The Price of Peace

Chapter 3: Calm Before the Storm

October 17-22, 1489

He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

-Psalm 18:34 [King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)]

Twilight Sparkle was almost to the point of pure, unadulterated, hysterics.

After speaking with Princess Celestia, the unicorn had tried to teleport back through the barrier that had been erected for Canterlot but, to her dismay, had found that it was now impossible to pass through. The weaknesses that she had previously exploited no longer seemed to exist anywhere in the shield.

The princess must have figured out how I got to the castle and 'plugged the leaks' so to speak in the force-field. Twilight rationalized to herself.

Fine, if she couldn't get through by magical means, it looked like she was exited the capital turned citadel the old fashion way: sprinting.

Twilight dashed through the door for the powder room and proceeded to leave the throne room in her dust, ignoring the looks she received by everypony around the table, with the exception of Princess Celestia. The Solar Princess simply seemed to stare with a sad, knowing expression as her pupil disappeared out of the massive double doors.

Twilight ran as fast as she could through the corridors of the castle, expertly weaving her way through the maze of halls that were already filled with ponies. The military officers and servants alike stopped to watch as Celestia's student shot past them as if her life depended upon it.

In a way, in Twilight's mind, it did.

Finally reaching the castle gates, the mare skidded to a halt as she impatiently waited for the guards protecting the golden fortifications to open them and allow her to carry on. As she waited for a few moments, she noticed that not all of the Royal Guard had been sent to the front when the initial fighting had broken out.

A few still seemed to call the castle grounds their domain of assignment.

When the gates were finally opened, Twilight wasted no time in darting through the barricade and hastily making her way down the crowded streets that were clogged to the brim with stallions from every corner of Equestria. Twilight tried to push, shout, and squeeze her way through the mass of males but it all was for not.

In her frantic search for a way through the crowd, Twilight couldn't help but notice that from almost every window of every high-rise building around them, a head or two of the Canterlotian inhabitants stuck out and watched as the new soldiers walked past.

It had an strange eeriness to it, despite the overwhelming noise that seemed to smash against her poor ears.

Becoming fed up with the situation before her, the unicorn almost screamed in frustration until she remembered something she should have thought of minutes ago. Rolling her eyes and mentally berated herself for being so lax in her memory, Twilight closed her eyes and, concentrating, pulled her self through null space until she reached a huge wall that forced her from the nether void.

She landed hard onto the grass below her as the magic plugs in the force-field pulled her rather violently from her teleportation. Twilight lifted her aching head and smiled when she saw that her jump had worked. The field had pulled her out exactly where she had intended to be.

About thirty yards to her left was the break in the force-field she had been looking for, the one that the stallions were using to access the city. Picking herself up, Twilight quickly made her way to the opening and slipped through, much to the puzzlement of the stallions who had not yet made it through the barrier and to the ones who already had.

The mare paid no heed to them however as she rushed by and hightailed it to a nearby group of trees about a hundred yards from the city. There she stopped to catch her breath and rest a little as she watched the capital from afar. She noticed that, at that particular moment, a train with enormous length was allowed through the barrier and proceeded into the Canterlot station.

Troop transport Twilight absentmindedly thought.

Seeing as her breathing was back to normal, the mare once again squeezed her eyes shut as her lorn lit up. This would be a longer jump then previously and, with the absence of adrenaline, it would cost much of her strength.

Fixing her mind on her destination, Twilight was sucked into the moving space of nothing as she traveled along to Ponyville. Coming to her treehouse, the mare exited the space of time and was deposited in the middle of the room. She staggered a bit as hunger beset her stomach.

Shakily, she walked to her kitchen and made herself a late lunch, trying hard not to break down in tears in the absence of her usual cook. It was around two o'clock and the mare wanted to pack and sneak away as soon as she could. There was no time to waste if she was to save Spike.

Quickly wolfing down the two sandwiches she had made, Twilight drank some water before she began searching her house, collecting any useful items she thought she would need for her trip. Most of the things she would bring were essentials such as money, food, water, and a few maps.

Over an hour and a half passed before the mare looked and saw that she had procured everything she thought she would need. It had taken her longer then she had expected due to the fact that she had debated with herself numerous times over if what she was bringing would be needed or not.

