I grumble as I feel somepony attempt to shake me into wakefulness.
"Leave me alone," I mumble, covering my face with a pillow.
"Peter, the Princess wants to speak to you," I hear somepony whisper into my ear.
I lean over my bed, and hurl. Not from knowing the Princess wants to speak to me, but because I'm still hungover. My first hangover hasn't been...Enjoyable, to say the least.
"Why?" I say, my voice raspy and almost inaudible.
"I don't know," the pony whispers. "But she's not smiling at all. It's probably super serious."
I sigh, and sit up with a grunt. "Can't I have some breakfast first?" I ask. I'm presented with a plate of toast, which I promptly wolf down. That should carry me for a day or so. I don't eat much. The most I eat is breakfast and dinner, to be totally honest.
"Alright," I say after I finish wiping my mouth, "I'm ready."
Rainbow nods, and helps me out of the bed. However, before I leave, she pops a mint into my mouth. "You need this. Just sayin'."
I nod, and suck on the mint with vigor. As soon as my breath is minty fresh, the cyan Pegasus helps me fully out of the bed.
"Peter."
I turn to see Celestia, frowning at me in apparent discontent.
"I see you enjoyed yourself last night," she states. "Now, come. We must speak in private."
I nod, and follow the allicorn to her study, my head pounding each time my one of my feet slams down on the marble floor.
"Sit," she commands. I oblige, and gratefully plop down in the chair across from her. I rub my temples, and she sits across from me, a stern stare blessing her royal face.
"You didn't tell me you spoke to It," she states. Something about what she says, or the way she says it, sends a chill down my spine. But I don't exactly remember what "it" is...
Uhhhhhh...It, it, it...Oh! Right, right; Grendel! Yeah, that's why I got a drink in the first place, because I was almost responsible for...
Murder.
Ah.
Yes.
You know what? I wouldn't mind having a few beers right about now...
"Yeah," I mutter. "I, uh...I spoke to him."
She narrows her eyes at me. "Why didn't you tell me? We could've captured it, we could have sealed it away!"
"That's exactly why," I snap back, irritability giving my words a sharp edge. "Because it's not some kind of monster. It's not some kind of evil. It's just a living being that is alone, and feeds off of pain. It doesn't know any better, but we can teach it."
"No," Celestia says. "We can't have something that lives off of pain in Equestria. It would bring everything we've worked so hard to achieve to shambles! To have rampant pain throughout Equestria would poison the hearts and minds of ponies, and they would begin to attack each other. We can't have that. We need to get rid of this."
"Then how about we use it," I growl, rubbing my temples as the debate inflames my hangover. "We teach it a sort of code. Like that of Dexter Morgan: we make it only kill killers. Or how about we let it torture prisoners? How about we use it?"
Celestia shakes her head. "No, Peter. It would get out of control. I tried the same thing with Discord. It didn't work. He went mad with power."
I perk up, intrigued. "What was he like before he went mad?"
"Like Pinkie Pie," she responds with a sigh. "But then, he betrayed Luna and I...But that's not the point right now. The point is that we can't let this thing live in Equestria."
"His name is Grendel," I spit at her. "And we can't just kill it, Celestia. It's a living being, and it doesn't know any better! It deserves a fair chance!"
"It killed Spike!" She spits back. My head throbs as my ears shriek in pain. "We can't let it live!"
"He killed Spike because it needed food," I argue. "He did nothing wrong. He didn't know any better! He never had parents to teach him right from wrong! He doesn't understand!"
"Enough!" Celestia roars. The shout resonates to my very core, and I shrink back in my chair, cautiously and fearfully watching the Princess. "I am the Princess of Equestria, and I say that Grendel presents a threat to my domain!" Her eyes begin to darken in color, and I turn back as the door slams shut. "And I shall not have some two-legged beast spare a creature at the cost of the lives of thousands!"
I gulp. "P-Princess...Calm down," I stammer, trying not to faint or just let my head explode.
