I sighed wearily as Rainbow Dash got the leather harness on again with the help of Fluttershy. "So what exactly does it indicate that my special talent is?" I asked once again.

Rainbow snickered as she raised her left wing to get the strap hooked under it. "Sometimes cutie marks are kind of vague. Guess I got lucky with mine," she admitted. I stared at the rainbow lightning bolt on her flank for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"You're certainly the fastest pony I've ever seen," I agreed, smirking. As anticipated, she puffed up with pride and grinned at me.

"Of course I am. Goddess of Flight, right?" she reminded, winking at me playfully. I felt a little bit of heat dance into my cheeks again but maintained my smile, adding a nod as she glanced back at me. Admittedly, she was cute when cocky. I had no idea as to why she was so attractive, but I certainly wasn't going to act on it. Fluttershy and Twilight would murder me, principles aside.

Snapping out of my distraction, I looked back at my flank again. It was still there of course. The silver gear with eight, evenly spaced teeth took up a good portion of my flank, and oddly had a heart-shaped axis hole. Honestly, I didn't know what it meant. The gear was easy enough to figure out, but was the heart just for stylized effect? The concept of getting my own Cutie Mark had always been there in the back of my head, but I never truly thought I'd get it, being so different from a normal pony. Now that I suddenly had one, I was a little overwhelmed as to what it meant. I thought you were supposed to magically know or something.

"Is it almost on, Fluttershy? We need to hurry up," Rainbow asked, having resumed her cautious vigil of the forest.

My gut told me that there was something I was missing still. "Is there a reason we're in a hurry apart from getting proper medical attention?" I questioned carefully, glancing over at the yellow mare that was just securing the last side buckle.

"Oh, um, yes. The mayor has declared a state of emergency. It's a little scary," she muttered, swallowing timidly while nodding to Rainbow.

The aptly named rainbow pegasus sighed and nodded. "Something really freaked out the animals of the forest last night. Lots of roars, growls, and snarls. Wolves were spotted near the forest's edge and one pony even reported seeing a manticore. Until things settle down again, we really need to stay away from here," she added, far more calmly than her shivering friend.

It was a compulsion, really. Almost everything the yellow and pink pegasus did gave me urges to guard and protect her. Shifting a little, I leaned up and gently extended my left forehoof. She watched me curiously, stopping in her shaking long enough to at least be interested in what I was doing. Her eyes widened further as I made contact with her back and gently rubbed the spot directly between her two wings. The effect was instantaneous, and more than a little surprising. She let out a soft gasp as I massaged along her coat, going in gentle, hopefully soothing circles. Her eyes lidded slightly, and she rested more heavily against her cyan friend as I worked. She was so adorable that I couldn't help but smile.

Rainbow started momentarily as she felt the contact, then glanced back at me and her. Her surprise shifted to that of a warm grin as she saw me gently stroking the other mare. "Between the wings, and the wings themselves are sensitive for most pegasi. Especially the mares. A little on the nervous side, Fluttershy?" she pointed out knowingly. Wait, why were mares more sensitive?

Fluttershy's cheeks tinted a light pink color, but she nodded subtly. Her eyes then shifted back to me, and a smile lit along her expression again. She surprised me further by turning and actually hugging me gently.

"You're a good stallion. I promise that I'm going to get over this. You're never going to hurt me; I know that now," she muttered, almost as if hoping her cyan friend wouldn't hear.

Obviously, she did. "Of course he's not going to hurt you. If anything, he'd rather let himself be hurt than let you come to harm. Remember the rock thingy? And even more recently, the couch?" Rainbow pointed out in a surprisingly gentle fashion. The more I saw them interact, the more I realized she had a special soft spot for Fluttershy. Not to say she wasn't spot on, of course. If I was protective of any of the mares, it was Fluttershy.

The yellow mare retained her pink tinting to her cheeks, which magnified a little before she nodded. Regardless, she seemed content enough where she was, and just looked back over at me with surprisingly curious eyes.

"I'm still glad Twilight is going to attempt to date you first, but maybe one day I'll work up the, well, courage to try as well. If you two allow it, of course! I mean, I don't want to offend either of you. That would be bad. Oh dear, I'm sorry if I just did," she suddenly started to ramble, looking more and more flustered.

I placed a hoof gently to her muzzle to stop her before shaking my head. "It's a strange concept because it's reversed for me. In my culture, I believe that it was the females that used to take multiple male mates, but if it's sometimes done in reverse here, then I might be able to get adjusted to it. You don't need to apologize," I assured, keeping the evil glares and ear twitches restricted as much as I could when she mentioned Twilight.

