Peter stood in the door frame, watching the white doctor pony push his stethoscope to Rarity's heart, observe the Sine graph that marked out Rarity's pulse, and poke her with his horn, tip adorned by sanitary cap, finding out whether her waking up had caused anything to click, such as her fractured ribs.
And all the while, Peter and Rainbow Dash stood by, watching worriedly as the doctor stood and cleared his throat, magically picking up the clip board and pen that lay on Rarity's bedside table, scribbled down a few things, and placed it back on the table.
"Uh...is she okay?"
The doctor looked over at Peter, right eyebrow dubious.
"Yes, of course she is. Why wouldn't she be?"
Peter blinked, his eyebrow dubious as well.
"Well, when I told you, you kind of...freaked out. You ran in here like there was no tomorrow."
The pony turned incredulous, answering in a degrading tone.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Peter shook his head, feeling like an ass, a blush joining the 'no' that tumbled out of his lips.
"She's been in a coma for the past two days now, and she just woke up. She's my patient, I'm her doctor. I needed to ensure that she was stable. What did you think I was going to do, leisurely stroll over and open the door? Pop my head in and ask if she would like some tea?"
Peter's blush deepened, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. Rainbow Dash held back a snicker, her lips curling upwards as she did so.
Peter chuckled awkwardly, causing his blush to redden as he made it even more awkward. He changed the subject, shooting a look at Rainbow Dash as her snicker pushed its way through her lips.
"Anyway...is her leg going to heal right? Like, no jagged ends on the bone or anything?"
The doctor turned and poked her leg with his horn, seeing inside her leg, checking the bones.
"Nope. Thing is, while I can't actually fully heal her with magic, since it's a magical wound, I can influence the surrounding area to go through more mitosis, and then influence how it grows."
Sighing, the doctor explained something to Peter without turning around.. "Mitosis is-"
"The splitting of two cells in which the chromosomes and nucleus are split in half, organelles are reproduced, and two cells result from one in a form of asexual reproduction. I'm not a total moron."
The doctor spun around now, looking at Peter with surprise.
"Oh, snap!"
Pony and human snapped at the neck, looking straight at Rainbow Dash.
"You just got told, 'doc!"
Peter raised his eyebrow and smiled a cocky smile.
Well, at least she's back to normal...
The doctor pony turned back to Peter, assessing his patient.
"Well, anyway...now, Mr. Roose, it is time for you."
Peter nodded, deciding not to ask how the pristine white pony knew his name. Walking over to him, the doctor used magic on the bandages on Peter's right hand, finding the strange solvent and exposed muscle under the white bandage as he telepathically looked past the linens.
"Oh! I see that Zecora sent you a gift. Strange thing, Poison Joke...can wreak havoc, or be used as a painkiller."
"Poison Joke? You mean we put Poison Joke all over Peter's hand?"
Once again, pony and human snapped at the neck towards the cyan pony.
"Well, if extracted correctly, the roots of Poison Joke can be crushed down to create a very rare substance, which calms the nervous system and heals nerve endings."
Rainbow Dash blinked. "Oh. Okay."
The doctor smiled and turned back to Peter, rolling his eyes.
"Well, let's see your eyes, Mr. Roose."
About two minutes later, the white pony was shouting Rainbow Dash out of the hospital.
"He needs his sleep! His eyes were completely shot! The bags of his eyes had bags, he needs-"
The voices faded out as Peter fell to sleep, unconsciousness tugging at his mind, bringing him into that realm of dreams and mental re-invigoration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter stood in the crisp air of mid day, Celestia's sun blinding him and the pony that sat in the wheelchair. He pushed the burlap sack farther up his left arm, taking care not to hit the white horn sticking out of the wheelchair.
Damn, I haven't been in the sunlight for...two days...
He smiled, realizing how much he missed it in comparison to the room he had been sleeping in. It had a big window, but nonetheless, it didn't have the same warmth, or the same radiant glow.
He pushed the wheelchair on, Rarity taking a breath of fresh air, her tail once again awash with light, her unconscious self not feeling enough to feed it with emotion.
"Ah, the outdoors! My beauty may flourish again!"
Peter rolled his eyes, unseen by Rarity. Really? That's the first thing you're concerned about? Not the fact that you almost died?
He smiled, remembering how Rarity had spoken herself coarse as soon as her voice had returned to her, thanking Peter for saving her, asking after Rainbow Dash.
Who just so happened to land right next to Rarity at that exact moment.