Stowing the last item into her saddle bag, Twilight strapped it across her back and, after doing a once over of her library just to be safe, proceeded to the door. It was only as she got it that a knock came from outside, slightly startling the unicorn as she had had her mind elsewhere.

Trying to calm her beating heart, Twilight slowly opened the door to reveal a shaking Fluttershy on her doorstep.

Puzzled and worried by the sight before her, the Element of Magic asked, "Fluttershy? Is everything alright? Did something happen to Angel?"

Fluttershy's eyes met Twilights for a few soundless moments and what the unicorn saw within threatened to break her heart in two. The sadness that shown from Fluttershy's eyes was unlike anything she had ever seen from the pegasus. Granted, she had seen some pretty rough moments in her friend's life but never sorrow of this magnatude.

"Twilight," the mare said quietly, "would... would you mind if I came in for a few minutes? If it's not too much trouble, I mean. Rainbow Dash is in Cloudsdale with her mother right now so I thought........ If you're too busy though, it's okay, I can find somepony else....."

The yellow pegasus had already seemingly talked herself out of why she had come in the first place and was already turning around to walk away when Twilight answered, "No! No, it's okay, you can come in. you should know by now that I never turn a friend away."

Backing inside the treehouse, the unicorn made room for Fluttershy to come past the threshold after the pegasus had briefly hesitated before entering the library. Closing the door, Twilight motioned towards the small couch she had put near the western wall, where a break in the bookcases had been made for extra space.

Sitting down, the mare was offered a drink of some kind, to which she graciously declined. Twilight sat down beside her friend and, after a long silence had ensued, asked in a soothing voice, "What troubles you Fluttershy? Is there anything I can do for you?"

Fluttershy opened her mouth, as if to reply but then shut it again, shaking just a tad bit more. The shy mare worked her jaw a little as tears formed in her eyes and threatened to unleash floods if they were ever released. Her heart once again aching for her friend, Twilight put a foreleg around Fluttershy's should and ask, "Shy?"

It was then her lip began to tremble and tears began to spill down her cheeks as the pegasus answered the unicorn with not but emotions alone. Twilight pulled her into a gentle embrace as the dam broke and Fluttershy began weeping so hard that her tears soaked all the way through Twilight's fur.

In between her hiccups and hitches of breath, Fluttershy was able to get out a few words. "H-he's g-gone! Big Mac i-is gone! W-why did h-he have t-to leave Twilight? Why d-did anypony h-have to l-leave? W-why couldn't t-the dragons j-just le-eave u-us alone?! We di-dn't d-do anything t-to t-them!"

Twilight refrained from answering as Fluttershy released her pent up stress and anxiety through her tears.

Almost a half an hour past before the mare's breathing slowly began to revert back to normal and the flow of tears finally seemed to eb. Lifting her head from Twilight's shoulder, Fluttershy wiped her puffy eyes as she sniffed a few times before taking a deep breath and saying in a shaky voice, "Thank you Twilight for listening to my sobs. I think I should be going now, Angel bunny will be getting worried by now."

Twilight offered a soft smile as they both rose from the sofa. "You're welcome Fluttershy, I know how you feel. It's not easy having the one you love torn from you in an instant."

Fluttershy smiled weakly in return as she walked over to the door and proceeded out of the library.

As the door shut once more, it gave Twilight a moment to pause and rethink about what she was doing. The short time she had just spent with Fluttershy helped serve to remind her that she wasn't the only pony hurting from the loss of their significant other.

Is it selfish that I'm going to break out *just** Spike? Am I justified in what I'm doing?*

Twilight debated herself over these as she began to lose her nerve. On one side, she loved Spike and wanted to see him free and helping the country he cherished. On the other hand, however, she wasn't the only one to have somepony taken and maybe thrown into prison.

Furthermore, she realized it would be selfish to try and save just Spike. If she could get Spike out, what was stopping her from getting other non-ponies out too?

She pondered this for a minutes or so until she nodded her head firmly, resolve restored. If she was going to get Spike, she was going to get others out too.

Twilight began going over her simple, daring plan inside her head as she walked out of the library and started down the path that headed to the front of town. I can't tell anyone where I'm going obviously. I'm going to have to teleport at intervals, so I don't immediately collapse from exhaustion when I reach New Colteans. Once I get into the city, I'll have to lay low near wherever the camp is located. Letters I can send directly to Spike, seeing as the wards around the camp are most likely rudimentary at best. I'll have to make sure after I get him and maybe even a few others out, to bring him up to speed on the rest of my plan. Yeah, that will work.

