Waking in Celestia's Soft Embrace

by Ponysopher

Waking with the Dawn

You hear a door open, followed by the sound of hoofsteps and the door shutting a few moments later. The steps are light but you can tell that they carry some weight. The disturbance rouses you from your slumber, which you had been so tranquilly enjoying moments ago. Yet the cloudlike pillow that your head lies on, in combination with the silk sheets, leaves you with no care at all for who entered or for what reason. The immaculate, white pillow balances impossibly on the perfect line between firm and soft, and the magically woven, golden sheets caress your body in a stream of gentle warmth. Within seconds your consciousness fades out again, and the awaited joy of sleep returns.

Somewhere between a second and a day, however, a voice soft and serene flows kindly over your ears like a stream of pure, life-giving water. The voice awakens your heart and your spirit. It rouses you just to the point where you may understand words, and those words reach your soul to be deciphered into a wonderful meaning. It abounds with comforting warmth while still offering its refreshing coolness, and its texture is edgeless and unabrasive. It is a gentle sound, which lets you be awakened so painlessly. Yet it has a steady and sure current, aiming with certain purpose, becoming a river destined towards the vast, unbounded expanse of the magnificent, sunlit oceans abroad. If only you could drink from this stream, then you would go through all your days without dread; you could walk through the dragon’s lair and not be afraid.

“Good morning, my faithful student,” the wondrous voice says. “It’s dawn now, and it’s time to get up.” The voice is full of gentleness and femininity. It comes mildly, staying for a moment and then leaving, seeming to fade in and out without a clear notion of when it began or when it ended.

Then finally, realization sets in as those words become meaningful. Despite their declaration of the night’s end, you don’t want to believe it. It seems like you had laid down only seconds ago, even though hours passed in reality. You know that the blinds to the window next to you are shut, blocking out the rays of the rising sun. You fear that the one having entered might open them and strike you with the sun’s all-reaching power, so you turn over quickly.

With your eyes now guarded by the silky pillowcase, you feel that you are safe. Maybe they will just leave you alone for just a few more minutes. Yet, surprisingly not to your despair but your wonderment, the voice comes again, bearing new qualities this time as well as the ones from moments ago. “It’s a beautiful day outside. Don’t you want to see what it will bring you?”

There is a powerful sense of authority now, shining with graceful brilliance into the eyes of your spirit. Yet the radiance does not blind them. Rather, it reveals the speaker in all of her majesty. Royal as she and the voice are, they are surprisingly not over-demanding like you thought they would be. She sounds ethereal, much like a wise and experienced teacher who asks no more of her students than what she has already taught them, or else leads them into newfound wisdom. Still, this reputation does not move you.

Somewhere close to you, there is the sound of magic, an inconspicuous and unnoticed noise usually, but in the quiet room, you can hear it as clearly as her voice. Slowly and barely to your notice, the warm and soft sheets slide off from your shoulders and float down to cover only your lower back. With the warmth of the sheets lost, a slight groan emanates from your closed lips. You want to cover yourself up again and hide from the waking world, but then something makes you lose all the care or will to complete that action.

Her hoof slowly and gently touches your side. It comes so deliberately that it does not startle you, and she begins to caress your back lovingly. “You’re still a little tired, aren’t you?” she asks. Compassion from the soft stroking of her hoof and her reassuring voice wash over you. “I know how you feel. We both worked so hard yesterday, and I’m very proud of you.” You consider her praise a treasured gift, coveted by all but given only to a select few, and you cannot help but feel the corners of your lips rise slightly.

“But today is a new day,” she says, her volume rising ever so slightly and displaying a very real excitement. “If you get up now, just think of all the things you can accomplish.” It was a question as much as a command. As her hoof continues to lightly trace over your back, brushing you with her unbelievably soft fur, relaxing and rousing you at the same time, you stop just hearing. Now you listen as well. You know that she believes in you from those words. She has faith that you can change the world, no matter how small your actions might seem. Yet she’s right; you can’t help anypony by staying in bed. Still, it would be nice just to lie here for a little longer.

She speaks again. “I was like you this morning too, you know. I don’t know why, but the bed is always softest when you know you have to get up, isn’t it? But then I thought about you and all of the ponies in Equestria. The sun wasn’t going to raise itself, so I knew I had to get up.” There was the compassion again. She knows what it’s like to have to do this. The realization that she had underwent the same trial drives you to fight against your lazy body. Still, it’s really hard.

After a few moments she removes her caressing hoof. You immediately miss the gentle feeling, and the sudden emptiness almost rouses you to get up in order to find it again, but then you hear the sound of something unfolding. Having lost your reason and with it, your sense of reality, it sounds as if a colossal dragon suddenly unfurled its great wings and took flight. This beast holds the power of the sun in its bosom, and the air is rent as its powerful wings slice through it, speeding towards you faster and faster. You cringe in fear a little as the left edge of the bed suddenly shifts downward as though something very heavy had leapt onto it.