She glares at me for a few seconds, seething and blinking. She's apparently having some kind of internal struggle, as she continuously twitches her eye once in a while. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and sits back, composing herself as she folds in her wings.
"I apologize," she says, slowly and carefully after several minutes. "Equestria has never been in this situation before..."
I cock my head in confusion. "What do you mean? There was Discord, and Nightmare Moon, and..."
"I mean on the verge of a world war," Celestia interrupts me. I frown in confusion. "What?"
"If this...Grendel, continues unchecked, then it will eventually realize that the best way to gain pain is to start a war. It's inevitable. I've run every possibility through magical emulation, but...No such luck. There's no way we could keep it alive, and yet avoid war at the same time..."
I sigh, and rub my neck. Obviously, Celestia has thought of this quite a lot. And she doesn't want anything bad to happen to her people-uh, ponies. "Wouldn't sealing it away keep it alive?"
"Not fully," she responds. Thank goodness it's not so damn loud in here anymore... "It would be half dead. It could still break free, but not without an immense amount of pain..."
I frown, rubbing my temples as my headache's earthquake slowly settles. "Where would you seal it away?" I ask, hoping that she doesn't say "in stone". Stone has proven to be an inadequate form of storage for evil entities, unfortunately.
"That's why I must speak to you."
I look up in surprise. "You mean this whole thing wasn't the point of me coming here?"
She nods, and pours something into a glass. I notice that it's wine, and I put a hand up before she can take a sip. "Celestia, put down the wine, and tell me why I'm here."
She looks at me with a sad, blank stare for a few moments, before reluctantly setting down the glass. "You're here because you spoke to him," Celestia sighs, "and we believe that it would not dislike residing within you."
My pupils dilate as she reveals that little morsel of information. I feel myself about to vomit, and not from the hangover.
"You're going to seal Grendel away in...in....in me?"
She nods, very slowly, and I feel a shudder go down my spine. "But...Why?"
"It spoke to you because it does not want to be alone," she explains. "Somepony saw you and him in that alleyway, when you first spoke. They heard him saying that he was grateful that he wasn't alone. We thought that, perhaps, the best way to seal him away would be to put him in you, so he could experience the magic of friendship."
I gulp, and massage my stomach. "So...You're asking for my permission?"
I don't need to see her nod to know the answer. This is truly a horrifying prospect. The idea of having some demonic entity sealed within me...Oh, God...
"I...I need some time to think," I mutter. "Mostly because I don't understand what that would do..."
"Nothing," she replies. "The only way it would ever awaken is if you were to feel extreme agony, an agony unlike any other. Its powers would be dormant, as well as its conscience. All it would experience is what you experience. And, eventually, it will become part of you, and will be no more than a memory."
I nod. In all honesty, it seems like a promising theory. Not only could I save Grendel, but I could help him. He wouldn't have to be alone anymore. He would experience what I experience. He would have friends. He would have a girlfriend. And then, he would leave. And he would be at peace with himself.
Assuming, of course, that nothing goes wrong.
I want to go back. I want to sleep with Rainbow Dash, and tell Celestia that I will think about it.
But I know that I won't. I know that I'll blow it off, and try to escape it.
But no. I have to choose now. I can't sit by, I need to act.
"Okay," I say to Celestia, letting the words tumble out of my mouth and shatter on the floor. "Alright. I'll do it."
She nods, and sighs. "Next time he visits here, we will capture him," she explains. "And then, we will seal him away in you." Celestia smiles at me, and practically jumps over the desk to hug me. "Thank you, Peter. Thank you, thank you! I know how difficult of a choice this is! You are truly a man of true strength!"
I chuckle awkwardly, and throw the wine bottle a glance.
And that's when I see the four empty bottles next to it.
"Uh, Celestia," I mutter, extricating myself from her embrace, "I think you've had enough to drink..."