"Hey, Rarity! Feels good to be back outside, doesn't it?"
The elegant white pony nodded, eyes wide and sparkling as she watched the skies.
"Listen...Rarity...about what I said in the hospital..."
Peter quickly reached into his bag with his right hand, pulled out his iPod, fit the headphones over his ears, and turned shuffle on, clicking on his playlist 'Dubstep, Techno, and Instrumental,' blocking out the private conversation Rarity and Rainbow Dash were about to have.
He knew what Rainbow Dash was going to say, and in fact, he knew more about it than Rarity did. But he just felt that when Rainbow Dash told Rarity, it should be private.
Rainbow Dash smiled up at Peter, who winked at her, already bopping his head to deadmau5, oblivious to the world around him as they walked around the outskirts of Ponyville, just as Rarity had asked him to do.
He made a mental not to himself as he walked.
Don't sing along. Do. Not. Sing.
----------------Rarity-------------------
"Uh...shouldn't we have this conversation where Peter can't hear us, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow Dash smiled down at Rarity.
"Don't worry. He has his headphones on, and believe me, those headphones block out all the noise in the world. He can't hear us at all right now. As long as we don't shout super loud, that is."
Rarity nodded, smiling, remembering the special headphones she had made for Vinyl Scratch the week before Peter had arrived.
They were slightly garish...but who am I to question music?
"Rainbow Dash, it is not your fault. If anything, it's mine."
Rarity remained calm as Rainbow Dash snapped around, shock contorting her features.
"Your fault?! But I heard you scream, and I didn't do anything!"
Rarity held up a hoof to silence her friend.
"I was trying to perform magic that was too difficult for me, and I knew it was too difficult for me. I kept going on with it, though, all on the search for something as vain as beauty. I endangered myself by doing it, and then Peter when I didn't cut off the magic when he walked in. If anything, I pumped in more magic, trying to fix the mess! I endangered him by not giving up my vain search, and I endangered myself by ever starting it!"
Rainbow Dash put a hoof on Rarity's shoulder, using her wings instead of three legs.
"It's not your fault. It could happen to anypony. I ignored you. I could've stopped it myself, but I didn't..."
Rarity placed a hoof on her friend's arm in return.
"Listen to me, Rainbow Dash. It is not your fault. I made a stupid decision, and then a stupid mistake. I forgive you for ignoring me, even though there is nothing to be forgiven. Now, all you have to do is forgive yourself."
Rainbow Dash looked down into Rarity's tearful eyes, a tear of her own sliding down her cyan face.
"I already have. Peter helped me do that...I just wanted to know if you had forgiven me or not."
Rarity smiled, tears brimming. "I have, Rainbow Dash. I have."
Rarity held down a gasp as Rainbow Dash cried, rather openly.
Oh, my, she never cries like this...
"Rainbow Dash, are you okay?"
The cyan pony nodded, saying something that Rarity would have never expected from her, drowning out the tapping that accommodated Peter changing to the general library of his iPod, bored by the constant dubstep repeating itself.
"It's more than fine. I just needed somepony to be there for me. And Peter was. He heard me out, and really listened to me. He was...he was there for me. He helped me to remember that Loyalty...Loyalty is more than just what you do. It's how you act. And he reminded me that my friends were always there for me."
Rarity blinked, surprised by how much Peter had managed in the apparent two days they had spent in the hospital, and also by how expressive and open Rainbow Dash had become.
Oh, my, I simply must find out what happened in the hospital...
"Well...that was very nice of him."
Rainbow Dash nodded, now looking away from Rarity, and instead ahead, refusing to look back at either the unicorn or the human.
"What is it Rainbow Dash? You seem to be...holding something back."
Rainbow Dash leaned over into Rarity's ear.
"Listen...can you keep a secret?"
"Cross my heart and hope to stick a cupcake in my eye."
Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly, emulating the Pinkie Pie swear.
And she whispered a secret to Rarity that was heard by nopony but her and the white unicorn.
But not by nothing.
---------------------------Rainbow Dash----------------------
The cyan Pegasus leaned back from Rarity's ear, relieved that she had gotten it off of her chest.
"Well, that's very nice for you, Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash looked over, smiling.
"Thanks...but can we not talk about it right now?"
The elegant white unicorn nodded in consent. "Whatever you say, Rainbow Dash."
They walked on in silence for the next few minutes, Rarity, Peter, and Rainbow Dash simply enjoying the outdoors.
Well, mostly.
