I woke up in a bed Dark had made me in his apartment. Ever since Steel had gotten closer with Twi, I'd taken to sleeping in Dark's apartment in the basement. While I knew they weren't "screwing like rabbits" as Dark had said, I think with her finally finding a stallion she cared about that much, she deserved her privacy. Besides, Darkflight's room is awesome. It doesn't get cold down here like it does in Twi's room, and this "man cave" - as Dark had referred to it - gave me a place to get away from Twi when I need to.

She's like a sister to me, and while I love her to death, we do bicker like siblings.

I didn't have to worry about being quiet, because Dark slept like a corpse, so I went over to the guitars that Steel had brought with him from Earth. In our spare time, Dark had been teaching me to play, and during one of his first days at his smithing job, he made me one my size - purple with green trim...just like me.

I started to tune up my guitar when I heard a scream from upstairs.

'Ugh...what the hay...'

"SPIKE! GET UP HERE RIGHT NOW!" ...that was Twi, and she sounded terrified.

I ran over to the sleeping black dragon and shook him hard. "Dark, get up! Something happened!"

He mumbled something and opened his eyes with a growl and a yawn. "Dude, what's going on? Why did you wake me up?"

"SPIKE, HURRY!"

He looked up. "Was that Twilight? What's going on Spike?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, but she sounds really scared, c'mon!"

We ran all the way up to Twilight's room to find her crying and shaking Steel, screaming his name...the scary part was he wasn't moving at all.

Twilight looked at me in panic, tears in her eyes. "Spike, I can't get him to wake up!"

I knew that in this state, she wasn’t going to be any use for anything, so I simply nodded. "Calm down Twi, freaking out isn't going to do any good. We need to get him to the hospital now." She didn’t break her gaze with the unconscious stallion, but she nodded slowly. I quickly grabbed my saddlebag, and Twi cast her teleport spell.

The next thing I knew, we were at the hospital in Ponyville.

The staff up front just stared at us, so I growled out, "Don't just stand there, get a gurney!" One of the nurses nodded and ran off. I looked over to see Twilight cradling his head in her hooves, tears streaming down her face.

She looked over to me and my heart almost broke. "I don't understand what happened, Spike. He was fine last night..."

I nodded, forcing myself to stay calm...for the both of us. "He'll be okay, Twi. I'll send a letter off to the princesses. They'll know what to do." With that, I pulled out a scroll from my bag and wrote a letter to Celestia, telling her what happened. I torched the scroll and it disappeared on its way to the princess just as a swarm of nurses and a doctor came and picked up Steel, placing him on a gurney and rushing him away. I then looked at Twilight again and said, "Twi, the other girls need to know about this, so Dark and I are going to go get them. Just wait here, we'll be back." She didn't look at me, but nodded.

The sun woke me up from a great dream this morning, so I was a little cranky already.

'Ugh...I like daytime Celestia, but can't you put it off for just another hour?'

I rolled out of my cloud bed and brushed my teeth and mane, then floated downstairs for some breakfast. Too lazy to really make anything, I just grabbed an apple and some water and walked outside. I sat down on the edge of my cloud and ate, admiring the sunrise. I may not be much of a morning pony, but I do know beauty when I see it. Of course I keep up the tough act around Applejack. She'd never let me hear the end of it.

"DASH!" I heard two voices yell.

They startled me and I fell off my cloud, but I quickly righted myself and landed on the ground to find Darkflight and Spike with panicked expressions. I quirked an eyebrow and asked, "Hey guys, what's up?"

Spike was sitting on Dark's shoulders and we waved a claw to follow them. "Dash, something's wrong with Steel. He's at the hospital!"

I swear my heart must've stopped at those words.

My mouth went dry and I started trembling in shock and fear. Steel? At the hospital? No...no that can't be right. I've seen him, he's strong. Why is he in the hospital? This has to be a mistake...this has to be a bad dream or something.

I was frozen...I couldn't think...couldn't breathe.

It must have been pretty urgent because I vaguely felt as Dark just grabbed me and carried me, running at full speed back to Ponyville General...I still couldn't believe it...this had to be a dream.

This isn't happening...

This can't be happening...

