Waking Up

by Paladin-mlp

Facing Your Fears

You and Luna materialize onto the streets of Canterlot. The sun is shining brightly. You are sitting at an outdoor café with a group of friends eating lunch. Suddenly several ponies come frantically running down the street. A guard pony approaches the café.

“Lord Tirek is approaching! Evacuate at once!” The guard yells.

All the ponies in the café scream in terror and then frantically begin running down the road. The guard pony drops his spear and joins the herd. After a few seconds it’s just you and Luna standing alone on the street. You walk over and pick up the spear.

“Are you sure you don’t want just to run away Moon Glider?” Luna asks you hesitantly.

“Yup.”

“Maybe it would be best if we tried a different memory…”

You look Luna in the eye and shake your head, a determined look upon your face.

“Just how are we going to take on Tirek?! All he needs to do is simply nudge you and the pain from that will be enough to cause another collapse!” She yells at you.

You calmly look at Luna’s concerned face.

“We can do this Luna…” You say to her softly.

“NO! This is ludicrous, give me your hoof, we’re moving onto a different memory!”

Luna begins to charge her horn and extends her hoof out to you. You stand firm.

“Luna…”

Tears begin to form in Luna’s eyes.

“Please!” She cries “I… I don’t want to you die… Just take my hoof… PLEASE!”

A rumble can be heard in the distance.

You look down at her extended hoof. You then return your gaze to her distressed eyes.

“Luna, I need you to trust me…”

Luna pauses for a second, her sorrow turns to anger.

“NO!” Luna shouts.

“I’m not running away anymore! You shout back at the mare. “I’m not going to be that scared, stuttering, colt hiding under the covers… or that terrified cashier hiding behind the counter. I… I just can’t do it anymore… I’ve had enough of being afraid. I need to do this… and if I never come out of this coma because of my choice then so be it! At least I’ll be going out on my own terms…”

The rumble in the distance grows louder.

Stomp…stomp…stomp…

Luna continues to stare at you. She considers grabbing ahold of you and moving you onto another memory without your consent. She can’t stand the thought of losing you, especially after all the progress you’ve made, but this was not her mind. Ultimately Moon Glider is the one who should make this sort of choice. To deny him this choice in his own mind would be a terrible thing to do…

“Dammit Moon Glider” Luna says, slowly regaining her composure. “Alright then… so what is your plan…”

“Well… in about 30 seconds Tirek is going to round that corner and come down this street. I figure I will hide in that alley over there, and once he walks by I’ll stab him in the face!”

Luna pauses for a moment, a bleak expression upon her face.

“That’s it…”

“Yeah…”

Luna lets out a sigh.

“He’ll probably notice you in the alley… you are going to need a diversion…” Luna cringes. “I’ll wait in the middle of the street to distract him…”

“What! Are you sure Luna?”

She pauses.

“Yes… I am sure… I trust you… now hurry into position, the fiend approaches...”

You scramble down the alley with your spear. You hide behind a dumpster.

STOMP… STOMP… STOMP…

You can hear the footsteps of Lord Tirek approaching. The huge centaur rounds the corner. He stands two stories tall and is as long as a train car. You look down at your spear. You begin to wonder if maybe you should have just run away like you did in the actual memory.

“No… you can do this Moon Glider… you can do this… relax… focus…” You tell yourself, steadying your nerves.

Lord Tirek sees Luna standing alone in the street and approaches her.

“Well if it isn’t Celestia’s little bitch!” Lord Tirek yells with a laugh. “Shouldn’t you be helping little foals overcome their scary little nightmares?”

Luna holds firm, Lord Tirek continues to approach her.

“You were absolutely no match for me the last time we met, this time will be the same. Do you know why? Because you are WEAK! You are PATHETIC! You are LITERALLY always in the shadow of your sister Celestia-“

“Enough Tirek, your reign of terror ends now!” Luna yells out.

You continue to watch Tirek approach, just a few more feet and you will be able to ambush him from the side.

“Oh really, your race of colorful, pudgy, little ponies is going to stand up against ME!”

