her ears. It wasn’t Jake’s but it made her freeze regardless, it was the voice of Major Halverson. “Jake! Jake, stay with me! Jake!” she cried, each syllable tore at Sapphire’s heart. The gunfire she was hearing suddenly died, because Jake was gone. The bear roared again, this time sounding triumphant as if it had just killed something. More disconcerting, the bear sounded really damn close. Another voice sang through the air in the same strange way that Jake’s and Stephanie's did, but it was different, it was that of James “Switchback” Ramirez. “Igloo Base, this is Lightning Team. We’re engaging the enemy, let’s go and avenge Ghost Hawk!” A moment later, three F-35Bs loaded down with two missiles externally and two internally rocketed overhead, their engines aglow in full afterburner. “Affirmative Switchback, listen up we’re still rearming and refueling Siren’s plane and Sapphire has volunteered to be Siren’s wingman. Lightning Team, weapons free neutralize all hostiles,” Igloo Tower reported. The bear roared again, this time it was alarmingly close. Sapphire spun around and paled, less than two hundred yards away was an absolutely enormous brown bear. The creature was probably three and half meters tall on all fours and would be freaking gigantic when standing. It’s eyes glowed with malevolence, hatred, and most alarmingly, intelligence. The bear roared yet again. The animalistic sound caused Sapphire to bolt in the opposite direction, she got all of maybe fifty feet away before the ground trembled. She looked over her shoulder and what she saw made her pick up the pace as much as was physically possible, her hooves tore deep furrows into the snow, the bear was chasing her! That sight caused a jolt of pure panic to surge through her and caused her to push herself harder just to get away from the predator. Another voice filled the radio or whatever the hell the source for the voices was. “Look out, Chopper!” “Wha? SH-!” Chopper yelled before the connection dissolved into static and a fiery flash appeared, before becoming a downward streak of flame as the Lightning riddled with cannonfire dropped from the sky. Another jet pulling up and away from the dead the F-35 as it dropped, either a MIG-35 or Su-35S. “Chopper!” Sapphire choked out, stumbling slightly, her ability to run getting even more diminished. The bear behind roared gleefully and Sapphire looked over her shoulder and saw that the bear was gaining. More chaos erupted in the skies. “Lightning 1-2, where the hell are you?! I got a Flanker on my ass and I can’t shake him!” “Joker, no," Sapphire breathed as she heard her own words from so long ago seem to waft over her ears via radio. “Hurry Sapphire! I can’t hold this guy off forever, he’s in a much better jet than I am! SHIT! I am spiked!” “No, please God," Sapphire begged as she heard Joker yell about an enemy missile launch before a vibrant fireball erupted in the sky and unlike last time where there had been the carcass of a plane dropping from the sky. This time, there was simply flaming bits, with one piece larger than others but due to darkness it was unidentifiable. Behind her, another thunderous roar sounded as the bear bore down on her. Yet her own legs seemed to be turning to lead, each step was more difficult than the last. “What the … AA-13 Arrows? Aren’t Arrows meant for shooting down bombers and AWACS birds and not fighters? Who the hell shoots Arrows at - OH FU-” Ramirez said before letting out a yell of terror before it was cut-off mid transmission. Meanwhile in the sky another fireball, bigger than the last one appeared. This time, no sizeable fragments descended from the fireball, just bits and pieces. “Switchback, why? Why I am I experiencing this!” Sapphire gasped, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. Sapphire stumbled and nearly fell into the snow and that allowed the bear to nearly get her. New strength surged through her limbs as she felt it’s hot and rancid breath on her rear and flank and she began to separate from the predator that was on her. The monstrous behemoth roared in anger, she looked over her shoulder just as the creature lunged its teeth bared with canines that were easily five inches long gleaming in the moonlight, she screamed as paws as big as the diameter of the main guns on a battleship with razor sharp claws seven inches long reached forward ready to sink themselves into her, and then suddenly someone from above and behind yelled “BE GONE, FOUL BRUTE!”