To your abject terror, the dragon descends upon you, and you flinch as its wings suddenly encase you, throwing you into darkness. What are you doing sleeping? You want to leap up and run, but you freeze, stricken with paralyzing fear when you realize that the appendages have you completely surrounded. With little else left to do, your legs curl in and you take a deep breath, waiting for the ivory fangs to make their final descent. But instead of leathery wings or long teeth, you suddenly feel something unimaginably soft, albeit very mighty.

Reason finally takes hold of you from the phantasm of your deceptive feelings, and you discover that it was she that was now encircling you with her wings. However, reason can only bring you so far. You still curl up into a tighter ball as she lays down beside you, wrapping her right wing around you and pulling you close to her warm side. You suddenly and vividly imagine yourself being thrown into prison and bound by many chains. The unbreakable bonds securely bind you in seconds, and it seems that you will never escape. Your heart beats as you frantically search for a way out, but it appears that there is absolutely no way. What can you do? How can you free yourself from this almighty one?

Her comforting voice comes to you in your frightful rapture. She softly whispers in your ear, “Come on, we can do this together. I’ll be with you the entire day...” and then the world around you changes. She covers you with her soft feathers and under her wings you find refuge. Her voice suddenly imbues you with strength in place of fear. Her strong yet delicate embrace is your shield and your high wall. Then you remember that she is your princess in whom you trust. She has always been faithful and true, and in this way she trains you to overcome the world.

Gradually, you become aware that she is pressed against you in an affectionate embrace. She is tall and strong but she comforts you, hugging you with such tenderness that you cannot help but feel imbued with great confidence and certainty of the good things to come. Your limbs unfold as much as your proximity will allow you, and you return this sign of trust, most happy that she is with you today. As the flowing warmth covers you completely, you finally press into her embrace and relish the intensifying softness of her breast. You want this moment of perfect peace to last forever, a moment that no one would ever be able to threaten, one where you might be able to make her as happy as she has made you, going forth willingly into the world to accomplish her will.

But with that, you know what her will is for now, and that is the first step. With eyes still full of sleep, you raise your head that was just tucked under hers. Your eyelids flutter open to see the bedroom with light starting to pour through the closed blinds. And then finally, your gaze comes to rest upon a beaming face full of brilliance and splendor. Her eyes are colored a soft magenta and her fur is white as the purest snow. She smiles at you sweetly as she meets your gaze and says,

“Good morning, sleepyhead, did you sleep well?”

Comments

[That_one_guy]

hnnnngh

[The Abyss]

Beautiful story! If only you could write more stories just like this with the other princesses...

[Freewing Alchemist P]

quite a sweet little tale.
Thank you
Good luck best wishes.

[Wandering Axioms]

That was wonderful...thank you so much for writing this beautiful piece.

[Celestias Paladin]

Very well done, and after seeing a damn NLR/SE fic posted before this I am quite happy to see this

[Tyrant Molestia]

That was amazing.

[TheAlmightySage]

D'aww

[jkreader]

That was cute.

[Guiding_Passion]

Such a wonderful story. Its stories like this that make me a little sad that Celestia isn't actually real.

[The Abyss]

3273555 I can say with absolute certainty that you aren't alone.

[MerlosTheMad]

3272947

Greetings Paladin! How fare thee?

I'm unsure what nlr is, but it sounds evil. I'm glad you found solace in this story, it was rather touching, wasn't it?

[Celestias Paladin]

3274989
I am fine wizard.

Now how to explain the NLR... the NLR or New Lunar Republic is an organization in Equestriani society that believes that there was no Nightmare Moon thus Princess Luna was banished unjustly, and that despite seeing no signs of oppression Princess Celestia in fact rules Equestria as a tyrant. They wish to depose of Celestia and instil Luna as the leader of the "Republic" never mind that they are installing a monarch as the supposedly elected leader of a democratic republic. Their opposite is the Solar Empire which wants to do the same things but install Celestia as sole ruler. Needless to say both factions are not well liked by the Princesses.

But yes I am quite pleased to have found this story, and yes it was touching

[The Abyss]

3275465 How would you like it if he wrote another story JUST like this one?

[Celestias Paladin]

3278042
I'm sorry but what do you mean?

[The Abyss]

3278048 What I'm asking is if you would like to see another story by Ponysopher similar to this, but with another princess?

[Celestias Paladin]

3278054
I may be most partial (and at times biased) to Celestia but that doesn't mean I hate the others. I wouldn't mind seeing one written for Cadence, Luna, or even Twilight.

