//------------------------------// // Chapter XIII - Denial And Anger... // Story: Gargoyle // by Mr101 //------------------------------// Gargoyle Chapter XIII - Denial And Anger Vault POV I blinked as I stared at the total darkness that surrounded me. For some reason though, I… wasn’t afraid or confused. In fact quite the opposite. I felt calm. Then, there was a bang like a cannon going off that made me cover my ears and yelp in surprise before the entire area was bathed in a beautiful white light that nearly blinded me. I naturally shielded my eyes and waited for the brightness to settle and honestly. I felt my breath being taken away with what I saw. I was standing on a cliff overlooking a large valley with a beautiful castle resting near the centre, I could make out some foliage on the ground but there was a light mist that covered the valley, making the ground hard to see. But honestly, it just made it look more beautiful. There was a cliff opposite where I was standing a fair distance away and the castle, albeit seemingly having no life, looked stunning in the mist from where I was standing. I felt a gentle breeze rush over me and I closed my eyes, hearing what sounded like a gentle song on the wind fill my ears. I looked up seeing that the sky was dark and the stars were as bright as I have ever seen them along with a large moon. It seemed… so familiar, like it was from a video game I liked but for the life of me could not put my finger on it. “Impressive, is it not?” a female’s voice spoke. I blinked hearing the voice and turned to my side, seeing a large blue pony with a set of wings… and a horn? I tilted my head at her and she smiled at me. “Fear not, champion. I mean you no harm.” “Wait a tick…” I started, recognising the voice. “Are you… Princess Luna?” She seemed to be happy at that, “Yes I am, champion. I’m glad we may speak at last in your dreams… albeit with a hitch.” “Hitch? What kind of hitch?” I asked tilting my head. “Well… I see that you can see me I take it?” she replied. I nodded, “Yeah, you’re a pony with both wings and a horn. Which is freaking cool, by the way.” “I thank you,” she giggled. “I’m an alicorn, and I am glad you can see me.” “And the hitch?” I asked. “I cannot see you, for reasons we are unable to say. You appear as a grey mist before my eyes.” I scratched my chin, “Weird… but I guess we’re not here to talk about who looks like what?” “Indeed not. Though, pray tell. What do you look like? We know the champion is of stone but that is all we do know.” I was so tempted to tell her, but then something popped into my head and I just could not pass up this opportunity. “Afraid not, your highness.” Luna raised her brow at me and tilted her head, “And why not?” I grinned and tapped my nose, not caring if she couldn’t see, “Spoilers.” Luna POV I scowled at the swirling mist. How dare it not tell me what it looked like! “I demand you tell me now!” I snapped. “Oh come now, moon-butt,” he replied with a teasing tone. “Can’t you just go along with it, trust me on this!” I glared harder at the name he called me, had he not been the champion I would’ve beaten his flank… or cloud, seven ways to tartarus. However, something about his tone reminded me of the days Tia and I were little, when we used to call each other silly names. Back when we were innocent. Back before I became… that. I decided to let it slide for now and sighed, rolling my eyes and laying down on the grass. I motioned him over and could hear his heavy footsteps on the grass despite not being able to see him. As I heard him sit beside me, I could get a sense of his energy. I smiled to myself. He was pure hearted, and strong. “So, what is this place anyway?” he asked me. “The dream realm, specifically. Yours.” I replied. “How? I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything this beautiful, no way is this from my mind,” he replied. I tittered, “I created it, but from a memory of yours. I’m sure if you concentrate you will remember.” He was silent for a moment and I assumed he was thinking before I jumped when he suddenly cried out. “Aha! I know where I remember this from.” “Where?” I asked. “Twilight Princess…” he said with a happy sigh. “Good times.” “Princess Twilight?” I asked, tilting my head at him. “You know her?” “What?” He replied. Judging by his tone. He was confused. “Princess Twilight?” I repeated. “Who, Midna?” he answered. “Wait, is she here?!” I simply stared at him, confused myself. I think he saw my confusion and he sighed loudly. “Never mind…” he sighed. “I’ll be here all night explaining.” “Very well…” I replied, a little confused by his behaviour but shrugged it off. “I thought that whilst you slept, we could speak to one another. So we can discuss what is happening in Equestria and where you are.” He was silent again, and I again assumed he was merely thinking about what I said. “How… are you in my dreams exactly? Are you a wizard?” I blinked and tapped my chin with my hoof, “I’m the ruler of the night, you see. And with that comes certain responsibilities. I lower and raise the moon, can feel