Discord's disembodied spirit looked up at the beacon of light with a smile.
Well played, Celestia, well played.
he knew that this signified the rise of the Seventh Element, but he also knew what it meant to all the provinces and cities across Equestria.
'Oh, dear, our precious Princess is in trouble!' He chuckled. Oh, my little ponies, none of you have any idea how much trouble your Princess is in. For I may have just found a new pawn...
He looked down at the hospital in Ponyville, and was greeted with a pleasant surprise.
And it seems as though he's very willing to give himself away.
-------------------------------------Peter---------------------------------
Peter returned the hug just as strongly, careful to keep his palms off of her body.
"Peter...I'm so sorry...when I heard Rarity scream, I thought nothing of it...I could have helped you get rid of that thing...I'm so, so sorry."
Peter raised a hand to her head, holding her closer to him as he rocked her back and forth, his tears staining Rainbow's coat as her tears stained Peter's white undershirt.
"Rainbow, it's okay. I'm fine, really. It's just a bit of pain, what's the worst that could happen?"
A 'bit' of pain shot up his arm like a lightning bolt as his palm made connection with the back of her head, stroking her mane in the same way he would stroke a crying child's hair.
Twilight smiled, and placed the Soul Gem fragments next to Peter's bed.
"I'll leave you two alone, and Peter, I want you to dispose of them. Throwing out something that holds a part of you seems...wrong.”
Peter nodded. As soon as the door swung closed behind the unicorn's purple tail, he looked up at the crying Pegasus that he held in his arms.
How weird...the show always portrayed her as...well, kind of a jerk...
He struggled to sit up, Rainbow Dash watching him with eyes full of concern as he grunted.
She decided to leave him to it, but immediately helped him all the way up when he fell back down, letting out a gasp of pain as his exposed muscle rubbed against his bandages.
As soon as he was in an upright position, she flew down and sat next to him on the visitor's chair.
Should I ask her? Or should I wait?
He decided to ask her now.
"What is it that you wanted to talk about before, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow looked up in surprise. She obviously hadn't been expecting him to care about what she was thinking...
"Oh, nothing..." she sniffed, still crying lightly. "Nothing important."
Before Peter could respond, she immediately asked him questions.
"Right now, it's your hands I'm worried about. Are they feeling better?"
Peter nodded, an absolute lie. His hands still hurt like holy hell, but the Morphine would take care of that... "Hey, how's your training for the Wonderbolts go-"
"Are you thirsty or-" *sniff* "-hungry at all?"
Peter shook his head 'no'. Which was true, as he had a ridiculous metabolism. "So, what's it like to do a Sonic Rainbo-"
"Is your head hurting?"
He shook his head no. "Rainbow Da-"
"What about your shoulders?"
"No, Rainbow Dash, I feel fi-"
"Are you okay, emotionally? I mean, part of you..."
"Rainbow Dash, I'm fine, I swear. I just want to talk!"
"Oh, should I get Fluttershy, she is your psychiatrist."
"No, Rainbow, I want to talk to you. And I want to know what you wanted to talk about last night."
"I told you already, it's nothing important."
Peter put a hand on her hoof, not in an intimate way, but as a friendly gesture.
"Rainbow Dash, it's important to me what you want to talk about."
Rainbow Dash blushed, slightly embarrassed by the remark.
"Why should it be? I'm the worst friend ever! I heard Rarity shout, and I didn't do anything! I just laid back down on the cloud and ignored it! And then you got burned...all because I didn't bother to get up..."
She started crying openly again. Peter quickly reached over to her, holding her head in the nook between his neck and his shoulder.
"Come on, 'Dash, it wasn't your fault, not at all. You had nothing to do with it, it was totally out of your hands...er, hooves..."
She sniffed, her head on his shoulder, her tears staining his shirt.
Jesus, I'm treating them like my children...I need to remember that they're adults, at least psychologically...
He forewent that as Rainbow Dash sobbed into his shoulder, leaning over awkwardly on her small chair.
