//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16 
// Story: From The Gates 
// by Dirty Bit 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 16


On the Rebound


Rainbow Dash turned to Fluttershy with an incredulous expression "Fluttershy, you can't be serious! After the way that pony treated you back then?" She then turned to glare at Envy "And what's your deal with Pinkie Pie anyway? She may be random, but she's not annoying!"

Envy sneered at Rainbow Dash "I beg to differ! She bugs the crap out of me with her nonsense! My family's more bearable than that pink eyesore!"

Rainbow Dash trotted up to Envy and glared "That's my friend you're talking about! Take that back!"

Envy glared back "Make me! Not like you'll actually change my mind!" The two were about to fight until they were both wrapped in a pink aura.

Both pegasi looked to see Twilight hold the two in place with a stern gaze "I said no fighting! We don't need this right now! Just apologize to each other so we can move on!" The lavender bookworm was unaware that Greed continued to stare at her glowing horn.

Envy glared at Twilight "Screw that! I don't exactly feel any remorse for telling it like it is!"

Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs "I sure as hay ain't apologizing neither! And Celestia help me if I'm gonna leave palm tree head over here with Fluttershy!"

Envy turned to Rainbow Dash "I'm sorry, what was that, you prismatic prick!?"

Fluttershy cringed at how the two projected her anger and felt it was her fault for making the suggestion of taking Envy in. She began to have second thoughts with how violent she imagined Envy being in her household. But another side of her wondered if there was something deeper behind the jealous pony's personality.

Twilight sighed and looked back up "If it's Fluttershy's decision, then there shouldn't be much of a problem, but you're scaring her with how you're both acting!"

Applejack gave the two pegasi a stern look "That's right! Y'all should jus' make up an' move on! This ain't gettin' us nowhere!"

Rainbow Dash sighed in defeat "You're right, AJ..." She then turned to Envy and held out a hoof with narrowed eyes "We're only stopping because Twilight wants to move things along. Truce?"

Envy glared at the cyan pegasus and scoffed after a moment of thought. It was either apologize or be stuck in the air, and the jealous pony wanted to have a few good swings at its new enemy without being interrupted the next time they share another argument 'I'll let her live...for now...' It took Rainbow Dash's hoof with its own "Fine..."

Twilight smiled at the gesture "Much better." She released her hold on the two pegasi and Envy only looked away with a sour expression while Rainbow Dash stuck her tongue out. Twilight glared "Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dash quickly stopped her gesture "Sorry...But I'm serious about what I said about pitting Envy with Fluttershy! I'm not gonna have that pony scare my childhood friend into submission!"

Fluttershy turned to Rainbow Dash "B-But I-"

Twilight facehoofed at Rainbow Dash's statement, but then looked up when she had an idea "Alright then, Rainbow Dash. Since you're so headstrong about not letting Envy stay with Fluttershy, then I guess you won't mind if you took Envy home instead!"

Rainbow Dash and Envy turned to Twilight with surprised expressions "What!?" They then looked at each other before they glared and looked away.

Spike saw their staredown and turned to Twilight "Err, Twilight? You think its a good idea? I mean, I'm with Rainbow when it comes to not letting Envy stay with Fluttershy, but those two under the same roof? They'll kill each other!"

Envy turned to Spike, who jumped back as the jealous pony lashed out "Who the hell said anything about me dying!?"

Twilight nodded to Spike "That much is true, Spike, but there are two valid points to my idea: One, it would be best to teach Envy how to be more loyal to both family and friends. And two, they can learn how to love and tolerate each other WITHOUT acting like foals!" She shot Rainbow Dash and Envy a stern look.

Lust chuckled to herself "It is a risky move if you'd expect Envy to cooperate willingly..."

Rainbow Dash growled at herself for putting herself in a corner. Twilight had her beat logically, and there was no way out of this with how she valued the safety of her friends. She sighed in defeat "Alright, I'll let Envy stay with me! Maybe I can teach that pony a thing or two about loyalty!" She shot the jealous pony a look.

Envy scoffed as it shifted its eyes towards Rainbow Dash "The only one I need to be loyal to in the end is myself!" It trotted out the door "Don't expect any hugs from me anytime soon!" It opened the door to reveal a familiar pink pony standing outside with a party blower in her mouth.

Pinkie blew the party blower loudly and Envy jumped back startled at her appearance "The party's done!! And I made it to where it's outside AND inside so Slothy can have some fun, too!"

Sloth sat behind Pinkie and gave a tired moan "I just wanna go to sleep..."

Pinkie turned to Sloth and grabbed his cheeks "Oh pshaw! I'm sure you'll have enough energy to party! And there's lots of food there, too!"

Gluttony perked up at the mention of food and galloped to Pinkie's side "Food!? Where!? Can I eat it!?"