. The loudness of that shout, like an enraged drill sergeant bellowing through a megaphone at maximum volume but with noticeable amount of wind behind it, combined with the brilliant cobalt blue flash that came out of nowhere caused Sapphire to slip, fall and promptly go sliding. She squeezed her eyes shut for the inevitable bite from the bear but after several seconds, with her own heart still hammering in her chest and no wave of agony over-taking her. Sapphire slowly opened one eye and she let out a gasp of relief. The bear was gone. In its place, slowly descending, was a pegacorn. At first glance Sapphire thought it may have been Celestia but quickly dismissed the notion as the color was off, instead of being white with gold regalia this one had dark blue coat with an inky mane and tail that sparkled like starlight and her regalia was pitch black with a crescent moon in the middle. That, and she was shorter than Celestia. Regardless, the aura that was coming from the winged-unicorn -Sapphire made a note to figure out what the hell the actual name for the species - was comforting and soothing. Still, that didn’t stop the uneasiness she was feeling. Something was telling her not to trust this one. This pegacorn had easily vanquished the largest brown bear that Sapphire had ever seen and now, now it was calmly approaching her. In response, the she began to back up, ready to run at a moment’s notice. Still, Sapphire was grateful the bear was gone. She shook her head breaking that train of thought about what would happen if that bear had caught her and what it would do after killing her. Thinking about what that bear would’ve done to her had it caught was bad enough. That is at least until the newcomer spoke. “It’s alright, We aren’t going to hurt you," she said. More than a little baffled as to what the hell was going on, Sapphire slowly began to approach, but was still ready to run at a moment’s notice. “Who are you?” she asked cautiously, her instincts still screaming at her to be cautious. “WE ARE PRINCESS LUNA, PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT AND GUARDIAN OF DREAMS!” The new pegacorn, Princess Luna, said in a rather excitable tone of voice, although the volume wasn’t as bad as the first time she’d spoken. But Sapphire was fairly certain that it would’ve awoke a man from a deep coma. “Loud” she groaned, holding a hoof up to her head. “Way too goddamned loud," In response Luna suddenly looked very abashed. In a way it was adorable and Sapphire never thought that a princess could be adorable and bashful. But yet Princess Luna had just proved that point wrong and it was actually pretty amusing. “Sorry," Princess Luna said. “It’s alright, it’s just good lord the pipes you have make most drill Sergeant when they are yelling seem like a normal speaking voice," Sapphire said shaking her head. “Sorry about that, We tend to get like that when excited or angry. Still, are you alright, Sapphire?” Luna asked as she approached. Sapphire’s head jerked up. “How do you know my name?” she asked. “We are in your dream and also We asked Celestia about why she looked more tired than usual at the end of her day,” Luna said. “Oh, wait so you were the one who banished the bear?” Sapphire asked. “Yes, We were. But is there anything wrong, Sapphire? You seem troubled,” Luna asked. “I am just wondering as to why I am having this nightmare. It’s the worst one that I’ve ever had,” Sapphire said shuddering. “We’ve only seen nightmares this bad in the dreams of my sister, Celestia, and those tend to pertain to her dreams about the Battle of Marethon or the Banishment of Nightmare Moon to the moon. Your dream was similar yet different, where Celestia was scarred by the deaths she caused and the loss of the vast majority of the Royal Equestria Army and the Royal Guard. Combined with the several close calls with death that she had, it changed her a lot to the point that sometimes We barely recognize her dreams. Yours on the other hoof seemed to focus more on those you have lost and your inability to save them while at the sametime also representing your own close brush with death. But there are clear differences,” Luna said, looking at Sapphire, “Y-yes, you’re right. I failed my squadron mates, I failed horribly in that respect. I am a wingman and it’s my job to protect them. But I couldn’t, if anything if I wasn’t in a different dimension they’d probably haunt me for it," Sapphire said. “Now what makes you say that?” Luna said. “Felix “Joker” Miller, he yelled about him having a Flanker on his tail. I told him to hold on, that I was coming. But I couldn’t get in missile range fast enough, that enemy jet blew him out of the sky. He didn’t even bailout. I couldn’t even avenge him either, for that Flanker managed to dodge my last remaining missile!” Sapphire said, sobbing slightly. “So you feel guilty that you couldn’t do anything to save those that you care about?” Luna asked. “Yes, everyone