With the Help of a Wolf

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Prologue
Chapter 5

Chapter 1

There was only black. I felt like I could move, but there was no evidence that anything happened when I tried to take a step. I looked around, but only the blackness greeted me. So I did what the white guy in a horror movie would do.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Yep. Way to go genius. Now if there is a monster in here, you’re screwed. Nothing answered me, though. Well that’s a relief. As I tried to decide what to do next, I heard soft paws stepping on a hard surface. The sound came from behind me. Before I could turn, a deep, raspy voice sounded in my head.

“Don’t move. I could easily eat you whenever I want, but I want to talk first.”

“Ok, shoot.”

“Actually, I can’t do this. Just turn around first.”

I turned around, every predator I could think of flashing through my mind. What I saw, though, I wasn’t expecting. A huge, bronze colored wolf sat a fair distance from me, its tail swishing back and forth across the non-existent ground. It (he?) looked at me with luminescent sky blue eyes. I could see a twinkle of mischief in those eyes, but they looked honest. Wow, I’m trying to read a wolf’s personality in its eyes when it’s trying to eat me. What am I doing...?

The wolf seemed to be sizing me up as well. “So, I’m going to make you a deal.”

I didn’t even give it a second thought before I agreed. “Of what kind?”

“So here’s the jist of it. You just died in a skydiving accident.”

“What?”

“Yeah. So-”

“But what happened? It was going so well...”

The bronze figure laughed a big, booming laugh. “Dude, you pretty much shit your pants. You were so scared!”

“Fine! But what happened?”

“You don’t remember?” I did, but for whatever reason, I wanted to hear it from this wolf. “Your friend hit you out of the way of the nose of the plane. You hit the wing and broke your neck.”

I didn’t know what to say. I just learned that I’m dead. “...is this the afterlife?”

“Haha, no. Let me get back to your deal, unless you don’t want to hear about it...” he picked up a paw and inspected the bottom of it.

“No, let’s hear it!” What could I have to lose? I’m dead, after all.

“That’s what I thought. You have probably already guessed, but I’m a god.”

“Okay.”

“I can give you life again.”

“So what’s the catch?”

“Why do you care? You’re dead. You have nothing to lose.”

“Can you read minds?”

I swore I heard the beast snicker. “No.”

I looked at it warily. “I don’t want to become a zombie or anything.”

The beast sat up on its hind legs and held its right paw in the air. “I swear that you will become no form of undead, cursed, or deformed from agreeing with my pact.”

“So now it’s a pact?”

“So, smartass, do you accept?”

“You still haven’t told me what the catch is.”

“Ok, fine. By the laws of the supernaturals, which I’m not going to go into because a mortal like you wouldn’t understand, I could only find one world that I could send you to.”

“Alright, where would that be?”

“Equestria.”

“Horses? Cool, I’ll go for that.”

“Good. I already sent your body there,” the wolf rubbed the back of its head with its front paw at this point, “but I miscalculated a little bit.”

“Miscalculated...?”

“Yeah, I’m still new at this. I sent your transformed body several miles above where I had meant to. And I didn’t heal it right, either. Heh heh...My bad.”

“Wait, what does that mean for me?”

“That means that-”
-BEEP-

“What was that?”

“That? That means your time here is up.” -BEEP- The bronze god started to speak more quickly. “I can’t explain everything to you now, so you’ll have to figure it out on your own.” -BEEP- The scene started to fade as the wolf shouted one last sentence. “But don’t worry, I’ll be there to help!”

-BEEP-
…
-BEEP-
…
-BEEP-

Ugh, stupid alarm clock... 5 more minutes...

Wait- my alarm played music. Why can’t I open my eyes? Or move anything? Am I dead? What is that annoying beeping? Gah, why won’t that beeping stop? That was some wierd dream...

The dream! If I could have sat up, I would have bolted upright. That wolf told me...

Are those...voices?

“I know, Miss Sparkle, it’s been seven weeks, but he’s still not up yet. By the calculations you gave us, he hit the ground at Mach 1. He’s lucky to be alive. He might not wake up for years...”

The conversation faded as a stronger presence took precedence in my mind.

“Oh shit, that looks worse than it did from back home...”

Wolf? Is that the wolf from my dream...?

“Oh damn, you’re up. Uhhh... Here’s what I’ll do for you.”

Excruciating pain lanced through my body, from my feet through my head. I was about to make a noise, then something cut it off.

“None of that from you, I need to finish up here without the doctors rushing in here from your screaming. Oh, and by the way, call me Bronze.”

So I layed there in agony for what seemed like hours. I could hear sparks, cracks, and what I could only guess was spellweaving. I’m pretty sure I blacked out a couple times from the pain. From time to time, I could hear Bronze muttering to himself. “Oops, that’s on backwards...” or “And this needs that here...” and things like that. Eventually, blissfully, I heard, “Alright, you should be done! Oh, wait... vision...”

Yeah, that’s going to be important, Bronze!

“Oh, shut up, you. I know. Now this won’t hurt a bit. It’ll hurt a lot.”

Wait, what? Even worse pain and suffering went through my left eye. Oh fuck, man, what are you doing?

“Shut up and let me work.”

Oh god, it hurts!

“Actually, it shouldn’t be hurting you that much... Shit. Uhhh...”

The fuck did you do, Bronze?!

“I can fix it!” A short while of a shitton of hurt later, he was done with my left eye. “Well, the good news is that you can still see.”

What are you not telling me, Bronze?

“Let me finish your other eye. I knew what went wrong, so I should be fine with this one.” I sighed and let him work. There was nothing I could do anyway; I still couldn’t move. Yet another short time later, and with significantly less pain than my left, my right eye was done. “Phew, finally done!”

So what’d you do to my eye?

“Well, you can still see. But with the way I fixed it, there was no room for pigment.”

Give it to me simple.

“...Your left eye is completely white.”

Great now i’m some kind of freak.

“Hey, you could at least give me some gratitude for saving your life, punk.”

Alright, sure. I tried to smile, but I couldn’t move. I tried to open my eyes, but that didn’t work either. Uhh, Bronze?

“Oops. Don’t panic. Ok, motor controls, motor controls... Oh, I remember!”

The wind got knocked out of me as something heavy slammed my chest hard. I cringed and moved my hand up to my chest to cradle the wound.

“Hey, it worked! You moved your hand!”

I moaned. Don’t do that...

“Again with the gratitude thing, dude. Did you hear that?”

No. Then I heard it. The door handle.

“Keep your eyes closed and don’t move.”

The sound of hooves clopping on the hard floor grew louder as someone, I assumed a nurse, came in. Wait, hoofbeats?

“Equestria, remember?”

The hoofbeats left when the nurse finished what she was doing. When the door closed, I immediately opened my eyes. A white tile ceiling greeted me first, then as I turned my head, a white wall with a couple boring health posters on it. As I slowly scanned the room, I saw the form of my body under the nasty colored bedsheets. I wanted to examine my new body. but a large furry form took up the other half of the room caught my attention, looking pleased with himself. I could hear the swish of his tail again; I knew it was wagging. With nothing else to say, I thought Hey.

“Hey yourself. How’re you feeling?”

Pretty well, considering I was dead a couple of hours ago.

“It’s actually been weeks. Seven weeks in this world, since I sent your body here.”

Well. Time flies when you’re in a coma.

“True. Make yourself presentable. The mares that rescued you want to visit again. They’ll be coming through that door in about... three, two,” I heard the door handle again, and I closed my eyes. “One. Don’t play too rough now.”
I could detect three different sets of hoofbeats as they walked through the door and to the side of my bed. I layed there, waiting to see if they said anything.

Eventually, I heard an intake of breath and one of them say (rather loudly) “Look at his face! It’s not broken!”

My eyes snapped open before I could prevent it. To my side, in front of my eyes, an orange mare sat in between a light blue one and a purple one. The orange one had a blonde mane, the purple one a darker mane of the same color with pink highlights, and the blue one had each hue of the rainbow in hers. The orange one wore a cowboy hat and had some attractive freckles. Wait, attractive?

“Equestria, remember?”

Bronze’s snide comment made me miss what the purple one said to the blue one. The two on the outside were arguing over the hat mare, and weren’t really paying attention. She, on the other hand, had her emerald eyes locked with mine, wonder and a hint of fear in her eyes.

“Uhh, girls? He’s awake.”

Their argument ended abruptly, and three sets of eyes stared at me. I could feel Bronze’s amusement behind me.

Why aren’t they freaking out about you?

“Guess.”

They can’t see you, can they?

Bronze laughed.

I realized that I had been staring at them for some time without saying anything.

“Uhh... Hey.” I realized my voice was about as deep as Bronze’s. Did you do that on purpose?

“Umm... no.”

“Hey.” The orange mare spoke to me. “How’re ya feeling?” Oh god that accent.

“Well, considering I just woke up from a coma, I feel fine. Great, even.”

“Great!” That was the purple one. “We should, uh, get the doc to come and take a look at you. Come on girls!”

With that, they were gone faster than they had come in. I sat up to look at Bronze, when something on my back hit the backboard of the bed. Huh?

Wings. Grey wings that extended from my back. This is so awesome!

“Before you get caught up in those...” Bronze threw back my covers and I got my first look at my new body. Quadrupedal. Hooves. Flame colored tail between my legs on the bed. I just noticed the muzzle in my vision. An IV stuck in my leg.

Before I could get over my shock, the door opened again and a light brown pony in a lab coat walked in. “Hey, you’re awake! I’m Dr. Chrome.” He went to shake my hand...hoof, and looked at my eyes. He seemed to hesitate a bit, his smile fading ever so slightly, but then it came back again. “I’m surprised you’re up,” he went on, checking foreign machines and readings. “You were in quite the fix.”

He went on for a bit more, but it faded into background noise as I spoke with Bronze again. Why do people keep staring at my eyes?

“Well, one is flat white, and the other...” he trailed off.

Bronze!

“It’s fine, but the iris is red.”

Sweet!

“You’re... ok with that?”

Hell yeah, red eyes? That’s awesome!

A nudge on my arm...foreleg? brought me back to reality. “Hey buddy, you ok? You kinda zoned out there.”

The doc was staring me in the face, his hoof still outstretched. He raised an eyebrow. “There we go. Now that you’re paying attention, any pain lately?”

I just woke up from a coma. Should I be in any pain? “Uh, no, not at all.”

“Really?” The doctor wrote some notes on his clipboard. He must have picked it up at some point, because I hadn’t noticed it earlier.

He went on to ask about my current status and other medical things. Eventually, he said, “Oh yeah. You have some visitors.”

“The same ones from before?”

“The three mares that saved your life? Yes. I’ll go get them if you want.”

“Sure.” Pff. Bronze saved my life, not these horses.

Bronze’s deep voice startled me. I had forgotten that he was still there. “Actually, if it weren’t for these mares, you wouldn’t have lived long enough to get to the hospital.”

Huh. I guess I should thank them.

Another nudge, this one on my forehead, again brought my attention back to the room. “Hey, we’re talking to you!”
The blue one was hovering next to me, her eyes narrowed, expecting an answer. The other two looked on curiously, but the orange one seemed ready to spring on the blue one. Or me.

Stop taking up my entire head when we talk.

“Hey, sorry. What were you saying?”

The blue one looked cross. “Well, I was asking you how-”

“Rainbow!” The purple one interrupted her. “Sorry,” she addressed me. “Rainbow here doesn’t have much tact.”

“I do so have tact!... What is tact?”

I decided to interject at this point. “Rainbow, was it? I see where the name comes from.” I gestured towards her head.
Rainbow blushed and looked away. The orange one came up to me with her hoof out before her. “M’name’s Applejack. And this here is Twilight.” The purple one, Twilight, waved sheepishly. “Pleasure to meet you. When y’all’re awake, that is.” What odd names.

