I tumble through the light, falling back to my own body. As I do, I feel the dregs of darkness pulling at me, dragging me back up towards that rift in reality...
I push it away, letting the light coerce, cradle, and caress me. I have no sense of time as I come back to my body, but I have a sense of security, and of healing.
I feel the remainders of Grendel's darkness being cleansed from my being, the heavy burden being allowed to float back up to that rift. I feel darkness elsewhere being extracted, and I feel a light shining through that darkness, now unhampered by its shackles of that half of Grendel.
"Peter."
I feel myself being dragged towards one of the large lights atop the tower of lights. I feel it caress me, and I listen intently to what it has to say. When it finishes speaking, I relax, knowing now that this is how it was meant to be.
Celestia releases me gently, allowing me to float through the light, and let my way find me to my home.
Eventually, I feel myself settle, and I no longer feel any fear from what had occurred. I can feel light around me, and, after a while, that light begins to fade.
The light that surrounds me go dark, and strange, alien, familiar sensations take the place of the light.
I feel breath filling my lungs at a slow and steady rate, and I can hear the rustle of cloth as something is moved near me. I hear hooves against soft carpet, and my eyes flick open as they move onto hardwood floor.
"Oh," Fluttershy says, softly. "Did I wake you?"
I shake my head with a small smile, deciding not to tell her of what had occurred. I pause as I feel a nub in my mind, and the alicorn's voice comes through, crystalline and placid, telling me that Rainbow Dash just had very much the same experience. I sigh, and shake my head a tiny bit.
"Uhh, what's going on? Are you okay?" Fluttershy asks, concerned. I smile at her, and nod.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I respond, gently. "Just a crick in my neck."
Fluttershy nods, and turns away from me. "Would you like breakfast?" She asks as she walks into her kitchen.
"Yes, thank you," I call after her.
"Eggs?" She asks.
"Yes, please."
I hear pots and pans, and I stretch, pulling on my hoodie, my sneakers, and my messenger bag. I've definitely calmed down since that...experience, but Celestia failed to explain one singular thing. So, I'm going to go see her to find out what.
"Oh, you're leaving?" Fluttershy asks as she walks back in with scrambled eggs. I can't help but guffaw at her.
"How'd you make that so fast?" I ask, confused.
"Magical stove," she responds with a small smile. "Twilight got one for me for my birthday...after my old stove sort of...exploded..."
I nod, struggling to suppress a snicker. I eat up the scrambled eggs, and ruffle her mane as I stand from the table.
"I'll put this in the kitchen," I explain. "Then, I've gotta go off to work. See ya, Fluttershy. Tell Tender Hoof I say 'hello'."
Fluttershy nods, blushing lightly as I say her boyfriend's name. I dump my plate and fork in the sink, blast them with a bit of water, and then head out, aiming for the train station. I shiver in the morning breeze, despite my thick hoodie. I reach into my messenger bag, and pull out my VIP boarding pass, which allows me to get on the train as many times as I want, whenever I want.
I flash the pass by the boarding pony, and smile as he lets me on. I step on, pulling out my iPad to go over my recent technological designs, as has become habit for me whenever I go to work. I shake my head with a chuckle, remembering that I'm going to see Celestia for a conversation, not a payment and a patent.
I decide to start up a game of Solitaire, and wait for the train to depart. After a few minutes, a pony that I know very well walks in.
"Hi, Peter!" The pink pony exclaims. "Off to work today? Huh? Huh? Are ya? Huh?"
The other ponies in the train shoot her irritated glances, and I can't help but smile as she jumps into the chair next to me. "Nah, I've got to talk to Celestia about something," I inform her, garnering a few shocked glances from around me. I cringe, remembering that people casually walking up to Celestia for a conversation isn't considered a norm.
"Ohhhhhhh, fancy," Pinkie Pie says. "I'm on my way to Canterlot for a class on electronics!"
I blink in surprise. "Oh? I could teach you, Pinkie Pie."
She shakes her head with a small smile. "I've gotta learn how to work with the electronics that Canterlot has now, not the electronics you have now. I'm going to start experimenting with those new batteries, and wiring up speakers with buttons so make them play a clip, like an explosion for a surprise. Or maybe make a fancy-shmancy strobe light! Or even a dance pad!!!"
I grin as she gets more and more excited. "I have no doubt that you'll be able to make all of those things, Fluttershy. By the way, it may interest you to know that there should be a new battery in stores now. The patent office should be done with my design by now. It's about the size of my thumb, but it's strong enough to power an intense flashlight for hours on end."
Pinkie Pie grins. "Even better! I didn't wanna carry those giant batteries back on the train! That'd be super bad!" The ponies around us roll their eyes in irritation, and some sigh in relief as we arrive at their stop. Pinkie Pie remains oblivious to this, and immediately throws her forelegs around me in a vicious hug.
