Antecedent 5
#5 of Antecedent
It took several hours for the two pegasi to limp into Ponyville, and by that time, night had fallen once more. Sentinel was in the lead, and Raindrop was still trailing behind, uncertain.
Sentinel had kissed her. And she hadn't even given him a concussion afterwards. She just...didn't know how she felt about that.
Both of the pegasi headed for the hospital. They were both injured in one way or another, and Sentinel was a lot worse off than Raindrop. He still hadn't managed to get his wings up off the ground, and they were constantly trailing, unmoving.
Sentinel pushed the front doors of the hospital open with a heave of his forelegs, and then collapsed right there in the doorway, giving a long sigh and then just laying his head on the floor, closing his eyes.
"Uhm...nurse?!" Raindrop called, as she stepped over to the fallen guard, nudging him with her nose in a weak attempt to stir him.
A nurse came stalking out from one of the doorways, frowning and then slipping over to the guard, kneeling at his side, inspecting his wings. "What happened?"
"Disagreement with a hydra," Raindrop said with a helpless smile.
"Help me get him to a bed," the nurse said hurriedly, and Raindrop nodded, slipping to Sentinel's side to help support him as the nurse did the same on the other side.
With the two of them, they managed to get the guard back on his feet, and then into a room, pushing him up onto a bed.
Raindrop withdrew then, and stood in the corner, watching, holding a hoof against her freshly-bleeding shoulder wound. The nurse began to remove the guard's armour, piece by piece, setting it aside in a neat pile and then inspecting his wings.
With a worried look, she hurried out of the room to go and get supplies.
Raindrop stepped over to the bed while there was a lull in the activities, and raised a brow at Sentinel. "Are you awake?"
A muffled mumble answered her. "Do I have to be?"
"You look as bad as I feel," Raindrop stated, shaking her head at him and looking at his wings.
"That bad, huh?" he asked weakly in response, stirring slightly and lifting his head to peer back at her.
Raindrop nodded mutely, lifting a hoof to gently arrange the guard's wings into a more comfortable position.
"I meant what I said," Sentinel said after a moment, watching her. Even though his gaze was a little 'off', and he was obviously in pain, he seemed lucid and aware of what he was saying.
"You said a lot of things," Raindrop pointed out, frowning as she set his wings down neatly.
"No...about trying to make me not die...I still remember that you left me in those tunnels the first time around," Sentinel responded, watching her expression.
Raindrop shook her head, looking down at her forehooves uncertainly. "I was angry...and you weren't exactly trying to make nice."
"And yet, this time, you didn't even hesitate to take on a full-grown hydra just so I wouldn't get eaten," the guard said with a smug smile.
"I was scared you'd come back as a spirit and haunt me. Then I'd have Sentinel twenty-four-seven and wouldn't be able to hit you to make you shut up," Raindrop pointed out with a shake of her head.
"Oh come on. Just admit it, Raindrop," Sentinel said with a weak wave of a hoof.
"Admit what?" Raindrop asked, lifting her gaze to stare at him, mystified.
"Admit that you liiiike me," Sentinel sing-songed, grinning.
"Why are you being stupid? You're not even drugged up yet," Raindrop stated flatly.
The guard rolled his eyes, grunting as he shifted to stare at her further. "Why is it so hard for you to admit that you don't want to see me die?"
"I don't want to see you die," Raindrop stated immediately, "The girly, high-pitched screams of your final breaths would haunt me forever."
Sentinel rolled his eyes again, shaking his head. "So that's how it's going to be, huh?"
"Yup," Raindrop responded immediately.
"Any reason why?"
Raindrop paused a moment to collect her thoughts. "...You kissed me."
"It was a friend kiss," Sentinel said dismissively.
"We're not friends," Raindrop stated flatly. "Ergo, we cannot have a 'friend' kiss."
"So what was it then if it wasn't a friend kiss?" Sentinel asked, raising a brow at her.
"I...I don't know." Raindrop shook her head as she admitted that to him, looking down at her forehooves.
"So we're not friends, we're definitely not romantically involved, we're not acquaintances...what exactly are we?" Sentinel queried, perking an ear back at her.
"I...I just don't know," Raindrop protested, her ears pinning back, her gaze shifting uncomfortably.
"I can't leave this bed, you know. So if you want to run away and go hide somewhere like most fillies do in this situation, feel free," The guard stated, watching her with interest.
Raindrop rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not that kind of pony."
"Do I?" Sentinel asked, raising a brow. "I thought you were the kind of pony who could take a friend kiss without getting all crazy."
Sentinel's flippant tone grated on Raindrop's nerves, and she growled at him. "I swear, I'm going to go back on that whole silent deal we had where I didn't cause you bodily harm."
"We had a deal?" Sentinel asked, blinking.
"It was silent!" Raindrop rebuked, her tone exasperated.
Their conversation was broken up by the nurse returning with a doctor, with bandages and bottles of ointment clasped in their hooves. Both of them immediately set about medicating and bandaging up the pegasus' wings, splinting them to keep them from moving, and giving him a shot of local anaesthetic so they could set the bones where they'd become misaligned.
Sentinel watched Raindrop throughout the procedure, his gaze unwavering. Raindrop tried to return his gaze, but after a few moments, was unable to, staring down at her hooves instead.
And then the doctor and nurse were done, and the two pegasi were left alone again.
"Well? What's it gonna be?" Sentinel asked, raising a brow at her.
"I still don't know," Raindrop stated flatly, glowering at him, moving to stand closer to the bed, inspecting what the nurse and doctor had done to his wings. "And every time you ask me, the urge to hit you rises."
"Oh come on," Sentinel said, exasperated. "I was deliberately flirting with you and dropping little hints because I know the first thing you girls do with a male you don't really like, is friendzone him, hard. How is that you haven't friendzoned me?"
Raindrop shook her head slowly at him, her ears splaying back. "...That isn't the truth and we both know it."
"Nope. Want that friendzone," Sentinel insisted. "It has benefits. Like cake, and cookies, and a lack of violence."
"We both know what you did, Sentinel," Raindrop said with a shake of her head, her tone soft. "You started something..."
Raindrop trailed off for a long moment, unsure what to say.
"Ugh, are you going to get all sappy and emotional and girly on me?" Sentinel asked, staring at her, aghast.
Raindrop growled for a moment, glowering at him. "I'm female, remember?"
"Oh, sorry. Easy to forget sometimes, my mistake," Sentinel quipped, grinning at her.
"You're not making this easy, Sentinel," Raindrop whined, her ears flattened against her skull.
"It's real easy, see, you friend zone me. Then, I'm only your friend and that's it. Everyone wins!" Sentinel pointed out matter-of-factly.
"Quiet, you," Raindrop protested, lifting her hooves to rest over his mouth, so he couldn't speak.
Raindrop looked down into his eyes for a long moment, and then went to say something, before thinking better of it.
