A thunderous roar swept across Manehattan, quite early in the morning. The weather pegasi team of the metropolis were working against the clock to assemble a big storm, to cool down the atmosphere and clear the air from the dust that rose everyday, choking it up.

The sudden cracks and flashes of lightning awoke most of the ponies asleep at the time, prompting them to prepare for the day ahead of them. Even if it was a scheduled downpour, the citizens weren’t looking forward to it. Rain drops started falling hard against the concrete and the roofs of the buildings, making a lot of noise as wind further increased their speed.

However, this wasn’t enough to wake up two exhausted ponies which laid on a hospital bed, who had a rather ‘lively’ night, ending with a deep sleep. With each flash, the light revealed the two ponies, hugging tightly under the bed covers and snoring lightly, neither of them being a morning pony.

Their peaceful slumber was disturbed by a nurse who entered the room and shook them lightly.

“Wake up, Mister Redmane. Time for a small check up.” The nurse yelped and jumped back when the figure rising from under the sheets was not the patient, but rather his marefriend.

“What are you doing in there, get down right this instant or I’ll get security!” The nurse shouted, causing the still sleeping earth pony to stir in bed.

“Huh, what? Security? What for? I didn’t kill anypony, I merely kept him warm.” Sundancer replied as she stretched out and climbed out of bed, yawning. A sudden roar of thunder caused her to yelp and duck for cover.

“Well, alright then. But I’m warning you. It’s not allowed to stay after visiting hours, let alone sitting with the patient in bed.”

Sundancer peeked from under the bed towards the nurse and nodded, stifling a giggle. “Alright nurse, it won’t happen again.” All of this noise caused Tony to wake up and give a fierce yawn. Glancing around him, he spotted the nurse as she left the room.

”Anypony here?”

“Ahem.”

Confused, he looked under his bed, only to find a pair of lips pressing against his softly. Hypnotized by the kiss, he leaned too much, until his head met with the cold floor of the hospital.

”Ouch ouch ouch! That hurt!” He stammered, rubbing his head and shaking it a bit.

Sundancer was laughing whole heartedly, seeing him in such ridiculous situations only increasing her love for him tenfold. “Oh, oh my stomach, ha ha ha, that was brilliant!”

“It’s not funny. Ouch.” Tony got up and stretched a bit, looking at Sundancer expectantly. “Are you going to stay under that bed all day?”

“No, I was just—*thud* ouwie oww!” on her way out, she hit her head on the metallic skeleton of the bed. It was his turn to laugh. “Cut that out, it isn’t funny!” She said, laughing herself. Laughter died after a few seconds, leaving them to stare into one another’s eyes, memories from the last night flashing in their minds, causing both to blush a deep crimson shade.

“So… what now? Are you going to move in with me?” he asked, scratching at the floor with a hoof.

“If it doesn’t bother you, yeah… I’d like that a lot.” Sharing a quick embrace with an excited earth pony, she continued. “But I have to deal with that jackass first. It won’t be easy…”

At his, Tony broke the embrace and looked at her worryingly. “You can’t face him alone, he’s insane! He will hurt you Sundancer! I can’t have that… I can’t lose you, not again! No! I won’t have that! I will deal with him…”

“No, Tony, you can’t! He roughed you up easily back then. I don’t want you to get hurt, not again! I can’t stand seeing you hurt…” she started cried softly, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks.

“Then we will both deal with—“ his sentence was cut midway by the violent swinging of the door, followed by a window crack. In the doorway, stood none other than Spectrum, a look of pure rage on his face.

“So, this is were you were hiding after all, you ungrateful sack of buck!”

Sundancer was shocked to see Spectrum in front of her, all of her courage dissipating like ice on fire. She tried to gather whatever courage she had left and charged at Spectrum, only to have herself pinned down and knocked unconscious by a powerful blow at the back of her head. Tony, who was stunned this entire time, seeing Sundancer knocked out like a rag doll, felt anger built inside of him like a volcano, ready to explode at any time. Looking straight into his eyes, Spectrum prepared himself and charged at the seemingly defenseless earth pony.

“She’s mine, you homeless son of a bitch!”

Tony reacted instantly, putting all of his weight on his front hooves and spinning around, delivering a near-fatal blow right into Spectrum’s chest, sending him flying through the doorway and into the wall behind him. Sounds of bones cracking, coughing and wheezing were heard, from the Pegasus who now tried to pull himself up, only to fell back on his haunches and cough up blood, his body trembling in pain and shock. Rising his head to look into his enemy’s eyes, he gasped in horror, seeing obvious bloodlust behind those blue eyes.

Positioning himself, Tony charged at the defenseless Pegasus, biting and kicking like he had never done before, trying to inflict as much pain as he could. He then felt hooves picking him up and restraining him.

“LET ME GO!! NOW!”

“Give him a dose and put him on the bed! Freddy, call the police. John, get a stretch immediately. I’ll check the mare.” Said a doctor hurriedly to his companions, then sat on the floor next to the unconscious mare, looking for vital signs. In the meantime, Tony calmed himself and asked for him to be allowed to stay with her.

“What happened here?” the doctor asked, gently lifting the mare with a nurse and setting her on the bed.

“Will she be alright?!” Tony asked, not replying to the doctor’s question.

“She will be fine, trust me. She will wake up with a slight head ache. Now, would you be so kind as to tell me what happened?”

Tony calmed down and explained the given situation, giving as less details as possible, to protect themselves. The doctor wrote everything on a piece of paper then left the room, allowing Tony to look over Sundancer. At the door, there were two ponies placing the broken pegasus stallion on a stretch and carrying him away.

Tears welled up in his eyes. He had disappointed her. He vowed that he would protect her, yet she was the one to stand up for him.

‘Sundancer, forgive me… please forgive me…’ he wept softly into her mane.

“It’s okay Tony… stop apologizing, will you?” he opened his eyes to stare into her emerald green eyes. “I’m proud of you, Tony. You stood up for me and roughed him good. That should teach him not to mess with you again…” she smiled softly and kissed him gently on the nose.

“Sundancer, I am so sorry… wait, how did you knew I was apologizing before, since I didn’t say anything?!” he was very confused.

“It’s simple really. All I had to do, was listen to your heart.” She gave him a warm hug then rose from the bed.

“And… what does my heart tell you now?” he asked in a soft tone, leaning in closer to him. Just as they were about to share a passionate kiss, a loud growl broke the moment, causing them to collapse to the floor in laughter.

“Your heart tells me that you’re hungry.” Giving him a nudge, she motioned towards the door. “Let’s check you out before we meet any more crazy ponies.”

“Agreed.”

With that, they trotted along the corridor, and down the stairs, to the receptionist. Tony felt anew, the recent events proving just how much strength he can gather when he fought for the ones he loved. In his heart, he felt he could kill anypony for her. Like a beast defending its family.

However, there were a few more things to do before he could leave the hospital. Firstly, he had to pay for the damage caused to the corridor and door, and secondly, he had to visit the police to put up a statement. It was going to be a long day, but having Sundancer with him, it made it easier to endure.

“Let’s go home sweetheart…” she said, nuzzling his cheek and leaning against him as they walked away from the hospital.

Next Chapter: Chapter 10: More than just Friends Estimated time remaining: 49 Minutes