Rainbow shook her head wearily, turning around to fully face us before muttering, "That is so weird. You must have a lot of guys on your world."

"Well, we did. If my dreams are of any indication, the situation is reversed now. I'm not sure why, but one of them mentioned they were looking for males and-" I started explaining before I suddenly realized what I was doing. Giving a sudden blank, dumbfounded look, I shut up and looked away from both of them. I forgot, they probably think I'm just insane too.

Rainbow stared surprisingly intensely at me. Her expression neither shifted to amusement or scorn. Fluttershy surprised me a little more, however, by smiling fully and shaking her head. "Twilight has, um, trouble believing things that she can't see. It's a little scary, but if you think there's something truly wrong, then I believe you," she whispered softly, timid voice shivering a little towards the end. I'm not sure if it was the thought behind it, or her being literally right against me, but I felt myself soften and relax. I finally let myself genuinely smile towards her.

Dash finally smiled as well, tossing in a nod for good measure. "If it's bothering ya that much, we'll try to talk to her about it. It's a little crazy, admittedly, but I don't think Princess Celestia is totally without error. She'd probably be the first to admit it, actually," my cyan friend offered, gesturing with her hoof lightly towards me.

I nodded in agreement and stood up as gently as I could manage. Fluttershy broke off her hug and helped support me fully as I rose to my hooves again. I wobbled lightly, but slowly limped my way towards Dash, who turned around and lowered herself to the ground as best she could.

"Thank you for not automatically assuming I was crazy. We should probably get out of here, however, before anything happens across us," I advised cautiously before stepping over the prismatic tail and gently making my way onto her back.

"Oh, oh yes. The faster we can get out of this forest," Fluttershy murmured wearily as she took to the air again.

Rainbow smirked as she stood up again, adding, "Don't let her fool you. The only reason she entered the forest in the first place was because she knew that you needed help."

My eyes widened significantly. Fluttershy let out a tiny squeak, blush forming once more as she almost lost control of her hover. "Dash!" she reprimanded in a wavering voice.

"Oh relax, Flutters. He already knows you technically like him like that. Now we just need to get you back to Twi before she turns Ponyville upside down with her freak out session," Rainbow followed up, shaking her head slightly. She abruptly halted and looked back at me, probably feeling me go rigid.

"Do we absolutely have to go back to her? I kind of, well," I started trying to explain. Was there really any other choice, though? I didn't exactly have anywhere else to go.

Dash looked surprised at first, apparently realizing that I wasn't joking. "Wait, seriously? We don't have to, I guess. But she's really worried about you," she professed in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

I stared skeptically at her, unsure if she was joking this time. "So she not only thinks I'm crazy, but has decided that I can't survive a single night without her keeping an eye on me?" I asked sharply, sorting it in my head still.

"Well you did kinda already hurt yourself," Dash pointed out, earning a burning glare. If she felt the same way, why was she here? Shouldn't she have just assumed that I was rocking back and forth in a corner somewhere, deranged yet fine?

"Oh dear. No, Mender! She feels really bad for not going after you. She's really, really worried," Fluttershy tried to convince. I softened my features a little as my gaze shifted to her instead. Her eyes looked into mine with pleading gentleness, and I soon had to look away again. This yellow mare would always hold a soft spot with me, no matter how she considered me, I suppose.

Rainbow shook her head, walking forward slightly and then turning around. "Maybe he's right. This is new to both of them, and until they get adjusted to it a bit, maybe they should spend some time apart," Rainbow suggested, looking back over her shoulder at me.

I met her gaze for a moment before sighing and nodding. "I know she's new to this, and I don't have a clue how to act. Maybe I just want to be taken seriously by her? I'll never be as important to her as Celestia, but maybe one day she'll at least listen," I reasoned. Sometimes seeing her as a 'veteran' of this world made me forget that she wasn't of the same experience level with relationships.

Fluttershy let out a tired sigh and lowered her head, looking reasonably glum as I turned back towards her. After a moment's consideration, she frowned and looked back up, assuring, "Princess Celestia is indeed important to her, but I think that once she realizes how much you mean to her, she'll open up quite a bit more. You two have so much in common. She's never had anypony that she was able to really talk to on her level here. That has to be valuable to her." Her voice was strong and stable, even if a little quiet, and her level of insight surprised me. She knew quite a bit about her friends, it would seem. At first I thought it was just a special connection with Rainbow, but now I noticed she was extremely empathic with others as well. It made me wonder what her thoughts on myself were. Maybe I didn't want to know?