"It...it wasn't a friend kiss," she stated, slipped her hooves to the side and then leaning in to kiss him full on the mouth, her soft lips meeting his own.
Sentinel didn't try and stop her at all, just letting her hold the kiss as long as she wanted. It was a warm, long affair that last far longer than a 'friend kiss' ever would.
Raindrop drew back when she deemed it was sufficiently long enough, and looked down at him, tears in her eyes. "I-it wasn't a friend kiss...A-and I just need time to think..."
And before Sentinel could respond, Raindrop had turned and bounded away.
"So...not friendzoned then?!" Sentinel called after her.
Raindrop gave a helpless giggle in between her confused sniffles as she pulled open a supply closet and hid herself inside, curling up in the corner away from the world. She needed time to think. Needed time to figure out exactly what her and Sentinel were to each other.
Raindrop hid in the supply closet, blocking out the world with her hooves. She needed to think. She needed time to ponder on where her life was heading.
There she was, entertaining ideas about Sentinel when her entire existence at that moment was focused on finding the Elements of Harmony. And the only reason she was chasing those was because they would fix her, so she could be with Shine again.
But if her and Shine were through, then where did that leave her and her quest for the elements? What was the point of it in the first place?
When it came right down to it, she needed to talk to Shine. Needed to see him, to sit down and figure things out with him. And she knew where he would be.
Stardancer whined faintly in the back of her throat, grinding her hooves against her temples in an effort to keep out the mindbreaking possibilities. It had been too long since her last dose of meds, and she was at breaking point. Her mind simply couldn't handle the influx of information. There was no filter, no reprieve. Everything she looked at, everything she touched. She saw it all.
The bee buzzing in the tree, the scent of a flower on the breeze, the sound of a dog barking in the distance. It all had ramifications for the future of Ponyville. No one understood just how much the things everyone took for granted shaped the world around them. Small events could snowball into large events, and a small event diverted or caused at the right time could either shape, increase, or eliminate a large event entirely.
The butterfly ahead of her, Stardancer had already seen. She knew what it was. It was the herald of the dooming of a couple. She could see how each flap of its wings interacted with the air around it, how it changed them. The possibilities spiked off in an endless cacophony that filled her mind with incomprehensible white noise. She could see it would somehow affect the relationship of Mr and Mrs Iron, the two Ponyville blacksmiths. But she couldn't see what eventualities would be prevented if she destroyed the butterfly before it reached them.
Indecision ate at Stardancer's mind, and she bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, trailing after the butterfly, trying to focus her muddled mind on what would happen if the butterfly broke up the marriage. White noise of air currents intruded on her senses. She could see where the air currents would change, how that would change how a sparrow dipped his wings and aligned his feathers. How that one small shift in air pressure would snowball into a larger shift that would cause a storm over the everfree.
It was all causality, and she couldn't escape it now. Her life was the butterfly. She had to concentrate.
The butterfly would land, and cause the breakup. But what if the butterfly didn't land? What lineage would be reproduced if the two ponies stayed together?
But that line of thought was moot. The two were destined for a falling out sometime. But their arguments had weight in the immediate future. Should she destroy it, or allow it to live? Would it cause more suffering if she destroyed it? If the fight caused a meeting between two ponies, she could destroy the butterfly, and destroy the event that led to two ponies meeting and giving birth to a brilliant foal. Or she could cause two ponies to meet whose genes would result in a child who caused as much harm as possible.
Stardancer paused, grinding her hooves against her temples again, wincing in pain. Her mind was tearing itself apart trying to keep up, and failing miserably.
"Are you okay?" a voice was asking, seemingly from far away.
A billion possibilities trailed off from her possible answers. She was going to affect so many things no matter what she did.
"T-the A-Asylum..." Stardancer choked out, before falling to her stomach and covering her head with her hooves, feeling tears starting to fall from her eyes. Her head hurt so much.
The unicorn lapsed into a trance-like state, and all anyone could get out of her was 'medicine' and 'butterflies'.
A butterfly flitted through Ponyville, chased by a unicorn. Uncaring, the butterfly continued on its way, fluttering past a tree, and then settling down on an anvil, flitting its wings once or twice.
The blacksmith's hammer paused in its motion, holding steady above the anvil, while its owner peered down at the butterfly, canting her head to the side. She was a strong earth pony, and was one of the finest blacksmiths in all of Equestria.
"Why'd you stop?" her husband of a year asked, his tone short. They had a deadline to meet.
"There's a butterfly," the mare responded with a shrug.
"It's a damn butterfly!" the stallion snarled, sweeping a hoof across the anvil and sending the butterfly spinning off it, wing crushed.
The earth pony mare stared at her husband coldly for a long moment, "You know...I'm sick of this, you're just a dumb brute!"
Raindrop lowered her ears as she heard a pair of ponies yelling at eachother, and ducked down a side street to avoid seeing the confrontation. She was heading for Shine's workshop, where he blew the glass and made his little lights by hoof. It was really quite amazing to watch, but Raindrop had never gotten the hang of glassblowing, no matter how much she tried.
With her head lowered, she didn't see him until it was too late, literally walking into his chest and bouncing off. Raindrop ended up on her rump, and blinked, looking up.
"S-Shine?" she asked, staring for a long moment.
"Uhhh...Hi Raindrop," Shine said, looking down at her and inching away just a little bit.
"I found you!" Raindrop breathed, quickly standing up and then wrapping her hooves around the unicorn.
Shine didn't return the hug, standing there in stony silence, his eyes hard.
"Shine...?" Raindrop asked uncertainly, drawing back, ears splaying.
"What do you want?" Shine asked flatly.
"I wanted to talk to you," Raindrop said softly, looking down at her hooves for a moment, and then back up at him.
The unicorn stared at her for a long moment, and perked a single ear. "Well? spit it out, then."
Raindrop stared up at the unicorn for a long moment, feeling tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "Y-you don't care, do you?"
Shine shook his head slowly. "No. I care. But what you are...I can't look past that."
"So that's it, huh? you're just going to...to just leave me?" Raindrop asked, feeling anger rising in her.
"I thought I made it perfectly clear already," the unicorn stated bluntly. "You're a changeling. Maybe other ponies would look past that, but not me."
Raindrop's hooves began to slowly grind against the ground as she resisted the impulse to strike him over the head with a hoof.
"Move on, Raindrop. We're over. That's all there is to it." The unicorn snorted once, and then moved to step past her.
Raindrop's wing extended, blocking his path.
"So after an entire year...this is it?" Raindrop asked, slowly lifting her gaze to focus on him.
"Yes. This is it. I'm not sugar-coating it. I want a pony, not some half breed who's going to suck me dry and kill me. I don't love you that much." And with that, the unicorn brushed her wing out of the way and stepped past her, calmly walking away.
