Twilight looked up at the home above her, and she bite her lip in worry. She and her friends had not seen Dash in almost a week since Nightmare Night, and the commotion Guardian had caused. The purple mare felt a slight pang of worry, remembering that Dash had chased after the arachanpony, and since then, she hadn't been seen.
The mare reached the shadow of the floating house. Twilight took a moment to admire the cloud house, and was always amazed at how Pegasai managed to live in homes that could move. Ponyville had only a hoof-full of the floating houses, as the majority of the population was Earth ponies and Unicorns, and the logistics of the floating homes was a nightmare for the town.
She felt a gently breeze and watched the house slowly drift with the air. Twilight smiled as an old pegasai phrase came to mind. Home is always down wind, so follow the breeze. The mare chuckled lightly and focused some magic on herself, making herself able to walk on the clouds. A moment later, she teleported to the door of her friend’s home.
Twilight knocked on the door and called out. "Dash, you in there? The others and myself have been worried." She waited to hear a response. Hearing none she knocked again. "We're all here for you. Are you in there?"
The purple mare bit her lip as silence reached her ears. She raised her hoof to knock once more when she heard the lock click, and the door slowly swung open. Standing in the door was an exhausted and haggard looking Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare gave a weak smile, large bags under her eyes. This was the first red flag that something was wrong with her friend. Dash was well known for sleeping a lot, typically on small clouds or in trees.
"Hi Twilight..." She shuffled and motioned for Twilight to enter her home. "What's up?"
The second sign to the purple mare that something was wrong was that her home was spotless. Everything was in a proper place, and not a sign of empty energy drinks, or candy bar wrappers. Twilight was amazed, and when she looked back to her tired friend she spotted some details that her sagging eyes distracted from. The prism colored mane was brushes, cleaner than Twilight had ever seen it, and looked like Dash had trimmed it. The same was true with her coat, and her wings were well preened.
"Dash... are you okay? You haven't been in town for a week and well..." The unicorn pointed to Dash's current condition. "You look like you just got back from one of Rarity's spa trips."
The pegasus shook her head. "No... I haven't been able to sleep, and well, I look like this because when you’re up for so long you find things to do." She gave a weak chuckle. "First I cleaned the house, then me. I was about to the make my bed, and maybe try to sleep."
Twilight nodded and walked with her friend to the bedroom, which was as spotless as the rest of the house. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Dash shrugged in a manner that showed little care. "Might as well right? I got not much else to do."
The cyan mare moved to the bed in the room, and began stripping it of the sheets. Twilight sat next to the clean bedding, and sheets as Dash spoke.
"Twilight... have you ever really thought about how some of our adventures could have gone?"
The purple mare gave her friend a confused glance. "Um... I don't follow."
Dash moved over the bed, tossing the dirty sheets in a corner. "Like... if we hadn't defeated King Sombra, or if the Changelings had succeeded. What might have happened to us." She walked over to Twilight. "I mean, we all could have died."
The unicorn watched in silence as Dash placed the new sheets on the bed, her voice cracking a little.
"I mean, there are so many things we all wouldn't have been able to do. I would have never been a member of the Wonderbolts, never see if I can pull off a triple Sonic Rainboom..." Her voice trailed off, and she finished with the sheets. "I never thought about it. About the risks we took, the life or death situations we constantly have been in over the last few years."
Dash moved back to Twilight, and the purple mare saw a change in the prism maned mare. Her eyes had widened, and she had paled a little.
"I nearly died a few times, but a on Nightmare Night... that creature had me trapped, and helpless..." Dash moved back to the bed and began placing the blankets and comforters on it. "I had me right where it wanted me, then it talked."
Twilight stood up as her friend finished making the bed, and sat on it.
"It was mad... and a he, if his voice was a sign..." Dash swallowed and rubbed her leg for a moment. "I called him a monster and he got mad. He yelled at me for calling him that, and how others killed a lot of his type..." She paled even more and her eyes stared into the empty air, widening as her mind went back to the night.
"He said that he watched his kind be killed by ponies like me..." She swallowed and rubbed her eyes. "I keep reliving that moment every time I close my eyes, and get a few moments of sleep." The mare laid down on the bed. "He was so mad, and I had never seen something like him."
Twilight sat on the bed and watched her friend grab her head as tears began to form in her eyes.
"I was stuck in a giant web, and he could have killed me at any moment." She began to shake lightly. "I could have lost everything, and he spared me... because he was the better party... I acted like a monster."
As the mare next to her began to shake harder, Twilight did the one thing she hoped would help. She hugged the pegasus, and held her close.
