As the sun rose up to shine it’s light over Ponyville, a unicorn by the name of Sapphire simply stared out the window to witness it instead of being awoken by the sun as she normally does. After waking up from her dream by some kind of nightmarish monster, Sapphire has been unable to return to her slumber. Instead, her mind dwelled on the creature itself. She knew that she hadn't recovered any memory that involved the creature, nor had she read about one or even seen any pictures that resemble it. Even though she encountered it in her dream, she couldn't pass it off as some kind of horrifying mental construct of her mind. She sensed that she was familiar with the creature, which only disturbed her more on the idea that she may have some knowledge on such a terrifying monster. Eventually, her stupor came to an end when she heard a knocking on her door.

"Sapphire? Are you awake, dear? I made some breakfast and I know you would hate to miss a meal," Rarity called out from behind the door.

"I am Rarity! I'll be down in a minute!" Sapphire shouted back, before taking one last look out of her window as she took in a deep breath. I think I should tell Twilight about this when I can, maybe she has an answer to... whatever that thing was, Sapphire thought to herself before she trotted out her room and down the stairs, catching the sight of Rarity waiting for her at the dining table with their breakfast spread out before her. Sapphire was about to lick her lips at the sight of the meal before noticing that Rarity had a concerned look on her face.

"Sapphire, dear, are you alright?" Rarity asked as Sapphire took a seat across from her. "I don't mean to pry, but normally you're at the table the moment you get a whiff of me cooking breakfast."

"Oh, nothing's wrong. I was just watching the sunrise," Sapphire replied, hoping that she didn't have to reveal her dream. She quickly started piling some food on her plate with her magic, only for it to be stopped by Rarity's own magic.

"Sapphire, you're not going to fool me with that," Rarity chided with a disappointed expression on her face. It soon morphed into one of concern as she lowered Sapphire's food onto her plate. "If there is something wrong, as your friend, I would do my best to help you. So please, tell me what is bothering you."

Letting out a sigh, Sapphire said, "Okay... I'll tell you. Last night, after Luna left after helping me recover another memory, I went back to my dreams. Only this time, I encountered some kind of monster I had never seen before. Yet, for some reason, the creature felt familiar to me, like I'm supposed to know what it is. After seeing that beast, I woke up from my slumber and I wasn't able to sleep. Instead, all I could was think about why I would know such a thing."

Looking at Rarity, Sapphire saw that her friend was looking at her intensely before finally saying, "I... that is something I think nopony would expect to encounter, even in their own dreams. What I can say, or rather ask, is what do you plan to do about it?"

"Well... I don't know... I could talk to Twilight about it, but with the Arulas matter, I don't want to distract her with this thing as well. I could also wait till I meet up with Luna and talk to her instead since she's the one that would know the most about dreams. Though, I just want to figure out why I have this feeling that I should recognize that creature."

Tilting her head in thought, Rarity replied, "Perhaps that creature is some kind of recurring nightmare of yours? I can't really offer you much insight into whatever it may be, but if you want to wait till you can talk to Luna about it, I suggest that you put that worrisome dream aside and enjoy the day instead. If there is nothing you can do about it right now, then you should focus on things that make you happy, like enjoying your breakfast?"

Staring at Rarity for a moment, Sapphire smiled as she responded, "Yeah, you're probably right about that. I guess I should just wait till I can talk to Luna about it," before wrapping her magic around a fork, only to drop it when a rather loud thump was heard from the window. The two mares turned to look at the source, only to see that a cross-eyed grey pegasus with a yellow mane in a postal uniform had slammed into the window.

Smiling at the two, the mare said, "Delivery for a Ms. Sapphire Rain!" as she reached into her postal bag to pull out an envelope.

As Sapphire just gawked at the scene before her, Rarity simply shrugged it off as she exclaimed, "That must be your paycheck, Sapphire! That means you can go house hunting today!"

Glancing at Rarity, Sapphire asked, "Shouldn't we be more concerned about the mailpony that flew into your window?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about Derpy," Rarity replied as she opened the window. "Thank you for the delivery, Derpy."

"Just doing my duty," Derpy said as she gave Rarity a salute while smiling at her before flapping hers wings to fly out of the boutique.

"...I still say we should have be concerned about how she is after slamming into our window like that," Sapphire commented as Rarity floated the envelope to her.

"Oh posh, you're worrying too much, pegasi are known to be quite durable. Don't tell Rainbow I told you this, but she herself crashed several times before but she came out just fine. Besides, you yourself came out just dandy after being hit by the Crusader's 'contraption'," Rarity countered with a smirk. "Now go open up the letter so we can see how much Photo Finished decided to pay you."

Frowning at the fact that her meal was delayed a second time, Sapphire opened up the envelope, pulling out a check as she read out it’s contents. "Hmm... it says I'm being paid seven thousand bits," Sapphire said, only to blink in surprise as Rarity gasped at her.

"Seven... seven... seven thousand bits! What did you do for her that made her pay you that much‽" Rarity cried out as she slammed her hooves on the table.

"Umm... just a couple of photo shoots and a fashion show?" Sapphire answered with an awkward smile, only for Rarity to lean over the table to grab Sapphire's cheeks with her hooves.