"You two have a lot in common too, don't forget. I can totally vouch for his loyalty and caring. Sure, he's not as brave and steadfast as me, but he'll stick with you through pretty much anything and has a really gentle touch!" Rainbow spoke up, vouching for me. Kind of. I blushed at her words, looking away from both of them this time.

Fluttershy was tinted pink as well, but smiled shyly. "Oh, I know he can be really gentle. Plus, he's so good with foals; I really look up to that sort of thing. Eventually I'd love to have a family of my own, of course. Seeing him be so gentle with everypony, alongside how protective he can be to those he cares about, just makes me feel so, um, well..." She trailed off, eyes widening as the pink shifted past the shade of her hair and well into the red tints.

Rainbow's jaw dropped down a little as she let out a quiet, "Whoa." My eyes felt like saucers before I rapidly looked away again, feeling the dull thud of my heartbeat in my ears as the blood firmly flooded into my head. Did she just insinuate what I thought she did?!

"Does that mean, uh, you're looking at Mender for, well, that in the future?" Rainbow asked, probably without even thinking about what she was saying.

Fluttershy looked beyond flustered, rocking back and forth between her left and right side rapidly. "Well, um, of course he'd make a good father! He's a very gentle and kind stallion and I um, really respect that. So uh, maybe?" she admitted finally, slamming her eyes shut afterwards and looking faint. She seemed to shrink down slightly as her legs buckled a little. My blush magnified and I suddenly felt light headed. I hadn't realized how serious she was, or how much she'd been thinking about it!

Dash was momentarily speechless. After several exceedingly awkward moments passed, she shook her head to clear it before recovering her trademark smirk. "Well, you surprised me, but I can't say that I wouldn't support the decision. I told you that I vouch for Mender," she reiterated.

"I am still here you know," I reminded, letting out a groan afterwards. Did she have to say all of these embarrassing things in my presence? I wasn't a hero by any means. All I did was react to what was thrown at me in the only way I could. I didn't want to, and certainly wish that somepony else would take care of it all, but if it had to be me, I wasn't about to let anypony I cared for get hurt because I abandoned my duties.

"Of course. It's all true, though! Hehehe!" she defended in an extremely mirthful tone, letting out a giggle after.

Fluttershy recovered slowly and smiled back at her friend, then up at me on Rainbow's back. "Well, what I said was true, too. I don't know what I'd do without either of you," she muttered, smile shifting from shy to warm slowly. Her soft blush remained, however.

Dash took it in stride, giving the pink-maned pegasus a soft hug with her left foreleg. "We love you, too, Fluttershy. We'll always be there for you, don't worry," she promised needlessly. That much was second nature for me. I smiled again and nodded in agreement. Rainbow suddenly froze for a moment while Fluttershy blushed and smiled widely. "Wait, I never did get to ask you for my favor that time I walked in on you and Twi making out!" the cyan mare suddenly remembered out loud, in a voice that Twilight herself back in Ponyville might have been able to hear.

Fluttershy let out a surprised yet embarrassed squeak, mane giving a little shiver as she almost lost control of her flight again. I would have slapped my forehead had it not required me to either punch or garrote the mare I was riding on.

"What?! It surprised me so much that I forgot. Can I ask you now?" she requested, looking a little miffed at our reactions.

"Yeah, you can ask. You didn't need to mention the making out thing, though. We were just kissing!" I defended profusely.

Fluttershy seemed to almost shrink more, pink shifting to a solid red color across her cheeks. "Oh. Oh my," she muttered quietly into her hooves covering her mouth.

"I could have sworn I saw tongue. Oh well," Dash debated to herself, smirking at me before continuing with, "Anyway, there's a race coming up soon to celebrate the end of fall, pegasus style. I really, really want your help for it!"

I tilted my head against her shoulder, unsure of exactly what assistance I could be in preparation for a race. Fluttershy peeked over her hooves at her friend, however, looking a little surprised. Still embarrassed, but it looked like she was getting distracted now, anyway.

"It's just the three of us. Is this about, um, Applejack?" she asked. No, it was more of a deduction than anything.

Rainbow smirked wider and nodded. "I totally want you to give me those nifty wings again!" she revealed excitedly, hopping back and forth on her hooves.

My surprise was impossible to contain, and I stared at her in shock before asking, "Wait, you want me to help you cheat?!"