Coming from her thoughts, the unicorn saw that she had reached the edge of her town. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, its rays casting long, eerie shadows out across the land. Looking around and behind her, Twilight saw that there were none around to witness her escape of sorts.

A grim expression set on her face, Twilight closed her eyes and extended her mind outwards, trying to establish north, south, east, and west. Once she had done that, she located and planned out her route to New Colteans, which would consist of four jumps.

The route would take her through the town of Prance, which meant her first jump would take her half to the town, the next into the town itself, the third jump halfway to New Colteans and the fourth jump depositing her into the city. It would be somewhat difficult, seeing as she was traveling close to halfway across the continent.

Her destination locked into her mind, Twilight's horn lit up and, in a moment's instant, there was a flash and she was gone.

The moon had just reached it's zenith when the mare's horn ceased to glow, the different mapping materials were dropped and she leaned back into her desk chair to look over what she had created in a matter of four short hours. It was adequate for the present time she had decided. More elaborate plans would be drawn up as the months wore on and the recruits training progressed.

Princess Luna's face showed no emotion as she studied the tactical map that she had composed, absentmindedly rubbing her eyes a little as she did so. It had been so long since she had last fabricated plans of this magnitude; at least two centuries before her banishment to the moon.

Not much had changed in weaponry and armor, she had observed. Only a few advancements had been made in Equestria, The Kingdom of Skriiod, and the U.R.Z. She did notice, however, that The Kingdom of Vers had, by far, made the most improvements since her time. The griffons had always been the most advanced among the four species.

The princess couldn't idle over weaponry and equipment now though, that would be for later. Now, she needed to go over her map once more, just to be sure she hadn't left any information or detail out of it. It would only make her look foolish to have skimmed over a subject that needed to be covered in the war meeting about an hour from then.

The previous meeting in the throne room was to try and decide the initiate troop placements and equipment. Seeing as the meeting place had been changed, so would the topic of subject. Looking to the multi-scaled illustration, the Princess mentally went through and recited the three different armies and their stations, along with any information she would give at the briefing.

Okay, The Army of the Everfree station is to the north, in the the city of Hoofington. They number at two-hundred thousand strong, with one-hundred thousand earthponies, sixty thousand pegasus, and twenty-five thousand unicorns. Their ordinance is standard, with various weapons, armor and enough supplies to last up to six months. The Chief Commanders are General Silver Star of the First Corp, General Blinding Flash of the Second Corp and I myself as General of the Army.

The Army of the Elements is stationed to the south-west, in the city of St. Ponysburge. Both The Army of the Everfree and the Elements are posted nearest to the volcanic borders of Skriiod. The Army of the Elements also is numbered at two-hundred thousand troops, identical to the amount of earth ponies, pegasis, and unicorns. They too are equipped with standard ordinance. Their Chief Commanders are General Fleet Foot of the First Corp, General Taval of the Second Corp, and Celly as it's General of the Army.

Lastly comes The Army of Canterlot. They are to be posted here in the capital as the reserve army for the time being. As of right now, the first two armies are at full strength and will be moving out by the time the meeting is scheduled to begin. The Army of Canterlot is only at half strength right now, so the rest of the war council will probably be ranting about that little tidbit. Maybe Celestia and I can-.

Princess Luna's thoughts were cut off as a knock was heard. Knowing it was a soldier coming to escort her to the war council, the princess called out, "One moment please."

Luna summoned her royal regalia and swiftly assembling it upon herself, she rolled the tactical map up before stowing it within the breastplate of her regalia. Straightening, the princess strode to the door and, taking hold of it with magic, unlocked and opened it.

As it was opened, Luna was met with a salute from an earthpony major who was being barred with muskets by two of her personal guard, Wer Gavir di wer Thurkear or The Order of the Night. These stallions were the characters of many bedtime stories parents told their foals late at night to have them go to sleep.

These were the bat-like stallions who were chosen and raised from birth to serve and protect the Lunar Princess till their last breath. There weren't as many in the Order as in previous years though, Luna hadn't decided to resurrect her guard for a number of years after her return from the moon. Thus, there were six stallions who made up the Order and all of them were barely twenty three.

