Waking Up

by Paladin-mlp

What Dreams May Come

Several more weeks pass by. You are finally able to walk on your own using your prosthetics. You are a little jittery still, but you can manage. You haven’t seen Luna since the night you woke up. She seemed pretty adamant about meeting with you once you were able to walk, you would hate to disappoint her by making her wait. You had a lot of legal and financial matters to take care of after being in a coma for 12 years, but all of that could wait. You couldn’t wait to see her again. She was your savior, both of you had been through so much together.

You figured the only way you were going to get an audience with Luna was by attending her midnight court. It’s the middle of the night, a taxi drops you off in front of the royal palace. Almost no one is around. In front of you stands a large stone staircase, at the top of which are the main doors to the royal palace. One lunar guard, an earth pony, guards the main door. He has his eyes on you. He notices that you are a quadruple amputee, and lets out a sigh. This is not what he wanted to deal with right now. You are tempted just to fly up the steps, but as your doctor said you shouldn’t become over reliant upon your wings. You slowly and carefully move up the steps. After about five minutes, you finally make it to the top of the stairs.

“What do you want?” The guard pony speaks to you in a pissed off tone.

“I’m here to have an audience with Princess Luna.”

“No you’re not.”

“What?...” You ask confusingly.

“Her court ended early tonight, you’ll have to come back tomorrow- no wait… its Friday. You’ll have to come back Monday.”

“Oh come on… why didn’t you tell me that before I climbed all those fucking stairs.”

The guard pony laughs to himself.

“So I could see the disappointed look on your face, that’s why.”

“The fuck is your problem guy!”

“YOU ARE!” The guard pony angrily yells at you.

“Listen the princess requested an audience with me, I don’t want to keep her waiting any longer than I have too.”

“Ain’t my fucking problem, my job is to keep deadbeats like you off the palace grounds.”

“I’M NOT A FUCKIGN DEADBEAT…”

You pause for a second. You realize that coming straight from the hospital you haven’t had much time for proper grooming of your coat and mane. Most ponies who visit the royal palace likely wore formal attire; you barely had a clean coat of fur... You try to control your anger.

“Listen, can you please just let the princess… or her clerk… or just any pony in the palace know that Moon Glider is here.”

“You better get lost or else I’ll shove those FAKE LIMBS DOWN YOUR FUCKING THROAT!”

“FINE I’M GOING!”

You quickly turn around and lose your balance.

“SHIT!”

You being to stumble down the stone stair case. Luckily your reflexes kick in in time and you are able to curl into the fetal position. By the time you hit the bottom you are a little roughed up but there is no serious damage. However, two of your prosthetics limbs fall off as you fall down the stairs.

The guard pony laughs.

“Serves you right!” The guard pony yells at the top of the stairs.

The door to the palace slams open. An officer, a bat pony, comes out.

“What’s all the commotion out here!?”

The earth pony at the door salutes the officer.

“CAPTAIN ORION, nothing to see here, just another bum.”

The captain looks down the steps to see Moon Glider on the ground. The captain sees the amputee stallion and instantly recognizes who he is.

“HOLY SHIT, that’s Moon Glider!”

The captain turns to face the guard pony.

“Don’t you read the fucking paper?!”

The earth pony pauses for a second and then lets out a bleak response.

“Uh…no…”

The captain decks the guard in the face as hard as he can. The earth pony falters backwards several feet and struggles to stay on his hooves.

”You just pushed Moon Glider down a flight of stairs!?! You will receive forty lashes for this!”

You begin to crawl upon the ground to collect your detached prosthetics. Hearing what is going on at the top of the stairs you decide to say something.

“Hold on Captain… he didn’t push me down… it was an accident… I fell…”

“Is that so…”

The fuming captain looks at the earth pony, bleeding from his snout.

“Looks like you’re getting off easy private… this time… something like this will not happen again, RIGHT PRIVATE!?”

The private stands straight.

“NO SIR, IT WON’T HAPPEN AGAIN SIR.”

“You’re DAM right it won’t!” The captain yells.

His attention returns to Moon Glider. The captain quickly flies down the steps and helps you reattach your prosthetics. Once they are secured he helps you back on all fours.

“Come inside Moon Glider, Princess Luna will be most pleased to see you.”

You fly up the steps this time; you quickly pass by the earth pony at the door. He continues to gaze straight as you pass, avoiding looking at you. As soon as you are inside you plop down on all fours. The captain closes the door behind you.

“Sorry about that Moon Glider…”

“It’s alright…”

“Listen… can you do me a favor…”

“What’s that?”

“Please don’t mention that incident to Princess Luna, you’re really important to her and… she might overreact a little bit… and um… every once in a while…”

The captain looks around to make sure no one is listening. He proceeds to speak silently to you.

“Every once and while I get reports about ponies somehow mysteriously dying in their sleep… and well… I don’t want to write out letters to the next of kin of deceased guard ponies… especially in the middle of peacetime… it’s just bad for everybody…”

You stare at him blankly for a moment, completely surprised.

“Yeah… of course… besides that asshole got what was coming to him when you landed that punch!”

