//------------------------------// // Whiskey Sour and Crimson Force // Story: Princess Luna’s Anthology of Final Wishes // by Drunk Luna //------------------------------// "No! Please, no!" Luna cried as she landed outside the collapsing house. She hid behind a tree a few yards away from the burning structure, where a red Pegasus mare, who held a sobbing colt who looked to be around eighteen months old on her hip, shook a firefighter, screaming at him to quit being a little bitch and go inside. A small filly, about four years old, hid behind the mare's back, crying. The stallion was trying his best to comfort the distraught mare, who began to punch him, trying to run around him to reach the house. "Stop it," he said, his voice kind but firm. "Ma'am, we are doing everything we can, but you need to stay out here with your little ones; they need you more than anypony else does right now." The mare draped her wing around her daughter, drawing the lime green filly closer to her side. "My son!" the mare screamed. "My little seven-year-old son is in there with his dad! Why the fuck are you just standing around, not doing a damn thing?" Luna's nostrils flared as she charged forward. She rushed into the flaming rubble, ignoring the fire that scorched her coat and wings as she coughed and whispered a spell to clear the smoke. Then, she cast another spell that extinguished the inferno completely, praying that she wasn't too late as she began to dig frantically through the rubble. It did not take long for Luna to discover the deceased ponies, the smaller of whom was clinging to the larger, his hooves still wrapped tightly around his father's neck. Luna knew that if they had any chance of survival, she would not have been summoned here. She pressed her hoof to her nose and mouth to stifle an anguished cry, flew down to inform the firefighters, then, instead of entering the dream realm, she went straight to the space that she called "the reception area," where the father and son still held onto each other. Nopony in Equestria could cross over to Heaven or Hell without Luna's personal assistance, so the ponies that Luna was unable to tend to immediately were sent to the reception area, where they stayed, temporarily tucked away in the dark, watery void between paradise and eternal torment, until Luna could escort them to their final destination. When they saw Luna, the stallion and colt struggled to their hooves, obviously disoriented. "Princess Luna," the stallion said, "where are we? Where's my wife?" His voice faltered. "Where are my other foals? Are they all right? Please, Princess, tell me they're okay!" "Your wife, daughter, and youngest son are uninjured. They will be fine," Luna said. The stallion relaxed slightly, his shoulders slumping in relief. "This is my fault," he sobbed. "If I had just checked one more time to make sure the stove was completely off--" Luna cut him off by lifting her hoof. "At this time, 'tis useless to lament your fatal error, Whiskey Sour," Luna said. Her tone was soothing, but she was clearly disappointed in the stallion. "All I can do now is give a peaceful walk to Heaven to you and your son. Hello, Crimson Force," she said softly, crouching so that she was at eye level with the colt. "Don't be afraid, young one. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?" "Mint chocolate chip," Crimson Force whispered, hiding timidly behind his father's leg. Luna smiled, lit her horn, and magically presented an enormous bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream to the colt. "Wow! Thanks, Princess Luna!" Crimson Force cried excitedly, digging in. After the foal had eaten his fill, Luna gave him a napkin so that he could clean himself off, then she sat down next to him. "All right, Crimson Force," the princess said, "what are your three greatest wishes? Is there anything you've always wanted to do, or anywhere you've always wanted to go? I can give you anything you want." "Can you give me more time?" the colt asked. Luna shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, I cannot," she said, "but I can make your last moments easier. I can decrease your fear and anxiety, and I can make you excited to enter Heaven, where everything will be more beautiful and more wonderful than you will ever be able to fathom until you have entered its gates, but I cannot prolong your earthly life. My sister does not even possess the ability to do such a thing." "I want to be a guardian angel to my mom, brother, and sister," Crimson Force said quickly. "I want to go to one last meet with my swim team, and I want to be an Olympic swimmer." "Done," Luna said with a nod. She created a tandem dream between Crimson Force, his swim coaches, and his teammates so that they would all remember this; Luna knew they would treasure this memory later, once they learned of their friend and student's death. Crimson Force won the meet for his team, and then Luna quickly changed the dreamscape to a much larger pool in a massive stadium. The colt nearly fainted when he realized where he was: The Olympic Games. Crimson Force leaned forward on his platform, and when the starting gun was fired, he took off like a bullet, winning the competition by a significant amount. He won the gold medal for Equestria to the roar of a crowd of of tens of thousands of spectators. Finally, just before she walked the colt to Heaven, Luna asked the angel who stood sentinel at the gates to ask God to make Crimson Force a guardian angel to his surviving family. "Consider it done," the angel said. "The boss always grants those requests." Crimson Force looked overjoyed, and he galloped through the gates without a second thought. On the other side of the gates, the angels allowed the colt to wait for his father while his last wishes were fulfilled. "So," Luna said as she turned to Whiskey Sour, "I imagine you must want to fix a lot of things right now, but the limitations that I told your son about also apply to you. You cannot ask for more time on Earth for any reason, nor can you correct any mistakes you may have made during your life. Don't try to fight for more time; you are already doomed." Her tone was gentle but straightforward. The stallion nodded, his eyes filled with regret. "Please take care of my wife and foals," he said. "I know it's a simple request, but it's all I can ask for." Luna nodded and sent up a swirl of sparkly blue mist from her horn. "It shall be done," she said. The stallion bowed, turned and walked through the gates. Luna sighed and returned to the dream realm.