Even being so few in number, the princess' guard would escort her to the front and be with her at all times. Celestia had also been guarded by an Order once upon a time but now, as Luna had found out, her sister had long since disbanded The Order of Light. She had, instead, opted for the Royal Guards and soldiers she was protected by at the present time.

Luna, coming from her thought, nodded to her guards and they proceeded to pull their muskets apart, stoic expressions never leaving their faces. Walking out and to the right, the major fell into step with her as Luna's guards flanked them both.

The four ponies walked down the hall, took a left down another hallway and, after a few more twists and turns, came to their destination. The four stood in one of the oldest parts of the castle, one that which was built onto the mountain itself. In front of them was a single, steel door.

The door was sealed and locked by both physical and magical means, preventing anypony except the princess' and their commanders from entering. Few knew of this particular door's existence, as it was hidden in the shadows in a section of the palace that was often banned from entering.

The only ponies who were still alive to know what lay behind it were the two alicorns and five generals currently meeting in the eons old war room.

Turning her head to look at the soldier, Princess Luna commanded, "You are dismissed major; return to your post."

The officer snapped a salute before turning about and quickly disappearing behind the bend of a nearby wall. As the princess turned again to the door, Luna's guards took up their posts on either side of impenetrable slab of metal and proceeded to become like living statues.

Closing her eyes and lighting her horn, Luna expanded her consciousness toward the steel door and it's wards. Upon meeting resistance, the princess firmly asserted her magical presence against the wards, forcing them to examine her.

Recognizing the feel of the one who had cast the wards, the enchanted walls moved aside for the princess, who advanced forward unto the physical locks that also barred her way. Unlocking them, she was finally able to gain dominance over the steel and the door promptly swung inward.

Stepping through the threshold, Luna quickly shut and re-sealed the door behind her before looking upon the ponies awaiting her arrival. Gathered around a round, stone table in the middle of the room sat her sister and their five commanders. Posted throughout the room were the personal guards of the commanders and of Celestia.

The different sets of guards usually rotated on who was posted where both inside and outside of the room. The room itself was of very band sorts, seeing as it's walls and floor was covered with a coat of steel to help reinforce the stone from which the room was carved.

No other features or items were found in the chamber, except for vents in the ceiling that had been carved out and installed to help circulate air into the otherwise closed off area.

Walking over to the table, the soldiers in the room all came to attention, the commanders rising from their seats in respect. Princess Celestia also rose and greeted Luna as the guards were commanded at ease, along with the generals assembled.

Both the commanders relaxed but remained standing, so as to see to the map from a better vantage point.

Clearing her throat and laying the map out on the stone for all to see, Princess Luna cleared her throat and began her briefing.

"Gentlecolts and sister of mine, I have pondered the discussions and questions from our earlier meeting in the throne room and I think I have come up with solutions to all of them. So, I will spend the next few minutes laying out the conclusions I have wrought but with no questions until I am finished. Am I understood?"

"Yes princess" the five replied.

Nodding her head, Luna pointed a hoof at the map and began her briefing, just like she had planned. "You all know that, at the present time, we have three armies divided and ready to begin training. The Army of the Everfree will be based in the north at the city of Hoofington, with over two-hundred thousand troops strong. Intelligence believes that the draconic city of Wintek, which lies one-hundred seventy miles across their dormant volcanic borders from Hoofington, will be where the dragons will likely amass their forces first. For this reason, I will taking direct command of the army, with Generals Silver Star and Blinding Flash as my corp commanders."

Silver Star, an earthpony, and Blinding Flash, a pegasus, both dipped their heads is acceptance.

The princess continued, saying, "The Army of the Elements will be stationed in the south-west, at St.Ponysburge,  one-hundred fifty-five miles across the border from the draconic city of Marfedelom. They also number at two-hundred thousand troops. My sister has deemed it appropriate to also take command of the army, due to fact it is close to a potential staging area for the enemy. She has chosen Generals Fleet Foot and Taval to lead her corps."

Both the pegasis and unicorn inclined their heads.

"Finally, we have The Army of Canterlot. While the first two armies are fully equipped in ponies and ordinance, The Army of Canterlot is only currently at half strength and looks like it will stay that way for the foreseeable future, due the shortage of supplies and stallions. In light of this, the job of commanding the reserve forces falls to the every capable General Shining Armor. He will be responsible for the reserved forces, the homefront's moral and for the defense of this city."