Steel's brother and Spike had run by the farm and told us to meet Twi at the hospital, explaining that something had happened to Steel. I was so confused though. Steel? Nah, that can't be right. This is the pony that stared down a timberwolf for Fluttershy. This is the pony that saved Twi from gryphons...twice. He didn't get hurt then...why was he in the hospital?

I walked in the front doors of the hospital and saw the other elements, minus RD, in the waiting room up front. Twi was in the corner with tear-stains on her face, just staring ahead at nothing.

The purple unicorn didn't even move when I sat next to her and asked, "Twi, how ya holdin' up?"

"H-he was fine. I just talked to him last night. He was fine..." she whispered.

She looked over at me and I saw the pain in her eyes, and fear. She broke into sobs when she looked at my face so I leaned over and wrapped my forelegs around her, and she buried her face in my chest. Nothing needed to be said, so I just let her cry and rubbed her back with a hoof.

A second later a few other ponies walked in. I recognized Vinyl Scratch and her friend Lyra, but then there were two other ponies I didn't recognize. One of them was an earth pony, like me. She had a dark blue coat, and a shiny golden mane and tail, but no cutie mark. The other pony was a pegasus, bright red with purple mane and tail...she didn't have a cutie mark either. Both of them came and sat next to me and Twi, with terrified looks on their faces.

The blue mare looked over at Twi, and then at me and asked, "How is he? Is he okay?"

I raised an eyebrow and replied, "Ah don't mean ta sound heartless, but who are ya'll?"

She smiled weakly. "I'm his mother."

I was dumbstruck and for a moment my mouth just wouldn’t work right, but I finally whispered, "Kate?" The blue pony nodded. I looked over at the pegasus filly. "Jennie?" She nodded as well. 'When did this happen?'

Just then, the princesses burst in the doors, and I could tell Princess Luna was in a panic. The younger sister shouted, "Where is he? Is he alright? Please somepony tell me something, anything!" She looked over and saw Twilight, so I got up and motioned for her to sit next to Twi, which she accepted.

I walked over to Princess Celestia and bowed my head a bit before saying, "Howdy princess. When did ya'll change Jennie and Kate?"

The sun princess looked sad, but answered, "Well when I'd heard what happened, I knew they'd want to be here. Luna and I went to the library and explained everything, then changed them into their new forms. It may not be as formal a change as Darkflight's was, but the circumstances caused me to opt for a non-formal approach." I nodded and she walked over with me to the waiting room and sat down on a small couch across from me, gazing at Luna before turning her attention back to me. "Any word yet?"

I shook my head. "None yet, princess. Ah jus' got here not too long ago mahself."

She stared down the hallway towards the double doors that lead to the intensive care unit. "I have an idea as to what's happening. I just pray I’m right, for the alternatives are none too good I’m afraid."

No...no...this can't be true. Not after I just got to know him. After our little talk the other day, Steel officially knew me better than anypony now. It sounds bad, but he was closer to me than Dashie has ever been. I felt bad about this, but realized it was my own fault. I was always just so afraid that my friends wouldn't like me anymore if I wasn't "Pinkie Pie: Party Extraordinaire Pony". It made me a little mad at myself, but now wasn't the time for that.

The front doors banged open and there was Spike, Dark, and Dashie. Dashie looked a lot like Twilight did and...are those tears? No...Dashie doesn't cry. Dashie never cries, she's the toughest pony ever!

But she was crying...

I started to cry too...it was just too much. I saw Dashie sit next to Luna and Twilight, and all hugged and had tears flowing freely from their eyes.
...
Hours had passed, and we still hadn't heard anything from the doctors. Dashie was asleep with a frown on her face and Twilight and Luna had stopped crying. They didn't have a sad fearful look on their faces anymore. Instead, they looked...defeated. For some reason, this made me mad. I mean, I know Luna and Twilight weren't the best at dealing with bad situations, but they were giving up already?

No...that's not good enough.

'Now's the time Pinkie, they need to know who you really are. You need to be strong for them...strong for Steel, the way he was strong for you.'

I tempered my resolve with the knowledge that this needed to be done before I stood up and stomped a hoof loudly, growling. Everypony looked at me in confusion, but I stared right at Twilight and Luna. "What are those looks for? Are you giving up already?"