and control the stars and I also happen to be the ruler of dreams.” He was silent. Again. “Wah?” was all he said. “What part confused you?” I giggled. “Uh… everything?” he chuckled sheepishly. I giggled again, “I take it in your world, the moon, sun and stars act differently?” “Well yeah, the move on their own,” he replied. I smiled at him, “Well here, they are controlled by me and my sister, Celestia.” “So… you two are like, joint rulers?” “Correct.” “Right… so, why are you two not Queens then?” he asked. I looked away and sighed, “We… decided to keep our title of Princess for a personal reason, one I do not wish to discuss at this time.” “I understand, sorry for asking,” he replied with a kind voice. “Would you like me to go into more detail on what me and my sister can do with the day and night?” I asked, fluttering my wings slightly. “I… think I’d like to spare my brain the strain, if that’s alright with you, Princess,” he replied with a nervous chuckle. I giggled once more and put a hoof to my mouth, “I understand, and please, call me Luna.” Vault POV For a dream horse, well, in my dream. Luna was pretty alright. “Shall we get down to business?” she asked me. “Okay, where do you want to start?” I asked her. “For starters, where did you land? We tried to bring you directly to Equestria like I said but we think something was trying to prevent you from coming and thus making you arrive, wherever you are now,” she said. I nodded and rested my hands behind me, looking up at the moon, “I don’t know exactly where I am, but I’m near a town called New Port.” “I’m… unfamiliar with this town,” Luna confessed. “I would have to look it up on a map.” “Remind me to get one as well. I have no bloody idea where I am either.” We both chuckled as she smiled at me. “So are you okay? Have you had any trouble so far?” she asked with a motherly tone. I burst out laughing and fell onto my back ,looking up into the sky as my booming laughter echoed in the valley, ignoring the confused look she gave me. “Princess… you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I chuckled. “I’ve seen worse things, champion. Try me,” she grinned. I raised my brow at her and shrugged, sitting up and clearing my throat. “To start with, after we had our brief chat in what I’m assuming was the dream realm—” “Actually, that was the void,” she correct. “Void…” I said with a roll of my eyes, “I woke up in a forest and, well. Just did some things.” “Like?” “Tested out my body, crashed into the ground when I jumped off a cliff…” “W-what?” she exclaimed. “What would make you do such a thing?” “Spoilers,” I smirked. She gave me a cute pout and I chuckled again before continuing. “Anyway, I came across a camp with these things called hobolls in them. I killed them all,” Luna blinked at my in surprise, “Killed them all? Why?” “They had slaves,” I said. “Something inside me just snapped and I killed them all, freeing the slaves.” “That was very noble of you,” she smiled. I nodded, “It got worse though, I had… a freak out of a nightmare and thought I had woken out of my coma… was actually a poisoned dart that made me have a hallucinogenic dream whilst it tried to kill me. I ignored Luna’s confused expression as she nodded slowly, “I remember that… I tried to stop it from happening but something was overpowering my magic.” “After that, I woke up with the slaves who told me of a bigger slave encampment to the north which I headed off to. Man was that tiring, fighting skull dogs… sneaking into the base. Meeting Crystal—” “Who’s Crystal?” she asked. “A changeling, she helped me and the others escape. She’s a pretty cool friend of mine.” I saw Luna’s face sour slightly, “Uh… I take it you’re not a fan of them?” “We… had an issue with them a couple of years ago. Well, one of their hives anyway. their queen tried to overthrow us, so most of Equestria is a little uneasy around them. It’s early days but Twilight is working around the clock nearly to make a treaty for changelings and pony kind a like, as some of them had disagreed with the queen’s actions and want nothing more but peace.” “Right…” I muttered. “Anywho, after we freed the slaves… things got weird.” Luna settled into the grass and I laid back down on my back as I continued. “There was this big dragon who kept calling me Gaius,” I ignored Luna’s eyes when they widened slightly. “But he was dying, turns out this weird golden demon thing had killed him. The demon guy corrupted the hoboll alpha and I fought him as this large shadow monster creature. And… that’s pretty much it really. Saved the slaves, killed a monster, gained an awesome friend and gained a new companion.” Luna stared at me, her jaw dropped. I assumed she was simply in awe of my brave deeds. “Princess?” I asked. “You okay?” “Yes… just news of the demon is… unnerving. I thought we would have more time…” she muttered. I nodded as she sighed. “I will need to inform my sister of this. But please, continue.” “Well, that’s all there is to it to be honest. Right now I’m, just camping with the freed slaves and I’m going to escort them to New Port