Pinkie giggled and patted Gluttony's head "Of course, silly! Food's meant to be eaten! Just follow me and we'll be there in no time!"

Envy scoffed and trotted away "You guys have fun, I'm just going to leave an-" It felt its tail being grabbed and yanked back by Rainbow Dash.

The cyan pegasus leered at Envy "Nice try, buddy! You're not leaving my sight since you're living with me! And besides, when was the last time you actually had any fun?"

Gluttony smiled "Yes, fun! Let's have some fun like old times, Envy!"

Envy glared at the voracious pony while he smiled back obliviously and then sighed 'These assholes won't leave me alone, will they??' It looked at Rainbow Dash with a smirk "I suppose you got a point. I could really use some fun right now..." It spoke in a mischievous tone that unsettled the cyan pegasus.

Twilight smiled "Okay then! And by the way, Pinkie, Gluttony's going to be staying with you while we teach the Magic of Friendship."

Pinkie clopped her hooves together "Goodie! Me and Gluttony are roommates!" She hugged the voracious pony while he kindly returned the embrace with a giggle. Lust was almost touched by the scene.

Greed smirked "Look at that! Gluttony already made a friend before the rest of us! Never thought I'd see the day..."

Spike smiled at the scene as well, but then his cheeks puffed when he felt something inside his mouth. He then burped as a green flame shot out of his mouth, followed by a wrapped scroll. Lust and Envy saw the fire and reflexively backed away with widened eyes and nervous grunts.

Twilight took the scroll, but then turned to Lust and Envy before reading it "Are you two alright?" She spoke in a concerned tone.

Lust regained her composure and shifted her eyes away when she faced Twilight "I...haven't had the best experience with fire in the past."

Envy looked away with a nervous expression "Y-Yeah...me neither..."

Twilight nodded "Sorry about that. It usually happens when Celestia sends me a letter."

Greed was already interested "So that dragon's like a living mailbox? Go figure..." The avaricious pony was more interested when Twilight mentioned that the same letters were from Celestia.

Spike glared up at Greed "I resent that!"

Twilight chuckled and opened the scroll to read it aloud "To my faithful student, I only wish to write to you and your friends to see how you are handling Greed and his family ever since you arrived back to Ponyville. Know that Luna and Wrath share their equal concern with how they can misbehave at certain points and want to know that everything is fine themselves."

Greed scoffed at the mention of Luna "What do you know? She STILL doesn't trust us! And why's Wrath so damn concerned about us anyways? Is he trying to show pity with how we're away from Canterlot? Tch, bastard..."

Rarity turned to Greed "Language! Honestly, you can be so rude sometimes and we've only just met you!"

Twilight continued "Just so you know, Shining Armor is doing great and says hi and good luck on your assignment." She smiled to herself at the mention of her brother "Please note that I have the utmost faith in you with teaching your own students how to live the proper way in Equestria. Sincerely, Princess Celestia. P.S: You might want to be careful around Greed. I saw the way he was looking at you back at the castle. Maybe he has the hots for you?" She turned to the avaricious pony with a raised eyebrow.

Greed performed the same gesture when he was met with the other element bearers and Spike looking at him "What? Did I do something wrong?"

Twilight raveled the scroll and shook her head "Not really, Greed. But hopefully you behave yourself while in Ponyville." She turned to the others with a smile "Okay, everypony! Let's head on over to Sugarcube Corner and enjoy another welcome party!"

Pinkie hopped up and down "Here here!" She blew her party blower again and it bugged Envy's ear while the jealous pony took in most of the sound. Pinkie gave an embarrased grin when Envy turned and glared indignantly at her.

Lust nodded "Very well. Lead the way then, Twilight?" At that, the element bearers and the former homunculi trotted out of the library and made for Sugarcube Corner. She looked ahead to see Gluttony hop with Pinkie Pie in childish splendor. The lascivious mare smiled to herself to see that her younger brother had indeed made a friend.

Rarity trotted up to Lust with a smile "I hope you'll enjoy yourself, Lust! You will simply love how Pinkie Pie throws one of her famous parties here!"

Lust felt uncomfortable once again with how Rarity chose to cling to her in Gluttony's place "Perhaps. It has been a while since I enjoyed a good party..." She lied to the fashionista, but it was better this way. It wouldn't be wise to louse things up in a world completely alien to her.

Rainbow Dash trotted next to Envy and kept a keen eye while the jealous pony looked ahead 'You're up to something, and I'm gonna know what...' The cyan pegasus knew that Envy was halfhearted when the two apologized to one another, and was already disheartened at how she'll be taking Envy in her own home. She would have to pull out all the stops if she was to coerce how the jealous pony thinks, even if it means resorting to force.


End of Chapter 16