Twilight magically opened the door to her library, her glowing horn giving her purple mane a generous sheen as she walked through the door.
"Spike! I need you, quick!"
The purple dragon jumped out of bed and down the stairs, ready to do whatever Twilight wanted him to do. "What?"
"I need you to take this burlap sack to the Ponyville hospital. And I also need you to-"
She suddenly stood straight up, her pupils contracting to the size of ants, her frown overtaking her entire face.
"Uh, Twi'? Are you...okay?"
The lavender unicorn looked to Spike, a crazy realization running through her head.
"I didn't send Celestia a letter about Peter and the Soul Gem yet!!"
Spike looked at her, and ran to Owloysius, grabbing the quill and paper the owl clutched in its feet.
He whispered a small 'thanks', not wanting to let on that Owloysius had actually reacted faster than him.
He ran back to Twilight and scratched down what she said, readying his dragons' fire to send the letter as the unicorn dictated a letter.
"Dear Princess Celestia, I have learned that misconceptions can suck. Sorry for the short essay on friendship, but I have something much more serious to tell you. Peter just crushed a Soul Gem to save Rarity! And now part of him is stuck in it! He said he wants to throw it away, to forget what he lost...But, you'd know how to handle it best, wouldn't you? Sincerely, your student, Twilight Sparkle."
Spike put down the quill, flexing his claws, his wrist in pain due to how quickly Twilight had spoken.
"Alright! I'll send this now!"
He puffed fire onto it, and it floated away towards Celestia's chambers.
The unicorn nodded, and the baby dragon started on his way, the door already opened.
"Spike, before you go, can you do me a favor?"
The dragon turned, scales shining as the moonlight hit them at varying angles.
"What?"
The lavender unicorn walked over to him, a tear in her eye, startling Spike. She whispered something into his reptilian ear, and put something in the burlap bag that lie in the dragon's claws.
Spike nodded and turned, Twilight's gift and words weighing heavy upon his arms and mind.
The door shut behind him, the cold of the night blocked by his naturally elevated body heat.
------------------------Spike-----------------------
The dragon let out a hearty sigh as the doctor blocked the way.
"The human has been through enough today...kicked, Stared at, I will not have my patients treated barbarically! You and your friends must wait until he has calmed down."
Spike simply looked at him, his impatience heating up. A small strand of fire escaped his nose, which he immediately quenched with a quick snort, the embers dying as quickly as they had begun. The doctor backed off slightly, shocked by the outburst.
"Uh...well, if you insist, you can..." the brown earth pony gulped. "Head on in..."
Spike's eyebrow cocked. He shook his head and simply accepted the oddity.
Whatever...at least I can do what Twilight told me to do...
He walked over to the door behind which Rarity, Peter, and Rainbow Dash were present. He heard hearty laughter-the laughter of a deep-voiced human and a rainbow-maned cyan Pegasus. He opened the door with one claw, precariously balancing the burlap sack in the other.
He opened the door to see Rainbow Dash and Peter laughing hysterically, their faces covered in rainbow icing, two cupcakes with destroyed centers in hoof and hand, respectively. His eyebrows shot up, a dubious and incredulous expression adorning his features.
"Uh...what are you guys doing?"
Peter's lips were stretched by a cocky smile, which seemed uncharacteristic of the human to Spike. I thought Twilight said he was so composed and nice, not cocky...
"Well, my fine reptilian friend, we were just eating some cupcakes, and then we both, simultaneously, forgot how to eat."
Rainbow Dash snorted, and Spike simply rolled his eyes. Great, a comedian...
"Whatcha got there, Spike?"
Spike looked to Rainbow Dash, fighting to resist a chuckle as he imagined the cyan pony trying in vain to eat a cupcake, her hoof repeatedly smashing it into her face, spreading cupcake everywhere...
"Well, Twilight told me to give Peter this bag full of her stuff, and also to tell you something."
Rainbow Dash looked at Spike in curiosity. "What did she tell you to tell?"
Spike leaned close to her. "She wanted me to tell you that she's sorry."
Rainbow Dash looked into Spikes' eyes, a tear shining in her red eye, which was instantly whisked away by a blink.
"Tell her that I'm sorry for blowing up, okay? I don't want her to be mad at her."
He dropped the burlap sack in front of Peter, looking up at him, intrigued by how many-sided his personality seemed to be.