Luna’s eyes watered up again as she whimpered, "Pinkie Pie, we have not heard anything in hours...it is starting to look hopele-"

I cut her off with a loud, "Shut it!"

This got everypony's attention...even Princess Celestia was staring at me in shock now, mouth hanging open.

I was seething with anger now, which was new for me. "Who do you think you are? You girls say you love him, but you're giving up now? How do you think Steel would feel if he knew you gave up on him this quickly? I'll tell you exactly how he'd feel...he'd be insulted. You all say 'I love you' to him all the time, but it looks to me like you don't mean it. If this is all the confidence you have in him, you don't deserve him." With my little rant finished, I stormed outside to get some fresh air before anypony could say anything.

I lay back against a bench near the front walkway, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. 'They must not care about him as much as they think they do. If that's love, then I love him more than they do combined. Maybe this will wake them up to just how foalish they're acting.'

I ended up sitting by myself for about twenty minutes before anypony came outside, and I was surprised when I saw Princess Celestia. She said nothing and simply sat down beside me, keeping her eyes looking straight ahead for the longest time.

Finally after what felt like an eternity, she whispered, "Pinkie Pie...what was that?"

I stared at the ground, almost like I was trying to burn a hole in it. "That's called tough love, Princess Celestia. If you came out here to yell at me for it, go ahead...I don't feel sorry for what I said though. Somepony needed to say it, and since nopony else was going to, I did."

I looked up to the princess to see her looking at me with deep concern. "Pinkie, this isn't like you...what's wrong?"

I shook my head and laughed bitterly. "That is what's wrong, princess...this is me. The party pony that you all know and love is only a part of who I am. I guess if you are all this surprised, I did a pretty good job at fooling all of you."

She still seemed confused. "I don't understand, Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash knows you well, and even she was shocked to see you acting as you were."

I shook my head again with a guilty frown. "No, Dashie doesn't know me as well as she thinks she does. She knows the random pony who bounces everywhere she goes and has a smile on her face whenever she's in public. Steel is the only pony who really knows me. Steel knows me better than any of my other friends. It makes me a little sad, but that's the truth."

I looked over at the princess to see a pained expression on her face. It almost made me cry how much I was hurting her and all of my friends, but they needed this shock.

Princess Celestia looked over at me with a sad frown. "Pinkie, I apologize...I had no idea."

I turned my eyes back to the brick walkway and kicked my hooves a little. "I was hiding who I was for all these years because I was afraid my friends would stop liking me if they knew who I really was, and how I really felt. I'm happy most of the time...there's a reason the Element of Laughter chose me. Still, I get sad and mad just like every other pony. And you know what? It's okay. Steel helped me see that." I felt tears well up in my eyes, but fought them back. "If everypony else wants to think it's hopeless after such a short time, then fine...they can leave for all I care. They don't deserve to be there. I won't lose hope though...I won't give up on Steel.” I then lifted my gaze to look at the most powerful living thing on Terra, and didn’t even blink as I met her eyes. “He wouldn't give up on any of us if we were in his position."

The princess stared right back at me for a few moments before smiling softly. "Pinkie, you are displaying a courage and will that I never thought you possessed. I honestly didn't think you had it in you."

I laughed sadly. "Well princess, there's a lot of things that not you, your sister, nor any of my friends ever thought I had in me."

She nodded. "You are correct Pinkie Pie.” The tall pony then stood from the bench and gestured a hoof to the sliding glass doors that led to the hospital waiting room. “Shall we go back inside?" I nodded and we walked to the waiting room.

As the princess and I walked back into the waiting room, I could feel everypony's eyes on me. Normally everypony staring at me would make me feel nervous...instead, I felt proud. I knew I had done the right thing, and for the first time in my life, I was proud of myself for something other than a party I planned or a cake that I baked. I felt my mane and tail curl up back to normal, and I felt happy. I wasn't sad, because I knew Steel was going to be alright. He was too strong to let whatever this was stop him, and I knew that.

I sat down on a couch near the door by myself, looking down the hallway towards the patient rooms. I closed my eyes for a second and just let my mind wander. I began to realize that I really liked Steel. A year or two ago, I used to have a bit of a crush on Dashie, but even when I thought of her, I didn't feel like this. This wasn't the infatuation I felt when I liked Dashie...this was something else. Something...more. I didn't know if it was love because I'd never been in love before, but I definitely had strong feelings for Steel. I giggled a bit. 'If only my friends knew what goes on in my head...'