tomorrow before me, Crystal and Napoleon Bone-a-parte.” “Who?” she asked. “The skull dog,” I replied. “Name’s a work in progress.” “I see,” she replied. She suddenly gasped and laughed with an embarrassed smile, blushing slightly through her fur. “I apologise, but… I never did ask you your name, did I?” I snickered, “It’s okay. My name is Vault.” “Vault? Interesting name…” she trailed off. “Does it have any particular meaning?” “Not really,” I shrugged. “It’s the name of a character I have. Vaults are strong and protect thing things, so I figured it made sense.” “That would indeed, yes. Much more powerful than Scott,” she giggled. I blinked and looked at her with surprise, “Wait... you called me by my name when I first fell into my dream. How do you know my name is Scott again?” She was about to answer but I interrupted her with a wave of my hand and chuckled, “Ah right. My dream. It would make sense for at least one person in here to call me by my name. I smiled at Luna but frowned when she cocked her head to the side in obvious confusion. “Dream?” she started. “What dream are you speaking of? Aside from the one we are in now,” she gestured with her hoof at the surroundings. “You are not in one.” “No, I am. I had an accident and I’m currently lying in hospital in a coma,” I replied in denial. “I will wake up at some point once I save this ‘world’, as that is clearly my trigger out of this.” “Scott…” Luna started softly. “You were in an accident… I saw it happen when we summoned you.” “What the hell are you talking about?” I snapped. “When we summoned you… we looked to find someone who was pure of heart, but had no connections to their world anymore. When you died, your connection was severed and we brought your spirit to Equestria. The prophecy recognized you as the rightful champion and fused you to the form you have now.” I merely stared at her in disbelief. I started to softly snicker before chuckling and finally bursting out laughing. “Good one, Luna,” I said in between laughs. “Oh man, you had me going. Me, dead. Classic!” “Scott!” she snapped at me. “Stop being in denial! You are dead, I do not like being blunt but you need to realise this. I have been in many coma induced dreams to save the lives of my subjects and I know when I am in one!” I growled and slammed my fist into the ground, making the whole realm quake, “I am not dead! Shut up!” Luna reached out with her hoof and managed to touch my shoulder, I cringed at her touch and rested my head in my hands as I started to mutter to myself. “I’m not dead, I’m not dead. I can’t be dead? This isn’t real, none of it is!” “Scott…” Luna said softly. “You need to face the fact. I know I’m being blunt, but I need you to understand just how serious your arrival here is… perhaps if I showed you.” “Showed me what?” I demanded. She didn’t answer, instead, the dreamscape fell around me and dissolved back into nothing but a white realm of nothing. Then, it started to slowly change again, revealing… buildings? A street. Wait… I knew this street… “I’m sorry, Scott…” Luna whispered, her eyes brimming with tears as she lowered her head. “But this is the only way to show you the truth…” I stared at her in complete confusion before slowly turning my gaze to the dream scape in front of me. And then I saw something that shocked me. I saw myself. I shook my head as I watched myself leave the shop and start walking down the road. “Stop it… no, stop it!” I shouted loudly. “THIS ISN’T REAL! STOP IT!” Luna remained silent as I watched myself walk towards the zebra crossing, watching in horror at the speeding truck coming down the road. “No... NO! NO! NO! STOP IT! STOP SHOWING ME THIS!” I screamed loudly, my eyes brimming with tears. I tried to tear my eyes away but just couldn’t do it. I tried to run towards myself, in a vain attempt to pull myself out of harms way but each step felt as if I was running on the spot. My heart was racing as I watched with wide eyes at the oncoming truck, terrified. I was able to shut my eyes as I heard the screech of rubber on tarmac… and the impact of metal colliding with an object. I clutched my heart as I felt a familiar pain I had felt in the split second before waking up as Vault race through my body. Was this… the pain… of dying? I looked down as tears raced down my cheeks, gripping the ground as I tried so desperately to fight back the urge to sob my heart out. I felt a soft feeling on my back and cast my gaze right to see Luna’s hooves beside me. “I’m.. sorry , Scott… I truly—” “Why…?” I interrupted her softly. “Scott?” “WHY?!” I roared out, rising to my full height and flaring my wings out. In an instant, Luna jumped back away from me startled and the realm once more shifted to complete darkness, a low mist around our feet. “WHY ME?! IF YOU HAD THE POWER TO SUMMON MY SPIRIT, WHY DIDN’T YOU TRY TO SAVE MY LIFE BACK HOME?!” I roared at her in angry, my blood boiling as I felt the same urge I had felt before slowly overcome me. “SCOTT, CALM DOWN!” Luna roared back, flaring her own wings. “I’M SORRY, BUT THERE WAS NO WAY WE COULD’VE SAVED