“Nice to meet you too, Applejack, Twilight.” I turned to look at Rainbow, who was trying her best to look uninterested. “Rainbow.” I turned back to Applejack. “So, uh, what happened?”

“Well, first, y’all-”

“I’ll take it from here, Applejack.” Twilight stepped forward. “I was hoping you could tell me more. I was reading on my couch, when all of a sudden, a sonic boom shakes my house, and I look outside and see you falling from the sky. Some... things, happened, and because of those, we couldn't get to you before you hit the ground. When we reached you, I found you still alive, and sent Applejack to take you to the hospital.”

“Ah ran you here, but y’all’re heavy, ‘specially fer a pegasus. Rainbow found me and took you the rest of the way.”

That seemed to snap Rainbow back into the conversation. “Yeah, no need to thank me. I know I’m awesome.”

Applejack and Twilight ignored her. Twilight went on, “Based on my calculations of the size of the crater and your injuries, you were going at least Mach 1 when you crashed. How are you still alive?”

“Uhh...” Bronze? Help me out here?

“Sorry, bro. I got nothin’. Just don’t tell them about me.”

Thanks, you’re a bunch of help. “Hard head? I don’t know.”

Twilight gave me a look. “Ok, well how did you get there?”

Don’t tell them about you, huh? I don’t like lying, Bronze.

“Suck it up. Deal with it.”

“Well, here’s the truth. I’m a human from a different universe. I was skydiving with my friend, and I got hit by a plane. I woke up here.”

“If you didn’t want to tell us, you could have just said so,” Rainbow huffed, crossing her forelegs (“Hey, you’re starting to get it!”) and turning away. My answer seemed to be enough for Twilight, but Applejack stared me down like I was prey. She knew I wasn’t telling the whole truth.

I tried to change the subject. “Hey, so what’s it like here? Wherever we are?”

Twilight smiled. “You aren’t from around Ponyville, are you?”

I just told you I wasn’t. Wait, Ponyville? Didn’t you say you sent me to Equestria, Bronze?

“Yes. Pay attention to your current conversation!”

Twilight was still going on about Ponytown. “Ponyville!” Same thing.

“This is a lot to try to take in. Couldn’t you just show me instead?”

“Sure! You look fine to me, let’s go!” Rainbow swooped out the door. Why was that open this entire time?

“Consarn it, Rainbow!” Applejack chased her out, leaving me and Twilight in the hospital room. Seeing my chance, I took it.

“Hey, Twilight. You seem to be the reasonable one here. I meant what I said, about me being a human.”

“No, I believe you. I believe I know what happened, too. I’m going to go ask Dr. Chrome if you can leave.”

“Ok, well I’ll still be here.”

“Be right back!”

I sighed as I laid back into my pillow again. Bronze?

“Yes?” The tail started swishing again.

Why did you send me to a world full of lunatics?

“I thought you’d fit in.”

Chapter 2

Chapter two

The doctor came back after a while. “I would love to let you go, but we still need to do a couple of things first. After your... miracle, we need to do another scan and X-ray...” He droned on about boring medical stuff.

“Hey, this is important!”

Cut the crap, Bronze. You made sure that I’m fine.

“He’s telling you when you can leave.”

“...and after that, you’ll be free to go!” Dr. Chrome finished, looking up from his clipboard.

Damn it. And no, Bronze, I’m not going to ask again.

The mares didn’t come back, and I spent the rest of that long day going through various medical and magical scans and tests, particularly around my wings and eyes. It turns out that wings are very sensitive; that was the most awkward physical I’ve ever had. Turn-your-head-and-cough was much better. That night I had trouble falling asleep.

...Bronze?

“Sup?”

Why can’t I sleep?

“Anxiety? Nervousness? Excitement? I saw the way you were eyeing that blue mare earlier.” The swishing started again.

Ok, good. It’s not something you did. And Bronze, she’s a horse.

“Technically, she’s a pony. And so are you.”

Ugh.

“What about the orange mare? Applejack, was it?”

Bronze-!

“I seem to remember you describing her with ‘attractive freckles.’”

I felt heat rising to my face. Goodnight, Bronze.

“Sleep tight, loverboy.”

The next morning, I woke to the beeping again. Bronze was snoring, stretched out on the floor. Maybe it was the snoring I woke up from. I looked around to see what time it was, but there were no clocks in the room, which seemed kind of odd. I layed there for what seemed like hours, until the doctor came in again. “Oh good, you’re awake.”

“Well there’s not much to do here.”

“True.”

We stayed in silence for an awkward moment.

“So what did you come in here for?”

“I’m trying to remember...” he started to flip through his ever present clipboard.

What.

“I had one last scan for you, but I can’t seem to find the paper.”

“I feel fine. Can I just go?”

Doctor Chrome sighed. “There’s always paperwork. Welcome to the business world.”

Great. I resigned myself to another day in the hospital.

“Gah, must have left it on the counter,” Chrome must have gone through his entire clipboard, because he looked up and continued. “I’ll be back.”

“Ok,” I said as he left.

This guy is a nut.

The lack of an answer threw me off a little, then I realized that Bronze was still asleep. Dr. Chrome didn’t take long to come back. When he did, he gave me his clipboard, a pen on the top.

“I just need you to sign here, and you’ll be good to go!”

“Alright...” I hesitated, looking at my blunt hooves. How do I write with these? Thinking quickly, I took the pen in my mouth, trying to ignore the strange look the doctor was giving me. I tried to make it look like I was just reading it over while I tried to come up with a name.

“If you want to take a minute to read, you can give it to the nurse on your way out. I’d stay, but I have more patients to attend to. You understand.”

“Of course.”

I was thankful that the doctor left, but after he did I heard him greet someone in the hallway. Three familiar ponies walked in (well one hovered).

“Hey guys.” The pen dropped from my mouth.

“Howdy, uh...” Applejack hesitated. “Ah don’t believe you told us yer name.”

“I don’t ... have one.”

Twilight blinked. “How can you not have a name? Everyone has a name!”

I stayed silent, the only sound in the room the beating of Rainbow’s wings. And Bronze snoring, but they couldn’t hear that.

Rainbow spoke up. “He looks like a Hot Head to me.”

Applejack gave her a look. Rainbow shrugged back. “What? He does!”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “How can someone look like a name?”

“I don’t need to defend myself! Someone can look like a name!” Rainbow threw her hooves up.

“Fine,” I tried to calm her down. “That’s actually a pretty cool name.”

Rainbow blushed and looked away.

I picked up the pen again and shakily signed Hot Head on the line.

“All right, I’m allowed to leave.” I had been waiting for this moment, but now I couldn’t feel excited about it.

“Great! Let’s go!” Rainbow swooped out the door again.

“Consarnit, Rainbow!” Applejack ran after her.

Twilight game me a sheepish smile.

“Is this going to be a recurring theme?” I asked her.

“Probably. You ready then?”

I thought I was, but then I remembered something. “Where are we going?”

“I thought we could show you around town a little.”

“Cool,” I slipped out of the bed. As soon as I put weight on a hoof, I found myself splayed out on the floor. I looked up at Twilight, embarrassed. “Umm... a little help?”

She giggled, then her horn lit up. There is no way to describe the feeling of weightlessness and helplessness of being held in telekinesis. She lifted me up to my feet and gently set me down.

Ok. Magic. That makes about as much sense as anything else going on around here.

“Thanks.” I purposefully made an effort to trot on Bronze’s face on my way following Twilight out.

“Ow! Wha...” Bronze growled as he realized what happened. “Of course you know that this means war.”

I smiled. Bring it.

I made my way to the front desk and left the clipboard on the vacant front desk. Nurse must be on break.

The sound of paws on tile followed me. “Kind of odd for a hospital.”

The sound of Rainbow’s voice interrupted my response. “What is taking him so long? We’ve been out here forever!”

I rolled my eyes. Something large and wet nudged my side, almost shoving me over. “Go on. Hurry up.”

I’m going. Geez. When Bronze nudged me again, he literally shoved me out the door. It was the second time I landed awkwardly in front of Twilight. I looked up at her again, and all I could do was smile. Before I could say anything, I was hoisted in the air by Rainbow. “You’re so slow! Let’s go already!” She threw me in the air and sped skyward. All I could do was flounder in a freefall.

My mind flashed back to my skydiving accident. I froze, just like I had right before I died. I shut my eyes, waiting for the impact. Suddenly, the wind stopped rushing past my ears, and I felt a different kind of weightless again. When I opened my eyes I was suspended in front of Twilight, above Applejack, who looked like she was trying to catch me. Once she realized I was safe, Applejack shouted to scold Rainbow, who was slowly gliding back to the ground. I looked at Twilight sheepishly again. “Thanks. Again.”

She put me down. “You haven’t figured out the wings yet, have you?”

“No. I’m actually scared of heights.” I admitted.

Rainbow’s voice broke into our conversation. That seems to happen often. “Well what pegasus doesn’t know how to fly!?!”

“I already told you, Rainbow!” I called over to her. She flew over as I continued. “I’m not used to this yet. I’m also trying to keep a low profile while I learn the culture.”

“That aint gonna happen,” Applejack put in. “This here’s a small town. Everypony already knows there’s a new pony.”

Every...pony? Oh my god...

“You called?” Bronze startled me. I ignored him.

“Great. I guess that Rainbow, then, should teach me how to fly.” I pointedly gave her a look that was a combination of a glare and a hint of a hidden consequence if she didn’t.

“Sure,” Rainbow scratched the back of her head. “They don’t call me ‘Dash’ for nothin’!”

“Dash? Oh, Rainbow Dash?”

“Hell yeah!”

“You guys have a second name?”

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

I looked expectantly at Applejack, who just shrugged. “Ah’ve only got the one. But now that that’s out of the way... Rainbow...!”

“What? Oh, right. Sorry,” she addressed the last part to me.

“Don’t worry about it.” There was a bit of an awkward pause, so I decided to break it. “We going somewhere?”

“Well, Ah’ve got to git back to the farm,” Applejack said, “They need mah help buckin’ apples.”

Bucking apples?

“You’ve got a lot to learn, buddy.”

“Bye, Applejack!” Twilight and Dash waved.

Once she left, Twilight spoke up. “So it’s kind of a small town, but there’s a lot to do here.”

“Kind of?” Rainbow mocked her. “Ponyville is one of the smallest places ever!”

Twilight sighed. “Should we start moving?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

Twilight and Rainbow showed me around town, starting with the market. They purposefully avoided a large cafe that looked more like a gingerbread house, and “You’ll see why later” was the only reason I got. When we reached the path that led to Applejack’s orchards (Sweet Apple Acres), Rainbow was telling me how that was the best place to take a nap and get a snack at the same time, when Twilight slapped the back of her head and scolded her about ‘corrupting the new guy.’ She sure gets told often, and it’s pretty amusing... maybe this won’t be so bad after all. Rainbow had been hovering the entire time, but eventually she landed heavily on my back.

“Rainbow-!”

“Relax, Twilight. It’s fine. I really don’t mind.” And I really didn’t. Rainbow was deceptively light. Or maybe I was a bad judge of weight.

“Well, if you say so. As I was saying, this is...” Twilight went on with her tour. At one point, Rainbow put her head down on the upper part of my back.

“Withers.”

I really couldn’t care less. How about you tell me something useful.

“Ok?”

Is she asleep on my back?

Bronze had been walking in pace with me, behind Twilight. He looked over his shoulder. “Wow. She must have been pretty comfortable to fall asleep that quickly.”

To be honest, this isn’t the most engaging tour. I’d probably fall asleep too if I already knew all about Ponytown.

