Awakening Pink

by Masterweaver

Dreams of the Strong

The stars whirled about us in a wild dance. Pinkie, of course, laughed as the whole of reality spun. I merely watched as the moon grew more and more distant, wondering if I'd ever get to visit it outside of my dreams.

With the smack of rock hitting water, Luna's shield impacted the atmosphere, hard enough to send a shock wave out from it. The alicorn didn't even flinch. Flame surrounded us as we started to streak down towards the ocean below.

"You know," I mused, "for a metaphorical world this seems to follow the laws of physics very strictly."

"I know!" Pinkie cried. "It's like she's not even sleeping!"

"I have had a great many years to devote to science." Luna explained simply. "But I may be less dramatic if you prefer." The fire faded, leaving us simply flying in a pale blue bubble towards California.

"Oh, I wasn't complaining," I explained. "I was observing. My dreams... and Pinkie's too, they tend to be a little more... fluid then the real world. Actually, are you sleeping?"

"I have been unable to awake since Tara took over, I do not know if she is asleep or awake right now."

"Ah... have you spoken with her at all?"

"I have not been able to, after Discord had his way with us." Luna alighted at last on an empty street, the bubble of force around us shimmering away. "Before that we had even begun to merge slightly."

I began to wander down the network of roads, looking in the various windows for some sort of clue. Not a single person, human or pony, could be seen in the houses... though there were accouterments, here and there, that suggested they had been inhabited. One home in particular caught my eye; the mantle had a framed image of a pale grinning maniac, surrounded by roses and labeled Mister J.

"And what did Discord do?" Pinkie asked curiously.

Luna trotted along, confident in her step. "He convinced us there was no hope, then he told us to use the time we had left wisely. This sent Tara into a panic."

"Oh, then it's a good thing we came along," I quipped, falling in beside her. "We are the bearer of Hope."

"Laughter," Pinkie corrected.

"The exact name of our element is a point of some debate, yes." I glanced at the sky, mildly curious. "Um, perhaps it might be a bit late to ask but... Luna, you've had experience with dreams before. Is there some sort of time limit before we get pulled into out own head again... or have to leave, or whatever?"

"Time in a dream is one tenth of that outside, unless I force it to act otherwise." The night princess paused for a moment, examining a tree with balconies, before sighing and moving on. "If you just went to sleep you should have only been asleep for around 6 minutes."

"Wait...." I looked away from an old french-style house, all covered in vines. "Pinkie, you told me ponies had shorter dreams then humans!"

The party pony chuckled nervously. "Well... yeah, usually. But this is Luna's head so the rules are different, heh..."

"Pinkie? What are you not telling me?"

"Pinkie is not an average pony. Her dreams are different." Luna explained, giving me a mischievous wink.

"Aaaaaaand since we're timesharing and not fused our dreams are exponentially shorter." The party pony rubbed the back of her head, glancing to the top of a high end japanese bathhouse. "They.... should get longer as we go along."

I threw my hands up in a frustrated gesture. "So it's either short dreams or fused personality."

"Yep, pretty much. Could be worse, you could be fusing with Dashie." She gave me a grin. "You're not like her at all."

We turned a corner around a tilting, physics defying tower and discovered an amazingly normal looking house. Luna trotted up to the door, but stopped and flicked her ears forward nervously.

Finally, she stepped aside and gestured at it. "You first."

I thought about it, glancing down at my hands again. Given her interactions with ponies and my own... apparently not very human self image, Tara Strong might not react well to a sudden intrusion.

Still, I hadn't come all this way for nothing...

Suddenly overcome by a very silly urge, I flung the door open and marched inside. "I AM THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS FUTURE!"

Pinkie hopped in after me. "Ooo! Ooo! Can I be Christmas Present? I love presents!"

The room we entered was a fairly normal living room, family den, what have you... save for the massive screen, and the big red digital clock wired to the top of it. A smaller version of Luna. looking as though she had only just been purged of the Nightmare, had her eyes locked onto the images in front of her, swirling green and yellow as she swayed back and forth in gentle metronome. There were small differences between her and the version of Luna that had appeared in episode one; the roots of her mane and tail were blonde, and a ring had been slipped around her foreleg.

Luna, the real Luna, tried to come in after us, but retreated quickly when her coat began to fade into gray. "I cannot come in. His influence here is too strong." She looked to us, her eyes imploring that we help the hypnotized pony in front of us.

I nodded, examining the arrangement that had Tara so entranced. The clock blinked on and off, the number 0005 displayed on its face. Okay, so the clock was obviously a countdown, and the television... memories, if the metaphor was that obvious.