Raindrop began to breath harder and harder, her hooves slowly grinding into the ground even further. Her eyes flashed green, and she rounded on the unicorn, a snarl in her tone as she roared after him: "That's not it!"
Shine paused, peering back over his shoulder nonchalantly.
Raindrop leaped at him, and smashed a hoof across his cheek with a lightning-fast blow, causing the unicorn to stagger and then stumble, dropping onto his side, blinking in confusion.
Moving to stand over him, Raindrop stared down at him, breathing hard in her anger, every muscle in her body tensing and relaxing in ripples of anger.
"Sentinel is a better pony than you will ever be!" she snarled, resisting, with difficulty, the temptation to lift her hoof and strike him again. "His parents died because of changelings, and yet he found it in himself to not hold that against me. While you, my coltfriend of a year won't even give me the time of day!"
Shine was too stunned by the blow to his to answer her sufficiently, and Raindrop growled her anger at the unicorn. She hated him in that moment, hated every single little thing about him. She wanted to hurt him, to abuse him and leave him bleeding on the side of the road.
A quick smash of her hoof against the unicorn's brow finished the job of sending him unconscious, and she spat on him before raising and stalking away.
Raindrop didn't even know how she got there. But when she finished fantasizes about tearing Shine limb from limb, she realised she was panting. She had walked a very long way. And Evergreen's cottage was in front of her.
The entire black marble cottage lay there, nestled amongst the trees, eerily quiet. Raindrop was too far in her anger to even care at that point.
A quick kick of her hindhooves smashed the marble door inwards, causing it to bounce off the bed and to the floor with a loud clatter. For the first time ever, Raindrop stepped into Evergreen's cottage.
It was a very simple setting. Everything was how it was when the two of them had died. There was a pair of mugs on the table, a large book, a kettle next to the fire, some wood stacked next to the fireplace, and the bed itself. Various tools and the like were hung up on hooks along the wall. But other than that, the cottage was bare. They had lived a simple existence.
Raindrop ignored it all, striding over to the bed and staring down into the closed eyes of her grandmother, her own narrowing as she whispered vehemently, "I hate you."
"I hate you for what you did to me, you bitch," she whispered, her hooves resting on the covered form of Evergreen. The small smile on Cee's muzzle seemed to mock the pegasus, gleeful at her misfortune.
"Why did you do it? Why did you do it?!" Raindrop demanded of the cold black marble. "You ruined my life!"
Raindrop wanted to grab Cee's marble head and twist it off her shoulders, and then grind it into the ground. She actually tried to, but the marble was cold and slippery, and her hooves couldn't get a grip.
Frustrated, Raindrop pushed away from the bed, and then just collapsed onto the floor in the middle of the cottage.
Lying on the floor next to the bed holding her grandmother and grandfather, the source of her cursed blood, and the direct reason for everything in her life having gone wrong, Raindrop began to cry.
There was no more anger. No more hiding behind rage to get away from the hurt.
No more Shine, either.
Her entire life had been derailed by what Cee had done. By what Chrysalis had done. Why had it to be here who bore the brunt of the misfortune? She had no friends, too focused on her duties on the Weather Patrol, and spending time with Shine to make any friends. She hated her father for leaving her mother, and her mother was in the griffon state. She had no shoulders to cry on. There was no comfort to be found. Just cold, empty loneliness.
The Element of Generosity rolled away from Raindrop as her wing relaxed its hold on it. She didn't even care any more. There was no point to it. No point to any of it. Her hunt for the elements went from one failure to the next. From the tunnels with Discord, barely escaping, to their fight with the Hydra. They had two elements, no bearers, and no way to find them.
Raindrop hiccuped softly, trying to dry the tears that never seemed to stop, before snarling in anger and knocking the Element of Generosity away from herself, burying her head in her hooves. She just wanted to go back to what it was, before she was a monster, back to when the world was simple and happy.
But the harder she tried for it, the harder it was to attain. The entire world was conspiring against her. And she was done.
No more hunting for the elements, no more pining after Shine.
Raindrop was done.
Raindrop didn't know how long she laid on the floor for. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours. Even the sting of a mosquito at the inside of her ears didn't bother her enough to get her up. She was just done. Her job on the weather patrol was secure. She could go back to that, but even that seemed hollow now. There was no 'higher purpose' to what she was doing. Ever since she graduated from Flight School, she had a set goal in mind. First it was being with Shine, and then even when problems came between them, like the inconvenience of her being a devil spawn, her new goal was to fix herself for him.
But he didn't even care.
He had just brushed her aside like it was nothing. She wanted to be angry, to be violent and break things. But even that seemed too much effort. She would break things tomorrow, when she could actually muster up the wherewithal to care about anything.
"You look like your dog just died," Sentinel said, from the doorway, peeking in past the chipped doorframe.
"What are you doing here?" Raindrop asked flatly, not even lifting her eyelids to stare at him.
"I got a note," Sentinel said proudly, extending a hoof to present the folded piece of paper to her. "Some nurse found it tucked in sandwich, somehow. It was addressed to me, so she passed it on...said I'd find you here on it."
"How utterly fascinating," Raindrop stated, her tone indicating the exact opposite.
Sentinel stepped further into the cottage, carefully walking through the doorway, wings folded tight to his side so they didn't brush against anything.
"Shouldn't you be in hospital?" Raindrop asked, still with her eyes closed.
Sentinel shook his head, "Nope, I'm all clear. They let me go."
Raindrop opened a single eye to peer up at him, and then snorted. "You snuck out, didn't you?"
"Yep," Sentinel admitted immediately, grinning and then sitting himself besides her, before dropping onto his stomach in the same position as she was. "Gotta admit, this black marble sure is comfy. And warm. I can see why you'd be so eager to lay across it."
Raindrop felt the urge to growl at him, but just sighed faintly, shaking her head and remaining silent.
"Oh come now. Your dog didn't really die, did he?" Sentinel asked seriously, peering at her sideways.
Again, the mare remained silent.
The guard pegasus frowned a moment, and then leaned sideways to kiss her cheek.
Again, Raindrop didn't react.
Sentinel frowned deeply, and then rested a hoof on her forehead, checking her temperature, before humming thoughtfully to himself. "Not sick, not responding to overt advances... You need a hug."
After his diagnosis, the guard pony shifted a little bit closer and pulled Raindrop into a hug.
Raindrop stayed limp in his hooves, unmoving, uncaring, eyes closed. She might as well have been dead, if not for her steady breathing.
"C'mon Raindrop, tell me what's wrong?" Sentinel implored, raising a brow.
Raindrop remained silent again, and Sentinel awkwardly stroked her mane. "You know, I'm running out of options here. I've almost exhausted my supply for touchy-feely things for the entire year already."
"He left me," Raindrop spat, huffing and trying to roll away from her.
