//------------------------------// // Division // Story: Trapped // by Gylden Glor //------------------------------// "This is very bad," Celestia sighs as she paces. "Very bad indeed..." "To be fair, it's not that bad," I chip in. "I mean, it was nice of Rainbow Dash to help me bear this burden of Grendel, y'know? I mean, I don't want her to feel any pain because of it, and I would never forgive myself if Grendel were to change her, but-" "That's not what I'm talking about!" Celestia spits. I pull back, surprised by her sudden vehemence. Rainbow Dash does as well, and Celestia takes a deep breath before explaining. "The Elements of Disharmony, on their own, are very, very unstable artifacts. With the slightest provocation, they could release all that is held within them. And the only thing keeping them truly stable was having all of Grendel's heart trapped within the soul of one person. In this case, that person was supposed to be Peter. But now, Grendel's heart has been divided between the two of you, and if the two halves meld in a moment of an outburst of rage, or violence or...the point being that, if the two halves come back together of their own accord, the Elements of Disharmony will release their evils unto the world. And the both of you shall be obliterated." Rainbow Dash and I share looks of equal fear. "How could we possibly stop it?" I ask, beginning to hyperventilate just a little bit. "I mean...I mean...If we were to...I mean, Grendel got me to choke Vinyl Scratch, right? And Rainbow said she saw it through my eyes, so...so...that could happen again! But it could be worse!" Celestia sighs. "Yes, I know. Fortunately, we have two different ways to stop that disaster." Rainbow and I lean in, and Celestia begins her second explanation. "Either you two must be eternally bound by love...or one of you must die." "Oh, I'd like the former, thank you very much," I cry. "I mean, I guess that...if we're no longer bound by love, then the latter would be the only way to go, but...I'd very much prefer the former. Wait, hold on...how would either of those keep Grendel's halves separate?" "I said they would be dangerous if brought together of their own accord," Celestia reminds us. "But if they're forced together by your free will, then they no longer pose a threat. Binding by love will bring your souls closer together, and through that, your separate halves of Grendel. "Releasing Grendel's half through one of you dying would cause it to instantly gravitate towards the other remaining half of Grendel. This would be forced, as it would have no other options than that. But, as Peter pointed out, I'm much more inclined towards the former." I nod, and Rainbow Dash gulps. Celestia sighs, and sits behind her desk. After a few moments, she speaks once more. "By the way, I've wiped Vinyl Scratch's memory of the incident. I've replaced it with you, Peter, turning her down politely, but allowing her a small kiss on the cheek. You can either choose to hang out with her, if you want to still be friends, or you can just keep your distance." I shrug, and Celestia nods. "That will be decided with due time, then. Now, a time comes when I must ask a very important question." I lean forward, a small frown bending my features. "Peter, what do you plan to dress up as for Nightmare Night?" My jaw drops. "Uhhh...I'm sorry...what? In what way is that an important question?" I demand, standing from my chair in agitation. "I mean, seriously! We've got Grendel to worry about, and-" "And if anything occurs with Grendel, it won't be for a very long time," Celesta cuts across me. "And, besides, you've got to fit in with the ponies of Ponyville if you ever want to make more friends. Seriously, Peter, what do you think the Elements of Harmony are based off of?" "Magic?" "Friendship!" "Magic." Celestia opens her mouth to argue, but then rolls her eyes. "Yeah, okay, magic." I nod in victory, and then shrug as I return to the question at hand. "I'm thinking of dressing up as Slenderman. I have the suit and morph skin thing with me, so I don't need Rarity to go making me anything..." Celestia cringes. "Uhh...Okay, look. I'm going to admit something: I read a lot of your memories. A lot of them. And let me tell you that both Luna and I do not appreciate the idea of having a Slenderman imitator in our midst. That, and ponies won't really...get it. I mean, it would be enjoyable for you, but they just...wouldn't get it. So...why don't you be something more...relate-able?" I frown at Celestia. "So...No Slenderman?" "No. No Slenderman." I raise my hands up, and turn to walk out. "I'm done. I'm out. I'm done. I've had it." I walk straight through the large double doors, and proceed to walk down three hallways, proclaiming my status as being "done" and "out." When I return to the throne room, it's with my hands up once more. "I'm good. I'm back. I'm in. I'm okay. I'm not done; I'm fine." I take my seat, and lean forward as I look up at Celestia. "So, could I be Link?" Celestia and Rainbow Dash simply stare at me. And Rainbow Dash asks the question. "What the hell was that?" I raise an eyebrow at her. "It was me taking a walk so I didn't get too pissed off." "Gee, maybe you should've done that when you felt the urge to choke Vinyl Scratch?" Celestia asks, rather sarcastically. I shoot her a look, and she shrugs. "Sorry, couldn't resist. Wait, what am I apologizing for? I'm your Queen!" I laugh, and Rainbow Dash simply shifts her weight, feeling somewhat awkward. "Oh, Peter, you have no idea how liberating it is to be able to just be another pony with you. To just...talk, you know? And act normal, rather than keeping up regal appearances?" I shrug. "'S fine. I don't mind if you let go once in a while, Celestia." She smiles, and I give her a small thumbs-up. Corny, I know, but what the fuck else am I supposed to do? Stick my dick in her ear or something? Okay, even I have to