“You underestimate us Tirek!” Luna yells back.

“No… I don’t think so… a civilization whose national pride comes from friendship? That has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, and I’ve been alive for thousands of years! As soon as I absorb all of the magic out of you puny ponies, I shall SQUASH all of your skulls beneath my mighty hooves!”

You continue to watch… he’s almost in position… just a few more feet…

“Starting with YOU!”

Lord Tirek opens his mouth. A red magical flame-like aura begins pouring from Luna’s horn as Tirek begins draining the magic out of her body.

“Shit!” You say to yourself, Tirek is not yet in position, but you have no choice, you have to charge him now.

You bolt out from behind the dumpster, spear in hand, flying faster than you ever flew before, aiming straight for Tirek’s head. You are nearly there, but at the last second Tirek notices you and quickly jolts up in surprise. Instead of the spear hitting him in the head, it strikes him in the neck.

“AAAAAAHHHHHH” Tirek yells in pain.

Tirek ends his magic draining of Luna, she falls to the ground. Tirek slams you with the back of his hand. He sends you flying; you crash into the storefront window of a hardware store. You continue flying through the store until you crashing into a shelving unit.

“MOON GLIDER!” Luna yells in fear as she watches you disappear into the store.

“PATHETIC!” Tirek yells. He pulls the spear out from his neck.

“You tried to take me down with THIS?!? This is nothing more than a toothpick compared to me!”

Tirek easily snaps the spear with one hand and throws it on the ground.

Pain covers your entire body after the impact. You struggle to stand up, but you can’t. All of your limbs painfully ache. You look down at your limbs, your legs are severely contorted, likely fracture in multiple locations. Your wings are both completely broken, blood and feathers are strewn everywhere. Your vision slowly beings to fade to black. The pain seems so familiar to you. Memories of the accident come back to you. The blackness gets to a point where you can barely see anything around you. You continue to bleed out upon the floor.

“n…n…no…”

You struggle to speak. You try to focus as hard as you can on not passing out. Blackness completely overtakes your vision. Your memory begins to collapse; your sense of feeling begins to fade away. It feels as if you are floating in a void of nothingness…

…

You take a deep breath in. You exhale deeply.

…

“…no… no!”

…

You slowly begin to feel the pain again.

“NO!”

Your vision slowly begins to fade back in.

“There goes your champion Luna!” Tirek yells to her as she lies on the ground.

“I take back what I said, I will not crush your skull beneath my hooves, instead I am going to SKULL FUCK YOU TO DEATH!”

Luna is lying prone on the ground beneath the monsters hooves. She raises her head. She sees clearly between his legs and has full view of the minotaur’s massive genitalia.

She lets out a cry, “THOU SHALT NOT!”

She charges her horn and with the remainder of her undrained magic she shoots a bolt of electricity at Tirek’s groin. The bolt is a direct hit with Tirek’s hanging scrotum which ruptures upon impact.

“GHHHHHHHHHHHHUUUUUUUUUAAAAAAAA!”

Tirek lets out a massive yell in pain.

You look down at your legs which are all severely in pain.

“They’re not real… the pain isn’t real… focus… relax… focus… relax…”

You close your eyes and try to visualize yourself… you remember what you looked like before the accident… a strong healthy stallion… all limbs fully intact… Eyes still closed you attempt to stand up. You open your eyes. You are back on all fours. Your wings are back to normal as well. You look around the store to see where you are. Something on a nearby shelf catches your eye. You begin to grin…

“YOU SHALL PAY FOR THAT BITCH!”

Tirek picks up Luna in his massive hands and brings her body up to his face. He slowly begins to crush her with his mighty hands.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Luna lets out a scream in massive pain.

“Let go of her you BASTARD!” You yell from the broken window of the hardware store.

“You again!”

Tirek throws Luna onto the ground and faces you.

“You WEAK, PATHETIC pony dare stand up to me? You’re not even a unicorn, you can’t even cast spells! How do you expect to last a second against me?!?”

You pick up a chainsaw lying on the floor beneath you. Holding it with both your front hooves you grab the pull string with your teeth. You pull the string back and the machine loudly comes to life.

VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIM VRRRRIIIM VRRRRIIIM.

The chainsaw growls loudly in your hooves, a grin forms upon your face as you look Tirek in the eye. The two story Tirek looks at you silently… he was not expecting this… you caught him off guard…

“Let’s dance.”

You bolt off flying at full speed towards Tirek, the growling chainsaw in hoof. Luna lifts her head from the ground and watches you fly toward the minotaur. Tirek shoots a large bolt of fire at you from his mighty horns. You narrowly dodge out of the way. The fire singes your fur as it closely misses you.

Fear strikes Tirek as he continues to watch you approach, he quickly casts a shield spell around himself. Flying full speed ahead you approach the shield.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” You scream at the top of your lungs.

You swing your chainsaw forcefully into the shield. The shield instantly shatters into hundreds of tiny pieces. You continue to approach, aiming straight for his head. Tirek watches in utter horror as you approach.

“NO…HOW…” Tirek says in confusion.

You swing the chainsaw into Tirek’s left temple. The chainsaw instantly tears through his outer flesh and then begins to steadily cut through bone. Blood begins to spurt out everywhere, getting all over your face. Tirek drops to his knees; you maintain your grasp on the chainsaw as it continues to sink deeper and deeper into his skull. Your face and body becomes covered with more and more blood the deeper the chainsaw sinks into his head.

“HOW’S THIS FOR WEAK AND PATHETIC, HUH TIREK?!”

You yell at the minotaur as his face begins to go blank. He collapses from his knees to the ground. Chunks of brain and skull begin to accumulate in your fur.

“YOU MOTHER FUCKING BULLY! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST PUSH US AROUND WITHOUT BEING PUSHED BACK!”

The chainsaw gets midway through Tirek’s thick head and then gets stuck. You try to pull it out but it does not go anywhere. You proceed to pummel upon Tirek’s bleeding skull with your hooves.

“MOTHER FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!”

Stomp!

“DIE YOU STUPID FUCK!”

Stomp! Stomp!

“HOW DOES IT FEEL, HUH!”

Stomp!

“YOU JUST GOT YOUR HEAD BASHED IN BY A PUDGY LITTLE PONY!”

Stomp! Stomp!

“WHO’S WEAK NOW! WHO’S WEAK NOW!”

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Luna, in awe at what you have just accomplished, slowly struggles to pull herself to her feet. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Discord appears next to her.

“Why hello Luna! It’s been so long since my last surprise visit, I simply love watching you work! What fruitless task are you trying to accomplish this time? Helping another colt overcome their fear of the dreadfully scary Nightmare Moon?”

Luna shoots Discord a furious look, daggers in her eyes. Upon hearing Discord’s voice, you stop pummeling upon the pulpy remains of Tirek’s head and gaze over your shoulder.

“You…TRAITOR!”

Discord turns his head towards you… he stares blankly for a few seconds, the carnage of the scene before him too much for his brain to take in. He vomits in disgust upon seeing Tirek’s brains spread in chunks upon the ground. You place both of your front hooves upon the chainsaw lodged inside of Tirek’s skull. You place one of your back hooves against Tirek’s skull and plant the other firmly on the ground. You pull strongly, letting out a loud grunt in the process. After a few seconds of pulling, the chainsaw breaks free, blood and pieces of brain go flying. A small chunk of brain lands at Discord’s feet. Discord looks down at the chunk of brain right in front of him… he is paralyzed in fear.

“This is all YOUR fault!”

You yell at discord as you slowly walk towards him, completely covered in blood and chunks of brain.

“We trusted you, and you betrayed us… YOU BETRAYED ALL OF US!”

Discord gets ahold of himself… he decides he no longer wants any part of this and attempts to teleport away…but nothing happens…

“Where do you think you’re going?” Luna says with a devious grin upon her face. Her magical aura gripping him, preventing him from escaping.

You let the chainsaw roar as you slowly walk towards Discord.

VRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIMMMMMMM!

“We accepted you Discord, despite all your past transgressions, we forgave you, and THIS IS HOW YOU RETURNED THE FAVOR!”