"Dash, you should have come to one of us sooner... we could have helped you sooner." She felt a wet warmth on her shoulder as the mare hugged her back. "You're safe now, and nothing will happen to you."
Dash's hug tightened, and she spoke in a soft tone. "It's not the fact I got hurt that haunts me... it's the fact I acted like the ponies that killed others for being different." The mare sniffled and took a shuddering breath. "I was the monster that night, and I hate myself for being that."
Twilight held her friend close and gently rubbed her back. "Dash, you are not a monster. I know you, and you are a loyal friend, and only acted that way because you were mad Guardian landed on Pinkie."
The pegasus sniffed then lifted her head from the unicorns shoulder. "Guardian?"
Twilight shifted on the bed and then nodded. "It's a long story... but... the short version of it is that Guardian, the spider pony you chased after, was once a earthpony, and well... now he is that, and he works for Luna." She rubbed her neck and gave a weak chuckle. "He's... a friend, but we need to get the town to calm down about him, like we did for Zecora."
The pegasus remained silent and the ran her hoof through her short mane. "He... lives in the forest... and isn't evil… Now his anger makes sense." She bit her lip in thought. "What else do we know about him?"
"He was cursed, which is why he looks like that." Twilight regaled Dash with the story that Luna told her, and once she finished, the cyan mare nodded and gave her wings a flap. She spoke and her voice was soft.
"If he's protecting a tree... then why was he in the town?"
Twilight laid next to the mare on the bed. "Well, apparently Apple Bloom has befriended him, and he was there because she invited him."
Dash nodded and sighed heavily, then lay next to her friend on the bed. "Are we going to meet him and talk to him?"
The unicorn nodded. "I was planning on talking to him tonight. Fluttershy, and Applejack are joining me."
The cyan mare nodded and sighed again. "I'll join you guys..." She yawned and smiled to Twilight. "I think... I could use a nap... wanna join me?" The mare closed her eyes and chuckled as she hugged Twilight.
Twilight shuffled and nodded. "Um, I could use a nap..." She watched as a moment later the cyan mare fell asleep, out like a candle in a windstorm. I... suppose she needed to hear some kind words... might as well stay to help her rest.
Her horn glowed softly and she levitated a book off a shelf and to her. "Ooo, Daring Do."
She settled in, and opened the book after making sure she and her friend were comfortable.
Shade was having an interesting morning. She had awoken early in the morning and had arisen to go for a morning jog, and had found that the bed of her roommate was empty. She thought that he might be a night owl, and shrugged as she got herself a quick breakfast, left the house to go for her run. Her plan was interrupted once she discovered a large bundle of white silken thread sitting at the base of the stairs to the front door. She walked over to it and circled it a few times, the figured the best course of action would be to poke it.
"Don't do that." A muffled voice came from within the bundle. "Get me out of this."
Shade smiled wide as the agitated voice of her room mate reached her ears. "Well hello there. How did your walk go?"
"Pretty good." His voice dripped of sarcasm and anger. "I got a nice view of the stars, got to see some exotic plants, and then was attacked by a large creature and put in this!" The bundle wiggled weakly. "I hate it in here, get me out!"
The mare sat next to the bundle and rests her elbows on it, with her head held up by her hooves. "I dunno, this thing looks pretty tough, and you are being really rude right now." She tisked at him for a moment. "Being mean never helps when asking for a favor."
The bundle wiggled more as the stallion tried to get free. "Shade, I am serious! Get me out of this thing."
The mare laughed and shook her head. "I dunno. What's in it for me? After all, this thing looks pretty tough to open up."
She felt the stallion within shuffle and she could just barely hear the muttering of the stallion, and she giggled as she heard 'Crazy mare' come from the silken threads. After a moment she heard him mutter.
"I'm going to regret this..." He spoke louder, his voice filled with a knowing dread. "Name your price."
Shade's smile widened and she clapped her hooves. "Oh now this is too good." She tapped her chin lightly. "Now, what do I want?"
She watched the bundle grow still. How interesting, and clever. He put himself in charge now, as he will weigh his freedom against my offers, and now I have to make him an offer instead of him offering things to me. Clever boy. She gently shifted her elbows on him then let out a low hum.
"How about, dinner, and we share a bed for as long as this little mission of ours lasts?" She poked what she hoped was his side. The bundle moved a little.
"Don't poke me like that!" The bundle wiggled for a moment then stopped. "And is that all?"
She nodded and giggled. Oh, this is too good. She poked him again. "That's all. Dinner, and a shared bed. A warm meal, and a warm body to be near at night. Do we have a deal?"
Moments passed as the stallion in the bundle remained quiet. Shade poked him again, and smiled. He's weighing the options. Any second now...
