//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Lucid Dreaming // by WriterWings //------------------------------// “When is he going to wake up?” The earth pony groaned, bored out of his mind as the three of them waited impatiently for Night Ember to come to. “He’s been out for almost two hours.” “Any minute now,” The pegasus mare replied, checking her watch as she polished one of her throwing knives conscientiously. “Oh, I hope he wakes up before the Programmer comes for us. The antidote I gave him was pretty concentrated, but he should be waking up just about…” As if on command, Night Ember bolted upright, choking and gasping for air. “About now,” she finished, dropping her knives to the floor. “Private Night Ember, are you doing okay? Do you remember what happened? What did you see?” Night just continued to cough and splutter. “Really, Jas?” the unicorn rolled his eyes. “Give the poor guy some space. He’s been through a lot.” “But we don’t have time,” she replied. “If we hang around on Floor 17 any longer, the Programmer is going to find us.” Night Ember finally managed to steady himself, taking in a deep breath. “I understand now,” he replied. “I’m Private Night Ember. I remember what happened.” “Phew, that’s good,” said the earth pony. “Guess it’s time to properly introduce ourselves.” He extended a hoof for Night to shake. “The name’s Silver Bolt, but friends call me Bolt for short.” “And I’m Jasmine Skies,” added the pegasus, smiling warmly. The dark purple unicorn waved a hoof at Night. “Just call me Sid,” he said. Night Ember looked around at his three new companions, who were all beaming at him as if they had known him for years and years. After what… ‘events’ the day had just brought him, he wasn’t sure who to trust anymore — but there was something about these three ponies that gave him a warm feeling inside, one that he had never felt before. Perhaps… my three new friends? “It’s great to meet you all,” he finally replied, getting up onto his hooves as Bolt helped him up. “Now, what’s all this about a Programmer?” “The Programmer —” Jasmine explained, pulling out an old, battered photograph from one of her pockets, “— is the pony that created the simulation. None of us have any idea what his intentions really were in creating all of our Lucid Dreams… but what we do know is that they were definitely bad ones.” Bolt nodded in agreement. “As we speak, the Programmer’s elite guards are on the hunt to track us down.” He chuckled. “Good thing we have Sid’s trusty invisibility spell!” Night Ember glanced upwards, just noticing the shimmering, scintillating, magical dome that arched above the four of them. “Then why can’t we just exit the facility whilst staying invisible?” “The spell is short-term, and only works if we remain mostly stationary,” Sid shrugged. “Sorry, everypony.” Jasmine gave the photograph to Night, then continued her knife polishing. “Recognise this guy? You should remember him from before the Lucid Dream.” Night scanned the photo, his heart sinking. Well, here’s somepony I never wanted to see again. “Yeah, unfortunately. Dr. Obsidian Hawk, right?” His three companions froze, jaws dropping. Jasmine almost dropped her knives again in shock. Night frowned in confusion. “What… did I say something wrong?” Bolt was the first to break the silence. “Y-y-you know his name?!” “Uh, yeah, didn’t he introduce himself to you all too?” Jasmine shook her head slowly. “…no, he’s always referred to himself as ‘the Programmer’. Now why in Equestria would he make an exception for you?” she wondered, frowning. Sid raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Oooh, is somepony getting jealous?” “Zip it, Sid. Night Ember must be special if the Programmer wanted to reveal his identity to him,” said Jasmine. She glanced back at Night, who felt uneasy at suddenly being the centre of attention. “Did the Progra— I mean, Dr. Hawk… tell you anything else about his plans?” Night wrinkled his forehead, trying to remember. “Not much. Just that he was trying to make the simulation like ‘a better Equestria’. Which doesn’t sound very evil, to be honest,” he said. “And… it was a better Equestria,” he added, with a sigh. His companions’ faces fell. “Yeah… it was,” Bolt agreed. Jasmine just nodded quietly in reply. Sid remained silent. Night gazed at his new friends around him, feeling guilty for making them so depressed within the first few minutes of getting to know them. Then a tiny voice whispered in his head, a familiar one he had not heard in a very long time: “Doesn’t hurt to be optimistic every once in a while, you know!” Pain stabbed into his heart, remembering Lightning. It was strange to think he had actually lived an entire life without even remembering his best friend ever existed, but still miss him