He's bookish like Twilight...kind like Fluttershy...fun-loving like Pinkie Pie...and now a bit cocky, like Rainbow Dash? What's this guys' story...
"Thanks, Spike. Oh, and tell Twilight and Pinkie Pie that I said thanks, as well."
Spike's curiosity gained another boost as Peter spoke. "Pinkie Pie?"
He nodded. "Y'know, for the cupcakes she gave us. They're really good. You want one?"
Spike thought about it, and ended up accepting the new cupcake Peter extended towards him, the blue star standing out on the red icing.
"Thanks! I'll make sure to tell Pinkie and Twilight you said thanks. Oh, and how's Rarity doing?"
Peter and Rainbow Dash blushed slightly, having forgotten that Rarity was asleep in the bed next to them.
"Well, she's still unconscious, but she's healing."
Spike turned, Rainbow Dash and Peter looking up in surprise. They hadn't even seen the doctor pony approaching, and Spike hadn't heard him, either. He walked to the side as the doctor walked in, and quickly backed out, not wanting to interfere.
----------------------------Peter-------------------------------
"Uh, thanks, doc. I'd better get going, guys, Twilight's probably wondering where I am. See 'ya!"
Rainbow Dash and Peter both responded with their own 'see 'ya's, and the doctor pony walked over to Peter's burlap bag, the hourglass image stretching on his flank as he walked.
"There's something special in this bag. Something that can help your hands. It's very rare, and it's to be handled with care...." he let out a small snicker, causing Peter and Rainbow Dash to consecutively raise their eyebrows. "See what I did there? Help with your hands, handled with care?"
When he received no response, he cleared his throat and kept going. "Anyway, just put it on the inside of your bandages. Rainbow Dash, you'll have to help him, as it won't be fun. I'd best get going, don't want to be late!"
And with that, the odd pony walked out, spiky, brown mane and equally brown coat disappearing around the corner of the door to Peter's room.
"Huh...weird doctor. Well, we'd best follow his advice."
Peter looked up at Rainbow Dash. "Yeah, I agree. That pony was...weird. And, I agree, let's see what's in the bag."
He shook his head, trying to ease the tempest in his mind, images from the internet of the doctor pony flooding his mind.
Why would Doctor Whooves visit me? He's the pony time lord, and I'm not exactly important...then again, I am the only human in Equestria, so I guess that would kind of warrant a visit from the pony version of Doctor Who...kind of like if a pony ended up in Earth. Doctor Who would be all over that...
He cleared his mind and searched through his things for something new, pulling out his iPod touch, which Rainbow Dash looked at with some interest, large Bose headphones following them, the wire taught; his Book of Memes; and finally, a strange, small, black box, a tag on it that read:
Peter,
This is a gift from Zecora. It's very, very rare, and should be handled with care. Have Rainbow Dash help you put it on your bandages. You'll find out what it does.
Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle.
"Huh...that's the same thing that doctor said..."
Peter nodded, pondering why Doctor Whooves would waste his time on someone as insignificant as himself...
So wait...me crushing that Soul Gem...is it actually important enough to create, what was it...oh, right, 'wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff'? Huh...I guess I'll find out in time. Right now, I want to get rid of that Soul Gem...and whatever part of me that's locked away inside of it. Oh, and try out Twilight's gift...
"Uh...so, Rainbow Dash, feel like helpin' a friend get his bandages off any time soon?"
The cyan pony looked at him, a small smile the result of his oddly asked question.
"Sure."
She grabbed one end of the bandage with her teeth, Peter the other end with his fingers. they pulled simultaneously.
Peter gasped at what he saw.
The muscle was visible, and there were seven, small holes surrounding it. It didn't smell, and it wasn't rotting, but it felt and looked...weird. Just the fact that he could see the muscles as he flexed his fingers...
He shook his head again, and opened the black box, grimacing in pain as his muscles stretched. He pulled out the small vial with his left hand, and read the label aloud.
"'The End of Pain-Hurt No More!' Weird name, but if Twilight said it could help, it probably does."
Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. He put a drop on the center of his bandages, and replaced it on his hand. Somehow, it stuck back onto his hand, almost as if it had never been removed. The pain in his palm was immediately eliminated, a feeling akin to cool water washing his nervous system tingling his entire body, sending him into a state of ecstasy.