“That was a pretty good hit wasn’t it?”

You both let out a laugh. You continue to walk through the many corridors. The guard chats with you along the way.

“I’ve been captain of Luna’s guard ever since she re-ascended the throne, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her as happy as she has been in the past few weeks.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you improved her morale significantly Moon Glider. She deals with a lot of shit, way more than any one pony should handle. She takes it upon herself to protect the mental and emotional well-being of all ponies in Equestria! And most of the time she’s doing it behind the scenes, so most ponies don’t even notice that Princess Luna helped them. It’s a thankless job… and it sure as all fuck shouldn’t be…”

“Dam…”

“Yeah…”

You arrive at the bedroom of Princess Luna.

“Hopefully we can catch her before you goes back off to work…”

Captain Orion knocks on her bedroom door. There is no answer.

“Dammit… she hates being waken up while she’s working… but I think with you here she’ll make an exception…”

Caption Orion opens the door to Luna’s bedroom. There she was… the magnificent alicorn… gracefully sprawled out upon her bed. Her facial wound was completely gone from the last time you saw her. Captain Orion looks at you.

“You can have the honor waking her up… shit... you’re probably the only pony in Equestria who she wouldn’t be pissed off at for waking her…”

You nod to the captain and you slowly walk over to her bed. You kneel down at the side of her bed and look at her eyes. Beneath her eye lids her eyes are quickly darting back and forth, she is in the middle of a dream… someone else’s dream. You feel a bit sorry for interrupting the pony she is currently trying to help, but can you wait no longer.

“Luna… it’s me… Moon Glider…”

Her ears twitch as she hears your voice… her eyes stop moving back and forth. After a few seconds she opens her eyes.

“Moon Glider!”

She says with a smile upon her face. Her body quickly spins around in her bed as she embraces you with a large hug. You are completely caught off guard as she hugs you while you are kneeling. The large mare tightly squeezes you to the point where you can barely breathe. Captain Orion sees the surprised look on your face and lets out a chuckle. He then quickly chimes in.

“Princess Luna, I imagine you would like a private audience with Moon Glider, unless there is anything else you need from me will return to my post.”

“We thank thee, thou art dismissed.”

Captain Orion leaves the bedroom and closes the door behind him. Luna releases you from her embraces and you are finally able to breathe again. Luna leaps off her bed to stand beside you. You stand upright on all fours. Luna looks you up and down.

“You are able to walk again I see.”

“Yup, the physical therapist you assigned to me did a fantastic job.”

“And the prosthetics?”

“They are great!”

You lift your front right hoof up into the air to show her.

“Perfect fit, the weighting and balance is superb.”

“Excellent!” Luna replies happily “How’s everything going with the friends and family?”

“Great! Everyone has been really supportive… and turns out I have an 11 year old son…”

Luna smiles at you.

“Surprise!”

“Yeah… tell me about it…”

“Well it’s great to see you again, Moon Glider… but pleasantries was not the only reason I asked you to come here… I would like to offer you a job as a royal guard.”

You stare at her with a skeptical look on your face.

“What? Come on Luna, I can barely walk… let alone swing a spear.”

“Not just any guard pony, you’ll have a very special role.”

“…wait, do you mean like… in bed…” You say hesitantly.

“Yes exactly…”

She pauses for a second.

“NO MOON GLIDER, NOT LIKE THAT!”

She blushes through her dark blue coat and you try not to grin.

“Dammit Moon Glider…”

She lets out a sigh, followed as well as a small chuckle.

“Moon Glider, I’ve seen firsthand what you can do with your mind. Your lucid dreaming skills, mental and emotional control, and ability to adapt and overcome to your surroundings quickly are exactly what I need for my mission.”

“Your mission of using the dreamscape to help all the ponies of Equestria overcome their troubles?”

“Yes, it is an ambitious mission I know… one that I cannot do by myself… that is why I am enlisting your help!”

You stare at her confused…

“But I thought that only you were able to traverse the dreamscape?”

“This is true… I am the only one who can… with the exception of that vile creature Discord. But… it would be possible for you as well… as long as you are within my presence. We simply need to each cast a few simple spells, and then you will be able to ‘piggyback’ with me while we traverse the dreamscape.”

“What do you mean by ‘We’ each need to cast a few simple spells? ...Are you using the traditional royal ‘We’ again?” You confusingly reply.

“No.” Luna says with a smile on her face. “Both of us will need to cast spells…”

“But I’m not a unicorn… I can’t cast the spells needed to do that…”

“No… but I have something that may assist with that…”

Luna walks to an antique chest in the far corner of the room. She pulls out a small, dusty, wooden box. Luna brings the box over to you. She slowly opens it up. Inside lies a golden jeweled crown. At the center of lies a unicorn’s horn, as well as pieces of the surrounding skull which the horn was once connected to. You stare, partially disgusted and partially horrified at the crown.

“Luna...there’s a pony’s horn on that crown…”

“Yes, you’ll be able to use it to cast spells and traverse the dreamscape.”