"Left you?" Sentinel asked, raising a brow. "Celestia told me you had a strained relationship with your boyfriend, when she was trying to get me to be all sympathetic towards you."
Raindrop snorted at this information, shaking her head.
"Was it was one of those touchy-feely 'I love you but we can't be together' things or a 'I want you die in a pit of agony and fire and brimstone and fire' things?" Sentinel asked, nudging her once with his nose in a reassuring way.
"The latter," Raindrop stated flatly, her ears splaying as she shook her head.
"Need more hugs," Sentinel stated calmly, pulling the pegasus against him and hugging her like a colt hugging a ragdoll. "This kinda works better when you hug me back and cry and say stuff like 'it's not fair'."
Raindrop opened an eye to peer up at him, and then snorted derisively. "Do I have to?"
"It'd help," Sentinel said with a slow nod, leaning down to kiss her nose gently. "See look, friend kiss."
Raindrop shook her head, bopping him on the nose with her hoof, giving a weak smile. "You're a goof."
"And yet you say that in a good way," Sentinel said with another nod, grinning at her and tilting his head to the side.
"So, what's the real problem? From what I heard, your arrogant asshole of a boyfriend already made his mind up a fair while back," Sentinel said knowledgeably.
Raindrop sighed faintly, deflating and leaning against the guard heavily. "I just... I don't have a direction any more. I wanted to get the elements to fix myself. But now... There's no point. Shine doesn't want me back. And I don't have any desire to fight a hydra. I just want to go curl up in a hole somewhere and sleep forever."
"Sooo, basically every single guy on a saturday night?" Sentinel offered, an ear perking.
Raindrop shook her head, sighing faintly again. "You don't understand."
"I understand," Sentinel said softly, nosing gently at her mane in a reassuring fashion. "You were doing all of this for that boyfriend of yours... And now he's gone, and you're not even sure why you should bother continuing with it all, what with the hydra's and the assassins and the screaming and hurting and pain."
"Why do your serious speeches come out sounding like something a colt would say?" Raindrop asked flatly, peering up at him.
"Because bland, unfunny humour is my way of coping with pressure," Sentinel admitted with a shake of his head. "Not all of us have the liberty of being female and emotional and whatnot."
"You expect me to go crying on your shoulder because I'm female?" Raindrop asked flatly, her eyes narrowing up at him.
Sentinel paused for a moment, mulled it over, and then nodded once. "You'll be all brave and fight it off for as long as you can and then give in to it and have a good hearty cry."
Raindrop snorted once, shaking her head. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you."
Sentinel raised a brow at that, his head canting to one side. "And what exactly is wrong with crying?"
"It's girly," Raindrop stated flatly, glowering at him. "What makes you think I'd do anything girly?"
"I dunno. The whole fact that you're female might be a dead giveaway," Sentinel said with a short nod.
Raindrop sighed, and shook her head slowly. "Will you just let it drop?"
"Probably not, no," Sentinel said with a slow shake of his head. "What with you being all depressed and found all dejected-looking in what is, for all intents and purposes, the mausoleum holding your dead grandparents. Existential crisis and whatnot."
Raindrop growled faintly, pushing her hoof against his chest. "I'm just sick of it. I don't want to be a changeling, I didn't ask to be a changeling, and I sure as hell don't want to continue being one. But I am. And it cost me my coltfriend of a year. He just... Left me. I was doing all of this for him and he just threw me away like an old mug he doesn't need any more."
Raindrop continued to push on Sentinel's chest with her hoof, her tone and demeanor angry, her ears splaying backwards and wings flexing angrily. "What does any of this even matter? Even if I get cured, I can't go back to Shine. It's just... Over. Everything I based my entire life on is over."
Sentinel nodded, stroking a hoof soothingly down her form, making a soothing sound, letting the female rant.
"And all because that bitch lying up there in the bed decided to go make a bunch of half-breed babies with some stallion she met in the middle of nowhere," Raindrop growled again, pushing on Sentinel's chest with both hooves, before just burying her head against his shoulder and sobbing faintly. "It's not fair."
Sentinel made that soothing sound again, rubbing his muzzle against her cheek slowly. "I know, I know."
"I just want it to be over. I want it to be done. I don't want any part of it any more. I don't want to go chasing the elements, or chasing after their bearers. I'll go find a nice quiet cloud to myself and live all alone," she spat, her ears splaying backwards as she sobbed against his shoulder. Her hooves tightened around him, and he sucked in a breath, wincing as her hooves tightened over his injured wings.
"There, there," Sentinel soothed, nosing down against her mane gently. "Let it all out."
"A-and you're watching me cry," Raindrop stated flatly against his shoulder, her ears pinning back flat against her skull.
"Who knew you had a heart?" Sentinel asked, raising a brow and then stroking a hoof through her mane reassuringly, leaning in to whisper, "I won't tell anyone, promise."
"I hate you," Raindrop murmured wetly, shaking her head, and then hugging him fiercely, squeezing him tight.
Sentinel gave a muted gasp, and squirmed slightly at the grip she had on him.
"I swear, if you weren't handsome, I'd rip you into little pieces," Raindrop stated, laying her head against his chest.
"There's the Raindrop I know and love," Sentinel said in a strained tone, grinning down at her.
"Go throwing the 'L' word around like that again and I will tear you into little pieces," Raindrop growled, her hooves squeezing threateningly.
"Yup, definitely the Raindrop I know," Sentinel gasped out, before prodding her forehooves gently. "Can you stop squeezing. I kind of like to breath every now and again."
Raindrop nodded and sighed, releasing her grip of him. Sentinel took in a deep gasp, and then panted for a moment, while Raindrop drew back to lay on the floor, watching him with sad eyes.
"You know what we should do?" Sentinel offered.
"What is that?" Raindrop asked, raising a brow in a disinterested way.
"We should get wasted and play with fireworks," Sentinel said with a grin.
"I don't believe you talked me into this," Raindrop said, shaking her head, her ears splayed back. "What are we even doing?"
"We're mixing alcohol with highly dangerous objects that cause harm to many ponies every year. So... Basically any males idea of 'fun'," Sentinel responded with a grin, pulling out a box of matches.
Sentinel had lured Raindrop to the guard outpost at Ponyville, where they had a leftover box of fireworks from Hearth Warming's Eve. It had taken a very short trip to the local inn to get the alcohol, and Sentinel was insisting that Raindrop get drunk on it. Now, the two pegasus were at the highest tower, with a crude firework sitting on a stick in front of them.
"Wanna light 'er up?" Sentinel offered, holding out the matches.
"What could possibly go wrong?" Raindrop asked sarcastically, but, took the matches against her better judgement, took a swig of her cider, and then lit the match, applying it to the fuse.
Immediately, the cord began to sparkle and burn, until it hit the base of the firework. The red rocket spluttered once, and then fired off, whizzing away into the air and then exploding against the night sky in a brilliant starburst of red.