Rainbow Dash and Rarity looked back in surprise as Peter sang in his deep voice, emulating whatever he was hearing in his headphones. They giggled as he sung, not noticing that they were watching him.
"He's pretty good," Rarity whispered over to Rainbow Dash, giggling.
"Yeah, he's not half bad..."
"My life is gunna be...beautiful...She's telling me, we'll be wed...she's picked out a king-sized bed...I couldn't feel...any better, or I'd be sick...Tell me quick...Oh, ain't that a kick? Tell me quick...ain't that a kick...in the head?"
The two ponies giggled, expecting another song about love, showing an unknown sappy side to Peter's personality.
Little did they know, in a shuffled library, the letters 'A' and 'S' can end up being right next to each other.
Rainbow Dash smiled as Peter's head bopped, glancing over at Rarity.
Probably about giving someone a wedding brace...
She strained to hear him, not able to hear his whispered lines until about a half a minute into the song.
"I don't think he knows the lines, Rarity...probably about marriage or someth-"
"I'm sexy and I know it!"
They laughed hysterically as he sang the song, singing about his body and working out, and a 'passion' in his 'pants' (whatever those are...)
They laughed even harder as he sang 'wiggle wiggle wiggle...', not understanding what he meant.
Rarity laughed one last time, commenting on the strange songs.
"Oh, my, this is simply hilarious! I wonder what song is next...I can't wait to hear!"
Apparently, he heard them, as he tapped his iPod, smiling mischievously and winking at Rainbow Dash.
---------------------------Peter------------------------
He remembered where he was when he saw the rainbow mane flash in front of his face.
Oh, shit! Was I singing!? Great...I just sang almost all of 'I'm Sexy and I Know It' in front of Rarity and Rainbow Dash...fuck my life.
He quickly repealed his 'fuck my life' when Rarity said that she 'couldn't wait to hear'. He looked at Rainbow Dash and winked, doing his best to put on a mischievous smile, tapping his iPod as he pushed Rarity's wheelchair with his elbows.
Remember...'fuck' is 'buck' here...
He pressed play and sang.
"I see you drivin' round town with the girl I love, and I'm like, 'buck you!'"
Rarity and Rainbow Dash exploded into laughter. He kept going, replacing the word 'fuck' with 'buck' as he sang 'Fuck You' by 'Cee Lo Green', not caring if anyone in Ponyville could hear his raucous singing.
-----------------------------------------------
The three friends laughed together, Rainbow Dash flying next to Peter with a foreleg draped around his shoulder as she cried from laughter.
"Oh...my...that's simply...outrageously...uncouth!"
She struggled to admonish Peter through fits of laughter.
"Yeah, I know, it's great, right?"
Rainbow Dash laughed harder at Peter's remark, giving him a hoof to fist.
"Brohoof!"
Rainbow Dash ended up having the hiccups after Peter explained what a 'brohoof' was.
"You...you're so...weird!"
Their laughter was suddenly cut short by Twilight Sparkle, running past them, frantic.
"Uh...Twilight Sparkle!?"
Rarity's raised voice obviously reached the lavender unicorn, as she turned around and beamed at all of them.
"Oh! You're out of the hospital, I see! And all laughing! Great...Uh, I need to go see Zecora. Just...yeah. Bye!"
And with that, the unicorn bolted off. Peter broke the resulting bewildered silence.
"Huh...weird."
The three looked at each other, trying to find an answer. They shrugged and continued on, walking towards Fluttershy's house, zig-zagging their way towards the center of Ponyville.
Peter put Rarity next to him and knocked on the door, Rarity sitting in her chair beside him.
Fluttershy opened the door, smiling at Rarity, then Rainbow Dash, but then avoiding Peter's smile.
"Uh...Fluttershy? Is something...the matter?"
A small whisper escaped the yellow Pegasus' lips as she whisked the three inside.
It's like the first episode of Friendship is Magic all over again...
Peter put Rarity's wheelchair next to Fluttershy, where they could talk, behind the table. He sat down opposite of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash landing, and sitting, next to him. Peter decided to try and get some conversation going.
"So, Fluttershy, is Devil okay?"
A whisper.
"How about Angel?"
A smaller whisper.
"Are you okay?"
A squeak.
"Come on, Fluttershy, you can tell us!"
Fluttershy and Rarity looked at Rainbow Dash, somewhat startled by how kind she was being rather than outright and abrasive. Peter only gave her a sideways glance, smiling, proud of himself for helping Rainbow Dash become a better pony, also of Rainbow Dash for becoming a better pony.