A few minutes passed by and I felt somepony sit beside me, and I opened my eyes and looked to my right to see Luna sitting next to me, a smile on her face. She leaned over and hugged me tight, catching me a little off-guard, but I returned the hug.

When we broke the embrace, she simply looked at me with what I could only see as gratitude. "Thank you Pinkie...thank you for helping us see our error. We should not have lost hope as we did."

I waved a hoof off and smiled wide. "No problem, princess! I'm glad your frowny-wowny is turned upside-downy!" She giggled and I felt warmth in my chest...I loved it when my friends laughed.

After a few minutes, we saw a doctor walking down the hall towards us, so I stood up and smiled at him. "Well? How is he doing?"

The unicorn doctor looked confused as he leafed through a folder he was levitating in front of him. "Physically he's in perfect condition. I don't understand.” He must have realized that he was almost talking to himself, so he looked to all of us and lowered his head a bit in shame. “I'm sorry, but he's in a coma...we just don't know why."

I felt fear start to chill my insides, but I fought it back. Instead, I looked at all the ponies in the waiting room and smiled. "It's okay girls, he'll be alright, I Pinkie promise." They knew how I am about my promises, and thankfully this put them at relative ease.

Princess Celestia walked up to the doctor and said, "Thank you doctor. I need to see him."

The unicorn nodded. "Of course, princess. Follow me please." and with that, they disappeared down the hallway.

Blackness...unending blackness...that's all I saw.

What might have been hours ago - or years for all I know - I had decided to play a game of "bottles of beer on the wall"...only starting at one million, just to see how far I'd get. I thought it was weird that I was conscious of the fact that I was not conscious (which in itself is a sort of paradox), but that quickly faded into extreme boredom.

I had gotten to 887,923 bottles of beer when I felt another presence behind me. Normally I would be a little cautious, but I was just happy I wasn't alone.

I turned around to see Frostrender, grinning at my attempt to relieve my boredom. "Wow Steelbreaker, you are really bored."

I nodded with a sigh. "I'm stuck here for Celestia-knows how long, and I thought I would be by myself. I'm just trying to keep some semblance of sanity."

The tall ice-blue alicorn walked up to me and sat on his haunches. "Steelbreaker, you are in a coma."

My eyes widened. "What? What happened to me? I don't remember getting hurt...did I fall out of bed really hard or something while I was asleep?"

He laughed and shook his head. "No Steelbreaker, in fact you are completely fine. And before you start worrying, you will come out of this coma very soon."

I breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, but was still confused. "Well why am I in a coma in the first place then?"

I watched as he lowered his head a bit in what I could only perceive as shame, and he responded, "It may be partially my fault. With the addition of me to your body, the levels of magic within you rose exponentially. Your alicorn body forced you into a coma to adjust itself. You will wake up when the process is complete."

I was still confused. "Wait, this doesn't make sense. When Luna was Nightmare Moon, she never had this happen to her. I wasn't in Equestria at that time, but I'm pretty sure the news of the feared Nightmare Moon falling into a coma would have made headlines."

He laughed at me again and said, "This is true, but you have to remember that your change was not the same as Luna's. Luna became Nightmare Moon, whereas you and I are two separate entities within one body. Had Luna's change been as yours was, the same thing would have happened to her."

I thought about it for a moment before accepting it. It did make sense, as every body is meant to support only one soul. I was just glad my body is simply adjusting instead of dying. I looked back to my alter ego and asked, "Well okay then, when am I waking up?"

He smiled. "Very soon actually. Since your mind works faster when you're sleeping, you will be waking up any minute now. However in reality, two weeks have passed."

My eyes widened. "Two weeks? What the hell! Oh my God, the girls are going to kill me for putting them through this..."

I could start to hear other voices around me and a faint "beep...beep...beep" sound, so Frostrender smiled. "It is time to wake up, Steelbreaker. We shall speak again sometime."

"G...ov...ere..una...He's waking up!"

