//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Lucid Dreaming // by WriterWings //------------------------------// Night Ember sat beside his friend’s grave, his eyes haggard with fatigue and his cheeks hollow with hunger. He never did manage to find Lightning’s body, but all the same, he had fashioned a cross out of some broken branches and duct tape, which he stuck into the debris; a simple yet sentimental monument. On the smoothest rock he could find, he had engraved the words ‘Private Lightning Comet’ on it as neatly as possible with his pocketknife, laying it next to the cross as a makeshift headstone for the fallen soldier. Then, he set himself down next to the grave in the harsh snowy weather, not moving for almost a full day except only to take a mournful nibble at another of his MRE dandelion sandwiches. By evening, the sky was once again shrouded in pitch black darkness, what was once Luna’s moon hanging sombrely over the icy, frigid wasteland. Night Ember shivered violently as hypothermia crept into his hooves, yet he still remained silent as he quietly lamented for his best friend. Eventually, he finally fell asleep, using one of the many stones as a pillow for the night. Dusk came, then dawn, then sunrise, enveloping Night in a warm embrace as the golden sun made its way up into the heavens, its light filtering through Night’s crusty eyelids as the new day began. Even some of the snow around him began to melt — though, not enough to reveal any soil beneath it. Slowly but surely, Night began to stop shivering, a new energy seeping into his veins as he awoke from his slumber. Stretching his hooves, he turned to gaze at Lightning’s grave. Oh, Lightning. If only you were still here, we would have already found the facility by now. Why, perhaps we would already be heading back to Captain Skylark with their top-secret research! But you’re not. You’re gone, and honestly, I don’t know if I can survive out here all by myself. Without you. You always looked on the brighter side of life. You always had a solution for any problems we had to face during our missions. You always gave me the best advice a friend could give — even if it was just the sugar-coated truth, so that way I wouldn’t panic like I always do! Night Ember sighed, a puff of white, frosty air escaping from his mouth. I wonder what you would do if you were in my position. Would you still carry on? Would you still look for the silver lining on this dark cloud before me? Heh. Of course you would. You were Lightning Comet, after all. But I’m not. I’m not you. I’ll never amount to as much as you were. I’m only Private Night Ember, the pessimist, the coward, the weakling. I was the one who got us lost out in the snowstorm. I was the one who didn’t wake up in time for us both to escape. I was the one who couldn’t cut your tail free from the boulder. If only I had a few more precious seconds… just a few more… Night Ember wiped a tear from his cold cheek. No. It’s no use going back to what I could have done, what I should have done. I can’t change the past, but I can still make a difference in the present. I know what you would want me to do. You would want me to go on, to complete the mission, to do my part in helping Princess Celestia’s army defeat King Sombra once and for all. And I will. I must. Don’t worry, Lightning Comet. It’s farewell for now, but I will make sure your legacy lives on for many more moons to come. The entrance to the research facility was disappointing, to say the least. A dome-like structure built with curved metal sheets soldered together in odd and cluttered patterns, it seemed to have been once brightly coloured with orange and white metallic paint, but all of this had now faded to a battered mess of iron and steel, eaten away by rust and the brutal weather conditions. Night Ember had heard that before the war, this place was a thriving hub for all the best scientific innovations in Equestria, but looking at it now… He trudged around the dome, searching for a visible doorway, but there was none. No windows either, he noted. If only he had his supplies with him, he could blast his way in with a grenade, but his saddlebags had been buried under the rubble during the cave in. All he had with him was his pocketknife, some MREs, his compass and his pistol. And there was no way he was going to try to shoot his way into the research facility. For a minute, he just stood out there in the snow, staring blankly at the dome. “Now what?” he wondered out loud. Deep beneath the steel-walled veins of the facility, camouflaged within the jungle of frayed electrical wiring and broken glass apparatus, a single, neatly organised room lay hidden within the heart of the cluttered lab. In it, there was nothing but a leather swivel chair, a creaky wooden table and at least fifty flickering television screens mounted above it. And in front of those fifty flickering television screens, a grey-haired pony in a jet-black laboratory coat sat casually reclined in the swivel chair, his eyes scanning past the screens left and right, absorbing and analysing the data it provided as the light from the monitors reflected off his darting irises. He was looking for somepony important to him. In fact, that somepony was due to arrive any minute now. Come on, my little Dreamer, where are you hiding? His eyes halted at one of the screens in the top left corner of his vision, one of the ones hanging precariously from the crumbling plaster ceiling. Bingo. Getting up from his swivel chair slowly, he leaned onto the table for support and winced — his sprained hoof was killing him! — then hit one of the buttons on a rusty control panel screwed loosely into the table. The live footage from the one monitor expanded to a large scale display on all fifty of the monitors, revealing the pony he was looking for with great resolution and clarity. Well, hello there Lucid Dreamer. He smiled at the pony standing outside the entrance, shivering in the snow. You’re just in time. Just in time to join all the others. He watched the pony with a childlike curiosity, much like a young colt playing with a pet rat in a cage. He chuckled at the screen. Just look at him. Look at how pathetic he is. He can’t even figure out how to get inside. It’s a wonder how he even passed the initial stages of the experiment. The pony’s eyes narrowed wickedly, as his mouth broadened into an evil grin, revealing his grotesque, yellowed teeth. But then again, that’s what makes things much easier. “Dr. Hawk?” He whirled around in his chair, ready to snarl at whoever had interrupted his epic internal monologue, but immediately softened once he saw who it was. “Ah, it’s only you,” he exhaled in relief, forcing a smile at the bespectacled mare standing in the doorway in front of him. Mental note: Remind the interns to stay within their respective quadrants of the lab. “Miss… Syrup, is it?” “Uh, Honey. Honey Maple,” the mare corrected shyly, shifting her hooves awkwardly. “I, uh… am I interrupting something?” “No, no, nothing at all,” Dr. Hawk replied, switching off the display with a remote control attached to his armrest. “Surely it can wait. What did you need, Miss Maple?” Honey Maple levitated a stack of charts and graphs over to her boss, the papers glowing with her magical golden aura. “Here are the test results you wanted. Although I can’t figure out why you wanted me to create an enhanced version of malaria, instead of a malaria vaccine instead. What are you using this research for, Dr. Hawk?” Dr. Hawk simply smiled again. That was another exciting project that he was saving for a rainy day. Still, he found the curiosity of this particular intern rather refreshing. She would prove to be… useful. “Oh, don’t worry about all that, Miss Maple. These results are perfect. Tell you what, you seem like quite a smart mare — would you like some insight into the secret research going on on Floor 17?” Honey’s eyes widened. “Floor 17? But… only high-level scientists are allowed to go there! And I’m only an intern, so —” “It’s a simple yes or no question, Miss Maple, do hurry up.” Honey broke into a wide grin, her eyes now sparkling with elation. “I mean, yes, I’d love to!” “Alright, then. Let’s go!” Dr. Hawk took one last look at the empty monitors as Honey Maple skipped out excitedly. You’ll have to wait for now, my little Lucid Dreamer. Don’t worry, I’ll be back to deal with your fate too. Soon, you will help me save Equestria, whether you like it or not.