at Igloo Base is dead and I know for certain that four of my squadron mates are. The only one I don’t know about the fate of, is my element leader: Major Halverson, call sign Siren. I wouldn’t know because I was hit before she was, hell I don’t know if she even managed to evade that missile," Sapphire said sobbing slightly. “We understand loss. But, why torture yourself on the simple basis that you don’t know if your last squadron mate survived or not?” Luna asked. “I first met Stephanie when I was fourteen. She was a few months older than I was and was also native to New York City, but she wasn’t native to Manhattan like I am, but she’s native of Queens. We’ve known each other since then, we both decided to go into the USAF and then after several years our flight on account of merit and record was selected to become apart of the JSF. The JSF is an elite group of the U.S. Armed Forces, they aren’t Special Forces but they are a cut above the rest of the regular military forces," Sapphire said, her voice trembling slightly. “So, Stephanie is a long time friend?” Luna asked, putting a comforting hoof on Sapphire’s shoulder in an effort to calm her down. “Yes Princess, she is; but because of how the military is, you often develop bonds that go far beyond friendship to point that your brothers and sisters. Because sometimes the only thing between life and death is your wingman, err, wingpony or the soldier in the foxhole next to you. Yet I failed as a wingpony, because I let Joker get shot down and killed. I wouldn’t blame him if he’s angry at me for letting him down, hell, I never even got to say goodbye to the my fellow pilots," Sapphire said, silent tears starting trickle down her face. Luna thought about that. While she was practically immortal, she had to admit the pain of not being able to say goodbye to those that were lost was always tough to deal with. For somepony in the military, finding out if your buddy was killed or not could also be a source for grief. She realized that she would have to get one of those amulets herself and go to the dimension that Sapphire was from in order to track down Sapphire’s squadron mates in that dream realm. Luna simply marked that for a later time before thinking about what Sapphire had told her. Maybe it was wise that Sapphire had elected to not join Equestria’s military, she certainly would have trouble passing the psychiatric part of the enlistment tests. Perhaps it was for the best that she didn’t join, at least not the Air Force but maybe the Pegasi Air Patrol? That could work. “Maybe We could work something out, We will see what We can do. But regardless, We can say for certain that these nightmares will likely persist for sometime, but chances on getting medical help are certainly low given how rare that Traumatic Memory Stress Disorder is in Equestria," Luna said. “TMSD? That’s a new one, back home it was called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD for short. As for finding out I got PTSD, considering what I went through it’s not surprising. Still thanks for everything," Sapphire said with a slight smile on her face. “No problem, we all have our inner demons that we must confront everyday. You have them, Celestia has them, and We have them as well. But you can conquer them," Luna said. “You're not wrong on the inner demons. But, the one thing that will likely haunt my nightmares will be the destruction of Igloo Base as well as the loss of my squadron mates for the rest of my life," Sapphire said, her expression flattening and shuddering. “Why is the destruction of Igloo Base going to haunt your nightmares, We can understand the loss of your squadron mates but not Igloo Base," Luna said looking confused. “Igloo Base was a small base, Princess, small enough that you could easily meet everyone on base. It was really just a cluster of various buildings, I mean it only had one runway. Everything that was needed to carve an airbase out in the Canadian wilderness some 300 kilometers north of civilization," Sapphire said with a small sob. “We do not follow nor do We see how you could’ve been long time friends with everyone at Igloo Base," Luna said, looking a little baffled. “Think of it this way, Princess. They weren’t friends, but they were acquaintances so you know them decently well. Now imagine watching them from a few hundred feet in the air. They are just dots. And now picture the whole base going up in numerous explosions as enemy ordinance systematically destroys everything and knowing that as smoke clears that the chances for survivors is astronomically low," Sapphire said and Luna’s eyes widened. “How many were stationed at Igloo Base?” Luna asked in a low voice as realization