The thestral stallion opened his eyes and shook his head, disoriented. The last things he could remember were the staccato, rapid pops of machine gunfire, the coldness of the ground as he fell, a sharp pain in the left side of his chest, and the wetness of his blood as it soaked through his uniform, his chest heaving with every labored breath as blood began to fill his lungs. Now, all he could see was a beautiful, grassy field of flowers underneath a cloudless, starry sky. He inhaled deeply... effortlessly. As he began to move, he noticed that his body, so broken only a few moments before, had been completely healed.
"Hello?" he called into the vast meadow.
"Hello, Captain Valor," a soft, gentle voice replied. The stallion looked in the direction of the voice, and his eyes widened when he saw Princess Luna standing before him. Valor instinctively scrambled to his hooves and stood at attention, then saluted his commander-in-chief.
"At ease, Captain," Luna said. "I wanted to be the first to thank you for your heroic sacrifice on the field of battle. You served your country, and your princesses, exceptionally well."
"'Served'?" Valor cried, whipping his head around desperately. "Wait, Princess, am I... dead?" Princess Luna sighed sadly and gave him a somber look.
"Your time approaches quickly," the princess said. "You will be dead before the night is out, but fear not, my brave guard; I'm here to give you peace, and I will escort you through the gates of heaven in a few moments. Now, why don't you tell me three of your most fervent wishes? I will do everything in my power to make them come true." Valor nodded, surprised at how calm he felt about his imminent departure. His wishes were the easiest decisions he'd ever made.
"Please let me see my wife and son one last time," he said. "Make sure they will be well looked after I have left this world, Princess, and make sure they know just how much I love them." Princess Luna nodded once, then produced a huge check for billions of bits, exponentially more than enough money to ensure the well-being of Valor's wife, young son, and unborn daughter. Valor's jaw dropped, and his eyes filled with tears.
"Princess," he gasped, "I don't know how to thank you." Luna gave him a warm, wordless smile, then swept her horn in a curved motion, revealing a very pregnant pink Earth pony and a small yellow colt with a light blue mane and tail.
"Dada!" the little foal yelled, giggling as he waddled towards Valor. The colt tripped and fell but stood back up quickly, aided by a gentle nuzzle from Luna. He looked up at the alicorn with wide eyes, mesmerized by the stars in her mane. Luna chuckled and encouraged the foal forward with a soft nudge, and the colt toddled into Valor's hooves as quickly as he could. Valor held the foal close to his chest and kissed his tiny forehead as his wife joined him and cupped Valor's face in her hooves with tears in her eyes.
"I love you so much," the pink Earth pony whispered, pulling Valor into an embrace. "Don't worry about me and the foals; we will be all right. I know you will watch over us forever."
"I love you, too, Magnolia. I love you both so very, very much," Valor said, kissing the mare's cheek. Then, he pulled back and looked at her seriously.
"I want you and the little ones to be happy," he told Magnolia. "I want you to know right now that if you fall in love and want to remarry one day, you have my blessing to do so. Your happiness, and the foals' happiness, is all I care about. Don't worry about me, my love. I'm going to be okay, and I will watch over you until the day we reunite."
"Valor," Luna said softly, "it is nearly time. Are you ready?" As if on cue, the dreamscape began to ripple like a pond whose calm surface had just been altered by a tossed pebble. Valor gave his wife and son one last kiss, then turned to look at the princess of the night, who now stood in front of an ornate set of gold and white gates. A beautiful, mesmerizing light shone just beyond the gates, and it gave Valor a new sense of calm as he and Luna approached the barrier between the mortal and immortal plains. With one final glance over his shoulder, Valor took a deep breath and entered into eternal peace.
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