//------------------------------//
// Dreams and Nightmares 
// Story: Angels and Demons 3: Winds of Destiny 
// by lunabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Marenaris was put in the infirmary, and Sarah didn't see anymore of the lunar guards in the corridors, as they had been reposted. No one knew to where they had gone, but they had left not long before Marenaris had gone to see Sarah. The aspect of the former captain that she had absorbed stood in her. It felt like a tall regal column of inner strength and confidence. No one could stare her down. And with it was a certain intuition about the world. Sarah knew now how many ponies it would roughly take to infiltrate and hold down this facility. Though she also had a gnawing realization that she didn't have any troops to care for or command. The ponies around her had fear in their eyes, it was obvious that the last encounter with Marenaris had changed her. Certainly her changeling side had grown strong, much stronger. This was the essence of being a changeling, being able to make another ponies talents and feelings your own. The door in front of her opened, she was told to go there for debriefing on the mission outline. Inside, standing in front of a blackboard was Silver, her father. 
"I got back in sooner than I thought I would, Sarah." He put down a clipboard. "I see you've been busy recently. How are you feeling?"

Sarah shrugged. She had changed beyond recognition in the last two months, both in physical appearance and attitude. Silver's little girl was long gone, and a mare stood before him, a strange mare who just happened to share his daughters name. "Ready for briefing and field work." She said confidently. She approached him, trying to get a peek at what was on the clipboard. Exhaust no options, every little thing might help in some way.

A quick scan confirmed that it just held some simple reports about her, charting her progress. Rookie mistakes were past her at this point, hand her a platoon and she'd lead them into war. "I guess you are.. they're worried they're going to have to teach Marenaris to talk all over again." He regarded her, with a little measure of fear.. she could smell that on him. There were hints of bitterness and disappointment as well, but she could detect what drove it. Not unless she feed off him. "Your mother should see you now." Sarcasm dripped off the comment. "Test: Your little brother Roll is afraid of heights, can tell me why?"

Sarah considered feeding, but did not. She had more than enough energy for now, and her mother would never forgive her if she turned Silver into a vegetable. Sarah frowned, and began to pace back and forth. Just once she wanted to hear her father say 'You're doing wonderful, Sarah' or 'I'm proud of you, Sarah.' But he didn't. "Mother took him out for flying lessons when he was young, didn't he get too close to a dragon flyover or something?" She asked. It hadn't been all that long ago, but she had never thought too deeply about the issue.

He tapped his hoof looking a bit aggressive as well. "Close enough, there's no real personality change, except that you're getting more caustic, and disciplinary…" He put down the notepad. "Why are we about to fight again? I guess I could order to stand at attention and you'd follow it now huh?!" He took a deep breath and let it go. "Sarah, your mom wants you to go home. A lot. I care deeply about you, and I want you to go home. Little Roll and even Quick wants you to go home." He looked at her sympathetically. "Is it about proving yourself? You've... you've really surprised me how far you're willing to go. I'm impressed Sarah.. no really I am. You've done and outdone yourself. Twice over."

This time it was Sarah's turn to look absolutely stunned. She honestly hadn't expected to ever hear her father say that about her defiance. She did something then that she hadn't done since before she left. She pushed forward into Silvers forelegs and nuzzled him. "I won't ever get up." She swore. "I love you, and I love mom, and I love my siblings.  But I won't ever give up. You don't understand what it's like to grow up blank, to have everyone always staring and whispering. The teachers think I'm stupid and want to hold me back. Mom talks to doctors when she thinks I'm not listening. I HAVE to do this."

It felt different, felt through hard carapace, and her holey limbs smeared a film of goo on his chest, but a hug from your father was still that. "You don't, you can go from this mission, and keep your memory and you'll work with me on amazing projects." It was obvious he wasn't saying this to convince her, because that was clearly impossible, but to reassure her of what she meant to him. "Because I'm afraid of what going to happen to you. I never thought it would be, some pony else… Listen, don't become a monster, okay? Live with them, sleep with them, feed with them, act like them, but don't become one of them for real. Remember Roll and Quick, Emerald, me and your mom okay?"

Sarah looked at him, she had grown so much in so little time. To quote one of Angels favorite films, one of the few she'd seen during her few times on Earth with him, there was something there that wasn't there before. "I will NEVER become one of them." She hissed, an unnatural sound. "I get in, I shut down their battle plans, I get out, I go home. Easy."