She looks over at the empty bottles, and blushes. "Oh...Silly me. I must have drank more than I knew! I apologize...You can go back to Rainbow Dash, now. I'll just, uh...Clean up the rest of the wine."
I raise an eyebrow as she sits down at her desk. "Yeah. 'Clean up,'" I mutter under my breath as I leave the room.
However, before I've made it out, she calls after me. I turn back with a raised eyebrow, inquiring as to what she demands of me.
"All joking and present alcohol aside," she says, very seriously, "you can't tell anypony about this. Not Rainbow Dash, not Pinkie Pie, not even Applejack. I'm going to tell Twilight once all is said and done, but until then, do not discuss this with anypony. Understand?"
I nod, and she waves a hoof in dismissal. I depart, an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.
With a slight wobble in my step, I make my way back to the guest chambers, and see that Rainbow Dash is wringing her tail just by the door.
"Peter! You're back!" She cries as I enter. She blushes, and makes sure not to look back at any of the ponies behind her. "I mean...Hey. What took you so long, asshole?"
I smirk at her, but groan as another wave of nausea overtakes me. I manage to make it over to the trough before I blow my chunks.
"She wanted to make sure I didn't do anything stupid last night," I manage to force out, answering the question that had been interrupted by my vomiting. I lay down on the bed, holding a hand to my forehead as my headache starts up again. "Don't worry...I didn't."
Rainbow Dash nods, and looks back at the ponies in the room. I don't care much about what they're doing, seeing as how I'm about to have what could pass as a demon stored within myself. Hopefully the cyan Pegasus can help take my mind off of things...
"Go ahead, Rainbow," I hear Rarity say. "Go, accompany your sweetheart, darling. Do as your heart calls."
"He's not my sweetheart," Rainbow growls.
"Could've fooled me," I hear Applejack insert. I hear some laughter, and almost immediately feel Rainbow Dash on the bed, and then hear her pull the curtains shut. I open my eyes to look at her, and see that she's blushing.
"Rainbow," I say softly, "am I your sweetheart?"
She looks down at me with a small smile. "Of course, babe," she whispers as she sits next to me.
"Pussy," I remark with a small smile. I close my eyes, and settle into the bed.
And then a pillow slams down on my face.
"Fuck you, Peter," Rainbow grumbles as I laugh. Despite my headache, I continue to laugh, and turn to look at her. She's bushing, and looking down, almost as if she's committed some sort of crime. I sit up, ignoring my headache, and then pull her right back down onto the bed with me. As she falls, she lets our a small yelp of surprise, and begins to laugh.
"What the hell, Peter?" She says as she punches me in the arm. "That could've hurt me, you dumb fuck!"
I laugh, and look her right in the eyes. She looks back, and we both smile with a small blush.
"You know...There's nothing wrong with you calling me your sweetheart," I say as I rest a hand on her hip. "In fact, I think it's kind of cute..."
She lets out a tiny chuckle, and raises her hoof to my arm. "Yeah, I know. But it's more fun to call you my bitch..."
"Hey!" We share a small laugh, mostly because we know it's true. I'm pretty much her bitch.
"So...Feelin' any better, bitch?" She asks, jokingly. I smile, and bring myself a little closer to her.
"Yeah," I respond. "I'm starting to feel a bit better..."
She smiles at me, and I reach up towards her face. That, and a greater goal.
"Is it because of me?"
I shake my head with a sly smile. "Nope. It's because of this!" I cry as I hit her with a pillow. She lets out a shriek of laughter, and hits me with her own weaponized bag of feathers.
"Pillow fight," I declare as I sit up, holding my pillow defensively. We repeatedly hit each other, laughing continuously as we assault each other.
Finally, I drop my pillow, and vomit into the trough.
"Time's up," I joke as I finish expelling beer-shit from my stomach. "That was the bell..."
Rainbow laughs, and hits me with a pillow once more as I sit up.
"Sorry," she says with a sheepish giggle. I giggle along with her, and shuffle a bit closer to her.