[The Abyss]

3278065 Ok cool. I'll talk to my buddy and see if I can convince him to write just that.

[vazak]

Great fic, the details were exquisite! I did find the "you" thing awkward, but that's just personal taste, overall great fic!

[Shidotoku]

When I saw that 8 lines were filled with description of only Celestia's voice, I knew I was facing some serious stuff, and you did not disappoint. I absolutely fell in love with this story, it's so idyllic, so sentimental, and all around fuzzy and warm Amazing writing.

[Hoof of Approval]

I just came here from the Cadence story.

It's writing like this that makes you want to spread your wings and fly. Such description! Such imagery! Holy crap man, I want you to beta my stories now, see if you can change them for the better. We'll talk after I get off work, but for now... WOW.

And what I just said? Was after the first few paragraphs.

I'm gonna finish now, and then I'll hug you through the screen.

EDIT: Right, done.

*Takes a deep breath, then sighs in satisfaction.*

What can I say about this? I mean, dude!

Okay, let's start from my favorite paragraph, and quite possibly the best depiction of the whole damn story.

"After a few moments she removes her caressing hoof. You immediately miss the gentle feeling, and the sudden emptiness almost rouses you to get up in order to find it again, but then you hear the sound of something unfolding. Having lost your reason and with it, your sense of reality, it sounds as if a colossal dragon suddenly unfurled its great wings and took flight. This beast holds the power of the sun in its bosom, and the air is rent as its powerful wings slice through it, speeding towards you faster and faster. You cringe in fear a little as the left edge of the bed suddenly shifts downward as though something very heavy had leapt onto it."

If anyone forgot that Celestia had power, here is your reminder.

This isn't the power of a tyrant or a manipulator. This is real, true, honest-to-Goddess POWER. This reads like something epic is about to happen! Just this paragraph alone shocked me, especially after reading all those warm fuzzies before. It hit me so hard I had to comment on it before anything else.

I could say ten times more than I have, but I won't. What I will say though is GOD DAMN, BOY. You dun good.

Liked, Faved, will Fave the Cadence story as well.

DO LUNA NEXT. GO.

[The Abyss]

3278065 Hey, the Cadence fic is up if you haven't seen it already!

[Ponysopher]

3295027
The Luna rough-draft has been done for some time. It just needs to be edited

[Agarwaen]

I like to think that "I'm" a young Twilight Sparkle, here. It just makes this entire thing more adorable.

[Aenbr]

I see a very unsubtle Bible reference.

[Ponysopher]

3559044
Subtlety is the enemy of clarity, meaning, and understanding, the adversary of the hard effort of authorial intent

[Aenbr]

3562180
Brilliant.

[Opponent]

Magnificent. Thank you.

[Laughing Jack]

Ugh, such a good story, but...
If I become a morning person because of this, Luna help me I'm gonna find you and wake you up at the most ungodly hour possible.

[CaDragon1]

I still come back to all of these wonderful stories you have written and feel all warm and fuzzy. What is this feeling?
Whatever it is, I thank you deeply. Fluttershy for you.
mlpforums.com/uploads/post_images/img-3354303-1-T9_RJCu1.jpg

[Ponysopher]

5550286
Of all the acquisitions that people can come to possess, trust is the most elusive and difficult to find. While faith can be gained by experience and precedent, and hence is attainable by any two persons who should spend any extended period of time with one another, trust requires a special kind of person. Trust comes about when a person understands that it is permissible to show weakness in the presence of another. We rejoice in our stoicism, and rightly so; for when a person should stand upright and bite their lip in the face of adversity, they are demonstrating the most noble of actions. But there ought to come a time in a person's life, be it only once and for so brief a moment, when they should be allowed to both stand proud as a mature adult and, at the same time, admit their vulnerability to another without fear of another taking advantage of them.

Celestia, I think, by her nature allows people to trust her, and to relax in her presence for a time to recuperate and stand proud in light of one's accomplishments to date without fear of what the morrow will bring. This is the feeling, which you are feeling. You know that Celestia will not harm you, nor will she think less of you. If you must cry, she will offer her shoulder. If you must vent, she will bear the brunt of your anger with ease. She is here to build you up, not to break you down, and to ready you to take on the challenges that you will face with a stout heart and a sound mind.

[CaDragon1]

5551011
Wow. That was beautiful. I got a shiver down my spine as I read that.
I honestly can't think of anything else to say. That was really profound. I think you are one of (if not #1) my favourite authors.

You are a wonderful person. Thank you.

[jaycefrost]

Wow...that was beautifully done.

[darkwalker787]

Just pure brilliance amd beauty :)

[Solid Punch]

This fic desperately need "Second Person" tag.

[Crimson Eclipse77]

I've been looking for this one for a few days now. It's so soothing