"Why didn't you tell me you were in a fashion show‽" Rarity shrieked, her eyes now pinpricks.

"I... um... didn't think it was important enough to mention?" Sapphire replied, her smile more forced than ever. It quickly faded as she saw Rarity's left eye twitching.

"Not... important?" Rarity croaked out, causing Sapphire to sweat a bit. That is, till her stomach rumbled, causing both of them to look down at it.

"...I know you have a lot to say about my... blunder, but can we eat first? I'm getting really hungry now."

"So, shortly after my departure, this nightmare suddenly sprang on you?" Luna asked, her horn alight as she scanned Sapphire's dreamscape. After receiving an earful from Rarity about how every little detail of the fashion world matters to her, the duo went onto heading over to the local bank to create a bank account for Sapphire before proceeding onto searching for a house. Due to being just a modest village, it didn’t take long to find the few houses that were for sale. Sapphire choose a modest one that wasn’t too far off from the center of town, mainly because it was just a mild walk away from the boutique. There was still some paperwork to be done, but Rarity assured her that she would do all she can to aid Sapphire in getting through the process of getting the home she desired.

“Yes Princess Luna, it just… appeared suddenly right after I returned to my dream. But that isn’t wasn’t weird part,” Sapphire started to explain.

“Hmm? There is more?”

“Yes… for you see, even though that thing’s frightening appearance woke me up, it all gave me a feeling that I should have known it, or at least knew what it was. Yet, I don’t recall ever reading anything that even resembled that creature,” Sapphire said, shivering at the thought of the beast.

“Peculiar… the description of that beast you gave me led me to believe that it was some kind of creature that roamed the dream scape, yet my magic detected no trace of any intrusion into your dream. Hence, whatever it may be, it is just a simple construct of your mind. However, since its appearance is rather… outlandish to say the least, I believe I may have a theory on the nature of that nightmare,” Luna replied as the aura of magic on her horn died down.

“You do?” Sapphire responded, her head tilting from her curiosity.

“Yes, for it may be possible that this nightmare is a recurring one that you had prior to your memory loss.”

“...Really? It is… just something from my past?” Sapphire asked with a skeptical expression.

“Indeed, possible one that you may have conjured when you were a foal. Sometimes nightmares aren’t as straightforward as one would think, and you may have one time in your youth mistook some object in the dark as some kind of horrifying monster. The mind can easily distorted one’s perception of things, which could possibly explain this nightmare’s appearance,” Luna explained.

Looking down at the ground for a moment before returning her gaze to Luna, Sapphire said, “Are you certain about that?”

Keeping a neutral expression, Luna replied, “Like I said, it is a possible explanation, but for me to be able to draw upon a better answer, I would need to know if there are any other feelings beyond just familiarity with that nightmare. If it is truly from your past in some way, you may possess forgotten emotions that you have linked with the being. I know it may be disturbing for you to think about such a creature, but if you want answers, you must concentrate on that creature and that feeling, as well as bring an image of it to the dreamscape so I can see it for myself.”

Frowning, Sapphire let out a sigh as she replied, “Alright… I’ll try…” before closing her eyes, her mind returning to that mere moment she saw the beast, where she focused on trying to conjure its image into the dream. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the beast appear, though only its head was summoned.

“By Faust… what is that thing?” Luna voiced out as she backed away from a draconic shape head, its jaw barely open to reveal its sharp fangs, with greenish smoke drifting out of its maw. Looking at it, she could see that it was something that could give ponies night terrors if it ever existed, yet it seemed to much of a nightmare based on the blackish green skin it possess, not appearing to be the scales of a reptilian creature, yet not being fur or simple skin either. Staring into the being’s dark yellow eyes, Luna shivered as she felt like they were projecting some kind of sheer hatred toward whatever creature that would venture into its gaze.

“I take it you never seen something like that before in the real world?” Sapphire asked as she slowly backed away from the thing.

“No, I have never seen any evil nor monster that would even possess a visage like this. It is so… alien to the very nature of the fearsome monsters that roam across Equus. Truly, this is something that can only be created by one’s imagination,” Luna answered before turning her attention towards Sapphire. “Now focus on this nightmare, and tell me if there are any emotions you may feel towards it.”

Nodding, Sapphire looked upon the creature, as she try to recall anything about it. “I… I think… I feel fear… yet anger from it.”

Tapping her chin with her hoof, Luna stated, “Interesting, to possess those two emotions complicates the nature of this nightmare. While it narrows down the possibilities on its potential origins.” Looking upon Sapphire, Luna continued, “For now, if it is a recurring nightmare, at best I could only banish it temporarily until you recover the memories on what cause the nightmare to come into being.”

Sighing, Sapphire replied, “Great… yet another problem caused by my amnesia.”

“Do not fret, for it is only a matter of time before we recover your memories, even more so if your family finds you soon. This is naught but a passing matter for you,” Luna declared. “For now, be patient, for things will turn to the better with time.”

Gazing upon Luna, Sapphire softly smiled as she said, “Yeah.. you’re right. With friends like Rarity and Twilight, I suppose that this is just another bump in the road for me, one that I will overcome with time.”