"I forgot how pretty those things are," Raindrop said, watching the red sparks fizzle out as they trailed towards the ground.
"Indeed. These are just the cheap ones though... The mortars are the most fun. So loud and big," Sentinel said with a wistful sigh. "And the most expensive. Cost so much."
"Expensive, loud, dangerous..." Raindrop trailed off, taking another swig out of her bottle. "I'm surprised you haven't tried to bed it."
Sentinel rolled his eyes. "Your insults are getting less coherent the more you drink. Even I'm not that stupid."
"Well your face is less coherent," Raindrop huffed, pushing him with a hoof.
Sentinel chuckled faintly, and then set up the next firework for her. "Fire away!"
Raindrop hummed as she lit the next firework, sending it spiralling away into the darkness to explode into a starburst of orange and yellow.
"So what happens if one of these misfires?" Raindrop asked after a moment.
"Pain. Screaming. Lots and lots of both, really," Sentinel said with a thoughtful expression.
"Lovely. Bring on the next one," Raindrop said after a moment.
Sentinel grinned, and then set up a total of five, twining their fuses together. "Set em all off at once."
Raindrop nodded, and then lit them all with a match, stepping back and looking up.
The five fireworks all went off simultaneously, spiralling into the sky and then exploding with a fizzling series of pops, lighting up the better part of Ponyville with all the different colours of the rainbow.
"What will Ponyville think of the fireworks?" Raindrop asked suddenly, blinking sideways at Sentinel.
Sentinel shrugged faintly, raising a brow at her. "Who cares?"
"Right you are!" Raindrop said, raising her glass in a drunken salute. "Bring on the next firework!"
Eventually though, they ran out of fireworks, and Sentinel began steering the thoroughly wasted Raindrop towards the inn.
"You're alright, Sentinel," Raindrop crooned, leaning against him heavily as they walked. "I mean, you're cute, and you have this really hittable face and muzzle and you don't even try to hit me back."
"I hit you once or twice," Sentinel corrected, shaking his head as he lead her through the doors of the inn and towards the stairs.
The mare stumbled up the stairs with the guard behind her to make sure she didn't end up falling and tumbling down them.
"That way," Sentinel said, pointing with a hoof towards the right.
"Right," Raindrop said, stumbling in that direction, humming to herself until she got to the door, pushing it open and pulling herself over to the bed, splaying across it.
"Sleep well, Raindrop," Sentinel said, moving to close the door.
"Waaaait!" Raindrop wailed, waving a hoof at him.
"Hmm?" Sentinel asked, peering in at her.
"Where are you going?" Raindrop asked flatly.
"I am going to return to the hospital. I'm not technically supposed to be anywhere other than the hospital at present," he admitted, tilting his head at her.
"No. You're coming to bed with me," Raindrop stated, patting the bed beside her. "I am drunk. And if I remember correctly, you sleep in my bed when I'm drunk. You guard me from my drunkenness, that's it."
Sentinel paused a moment, looking in at her, and then hummed thoughtfully. "No funny business?"
"There won't even be any smiles," Raindrop stated with a single short nod.
"Very well, then," Sentinel said, stepping inside and closing the door behind him with a hoof, stepping over to the bed and then carefully crawling up onto it, moving to lay beside her.
Raindrop rolled over to face him, looking up at him, her head tilting to the side slightly, a strange smile on her muzzle.
"This is unnerving," Sentinel said after a moment.
Raindrop just continued to smile, before leaning in and kissing him full on the mouth with a low, eager purr.
Sentinel allowed this, even lifting a hoof to gently stroke her mane as she did so.
After a few moments, Raindrop pulled back, staring into his eyes, her own having a hazy, cloudy look to them. "You knoooow...Shine is out of the picture now."
Sentinel nodded, but didn't respond, watching her carefully.
"And I'm drunk," Raindrop added, inching closer to the guard, looking up at him. "And we're alone. And did I mention I'm drunk? It wouldn't be too hard to take advantage of me."
"You're right," Sentinel said, agreeing with her, leaning in to kiss her nose gently.
"Do you have any clue?" Raindrop asked, exasperated.
"'Fraid not," Sentinel admitted with a small chuckle.
"I need you, you idiot," Raindrop stated, wriggling closer and wrapping her hooves around him, pulling him closer until their noses were touching. Her eyes narrowed slightly, and she pressed their hips together, staring into his eyes as she breathed, "I know you want this."
Sentinel gave a nod of admittance, staring back at her in return.
"I want you to ravage me," Raindrop whispered heatedly, her hooves squeezing at him eagerly.
"Such prim and proper words," Sentinel teased, kissing her nose once.
Raindrop growled, pulling him closer and then leaning up to whisper into his ear, her words a stream of pure filth that made the guard's eyes widen with their brazenness.
As she pulled back, she stared at him, grinning coquettishly. Sentinel stared back at her, and as she leaned in to kiss him, he saw her eyes flicked. For a moment, they went from stunning pink, to a demonic, slit-pupilled green.
Sentinel jerked back in surprise, but as soon as he saw it, it was gone.
"I want you," Raindrop reiterated, wrapping her hooves around him tighter.
The guard paused a moment, and then shook his head, gently pushing against her chest with a hoof. "No, you really don't."
"But I do," Raindrop insisted, whining faintly.
"Oh, I'm sure you want someone," Sentinel stated, pulling her into a gentle hug. "But it's just a desperate grasp to validate that you are feminine enough to be wanted by a big, strapping male such as myself after being rejected by your boyfriend."
Raindrop wrinkled her nose, hitting weakly at his chest with a hoof. "Why are you being so damn... Female? You're male! I'm supposed to the one telling you no!"
"I break the mold," Sentinel stated with a grin, kissing her nose gently.
"I hate you," Raindrop sulked, splaying her ears backwards.
"Hey, tell me that again tomorrow when you wake up having not drunkenly seduced me," Sentinel said with a smile.
"I won't remember any of this in the morning... Sure you don't wanna take advantage of me?" Raindrop offered, trying to inject a little seductiveness into her tone.
"I'm sure," Sentinel reiterated, hugging her a little tighter. "I'd never hear the end of it in the morning."
"Ugh, you are so going in the friend zone," Raindrop stated, snorting and pushing at his chin with her nose.
Sentinel grinned, kissing her nose once in response. "I'm sure you've woken up next to one or two colts before. Imagine waking up next to me. You'd be scarred for life."
Raindrop raised a brow at him slowly. "Well, at least you're honest."
"You're not supposed to agree with me!" Sentinel complained.
"Hey, you just turned down a night of drunken, clumsy lovemaking. I get free insults for at least a week," Raindrop pointed out, nudging him against with her nose, and then sighing faintly, resting her nose against the hollow of his throat. "Thank you Sentinel."