"Y'know," I say, leaning over to bring my face right in front of hers, "we haven't-"
"Yeah, cool," she says, holding her nose with a hoof. Opening a drawer in the night table, she takes out another breath mint and presents it to me. "Don't speak until you get the garbage-colt out of your mouth..."
I nod, and pop the mint into my mouth. Ten minutes later, my palette is burning with cleanliness. "This better?" I ask, returning my face to in front of hers. I let my lips wander tantalizingly close to hers as she smells my breath.
"Loads," she responds, her lips lightly brushing against mine. "So, what were you saying before?"
"We never had a first date yet," I say, happy to finally have gotten that out. "Maybe we should make plans to go out sometime soon?"
She smiles, and lets her lips brush against mine again as she speaks. "I'm pretty sure that giving me an orgasm counts as a pretty damn good first date."
I blush as I remember that terrible day at the Wonderbolts. "Don't even," I mutter. "Just...Don't fucking even."
Rainbow laughs, and wraps her hind legs around me. "You liked it, Peter. You loved it..."
As she speaks, I wrap my arms around her back, to help support her. Unfortunately, I haven't realized that she's straddling me yet. I don't normally associate straddling with ponies.
"Just lay down," she whispers, pressing her forehooves to my chest, "and let good ol' Rainbow Dash take care of everything..."
I chuckle. I have no idea what she's talking about. Meanwhile, I have the dirtiest mind out of everybody I know. Strange, how these things work, huh?
It isn't until she starts pulling down my pants that I realize what she's doing.
"NO!" I cry, pulling my pants all the way back up. "That escalated rather quickly, Rainbow Dash!" I warn her. "You can't just...You can't just jump into something like that!" My voice leaps several octaves as I speak. I'm truly panicked.
"I mean, Jesus...Rainbow, I like you, but I'm not ready for sex!"
I back away from her, unwilling to so much as touch her after that.
"Sorry," she mutters. "I thought you were ready..."
I fake laughter. "Haha! No! Nope, nope, nope!"
Rainbow Dash's ears shrink back in shame, and she looks down at the bed, her eyes closed. "Sorry, Peter..."
I nod. "You'd better be," I growl. "I mean, for fuck's sake...I was nowhere near ready for that..."
She sighs, and places her hoof on the curtain. "I'll leave, if you want to be alone," she says, softly. I have two thoughts at the same time:
One: I should comfort her. She's obviously confused. She wants to be closer to me, but I keep pushing her way. I should just calm down, and tell her what I'm thinking. And then, we can restructure our relationship from there, and perhaps even become closer and more level-headed because of it.
And two: I should let her go. It would be awkward if she were to stay. And, besides, she's going to keep repeating this cycle. She'll keep trying to get closer to me, and I, more likely than not, will not be ready. And then, she'll pull this crap again, and I'll end up right back in the same spot. I've been through this already, with my last girlfriend. I don't want to repeat that. Not again.
However, this time is different. Last time, my girlfriend was a fat pig, and I didn't even notice. Her mother had a mustache, for fuck's sake. But Rainbow is different. She's beautiful, and she's much more mature than my ex was, or ever will be. She's not some kind of pig that says "jizz" and "cum" in front of my father. Plus, I'm not going to school, so there's no way for me to actually fuck up anything. So, I make a decision.
I just hope it's the right one.
"Rainbow," I say, softly. "Come here."
She does so, and I pat a spot next to me on the bed. "Sit down."
She sits next to me, and I wrap an arm around her. I rub her foreleg, and grasp her forehoof. "Rainbow, I wasn't ready for that," I explain, softly. "And I'm sorry for flipping out on you. But we have got to slow down, okay? I enjoy snuggling with you, and I definitely enjoy spending time with you. But we have to slow down. I mean, we've only known each other for a month. And we've been dating for about...what, two, three days, now? That's a bit early to start making love, don't you think?"
She nods, and I smile at her. "I want this to work, Rainbow. I like you. I do. But if you're not mature enough for a relationship..." I let the sentence finish itself.
