//------------------------------// // Chapter XXV: Nightmare // Story: Memoir of Misery // by Silvak //------------------------------// "You have failed us." "Failed? What do you mean? Who's speaking to me?" "You have failed your duty." "What duty? What in Equestria are you talking about?" cried Sapphire, who was standing in a pitch black room of sorts, unable to see a thing past her muzzle as she looked around in fear. "You were given a destiny that you have failed to fulfill!" screamed a set of voices that Sapphire couldn't recognize until the area to the left of her became alight with an inferno composed of greenish flames. Crawling backward from it, Sapphire's fear started to grow, until a purple inferno appeared behind her, causing her to scream in fright as it trapped her in between the two as terror started to grip her heart. However, Sapphire's terror stopped growing as she saw a small opening between the two raging infernos that she could escape through. Running towards her escape, Sapphire thought that safety was within her reach only for a crimson inferno to burst flow, blocking her escape route. "Thanks to you, our legacy is now just ashes!" yelled the voices as the infernos inched closer and closer to Sapphire, causing her to glance back and forth between them as she lit her horn, trying to find some water from some source. However, she found that there wasn't any water nearby to grab, not even in the air. "You will suffer for your failure," cried the voices as the infernos closed in on Sapphire, causing her to panic and scream for help as she shielded herself with her forehooves as the flames consumed her. "AHHHHHH!" Sapphire cried out as she awoke from her slumber, her legs flailing around as she fell off her lounge chair that she was sleeping on and onto the grassy ground. Lifting her head up, Sapphire's wide eyes scan the area around her as she was panting in terror, only to see that she was in the castle gardens, where she was relaxing in the afternoon sun before dozing off. As Sapphire started to calm down as she saw that she was safe, the nearby guards came into the scene due to having heard Sapphire's screams. A unicorn officer was looking around as he said, "Princess Sapphire, are you okay? Were you attacked?" Shaking her head, Sapphire replied, "No... I just... had a rather bad nightmare after drifting to sleep." Eyeing her, the officer said, "Are you certain your majesty?" Nodding, Sapphire got onto her hooves as she said, "I am. There is nothing to be alarmed about, so you may return to your posts." Glancing at Sapphire for a brief moment, the guards nodded in return before leaving Sapphire alone again. Letting out a sigh, Sapphire got onto her chair as she said, "Why can't I ever catch a break..." before looking up at the sky, noting that it was late afternoon, so it would be a few more hours before she could get a chance to talk to Luna about this nightmare. "Sapphire, there has been something I'm curious about." "If this is going to be about me finding a special somepony while I was on 'vacation', I'm throwing you out the window." "It doesn't involve that, but do you really have to be so hostile?" Cadance asked as the pair were now in the study, Cadance now giving Sapphire a glare while receiving a flat stare in return as they both rested on a some floor cushions. Snorting after getting no reply, Cadance continued, "My question is actually about your title as the alicorn of water." Frowning deeply that it was approaching scowl levels, Sapphire responded, "A title that Celestia assigned to me, meaning that it's an empty title for the most part." "But from what I heard of your demonstration outside of Vanhoover's port, I don't think that title is as empty as you think. You're going to cause some waves in the world with that move, drawing the attention of other nations when the word gets out to the rest of the world," Cadance warned. "I got an inkling of that from Baroness Silver Clock, but she was thinking in terms of Equestria's naval power be bolstered by my magic," Sapphire said with a shrug. However, when Cadance gave her an odd look, Sapphire asked, "Why are you giving me that look?" "Because you normally complain about being used when stuff like that is mentioned. So to have you nonchalantly just shrug it off isn't the usual reaction from you," Cadance answered. Rolling her eyes, Sapphire replied, "I'm not some one-note pony, and it does get tiresome to complain all the time. Unless it's about Celestia, then I'm going to complain." "What's this about complaining about my sister?" Luna asked as she opened the door, giving the pair of a raised eyebrow as she gave them a questioning look. As Sapphire fell out of the chair from surprise, Cadance answered, "It's nothing much Luna, just Sapphire being herself. Though, I'm surprised you're here so soon Auntie Luna. Don't you have some nightly duties to attend to first?" "I do dear niece, but Sapphire had actually made a request to see me at my earliest convenience, so I decided to come to her first," Luna explained before turning her attention to Sapphire, who was getting