started to sink in. “Not many, two hundred tops, it was a pretty small base. But just seeing it go up, it was horrible to watch and one of those things that you just couldn’t look away from," Sapphire said, gazing back up at the Lunar Princess with tears shining in her eyes. In that moment, Luna realized that the emotional and memoric scars that Sapphire had ran deep. But something also told her that there was more to this than what met the eye. But as to what it was, it eluded her. “Sapphire, We may not be able to help with every nightmare that you have. But We do have a suggestion that may help," Luna said. “Oh?” Sapphire asked, intrigued and more than a little hopeful. “Lavender. It’s calming scent is known to aid dreamers in achieving a restorative sleep," Luna said. “You mean the flower? Huh, I never knew that. It’s certainly something to look into. Thank you, Princess," Sapphire said. “Anything to help one of My Little Ponies, but We must bid you farewell," Luna said as she flapped her wings and quickly took off and ascended into the moon and disappeared. “Goodbye!” Sapphire called after her. However it was only after that Princess Luna had left that Sapphire realized she’d forgotten to ask her some important questions, like why the heck did she use “We” instead of “I”? Then again, having one of the Diarchs suddenly appear in your dream would probably leave you more than a little stunned if you didn’t know that it could happen. As Luna left Sapphire’s dream and reentered the dream realm she took in it’s grandeur. To most ponies the dream realm was thought to be akin to a star field, with no coherent surface for her to stand on, with the dreams of individual ponies taking on the form of stars. That wasn’t entirely true, a closer analogy to what the dream realm actually was … well it was hard to explain. But it had surface almost like a great ocean that expanded onward into infinity, with individual stars of varying colors, but usually varying shades of red for Earth Ponies, blue for Pegasi, and yellow for unicorns. If a dreamer was having a nightmare, the star in question would be throwing a fit with incredible bursts of energy lashing away from it whereas if the dreamer was sleeping calmly the star would be rather calm with only the occasional burst of energy. However as dreamers aged and eventually passed on, their stars would eventually fade and then sink below the waves of the ocean. However it was still possible for her to communicate with those who had long since passed on through this realm. But she didn’t do it much on the account that it generally resulted in a visit from an annoyed Nyx, the Equestrian Angel of Death, in her own dreams. Still, she had to admit; the guilt she’d felt in Sapphire’s dream had been so thick she could’ve practically tasted it. It actually boggled her mind that somepony could carry so much guilt with them, however there had been hints of other emotions in that dream. It certainly warranted a more in-depth investigation because there was certainly more to Sapphire than she had thought. “Sapphire certainly seems troubled by something, I will have to send a note to the element bearers and bring it to their attention. Maybe they’ll have some insight," Luna said before admonishing herself, she’d been using the Royal “We” for her entire conversation with Sapphire. That revelation made her facehoof in embarrassment, she’d probably succeeded in thoroughly confusing the mare. Still, is it worth it, I want to learn more about her. Find out what else is eating her, Luna thought. However the more Luna thought about it, the more she realized that perhaps she should seek a second opinion and possibly even a third opinion. Now one thing of note was that one of the powers that Luna had in the dream realm was that she could sift through the dreamer stars and find a particular dreamer. She used that ability now. Igniting her horn she focused, looking for one particular dream. The vast majority of the dreamer stars fell away and left only one hovering in front of her. Unlike the a large percentage of the dreamer stars when it came to color, this one was different. It was a rather startling shade of pink, with minor outbursts of energy coming from it. Luna took a breath and peered into the dreamer star of Princess Cadence. She swore loudly when she saw that it was one of her favorite dreams, one where she’d just learned how to fly and was soaring through various thermals over a large grassy plain. Sorry Cadence, but I need your opinion on something, Luna thought as she plunged into the dream. It felt like for several seconds she was moving through ice cold water as she transitioned from the dream realm and into the dream