"I forgot to give you a hello hug!" She shouts. "Duh!!"
A few ponies sigh in complete anger, and I can't help but chuckle lightly as I hug Pinkie Pie back. She's so soft, that I kind of don't want to let go of her, mostly because she's like a giant beanie baby.
"Snuggle time!" Pinkie Pie declares, snaking her way under my arm to rest her head on my shoulder with my arm around her. I chuckle, and a few ponies around us sigh in relief as she finally falls silent.
It's weird, really, what snuggling does to Pinkie Pie. Of course, it's nothing intimate, it's a sign of intimate friendship blah blah blah. But snuggling with Pinkie Pie kind of brings her to a complete stand-still. Like, she crashes with a brick wall, and immediately mellows past what anything could ever do. It's like, she just becomes a docile sweetheart. She nuzzles, rubs, and even falls asleep, given that she's comfortable enough. In all honesty, it's like a sort of Xanax for her.
So, if you ever find yourself in an XK-Class Pinkie Pie is Hyper situation, follow Protocol SCP-Pinkie Pie-alpha. First, rest a hand on the subject's shoulder. Then, wrap your arms around it in what is colloquially known as a "hug". Next, find a comfortable seating area, such as a "couch". Allow the subject to rest her cranium on your shoulder, and keep your arms around her. If the subject remains invigorated, plant a "kiss" on her forehead repeatedly until she calms. Rub the equine's foreleg, and stroke her mane to further calm her.
Pinkie Pie breathes deeply against my side, and rubs her cheek against my shoulder. I smile, adjusting my grasp on her so I can hold her even closer. She forces her foreleg behind me, and wraps her other around my chest. I smile, rubbing her back as she dozes off.
And so we stay until the train finally comes to its final stop, and the speaker announces that we have arrived in Canterlot. Pinkie Pie hops off of me in an explosion of giggles, and I follow her out.
My footsteps echo throughout the marble floors as I walk through the ornate castle. Pinkie Pie is probably already on her way back to Ponyville. I smile as I pass by a few guards, and eventually arrive at the door leading to Celestia's throne.
"What's it today? Payment? Patent?"
I shake my head as Shining Armor gets ready to open the door. "Unfortunately, no. I've got a serious question to ask her..."
Shining Armor nods, but doesn't pry. Well, he does pry the door open, but besides that, he doesn't.
I walk up to Celestia, and bow to her. She smiles benevolently, and waves a hoof for me to follow her. I raise an eyebrow in confusion, but end up following her all the same.
"I knew you'd have a question," Celestia informs me with a smug grin. "So, what do you want to ask?"
I smile at Celestia. "Well, when I was on my way back, one of the dark things chased me, and tried to, like...eat me, I guess. It scared the shit outta me."
Celestia's pupils expand. She obviously hadn't expected that kind of question. And she obviously hadn't expected it to happen in the first place.
"I'm sorry...what?" She mutters, shocked.
"It chased me," I repeat. "One of the big dark things. Tried to eat me?"
Celestia blinks a few times, and I frown at how she's apparently frozen in time. About ten minutes later, she's still staring out into space, and hasn't done anything at all.
"Are you having a stroke?" I ask, confused.
She shakes her head, apparently having returned to her body. "Sorry, I was thinking. This could be very serious, or she could've just been playing around with you..."
I raise an eyebrow. "What, like playing tag?"
She shakes her head. "I don't know. I'm going to need to talk with Luna about this. How about you go to work?"
I sigh. "Can't, yet. Still working on the next design. I made the past three objects just to make this one. It's a much more modern version of your flashlight. Compact, doesn't need to charge for three hours, and can light up pitch blackness. It will have an LED light. Like the ones I designed last week. I'm just trying to make the aesthetics, really. I want it to look cool, y'know?"
Celestia smiles. "Every day, you sound more and more like Rainbow Dash," she remarks. I chuckle lightly. "Speaking of Rainbow Dash, she had a dream about you recently. In which you broke up with her. Call it a nightmare, actually. Luna visited her in her nightmare, and is probably going to visit you tonight. She's ticked that she has to go between your dreams like a messenger of sorts, so be nice to her. Okay?"
I nod, and move to leave. However, she grasps my hand with a hoof, and pulls me around the table.
"Peter, Rainbow Dash loves you more than you'll ever understand. I want you to know that, even though you no longer have to hold Grendel down with your love for each other...please, don't hurt her."
I frown at her. "Of course."
She smiles, and dismisses me.
I walk back to the train, yawning in the morning breeze. I board the train, and sit on a chair, contemplating what the future may or may not hold.