“Ponyville!”

I laughed inside. It’s fun to get a reaction.

I could almost feel Bronze’s eyes narrowing. “Douchebag.”

Rainbow and I had lost interest in the guided tour given by Twilight long ago. We finally stopped in front of Twilight’s house.

“And this is the town library, as well as my house.”

“You live in a tree,” I said in disbelief.

“It’s actually quite spacious on the inside.”

“This place is so boring!” Rainbow blurted. “Why did we choose to stop here?” Her sudden outburst startled me, and I jumped. She took the opportunity to take off and hover next to Twilight.

“Rainbow Dash, my house is not boring! It’s one of the most entertaining places in town!” Twilight was murmuring something else to Rainbow that I couldn’t hear, but Rainbow straightened, eyes wide.

Did you get any of that, Bronze?

“I did, but I probably shouldn’t repeat it.”

Aww, why not?

“It seemed personal.”

Spoilsport.

“Plus, it’s the only place that we haven’t been to yet. You know, besides the other place.” Twilight spoke up again, but this time I caught her aside to Rainbow.

“What, the gingerbread house?”

Twilight jumped. “Shouldn’t have heard that...Yeah, that.”

There was an awkward pause as Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other and at me. I felt like there was some kind of conspiracy going on.

“Well, so uh...” Twilight floundered for a change of subject. “Books! Yes, library! You like reading, right?”

“To put it bluntly, I used to be that lonely kid reading in the corner in school.”

Twilight clapped her hooves together while Rainbow dropped her jaw. “I have so much to show you then!”

Rainbow interrupted. “But how? You look way too cool to be an egghead!”

I smirked as Twilight scolded Rainbow again. She turned back to me again, “And it’s getting dark, so if you want to stay here for the night, you are more than welcome to.”

“Ooorrr,” Rainbow interrupted again, “you can crash at my place. Clouds are sooo much more comfortable than other beds!”

“Thanks to both of you for the offers, but I don’t really want to be a burden or anyth-” I trailed off as my stomach started to make noise.

“Oh no!” Twilight looked like a schoolgirl who had forgotten to turn in a paper. “I didn't realize that you hadn’t eaten anything yet! And I’ve taken you around since this morning... Here, let me invite you over for dinner.”

“No, really, it’s fine-”

“Nonsense, you have nowhere else to stay.” She opened the front door and called inside. “Spike! Start making dinner for four!”

An adolescent masculine voice called back. “Including myself?”

“Yes, Spike!”

“Your brother?” I guessed.

Twilight smiled. “He’s like a brother to me, but no. He’s actually-”

*CRASH*

“Dammit, Spike...” Twilight muttered. “Hold on a second. I’ll be right back.” She disappeared through the door frame, leaving me to wait outside with Rainbow.

“Soo, how about I show you some of my awesome moves?” Rainbow started hovering again.

What, like a fight? I’m not sure if I’m adjusted to this body enough for that... But before you say anything, Bronze, I’m not chicken.

“That’s not what I was going to say. I don’t think she-”

“Alright, sure.” Before I had even finished the sentence (fragment), Rainbow had already shot herself into the air and was doing tricks that I couldn’t even keep track of.

Wow.

Bronze went on as I stared in awe. “As bad as a judge as I am on pony figures, Rainbow Dash doesn’t seem to have the body for a fighter. I was going to say that she has the athlete look.”

Huh. You don’t say? Rainbow did a backflip corkscrew inverse 360.

It seemed that Bronze was caught up in his interpretations of figures. “Actually, you’ve got a pretty solid build yourself. You might be a pretty good fighter, if these ponies actually believed in it.”

I had been tuning him out, but that last part caught my attention. Wait, what?

“Yeah. Ponies, or mares at least, don’t believe in fighting. It’s part of their interpretation of ‘friendship,’ or something like that.”

Damn.

“Why so glum? It’s not like fighting is a good thing to have plenty of.”

I’ve always loved a good brawl. Dang it!

There was a pause as I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Bronze sit down and put a paw to his chin in thought. I took a second away from Rainbow to give Bronze a glance. Back to Rainbow. Much more entertaining.

“I’ll give you a good fight, if you want.”

I glanced at him again. What? Are you serious? No thanks. You’re a god.

Rainbow looked a little shaky in the sky. Bronze shrugged. “Your loss. Wouldn’t you like to be able to say that you’ve fought a god?”

Yeah, because people would believe me. It’s my funeral.

Rainbow started to dive again. “Now why would I kill you in a brawl if I had just gone through the trouble of bringing you back?”

I realized that Rainbow was coming straight for me. I figured she would know what she was doing, though, and that she would pull up before she hit the ground. Maybe that’s the kind of crazed sick fuck you are.

“You know, most people wouldn’t talk back to the god that just resurrected them.”

Well, I’m not like most-

Rainbow crashed into my side. We skidded and bounced for a long distance before I hit my head.

I woke up facing a wooden ceiling. I thought the hospital had tile…

“It does. You’re not in the hospital.”

That took a while to register. Then where am I?

“I’ll give you two guesses.”

Not now Bronze, my head hurts.

“You ruin so much fun. Fine. You’re in Twilight’s house.”

The library?

Before Bronze could answer, I heard hoofsteps coming up what I assumed were stairs. I hadn’t moved my head, because it still hurt, and thus the only part of the room that I knew what it looked like was the ceiling. I didn’t make an effort to look towards the door. When I heard it open, I closed my eyes again and heard two sets of voices.

“Here he is, Fluttershy. He hit his head pretty hard when Rainbow slammed into him.” That was Twilight.

“Oh, let’s have a look at the poor dear.” I heard something land beside me, but I pretended not to notice. There was a muted thump the new arrival, Fluttershy, set something down. “What did you say his name was, Twilight?”

“Rainbow Dash named him Hot Head.”

There was a pause, as if Fluttershy nodded. “It seems to fit him.”

I felt soft hooves on my head suddenly. Well, softer than Rainbow’s, anyway. They searched around, then gently rolled my head to my right. There was an intake of breath as someone, Fluttershy I assumed, gasped. “Twilight, why didn’t you bandage this? He’s going to lose too much blood!” I heard frantic shuffling, as if someone were searching through a bag.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about first aid! I didn’t want to do anything wrong.”

“You’re right, Twilight. Thanks for coming to get me so soon. You said his name was Hot Head?” Another pause. The gentle voice spoke closer to my ear. “Excuse me, Hot head… Um, could you wake up for me please? I’d rather do this when you’re awake… Hot Head?”

I slowly opened my eyes to a field of bright pink that quickly disappeared with an “Eep!” to reveal Twilight standing in front of the doorway.

“It’s OK, Fluttershy, he’s wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Twilight tried to calm down the yellow pegasus shaking in place.

“B-b-but he did that to R-r-rainbow!”

I decided to speak up. “Actually, she crashed into me.” Bad idea. The sound of my voice freaked her out even more. She jumped into the air and sped out the door.

Twilight sighed. “Fluttershy!” She followed the butter creature out the door. Apparently Fluttershy was hiding behind the door frame, because Twilight stood in the doorway to talk to her.

Shoulda pretended to be asleep longer.

Bronze seemed greatly amused by the scene. I could hear his tail swishing on the floor. I took the opportunity to survey my surroundings with as little movement as possible. With my eyes, I looked around. Bronze wasn’t kidding; it looked like I was literally on the inside of a tree, laying on a couch.

“I’m not one to say ‘I told you so-,’”

I interrupted him. Yes you are. And don’t try to deny it, either.

There was a shadow of the couch in front of me, so it was safe to assume that there was a window behind me. The shadow was long, so the sun was setting. The girls’ conversation and my guessed position of the sun told me that I wasn’t out for too long.

I tried to sit up, but my head swam with a flash of pain. I must have made a noise, because Fluttershy swooped back over to me and gently forced my head back down and turned it to the side again, cooing sweet nonsense the whole time. I couldn’t focus on it though, my head hurt too much. I let out a hiss when the back of my head touched the couch.

“Twilight, could you hand me the salve and bandages? Thank you.” She set the bandages down next to me and took the salve in hoof. “Now this is going to sting a little…”

Oh no. That phrase never meant just a little. Why do medics even say- ohmygodthepainwhywouldyoudothistome. Stars flocked my field of vision, and when they left, she had already wrapped bandages around my head.

“Sorry bro, but if I do anything about it, they’ll know something’s up.”

“There you go, all done!” Fluttershy was saying. Next thing I know, there’s a weight on my chest as she gave me a tender hug. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it.

“Oh, thank you Fluttershy! I don’t know what I would do without you sometimes.” Twilight said as Fluttershy started towards the door.

“It wasn’t a problem, really… It was a pleasure seeing you again Twilight.”

“You’re welcome to stay for dinner if you want, Fluttershy. I can have Spike make up another plate.” My ears twitched at the mention of food.

“I don’t want to impose… You probably already have plans…”

“I just told you Fluttershy, we have extra.”

“Well, in that case, if you really want me to…”

“I wouldn’t have spent the last five minutes standing here arguing with you if I hadn’t wanted you to stay, Fluttershy.”

“Were we arguing? I’m sorry…”

This is getting ridiculous.

“I find it amusing.”

“Yeah, Fluttershy, stay for dinner with us! I want to get to know you more,” I said, trying to sit up again, albeit more slowly this time. Fluttershy immediately hovered over to me again.

“Oh, don’t try to move yet. You took a nasty tumble back there. Let me help you.” She picked me up, bridal style, carefully minding that my head didn’t loll on my neck too much. Twilight smiled at us as I was carried out the door. I shot her a wink. Air Fluttershy was not a bad way to travel.

Author's Note

Writer's block is a bitch... but I got past it!

Chapter 3

Chapter three

As Fluttershy carried me down the stairs of the library I saw Rainbow laying on the couch in the foyer. I felt sorry for her. She looked pretty banged up; she had numerous cuts and scrapes, most of which were bloody, and her left foreleg was in a splint. She looked up when she heard Twilight’s hoofsteps on the wooden floor. Her face lit up.

“Hot Head!” She leapt up and flew up to meet us on the stairs. “I’m so glad you’re ok!”

“You’re glad I’m ok? You look pretty banged up to me.”

She shrugged and rubbed the back of her head. “You got the worst of it. I had a soft landing.” I looked down and noticed for the first time that I was cut up at least as much as Rainbow was.

When Rainbow made to give me a hug, Fluttershy said, “Careful, Rainbow. He hurt his head badly. Nothing sudden for the next couple days, OK?”

Rainbow seemed to sober up. “Oh. Ok.” She made way for Fluttershy to drift over to the table, then followed close afterwards. Spike had already set up the table for five and was waiting expectantly. Fluttershy lightly set me down on a chair, then went to go sit in the one next to me. Rainbow took the one on my other side. Twilight and Spike sat across from me.

The only part of the dinner worth mentioning was that the salad was great. Twilight tried to talk about Equestria, and Rainbow tried to bring the conversation back to herself, and sometimes her friends. I didn't really want to talk about my experiences much. Earth is pretty boring compared to being here in Equestria talking to colorful ponies, but not like they would let me. Even being ponies, they’re still girls. They talked for hours after we had finished with my minimal input. I must have even dozed off at one point, because Bronze nudged the edge of my wing and I jolted. I’m pretty sure that everyone present noticed, except for Rainbow, who was still talking about the Wondercolts.

“Wonderbolts.”

I paid him no mind. I leaned back to stretch, my wings extending and my back cracking over the top of the back of the chair. One of the best feelings after sitting down for a while. When I relaxed again, everyone was looking at me funny. “What?”

Rainbow smiled with a pink tint on her cheeks, Twilight just smiled, Spike looked about as confused as I felt, and Fluttershy said what the mares were thinking. “You look so adorable when you’re tired!”