You stand directly in front of Discord, he sees up close the blood and brain chunks dripping from your fur. Luna continues to watch silently.

“PLEASE, I’m sorry, I’ll never do it again, I mean it, PLEASE!”

The motor of the chainsaw continues running in the background.

“Really discord? We pardoned you multiple times for your crimes against Equestria, yet you keep committing them. You can never change!”

“YES I CAN! PLEASE! I’ll never bother Equestria again! I’ll leave every pony alone!”

“How does that expression go… fool me once… shame on you... fool me twice… GET OUT YOUR MOTHER FUCKING CHAINSAW!”

VRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIMMMMMMM!

The blade spins inches from Discord’s face.

“PLEASE!”

“Alright fine… I’ll leave it up to Luna. What should do with him Luna?”

You look Luna in the eyes and she stares right back at you, smiling a sadistic grin.

Discord desperately looks to Luna.

“Luna please…”

“I think you should decide Moon Glider.” Luna calmly replies.

You laugh.

“Oh really… alright then.”

You roar up your chainsaw and slowly move it towards Discord’s face.

VRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIMMMMMMM!

“NO PLEASE… MERCY”

Discord yells as he drops to his knees.

You stop the blade and gently slap Discord across the face with the blunt metal part of the chainsaw.

“Meehh…”

Discord lets out a pathetic whine as you touched him with your chainsaw. Discord looks up at you.

“What’s the matter Discord, you never SAW that coming?”

You begin to laugh, Luna also lets out a small chuckle.

Discord stares at you bewildered.

“Discord, you’re lucky I have a sense of humor… otherwise I’d cut off each of your fucking mismatched limbs and hang them on my wall.”

“T-t-thank you…”

Discord says, still in shock.

You throw your chainsaw to the ground. You use your hooves to grab ahold of Discord’s face and bring it just a few inches from your own.

“Now remember what you said Discord… If you even THINK about betraying us…”

“I PROMISE, PLEASE!”

“Well then, that’s just FANTASTIC! Looks like we're friends again! Oh… and do you know what that means?...”

You pull discord up close to you and give him a long kiss upon the lips. Completely caught off guard, Discord squirms but cannot escape your grasp. After a few seconds you push him away.

“You call that a kiss? Come on Discord, no tongue?”

Discord tries to reply, but can’t. He opens his mouth to find that his forked tongue is missing. You look to Luna she has a large smile upon her face, both of you let out another laugh.

“Come on Discord, this is comedy gold!”

The scared Discord trembles in terror before the two of you…

“Alright, enough’s enough. Luna let him go”

Luna detaches her magical aura from Discord.

“Now get the fuck out of here before I change my mind.”

Discord vanishes in a flash.

You look at Luna…

“Funny, I don’t remember Discord being in that memory, how in Equestria did he get here?”

“That was actually Discord.”

Luna tells you with a smile upon her face.

“What? NO…”

“Yes, no joke.” she grins “Except for the ones you made. Every now and then he will enter the dreamscape in an attempt to annoy me. That wretched creature receives amusement by hindering my efforts of trying to help those who need it… although I don’t think he will be doing that again anytime soon… or ever…”

“No shit… so I just successfully intimidated the god of chaos?”

“Yes… you did.”

“Wow…ok… so how did you know I wasn’t going to kill him?”

“I didn’t…”

She says with a smile…

You pause for a second, looking at Luna’s devious smile. You both begin to laugh. A jolt of whiteness strikes your vision. You begin to feel a low rumble in the distance.

“Did you feel that?” You say to Luna, you begin to feel funny.

“It’s happening… Moon Glider it’s HAPPENING! You’ve triggered enough brain activity! You’re pulling out… YOU’RE WAKING UP”

“I AM?!?”

More jolts of whiteness begin to strike your vision, you look at Luna, she is becoming blurry.

“LUNA… WE DID IT”

“I knew you could do it Moon Glider! I knew yo….”

Her voice begins to fade out. Her face slowly fades away as the whiteness overtakes your vision…