"Jeeze, make your mind up, lady. One moment you hate me, and the next you're thanking me," Sentinel said with a long-suffering sigh.
"I hate you because you turned me down... But I kinda get it. I'd probably regret it in the morning. You probably saved me from a suicide or a life of prostitution," she said with a sage nod.
"I love how your compliments are wrapped up in insults. It's like getting a rock thrown at you and finding a bit inside when it smashes against your skull," Sentinel explained with a grin, licking her nose sweetly.
"If I was a sweetsy mare who just threw around compliments, I'd be boring," Raindrop pointed out.
"You most certainly aren't boring," Sentinel said with a nod, smiling and settling down against her.
"And you are a handsome, insufferable fool," Raindrop stated, sighing faintly and hugging around him tightly. "You know we used to hate eachother like... A whole week ago?"
"And I almost ended up bedding you about five minutes ago," Sentinel added with a grin. "Can't resist animal magnetism, babe."
"You turned me down!" Raindrop growled, pushing at him with a hoof, "And I can still pin you down and have my way with you if I please."
"Suuure you can," Sentinel said with a grin, pulling the mare close and kissing her cheek. "Wanna make out before you pass out?"
"Will it lead to sex?" Raindrop asked bluntly.
"'Fraid not," Sentinel said with a sad shake of his head.
Raindrop huffed. "Fine. But I get to grope your cutie mark at least."
Sentinel grinned, "Deal."
Raindrop arched faintly as she awoke, forehooves pushing against the bed, her back arching and wings fluttering just a little. She paused then, as she felt a warm form against her, and the weight of a hoof thrown over her shoulder.
Wiggling back against the form for a moment, Raindrop then rolled over to raise a brow at the sleeping Sentinel, rubbing her head with a hoof. "Ugh, why do I always seem to wake up next to you after I'm drunk?"
"It's the universe giving you bleak warnings of the dangers of alcohol," Sentinel replied sleepily, one eye open, peering at her for a long moment.
"It's succeeding," Raindrop groaned, rubbing her temple with a hoof. "My head hurts."
"I kept telling you to stop, but you wouldn't listen..." Sentinel said in a long-suffering tone, heaving a long sigh.
Raindrop made a dismissive sound, pushing her hooves against his chest. "You did not. I remember enough in that long blur to know that it was you trying to get me drunk."
Sentinel snickered faintly at that, watching her for a long moment. Raindrop's expression changed slowly, starting off indignant. But then her eyes widened, and her pupils dilated slowly, her mouth opening in an expression of dismay.
Raindrop leaned in closer to him, choking out a whisper, "D-did we? I mean, we couldn't have, we didn't, did we?!"
Sentinel raised a brow at that, a single ear perking upwards at her, his head tilting slightly to the side as a slow grin spread across his muzzle. "Did we... What?"
"You know what I'm talking about!" Raindrop hissed, pushing her hooves against his chest.
"Welllll..." Sentinel grinned at her mischievously, and then shifted closer, to whisper into her ear, "It started all with such needy phrases like: 'I want you to ravish me'."
Raindrop shuddered, her cheeks flushing,protesting weakly, "I-I said no such thing!"
"Oh, and then you pushed our hips together, quite suggestively, I might add," Sentinel said with an innocent little nod for affirmation, pressing their hips together in example.
"Oh no...Please tell me we didn't..." Raindrop murmured helplessly, her ears pinning back fully.
"At which point I told you quite firmly 'No.'," Sentinel said with a snicker.
Raindrop growled, and hit him lightly across the brow with a hoof. "I hate you."
"You'd hate me more if I'd let you seduce me," Sentinel pointed out with a grin, head tilting slightly to one side.
"I might be a really cheery person after I get laid," Raindrop said with a huff.
Sentinel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. I can see that happening. Now, can I leave yet? I'm supposed to be in hospital."
"I'm not stopping you!" Raindrop protested, pushing at him again with her hooves. "Get out!"
The guard rolled out of the bed, and then gingerly adjusted his wings into a more comfortable position. "Don't forget to bring the element to Princess Celestia. She's been waiting for it."
Raindrop blinked once, and then cast her gaze to the end of the bed, to where the Element of Generosity was sitting, neatly placed on the covers. She looked back at Sentinel, and then paused, before nodding once. "Okay, I'll get it to her."
Sentinel nodded once in response, and paused in the doorway, peering back at her. "You're going to be alright, yeah?"
Raindrop snorted, waving a hoof at him. "I stared down a hydra not long ago. I'll be fine."
"Feel better, then," Sentinel said, lazily saluting her with a hoof and then pushing the door open, stepping out it. The door closed after he was gone, and Raindrop was left in the bed with the Element of Generosity.
Raindrop rolled over, and then sat up, pulling the element up against her and staring down at it. It was the second element she'd managed to find, and both of them had been fraught with danger. There was no indication that the next four would be any better. Running away was still seeming like a good plan.
The young pegasus rolled over onto her hooves, picking up the element and sliding it neatly underneath her wing. She would do the right thing, and hand in this element. But she wasn't going to go chasing the next four. There were other ponies in the kingdom, and she was a cloud chaser, not an element chaser.
The guards at the front door of Celestia's palace stepped aside for Raindrop, admitting her to the entrance hall. Raindrop walked across the large hall, heading up the stairs at the end of it, heading for the Hall of Harmony.
Celestia was in the room where the Element of Loyalty was interred, as well as the six fake jewelled elements. Several different ponies milled about, chatting amongst themselves and referring to large blackboards that had been erected, with various mathematical equations sprawled across their surfaces.
"Ah, Raindrop?" Celestia asked as she peered back over her shoulder, pausing in her work at a partly blank blackboard.
"I uh...brought the Element of Generosity with me," Raindrop said, sliding it from under her wing and then hefting it onto the table, placing it delicately on top of a stand there. It was at that point that Raindrop noticed two other elements sitting on the table.
"Good, good. We have four now. My guards retrieved the Elements of Honesty and Laughter while you were gone," Celestia said with a warm smile, before frowning slightly. "We're still having trouble with the last elements, though. The Element of Magic is dormant. We can't find it with the Seeker Stone. I have a team retrieving the Element of Kindness as we speak. They ran into a slight problem, what with it being hidden past the Gate of Tartarus. Not to worry though!"
"Oh... You don't need me any more?" Raindrop asked quietly. Even though she had been planning on giving up the search for the elements, it still felt... strange to not be needed.
"Actually, we do need your help," Celestia said, rounding on her and looking her up and down, smiling slightly. "I want you to track down the bearer of the Elements of Harmony for me. I assure you, there should be very few monsters in this service."
"Well... I..." Raindrop trailed off, looking down at her hooves for a moment, and then back up at Celestia, hardly believing what she was saying, "What do you need me to do?"