itself. She expanded her wings and quickly flew toward Cadence who had seemingly detected her in an instant. She spun toward her a surprised look on her face. “Luna! My, this is a surprise," Cadence said awkwardly. “Sorry for arriving without prior notice. But do you remember how exhausted Celestia was at breakfast, well breakfast for me but dinner for you, Shining Armor, and Celestia?” Luna asked. “Yes, didn’t she say something about having to perform an extremely complex spell save somepony from dying?” Cadence asked. “That is the case, I asked Celestia about later before you turned in and she told me the whole story. You may want to be on the ground for this," Luna said and then the two Alicorns descended to the ground below them. Once they were, Luna explained everything, including the conversation she’d had with Sapphire. Once she was done, Cadence’s jaw was slack for several seconds before she shook her head and got her wits back. “Well, that explains why Celestia was exhausted. The sort of spell that she must have performed would be exhausting even for Twilight, plus if she added healing magic into it. Well, keeping the intended effect of the main spell the same while adding additional spells into it. That’s incredibly exhausting, even for an Alicorn. Still, what does this have to do with me?” Cadence asked. “Cadence the reason why I’ve decided to bring you into this is because I want to find out what sort of heart Sapphire has. She said that she was military and that she had seen combat before, but from what I can tell she’s going through a lot of guilt but it seemed like there are other hidden emotions as well," Luna said. “I can understand that. By viewing the emotions in one’s heart it’s easier to figure how somepony would likely act. But I’ve never tried to do it across dreams before. I don’t know if I can do it," Cadence said, looking down. “Could you do it if the dreams were linked?” Luna asked. “Easily, but I would prefer if you do it quietly," Cadence said. Luna smirked. “I can do it, I haven’t cast the spell in a while but it’s possible. The spell itself will cause only a slight ripple effect in the dream itself during the initial merge although she’ll be wondering why on Equis her dream was so bizarre," she said with a snicker, showing that while it had been a millennia since she’d wielded the Element of Laughter, the humor she had that allowed her to wield it came up every now and again. “Considering the fact that you already helped with a nightmare that she had tonight and now you're thinking about linking my dream with hers. I wouldn’t exactly blame her,” Cadence added with a giggle. Luna laughed out loud. Now that she thought about it, Sapphire probably would probably be wondering why she had such a strange dream. Then again she had seen stranger dreams before, so who knew. “Ready?” Luna asked. Cadence nodded. “Yes, but I am a little nervous though.” “It’s alright, even I am a bit nervous,” Luna added as her her horn ignited in its distinctive cobalt glow and then tiny strands of white magical energy began to coalesce at the base of her horn within the grooves. The white strands then began to race up the horn, seemingly growing brighter with each passing moment. As the swirling white energy reached the tip of her horn, it began to slowly lift itself out of the grooves and intertwine together becoming thicker, stronger, and radiating pure power. Suddenly the thick cable-like concentration of magic splintered into two halves, one of the cables buried itself into the ground of Cadence’s dream and the other shot upward. In the dream realm, the thick cable of white magic leaped out of Cadence’s dreamer star and spiraled through the realm, seeking out one particular dreamer star. Then when it found it, the burst of magic speared itself into the dreamer star and then it went from slack to taut. “Got ya,” Luna said in triumph. “Now what?” Cadence asked. “Now comes the tricky part. Right now the dreams are bonded but not merged, but funnily enough the difficulty comes in not merging them but separating them,” Luna said as new energy appeared at the base of her horn, this energy was a deep royal purple. It raced up the crests between the grooves, spiraling up the horn. When it reached the tip and erupted from her horn, this new energy wasted no time in wrapping itself around the white energy that was also being projected from Luna’s horn. Like before the energy spiralled into the ground of Cadence’s dream and instantly went taut, intertwining itself seamlessly with the white energy. While the other portion of the royal purple energy raced upward, intertwining itself with the white magic. This process continued until it reached Sapphire’s