I crouched... well, okay, I lowered down next to the smaller Luna, peering at the screen. "Hey, Tara. Who's that there?" My hand pointed at a random person on the television.

She turned her head slightly to listen, her ear flicking towards me. "That is Craig," she mumbled, one hoof rubbing the ring round her fetlock. "He is my husband." Her voice was different then Luna's too... much higher in pitch.

"Well, as the ghost of Christmas future, I predict that he's going to get you something very sweet and personal come December."

Pinkie took up position on the other side of the young Luna. "And as the ghost of Christmas present, I think he's reassuring your kids that mommy will come home soon." She took a moment to lean behind Tara and give me a questioning look; clearly she wasn't sure if the woman had kids.

I shrugged helplessly, never having been one to research celebrities. We were basically shooting in the dark.

Tara smiled, an unnaturally calm smile. "Oh, but mommy is home. A new home, my children and Craig will be safe, at the new home I have found." Luna stood at the door, moving from hoof to hoof anxiously as she glanced from her counterpart to us.

"Is she?" I glanced around the house. "I don't see the kiddos around here."

For a moment, the little alicorn's eyes seemed to focus as she looked at her surroundings. Then the TV changed to show Craig and two children, presumably hers, sitting at a table in an abandoned shack of some sort. On the screen, the form of the princess of the night reinforced the walls and roof with her magic, brightly chirping about how they were going to be safe and noone would take them away. Craig was keeping the two boys calm but they all looked scared.

Well.... that was certainly convenient.

"Very nice, quite snazzy." I gestured at the screen. "A little home for your little dolls, right?"

Tara began to rock back and forth again, that calm smile returning to her face. "Oh my family needs to be safe, they will be safe here." Once more, Luna breached the boundaries of the home, only to retreat again when her limb dulled in color.

Suddenly she gasped, pointing at something none of us had noticed. "Pinkimena Diane Pie! Your legs!"

"Hmmm?" The party pony examined herself, finding the greyness slowly climbing up her body. "Oh, that's weird." She flicked her now dull hoof around, giving me an uncharacteristically panicked look. "Reid, um, you have any ideas?"

"Oh certainly." This called for some of my characteristically charming bluntness. "Tara? Listen to me very closely." I leaned down, looking into her swirling eyes. "The tighter you hug your children, the less air they have. If you want them to be safe... you have to let them choose their own safety. And if you want them to have that choice, you have to help us get rid of Discord."

The small alicorn's brow creased, and she finally turned away from the image on the screen. "But... Everything is going to end, I can't beat Discord, he is too powerful."

Luna took a deep breath, walking in despite her fear of the growing gray on her hide. "Damn this all to Tartarus... We can beat him, Tara. We can make sure that your children have a future." She stood between her counterpart and the television screen.

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's pretty much the job of a parent. Giving them a future."

Pinkie stepped forward, her coat still graying unnaturally. "You've seen the episode, Tara. Heck, you voiced Twilight! Do you remember when Discord thought he won? He lazed about and let us walk right up to him."

"The way he was frozen in a dancing position kinda implies he did that the last time too," I added.

"Don't you see? Discord told you he won. He wouldn't do that. If he actually had won, he would just celebrate, but telling you he won... that's another move." Pinkie peered into the swirling vortex of Tara's eyes. "That's another way for him to make you lose, to steal your children's future from you."

That got through to her. She blinked, her eyes shifting to a more normal brown for a second. "What.... I...."

The TV sparked and fizzled as she shook her head. Luna stepped forward, trying to support her, but she stumbled; the gray color was even now crawling up her neck. Her pleading eyes met the woman's confused ones. "Get us out of here."

"Tara," I implored, kneeling down. "You have the word Strong in your name. Be Strong for your children. Leave this room of despair. Please."

Pinkie nodded, glancing at her now desaturated body. "Yeah, I look terrible in greyscale."

The small alicorn shut her eyes, and I could see them moving under her eyelids. Then, suddenly, they snapped open. an intense fire in their sheen. Tara's horn glowed, grabbing the other two ponies as she galloped for the door; I managed, just barely, to grab Pinkie's tail as she passed, riding out of the house as the television exploded in flame.

We all stopped, panting, once we'd made it outside. Behind us the house groaned, turning gray before collapsing.

Eventually, Tara took one last deep breath and turned to Pinkie and me. "Thank you... Who are you?"

"I am the ghost of Christmas future because I'm creepy and have hands." I gestured toward Pinkie, noting that she was rapidly fading back to her usual colors. "She is the ghost of Christmas present because she's merry and has girth."