"Well...I felt...guilty for...giving Peter the Stare..."
Peter smiled at Fluttershy, placing a friendly hand on her shoulder, warranting a strange look from Rainbow Dash.
"Listen, Fluttershy. You can't blame yourself for that. I understand what it looked like. It looked like I had taken advantage of your efforts to get me into Celestia's good graces, and I wouldn't expect anypony, or anyone, to react in a different way. Trust me, I'd be pissed, too. Hell, if I did something like give my ruler the Stare, and then the person I did it for took advantage of it, I'd probably beat the hell out of them with these...amazing guns."
Fluttershy laughed as he showed off his muscles, or rather, profound lack of. Rainbow Dash and Rarity laughed as well, undoubtedly thinking of the song he had sang before.
"Do you...do you forgive me? Especially for driving you...insane?"
Peter put his hands behind his head, and leaned back slightly, putting on his Big Mac impression.
"Eeeeeeyup."
The three ponies looked at him, bewildered. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.
"Wow, Peter. That impression of Big Macintosh was...really good!"
And then, Fluttershy brought up a good point, but an awkward one at that.
"Hey, wait, I don't think Peter's ever met Big Mac. How does he know what he sounds like?"
Peter tried to think of something, and found it, using a random jazz name to cover up his blunder.
"Well, I don't actually know who 'Big Macintosh' is. But I do know that a singer named Sachmo, back on Earth, used to say things like that, so I guess it's just coincidence."
He winced as he defiled the singer's name. Sachmo, Scatman John, forgive me, O legendary Scatters...
He held back laughter at the randomness of his thoughts. Geez, I need a psychiatrist...
"Oh, Peter, I just remembered!"
Peter sat bolt upright, removing his hands from behind his head, unintentionally smacking Rainbow Dash in the shoulder.
"Ow!"
"Sorry," Peter mumbled, blushing.
"Everypony else was feeling really bad about jumping to conclusions. I think you should go see them. And I'm not kicking you out or anything, but I think you should...uh...go see them...right now...We can talk more tomorrow, okay?"
Peter nodded, just realizing that the day was almost over.
So much to do...so little time...ah, hell, who am I kidding?
He walked out, pushing Rarity's wheelchair, the door closing softly behind the three friends. Rarity stopped them with a raised hoof, asking them the obvious question.
"What, exactly, was she talking about?"
Peter and Rainbow Dash looked at each other, slightly blushing. They whispered, and finally decided after a heated debate that Peter would explain it.
"Uh, listen, Rarity..." he smiled at Rainbow Dash. "We'll fill you in back at the Carousel Boutique."
Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped, and Peter stuck out her tongue, his eyes scrunched. Rainbow Dash smacked him across the face with her tail, holding back laughter as he spit out rainbow hairs.
"Uhm...okay. Well, to our friends!"
Peter nodded and pushed on, Rainbow Dash flying circles above them, not willing to leave either of their sides.
----------------------------------------------------------
Peter knocked on the door to Sugarcube Corner, rocking on the balls of his feet as they waited.
All of their pupils contracted as Pinkamena Diane Pie opened the door, her mane flat, her tail flat, her kitchen a mess, Mr. and Mrs. Cake nowhere to be seen.
--------------------Pinkie Pie----------------------
Pinkie walked home, feeling...not quite herself.
She didn't bounce, and as she walked, her hair deflated, slowly.
I jumped right to thinking Peter was 'doing' something with Dashie...he probably hates me...
She sat down in the kitchen, remembering that Mr. and Mrs. Cake had expanded their stay at Manehattan by a full week. She sighed, relieved that she could have some time alone.
She sat amidst the orderly kitchen, looking at the supplies, getting more and more depressed.
Finally, after hours of thinking that Peter hated her, she knew that Peter hated her.
---------------Pinkamena Diane Pie--------------
Pinkamena made a point of removing anything party related from her kitchen.
"I don't deserve these parties...I don't deserve to make cupcakes...I don't!"
Her flat, long mane flapped around as she threw icing and batter at the walls, making a mess.
"I don't deserve any parties! In fact...all parties...are stupid! Why bother having a party...when you have nopony that likes you anymore? Peter, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity...once they realize that it was ME that jumped to conclusions first, they'll hate me!"
Pinkamena jumped around, not in happiness, but in anger, her eyes darting madly.
"ADHFSALFJSDFLSJFSLK JSFLSEAJFSOFJSDF LKDJ!"