"Wow!" He gasped, warranting a surprised, concerned look from Rainbow Dash. "This stuff is great! The pain is...totally gone!"
Rainbow Dash smiled. "Awesome! Now, time for the next hand!"
They repeated the process, Peter releasing the same smile as the feeling of cool water spreading through his nerves repeated itself, forcing another gasp of ecstasy between his lips. He smiled, a wild sparkle in his eyes, driven by the simply amazing sensation coursing through his veins.
"Man...Twilight's awesome. I've got to pay her back for this somehow, this stuff is friggin' amazing..."
Rainbow Dash looked at him, dubious. "'Friggin'?'"
Peter blushed slightly, remembering that the words 'friggin'' and 'fucking' were 'bucking' in pony dialect. He decided to lie about the origins, not wanting to explain that he had just used a word referring to sexual intercourse.
"Uh, it's a saying back on earth. Like, 'that's friggin' awesome!' Or, 'that's friggin' insane.' It's kind of weird, but it means that something is extremely...something...yeah..."
Rainbow Dash laughed lightly. "Huh. Humans must be so weird...No offense."
Peter smiled, all his time in the robotics 'cage' returning to him. "Oh, trust me, humans are anything but weird. If anything, I'm one of the weirdest humans ever. That, or just one of the least boring humans..."
Rainbow Dash snorted in laughter, her smile widening. They were about to talk more when a shaft of light illuminated the sky, shining through the window above Peter's bed.
At the same time Peter said, "the fuck?", Rainbow Dash said, "the buck?", both of them staring at the pulsating shaft of light.
"What does it mean?"
Rainbow Dash looked to Peter, and Peter to Rainbow Dash. He marveled at how she looked in this strange light.
Wow...it makes her look...
He pondered how she looked in the light, seeing how how the light played over her rainbow mane, giving it a dark tint, and how it gave her face a more focused bath of light, making her eyes shine, making her face more prominent against her body and mane, showing Peter the greatest parts of her, while also showing him her faults, such as a spark of uncertainty in her eyes.
Beautiful.
He looked away, blushing, suddenly aware of how intimate the light was. It showed him every part of her personality. He didn't know how, but it did...
But that wasn't why he looked away.
He looked away because the protective feeling he had for Rainbow Dash was overstepping its boundaries from a friendly emotion, to something...greater.
He stared at the light, resisting urge after urge.
---------------------Rainbow Dash----------------------------
The cyan pony marveled at how the strange light made Peter look.
Wow...it makes him look...
She thought about how he looked in the light, his hands, arms, and torso shaded out by the light's shadow, making his face more prominent, bringing forth the spark of protectiveness and of care that she already knew were there. However, it brought out his flaws as well, showing her his cockiness and sarcasm.
Suddenly, instead of a realization as to how he looked in the light, she found how intimate the light was. It showed her every part of his personality...but also stirred a feeling in her. Seeing his entire personality spelled out before her...it stirred something...odd.
She blushed and looked away at the same time he did, looking towards the beacon of light.
After a long pause, Peter broke the silence.
"Well, it looks...beautiful."
Rainbow Dash nodded in consent, blushing even deeper, knowing that he wasn't talking about the light itself.
"It looks...different...In a good way."
She blushed even deeper now, as she had made it painfully obvious that she wasn't talking about the light.
Peter looked at her from the corner of her eyes, and so did Rainbow Dash. She smiled mischievously.
"It looks...'friggin' awesome'."
Peter smiled wide and threw an arm around Rainbow Dash, sending her stomach into a cartwheel.
He's done this so many times before...why does it feel...different this time?
As the light faded, Peter yawned. "Well, I'm tired. I think I'd better go to sleep before the doctor comes back and forces me to sleep..."
He got up, taking his arm off of Rainbow Dash, and picked up Pinkie Pie's box of cupcakes. He placed it down on his beside table, and smiled as Rainbow Dash lifted off of his bed, her spirits anything but.
"Well, goodnight, Rainbow Dash."
"Goodnight..."
She turned around to leave, but suddenly stopped, apprehension making her coat stand on end as she remembered the dreams she had, and how she hadn't had them when she slept in Peter's comforting embrace...when she had a shoulder to cry on...