Spike opened his mouth and pointed into it as a gesture of disgust.

I felt heat rush to my face as Bronze chimed in behind me. “Don’t feel embarrassed. It’s a good thing when the ladies think you’re cute.”

My ears were burning. I grinned and went to rub the back of my head like Rainbow usually does, but I hit the bandaged part of my head with my hand...hoof. “Ow.”

They all chuckled. Then Rainbow stood up and stretched. “Well, I’d better be heading home. I’ve got clouds to move early tomorrow.”

“Moving clouds? Is that even possible?” I thought for sure that she was pulling my leg.

“Well, DUH! We’re pegasi! Of course we can- wait…” Rainbow was hovering now, “didn’t we already talk about this earlier?”

I shrugged. “Maybe.” I also pointed to the not-so-white bandage on my head for emphasis.

By this point, everyone else had stood up as well. Rainbow continued, “Speaking of clouds, are you ready to sleep on the best most comfortable sleeping material ever?!”

“Um… actually Rainbow, I would like to-” Fluttershy tried to cut in, but Twilight interjected without seeming to hear her.

“You’re also welcome to stay here as well, Hot Head.” Twilight stepped closer to whisper in my ear. “It would probably be a good idea to keep your distance from that one, at least until you heal.”

“Hey, I heard that!” Everyone ignored Rainbow’s outburst by unspoken consent.

“Actually, I heard Fluttershy-”

Rainbow cut in again, “Cloo-ouuds!” She drew it out into two tones, higher to lower, almost like a taunt. I glared at her and she fell silent.

“You really need to cut down on the glares. Your eyes intimidate people.”

I sighed. You really need to cut down on the- It was then that I noticed everyone waiting patiently for a decision. I turned to Fluttershy. “What was it that you were saying?”

“Um, well, I’d actually like to, that is, if you don’t mind, have you stay at my place, so I can, um, keep an eye on your, um… condition.”

“Well, that’s fine with me. You aren’t too hurt, are you Rainbow?” I tried to turn it into a friendly jab, but she actually seemed pretty disappointed about it.

“We can’t leave on that note,” Twilight put in. “Come here.”

Before I knew what was happening, I was swept into the middle of a giant group hug. I was swept on my hind legs, making me the lighthouse on the island of ponies. Rainbow noticed my awkwardness and said “Get used to it bro. Kind of a big deal around here.”

The hug lasted for much longer than friendly hugs do on earth, showing how much value these ponies put on friendship. Once I threw off my awkward feelings, I started to enjoy the hug. It eventually ended and we said our farewells, along with plans to meet the next day. Rainbow dashed away into the sky, and I followed Fluttershy in another direction. There was a soft thud as Twilight closed the door behind us.

I tried to make conversation with Fluttershy on our way to wherever we were going, but she would shut me down with one sentence responses. Man. She really is shy. I never thought I would meet someone with a name that fit her personality that well.

Bronze sighed from behind us. “Here. Let me help you out. If you’re going to be living with this mare for a while, you need to be able to carry on conversations with her. I know what her passion is, so I’ll go ahead and tell you. Talk about animals with her.”

Really? Animals? Somehow through our connection, I knew that Bronze nodded. I tried Fluttershy again. “So Fluttershy, how about you tell me about the wildlife here?”

Her eyes lit up and she gasped. She dove into what was so much more than what a park ranger could have told you. She loved talking about animals and what she did so much that the topic lasted until we got to her house. Located on a hill, somewhat away from Ponyville proper, with a stream at the base, the cottage seemed like a humble place to live. Granted, it was dark outside, and I couldn’t see much of it. As we crossed the small brick bridge that crossed the stream, Fluttershy reluctantly changed the topic of conversation.

“Well, here we are… Home sweet home.” We walked up to the door and she pulled a key out of her mane, passed it back to her wing, then unlocked the door.

Did you see what I just saw?

“Seems like a convenient way to carry things. You should try it.”

I wonder if my wings will ever be that dexterous.

“Maybe.”

Fluttershy led me inside and turned on the lights. Inside the cottage was probably the oddest interior decor I had ever seen. Birdhouses hung from the ceiling, little ramps and pathways ran from mousehole to mousehole in the walls, and various cages held sleeping critters in them. Other than that, the furniture seemed normal. Rug on the floor, stove over there, stairs on the far wall, that kind of thing. A little while rabbit hopped up to Fluttershy and tapped her on the leg, then glared at me.

“Oh, sorry. Hot Head, this is Angel. Angel, he’s going to be staying with us for a while.”

I glared back at him, and he didn’t seem disheartened in any way.

Fluttershy continued, “You can stay in the guest room upstairs, if you want… but um, whatever you want to do is fine.” She seemed to try to hide behind her thick mane as she spoke.

“That would be lovely. Can you show me where it is?”

“Umm… ok.” I could barely hear her response.

She led me up the stairs and stopped after we had passed a couple doors. “Well, this is it. The one next door is the bathroom, if you want to use it.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy, but I’m beat. I’d just like to go to bed.”

“Oh. Ok. Goodnight then.” She turned and walked over to another door.

“‘Night, Fluttershy. Thanks for letting me stay here.”

If she responded, I didn’t hear it. I opened the door (with my hoof, I was too tired to try the wing thing) and walked in. Some simple furniture lined the walls, but the small bed is what I was interested in. I jumped on it and fell asleep almost instantly.

Bronze woke me up with a nudge. “Hey, wake up. We need to leave.”

Huh? Why?

“Just trust me. Follow me. It’s important.”

But Bronze, it’s still dark outside!

“Come on. Hurry up.” He shoved me out of bed.

Fine, I’m up. Where are we going?

“Don’t ask questions.”

I felt a little suspicious about it, but I followed him out the door anyway. He led me outside.

Bronze, I can’t see.

He sighed. “Bite my tail and follow me.”

I thought he seemed impatient, so I tried to find his tail. I eventually found it and bit onto it. He led me away from Fluttershy’s cottage. At one point I lost sight of the stars. Bronze?

“Relax. We’re just in a forest.”

I blindly followed him for what seemed like hours until I could see stars again in the sky.

“You can let go now. We’re here.”

As soon as I let go, there was a flash of light in front of me. For some reason, it wasn’t blinding, and I could see that I was in a clearing of some sort. When the flash faded, I couldn’t detect Bronze anymore. I started to panic.

Bronze…? Bronze?

I heard a laugh. I could only describe it an an evil laugh. Or maybe a corrupt one. Then a voice rang out in the clearing. “This is all too easy. Humans must be way more stupid than I remember! You are so gullible!” The being laughed again. I started to get angry. “You must be really attached to that whimpering pup. Here, let me help you.”

The last thing I remember was feeling a finger press against my forehead.

I woke by something landing on my snout again. Ow! That little snot… But as I looked up, I saw Hot Head walking out the door. It’s the middle of the night! Where is he going? I was going to call out to him, but some sense told me to just follow him instead. I saw him leave the mare’s house, seem to dawdle a bit before biting down on something, then wander unerringly towards the Everfree Forest. Oh no. Shitshitshit- I started to chase after him, when the same sense told me that stealth might be a virtue. He didn’t seem to notice me stalking him for a while until he reached a clearing. I stayed back in the shadows of the trees.

There was a flash of light, and someone that I had hoped to never see again appeared. The creature looked like an abomination, by choice. He claimed that it fit his domain. Mismatched limbs, a goat head, lizard tail, even mismatched horns and wings. Discord. I couldn’t help but let out a low growl at the sight of him. I hated every part of him, but I knew I couldn’t take him on in a fight. As I watched, he touched Hot Head’s forehead. Hot Head’s eyes rolled up and he collapsed to the ground. That was the last straw.

I became blinded by rage.

I laughed again. This is just so easy! That fool fell asleep on the job. It was too simple to take his pet away. Now what can I do to him? I heard one calling him Hot Head. Why don’t I make it true? Before I could make it a reality, I heard a growl from the bushes.

“DISCORD!”

“Ah, look who finally made it to the party!” I teleported as he lunged at me. Now on the other side of the pathetic human, I snapped my fingers. His flame colored mane and tail burst into flame. I chuckled. What else could I do? I blinked away again as Bronze sailed past where I was, teeth open in a snarl. I could have fun with this.

“You know, Bronze,” I traveled through space once again. “You should really take care of your pets better. I mean, you couldn’t even bring him here without disrupting the fabric of magic.”

He snarled again. I grinned as I realized I was making him furious. “I will not let harm come to him!”

I laughed again. “Famous last words, Bronze.” He lunged again, and I yawned, swatting him out of the air. He bounced in front of the human, over him, then skidded into a thick tree. I turned my attention back to the human, directing my words to Bronze, more than myself. “Why don’t I help him out a little bit? Super strength couldn’t hurt, could it?”

“Don’t touch him!”

“Silly Bronze, you should know that I don’t need to!” I avoided another clumsy attack as I snapped again. Although nothing obvious happened, the human’s form became a little more bulky. As I hovered, pondering what else I could do, Bronze landed on my back. Before he could take a bite, I teleported and he landed heavily on his back. “Here, Bronze, I’ll give him a present. From you.” I snapped another time, and nothing obvious happened again.

“DISCORD! What did you do to him!?!”

I laughed again. This was all too funny! “Oh, nothing special.” I teleported by his side and whispered in his ear, then poofed back to where I was before he could react. “Lycanthropy.”

Bronze’s angry shout shook the ground. His fur started to billow, as if there was a strong breeze to move it. “DISCORD! YOU WILL FIX HIM, RIGHT NOW! OR I SWEAR, I WILL-”

“You’ll what? Come and get me? You stand no chance against me, my dear lost puppy.” To normal eyes, Bronze’s form would have been blurred by his enraged speed. But to mine, he was still slow enough to track. He lunged, swiped, bit, and whatever else wolves do, to try and hurt me, but I dodged each one, laughing the whole time. I started to think about the little human again. “Actually, the lycanthropy-” I dodged another swipe “-will give him strength. He seems--a little too Mary Sue, don’t you think--, Bronze?” He didn’t even register my words anymore. He was too lost in his rage. “Maybe I’ll take away the extra strength-- I gave him. As fun as it sounds, I don’t want him to be accidentally-- knocking down houses.” I snapped again, and the bulk stayed on his body, but I could tell that the supernatural part was gone. I tried to bat the wolf away again, but this time he managed to lodge onto my scaled arm. I flailed it about, and he ripped it off. I stared at the hole in my torso, then laughed again. “Did you really think you could hurt me, Bronze?” He sprang at me again, and I teleported behind him. When I reappeared, I had my arm back. “I guess my work here is done. I’ll leave him with you now. He’s better off; the chicks will dig the flame mane. But don’t get it wet! And you’ll be able to bond better! You’ll both be wolves!”

Bronze growled threateningly at me again.

“Sayonara, Bronze!” I teleported away from the clearing, letting my laugh echo around after I had left.

I could still taste his flesh on my tongue. It was revolting, but satisfying at the same time. As the red faded from my vision, I looked down and realized how royally screwed I was. Hot Head (I really have to get him a better name) was still laying on the forest floor, his mane and tail ablaze. Damn it. How could I have let this happen? I could bring him to Celestia, but even if she could fix him, she would tell the Alpha. I shuddered. I could not let that happen.

I realized that my charge was on fire. As I frantically thought about what to do, Discord’s words echoed in my mind. “Don’t get it wet!” What did he mean by that? Even given Discord’s nature, when he gives advice, it’s best to follow it. But it’s bound to be a trick. No, it couldn’t be. Hot Head looked too peaceful to be in pain. I hovered my paw over his burning mane. I felt heat, but it wasn’t as if I was over a campfire. Maybe he would be fine.