"Fine... we have a deal." The stallion spoke softly. "Now get me out of this."
Shade nodded and giggled. "Of course."
Her horn glowed softly and the webs began to tear apart. After a moment she saw the rather pale looking form of Red Trail within. Her smile faded as he bolted from the bundle and to the grass, stumbling along the way, and she blanched a moment later as he vomited onto the lawn. As the stallion hacked and coughed into the well-manicured grass, Shade walked over to him, and tried her best to stay up wind.
"Are you going to be okay?" She asked, slightly worried.
He spat with some rather unpleasant coughing after, and then looked at the mare. "Not really..."
She shuffled under the intense and very angry look he was giving her. "I... um... sorry... what caused this?"
Shade made a weak gesture to the sick on the lawn. The stallion took a few moments to breath then spat on the mess, to remove as much of the taste he could.
"I'm claustrophobic..." He sat down on the cobblestone path, his limbs shaking as he took in ragged breaths. "I've been stuck in that thing all night, and nopony heard me yelling for help."
Shade nodded. "That's a common phobia of pegasai, so I've read..."
The stallion shot her another angry, almost hateful glance and the unicorn's voice trailed off. The mare shuffled and rubbed her shoulder as she watched the pale stallion move his sweat drenched mane out of his face.
"Sorry... not helpful..." She offered a hoof. "Let's get you cleaned up, and in bed... you need to recover from... whatever happened last night."
The stallion stood up slowly, and tried his best to walk, almost falling but Shade caught him, and made him lean on her.
"You're not as light as you look..." She gave a small chuckle and helped him to the stairs.
The stallion wrapped a wing around her back to support his weight. "You try staying in a nightmare made of web for a whole night. See how well you do..." The stallion sighed and looked to the mare. "Sorry."
"I understand. You had a rough night." Shade got him through the main door, and up the second flight of stairs to the second floor, and within a minute she had him lying in the tub, and started a shower. She sat next to the tub and used her magic to guide the water over his body.
She washed him in silence for a minute before Red Trial spoke, his voice low. "Where do you want dinner tonight?"
The mare nearly dropped the shower head, not expecting the stallion to speak. "What?"
"Dinner... where do you want it from?" He shifted in the tub and placed his head on the side, so that he could look her in her pale blue eyes, and she noticed that they were a rather bright shade of green.
The unicorn shook her head. "You don't need to."
Shade let out a low sigh as the warm water reached his wings. "I do. We made a deal, and I will honor it. I owe you dinner, and we need to share a bed for the rest of this job."
Shade shuffled as she continued to clean the stallion. "I... okay." She smiled and after a moment, Trail did as well. "So, how is your day going so far? Better than before?"
The stallion gave a weak chuckle. "Yeah. Better so far."
The mare nodded and gave a sly smile. "Your back is pretty close to done." She began wetting his mane and applied shampoo. "After this, flip over."
Much to her surprise Trail simply gave a small nod, and just rolled onto his back. She watched him close his eyes and give a deep sigh.
"Get it over with..."
She began washing his body, being gentle and thorough with her cleaning. She spent a few minutes washing his entire body, but stopped once she reached a certain sensitive portion of his body. She waited to see if he would stop her, but when the stallion slowly shifted his wings she continued, washing him as quickly as she could, so not to have to prolong it. Once she finished with his male anatomy, she gently helped him up to his hooves.
"You are clean." She levitated a towel to him, and began drying his mane. "Once your dry, we can go lay down."
Shade moved around him, carefully using the towel to dry off his fur, then brought another over to his wings, and carefully dried them. The minutes passed in silence as the stallion stood there, still shaking lightly. Finally, the mare placed the towels down, and smiled to Trail.
"Dry. Now then, let's get you to bed." She lightly remarked as she helped him out of the bathroom and to their shared room. She opened the door and led him to the mattress and helped him into the bed. He placed his head on the pillow, and then sighed heavily. As Shade began to move away from him, she felt a hoof on her side.
"Where are you going?" The groggy voice of the stallion reached her.
"I was going to go on a little run..." She gently removed the hoof from her side and placed it on bed. "Why?"
He patted the bed. "I need to do my half of the deal. Get over here."
She spotted a small smile on his face, then climbed into the bed, and quickly cuddled up to him. He placed a wing over her as she levitated the blanket over them.
"I knew you couldn't resist me forever." She giggled playfully, and cuddled closer. "Oh, by the way, you're pretty impressive... in all the right ways."
The stallion let out a slow sigh then gently cuddled to Shade, his body weakly hugging hers.
"Crazy mare..."