If Shining Armor was surprised by his new assignment, he didn't show it. He simply nodded his head like his fellow generals and showed no emotion about his placement. In fact, it seemed to Luna that the former Captain of the Royal Guard was taking the news quite well.

"That concludes my end of this briefing. If anypony has any questions about their assignments or anything that we have discussed here today, I will hear them now."

Silence.

Nodding her head, Luna concluded the brief meeting with thus. "Very well then, my sister will bring the rest of you up to speed on what ordinance and supplies you will be getting for the next few months while the recruits train. I must make my way to Hoofington now, my troops will be arriving in a few days and I need to prepare a few things."

Without another word, the princess turned about and, after unlocking the door, proceeded outside, sealing it behind her. Luna's guards fell into place with their princess as the three ponies exited the restricted area of the castle. Luna would need only to collect a few winter clothes for the journey, the rest of what she would need was being transported with her army.

Sending one of her guards to fetch her clothing and the other to alert the rest of her guard, Luna walked out into the castle courtyard and summoned a carriage to be brought around. The soldiers guarding the courtyard quickly moved to comply and within ten minutes, a carriage being pulled by two privates landed in front of her.

By this time, the rest of Luna's Order had assembled around her. Two went up and relieved the privates from their duties, while the next two took position inside the carriage with the princess after she got in. The last two took up positions on either side of the carriage, supplying an escort while in the air.

"Let us be off then, my friends. We have no use staying here any longer than we must, We have an army to train."

With that, the carriage took off into the night, the sound of a train whistle echoing through the night.

Pipsqueak was jolted awake as the train lurched to a halt, wheels squeaking loudly as they slid across the track. He blinked his eyes a few times and shook his head, trying hard to rid himself of the grogginess that was assailing his head. He cracked his neck and tried to stretch his aching muscles as the train lurched once more before finally coming to a complete stand still.

Pip's breath came out in puffs of smoke as the stallion shivered slightly as he turned to see out the window that snow was falling at a steady pace. Even in mid October it seemed like winter had already set in for the next few months. If this was what it was like in the fall, Pipsqueak dreaded to know how cold it would be when the winter months actually arrived.

It looked to be about midday, if the the position of the sun behind the clouds was anything to go by.

Pip looked away from the window to see that his fellow recruits were beginning to gather what little possessions they had brought with them and stand to depart from the train. The young male likewise did the same as the stallions in front of him began moving forward and out of the train.

Pipsqueak followed and, upon disembarking from the locomotive, was immediately bombarded with sights, smells, and sounds completely foreign to him. All around him, ponies milled about, shouting was heard all across the platform and the smell of burning coal permeated everything nearby.

He and the rest of the recruits were led in lines out of the station and into the city itself, only after nearly ten minutes of pushing and shoving though. It was outside the station that Pipsqueak got a good look of the city he would be calling his home for the next few months.

He looked to be near the north-eastern end of the city. A giant stone wall rose up behind him and, when he saw it, made him feel very small. The wall looked to be about six stories in height and was at least nine feet thick. It encompassed the entire city in it's protectiveness, for it had been originally built nearly a thousand years before when a similar situation of violence had arisen.

The wall had ended up being constructed for not as the conflict had smoothly been diverted towards a more peaceful end but it was still kept in the event should another event arise. Now, nearly an eon later, it would finally be put to the use for which it had been intended.

Pipsqueak was jarred from his gazing as multiple officers began shouting throughout the crowd of recruits. They were all directed towards the city center, where they were going to be addressed by the General of the Army before being processed into a specific corp and units.

Not really having a choice in the matter, Pip was swept with the crowd of recruits towards the center, passing multiple high rises and other buildings with ponies hanging out of almost every window. Most ponies in the windows cheered as loud as they could, raining confetti down upon the new soldiers in welcome to their city.

However, Pip noticed a few ponies who simply watched with grim faces as the soldiers marched to the center of the city. It was if they had already seen the future and it had been a grim future indeed.

Somewhat puzzled, the stallion pushed those thoughts out of his head. They were of no use to him. He instead focused on the fact that snow had ceased falling from the clouds above them.