Peter was crawling into bed when Rainbow Dash turned, eyes full of fear.
Please, Peter, don't take this the wrong way...
"Hey Peter...can I...can I sleep here tonight? Just one more night..."
Peter looked at her in confusion.
"Why? Don't you want to sleep in your own bed?"
Rainbow Dash sighed, a tear running down her cheek.
"Rainbow...what's the matter?"
She sat down, staring into Peter's eyes, her rainbow tail falling off of the edge of his bed.
"Peter...when I slept here...I didn't have nightmares...when I had somepony...or someone...to comfort me..."
She spoke haltingly, feeling stupid and embarrassed for asking to sleep in his bed.
"What nightmares?"
Rainbow Dash cried openly now, the horrible images flooding her mind.
"Nothing...it's nothing..."
She felt the urge to curl up into a ball and cry, to rock back and forth and get the images out of her head.
Twilight, burning to death...
"No, it's not nothing. I want to help you!"
"No, it's fine! Really, everything's fine!"
Pinkie Pie, burning to death...
"No, it's obviously not!"
Rainbow Dash curled into a ball, trying to defend herself from the onslaught of images, a crazy smile spreading across her face, her eyes contracting into pin pricks.
"Everything's...fi-i-i-i-i-i-i-ine...fine fine fine fine fine fine fine...everything's perrrrfect..."
Fluttershy, dying in her hooves...
"Rainbow Dash!"
Peter was crying as well, horrified by what he saw.
"Fine...everything's fine....nopony's dead..."
Rarity, her carcass falling to pieces in front of Rainbow Dash...
"Rainbow Dash, please, snap out of it!"
"Fine....everything's fine...just get out of my head...out...of...my...head..."
Applejack, dead but living...
"RAINBOW DASH!!"
"Fine...fine...get out of my head...everything's fine, I swear, everything's fine..."
Rainbow Dash, looking upon the strangling Pegasus with disgust...
She was brought back to reality by a sharp slap to the face, the mark stinging where Peter's hand had made contact.
-----------------Peter------------------
Everything had been calm, and then suddenly, that calm was destroyed by the dark waves of insanity, its tsunami breaching the levies that Rainbow Dash had constructed around her small island of sanity.
One second, she was crying lightly, the next second, she was in a ball, whispering in a schizophrenic fit.
Peter immediately jumped up and knelt next to her, shouting her name as she whispered to herself.
"Rainbow Dash!"
Jesus, these nightmares must be fucking horrible...to send her over the edge so quickly when she just thinks about it for a moment...what the fuck...
He steeled his nerves, knowing what he would have to do.
"RAINBOW DASH!!"
He sobbed, tears now streaming down his face, which fell, glistening, onto his bed.
"I'm sorry..."
He slapped her, hard, across the face, his fingers burning, the solvent on his bandages soothing his palm as it made contact.
Rainbow Dash looked into his eyes, in which he saw hurt and fear, sending his stomach into a barrel roll.
"You smacked me..."
He gulped, his stream of tears becoming a waterfall.
"You were in a schizophrenic fit...I had to get you out of it..."
She backed away from him, still in shock that he would hit her.
"You slapped me...hard..."
He gulped again, salty tears stinging his taste buds.
"Damn it, I was trying to help you! You were going insane, you weren't in your right mind..."
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, trying to get away from him.
"You hit me..."
Why can't she see that I was trying to help her? It was all I could do...
"You think I'm going insane...you think I'm a freak...so you hit me..."
All of his feelings for her, the feelings he had tried to keep locked away, started spilling over, creating a tidal wave of emotion.
"Rainbow Dash, you're not a freak!"
"You...you helped me before...and now you just slapped me...I'm just a freak to you..."
"Rainbow Dash, you're not a freak...I was trying to help you...I want to help you...why can't you see that it was the only way?"
He moved towards her, trying to grab her hoof, anything, trying to comfort her. She backed off, towards the door.
"You...you're not a true friend..."
He felt a bit of himself die inside as she spoke.
"Rainbow Dash, please..."
She backed off farther, tears streaming down her face.
"Don't 'please' me! Don't you dare-" *sniff* "-'please' me!
His emotions were bubbling over, and all the feelings he had for Rainbow Dash were starting to rise, the feelings he had kept locked away in his heart to protect Rainbow Dash from himself.