He dislodged her from around his waist, moved over enough to fit a second person on the mattress, and signaled for her to come up and join him.
Rainbow blushed even deeper. "Uh, are you...are you sure? What if someone walks in and thinks we're...y'know, doing something?"
Peter blushed almost as deep as Rainbow now. "They won't. Trust me, I'll make sure of that. I won't let your good name be tarnished."
Rainbow sniffed, looking at him with eyes larger than life itself, making Peter's stomach lurch.
He held back more than a 'd'aww' as he looked at her, a sudden feeling of protectiveness rising.
She...she's so much nicer than they portray her in the show...or has something happened, and has she changed somehow?
He abandoned thinking as Rainbow hovered lightly, pulling herself onto his bed, landing lightly beside him. He put an arm around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, crying. Peter waited until she was done, thinking the entire time, rubbing her shoulder as she cried.
Okay, so either the Hub portrayal of her only captures one side of her personality...or she's changed...and I don't like it. It's almost as if her own Loyalty...is tearing her apart.
"Listen, Rainbow...I know what you're trying to do." He gulped.
This is risky territory. If I slip up, I could let slip that I know all about her and the Elements of Harmony...
"You're trying to be...loyal. But I'm going to tell you something I learned the hard way back in my middle school...that loyalty is more than just your actions. It's how you act. The fact that you came here and stayed here all night...that's true loyalty, Rainbow Dash. And, if you don't mind me saying so, you're the greatest friend I could ever wish for."
Peter looked into Rainbow Dash's deep eyes. He wiped away the tears under her eyes, and smiled, kissing her on the forehead, feeling ridiculously protective of the cyan adult Pegasus.
"Thanks, Peter. You're pretty good at-" *sniff* "-showing loyalty yourself."
She hiccuped, still crying lightly. Peter held her to himself, feeling a protective love, like the love a parent feels for their child when they're hurt.
Jesus, what have I gotten myself into...
He smiled, realizing how much more of himself he actually saw in the rainbow maned cyan mare. He had begun to doubt that she was actually like him at all after a while, seeing himself more in ponies like Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Twilight, with Kindness, Laughter, and...well, not Magic, just an uncanny thirst for knowledge.
He kept on rubbing Rainbow's shoulder, recalling the fanfic 'My Little Dashie', and how protective the main character in it had felt for Rainbow Dash.
Jesus, and I feel this protective for her and I barely even know her...imagine how that guy must have felt, having known Rainbow Dash for fifteen years as his daughter...
He looked down at the cyan Pegasus as he felt her breathing steady, and her grip on him loosen.
She must have fallen asleep...
He kissed her on the forehead, the same protective feeling surging through him.
Confound these ponies, they drive me to protect them like my own siblings...
He smiled to himself, amazed at how quickly his mind had associated these ponies with the idea of family.
He adjusted himself so that Rainbow Dash could sleep more comfortably, taking care not to wake her up in the process, and fell asleep, his arm around the Pegasus' back, right above her wings.
----------------------Pinkie Pie----------------------
Pinkie bounced out of Sugarcube Corner, excited to go see Rarity, Peter, and Rainbow Dash.
Oh, boy, what if Peter's awake! I can't wait to give him the cupcake he designed!
She stopped as she remembered the specially designed cupcakes, plunging a hoof deep into her mane to ensure it was oriented in a safe position that wouldn't fall out as she bounced. She nodded happily, assured that the cupcake tray was held in place by the carabiner.
She bounced on, her hooves acting like springs on the ground, propelling her forward at a faster and faster rate.
She finally reached the hospital entrance and knocked on the door. She walked in, head held high-as the cupcakes would go flying if she didn't hold it high-and bounced over to Peters' room.
She opened the door with a hoof, and was about to shout out 'Surprise!', the cupcake tray already in hoof, when she saw something...odd.
She left the cupcakes on the bedside table and walked out, eying Peter with suspicion. He remained unconscious, holding Rainbow Dash in his arms.