"I managed to amplify the Seeker Stone for the Element of Laughter. It's definitely picking up a strong hit. But it's pointing at Transavian. My guards followed it to the border," Celestia explained, pushing the Seeker Stone towards her with a hoof.
"Why is that such a problem?" Raindrop asked, oblivious, taking the Seeker Stone and slipping it under her wing.
"The Royal Guard is the largest militia organisation in Equestria. The griffons would not look kindly to seeing members of its ranks flying across the border. They might even take it as an act of war," Celestia explained further. "I need someone who is not officially affiliated with the crown to complete this task, and... You have a vested interest in the success of this venture. I know you won't let me down, Raindrop."
Raindrop nodded, turning away, before pausing, and then turning back to the princess. "Uhm...Celestia?"
"Yes, Raindrop?" Celestia asked, raising a brow at the pegasus.
"Can...Sentinel come with me?" Raindrop asked tentatively.
The princess paused at that question, frowning, opening her mouth, and then closing it again, thinking. "I...Don't see how it could harm anything, so long as he leaves his armour and his duties as a Royal Guard behind at the border."
"Thank you, Princess Celestia," Raindrop said with a slight bow, turning to leave.
"One moment, Raindrop," Celestia said, halting the pegasus. "Why do you wish for Sentinel to accompany you?"
"Oh?" Raindrop asked, peering back at the princess for a moment, feeling her cheeks flushing with warmth. "W-well I... Just... You know."
"No, I do not," Celestia responded blankly, "Or I would not have asked."
"Well, I just..." Raindrop trailed off, before heaving a faint sigh. "Shine broke up with me and-"
Celestia cut across Raindrop with a smile, raising a hoof, "Say no more."
"No! It's not like that!" Raindrop protested heatedly, before saying in a small voice, "Just... I don't want to be flying across Transavian alone."
"Ah, I believe you," Celestia replied with a smile, inclining her head, even though her tone said that she didn't believe what Raindrop had said.
Raindrop sighed faintly, shaking her head. "So this stone will let me know when I've found the bearer?"
"Indeed," Celestia responded, waving a hoof, "There are few ponies in Transavian, it should be quite easy."
"And I've just gotta convince them to... What? Come back here?" Raindrop asked uncertainly.
"They are a bearer of one of the elements, they would need to be in close proximity to the element, yes," Celestia explained, before turning back to the blackboard. "Now, you have a long flight ahead of you."
Raindrop nodded, turning about and pushing open the door, leaving the princess and her team to pour over the blackboards, doing whatever it was they were doing.
When Raindrop came upon Sentinel in the hospital, he was laying on his stomach in bed with a large thermometre in his mouth and a frowning nurse at his side.
"You!" the nurse exclaimed, scowling. "I take it you are the reason my patient has been running around Ponyville rather than being treated for his injuries?"
Raindrop shifted uncomfortably, her ears splaying backwards. "U-uhm...maybe?"
"Wasn't so much her fault in that I-"
Sentinel was cut off by the nurse clasping a hoof over his muzzle, forcing his mouth closed on the thermometre. "Quiet, you!"
"I guess I might probably be?" Raindrop offered tentatively.
The nurse scowled, pulling the thermometre from Sentinel's maw and peering down at it, and then pointing a hoof at Raindrop accusingly. "If he had gotten an infection and a fever because of you, then I would have put you in a bed right next to him!"
The nurse huffed, stalking past the female pegasus, grumbling under her breath darkly.
"I think she missed her coffee break," Sentinel said with a helpless shrug of his shoulders.
"Missed something," Raindrop said, snorting, and then slipping over to the guard. "I got new orders from Celestia."
"Celestia's ordering you about now?" Sentinel asked, raising a brow.
"Kinda hard to refuse her when she asks for things," Raindrop said with a heavy sigh, before pulling out the Seeker Stone to show to Sentinel. "She's ordered you to accompany me to Transavian and find the bearer for the...erm...element of whatever."
"Element of whatever?" Sentinel asked, an ear perking at her.
"I don't keep track of these things!" Raindrop protested, waving a hoof. "And there's six of them to keep track of, six."
"Very well. So...Transavian?" Sentinel asked, mulling it over for a moment, and then shaking his head. "How am I supposed to get over the dividing range and into Transavian again?"
"I dunno. You could like...fly?" Raindrop offered, rolling her eyes.
"The nurse, and the doctor says I won't be able to fly until tomorrow, at least," Sentinel pointed out, peeking at her.
"That is so unfair," Raindrop whined, shaking her head.
"Unfair?" Sentinel asked, peering at her curiously.
"You get your wings mangled, and can fly two days later. I get stabbed in the chest and I'm only allowed to fly just now! Days later!" Raindrop huffed, punctuating her words by slapping a hoof on the bed.
Sentinel snickered at that. "You got stabbed in the chest. Those muscles bear a lot of the weight of flying. If they're not completely healed, then you'd end up tearing them mid-flight. You'd likely die."
"Still unfair," Raindrop sulked, shaking her head.
"Oh come on, we'll be flying tomorrow. You can quit the sulkfest," Sentinel said with a shake of his head, grinning at her.
"Very well," Raindrop sighed, waving a hoof and taking back the seeker stone. She slipped over to a couch beside the bed, and curled up.
Sentinel raised a brow at her, "You're going to just sleep there until tomorrow?"
"Nothing better to do," Raindrop stated. "I could go get drunk again? You know how that ends."
"Waking up next to some exceptionally ugly mug," the guard replied with a slow nod.
"You just want me to contradict you," Raindrop accused, waving a hoof at him.
"I wouldn't mind it sometime," Sentinel responded reasonably, nodding a little.
Raindrop rolled her eyes, "Well don't expect it any time soon. I'm not drunk."
"These meds are kicking my ass," Sentinel stated, rubbing his head with a hoof. "I'm going to pass out. If the couch gets uncomfy, the bed is pretty big."
"As if I'd get up there with you," Raindrop snorted, waving her hoof at him again.
There was a pause of a few moments, before Raindrop pricked an ear upwards. She lifted her head, only to find that Sentinel was unconscious, passed out from his medication.
Raindrop rolled her eyes, and then laid her head back down on her hooves, closing her eyes. After a few moments, one of her eyes blinked open.
The pegasus huffed faintly as she pulled herself up onto the bed with Sentinel, rolling herself into his hooves, before poking his nose with a hoof, and murmuring threateningly to his unconscious ears, "And if I hear any nonsense about this in the morning, you'll be spending at least a week in this hospital bed."
Sentinel stirred slowly, a hoof lifting to rub against his brow as his eyes opened. The glow of the moon cast murky light across the room. It was so early that not even the birds dared sing their morning song yet, and the faint glow of the rising sun wasn't even visible.
Shifting a little bit to get more comfortable, Sentinel found that Raindrop was curled in against his chest, having obviously taken up his offer of the bed sometime after he passed out. Her nose was buried in the crook of his neck, and her hooves were curled up between them.
