Lightning woke up late that night, confused about what had happened. Her book was opened to the same page it had been before, and her mane was a disaster. She blinked a few times, and realized that it was very late. Luna's moon was high in the sky, and she couldn't sleep. 'Great. I took a nap and now I won't be able to sleep tonight', she sighed. She realized that she never finished her letter to her mom, so she went to the living room and continued writing. She decided that she should invite her mother to town.

She then went to brush out her mane, which proved to be a pain in the flank. It was like a tsunami ran through her mane, followed by a hurricane. She walked outside, figuring it was a beautiful night for flying, and flew over the town, getting a great view of everything. She then spotted a small white bunny hopping along just outside of the forest. 'A quick midnight snack couldn't hurt', she thought, licking her lips. She swooped in silently and inched closer to the bunny. Lightning then heard some rustling in the bushes beside her, and Fluttershy came crashing through them.

"Lightning! What are you doing out here so late at night?", Fluttershy asked, startled that Lightning was there.

Lightning knew Fluttershy was an animal lover, and she also knew the truth would frighten her. "I was just out for a late night stroll", she lied, "What about you?".

"Angel Bunny escaped again, so I was looking for him. Although it would seem you found him already", she gestured to the rabbit in front of them.

Lightning gave a nervous chuckle, "Yeah, I guess I did".

"Lightning, I have something to ask you", Fluttershy said, a look of worry crawling onto her face.

"Of course, Fluttershy. What is it?", Lightning knew the answer already.

"One of my birds saw you kill and eat a deer yesterday. Is that true?", Fluttershy said, genuinely worried for the safety of her critters.

Lightning sighed, "Yes, it's true". Fluttershy gasped and pulled Angel closer, "Fluttershy, I know it's shocking to you, but I have to incorporate meat into my diet. My dragon side requires me to eat meat and gemstones sometimes instead of pony food. I can't live off of pony food alone". She opened her mouth to reveal a few pointed teeth for eating meat.

Fluttershy took a deep breath, "I think I understand, you have to eat meat sometimes to survive. But how much is the minimum you need to survive?".

"At least two good sized pieces a week, if I balance it out with a few gems. I wish I could live without eating meat, for your sake, but I just can't", Lightning looked down, thinking. "I have an idea. Put collars on all your animals, that way I'll know if they're yours", Lightning thought it was a good idea.

"O-Ok", Fluttershy said, turning to leave, "I'll see you later, Lightning".

Lightning turned and flew away, landing on a cloud to watch the sunrise. She had never seen the sunrise before, and it was beautiful. She watched the sun slowly rise over the mountains, eventually bathing the land in its golden light.

Suddenly, she heard somepony land beside her. She turned and found that it was a gray pegasus with light yellow hair and bubbles on her flank. Based on her uniform, Lightning guessed that this was the mailmare, but she asked just to be safe. "Are you the mailmare around here?".

"Yes. My name is Derpy Hooves, and I heard that you had a letter to deliver", Lightning got a good look at her face and noticed that she had walleyes.

"Well, here is my letter", Lightning said, handing the envelope to the mailmare, "Oh, and my name is Lightning Chaser".

"Thank you very much!", Lightning called to Derpy as she flew away. "She seemed nice", Lightning said to herself. 'I hope Mother can come visit soon', she thought.

Author's Note

I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I put the story on hiatus because I didn't know when I would get the time to continue writing. I also apologize that this chapter is much shorter than the others, but I couldn't find the time to continue it so I figured I would find a good place to end the chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!