Rainbow lost the smirk instantly, looking both shocked and offended without missing a beat. "What?! No way! I could win the race flying backwards with my wings tied. I need your super wings for a trick I want to pull off on the winner's circle," she rapidly corrected.

Fluttershy's comment suddenly hit home, and everything snapped together. "Your sky writing. You want to use the wings to pull off your message to Applejack after you win the race, because she'll be watching it," I suddenly realized out loud.

"Ha! Exactly! That's my egghead partner!" Dash acknowledged, grinning back at me over her shoulder as I glared.

Fluttershy gasped, however, gaining both our attentions at once. "Oh dear! But there are a lot of ponies there. Everypony at the race will see the message," she warned, sounding absolutely traumatized. Wow, she wasn't even involved and it freaked her out. Still, I couldn't help but find it adorable for some reason.

"Oh, please. I'm not afraid of them seeing it. I'm proud to be going after Applejack! She's totally worthy of being with the most awesome pegasus in Equestria," the boisterous cyan mare declared, slapping her right hoof off her chest and nodding as if punctuating the declaration with her chin.

The shy yellow pegasus shrank back a little, but shook her head. "I, um, meant Applejack. Do you think she'd want everypony knowing she might like other mares?" she asked quietly. Uh oh. I hadn't thought of that.

Rainbow looked momentarily taken aback. She hesitated, and then shook her head rapidly. "Well, of course not. Applejack's the strongest mare I know. She's not going to care if other ponies know about us or not!" she assured, sounding almost as if she herself was her target.

Red flags went off in my head. This seemed familiar. Oh yeah, it was something I'd probably assume; which meant it was probably an absolutely terrible idea! I opened my mouth to point this out when all three of us were interrupted by a rather sizable roar to our right, deeper off in the forest.

Fluttershy whipped around in the air, looking fearfully in that direction while my airlift jumped a good foot and a half in surprise.

"Oh, horseapples! I think that's our signal to get out of here!" Dash pointed out rapidly, taking to the air with a hard kick-start. Fluttershy nodded rapidly in agreement and started rising into the air, considerably faster than I had ever seen her move before. Well, there was something to be said about a healthy amount of motivation. Or was that unhealthy? Yeah, getting mauled and eaten by something rather large was definitely unhealthy.

Rainbow shot into the air faster still, managing to snag hold of her yellow and pink friend as she went. I was amazed at the sheer strength to the cyan pegasus' flying as she managed to not only lift me entirely off the ground without effort, but haul her friend through the air even higher without any noticeable strain.

Obviously not sticking around for ceremony, Rainbow got all three of us well into the clouds before I could even look back.

* * * * *

Peeking through the window yet again, I watched the spastic lavender mare pacing rapidly back and forth. Books were strewn here and there, most of them open and discarded where she finished with them. To my surprise, three larger log sections were displayed on stands around her work area; various stages of damage on each one. She seemed to be paying very little attention to them, however.

Normally, I'd contribute that to the other guest of the room; a certain pearly unicorn with curled purple mane and tail, but due to how animate Twilight was, I had a sneaking suspicion that Rarity was only trying to calm her down.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked yet again, dropping down and turning to look at the two mares.

Rainbow was already to the door, but Fluttershy stopped and nodded back at me. "I think it's for the best. Um, if it's okay with you, of course, Dash and I will go in first to try to, well, calm her down a little," she offered quietly.

Why the hell would I say no to that?! Rarity hardly seemed to be having much luck, so let them go in and defuse the situation a little, or blunder in ahead of them and potentially be torn apart by telekinesis? Honestly, it wasn't much of a decision, barring any masochistic tendencies or suicidal urges I might be subconsciously hiding. I nodded rapidly and gestured them in, earning a giggle from the yellow mare.

Rainbow took the cue and opened the door gently, letting herself and Fluttershy inside the excessively large tree-building. I propped up against the wall again and peeked in the window, feeling incredibly similar to a stalker.

Twilight snapped to attention instantly, observing her friends with an almost calculated glare. I could have sworn I saw her eye twitch slightly, too. "You're back! Did you find him yet, Rainbow?! It's not easy to work like this. Not easy at all!" she asked instantly upon concluding her analytical observations. Actually, she sounded a little on the hysterical side. Rarity shook her head wearily and muttered something that was well outside of my ability to hear.