admit, that escalated quite quickly. Like, that just jumped right up there. I've really got to calm my tits, bro... Alright. So, after I've taken a deep breath to expel the mumblyjumblymumps from my bodyisms, I look back to Celestia, and shift the focus to the question she had asked before. "So, could I be Link? From the Legend of Zelda? It's kind of an Earth-based thing - well, not really, Hyrule based is more accurate - but it's got the general ADVENTURE feel to it, y'know? Well, more than general, more like awesome adventure feel. Like, spanning a thousand freakin' dollars in profit awesome." Celestia simply raises an eyebrow at me. "Okay, when I say that I can be free with you, I don't mean that we can be absolutely silly with one another." I nod. "Understood. Anyway, since you've seen my memories, do you know who Link is?" "Of course I know who Link is!" Celestia spits back. "That boy is one of the only things in your head, Peter! Every memory had some kind of comparison to either Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Four Swords, or Skyward Sword!" I laugh at her apparent irritation. "Well, that's just me, Celestia." Celestia sighs. "Yes, I know. But...are you sure that Rarity could pull that off?" "What!?" Rainbow Dash cries. "Rarity can pull off any design, Princess! Hell, it could be the most complicated design in the world, and-whoa." She stops talking as I hold up my iPad in front of her, showing her a design of a spot-on costume of Link from the Internet. "Okay, that's pretty crazy. Like, seriously? And what's with that weird hat? Admittedly, the sword and shield are awesome, but the earring? Really?" I shrug. "Whatever. I still can't believe we're actually talking about this, though. What with Grendel being split between us." "Peter, do you want a basic summarization of our daily lives?" Rainbow Dash asks. Before I can answer, she says, "Shit happens, and we deal with it. And, right now, suit isn't happening, but it could happen. So, we'll just deal with it when, and if, it does." I scratch my head. "Shouldn't we, like, prepare or something?" "Already prepared," Celestia responds. "I have a plan set up that will solve the issue in case the first method fails." I shrug. "Well, I doubt that it will be much of a problem. I love Rainbow Dash very much. And I would rather die than lose her." The room falls silent for a few moments, during which Rainbow Dash simply stares at me. I look to her, and see that she is blushing madly. I smile, and lean in to- "Alright, if you two are going to get romantic, please, don't do it in my throne room." I blush just as brightly as Rainbow is, and I pull back in embarrassment. Rainbow Dash does as well, and we stammer for a few minutes before Celestia dismisses us. "Thank you," I call back, before following Rainbow Dash out. "Have a nice night, Celestia!" As soon as we're out in the night air once more, Rainbow Dash grabs me, and flies me to her house, while I hold on for dear life. Once we arrive at her home in the clouds, I drop onto the path leading to her front door and kiss the clouds in relief. "Oh, thank God," I breathe. "I never thought I'd be on a flat surface again..." "It wasn't that bad," Rainbow Dash retorts. "Shit, Rainbow, that was horrifying!" I cry, my legs still shaking as I stand. "I mean...that was just..." Rainbow Dash presses a hoof to my lips, and leads me into her home. She sits me down on the couch, and leaves to get something from somewhere. I don't know, she's not saying anything, she's just walking around and doing things, really. Once she returns, she has two glasses of wine on her back. I take them both off of her back, and return one of them to her. She smiles as she accepts it, and takes a seat so close to me that her butt is rubbing up against mine. I wrap an arm around her, and she wraps a wing around me. We both simply sip at our wine, while I wait for Rainbow Dash to say what is obviously on her mind. "Did you really mean that?" I turn to her with a small smile. "Mean what?" "That you'd rather die than lose me..." I smile, and kiss her in the cheek. "I did, Rainbow Dash." She smiles, and rubs her forehead under my chin. "I love you, Peter..." I smile, and kiss her on the lips, very softly, and very gently. Hard to believe all of this came from me choking Vinyl Scratch, huh? No. I'm never going to let that go. And you shouldn't either. This world is fucking topsy-turvy as shit. So, why not include myself in that topsy-turviness? I grab Rainbow by the hooves, and tilt her so that she's laying down on the couch, with her head in my lap. She lets out a little cry of surprise as I do so, but giggles as she sets aside her wine glass. "This is how we were sitting when I first kissed you," Rainbow Dash reminds me. I smile as I remember it. Not exactly a happy memory, but the feeling of her lips on mine, quivering in fear...it moves me to tears almost every time. "Yeah," I whisper. "I'm still sorry about how I reacted, Rainbow Dash. I shouldn't have freaked out like that..." Rainbow Dash smiles up at me. "It's okay. I forgive you." My heart melts as I look down at her. "But I can never forgive myself, sweetheart. For hurting you so much..." I close my eyes for a moment as regret washes over me. "Peter, it's fine," she whispers. "We're together now, and that's all that matters. I love you, Peter. And I forgave you a long time ago..." I smile, and Rainbow Dash gives me a long, passionate kiss. "Alright, I'm bored," Rainbow Dash announces. "Let's have sex." I grin, and quickly strip down. Rainbow Dash straddles me, and plops herself down on my crotch. After several minutes, both Rainbow and I emit something halfway between a moan and a sigh as our pent-up pleasure is exuded from our body in an excruciatingly pleasing manner. "Well," I say, softly, "wanna go snuggle?" Rainbow Dash smiles, and nods. Five minutes later, we're snuggling in her bed with big smiles.