Chapter 4

Casper woke up, sweating and gasping for breath, in what appeared to be a bed. He calmed down and brought his head up and observed his surroundings. It was dark, so it was hard for him to make out anything. He removed the covers he was wrapped in and noticed that he was wearing a patient robe.

Am I… in a hospital?

Casper couldn't think straight. The only thing he could remember was being hit by the bus, and Jackson calling for help. Casper attempted to piece together what he could as he dismounted the bed, and stood up on both legs. But, as he was standing, Casper noticed that his legs were causing him extreme amounts of pain. He looked down and saw that his legs were bruised and bloodied up and disproportional.

Casper immediately fell to the floor in excruciating pain, and began to sob. In this empty darkness, Casper was alone and in pain. He was scared.

He crawled up to the bed post and attempted to get back onto the cold, metal bed. As he was climbing, he noticed a crack of light peeking through what seemed to be a door. He decided against going back into the bed and crawled towards the light. The pain he felt as he crawled was as nothing he had ever felt before. The minutes felt like hours until he finally reached the door. He pulled it back to reveal a plain, white hallway, with a few benches and potted plants.

Yup, I'm definitely in a hospital.

Casper's thoughts were quickly stopped by a searing pain in his chest. He looked down and realized that his torso was disproportionate. He began to get worried, and eventually, began sobbing to himself. That is, until Casper heard the sweet, sweet sound of salvation; footsteps.

Casper poked his head out of the door, despite the pain, and saw a nurse walking down the barren hallway, a strut to her step. Casper called out to her, but no sound was made. He tried again, but only with the same result. He decided that since he still could use his arms and hands, he would try to snap to get the nurse's attention.

Casper snapped his fingers, and the nurse turned around quickly, not because of the snap, but because she heard a loud thud coming from Casper's hospital room. The nurse rushed towards his room and looked inside to see an 18 year old boy on the floor of his room, face down on the ground. The nurse found the nearest hospital phone and dialed the number to the intercom, and called for immediate assistance.

"Alright, my last few spells have done nothing. I'm going to try something else. Something a bit risky. Stand back everypony, this might shock you all a bit."

Twilight's horn began to glow as she leaned in towards Casper's body, ready to cast a spell. As her horn neared Casper's head, a nearby voice entered her ear.

"Twilight, stop."

Twilight gasped and the aura around her horn dissipated. She looked at Casper's bloodied face, and noticed two very blue eyes looking directly at her. She was astonished, and immediately sunk to her knees.

Rainbow ran as fast as her legs could go to Casper's side and gave him as big of a hug as she could give him. Casper was shocked that Rainbow was hugging him, and her hug was making Casper feel warm. He hugged her back. It was so warm, Casper didn't want to let go. Rainbow began to unfold her wings and wrap them around Casper, which didn't fly too well with him, as he pushed Rainbow back, breaking the hug. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.

"Casper, I'm so glad that you're okay. I thought we'd lost you. What happened out there, Rainbow?" asked Twilight.

"I don't know. At first, I was thinking about something that caused me to space out. Casper then used his fingers to create a loud noise that woke me up, and then he fell to the ground, and I dragged him here. I Pinkie Pie swear on my life that I'm telling the truth." Rainbow had a serious, yet concerned look on her face as she told Twilight.

"Well, it seems whatever that noise was that you made caused you to pass out. Try not to do it again in the future, okay, Casper?" Twilight made sure that Casper had heard.

Casper held his left hand to his heart and had his right arm in a 90 degree angle, fingers facing the ceiling, and said,

"I promise on my life that I won't do that again."

Twilight smiled and walked towards her bedroom.

"Well everypony, it's really late and I'm tired. I think we all should get some rest. Rainbow, you should go home. You've helped enough already."

Twilight noticed that the cyan pony stayed put.

"You know, Twilight, we should have a sleepover. Just you, me, and Casper. It'd be fun. Besides, it's too dark and cold outside. Come on, whatd'ya think?"

Twilight could see in Rainbow's eyes that she was intent on having this sleepover.

You know, it's been a while since I've had a sleepover with the girls. It should be fun. Twilight thought to herself.

"Alright, Rainbow, let's have that sleepover."

Rainbow's eyes widened as Twilight accepted the offer. It had been a while since Rainbow had her last sleepover, and all she could think about was being with Casper for as long as possible. She just wanted to hold him. Forever. Rainbow bucked with glee and ran up the stairs to hug Twilight, who was not expecting Rainbow to do that. Rainbow let go of Twilight and ran downstairs to Casper's side. Casper could see that the cyan pony was excited, as her wings were out of their hiding place completely, revealing the feathery texture.

"Ooooh, what should we do first?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't know about you two, but I just want to get some rest. I don't care what you two do out here, but don't cause an uproar, okay? I don't want to wake up to find all my stuff scattered across the floor." Twilight yawned and used her magic to close the door to her bedroom.

"Ah, don't mind her, Casper." Rainbow looked up at Casper and gave him a playful smile, and Casper returned it.

Casper had an idea.

"Hey Rainbow, since I'm new here, I'd like to learn about Equestria. Does Twilight have any books about it?"

"Pff, I'm sure she has thousands of books on Equestria. Let's go look."