"Hey! Did you just call me fat?!"

"I've been in your body, Pinkie, you're more then a little chubby."

"Just because I'm a bit pudgy does NOT mean I'm overweight!"

"You know, a few centuries ago being big was considered attractive..."

The little alicorn giggled, before looking around at her surroundings. "Why are we on earth? If I am in Luna's mind, shouldn't we be on the moon?"

"Luna's mind is up there." Pinkie gestured up to the moon hanging above us. "This is your mind."

"And speaking of minds, we should probably be headed back to our own head soon." I glanced around, noticing lights going on in various windows. "Not that this isn't a fantastic place to visit, but... you know, two was crowded enough, and I don't think you want Pinkie and me cluttering up your head any more then it already is. Um. How do we get back?"

Ask and ye shall receive. Luna's horn lit up and, in a flash of light, we were back in the gazebo we had arrived in. The princess of the night sighed, placing a hoof on one of the tiled patterns. She stared at it for a while... a reflective stare. Then she walked over to the other alicorn, wrapping her in a comforting hug.

Pinkie walked over to the pair, a soft smile on her face. "You two are going to be alright... aren't you? When you wake up, I mean."

"As alright as we can be, Pinkie. The merge must start again, and we will have to struggle to regain the trust of Tara's family. Once this is taken care of, we will find you."

"...Find Lauren first," I suggested. "She's also missing... most likely because Dissy went after her."

"We'll work on finding the other elements," Pinkie promised. "If Reid here can keep his eyes off of Erishy."

"Pinkie! That's private!"

"We're actually traveling with Cadance and Shining," she added, ignoring my fuming. "Oh, and guess what? The Cakes and Chrysalis are together! They should be in New York soon!"

Luna released Tara and smiled. "That is very good, I will focus on locating my sister. Go now, You will be woken up soon."

"Right." I nodded once. "Well... good luck with the family. It might be best if you were honest with them... it's an element of harmony and all that--"

"Reid? Overthinking things again." Pinkie shoved me towards a cardboard panel in the corner, waving at the princesses. "See you later!" With that, she pushed me through the corrugated square, sending us both back to our own head.

Comments

[blazikenking]

So we now know that Pinkie can access Luna's dreams by sleeping with a tin foil hat on. But my real question is this: how many tv and radio channels can she get?

[reader238]

I bet Terra was surprised that she wasnt paired with twilight lol

[Firebirdbtops]

You busted the tv. Now how is she going to watch the next episode?!

[Red Bomber]

2005114
Yeah, that's what happened in Markus's and Issac's story. You should read their reactions on those two stories especially Issac since he and Twilight made it to the princesses first.

I just thought of something with all of you guys online it should be easier for all of you to e-mail each other and meet at a certain spot now.

[reader238]

2005345 where do I find these stories can you link them

[Red Bomber]

2005599
Oh that's easy, you're on the front page on the story right? Just click more and click the Becoming Ponies link to go into the group. Then click on the folders tag and click on the Canon folder. Then you'll see the other stories that are linked up with this one. Erishy's story is Becoming Fluttershy so you can read her side of the story now that she's linked up with Reid. Markus's story, the one that started it all, is Becoming Rainbow Dash: A Brony's Writer's Tale and Issac's story is And Then I Was Twilight Sparkle. There are alot more than these two, you should read them all if you have the time have fun browsing the group. Or you could just click on the highlighted links I made here. ^^;

[reader238]

2005636 thank you

[TundraStanza]

Oh, yeah! Raven is back in action!
Or... is it X-23?
*shrug*

[atani4312]

2004737 as many as she wants, probably, it is Pinkie after all

[Draconis187]

2004737 Every channel in this dimension and beyond. Pinkie Pie knows no bounds.

[dafiltafish]

Let me get this straight,

twilight was just located?
dash, rarity, and AJ are missing still?
the cakes have Chrissy
the rest are in one caravan

[websterhamster]

2867529 See Applejack Rising: When The Mare Comes Around for AJ's story, Becoming Rainbow Dash: A Brony Writer's Tale for Dashie's story, Waking up as Rarity. for Rarity's story, and just go here for the two Twilight stories.

[Pinklestia]

Well, I wonder how their self image will look when they fuse? Pinkie Pie with master hand and crazy hand?

[keroko]

"Oh, then it's a good thing we came along," I quipped, falling in beside her. "We are the bearer of Hope."

"Laughter," Pinkie corrected.

"The exact name of our element is a point of some debate, yes."

Well now this turned out to be several years ahead of its time. Somnambula would be proud.