“But… where did you get that from…”

“Oh… this old thing, it was just lying around…”

You continue to stare at her…

“Hey, they don’t call me the Princess of the Night for nothing…”

She says with gentle laugh. You shake your head, but can’t help but smile at her.

“How does it even work?”

“You just need to put it on and it will work.”

You hesitantly look at Luna, and then back at the crown.

“Well… here goes nothing…”

You attempt to grasp the crown with your prosthetic hoof, but you are not able to maintain a steady grip on it.

“Let me help you with that, it is best not to accidentally drop it… I only have one… I would hate to go through the process of ‘acquiring’ another one…”

“Yeah…”

You shudder thinking about what that process might entail. Luna grabs the crown out of the box with her magic. You get down onto your knees and lower your head to her. She slowly lowers the crown upon your head. As soon as the crown makes contact you can feel the magical power of the horn as it runs through your body.

“Whoa…”

After a few seconds the feeling of magic power begins to fade. You stand up.

“So how do I use it?” You ask Luna.

“You just have to think about it.”

“Just think about it, how…”

Luna shakes her head.

“Here, let’s just do a test.”

She walks over to an end table containing a large vase.

“This is a priceless antique given to me by my sister Celesita for my birthday a few years ago…”

She lifts it up with her hoof.

“Catch it before it hits you in the face.”

“Wait, what!”

Luna throws the vase at you as hard as she can.

“SHIT!”

You close your eyes and flinch in anticipation of being hit. A second passes… nothing happens. You slowly open your eyes to see the vase being suspended in dark blue aura of magic

“YOU DID IT!” Luna lets out with glee.

“Wow… I did it…”

You look closely at the vase you are levitating in midair. You attempt to move the vase to and fro with your mind. The movements a bit rough, but the vase mostly moves the way you want it to.

“Hey, I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.”

You say as you look towards Luna. Suddenly your concentration falters and the vase goes crashing onto the floor. You cringe as you look upon the shattered remains of the priceless vase.

“Oh no… pity… that vase really tied the room together…” Luna says insincerely. “I guess next we’ll have to practice with all the antique dishes Celestia gave me last year.”

“LUNA!” You yell at her.

“Alright… alright…” Luna says with a laugh.

You let out a sigh of relief. You notice a mirror hanging on a wall a few feet away from you. You walk close to get a better look at yourself wearing the crown. The gold and jeweled crown shines brightly in the light atop your head. The color of the horn is dark gray; it almost matches your coat. You continue to watch the mirror as Luna walks up to your side.

“Never thought I’d become an alicorn before…” You say with a smile on your face as you look at Luna in the mirror.

“Together we can do a lot of good Moon Glider, will you join me?”

“Well, considering that I can’t make deliveries anymore…”

Luna’s face begins to light up.

“Actually… I don’t know, now that I think about it, I had a pretty good thing going back at that convenience store…”

Luna lets out a laugh and replies.

“Oh really?...”

Your tone of you voice changes from joking to sincere.

“Luna, you brought me out of a coma… you saved my life… I owe you so much… “

You divert your eyes from the Luna in the mirror to the eyes of the actual Luna.

“I’ll gladly help you on your mission.”

“Excellent!” Luna says with delight. We’ll start immediately. We’ll train your magical abilities while out in the field. We’ll start off with a few easy assignments and then work our way up to the harder ones”

She pauses for a second.

“I’m really not interested in having you around as an assistant, what I really need is a partner. I need someone who I can rely on… someone who I can work together with to overcome the extreme. This will not be easy, in the dreamscape anything is possible… unspeakable horrors will be common occurrence. We both have our weak..nesses…but…”

Luna pauses for a second. The memory the Moon Glider as a quivering colt pops into her mind. The visage of Nightmare Moon blowing the closet door off its hinges as she desperately tries to keep it closed. Those long sharp fangs dripping with blood. She was powerless to stop her… powerless against… herself…

“Luna.” You say to the alicorn, her eyes staring forward into space, as if she is caught in a trance. “Is everything alright?”

She jolts up.

“…What… yes, we are fine…” She looks at your concerned face and then quickly looks away, embarrassed. “Sorry, where were we?”

“You were saying we both have our weakness… and I think you were going to add that with each other’s support… we can overcome those weaknesses… together…”

“Yes…” Luna replies. “Yes, exactly…”

Luna lifts her head high and her voice returns to a more enthusiastic state.

“…And if this all works out as planned it will double the effectiveness of my mission.”

The thought of you and Luna working together again to take on horrific nightmarish monstrosities both scares and excites you.

“You have already thought this through haven’t you?” You ask the mare.

“Yes, I’ve been searching for the right pony for several years now…”

“Alright, let’s do this.” You say with a grin.

Luna responds with a grin of her own.

“Follow me…”

You follow Luna to her bed. You get in and lay next to each other lying face to face. Her horn begins to glow; a magical aura links from her horn to yours, your horn begins to glow as well.

“I owe you too Moon Glider… you helped get me out of a rut I was in… this job… can be straining…”

You smile at her as you look her in the eyes.

“Luna… we’ve been through quite a lot together haven’t we…”

She smiles back at you.

“Moon Glider… that was just the start…”

The End