Sentinel nosed down at the sleeping pegasus gently, shifting her a little bit away from him so he could get a good look at her. She looked peaceful, for a change. She probably didn't notice it herself, but her expression seemed either frozen in a perpetual scowl or a frown of disapproval, with the weight of her problems a rather visible effect on her person. But now, she looked calm, serene. She really was quite cute. The guard smiled as he imagined what she would look like if she actually smiled herself. Sure, the edges of her lips lifted sometimes when she was insulting him, but he had never seen her truly smile.
Lifting a hoof, Sentinel gently pushed Raindrop's mane out of her face and into a more ordered position. He couldn't fathom what it was like for her at all. Finding out she was part changeling, her coltfriend leaving her, being forced to chase after the Elements of Harmony and now, their bearers as well. Not to mention assassins in the night trying to kill her for unknown reasons. And she couldn't even really control her 'powers' as it were. Plus, they almost killed her.
One issue after another after another were just stacking up on the pegasus, and deep down, Sentinel knew that if it was he who had those problems, he'd have given up long ago.
Raindrop stirred faintly against him, and whimpered, hooves pushing at his chest and her expression changing to one of worry. Her eyes flicked back and forth under her closed lids, and it was obvious she was dreaming.
Green flames. Green flames everywhere.
Raindrop was underground. She could see dark, rocky walls all around her, and flames. The green flames surrounded her, eager to consume her flesh with their relentlessness.
A voice called to her through a break in the dancing flames.
Come to me, my child.
Raindrop's ears perked, and she bounded through the flames, feeling their long tendrils clutching at her hooves eagerly, trying to drag her back. Searing burns found their way to her hindlegs, and she screamed in pain, trying to kick the fingers of flame from her hooves.
Burning agony filled her, and she cast her gaze left and right, trying to find something to sooth the burning of her flesh. A pool of water beckoned to her, and she leaped towards it, coming to a halt next to it. Encroaching flames followed her, eager to devour.
Raindrop inched closer to the water, a sense of foreboding coming over her. She knew if she looked down into that pool of water, then her reflection would not be her own. But the burning in her limbs demanded that she soothe herself, and so she took a deep breath, and leaned over the surface of the water.
A soft sigh of relief left the pegasus as she found her reflection to be normal, Her normal pink eyes gazed back at her. Without hesitation, Raindrop threw herself into the pool of water, sinking her hooves into, giving a low groan of relief as the burning in her limbs stopped.
A second reflection caught her attention, and her eyes widened. She could see a changeling staring at her in the reflection of the water.
With a start, Raindrop looked up. The young pegasus found herself nose-to-nose with herself. Only it wasn't her. Raindrop could only stare at her doppelganger. The doppelganger stared back, a smug grin on its muzzle, vibrant green eyes narrowed with evil intent.
The green flames flickered at the edge of the water, and shapes began to step from them. Changelings. One after another after another. They surrounded her on all sides, giving her no avenue of escape.
Raindrop turned back to face the faux-Raindrop, but in its place, a new figure stood. In her heart, Raindrop knew what she was. She was the Queen of the Changelings. Their leader.
"Join us, my child," Chrysalis hissed, smiling at her, revealing the pointed teeth in her maw.
Sentinel had absolutely zero warning. One moment, Raindrop was giving a little whimper and moving slightly, and the next, she was screaming and pushing herself away from him, wide-eyed, hooves scrabbling at the blankets in an attempt to get away.
Automatically, Sentinel tried to hug around Raindrop, to soothe her, managing to grab on around her shoulders and pull her against him, where her hooves could only scrabble weakly at his chest instead of get the full damage and reach of a flailing hoof. "Raindrop! It's just a nightmare!"
Raindrop gasped heavily, and her hooves latched onto his chest, squeezing impossibly hard as she buried herself against him with a shudder, clinging to him as though for confirmation that he really was there.
"Just a dream," Sentinel wheezed, wiggling a hoof against Raindrop's own to try and get her to loosen her grip.
Raindrop began to calm slowly, her ears splayed back and her wings stiffened, obviously in the fight-or-flight reflex, and her grip slowly loosened on him.
"I-I could feel them," she breathed against his neck, her eyes clenched closed and nose buried against him helplessly, seeking protection.
Sentinel wrapped his hooves around the mare, making a soothing sound. "They weren't real, Raindrop. It was just a nightmare."
"T-they were real," Raindrop protested. "They're me."
Sentinel didn't have anything to say to that, and lapsed into silence, settling for rocking the pegasus soothingly back and forth.
One image was burned into his mind though. The image of the wide-eyed Raindrop trying to push herself away from him, with wild, vivid green eyes.
Sentinel went back to sleep with no problem, but Raindrop found it impossible. Every time she became drowsy, the image of her own eyes, green and demonic, flashed into her mind and forced her back awake. After an hour or so of this, Raindrop decided to give up on sleep altogether, and instead crept through the quiet halls of the hospital and to the cafeteria, beginning to make herself a cup of coffee.
"Can't sleep?" A nurse asked sympathetically as she stepped in to get herself a cup of coffee.
"Yeah," Raindrop admitted hesitantly, picking up her cup and downing some of the liquid, ignoring the burning it produced in her throat and on her tongue.
"I can give you something to help you sleep?" the nurse offered, raising a brow.
Raindrop shook her head, shuddering and then mumbling, "I don't want to sleep. Nightmares."
The nurse nodded sympathetically at that. "I'm afraid there's no real cure for those as of yet. Just try to remember that they're only nightmares. They're not real."
Raindrop downed the rest of her coffee and set the mug aside, shaking her head for a moment. As she moved towards the door, she said over her shoulder, "That's the problem... This nightmare is."
Raindrop crawled back into bed with the sleeping Sentinel, settling in next to him, and then worming her way into his hooves. For all that she would never admit it, he was her one island of calm now. Somepony to depend on. Somewhere she could go when she just couldn't handle it all any more.
The words to an old zebra song played through her mind. 'Don't worry, be happy'. The message it carried with it: Why worry about the things you can't change?
It was a nice philosophy. But it was hard to follow.
But right then, Raindrop had a handsome guardpony to snuggle against, and she would have to content herself with that. She was doing all she could to fix her 'curse', and Shine was something she couldn't effect. So she just focused on Sentinel. Maybe it was a faux friendship. He was only with her because Celestia ordered him to, really. There were hints of more, like when he kissed her, but it was soon after Shine that she had no idea whether or not she really felt anything for him or it was merely a product of him being the only pony she could actually depend on at that point in time.
Raindrop sighed faintly, and pressed herself closer to Sentinel, closing her eyes. She didn't intend to sleep, but hoving in the sanguine abyss between sleeping and waking was a very appealing thing to her at that moment. Maybe Sentinel would be just another let down in the end, but right at that moment, it was good enough.