"Whoa, calm down, Twi! I just wanted to know if you made any progress on the identification thing? I also have to tell the pegasus teams what to look out for, if you remember," Dash interrupted, pointedly derailing the outburst.

Twilight stared at her with a rather anxious look for a few seconds before sighing and visibly exhaling slowly. "I'm worried like crazy, so it's kind of hard to focus. I finished the reconstruction of the print, though, but I hit a snag," she slowly replied, almost as if she had to keep a tight leash on her own thoughts.

"Oh? Uh, what is it, then? If I can ask, of course," Fluttershy requested politely, recovering from her stiff shock at her friend's first outburst.

"That's the snag. I've looked through every book I can think of and I can't find anything quite like this print. So I can only assume that I reconstructed it wrong and have been trying to correct and double check my results," the unicorn explained in a rather listless manner, suddenly looking extremely tired.

"Spending a large amount of time worrying over Mender certainly hasn't helped in that regard. Truly, I kept telling her that he's fully capable of taking care of himself," Rarity assured pleasantly, shifting her bangs out of her face with a soft gesture of her head.

Rainbow nodded grimly, but smiled a heartbeat later. "Well, if it will help your investigation, I suggest you relax a little bit more. Don't freak out on him or anything. We found Mender," she slowly revealed.

Here we go. I dropped down from the window and walked around the side of the building towards the door. Might as well get in place for when they called me in and Twilight undoubtedly blasted me to smithereens. I could still hear them surprisingly well, so it didn't matter too much. Twilight should really do something about soundproofing these walls.

There was a hesitation, and I could only imagine Twilight's face. Literally. "Wait, what?! Why didn't you say so sooner?" she demanded moments later.

"Um, we didn't want you getting worked up. We're really sorry. He's a little hurt, but mostly okay. Please don't be mad," I heard Fluttershy report in response. My ears picked up a light whistling noise, but I ignored it. Fluttershy was always so polite. I definitely liked that about her.

"But I've been so worried! Especially with the state of emergency being called by," she started protesting. The rest was washed out by that whistling noise from before. What the hell? Did somepony want my attention or something?

Looking to the right afforded me several realizations. It wasn't a whistle, but a squeal. Further, Pinkie Pie was arcing through the air at high velocity towards me and was now a meter or so from my exceedingly squishy body. Given just enough time to react, I did the most logical thing.

Letting out my best whimper, I cowered as the ball of pink energy that defied physics itself plowed me off the side of the steps. At this point, I was starting to rather enjoy that weightless sensation of drifting upside down after a large impact. It was a peaceful lull before the inevitable end. Oddly, that kind of fit my life, if I thought about it. Although it could be worse, I suppose. She could be a tiger: sharp pointy ends and all.

"I finally found you! I've been looking absolutely everywhere all day. Nopony told me that you had woken up and I really, really needed to find you. But then I was all walking back home from Sweet Apple Acres and saw you hiding in the bushes outside of Twilight's window. At first I thought that it was totally weird, but then I realized that it was you and I was looking for you. Then I sprinted over here and pounced you before you could get away again! But you already knew that. I'm going to invite you to a party! I have to!" the pink blur of fuzziness and distortion said while standing over my limp, newly broken form.

It all bled together and pooled into one long stream of something I couldn't exactly hear correctly, very similar to how the blood was probably pooling in my undoubtedly fractured skull now. Groaning, I shook my head rapidly in attempts to clear it and make sure she too wasn't a figment of my imagination, lest I be accused of insanity again.

There was a sharp intake of breath almost instantly upon me doing so. "No, no, no! You absolutely have to come. I cannot accept 'no' as an answer! It's a party just for you, any way you want it," she protested, seemingly taking my head shaking as a negative answer.

"W-What?" I managed to stutter out between the throbs my head was giving off, tacking on slowly, "I um, don't even know what you're talking about. Pinkie?" I winced momentarily as I shifted a rather sizable rock out from under my head. This was proving to be a fun day already, and I'd only been awake for a few hours! Well, at least the pain wasn't my fault this time. I was seriously starting to consider admitting myself permanently to a medical facility for the remainder of my undoubtedly short life.

"Of course it's me, Silly! That's my name! I absolutely must throw you an 'I'm really sorry for accidentally poisoning you and almost killing you, but thankfully you're better now' party! I feel super duper bad and really, really need to make it up to you!" she announced in another burst of hyper, almost hysterical ranting. Her eyes got bigger and bigger the longer she talked, her face getting closer and closer to mine until she was glaring directly into my eyes. If I'd been lucid and not likely internally bleeding, I might have been considerably more freaked out and frightened than I currently was.