She had no idea how she had said that, but she didn't care. All that mattered as that she got all of the anger out of her, onto the kitchen supplies.
Finally when she finished, Pinkamena Diane Pie looked at what she had wrought.
She flopped down, now thoroughly depressed.
"I destroyed the kitchen, and killed cupcakes that weren't even born yet! What have I done..."
She sat there, mind switching between how she had let down Peter and how she had killed countless cupcakes, when a knock at the door heralded the arrival of two ponies and a human.
She opened the door, backing away, her flat mane plastered to her back by batter and flour.
"Uh...hi."
Peter pushed Rarity through, and Rainbow Dash followed. They stood there, mouths agape, silent as Pinkamena waited for them to shout at her.
Peter started it.
"Pinkie..."
"Pinkamena..."
"Uh, alright...Pinkamena...uh..."
She shrunk back. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that I'm the worst friend ever! I jumped to conclusions when I saw you, I didn't bother giving you a second chance!"
Peter looked at her. She expected anger. What she saw was compassion.
And, strangely enough, compassion in Rainbow Dash's and Rarity's eyes.
Peter and Rainbow Dash knelt and sat next to her, respectively. They both placed hand and hoof on her shoulders, once again, respectively, and whispered comfort into either ear.
Rainbow Dash. "Listen, Pinkie, loyalty is more than what you do. It's how you act."
Pinkamena Diane Pie's tail and mane inflated slightly, almost like when one slowly pumps air into a balloon.
Peter. "It's not your fault. It didn't look right, I know...it looked inappropriate. It wasn't your fault. I forgive you."
Pinkamena Pie's tail and mane inflated a bit more.
Rainbow Dash. "I forgive you too. You're my friend, and you always will be. Nothing will ever change that."
Pinkie Pie's tail and mane practically exploded.
------------------Pinkie Pie---------------
She drew her two friends into a close embrace, and then gave Rarity her own hug, talking all the while.
"Idon'tknowwhatgotintomeIthoughtyouguyswouldhatemefordoingthatand..." *GASP* "...ohmygoshRarityyou'reinaWHEELCHAIR!" Pinkie Pie burst out laughing, hugging her friend.
"Is it fun? To have your own little chair with wheels?"
Rarity hugged her back, careful to keep the apparently amorphous pink pony off of the cast on her leg. "Uh, not exactly...but I'll get used to it."
Pinkie smiled, but her smile died as she turned around.
"Let's make some cupcaaa---oh. Right."
Pinkie let a single tear fall at the horrible sight.
My Celestia...I...I'm a monster. I created a massacre!!
"Pinkie?"
She turned around to see Peter and Rainbow Dash, holding a broom and dustpan, respectively.
-------------------Peter---------------
"You, you don't need to bother with those stupid things!"
Peter watched on, amazed, as Pinkie somehow pushed everything under the rug, and it disappeared.
"How in the hell did you do that?"
"Do what?"
Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Peter looked between each other, simply amazed.
"Oh, right, that! Well, you see, when you shove stuff under the rug, if you just think about the things you're shoving under it as ideas, they become ideas! Just like you shove secrets under the rug!"
Peter blinked. So, wait, is that breaking the fourth wall or just Troll physics?
Pinkie looked around the room, realizing how bereft it was of supplies.
"Hey, guys, here's an idea: go visit Applejack. I need to go buy some stuff, alright?"
Peter nodded, raising. "Good idea. Let's go, guys."
He grabbed the handles on the back of Rarity's wheelchair, spinning her around. He pushed her out, Rainbow Dash close behind, once again flying circles above her two friends, watching over them.
------------------------------------------
Peter walked towards Sweet Apple Acres, pushing Rarity, but was cut off by a lavender unicorn, scowl on her face, lampshade stuck on her hoof.
"Uh...Twilight?"
The unicorn looked at her friends.
"If you're going to Sweet Apple Acres, don't bother. Applejack's busy preparing the new harvest, and you two," she motioned towards Peter and Rarity with the lampshade, "need a place to stay tonight. Come with me."
Peter looked up towards Rainbow Dash, who landed next to him.
"Rainbow Dash, will you be alright?"
He looked deep into her eyes, and immediately knew the answer.
"Twilight."
The lavender unicorn turned around, sighing.
"What?"
"So does Rainbow Dash. I'll explain at the library. And you can explain the...lampshade."
Twilight thought about it, and shrugged. "I can fit you all in the library. And I'd like to explain it as quickly as possible. So, let's go."
They pushed on towards the tree library, tried and curious.