I couldn’t just put him back in Fluttershy’s spare bed. He might burn the house down. I looked at the tree Discord had flung me at. There was heavy evidence that something large had rammed it. A few broken branches were scattered on the ground. I retrieved one and brought it back to my ward. I held it over his head. Nothing happened. I stuck it in the flame. Nothing happened. It was then that I noticed his bandage wasn’t burning either.

I found it odd. Discord had supposed to have been turned good a couple of months ago. I never trusted him, even afterwards. And I was right, but he seemed to have developed some kind of conscience in that he made sure that Hot Head wouldn’t burn anything. I just hope that I can help him control his inner lycan.

I looked down at his sleeping form again. How was I going to explain this to him? How was I going to explain Hot Head to the mares?

I nudged the grey pegasus. “Hey. Wake up.” He didn’t move. I shook him with both paws. “Come on buddy. Wake up.” I considered waking him up with magic, but I didn’t know how it would interfere with Discord’s magic. I just consented to have to carry him back.

Something was shaking me. “Come on. Wake up.”

Bronze, it’s too early!

“This is important. Wake up.”

But Bronze-

“Fuck it.” Something washed over me and suddenly I was wide awake. I rolled over in Fluttershy’s spare bed and looked at Bronze. He didn’t have the smile he normally had plastered over his muzzle.

What-

“Do you remember anything about last night?”

He sounded so serious. He was never this serious. I remember Twilight’s dinner, walking back with Fluttershy, you... leading me out into a forest...then a creepy laugh… and that’s it.

“Fuck.” Bronze was cursing a lot more than he normally does. Something was wrong. I sat up more. “That wasn’t me last night.”

But-

He held up a paw. “Let me explain. That wasn’t me. That was an evil god. His name is Discord.” He growled as he said the name. “He likes to pick on us lesser gods. He saw you as an easy way to get to me. He’s an abomination. All of his limbs are mismatched. A crazy, wild look in his eye. Completely unpredictable. The bastard had crashed almost every council that the gods held, claiming that it was his right, as the god of chaos, to be there. I wasn’t even allowed to attend; only the higher-ups, like Celestia, Luna, the Alpha-I’m getting sidetracked. Only the greater gods got invited. When they summoned me there to allow me to have my first ward -you- he showed up and promised to make it hell for me. Then he left before anyone could do anything. Last night, he disguised himself as me to trick you into going out into the forest.”

He hesitated. “I don’t know all of what he did to you, but I know one thing.” He took the body sized mirror on the dresser in his mouth, flipped it in the air, then caught it so it was facing me.

What I saw freaked me out. A large grey pony sitting in a bed stared back at me. One eye was red, the other completely void of color. Its mane was on fire. It looked like a beast from hell. I gave a yelp and rolled off of the other side of the bed by reflex. When I popped my head back up above the bed, Bronze had already put the mirror back.

“Your mane and tail are made out of flames. Don’t worry though, I have already tested it: they will not burn anything, or anyone, although they are still sources of heat. He did tell me something though. He told me to not let your mane get wet.”

Butbutbut… how?

Bronze sighed. “Magic. Discord’s corrupted magic.”

But what do I tell people? They’ll just freak!

“I don’t know if you saw him last night, but just explain to Fluttershy that a creature with a goat head and mismatched limbs snatched you away last night. Try explaining that it was a dream. She should know what you are talking about. And by the way, she’s coming down the hallway right now.”

What! You have to give me more warning than- A knock on the door interrupted me.

Fluttershy’s voice came through the door. “Um, Hot Head? I’m sorry if I woke you up… It’s just that I have breakfast ready, and um… I was wondering if you wanted any.”

“Thanks Fluttershy! I’ll be right down!” What do I do, what do I do… I saw a stetson hanging on a peg by the mirror. Perfect! I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. If I tilted it down in the front, I could hide the front of my flame. If I could keep her in front of me the entire time, I would be fine. I glanced around the room for anything else I could use. I didn’t see anything else. I walked towards the door.

“Tail!”

What else can I do about it, Bronze? There’s nothing else in here!

“Uh, fuck, I don’t know!”

Shit, Bronze, she’s waiting for me! What do I do?

“Press some buttons, I dunno!”

Aw man, I love buttons! But there aren’t any in here! What made you come up with that?

“Well, when there are buttons, pressing random ones always does something.”

I’m just going to go anyway. I opened the door to find an empty hallway. I heard soft singing from downstairs. I reached the top of the stairs and stopped. Bronze, she’s going to freak.

“You could just take the hat off, run down there like a maniac screaming that you’re on fire.”

That’s not happening.

I started down the stairs and saw Fluttershy setting the table with sunny-side-up eggs, singing to birds that fluttered around her. My stomach growled. She must have heard it, because she looked up at me, smiling. The look quickly turned into one of frightened concern, and she ran towards a door. Before I could say anything, she opened the closet and took out a bucket of water. Who keeps a bucket of water in their-oh no.

“Don’t let her-!”

Too late. She threw the water over me. I felt very weak all of a sudden. Fluttershy started to blur into the background. The stetson fell to the floor, and I followed it soon after.

Author's Note

If anyone recognizes both references in this chapter, they will win an internet cookie.

Chapter 4

Chapter four

I woke up facing a familiar wooden view. Why do I keep waking up in strange places? And why do I keep blacking out? I was on the same couch in Twilight’s library. I could see flames dancing in the top of my vision.

“It seems as if Discord tied your life force to your flames. If they go out, you go out.”

Well that’s morbid.

“Hey, he’s coming to!” Spike shouted from right next to my ear.

“Ow, Spike, not so loud,” I covered my ear with a hoof.

“Oh, thank goodness he’s ok!” Fluttershy hovered through the door while Twilight trotted in after her.

“I was right! Yesyesyesyesyesyes-” Twilight started to bounce in place.

“Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, Twilight, but right about what?” I sat up.

“Oh! Your mane is stronger than it was when Fluttershy brought you in here, and you’re feeling better! I knew they were connected!”

“Twilight,” Spike crossed his arms. “I was the one who told you that they were.”

“You just got that from your game, Spike.”

“But I was right!”

Twilight gently pushed him away with a hoof. “What happened to you?”

“Well,” I started.

“Talk about Discord, not me.”

“Last night, I was sleeping in Fluttershy’s bed.” Her face turned beet red, and I could feel heat rushing to mine. “Nonono, her spare bed! I wasn’t-”

“I know. Get back to your story,” Twilight said gently through her blush. Fluttershy still hid behind her mane.

“I was sleeping, and then I woke up in a clearing in a forest. I saw an odd creature, with a goat head and mismatched limbs.” The color from Twilight’s face drained. She seemed to know who I was talking about. “He touched me on the forehead, and I woke up in Fluttershy’s be...spare bed. It almost felt like a dream.”

“That’s bad, that’s bad, that’s, very bad,” Twilight started to get agitated.

“Hey, Twilight! I’m fine! Really! There’s nothing to worry about!”

“You’re not what I’m worried about!” Oh, ok. Thanks. You’re nice.

“Discord’s back! That’s a very bad thing!” Twilight was still freaking out.

Fluttershy hovered in front of her face, grabbing it with both of her hooves. “Twilight, calm down.” She stared at Twilight. Just stared into her soul. Twilight visibly relaxed under the gaze. “Discord isn’t bad anymore. He wouldn’t break his promise to me. He didn’t even hurt Hot Head! If anything, Discord did good in healing him! Look! All of his scratches and scrapes are gone!”

I looked around, and sure enough, she was right. Fluttershy unwound the bandage on my head, and no trace of a wound remained underneath.

“So he had his fun with my hair. I’m cool with that. It’s pretty awesome.” I put on a grin to show that it really didn’t matter to me.

“Good. They can’t know about me.”

How many times are you going to tell me that?

“Until I think you have the idea.”

“Well I’m still writing to Princess Celestia about it,” Twilight huffed. Twilight had mentioned during dinner that she was Celestia’s personal student.
My stomach growled again. I grinned sheepishly.. “Well, I guess we never got to have that breakfast you made, huh?” I asked Fluttershy.

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

God, stop apologizing…

“So why don’t you two go back to Fluttershy’s and eat your breakfast?” Twilight asked.

I felt like the last unspoken part of that sentence was ‘and stop freeloading in my house.’ But maybe that was just me.

After another minute of awkwardness, Fluttershy and I were on our way back to her house. I didn’t even try to make conversation, and she seemed more comfortable without it. The rest of the walk would have been an uneventful stroll shared in companionable silence with the three of us, if it hadn’t been for the burning in my stomach. I wolfed down the delicious meal, giving compliments to the chef, who blushed and tried to shy away.

When we were both done, I asked my host, “So what is there to do here, Fluttershy?”

“Well, um… I’m normally taking care of my critters or hanging out with the girls. But um, I’m sorry, but I think we should, if it’s alright with you, make a quick trip to a... friend before we do anything else. But whatever you want to do is fine.” She seemed to have trouble asking me to do anything, no matter how small.

“Alright. Lead on.”

She led me back towards Ponyville, Bronze following behind. I heard faint electronic music; it sounded loud and far away. Wherever that was, it was my place to be. I wanted to follow it, but I felt bad about the idea of ditching Fluttershy. She wanted to show me something, so I was going to follow her. As we neared the small town, she led me around the edge. As if to keep me out of sight.

Fluttershy eventually escorted me to a nondescript house that looked the same as the rest. The bass was coming from this house, so loud that it hurt my ears, yet Fluttershy only looked mildly annoyed.

The door opened and a pair of white hooves pulled Fluttershy inside in a bear hug. “Fluttershy! Aw man, it’s been a while! What brings you here! And who’s your… damn.” A white creature, possibly a unicorn, was crushing Fluttershy in an embrace. She (it?) had an electric blue mane, wildly untamed, and oddly shaped purple sunglasses on, obscuring her eyes. She spoke loudly and proudly. I liked her immediately. When she saw me, her grip loosened and Fluttershy managed to escape. “Hey man, come in here.” Her voice sounded deep, almost masculine.

“Yeah, there’s not enough room for me in there. I’ll just wait out here.”

I entered and shut the door behind me. I was still under assault from the awesome bass, my ears bent back in my wince. Occasionally I would blink in recoil from an extra loud beat. She seemed to notice and her horn lit up, turning the music down. Much better.

“Vinyl, who’s at the door?” An upper class accent accompanied hoofsteps down unseen stairs. When they rounded the corner, a grey mare with a refined black mane faced us. I thought it odd how she wore only a purple bowtie. Matches her eyes, though. “Oh, hello, Fluttershy. What brings you here?” She asked my escort, but her eyes never left me.

It seemed as though Fluttershy was too afraid of the tension in the room to even speak. The grey mare spoke. “Excuse me, but may I have a word with Vinyl in private?” She pulled the white mare, ‘Vinyl,’ around the corner. I glanced at Fluttershy, who was still shaking for whatever reason, but I was paying attention to the conversation in the other room.

“Vinyl, is he another one of-?”

“I don’t know, Octy. He’s got the eyes.”

“Only one.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“I can smell-”

“What is it?”

“He smells like… me, Vinyl.”

There was a pause. “You don’t mean-”

“I think he is.”

“He couldn’t be. Maybe he’s something unique, like that one fairy. His head is on fire! Where else have you seen that?”

“Are we allowed to bring in another kind?”

“We shouldn’t do anything right now. We’ll ask Princess Luna later.”

“Ok. They’re probably waiting for us.”

I heard footsteps again. I couldn’t help but realize that I was grinning. What? I like when people talk about me. Who doesn’t? But why were they talking so loudly if they were trying to keep a secret?