"Pinkie? What are you doing?" I suddenly heard Rainbow ask. She must have come to investigate either the loud noise of my squishy impact, or my seeming absence from the doorstep. Salvation!

Pinkie squeaked and hopped off me, bouncing around my fallen form like some violent, pre-culturally revolutionized tribal member would around their fallen prey as I cooked over a fire. "I found him out here and really had to invite him to my 'I'm really sorry for accidentally poisoning you and almost killing you, but thankfully you're better now' party! It's urgent!" she explained rapidly, skidding to a halt somewhere near my fallen tail.

I heard hoofsteps and managed to glance over dizzily at the cyan pegasus as she approached. "Um, it kind of looks like you squished him a little. Are you sure he's okay?" she questioned wearily, giving me a visual once-over.

"Of course! He's Mender; practically impossible to keep down!" the pink one assured, giving my back, right leg a solid whack with her hoof.

Oh hell! I still felt things! Giving a yelp of intense agony, I curled over and tucked my poor, mangled leg up, intensifying the shield around it to try to protect it from any further torture. "Pinkie! That was the exact leg he injured..." Dash chewed out, honestly sounding slightly impressed. Either she was surprised I was still conscious, or shocked that Pinkie had managed to select exactly the right leg to hit to get the most reaction out of me.

"Whoopsy! I'll add '... and hurting your leg' onto the party title!" Pinkie assured in a way only she could.

Rainbow rolled her eyes before sarcastically asking, "Sure it will all fit?"

"Better than trying to fit all the injuries you've given him on a banner," Twilight reminded as she walked up next to the now glaring cyan mare. My breathing snagged in a flurry of emotions and I forced myself to look away from the lavender mare. I momentarily saw a look of surprise drift into her expression before doing so.

"Oh dear. Is he okay?" Fluttershy practically whispered as she drifted over and landed next to me, between the now guilty looking Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Glancing over towards her, I managed a gentle smile. She returned it instantly and fluttered closer, carefully drawing my leg back out from under me with a soft hoof motion. I had a fair amount of trust in her and allowed her to pull the leg out and examine it, which gave her an odd, dancing energy in her eyes, almost. I had no idea what the mare was thinking.

Of course, during the whole time I spent gawking at Fluttershy, I totally failed to notice Rarity slip up next to Dash. When I glanced back at the prismatic pony, I started a little when I finally noticed the newcomer. There was a long moment where I stared at her, and she stared back at me with increasingly widening eyes. It was more than a little creepy, and I started edging backwards from her timidly.

"Uh, is there, um, something wrong?" I inquired, doing my best Fluttershy impression.

To my surprise, Pinkie let out a sharp yet excited gasp instead. "Oh my gosh! You have a Cutie Mark!" she squealed instantly thereafter.

"Wait, what?!" Twilight asked, snapping out of her seeming stupor just in time to notice as well.

Rarity interrupted all of us before I could be fatally molested by the pink one, regardless. She rapidly stomped her front hooves back and forth on the dirt in front of me, momentarily freaking out as she glared in what could only be described as unadulterated horror. "Forget the Cutie Mark for now! This is an absolute fashion disaster! This simply must be fixed, stat!" she declared zealously, glaring at my flank.

Glancing backwards, I noticed that my fur was indeed still missing in large stripes along my back, flanks, and butt. Oh. Well it did indeed look kind of strange, but I'd hardly call it...

I was enveloped in a blue aura before I even finished the thought and violently hauled into the air, a flustered and fussing Fluttershy following, wings flapping rapidly. "Rarity! He needs medical attention first," she tried to protest.

"Nonsense! It will not do to have him be treated for such a superficial injury while looking like that. Inexcusable. Thankfully, I have just the thing at home to fix this terrible, terrible catastrophe," she assured vehemently, making me dizzy as she punctuated each point of her reply with a dip in her telekinesis. Oh crap. This day was about to get a lot worse, I had a sneaking suspicion.

"I'll heal him once we get there," Twilight interrupted gently, glancing up at Fluttershy as she trotted after the quickly moving white unicorn.

Rainbow let out a low snickering, a large grin adorning her face as she muttered, "Oh, this I gotta see. You coming, Pinks?"

Pinkie gave an enthusiastic nod, seemingly recovering her spunky, happy go lucky demeanor before bouncing after the small group of ponies now violently escorting me to my probable doom. At least it wasn't apples or frogs...