//------------------------------//
// Another Awakening 
// Story: My Son, My Soldier, My Hero 
// by That_Random_Pony 
//------------------------------//

Light… for the first time in some time, Draco was seeing light. It was blurry, sure, but he was finally seeing something other than the bleak recesses of his mind. Slowly, he tried to breathe inward, an oxygen mask feeding him the air he needed. His body still felt horribly thrashed; his arms barely moved when he tried to make sure he still had basic motor function. There was a splitting pain in his chest, along with a continuous throb of anguish in his head.

"Mmh." 

Draco forced his eyes to open, but he cringed as the light hurt his eyes. It was a while before he was able to see clearly once again. His nose was flooded with the smell of sterilized equipment, which he was both uncomfortable and annoyed with. Using his left arm to pull away the mask, he took in a deep breath, trying to pick up a scent to give him an idea of where exactly he was. 

He picked up on… his mother's scent. It was strong, which meant she was close by. 

Mom… Ma… Ma!

With a stifled grunt, he tried raising his right arm, then gasped as he felt somepony against him. Said pony exclaimed in surprise, standing up and frantically looking around. Draco forced himself to sit, looking down at his mother who looked… frozen, practically. Her usually flowing ethereal mane and tail were drooping now, color almost devoid of them in total. She looked as though she hadn't slept for some time, even though she had just woken up.

Celestia had a hard time believing that this GIANT was the same boy she'd cared for as a boy. She had expected him to become large like his brothers… but to see it herself was something else entirely. Even with her amazement, the man sitting down was undoubtedly her son. The son she'd been watching over the last few days. Her features softened into a relieved and jovial smile, though her crying eyes did little to show the latter. Draco felt his mother wrap her hooves around his neck, hugging him with all the love a mother could give. He slowly returned the gesture, trying to grit his teeth as he heard his mother sniffle and whimper weakly. 

"You're finally awake," she whispered, rubbing the back of his head gently. 

Draco chuckled weakly and nuzzled her. "Yeah… and um, hi, Ma," he said, earning a small laugh from her.

"Hello, Draco," she laughed, stepping back. "It's been so long."

He nodded, glancing to the door as he smelled Moon. Since his mother was here, and from the designs of the room, he assumed he was back in Canterlot… he was back home. 

"Are Agner and Fermot…" Celestia shook her head, smiling just a bit brighter. "And… where's everypony else? And Moon? And Ember?"

Celestia pointed to the window beside his bed. Draco looked through the glass and into the night sky. "Oh… but… they're here right?" He asked, wishing to see another familiar face.

"Of course," Celestia smiled, turning to the door. "Moon. He's awake."

The door practically flew open as Moon galloped in. He skidded to a halt near Draco's bed, both looking at one another with fascinated expressions. Moon was shocked at how… huge his cousin had become. He had to be at least 8 feet in height, a major change from when he was last home. There was a similar reaction for Draco. Not only had his cousin grown as well, and just as exponentially, but now Draco could sense his cousin. There were mixtures of energy and magics emanating from him, which gave him a very unique signature. 

"Hey… cousin," Moon slowly said, his initial shock wearing off.

"Hey, Moon," Draco laughed. "You look… different."

His cousin chuckled as he shook his head softly. "You're one to talk," he remarked, prompting Draco to roll his eyes playfully. "It's good to see you again."

"I'm glad to see you, too," Draco nodded, waving for him to come over. He gave him a small hug before trying to stand up, the pain in his chest forcing him to grunt.

"Draco," Celestia said, easing him back. "You still haven't healed properly."

"You should rest, Draco," Moon said. "You… were pretty banged up."

Draco ignored their advice and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Would you believe me… if I said… I've been worse?" He grunted, putting weight on his legs as he stood up. Moon hurried over to help give his cousin support. Draco stumbled around as he tried to get familiar with walking again. 

"I wouldn't doubt it," Moon laughed softly, moving away from Draco. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine… for now, I mean," Draco smirked, turning to his mother. "So… where's Ember?"

Draco could see his mother's smile get… suspicious. "She's recovering right now," Celestia said softly.

"What happened?" He quickly asked. "Did Jerosh try to—!"

"She's fine, Draco!" Moon assured him. "She was never injured… but she is exhausted."

He understood, but… he still didn't understand why she was exhausted. "But… is she awake?" 

"She fell asleep hours ago." The three turned to the door as Urishana walked in, giving a small nod to Draco. "It's good to see you standing, Reku'un."

"Urishana… you've been assigned here?" He chuckled softly. "I thought you were with the maturing Signa."

Urishana sighed softly, shaking her head. "I thought I was as well, but they required me here more than ever," she explained, walking over to him and opening her palm near his bandaged chest. Her energy lit up as she began to heal him. "Does anything else hurt?"

He stifled a grunt as he felt a wound in his torso closing, but not completely. "My head… is still kind of aching," he told her. "What… what happened… to me? I saw the fleet… the fleet…"

As Urishana's energy dissipated, Draco staggered back towards the bed, using it to keep himself from falling as his memories returned to him. "The fleet… the dreadnoughts… the ship…" Moon and Celestia looked at him with concern and empathy, remembering the body count from the wounded. "Urishana… how many of us survived?"

She kept silent, looking away from him as she remembered the sight of her own child bleeding out horribly.

"Urishana… please… tell me."

Her energy flared momentarily, and her eyes watered as she looked back at him. "40,000 Signa survived the explosion… 200,000 regulars made it back alive," she reported. "235,892 Signa fell… along with 509,263 regulars."

Draco looked to the wall, emotion devoid of his face. He felt his mother nuzzle him, Moon sighing while he waited for some sort of outburst. There was no reason Draco wouldn't get completely enraged, and he knew he had perfectly good reasons to do so. But, surprisingly, Draco didn't do anything but curl his lips into a snarl… and shut his eyes. 

"Nimani… she's a part of them… isn't she?" Draco forced himself to ask.

Urishana felt her cheeks get wet as her tears fell once again. "Yes… she… she was," she managed to say.  

Draco exhaled silently, his own tears falling as he remembered the moment he was grabbing her arm… praying she would listen to him. But she was gone now… along with thousands of his people. The thought made him want to lash out at something, to release his anger at anything he could. And yet, sadness weighed his heart down, yearning for him to just coil up and cry. 

No… none of those… none of those fix anything. I have to… do what Herod would have done… what they've all done.

Draco moved over to Urishana, placing his hand on her left shoulder, prompting her to gasp. "She's in the gardens, Urishana… and she's gone… but you can't cry," Draco whispered. "She wouldn't want you like this… she needs you to keep together for what's to come."

The healer sighed and nodded, wiping her eyes as she took a deep breath. "Your uncle… has told us that we won't be leaving this planet," she informed him, sitting down on the bed. "We've lost four of the strongest dreadnoughts in our fleet… and there's even less of us now… especially us Signa."

Draco moved away from the bed, walking to the door and pausing. "He decided we aren't going to fight… right?"

Urishana nodded, turning to him as she heard the determination in his voice.

"I'm going to have a word with him."