"Easy... in fact even if you've only learned roughly how many there are, and there, that's enough. Learn their layout and their plans, then haul plot and get out. Now… here's the plan." He rolled out a large sheet of paper showing various roughly circular paths. "We know that changelings are stationed somewhere in the Everfree Forest, and they return to the pony settlements on occasion. They've made a few kidnappings, so they're obviously gathering up magic for an assault. One of their hunters is living in a small pony settlement. She lives as an earth pony by the name of Peach, the original was kidnapped a long time ago. We have reasons to believe that she'll soon join the other changelings. You'll infiltrate her house, knock her unconscious and feed her dry so that you can impersonate her." 

"You won't be alone on the mission, two guards will be at your disposal. We're afraid that she'll attempt to escape if they see them coming, so it might be best if you play changeling who's cover is blown. Then when her guard is down you can subdue her and call in the guards." He looked at her, smirking a bit. "Can you do a changeling who's disguise is partially failing?"

"Of course." Sarah said. "Shifting was one of the things I excelled at." She said proudly. "So you want me to knock her unconscious, then run back to the other Changelings only half-shifted, and order an immediate evacuation?"

"Oh no you got me wrong, I think if you simple went in to her house and introduced yourself as a changeling that might work as well. However it might catch her off guard if you ran in looking like a changeling who's screwed up, she might tell you some useful things and get herself distracted with planning for a getaway. Knock her unconscious, feed as much off her as you can, take her role and carry out her mission profile. I'm sure it will have her returning to them very soon. They won't notice if her personality has changed a little, apparently it happens to changelings depending on who they've been feeding on."

Sarah nodded. "Gotcha, right, I can do that." She said. Then changed the subject slightly, a hint of regret on her voice. "Mom doesn't know what we're doing yet, does she? I feel like if she knew she'd come rushing in her by herself to get me out and somepony would get killed."

He chuckled. "Your mother knows we have lied to her, but not to the extend that the trail of deceit has buried itself. If your mother what we were doing, she'd lock me in a basement, instigate a military coup against her mother, ascend to regal alicornhood, just so that she could be in a position of authority to order you home. And after that she'd give both of our plots a whooping. Speaking of whom, I should get home again before she gets worried and forms a search party out of the entire Evodian Guard."

Sarah just smiled. "That sounds like my mother, alright."

***

Back at home, Angel had been taking a shower. The house was quieter than usual, a quiet which always disturbed her. The colts were in bed, Emerald was out with a friend, Silver and Sarah were Celestia knew where doing Luna knew what. She hated that, not knowing what they were up to. Not being able to be trusted with the whereabouts of her own daughter. She had retired to bed early, a bit upset, and fallen asleep with thoughts of betrayal in her head. When she had woken, an otherwise routinely normal act, she immediately felt a sense of disorientation. Why was light coming through the window? Since when had they been stained glass? And why were they so tall? Angel rubbed her eyes. The Silver she had talked to in her sleep had been replaced with a large luxuriously crafted pillow next to her. Finely embroidered silk sheets covered her. Tall crystalline windows with inset pictograms.  Alabaster walls. She could recognize a royal suite in Evodia any day. What was she doing here all of the sudden? In fact it wasn't just any royal suite... it was hers. Only larger and more elaborately gilded. Stretching her neck she noticed something.. her neck felt long.. regally long. This was a fairly large bed, yet her hindhooves were touching the bottom as she stretched.

Angel was no stranger to unusual events, that came with the territory of living in Equestria. After a while you just tried to get used to such things. Seeing Silver missing immediately concerned her, and she sat up, more scared for him than anything else at first thought. "Silver? Silver!" She called. Angel rolled out of bed, hooves hitting the floor. She glanced out the window, frowning at the mountainous region. "I shouldn't be here..."

Her voice sounded recognizable enough, though it had gained some deeper authoritarian tones she had never noticed. At least not in herself. Her coloration was white, and the few locks of her hair she could see was golden. She was Angel, and neither Celestia nor Novaria. Her calls for Silver gave off some echoes against the walls. The room even smelled as remembered it had. Some of the furniture she recognized from her room, but she had obviously grown taller. There was her writing desk where she had done the correspondence part of her medical training. A diploma would be hanging somewhere as well, but she couldn't spot it. A door opened and an Evodian servant stepped in. Dark furred and with a blue mane. 
"Your majesty is up, shall I summon the doctor?" He asked. Two possibilities presented themselves to her mind, having studied magical ailments. This could all be an enchanted dream, which would reveal itself if it was too good or too horrible to be real, the other possibility… was that she was a lot older than she thought, how many ailments caused amnesia? She noticed some medicine on the table next to the bed, fever quelling medicine and painkillers.