Electric blue hair poked around the corner, and I quickly wiped the goofy grin off my face, instead opting to raise a curious eyebrow at the odd ponies as they came into view.

Vinyl walked up to me and offered her hoof. “Vinyl Scratch.”

I bumped it with mine. “Hot Head.”

She couldn’t hold her smile at my name.“Hot Head? That’s an awesome name! It...fits.”

I offered my hoof to the grey mare next, who shook it in a firm grip. Odd for a mare. “My name is Octavia. Nice to meet you, Hot Head.”

Vinyl turned back to Fluttershy. “So uh, Fluttershy, what brings you here?”

“Well, um,” she motioned for Vinyl to come closer, then whispered in her ear.

Vinyl nodded a couple of times while she listened. “OK… yeah… wait, what?...Oh...Are you serious?...Yeah, I could do that.”

Octavia and I looked at Vinyl curiously, knowing that we could get a better answer from her than Fluttershy. “Fluttershy tells me that you’re new here, and she wants me to help you fit in. She thinks that because of our shared condition that I would be a help.”

Shared condition? “Even though it’s wild, Vinyl, I don’t see your mane on fire.”

Vinyl didn’t even crack a smile, instead opting to simply remove her glasses. Underneath were the most beautiful red eyes I had ever seen.

It took me a second to make the connection. “Oh.” It was the only thing in my vocabulary that seemed to fit at the moment.

“So Octy and I,” Vinyl pulled the grey mare in a side hug, “are going to help you!”

I wasn’t sure what to say. These two mares, who have never even heard of me, want to help me out. Why?

“Ponies in Ponyville are friendly. They want to make friends with strangers.”

What if I were some murderer psychopath?

“I don’t even know if that’s a thing here.”

I’m still a freak.

A white hoof was waving in front of my face. “Yo! Equestria to Hot Head!”

I shook my head. “Oh, sorry. Lost in my thoughts. Sure, what did you have in mind?”

“Well, first, sunglasses!” She levitated her purple shades onto my muzzle.

Have you ever seen the world through a shade of purple?

“No, but I can see through you.”

It’s awesome!

All too soon, the tint was lifted off, with Vinyl shaking her head and Octavia wearing what was almost a disgusted look.

“Was it really that bad?” I asked.

“Yeah. Fluttershy, you don’t have to stay here if you have something else you need to be doing.” Vinyl said. I looked behind me out of the corner of my eye and saw Fluttershy fidgeting. “We’re going to be a while.”

“Okthanksbye!” she vanished. She must have been really uncomfortable here.

I looked back to my new friends… or friend. Vinyl had disappeared. I raised an eyebrow at Octavia.

“Oh, she went upstairs to see what else she had. She’ll be back.”

I heard crashes from upstairs.

“Ok. So what is it you do?”

“I’m a cellist from Canterlot.”

I have no idea what Canterlot is. “I used to play the cello.”

“Did you now?”

“Yeah, I was never really good at it. I only played it for school.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. We need more ponies that appreciate classical music.”

She seems to be the opposite of Vinyl in that regard.

“And every other one.”

“She seems to be making a lot of noise…” I said cautiously. You never know what could offend someone you just met.

“Excuse me for a moment.” She followed her housemate up the stairs.

I could hear their conversation again.

“What are you still doing up here, Vinyl?”

“I’m trying to find one that will look good on him.”

“Oh just bring the whole box down!” Octavia said impatiently.

“Fine.”

The sound of a quick kiss reached my ears. I wasn’t sure if that made me feel uncomfortable.

They came back down, a large cardboard box following Vinyl in a coat of light blue.

“So let’s see what we’ve got here…” Vinyl started digging through the box, pulling out a pair of simple black shades. She set them on my muzzle.

“Hmm… They don’t really compliment his mane very well.” Octavia remarked.

Vinyl set the simple shades down while Octavia pulled out a more sleek looking pair. Apparently they didn’t look good either. The mares took turns trying pairs of glasses on me. I didn’t mind being the center of attention of two attractive mares, but they took so long that I was hungry again by the time they had exhausted the box.

Vinyl put her hoof to her chin in thought. Her face lit up and she ran back upstairs. Octavia and I shared a confused glance as she came back down with a pair of goggles and handed them to me.

The band was yellow, and the lenses were a shade of light blue. They looked like swimming goggles.

I looked back up at Vinyl, confused. “Wouldn’t I look weird walking around outside in goggles? It’s not like it’s dusty here or anything.”

“They’re flight goggles! You’re a pegasus! Nopony will ask any questions.” Vinyl countered.

“Ok, so what about when I’m not flying? Would it not look odd if I were sitting at the cafe, eating while wearing these?”

“Well the pegasi on the weather team usually just wear them on their foreheads when they aren’t flying.”

I smirked, knowing I had won. “Exposing their... what, Vinyl?”

“...If you didn't want them, you could have just said so.”

“Nono, it’s not that I don’t want them, it’s that I want to make sure that they will work.” I quickly readjusted her point of view.

Vinyl sighed. “Why do mares pull of the sunglasses look so much better than the guys do? Even Sweetie Belle looks better in some of these than you do!”

“Ouch. Right in the pride.”

Shut up.

“Is hiding my eyes really that big of a deal? I mean, it’s not like this is making me blend in either,” I gestured toward the dancing flame on my head.

“Completely slipped my mind,” Octavia put in.

“Have you tried putting that out?” Vinyl asked, pointing at my head.

My smile died. “Yes. It’s not a good idea.”

“What happens?”

“I could die.” Well, that was if Twilight was right, but I didn’t want to take any chances.

There was silence for a few moments. I brought a somber mood into the small house.

“Well, we don’t want that,” Vinyl summed up our thoughts bluntly.

“Say Vinyl, aren’t your parents-” Octavia started. I thought I saw a warning glare pass from Vinyl, but Octavia kept going. “-something of fashion designers? Couldn’t they make something up for him?”

Vinyl thought about it for a second. “I’m not sure if they would charge for a pair. On the other hand, Rarity’s right here in town, and she’s more than generous.”

Octavia slowly put her hoof to her face. “She’s a seamstress, Vinyl.” She sounded as if she were explaining a simple concept to a small child. “She doesn’t make sunglasses.”

Vinyl suddenly pointed out the window. “Wow, it’s afternoon already! We should hurry over to Rarity’s before she closes.”

Octavia sighed. “I’m so sorry that we couldn’t find anything for you, Hot Head. We will try her parents and get back to you.”

I took that as a suggestion to leave. “Thanks for trying, though. It was nice meeting you both. Oh, and before I forget,” I added, turning to Vinyl, “was that you blasting the bass?”

Her grin took up more than half her face. “Hell yeah! You like?”

I smiled back at her. “You’ll have to introduce me to your clubs sometime.”

“Looking forward to it!” She walked me to the door, securing her shades over her eyes before opening the door. “See you later, bro!”

“Bye! Thanks again!”

The first thing I noticed was the lack of a large wolf sitting where I had left him. The next thing I noticed was that there were no ponies about. Must go to bed early here. I wandered about town, trying to remember the tour that I didn’t pay attention to, keeping an eye out or Bronze. A giant wolf, you think he’d be easy to find…

Eventually I wandered down a path that looked familiar. I continued down the way to Fluttershy’s cottage. When I got to the door, there was a note on the door.

Hot Head,

I went to Twilight’s. If I’m not back yet, meet me there.

~Fluttershy

Figures. I turned around, facing the sunset, and started down the road again. A while later, I found a familiar looking pair of simple sunglasses on the side of the road. I assumed someone had dropped them there, so I picked them up and put them on, intending to return them later. Much better.

I looked at Vinyl as soon as he left. "What do you think about him?"

She looked at the door as if he was still there. "He seems like a fun guy."

“What are we going to do about him?”

She looked at me through her glasses and sighed. “You really think he could be a lycan?”

“I know what I smelled. He’s one of us. Didn't you see his tail wagging when we were trying to find him a pair of your glasses?”

She smiled. “I thought I saw that, but I wasn't sure if it was just the flame.”

“I still think we should tell Luna.”

“We will, but we've got somewhere to be, remember?” Vinyl started out the door, then stopped. “He’ll be needing these.” She levitated a single pair of glasses out of the pile.

Author's Note

Many of you should understand my headcanon of Vinyl and Octavia. And if you don't, look at this story. http://www.fimfiction.net/story/36388/my-roommate-is-a-vampire

Chapter 6

Chapter six

Some time into the night, Pinkie made an announcement for all of the foals to leave. Begrudgingly, they did. Pinkie made a once-over of the first floor, since the second was barred, and when she found that there were no more underaged guests left, shouted, “Bring out the hard cider and liquor!”

Ah, there it is. I knew that there was going to be alcohol here. Every party that isn’t thrown by kids or for kids is going to have alcohol in some way or fashion. Even the snobby high-class parties have alcohol.

A large red earth pony hauled a barrel in and set it down next to the refreshment table. There was already a line before he had even set it up. He left, probably to get another barrel, judging by the size of the line waiting, which was composed of basically all of the ponies that were present.

Vinyl moved the needle back onto the record from where she had stopped it for Pinkie’s announcement. Vinyl slightly turned her head towards me. “Oh, you’re still here?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I raised an eyebrow and lifted a corner of my mouth.

“Thought you’d be in line.” She raised a pair of headphones and held one side to the ear that she wasn’t listening to me with.

“What, for the drinks? Nah, I don’t drink.”

She straightened and looked at me, actually raising her sunglasses to look at me, shock and disbelief in her crimson eyes. “At all? Not even Sweet Apple Cider?”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Never liked alcohol.”

“Have you even tried Applejack’s cider?”

“No. Is it really that great?”

Vinyl simply swept her hoof in a wave over the line of thirsty ponies. The red stallion had brought a couple more barrels in. Applejack was at the front of the line, helping to distribute the drinks as fast as possible. “Think ponies would wait in a line that long for something that wasn’t amazing?”

“Supply and demand, I guess. Either way, it’s more for someone else if I don’t have any.”

Vinyl put her glasses back down, the purple shade hiding her most attractive quality. Man, I really need to stop thinking like that. She swapped disks with levitation without even looking. She grinned. “I’m sure that Applejack will save you some. It’s not like her to forget about the pony the party is for.”

“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Twilight yet, which is odd, considering this is her house… Or Fluttershy, for that matter.”

Vinyl chuckled. “I’m not surprised you haven’t seen Fluttershy. And Twilight’s probably trying to convince her to come out of whatever corner she’s hiding in.”

I smiled. “Probably.”

We stood in companionable silence for a while. Well, ‘silence’ is a relative term, with bass shaking the floor we stood on. After a couple more songs, Vinyl muttered, “...running out of tracks…”

“What was that?” I asked, thinking she was addressing me.

“What? Oh, I’m just running out of the songs I have stashed here, and I really don’t want to use the ones that sorry excuse for a DJ left.”

“Is that going to be a problem?”

“I doubt it. Go mingle. It’s your party. I’ll figure it out.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Go see if you can’t find Octavia. I can never really find out what she does at these parties.”

“Alright. See you around.”

“Later.”

The line had more or less morphed back into the groups of ponies that it had been earlier. I made my way back to the snack table. Food is food, after all, and I don’t know if it’s Discord’s magic or just me, but I was starving. I snagged several treats and balanced them on an outstretched wing. I made sure that they wouldn’t fall off, then I started to wander around, looking for someone I recognized.

You’d think that a rainbow mane would be easy to find, but in a sea of different colors, it’s kind of difficult. I felt like I was playing a mixture of I Spy and Where’s Waldo. I decided to make a perimeter of the floor. I’d be destined to find someone relaxing on a couch or something on the side of the room.