I groaned and opened my eyes, and instantly felt an intense burning in them. Not really caring who was around, I pleaded with dry, scratchy voice, "Please somepony turn off the lights..." I heard the clopping of hooves and a *click* as the lights turned off, so I opened my eyes again to a mercifully darkened room. Everything was blurry so I rubbed my eyes with my hooves, and when I opened them again, I saw myself face-to-face with Dash. She looked like she was about to pounce on me, but before that I rasped out, “Water...”

“One sec, Steel...” the rainbow-maned pegasus responded before lifting a cup to my lips, which I sipped and smiled as I felt the wonderful liquid coat my tongue and throat, mercifully chasing away the desert in my mouth.

With that out of the way, I smiled and pulled the cyan mare into a tight hug. "Oh Dashie...you don't know how glad I am to see you." She giggled and hugged me back quickly before releasing the embrace. I looked around the room to see all of my friends were there, even Celestia had made an appearance.

Pinkie was smiling a giant smile as she said, "See? What did I tell you! I told all of you he'd be fine but nooo, no one believes Pinkie Pie.”

I smiled and motioned Pinkie over to me, and when she got close I grabbed her in a tight hug, making her blush something fierce. I then whispered, "Thank you so much Pinkie. Thank you for watching out for me."

The earth pony giggled and nodded as she returned my embrace. "I knew you were going to be okay. You wouldn't let something as small as a coma take you down."

I nodded. "Darn right." I looked around the room trying to spot Twilight when I felt a pair of hooves around my neck. Thinking it was Twilight I turned to my left with a smile, and found myself staring at a blue mare with a golden mane. "Umm...you're obviously glad I'm okay, so thank you for that...but who are you ma'am?"

She looked at me and smirked. "What, don't know your own mother?"

I stared with my mouth open for a moment before whispering, "Mom? Wh-when did this happen?"

A small red pegasus with a violet mane and tail jumped on me, smiling. "The princesses changed us the day you got here."

My eyes grew even wider. "Jen? Wow...this is intense. I might fall into another coma just from the shock."

At that statement, I felt a large hoof punch my shoulder, and I turned to my right to see a very angry Luna. "Don't you dare, Steel!"

I laughed. "Oh please, it was a joke. I'm not planning going anywhere anytime soon, Luna. You're stuck with me for awhile."

She rolled her eyes and pouted. "Well it was not funny."

I chuckled and pulled her into a tight hug, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm sorry I put you through this Luna. I'll make it up to you somehow, I promise." I began to see all my other friends close in, and was pleased to see Lyra there as well, but before they could get any closer I held up a hoof. "Whoa whoa, let's save the group hug for when we get outside please. I need to get out of this bed...I'm all stiff (giggity). Someone get a nurse please so I can sign out and get out of here."

Nurse Redheart must have heard me because she stepped into the room. "Well hello there Steelbreaker, it's good to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"

I grinned. "No offense Nurse Redheart, but I'm feeling like I want to get out of here."

The white earth pony giggled gently and nodded. "Very well, let me get the forms and we'll get you signed out."

After signing out I was wheeled out by Nurse Redheart. Because of hospital policy, I had to leave in a wheelchair, which I was none too happy with. All the same, I was happy to be leaving.

After getting a few feet away from the hospital, I stood from the wheelchair...only to be tackled by ten ponies, while Celestia, my brother, Spike, and my mother looked on. I could have sworn I felt a hoof or two feel me up. Had I air in my lungs, I would have been laughing.

It was great to be back.

We all headed home after I said goodbye to all my friends, though Pinkie looked a little sad. I walked over to her and ran my hoof through her mane, asking, "What's wrong, Pinks?"

The bubbly mare giggled and said, "Rainbow Dash calls me that."

I chuckled as I sat down next to her. "Well now Dash and me call you that. But what's wrong?"

She huffed as she sat down next to me as well. "I'm glad you're okay Steel, but I kinda wanted to spend some more time with you. I know you have marefriends now, but..."

I smiled. "It's okay Pinkie. I'm pretty tired today, so I'm probably just going to go to bed, but if you're not doing anything tomorrow I'd be more than happy to hang out with you if you're okay with Dashie, Twi, and Lyra coming too. I promised Lyra I'd hang out with her as well."

The pink pony smiled her massive Pinkie smile and said, "I don't mind, I'll bring cupcakes! We'll have a picnic in the park!"