Rainbow and Casper walked over to the semi-circle of bookshelves and went towards the "E" section. Casper immediately found at least a dozen books with the title "Equestria" and chose a book with the title History of Equestria. Rainbow decided to see if she could find a book on humans. She was really interested in learning about Casper and his world. But she couldn't bring herself around to look hard enough.

"Casper, once you're done reading about Equestria, you should tell me about where you're from. I can't find any books on humans." said Rainbow.

"Alright. I don't know as much as others, but I'll do my best." Casper sat down on the couch that Twilight had cast the mending spell on his torso and opened to the first page. Rainbow jumped on the couch and snuggled next to Casper. Casper instantly felt warm and Rainbow felt the same.

A few minutes later, Casper had finished reading the most important parts of the book, such as the founding of Equestria, and how three ponies of three different races came together and allowed the friendship in their hearts to melt the sheer and bitter cold that caused so many problems. He learned that there are three types of ponies in Equestria. There are unicorns, which have magic inside them and have the ability to channel it through their horn; pegasi ponies, like Rainbow Dash, who have wings and are capable of reaching great speeds, and can walk on clouds, and finally, earth ponies, who are basically unicorns without horns and they cannot control the magic they have inside of them. Casper was really starting to enjoy Equestria after reading that book. Casper's thought were broken by what seemed to be a snoring noise. He put down the book and noticed that Rainbow was asleep, with her head on Casper's upper leg. Casper saw that Rainbow's mane was covering her face, so he decided to use his fingers to push the hair away. He decided against waking her up to let the moment flourish. Casper began to brush her mane with his hands, and the smooth, silky texture pulled Casper in and didn't let him go. He continued to brush her mane with his hands for what seemed like hours. Until he realized that Rainbow was beginning to talk in her sleep.

How cute, she talks in her sleep, just like me. Casper was in bliss.

Casper looked down at Rainbow and smiled.

It's weird, isn't it? Just 12 hours ago, I was being interrogated by this pony, and I was completely scared. Now I'm brushing her mane and letting her sleep next to me. I'm such a mess.

Casper began to fall asleep. The warmness of Rainbow and Twilight's home created no need for a blanket. He had all the warmth he needed. Sleep quickly caught up to Casper and his eyes closed.

Rainbow woke up from Casper's snoring and noticed that the book had fallen on the floor. Rainbow got up and put it back in its respectable position. She quickly returned to Casper's side and resumed the same position she was in before. Only she hadn't realized she woke Casper up. Casper looked down at Rainbow and gave her a smile.

"Hey, sleepy head. You fell asleep before I could tell you about Earth."

Rainbow looked up at Casper with tired eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, and she put her head back on his upper leg.

"You have a cute snore, Rainbow. It's so quiet, yet it carries through the whole room."

Rainbow looked up at Casper again, and blushed. Normally, she would have been angry, but she didn't feel angry. Casper made all of Rainbow's anger turn into joy and happiness. Rainbow felt nothing but pure elation. That's whenever she made a decision that she thought she would have never made.

She got up on all fours, and gave Casper a kiss on the cheek.

At first, Casper was shocked, and his equinophobia started to take over. He realized that he had developed a good relationship with Rainbow, as though she was a female friend from Earth, and he began to relax. Casper just sat there and had a shocked look on his face. Rainbow realized her mistake and turned around, her tail facing Casper, and laid down on the couch, tears running down her face.

"Rainbow."

Rainbow didn't move. She was ashamed.

Casper got up off the couch and went to meet Rainbow's eyes, face to face, and they locked eyes for a few seconds. Rainbow turned her head around to avoid his eyes. Casper reached out with his hand and grabbed the lower part of Rainbow's jaw, and he gently guided her head towards his. She opened her eyes and saw that Casper was crying as well.

"I don't understand Casper, why are you crying? I've lost your trust, haven't I?" Rainbow said, holding back tears.

Casper didn't respond with words.

He responded with a kiss, right on the lips of Rainbow. Casper had never kissed someone before, and he felt weird that his first kiss was on a pony. He shoved the thought into the deepest recess of his mind and continued the kiss. He was surprised to see that Rainbow wasn't pulling away from the kiss. She raised her hoof and brought Casper's head closer to hers. Casper's mouth opened and his tongue tried to gain entry to Rainbow's. She allowed his tongue in, and their tongues danced together, wrapping around each other.

Casper's lungs were gasping for air, so he pulled away from Rainbow, a trail of saliva connected to their lips.

Rainbow shed a tear. She finally knew that Casper felt the same way as her. She got up and hugged Casper's waist, and Casper bent down to return the hug. He leaned in towards her ear and said,

"I love you, Rainbow."

"I love you too, Casper."

Casper and Rainbow returned to the couch, and slept next to each other, their newfound love giving each other all the warmth they could ever need.

Author's notes:

Sorry this chapter took so long to write, I was playing too much Xbox this week. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you guys enjoy reading it.

Some of the parts that may seem weird will soon be explained in later chapters.

And no, that was not the sex scene. I'm trying to wade my way into it; I'm actually a bit nervous in writing my first one. I hope that doesn't sound too cheesy. :P

-Grant, a.k.a Frozen Goods.