The army arrived in the square that was the center of town, where a stage was set up. Tens of thousands of soldiers tried to back into the moderately sized square as others poured into the connecting streets and roads that led elsewhere into the metropolis.

When it seemed as if the majority of the army were in the general area of the monstrous stage, a contingent of officers, led by two who looked to be of lofty stature, proceeded up the stairs of the stage and to the chairs lined there upon it.

A podium had been placed at the front of the stage and it was from thus that an earthpony rose from his chair after a few minutes and began to speak.

One of his aids amplified his voice by magic as the general began speaking to the crowd before him.

"Stallions of Equestria! I am General Silver Star, commander of the First Corp in The Army of the Everfree. Let me first formally welcome you into the Equestrian National Army. Only twice before in recorded history has our people amassed in such numbers and strength. Now, I know many of you are scared and frightened over both your families and your own lives. Let me assure you now, I and my fellow commanders will do everything in our power to bring you home once again.

"With that being said, you will have to be trained to fight if you ever want that chance. In a few moments, after our General of the Army speaks, you will be given instructions that will help lead you into one of many units forming. Those guidelines will be given in a few short moments. Without further ado then, I present to you all the General of the Army for our army, Princess Luna!"

There were cheers and applause as the princess swooped down from one of the nearby buildings, mane flowing in the wind, her Royal Regalia polished to a dark shine as it reflected specks of sunlight that managed to break through the cloud cover.

Pip watched with awe as Princess Luna gracefully landed upon the stage, head held, a commanding aura radiating from her very presence. As the cheers died down, the princess began to speak, saying, "My dear subjects! I thank you all for answering the call my sister and I sent out across the land, nopony knows more about your sacrifices then we do, so I thank you!" A pause before continuing. "The journey ahead of us is long, arduous, and very deadly but let me assure you now, we will prevail against this beast of an enemy! You will live to tell our grandfoals about the day that The Army of the Everfree repelled the invading forces of the west and vanquished them forever!"

More cheers and applause rose from the crowd as Pip looked awe with shock and surprise. The princess was practically promising every single stallion that they would go home from this as heros, without even a single dead. The young stallion didn't know much about a fight but he did know that no matter how strong the opponent, both combatants usually went away injured in some way.

He hoped and prayed for the sake of them all that Princess Luna followed through with her promises.

"Now, to begin your training as defenders of this great land! You will be divided into different corps, divisions, brigades, regiments and so on. You will train with your fellow recruit, helping and guiding one another until both of you are perfectionist and experts at what you do! The greatest ability on the battlefield is being able to trust the pony next to you with your life. I must depart now but I will be watching you all from afar with great interest. Fare thee all well!"

Her speech concluded, Princess Luna took to the air once more and quickly disappeared behind a highrise. Another officer came to the podium then and began giving orders.

"Alright recruits, listen up! I will be giving these orders only once so if you miss them, well then sucks for you! There are sections of the city that  have already been cleared of residence and are ready for use from our army. When I call out an area, you will head to it's corresponding direction. This shouldn't take very long from here. When you get to your assigned encampments, however, it will be longer. There, your new corp will set to assigning you to different subunits. Here we go: if you were recruited from northern and/or southern Equestria, head to the western edge of the city. If you were recruited from the eastern and/or western Equestria, head to the north-western edge of the city!"

Everything after that was a blur for Pipsqueak. He was dragged through the crowd to the north-western edge of the city, then he was stuck in line for hours, then he was getting gear, a fight broke out nearby. Ponies shouting at him to hurry up into his new barracks.

By the time it was all over, it was well past two in the morning and Pip was lying in his new bunk, eyelids threatening to slam shut any minute. The barracks he had been assigned to was supposedly the old militia and guard barracks that housed the citizen protectors of the city.

The militias had all been disbanded and merged into the ENA however and now, this particular barracks belonged to Pipsqueak's Company, which was called Swift Company. If he remembered correctly, his full designation was 1st Squad, 2nd Platoon, Swift Company, 6th Battalion, 8th Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Corp.

It made his head hurt just thinking about it.

Pip hadn't paid any attention as to who was in his Company or if he knew anypony at all. There would be time for that in the morning. Right then, he was just tired and wanted to get to sleep. Maybe when he woke up, this had all been just a nightmare.

A freaky, vivid, painful nightmare.