And I was...right? I found Twilight talking to a couch. And a white unicorn next to her. It was odd, because she would look at the other unicorn, then turn around a make a comment to an empty couch. Were ponies that drunk already?

All of this went through my head as I made my way over to where they were sitting. Twilight noticed me and waved me over. The white unicorn looked up and smiled, but her eyes widened and it immediately turned into an ‘O’ of surprise. She had an overly styled purple mane and what was probably a little too much eye makeup on.
“Oh my,” she said quietly.

My heart sank a little. Was this going to be the rest of my life? Was it going to escalate to the point of mob mentality? Hopefully not; the party seemed to be more tame than the scenarios going in my head.

“Hey Twi.” The two mares took up one couch, and for some reason, I didn’t want to sit on the other one, so I stood and leaned on the arm closest to the purple mane.

“Hey Hot Head. This is my friend Rarity. Rarity, this is the one I’ve been telling you about,” Twilight introduced us.

“Charmed,” Rarity said, still staring at my mane.

“So why are you guys talking to a couch? You bring it to life or something?” I asked, taking a cupcake off of my wing and taking a bite out of it.

“Heavens, no, although there was that one time when Twilight-”

“Hey! That was one time! And-”

“Anyway, dear Fluttershy is hiding in there. We’ve been trying to get her to come out and enjoy herself more.”

“Can she hear us?”

“Of course.”

I took an apple off of my wing and crunched on it. “I’ve got an idea.” I took another bite. “Want one?” I offered, moving my wing toward them. They declined. “More for me then. So, what’s she like when she’s drunk?”

“Fluttershy?” Rarity almost gasped.

“We’ve never really seen her drunk. She doesn’t like to drink.” Twilight explained.

“Ah. Well there goes that.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Well,” I finished the apple, moving over towards the ‘empty’ couch. “Which side is she on?”

“About the middle, dearie.”

I sat down on the side closer to the other couch, making sure that Fluttershy could hear me. “One of my friends from back home couldn’t speak a word in front of girls unless he had alcohol in his system. Some sort of lack of self esteem. He was fine around us, though.”

“You want to get Fluttershy drunk so she can be more outgoing? That doesn’t seem… ethical,” Twilight tilted her head to the side, thinking.

I shrugged. “It’s not my decision.” Another bite. “But it’s there if you want it, Fluttershy.”

I got no response from the couch. I glanced back at the mares. Twi looked like she was thinking, and Rarity was looking at me and through me at the same time. It was weirding me out. And that’s hard to do.

“Or, I could just do this,” I reached in between the cushions until I felt something fleshy, then pulled up. There was a yelp as I set Fluttershy down on the couch next to me where she continued to shiver. I put forward my not-so-full wing of food. “Here. You’ll feel better.”

She timidly took an apple and I could barely hear a “thanks…” in response.

I wrapped a forehoof around her shoulder. “You know, I used to be the shy guy in my school.”

She sat there and nibbled on her apple. Twilight and Rarity looked on.

“I didn’t like talking. I didn’t like meeting strange new people. Hell, my best friend for so many years was my dog. I only realized what I had been missing when I actually started to have fun with others.” I tapped Fluttershy’s shoulder to make a point. “You’ll feel a lot better when you do.”

Still no response. I sighed and stood up. “Well, I’m all outta food, so I’ll be back.”

“Oh, before you go, darling,” Rarity spoke up. “You simply must come by my boutique sometime. I will make the most marvelous suit for you!”

I smiled. “I’ll do that.”

I made my way back to the snack table, stepping over ponies that had passed out. I ran into Rainbow Dash on the way there. Literally. She was dancing and inadvertently launched herself into me.

“Ho, Rainbow!” I caught her and she went limp in my forelegs. “Are you ok?”

“Ah, I’m fine,” Rainbow slurred. Her breath was strong with alcohol.

“How much have you had to drink?”

“A couple shidersh...Not much.”

“Ugh, Rainbow...Come on,” I led her to the snack table. I stocked up my wing with a couple mugs of cider and several glasses of water, as well as a couple of cream sodas for myself. I held Rainbow under the other wing as I led her back towards the other girls. I set her down on the couch next to Fluttershy, then sat on her other side. I passed out a cider to Rarity and Twilight and set one down on the table in front of Fluttershy. I set down the waters on the table, and gave two to Rainbow and one to Fluttershy.

“Aww, you didn’t have to get us drinks!” Twilight said.

“Thank you darling, such a gentlecolt!”

“Um… thanks,” Fluttershy mumbled.

“Don’t mention it.” I tapped the table next to the cider. “It’s there if you want it, Shy. And drink up, Rainbow; you’ll thank me later.”

“I don’t need this,” Rainbow grumbled.

“Actually, Rainbow, hangovers are much worse when you’re dehydrated. Not to mention alcohol poisoning,” Twilight tried to help me help Rainbow.

Rainbow looked down at the water again. Grumbling, she downed a glass.

I popped open a bottle of soda and took a swig. The taste was just as good as I remember. The guys and I used to chug these at parties back...home. Home. I looked down at the clear bottle.

I was tossing a foam football up and down in my hand. We were in a basement, having one of the times of our lives. I took another long drought from the bottle of cream soda in my other hand. Two of the guys were talking on the other side of the room; one had his back to me. We were always messing with each other. I handed the bottle to one of my friends standing next to me.

“Here, hold this.” The football landed in my hand again, and I whipped it at my friend’s back across the room. It went high and hit him in the back of the head. He turned around with an aggressive grin on his face.

“Who threw that?” He asked. Everyone pointed at me. This kind of thing was common at these parties. “Oh-ho, you asked for it.” He came at me and tackled me to the ground.

“Waitwaitwait-hold on a sec,” I told him. He let me wriggle an arm free. I took off my glasses and handed them to the same guy that had my drink. I put my arm back and said, “Ok, go ahead.”

He tried to keep me pinned, but I rolled him over and stood up. I let him get his footing, then charged at him. He sidestepped and wrapped me in a bear hug, keeping my arms pinned to my sides and my feet off the ground. “Had enough yet?” He asked loudly in my ear.

“Hardly.” I reached in between my legs and grabbed one of his, pulling it up and forward, causing us both to fall backwards. He let go of me when I landed on him, and I used the momentum to roll to my feet. Even with the wind knocked out of us, we were both still smiling.

A couple more moments from that night flashed through my head. Those were the days… and they were gone. I realized that I had no way of getting home. I would never see the guys again. I would never see my family again. I could only imagine how my brother would take it. I miss home… I felt a tear soak a line down the side of my muzzle.

Twilight’s voice broke into my thoughts. “Hey, are you ok?”

I looked up and realized that four concerned faces were looking into mine. Even Rainbow seemed to have sobered up a little. “Well, I’d be lying if I said yes.”

“What’s wrong, bro?” Rainbow asked.

“I-it’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” I tried to wave it off.

“That doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Rarity said.

“It’s just that I… I miss home. I don’t know how my family and friends are doing.” I choked out. I felt Fluttershy’s hug and hoof rubbing my back. She started cooing sweet nothings to me.

“Hey, don’t let me ruin your good time. Go have fun.” I looked up and forced a smile. They had none of it.

“This is your party, Hot Head,” Twilight pointed out. “We’re not going to let you have a bad time.”

“But… why do you care? I’m a stranger.”

“Hey,” Fluttershy gently turned my head so that I was staring directly into her huge cyan eyes. I didn’t resist as she took off my shades. She brushed away another tear, giving me a gentle smile. “We care. We care because it’s who we are. It doesn’t matter who you are, or where you’re from. Nopony deserves to be sad, especially at a party. It doesn’t matter why we care. Come here.” Fluttershy pulled me into a gentle hug. “It’s going to be ok.”

I don’t know what she did, but I felt better. Before I could reflect on it more, the other girls piled on in a group hug. In a way, this is better than back home…

I was sitting on a different couch upstairs, laughing at shenanigans. The party had ended a while ago, and it was Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and me left alone in Twilight’s house. Everyone was at various stages of drunk. Fluttershy and I were sober, Applejack looked tipsy, Twilight and Rarity looked close to the line between tipsy and drunk, Rainbow was hammered, and Pinkie Pie was… Pinkie Pie. It was hard to tell if she was drunk at all. Applejack and Rainbow had had a drinking contest early on, and I wasn’t sure who won. I think it just ended without a winner. It seemed like Applejack was a heavyweight, and Rainbow was the opposite, given they had about the same to drink. Twilight had only had a couple over the past couple hours, and Rarity had limited herself to one. Pinkie was still going, but it didn’t seem to affect her much. Regardless, I wasn’t an expert on the subject; never touched the stuff.

They were recounting various adventures they had had. It was interesting stuff, but I wondered how much of it was true. I knew that creatures like hydras and Cerberus were just myths, but so were Pegasus and unicorns, and the latter were sitting in front of me. I just put it out of my mind. I’ll figure that out later.

“...and that’s why nopony can catch Pinkie Pie!”

After the laughter died down some, I leaned forward. “Hold on, what did you call it Twilight?”

“Pinkie Sense!”

“That makes no sense. How can she-”

Twilight quickly interrupted me. “No. Don’t even try to figure it out. I almost went mad trying.”

“And she knows the inner mechanics of the quantum theory of magic,” Rarity added.

I looked at Pinkie, who was sitting next to me. She smiled in return. I narrowed my eyes at her, deciding to try something. Her grin faded slightly and she raised an eyebrow. I threw a light, fast punch at the side of her head. One second, her head was there, and the next, it was out of the way. Her smile shined at me.

“See? Told you,” Twilight mocked my astonished face.

“I give,” I said simply, lowering my hoof and leaning back against the couch.

They laughed at that too. There was a content silence for a while. I tried to get another conversation going. “So where’s Spike? I didn’t see him during the party.”

“Oh, he’s in bed. It’s way past his bedtime,” Twilight explained. Almost as if on cue, there was a crash followed by a “Oh, darn…”

“Dammit, Spike…” Twilight mumbled, standing. She left to go deal with the draconian.

“Little rascal can be quite the handful at times,” Applejack remarked.

“He seems like a fun kid,” I put in.

There was a small chorus of assent. Twilight came back during nonsense that only best friends could find funny. Or drunk people. After another long while, I found myself caught in a conversation about magic. It separated into Twilight and Rarity talking about magic, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy talking about something else, and Applejack, Rainbow and I in a conversation about exercise.

“So Rainbow gets her exercise from her training. What do you do, Applejack?”

“I don’t hafta do anythin’ outside a my job on the farm. Applebuckin’ is hard work.” Applejack’s voice was full of pride.

“Yeah, even with all of the hard work she puts in, I could still beat her in a hoof-wrassle,” Rainbow Dash bragged.

“Hey now, we both agreed to end that! It was goin’ nowhere.”

“Really?” I asked, growing a mischievous grin. “I totally think AJ would beat you, Rainbow.”
“Nuh-uh!”
“Alright, prove it. There’s a table right here.” I knew that I was going to have way too much fun with this.
“Fine! Come on, AJ!”
They got set up on either side of the table and didn’t delay in starting. There was no significant change in position of the hooves for a while, but AJ didn’t look like she was really trying. The other mares noticed and looked on in interest, their previous conversations forgotten. For a while, it was the same. It started to actually get boring to watch. I leaned in to whisper to AJ.

“Hey, you don’t look like you’re trying.”

“I’m not. She’s drunk and weak; Ah could hold this all night.”

“Just end it then.”

“...Alright.”

Applejack slowly edged Rainbow’s hoof closer and closer to the table. I couldn’t read Rainbow’s face. Eventually there was a satisfying thunk of hoof on wood.

“...I hate losing.” Rainbow complained.

“Hey, you gave it your best, Rainbow,” I tried to cheer her up.