I smiled and nodded. "That actually sounds great Pinkie." She started to bounce away but I grabbed her tail in my teeth and yanked it back, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you Pinkie."

When I looked down, I could see a faint blush on her cheeks as she asked, "For what, Steelie?"

I smiled and nuzzled her mane. "For giving everypony hope when they started to lose theirs."

She smiled and returned the hug in earnest. "You're welcome...you all are." We broke the hug and she bounded away faster than she should have been able to.

I missed Pinkie's odd physics...

When I arrived home we ate a quick dinner and got ready for bed. Dash helped me clean in the shower, as I felt like I needed one bad after a week in bed. Feeling refreshed I headed to Twilight's room to find only her there.

I looked around and asked, "Twi, where's Luna?"

The lavender unicorn looked a little sad when she responded, "Luna had to leave. There's a lot of things to take care of back at the palace.” A faint smile then appeared on her face. “She said she'd be back in two days though, so don't worry."

I smiled as well and said, "Well that's good."

I slid into bed and tried to fall asleep, but oddly found myself unable to, even with how exhausted I was. Twilight was soon snoring beside me, as was Dash, so I just headed out to the balcony to look at the stars.

The air was chilly with winter being only a week away, so I closed the door behind me. I stepped out towards the railing and leaned my forelegs on it, just looking at the beautiful night sky Luna had no doubt made for me. I let my mind wander aimlessly for a bit before I found myself thinking about the world we left behind. I found it odd seeing as how I didn't really miss it, and realized the only emotion I felt towards Earth...was pity. Earth, a world where war was the norm...a world where someone being kind was so rare, it might as well be a super-power. Earth was a world where everyone cared about themselves before anyone else. A world...where Celestia and Luna did not exist. I found it strange sometimes that I no longer even thought of Earth as a former-home...it was just a place I had stayed until Luna had come to get me and my family. My home is Equestria now...and maybe, in a way, it always has been.

My thoughts were broken when I heard the door open behind me, and I turned to my left to see a very sleepy looking cyan pegasus. "Hey Dashie, what are you doing awake?"

She smiled at me, albeit a little sleepily. "You know I have trouble sleeping when you're not there. What are you doing awake Steel?"

I looked out again at the night sky. "Nothing...just thinking."

She sat down next to me and asked, "You're up in the middle of the night just thinking? What are you thinking about that's keeping you awake?"

I shook my head. "I'm thinking because I'm awake, not the other way around, dearheart."

I looked at her in time to see the pony blush at the pet name, but she then stood up against the railing as well, looking into the night sky. "You know Steel, your world is out there somewhere. If you miss it, I'm sure Luna could help you find it and get back." Her words were sincere, if not tinged with a bit of sadness...and fear.

I chuckled and shook my head. "I was just thinking about that very planet Dashie, but not in that way at all. I don't miss Earth, not in the slightest. My home is here...I think it always has been in a way. I may not have always known about Equestria, and definitely not that it existed, but I think somewhere deep within, my soul always belonged here. I feel it in my very being...this is home. Here, with you and your friends...this is where I am meant to be."

She sighed and leaned against me. "You do realize how sappy that sounds, right?”

I grinned as I extended my wing to hold the mare closer against me. “Yeah...but you love it sometimes, don’t deny it.”

For a moment Dash was silent before whispering, “I love you Steel, and I'm so glad you're here. I'm glad you decided to come here when Luna asked you."

I smiled and looked down at her, then planted a soft kiss on her lips. When I pulled away I said, "I love you too, Dashie. When Luna asked me and told me my family could come, there was no contest. I liked you and your friends even before Luna came to get me...knowing you in person just adds a whole new dimension to that connection. I'm glad I came here, and I'm glad I met you and all your friends. You don't have Earth to compare it to, so you have no idea how great you girls are."

We headed back inside after Dash started shivering, and I closed the door before climbing into bed. I pulled Dash and Twilight close to me, causing the sleeping unicorn to murmur and smile in her sleep, and then Dash kissed me on the cheek.

The pegasus lovingly whispered, “Goodnight Steel. I'm glad you're back."

I smiled at my rainbow wonder. "I'm glad I'm back too, love. Goodnight, Dash."

I found myself awake for only a few more minutes before falling asleep, pleased to have such loving mares in my life.