"No!" She cries, turning to place her hooves on my shoulders. "Please, no! Don't break up with me! I'm mature enough! I swear!"
I smile, and grasp her hoof. "Only time will tell," I whisper. "But don't change for me, Dash. Don't change just to make me happy. I don't want that. All I want is for you to be you, except to slow things down a tiny bit."
She nods. "I can do that! I can slow down! I won't fly, I won't try out for the Wonderbolts..."
"Whoa, whoa," I say, waving my hands in front of her face, "earth to Dash. I don't want you to actually slow down! God, no! If you stopped flying for me, I would load you into a cannon and make you fly!" She laughs at that, and I keep going. "I just want you to not take our relationship so damn seriously. We don't need to go onto the next step now, we don't even need to do it tomorrow, or next week, or the week after that. It's perfectly fine as it is, okay?"
Rainbow Dash smiles, and nods. "Yeah...Yeah, it is."
I smile, and kiss her. She seems to desperately hold on to the kiss, and I pull away before she can get too involved. "Alright?" I say, softly, rubbing her shoulders.
"Okay," she replies with a small smile. "I get it. I'll try to be more mature, okay, Peter?"
I nod. "Alright. Just don't be too mature. I don't want you to start getting boring."
She laughs. "As if I could get boring..."
"I dunno...In that hospital, you were pretty fucking boring."
She punches me in the arm, and I let out a small yelp, rubbing my arm in pain. "Fuck...Do you have to hit so hard?"
"Yes."
I laugh, and flinch as she lifts her hoof again. "Wow, Peter, you're pretty jumpy...TWO FOR FLINCHING!"
Pain. Pain.
"Stop hitting me, please," I sigh, rubbing my arms. I feel as if the hangover is out of my system, but I'm still rather cranky.
Rainbow is about to hit me again, when Applejack opens the curtains with a rather pissed off expression.
"Y'all do know that we could see everythin' you were doin', right?" She says. Rainbow Dash and I frown at her. "What're you talking about?"
"When Rainbow straddled yah, and yah freakin' out," she explains. The both of us blush, and move away from each other.
"Rainbow, Ah need t' have a talk with yah," Applejack says.
"I already spoke to her," I say. "You don't have to, I've got it."
"Well, in that case," Applejack says, "Ah've got t' talk ter' you, too, Peter."
I sigh, but don't object to it at all. "Alright then. Lay it on us..."
"Not here," Applejack says. "We're gunna go get some lunch. Ah'll talk t' y'all in a private booth, in one of 'dem restaurants."
I exchange a look with Rainbow Dash, and I shrug. "Alright then."
"Uh-uh," Rainbow Dash says. "I'm not going to let you lecture me on my love life."
"Actually, yeah, you are," I tell her. "Because you don't have a love life. You don't love me, and I don't love you. We've known each other for a month. Love is impossible at this stage of the game."
Rainbow Dash rolls her eyes, and looks up to Applejack. "Alright, let's go..." She says with a sigh. "Better than having my own boyfriend insult me..."
I raise my hands in confusion. "What the hell did I do?"
"Let's go," Applejack commands. "Ah don't want none of this stupid stuff, y' hear me? Ah just wanna get this over with."
I nod, and follow the orange pony out the door. Rainbow Dash reluctantly follows, wistfully eying the sky. I can't wait until she gets her bandages off. Maybe then, I can actually see a Sonic Rainboom, up close and personal...
We quickly arrive at a small diner, which we promptly enter. Despite the grandeur of Canterlot, there are quite a lot of quaint, small stores around here.
We enter, and find a seat. Within a few minutes, we've ordered some food and Applejack is already sorting through her saddlebags and setting aside bits.
As we sit there, me waiting for my eggs, Rainbow for her...eggs, and Applejack for her hay and cheese sandwich, Applejack opens her mouth to speak.
To be totally honest, nothing could have prepared me for what she says.