Angel was disoriented, and her brain was working overtime. Majesty. Doctor. Something was wrong with Novaria? The other alternative... no, she didn't want to consider that. "What's wrong with Novaria?" She asked hesitantly, afraid she was going insane. "Where is my daughter? Where's Silver?" She demanded.

This had to be a dream... his uniform was wrong. Servants didn't wear this kind of clothing in Evodia, it was too clean and close cut to his body. Growing nervous as she thundered, he backstepped a bit. Power welled and roared inside her, magical energies she had never had, arced from her horn. 
"Your Majesty, please." A guard, wearing a strange close fit armor and goggles came into view. 
"Your highness, Princess Angel, its me, General Swift. Don't you recognize me?" the mare spoke this time.
"She's asking about her daughter and... Silver?" The servant obviously didn't know who Silver was. The general obviously did, looking a bit sad. 
"Your highness... your husband has been dead for… two hundred years." She didn't mention anything about her children though.

Angel simply stood there for a moment. It had been only last night that she had spoken to him last. That was impossible. She asked again, and only got the same response. She backed away from the guards trying to close in on her, and her horn began to glow brighter than it ever had before. Emotions swirled around inside her, confusion, anger, fury, sadness. Angel Wing screamed, a mournful, heart breaking, ear splitting shriek of despair that echoed down the hallways. An enormous burst of wind and fire rippled in all directions from her body, shattering the window, fracturing antique frames. Any pony in the vicinity would be (mostly harmlessly) slammed against the wall. Angel screamed until she couldn't anymore, and fell to the ground, the floor black and scorched beneath her.

She collapsed in a bundle, in a small dark crater of her own making, against the warm glowing rocks. Lost in her sorrow. It was so easy to see how it had all played out. When the dust cleared she saw the general, the only one standing. The mare's mane singed, but she stood resolutely with sympathy in her eyes. Only an old friend would care enough, to brave the wild energies Angel had unleashed. She reached a hoof into the crater. "You were having the dream about Canterlot?"

"It's not a dream!" Angel insisted. "It's real, I was just there! I was there yesterday!" She protested. "If this is a sick joke, I swear to Celestia, I'll have you all court martialed!" She was angry now. She sank to her knees, tears leaking from her eyes. "I want my family. I want them now." It was what had always kept her away from the life of royalty, she much preferred the family life.

General Swift stepped into the crater, minding some red hot glowing areas. "Of course it wasn't a dream your highness. You really did have a family, a family you told me on many occasions that you loved.. but it was so long ago. I asked, not because I think you never had a family like that, but because you've been taken ill.. and you often told me you dreamed of them." The pegasus mare explained, undeterred. "I've been leading your army for well over a decade, we've fought alongside each other.. you don't remember me?"

It was easy to see how her life could have ended up like this. Eventually she would have caved to Novaria's wishes, and become a princess again, and one day for some reason Novaria had meet her ultimate end and Angel had risen to take charge of Evodia. An immortal alicorn, forever preserving her country's ideals and best wishes. And Silver would have loved her through it, and she would have kept his aging at bay for as long as she could, and then he would slip through her hooves. The general stirred her, pushed her shoulder, not content to leave her in her agony. "It's alright, Angel. It's alright." The generals face became a bit distorted, Bats and demons burst out of the ground, The momentary comfort of the general becoming the tight vice grip of her own mother.
"This is what you wanted, Angel!" Novaria was laughing. "This is what you wanted!"

Angel Wing screamed.

"Angel!" Silver woke her, it was dark outside. Her whole body was sweating. "You were crying and whimpering in your sleep." It was unknown at what point during the night Silver had actually returned from wherever he went during the day. Most likely at some ungodly hour.

Angel pulled Silver towards her. She was sweating,and crying, and breathing heavily. "Silver..." She whispered, planting her lips firmly against his. "It was awful, you were dead, and I was a princess, and the children were gone..." She whimpered. "Don't you leave me, don't you dare ever leave me." Her love for him was immaculate, she just couldn't tolerate a life without him in it.