"I'd better tell Twilight about this, and fast!"
She bounced out, traveling faster than she ever had before, furiously vibrating in the entrance hall due to the low ceiling.
When she exited the building, she set off at the speed of Party towards Twilight's house.
-----------------Twilight Sparkle-------------------------
Twilight was enjoying some good sleep, taking Peters' advice from the other day, fully enjoying her magical mattress.
"Ah...peace and quiet...nopony to interrupt my sleep..."
And, as if on cue, the party pony Pinkie burst through the door, sending books flying.
Twilight sighed.
"Nopony to disturb me my flank."
She roused herself, standing slowly on her wooden floor, waiting patiently for Pinkie to finish her breath.
"-andthenIwentinandIwasgoingtobealllike'SURPRISE!'butthenIsawPeter sleeping...with...DASHIE!"
Twilight nodded. "Well, that's good...wait, WHAT?!"
The lavender unicorn's purple mane instantly split its own ends, giving her a frazzled, enraged look.
"We'll just see about that!"
Pinkie nodded, donning her game face.
They immediately set off, Pinkie towards Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight to the cottage near the Everfree Forest.
---------------------Applejack------------------------
The work pony leaned up against a tree, her hat resting casually upon her head, shading her from the afternoon's scorching sun.
She tilted it upwards slightly to take in the beautiful sight around her. The calm, complacent pond with composed ripples traveling across its surface, dragonflies buzzing over its clear surface, touching the water, the gentle breeze sending leaves from the tall, proud apple trees into the lake, their shapes reminding Applejack of-
"Ohmygoshyou'renevergoingtobelievewhatIjustsaw!"
Applejack sighed. Can't an honest workin' pony get a minute of shut eye around here without somepony buttin' in?
"What did you just see, Pinkie Pie?"
In all honesty, Applejack didn't care, but she listened anyway as the pony bounced around her field of vision.
"IwenttovisitDashieRarityandPeterandIdroppedoffmycupcakesandPeterwassleeping...with...RAINBOW DASH!"
Applejack bolted onto her hooves, eyes blazing with fury. "What in tarnation is that pony thinking? And ah thought that Peter knew better than to go around boppin' beds with ponies he barely knew! Ah'm gonna give that boy a piece of mah mind!"
Pinkie nodded, eyes closed, oddly huge smile spreading across her lips.
"Well, let's go! Twilight's getting Fluttershy!"
And with that, the bouncing pink pony disappeared in a flash, Applejack following close behind.
-------------------Fluttershy------------------
The yellow Pegasus stood in the center of her content, quaint cottage, trying to coax her bunny out of its bed.
"Now, don't you worry, Angel. I'll never do that again, I promise."
The bunny shivered in fear, still mentally unstable from when Fluttershy had gone...well, insane the other day, trying to catch that devil of a chinchilla.
"Alright, time to have breakfast. I'll get it ready, just wait right-"
Her sentence was cut off by her own small scream as the door to her cottage burst open, revealing an enraged Twilight, driving Fluttershy behind her couch and Angel deeper into the confines of his bed.
"Fluttershy, come with me, quick, Peter's sleeping with Rainbow Dash, we need to-"
Fluttershy was up in a second, eyes furious, avoiding meeting Twilight's gaze.
"Let's go."
Twilight's mane stood on end as the Pegasus left a yellow blur, flying off towards the hospital at high speed, her Stare blazing.
"Uh...let's..."
Twilight walked out, amazed at how quickly she had changed when she heard the words 'Peter', 'sleeping', and 'Rainbow Dash' together in the same sentence.
I'm starting to feel kind of bad for Peter, I haven't seen Fluttershy so pissed off since she tried to...protect him.
The unicorn realized how angry she must be as she walked: Fluttershy had given the Princess the Stare for his sake, and now he was taking advantage of one of their friends.
Twilight snorted derisively. He'll be back in that cage before the day is done...