back into her seat. "So, what is it that you required my presence so soon?" Bringing her hooves together, Sapphire answered, "Well, it's due to a nightmare I had when I was napping in the castle gardens..." "I see. Do you presume that this nightmare has some connection to your past?" Luna asked as she and Cadance shared a look. "No, cause it's not an assumption, it's actual fact. For you see, this nightmare involved... well, someponies' voices speaking to me as they declared that I failed them and my destiny..." Sapphire explained, rubbing her hooves together until Luna's face appeared right before her face. As Sapphire let out a yelp of surprise at the sudden invasion of her personal space, Luna grabbed onto Sapphire's shoulders as she asked, "Tell us everything about your dream. If this has some ties to your destiny, or even your past, every minute detail could be a key to regaining more of your memories!" Pulling herself away from Luna's grip, Sapphire said, "Okay okay! Just don't surprise me like that please!" With Luna giving her a sheepish grin before taking a few steps back, Sapphire continued, "It all started with this odd, greenish flame..." "I see, most peculiar," Luna declared after hearing Sapphire's recounting of her nightmare. Pacing around the room, Luna added, "The presence of these three flames with their own colorations can not be no mere coincidence, since you bare wounds of three differing natures. It may be possible that these flames are connected to the foreign magic present in your system, causing the nightmare. But that doesn't account the voices claiming you to be a failure. Perhaps this is some kind of guilt in your former life about some task you failed to complete?" Glancing at Cadance, who promptly shrugged her confusion, Sapphire looked at Luna as she asked, "What do you mean by me being guilty about something?" Pausing in her pacing, Luna looked at Sapphire as she answered, "It is hard to say, but these voices that desire you to be guilty could be a reflection of some ponies that had a task for you that you failed in accomplishing. Whether they were actually saying those words or if that was just a mental construction formed by your guilt, it is hard to say." Luna then continued her pacing before she let out a groan of frustration, surprising both Cadance and Sapphire as she declared, "Augh, your memories can be quite vexing! The ones that could provide the pieces to the puzzle of your past only desire to turn up at the most inconvenient times instead of us finding them ourselves." Sighing, Sapphire nodded as she declared, "Yeah, it's like they're just coming in the exact bits and pieces needed to taunt me. By the light of the moons, everything seemed to be out to g—" before Luna placed a hoof on her mouth, silencing her. "Cadance, did you hear what I think I just heard?" Luna asked as she turned to look at Cadance, who was looking at her in confusion. "Umm... give me a second," Cadance requested as she folded her hooves over her chest, looking down at the ground as she mumbled some words to herself. It wasn't long before Cadance jerked her head upwards, saying, "Sapphire said 'by the light of the moons!' Is that what you thought you heard, Auntie?" "It is indeed," Luna agreed, causing Sapphire to glance at the pair of them in confusion. Taking her hoof off Sapphire's mouth, Luna continued, "This... this may be a critical piece of the puzzle that we needed." "What, how is 'by the light of the moons' a critical piece? What are you two talking about?" Sapphire asked as she looked back and forth between the two. "It is simple, Sapphire. Your phrase is referring to moons, a plural term. A phrase like that is odd since there is only one moon in the night sky, my moon. That would mean that something has to have occurred to allow for such a phrase to come about, which could give us some kind of lead to follow," Luna explained as Cadance tapped her chin in thought. "But Auntie, what would cause such a phrase to be made? I mean, was there ever a point in Equus's history where there were two moons, or perhaps even more?" Cadance asked, only to have Luna shake her head in reply. "Nay my dear niece, there are no records ever made about a second moon before my time. This would mean that some kind of event or location could generate a situation that would allow an observer to see two or more moons. Or..." Luna answered, only to turn her head towards the window as she held a troubled expression. "Or what? What were you about to say?" Sapphire asked as she got up and came to Luna's side. Cadance followed Sapphire's action shortly after as she said, "You don't think..." "Considering all that is going on, I wouldn't put this to be out of the realm of possibilities," Luna declared before returning her attention to Sapphire. "Sapphire, it may be possible that this phrase of yours may have come into being during the Reign of Discord." "Oh... who's Discord?" Sapphire asked with a tilt of her head, promptly causing both Luna and Cadance to facehoof. This only served to confuse Sapphire even more as she asked, "What? Was it something I said?"