dreamer star, the star shuddered and then like a fishermen reeling in its catch the white and purple magical energy went taut and began to reel in the star. When the two converged, the bright pink of Cadence’s dream star and the Old Glory Blue of Sapphire’s. For several moments they clashed before seamlessly merging. The dreamscape shimmered and rippled, the vast and warm plains being replaced with a vast snowy tundra, in the distance pines rose into the sky, a soft cold wind blew over the vast wasteland and both Alicorns had to suppress shivers from the cold as it bit at their hides. But in the distance was some sort of structure, the purpose that it served, neither Princess knew. Together they slowly advanced, stepping lightly being very aware about the snow that was crunching under hoof. When they spotted the grey mare, Luna noted that while the aura of guilt that was around her was severely diminished, it was still there. “Is that her?” Cadence asked. “Yes,” Luna replied still looking at Sapphire. Cadence focused on the mare and her eyes widened. “It’s unique,” she breathed and when Luna gave her a curious look she continued. “There’s regret, sorrow, guilt, and loss predominantly. However there is also some hope, a little happiness, as well determination and loyalty, with a fair amount of bravery, and strangely enough a lot of curiosity. It’s such a variety of different colors I’ve never seen anything like it at all, ever. I can’t fathom what they all mean.” Luna cocked an eyebrow in response. “That is a strange combination. But thinking back to the conversation that I had with her earlier. I am fairly certain where most of those different emotions that she has comes from. Sapphire, as you know, was in the military back in her own dimension and she went up against enemy forces, she ended lives but her entire squadron was also wiped out as was the air base that her squadron operated from. So I am guessing that the regret comes from ending those lives, the sorrow and loss is for her fallen comrades, the guilt is about not being able to save them. It would also explain bravery and loyalty, she knows what it’s like to stare Nyx in the eyes and make her blink first, plus she also said that she was I believe she called it a wingman or wingpony now, which means she is supposed to protect her flight leader. The hope and happiness would likely come from the fact that she’s been given a second chance at life and the determination would thus mean that she doesn’t want to squander said chance.” “Well, I had no idea you could do that Luna. Heart magic maybe my forte as well as having an excellent understanding of what the various colors mean, particularly looking at the combination Sapphire has. But, when you put it that way; everything just clicked. It’s clear that she’s the sort of pony that would sacrifice her own life if needed so that others may live,” Cadence replied realization dawning in her eyes. “So what’s your verdict then?” Luna asked. “Just by going off on what I was able to tell with her the sort of heart that Sapphire has. It’s not as bad as I feared, she’s an honest soul that’s been through alot and it shows. But I think it was wise for Celestia to entrust her acclimation and naturalization to the element bearers, if there are any ponies would could help with that it’s them. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have her learn the fate of her squadron leader, that will just eat her up,” Cadence noted. Luna nodded. “I know, I was planning on talking to Wing Commander Spitfire to see if I could go to the dimension that they encountered Sapphire. It may help with her guilt if she finds out what the fate of her squadron leader is.” “I understand completely and it makes some sense. But in the meantime, can we please separate this dream now, I feel like we should go before Sapphire discovers us,” Cadence said and Luna nodded before igniting her horn again, the dreamscape around them shimmered and rippled visibly before returning to what Cadence’s dreamscape had been originally. Luna then, panting slightly smiled at Cadence. Sapphire groaned as she slowly woke up as the first rays of the morning sun started to kiss her face. That’s when she noticed she had somehow contrived to have fallen off the bed. Probably because of the nightmare that she’d had before it had seemingly taken a turn for the surreal. “That was the most bizarre and lucid dream that I have ever had,” she said to herself as she extricated herself from a tangle of bedsheets. Right, first thing’s first, I need some breakfast. Hope Twilight wouldn’t mind if I ask a number of questions as well, Sapphire thought as she began to head downstairs, not even aware of her stance.