all the same. But he would have wanted me to remain optimistic. There’s still hope. Dr. Hawk hasn’t won the battle just yet! Night Ember looked back up at his friends, who were all staring forlornly at the ground, their expressions downcast and dejected. “Hey, come on, guys, there’s no need to be so miserable!” he grinned. “We’re a team now, right? What about sharing a little about our good memories back in… Equestria 2.0?” he hastily invented. Bolt’s face lit up. “Oooh, I like that idea!” He sat down on his haunches, making himself comfortable on the tiled floor. He cleared his throat. “Back in Equestria 2.0, I worked in the local bowling alley! Was in charge of cleaning the lanes, renting out shoes and other cool stuff.” He smiled, relishing the memory. “Sure, it didn’t pay too much, but boy, was it fun to unwind after work with a game or two with my co-workers!” “That sounds awesome!” Night encouraged. “And did you have any family?” “Well, I had my parents, but no wife or children, if that’s what you mean. Nah, I was a lone wolf,” he laughed, leaning back casually onto an empty tank. He turned to Sid. “What about you? What was your life like?” Sid froze. “Huh? Oh, uh, right. Yeah, life was pretty good… I, uh… yep, I had a wife and uh… two sons. Worked at the bakery,” he added, grinning at the others, a little too widely. “You sure about that, Sid?” Bolt joked, punching him in the shoulder playfully. “Yeah, yeah, of course,” Sid replied, laughing awkwardly. “Just caught me a little off guard there, I suppose.” “Heh, okay,” Night replied with a smile, turning to Jasmine, who looked even more depressed than before. “How about you, Jas—” “I don’t want to talk about it right now, thanks,” Jasmine blurted hurriedly, her face turning red. “I mean, uh… You can go first, Night.” Night frowned, sharing a worried look with Bolt, who just shrugged. “Oh… uh, okay, sure.” He paused, wondering where to begin. “Well… back in Equestria 2.0, I had a loving wife and a beautiful, beautiful daughter.” “Honey Maple and Sweet Dreamer, right?” “Wait, what — oh, right, you guys already know their names,” Night chuckled in embarrassment. “I also used to work in the candle-making business… made all sorts of scented candles for the ponies of Ponyville. That’s actually where I was last when you all released me from the tank,” he added gratefully. Bolt let out a little laugh, causing the others to turn to look at him in bewilderment. “What’s so funny?” Sid asked. “Oh, nothing. It’s just that… we’ve been talking about how awesome our lives were, being Lucid Dreamers in that simulation,” he explained, beaming, “but we never actually noticed how awesome our lives are right now. I mean, look, we’re all still alive, we’re out of the simulation, and, I know it sounds really cheesy, but…” He grinned, his blue eyes twinkling. “…we’re all here together. As a team, just like Night said.” Night smiled back at him. In a way, Silver Bolt almost reminded him of Lightning; the ways they could joke around and bring light to a dark situation were so similar it was almost eerie. Sid rolled his eyes. “I agree. It does sound really cheesy.” They all laughed, except Jasmine, who sat quietly by herself, not looking at any of the other three. She must still really miss her life in the simulation, Night guessed. He decided not to pressure her about it any more for the time being, but made a mental note to himself to ask her about it when she was feeling a little better. He didn’t have much more time to think about it, though, as suddenly, quiet hoofsteps could be heard coming closer, closer and closer to the laboratory. Bolt widened his eyes and almost started hyperventilating, but was quickly shushed by Jasmine. The voices that accompanied those hoofsteps were getting closer, closer and closer too. “I think I heard something coming from the main laboratory!” “No, that can’t be. We already checked it, and there was nopony there!” Came the reply, even louder this time. “I’m certain! They’re definitely here!” “Don’t move,” Jasmine hissed. Everypony followed suit. CRASH! A group of armed ponies clad in full combat gear barged into the lab. “Come out, come out, wherever you are, little Lucid Dreamers,” one of them said in a sing-song voice, clutching an AK-47 in his hooves. “You can’t hide for long!” They began searching the far end of the lab, further away from the four escapees. “Um… guys, I don’t think I can hold the invisibility spell much longer,” Sid whispered. “What?!” Night whispered back, almost too loudly. “I told you guys it was only short-term!” Jasmine, Bolt and Night stared at each other in a panic, as the shimmering dome of invisibility shrank slowly back into Sid’s horn, completely exposing them to Dr. Hawk’s elite guards. Great. Night gulped. Just great.