It does not take me and Dash long to get ourselves comfy in the room we are brought to. I taking the bed with Dash curled up against me. "You don't have to keep letting me hold you Dash" I say to her softly having expected this to only last during my stay in the Princess's personal medical ward. Her reply though is shocking to me.
"I..I well, it feels good to be held" comes her rather soft response along with a fluttering of her wings and a shiver along her spine.
I smile softly snuggling up to her closely my arms resting over her soft belly. "Ok Dash. If it feels good for you than I'll keep holding and never let go"
The blush that comes to her cheeks at my words gets me giggling softly and her hiding her head in the crook of her wing. "Never took you for such a sap Prism" She teases me from her wing.
"Only when it comes to you Dash. Ummm hey do you know when we are going back to Ponyville." I quickly change what I am saying before it comes from my lips.
She chuckles softly and says "Yeah tomorrow or the next day depending on you. Pinkie has already gone on ahead of us saying she had something to take care of"
With a smile and a nod I reply "I think I'd like to go back tomorrow. Canterlot's been fun but I want to go back home to Twilight's Crystal castle" A small yawn escapes from me "For now though I think maybe some more sleep may be in order" From there it doesn't take long for me to fall asleep, between the softness of the bed and the warmth of Dash's body I am able to fall into a rather peaceful slumber.
The next morning I am woken up rather early by Dash "Hey come on sleepy head. We gotta get going if we want to catch the train before it leaves"
Not long after, we meet up with Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy at the train station just as the last call is being made giving us very little time to converse before boarding. The trip back to Ponyville passes rather uneventfully as I sleep through it with Dash held close to my chest like a stuffed animal to which she makes absolutely zero protest despite the looks her friends give her which Dash makes sure to mention to me later once we have some alone time. A few soft taps bring me back to conciousness when we arrive at the Ponyville station. The platform is rather quiet us having been the only passengers. The fact that Pinkie is not here to assault us with friendship is alarming to me and I begin to sniff the air catching the scents of no less than one hundred ponies all grouped together at the edge of town only a half kilometre away. I keep it to myself figuring that its just Pinkie having set up a party how much of an understatement that thought is. As we arrive at the edge of town a great cheer goes out as every resident of Ponyville from foal to elder is present a huge banner strung across the main entrance to Ponyville reading in big rainbow colored letters. 'WELCOME BACK TO PONYVILLE AND CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MEDAL PRISM' the wall of sound stops us dead in our tracks our mouths agape each of us staring in shock at the crowd and banner. Pinkie though breaks us out of it as she seems to simply materialize in the air in front of us.
"HEYWELCOMEBACKTHANKSFORSAVINGUSDECIDEDTOTHROWTHISHUGEPARTYFORYOU..." I stop pinkie by grabbing her muzzle letting out a soft chuckle.
"It is good to see you again aswell Pinkie" I pull the pink bundle of energy into a warm hug which she returns happily, before once again just materializing on the ground in front of us seeming to have teleported out of my hug.
"Ok come on everypony wants to say thank you for freeing us here in Ponyville Prism" Pinkie says excitedly as her hoof grabs my hand and pulls me along.
'Jeeze the sheer strength of this mare when there is a party about' I think to myself as Applejack has had trouble moving me before when I haven't wanted to be moved. The crowd quickly gathers each pony giving me thanks or offering me things which I politely decline. Even Diamond Tiara quietly gives me her thanks sadly later on I would find out that she hadn't been as lucky as Scootaloo had been along with several other of the young filly's in town(1). After everypony has had their chance Pinkie leads us all to the center of town where it has been set up with games, music, treats the whole works for a huge entire town party by Pinkie. The party lasts well into the day the sun begining to set before all the snacks have been eaten, all the games have been played and all the music listened to graciously provided by the resident DJ and Cello duets of Octavia and Vinyl(2). After the party most ponies simply wander off returning to their homes to ready themselves for the night and sleep. AppleJack returns to her farm with her family, Rarity to her boutique with her sister on her back, Fluttershy home to her cottage and animals, I go with Twilight back to her castle carrying Dash who is passed out from to much cider her muzzle softly nuzzling against my chest in her drunken sleep as she mumbles to low for even me to understand. Once we get to the castle I take her to my room laying her out on my crystal bed before curling up around her a happy smile on my face finally feeling accepted by the ponies here.