YOU BACK ON YOUR WORLD!” I lost it. I lunged at her with speed, using my wings to push myself off the ground. As I swiped for her neck, determined to strangle the life out of her, I simply flew through her. Taken by surprise, my wings spasmed and I tumbled to the ground hard, grunting in pain as I skidded softly. “Scott, I am the ruler of dreams. You cannot hurt me…” she said softly, looking at me with a sad expression. “Don’t you dare pity me!” I snarled. “I had a good life back home, okay it wasn’t perfect but I was happy!” “What would you have done, Scott?” she snapped back. “You were hit by the metal vehicle and were killed instantly! Do you not think the fact we brought you here was merciful? Rather than let you descend into the void?” I hesitated. She had… a point. I wasn't particularly religious nor did I knock the idea of a heaven or hell, so… could there be something like the void? Purgatory maybe? That was when I first met her and the whole place was just… empty. I felt alone in there. Did… did I really want to be there my entire life? “No… no there had to have been a different option! I’m in a coma! I’m dreaming all this! you are just a figment of my psyche trying to keep me trapped here!” I fell to my knees and held my head, rocking my body back and forth as I sobbed. Repeating myself over and over. “I’m not dead, I’m not dead, I’m not dead, I’m not dead, I’m not dead…” I then leant back and roared out, arching my chest out and flexing my arms into a u-shape as I let my anger take over me again in a blast of pure rage. My whole body shaking violently as I bared my fangs to the heavens and screamed my heart out. Then. I stopped. I felt something warm wrap around me and looked to see Luna hugging me as tight as she would, using her wins to wrap herself more into me despite me being a cloud of mist to her, with tears streaming down her face. “I’m so sorry, Scott. I really am and I wish it wasn’t the case,” she sobbed. “I know you had a life back home and it pains me to see you like this… but we had to… the divine forces chose you to be the champion.” I hesitated again before embracing her tightly and sobbing into her fur. I was dead… I… I was dead… Before I could say anything, the dream realm began to dissolve and I looked to Luna confused. “Y-you’re waking up, Scott. I’ll speak with you when you next sleep. I’m so sorry… Scott…” I tried to speak, but my mind blacked out and everything went quiet. Luna POV I opened my eyes and broke down sobbing into my hooves, feeling my sister and Twilight quickly hold me as they rushed to my side. “Sister! What’s wrong?” Celestia asked with concern. “I-I had to show him, Tia!” I choked. “I had to show him his death to convince him he wasn’t in a dream…” “Ancestors…” Celestia whispered as she nuzzled her sister lovingly. “He thought… he was dreaming?” Twilight asked. “Why?” “Sometimes, Twilight. A pony can fall into a coma after an accident, and fall into a dream like world where they believe that is reality. Luna discovered when she returned, she can use her dream walking abilities to help a pony realise slowly over time they were in a coma and wake up,” Celestia explained. Twilight frowned as she watched Luna cry, rubbing her back supportively. Celestia continued. “And sometimes… when the pony has no chance of returning to their life. Luna has to reveal to them that they are indeed, dead.” It was something I hated about being the ruler of dreams. there is nothing worse then seeing a pony happy in their dreams only to have their reality destroyed when they finally understand they are dead. “But, why did she have to show him now?” Twilight replied. “Wouldn’t… that be dangerous?” “Normally, yes,” Celestia said as she held Luna close. “But we don’t have that much time to wait for him to realise this is now his reality…” I didn’t hear Twilight reply, only felt her as she join in the embrace Celestia was giving me. I couldn’t speak to either of them as tears flowed down my face. Forcing someone to admit they are dead like that… is something that hurts me so much… Vault POV “Vault?!” I heard Crystal shout as she shook me. “Vault!” I opened my eyes and shot up with a gasp, looking around to see it was still fairly dark outside the tent. “Vault?” Crystal asked softly. “Are you okay?” “Y-yeah,” I lied. “Why do you ask?” “You were crying…” she softly replied. I blinked and brought my hand up to my eyes and felt the wetness and rubbed both of them. “I-It’s nothing, I’m fine…” I said with a forced smile. Crystal looked unconvinced, “If you say so… but I’m going to sleep with you for the rest of the night, just to make sure.” I watched as she clambered under the bedroll and cuddled close to me, giving me a gently nuzzle to my chest. “Goodnight, Vault.” “Goodnight, Crystal.” I watched as she closed her eyes and slowly drift back off to sleep. I laid on my back and stared up at the tent’s roof and sighed softly to myself. I can’t be dead… I just can’t… maybe… maybe there is something I can do to make me wake up? Yeah… there has to be. I’ll do anything to wake myself up… Anything...