"Please, Rainbow, I..."
She looked at him, eyes full of anger, hate, fear, and hurt. "'I' what, huh?! 'I' what?"
What if she takes it the wrong way...I don't think I could live with that...
He felt sick to the stomach, wanting to punch himself for smacking her, for not thinking out the consequences of not actually trying to comfort her before getting her out of insanity...
"You were in a schizophrenic fit...it was all I could do!"
His emotions were bubbling over, threatening to send him into his own schizophrenic fit.
"All I could do..."
"Why? Why was it all you could do?"
"Because...it was the only thing I could think of...I thought you would forgive me if I explained why I did it..."
"FORGIVE YOU? You smacked me like some common insane pony! I thought we had something...special! Something where I could tell you about the dreams I've been having, about seeing everypony dead! About seeing them burn or fall apart, about watching them die in my arms...I guess I was wrong. I can't trust you with that..."
"No, Rainbow Dash, you can, please, just sit down, calm down, please, you can trust me..."
"How do I know i can trust you, huh?! How do I know you won't tell everypony that I'm insane, that I see these images? How do I know that you won't tell everyone that I'm a freak?!"
His emotions got the better of him. He didn't care that he was human, or that she was a pony. He said it.
"God dam nit, Rainbow Dash, you can trust me because...because...because I love you!"
She immediately stopped shouting at him, shock contorting her features, her red eyes contracting, her rainbow mane covering her left eye, surprise and an odd fear replacing anger and pain.
"You...you what?"
Peter sighed, running a hand through his hair. "That...that came out wrong. I mean that...you're like a sister to me...I just feel like...I want to be there for you. And that...if I ever did something that would hurt you...I wouldn't be able to forgive myself...and it's more just feeling protective of you than actually being in love with you..."
He blushed, wanting to do nothing more than just regress into his sheets and hide from Rainbow Dash.
------------------------------------Rainbow Dash----------------------------------
Rainbow Dash sighed as well, relieved that Peter didn't actually love her, but just felt protective of her.
"Rainbow Dash...I'm sorry for slapping you...I just...panicked. I...I was afraid that you were going insane, and I thought that I needed to snap you out of it, before you actually lost it...and I guess I just chose the first thing that came to mind...do you...do you forgive me?"
The cyan Pegasus suddenly felt a pang of guilt for what she had done and said.
I should have listened to him...
She sniffed again, and hugged Peter.
"I forgive you...and you're not a jerk, and you are a true friend...just, please, don't smack me again. It hurt a lot."
They shared a small chuckle.
"I'm sorry for blowing up on you like that...it's just...these dreams...they're so..."
Peter held her closer, comforting her, waiting for her to compose herself, not rushing her at all. She held him close as well, so close that she could feel his heartbeat.
"So...horrible...and when you slapped me...I thought you were trying to reject me as your friend...for seeing them..."
She pushed herself off of Peter, and looked into his eyes, saw how much he cared for her.
"It's okay, Rainbow Dash. And I'm sorry for saying that I...yeah. I was just..."
"Not in control?"
He nodded.
"I just lost control of my emotions...I've been trying to hide them from you...I thought you would take it the wrong way..."
Rainbow Dash smiled as his hand cupped the side of her face where he slapped her, knowing that he was trying to comfort her.
"I'm so sorry, 'Dash..."
Rainbow Dash smiled. "It's okay, really. I just need some time...you know, to think about my dreams..."
Peter wiped a tear away as it fell down the cyan cheek, his protective love for her calming her.
"If you want, we can talk about them.I'll be here the entire time, I'll hear you out. I'll always be here for you, Rainbow Dash. Always."
Rainbow Dash looked up, her tears of pain and anger replaced by tears of gratitude.
"Thank you...so much...and I'm so sorry for blowing up on you before..."
Peter kissed her forehead, sending a shiver through her spine.
"It's okay, I forgive you, Rainbow Dash...I understand why you blew up. I would too if I was in your situation."
Rainbow Dash smiled a bit, comforted. She took a deep breath, shuddering as she did so.
"I think...I think I'm ready to talk about it now, Peter."
Peter nodded and moved back on the bed to the pillows, and arranged them so that Peter and Rainbow Dash could both comfortably lay on it and talk.
By the time sun rose in the morning, he was happy that he had done so.