“Oh, fight me,” she retorted.

Rarity gasped and Twilight scolded, “Rainbow Dash!”

I grinned. “You wanna go?”

“I could take you any day.”

“Hey Twilight, how good are you with your magic?”

“Umm, pretty good, I guess. Why?” Twilight looked skeptical.

“Do you know a spell to sober someone up? I don’t want this to be too easy.” My grin had to be every kind of cocky.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Fluttershy objected.
“It’ll be a good way for ‘em to let off steam,” Applejack countered. “Plus, it’s a show for us.”
“If that’s what you two want.” Twilight’s horn flashed, and Rainbow blinked a couple of times. Her eyes focused back on me.

“You ready?” she asked.

“Bring it on, lightweight!” Maybe there is such a thing as too arrogant.

Rainbow lunged at me, and I was too slow to dodge. She swung a hoof wide, tripping me. As I fell, I saw her jump. I quickly rolled to the side and she slammed the floor where I was. By the time I got up, she was on me again. She landed with one hoof wrapped around my neck, trying to drag me to the floor. I stood my ground, and she fell awkwardly to my side, still supported by her hold on my neck. I wrapped a hoof around her, crushing her in a bear hug. I stood on my hind legs to get my other front leg in as more to keep her pinned with. She hooked a hind hoof around one of mine and pulled, causing me to fall back. This all seemed familiar to me, from what I used to do with the guys. I made every effort to keep my hold on Rainbow as I hit the floor.

“Hey guys, do you mind if we take this outside? I don’t want anything to break in here,” Twilight suggested. The others seemed to agree, so I reluctantly let go of Rainbow. She had other ideas.

I was lying on my back, and I let her stand up. She hooked her front hooves under my shoulders and took off. Flying backwards without being able to see anything is terrifying. She shot straight forward, and I thought she was going to slam me into the wall. She did worse. We shot straight out of a window, and she let me go. I still hadn’t figured out the wing thing yet, and falling upside-down wasn’t helping. I landed heavily on my back and bounced, slamming into the ground a second time. sliding with the second one. I layed there dazed as the others came out of the house using more conventional means. Rainbow slammed the ground next to my head as she landed, startling me.

“Hey, now isn’t naptime!”

I took her front hooves out from under her, then flipped myself onto her back and pressed her down into the dirt. She flapped her wings, which I hadn’t managed to pin, bringing us both into the air. She shook me off, then grabbed me so I wouldn’t fall. She flew me straight up, doing a half-loop and hurtling us both towards the ground. I flashed back to falling in front of the plane again and froze up. The ground got closer and closer, and there was nothing I could do about it. Rainbow pulled up at the last second. I felt her let go, and before she could get away, I reached up and grabbed her, bringing her underneath me. I rode her into the ground. She took the brunt of the impact, and I was flung off from the momentum. I lost sight of her, and I skipped and slid along the rough ground until I crashed into something headfirst. There was a dull ache in my head. Well, she asked for it.

My head flame lit up a large area of the night, and I could see the silhouettes of my audience far away. I could see Rainbow struggling to her feet a little farther on. I charged at her, going airborne. I flew the last half of the distance, raising a hoof to slam down on her. She looked up at the last second, barely managing to dodge. I had put my entire body into that punch. My hoof hit the ground, leaving a small crater and making the ground shake for a couple of seconds.

“Oh, you’re serious about this,” Rainbow remarked.

“I play to win,” I said.

“I don’t lose,” she countered.

“Really? That wasn’t what I saw inside.”

“That didn’t count. I was drunk.”

“How good is Twilight at healing magic?”

“None. Why? Did the little foal get hurt playing with the real deal?”

“Nope. I was wondering how long you would have to spend in the hospital after I’m done with you.”

“Harsh.” Rainbow hovered, gaining altitude above me. I leapt after her, flapping my wings. I got closer and closer, enough to the point where I could grab her. Unfortunately, she got to me first. She shot herself down and slammed her front hooves against my chest, sending me downward. She zoomed around me, and I got slammed upward. I felt her grab me again from behind, and she shot skyward again. She pulled into a loop and I could feel Rainbow speed towards the ground again. Not again. I waited a couple of seconds, then struggled until I got loose. I twisted around and wrapped Rainbow into a bear hug, making sure to pin her wings. If I go down, you’re going down with me. I resisted her struggling up until the point where she kicked a spot where noone should ever kick. I involuntarily let her go, and she immediately swooped out of my vision. I looked up at the ground and saw why. I had no time to brace for impact.

Author's Note

So, first actual fight scene! Let me know what you guys think about it!
And leave me a comment! I am very much comment-driven!

Chapter 7

Chapter seven

“Oh, shit!”

I flew down to where he had crashed. When the dust cleared, Hot Head was lying in a crater, on his stomach. One of his wings was at an impossible angle, and his forelegs were shattered where he had tried to protect his face. I couldn’t see his face. Blood started to pool around his legs. The flame of his mane was flickering, but it was there, however barely, so I could only assume he was still alive.

I could only stand at the lip of the crater, jaw agape. My mind was numb. I couldn’t think. I tried to take a step forward and tumbled down the crater. I sat up and found myself right next to his head. I poked his shoulder, ignoring the blood on my hoof.

“Hot Head?” I nudged him again. “Hot Head…?” I could taste something salty. Then I noticed my muzzle was wet. Tears…?

His head rolled to the side, and his red iris looked up at me. A small smile turned up the corner of his mouth.

“You know, Rainbow,” Hot Head’s voice was raspy. “This isn’t really,” he coughed out some more blood, “what I meant by teaching me how to fly.” He started to laugh, which just turned into more coughing.

“Hot Head...I’m so sorry,” I choked past the lump in my throat.

“Heh. This is more my fault than yours,” Hot Head coughed again. “I think that was the first time you actually used the name you gave me.” He gave me another weak smile.

“It couldn’t be the first time,” I countered, trying to keep him talking longer.

“Maybe-” More coughing cut him off. “Ugh, this hurts.”

“You’ll be ok, we’ll get you to the hospital, we’ll get you patched up,” I didn’t know if I was making empty promises.

His eye closed. “Thanks for caring...Rainbow…”

I could hear pounding hooves coming from behind me. I ignored them. “You’ll be fine, Hot Head… Hot Head?” When he didn’t respond, I nudged his shoulder again. His flame looked weaker than it did before. “Come on, buddy, stay with me...”

I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I looked up to see Applejack’s orange coat. I couldn’t make out her expression through the tears in my eyes. I uselessly tried to contain the sobs.

I heard her accent, but I couldn’t register what she said. I was vaguely aware of the others coming up around us. Fluttershy took several steps away and turned her head; Rarity went to comfort her. Twilight’s horn was glowing. Pinkie was crying. Pinkie never cries seriously.

It...it was all my fault. I had a weight in my chest. I called him out. I took it to the sky. I killed a pony.

It wasn’t just any pony, either: he was the one I had feelings for. And I never got a chance to tell him how I felt. It should have been me.

I don’t know how long I had been sitting there, leaning against Applejack. Twilight eventually broke into my thoughts.

“Hey, girls! Come look at this!”

I looked up at her. Her details were blocked by a watery veil. I wiped my eyes with a foreleg. When I looked back at her, Twilight looked shocked and surprised. I followed her gaze to where Hot Head still lay. I couldn’t see anything different about him.

“What is it, Twi?” Applejack asked.

“He’s moving!”

I peered closely at him, trying to see if I could spot anything. The first thing I noticed was that his mane, which had barely been flickering, started to grow in strength. My eyes widened as I felt a surge of hope rising in my chest. All of a sudden, blinding light hurt my eyes and I had to look away. I squinted through and saw Hot Head’s mane and tail going crazy, more than I had ever seen them, almost 3 or 4 times his body size. I scrambled backwards to try to escape the heat. I couldn’t see past the light of the flames to see his body anymore.

After what felt like minutes of searing heat, the area started to cool off as the burning firestorm receded. I lowered my foreleg and looked at the spectacle in front of me.

Hot Head, mane and tail restored, was floating in the middle of the crater. The entire crater, as well as a small distance beyond the lip, was coated with scorched earth. His eyes were still closed. Both of his wings were spread in normal angles, and his forelegs were whole. He was gently lowered to the ground where he collapsed.

I laid there for a moment, mouth agape, stunned. Once it had all sunk in, I scrambled to my hooves and ran down the crater, kicking up soot. I tackled Hot Head in a hug.

“Ohmygosh, Hot Head! You’re ok!” I squeezed him, but he didn’t respond. “...Hot Head?”

I felt a hoof on my shoulder. I looked up, expecting to see Applejack, but instead I saw a purple coat.

“I wouldn’t worry about him right now, Dash,” Twilight said, “That was a massive amount of magical energy, and he’s not a unicorn. He’ll be exhausted, but he’ll be fine.”

“Really?”

“Yes. But what I’m worried about is where all of that came from,” she gestured to the scorched crater around us.

“We can always ask him when he wakes up,” I sighed.

I opened my eyes to see a wooden ceiling. Oh, ok, Twilight’s library… I thought. I was exhausted, so I just rolled over and fell asleep again.

I woke up again to voices. I sat up and stretched. For how much time I’d spent on the couch I woke up on again, it might as well have been mine. A familiar voice greeted me that morning.

“I leave for a couple of hours, and this is what you get yourself into.” It was almost a growl.

I turned around, and Bronze was sitting behind the back of the couch, not looking very pleased. Oh, hey Bronze. Where’d you go? I couldn’t find you before the party.

“Deity stuff. I still had some stuff to deal with after my screw up with getting you here.” He waved it away. “I thought I had left you in capable hands, though apparently I was wrong.”

What are you talking about?

“Wait… you actually don’t remember?”

What’d I do? And how do you know about it if you weren’t here?

“You fucked up. Bigtime.”

Wha-

“What do you remember from that party?”

It was an awesome party, then afterwards, we…oh no. It all came back to me. All up until the point of impact. I’m...fine?

“I know just about as much of it as you do. You’ve been out for two days. I’ve been listening to the mares talk, and there’s something going on here.”

Huh?

“Man, you are clueless!” Bronze snarled.

Hey, is everything ok with your god stuff? You seem...stressed.

He looked surprised and paused for a moment. “No. Everything’s not ok. Don’t worry about it. Just… go downstairs and ask them about what happened.”

You sure I can’t help at all?

“Unless you can get me back on the good side of the sun-goddess of this world, then no, you can’t.”

Well, sorry bro.

I decided to leave it at that. I got off of the couch with all of the grace of a rockslide. The mares must have heard the thump I made, because the voices stopped and I heard hoofsteps coming. I went limp where I had landed and closed my eyes. I had gotten quite adept at pretending I was asleep on Earth. I needed to know more about what happened when I was out, and eavesdropping is a great way to do it.

“Wouldn't talking to them be easier?”

No. Shut up.

“Really, wouldn’t it be easier to find out what you want to know by just-”

No. I want to try this. I’ll talk to them after.

“You really are an idiot sometimes.”

I was going to respond, but I stopped at the sound of the door opening.

“Oh, he’s still out…” Twilight sounded disappointed.

“Hey, at least he’s moving! That’s a good sign, right?” That was Rainbow.

“I guess.”

For a moment it was quiet. Then Rainbow spoke up. “Is he ever going to get better, Twilight?”

There was a sigh. “I don’t know, Rainbow. Comas are very unpredictable.”

“Don’t you know a spell that will wake him up?”

“No, not from a coma. Besides, he’s got so much magic already about him that I don’t want to risk adding any more.”

“But Twi-”

“Look, Rainbow,” Twilight sounded like she was losing her patience. “Your loyalty is admirable, but you’ve been moping around my house for two days. Don’t you have a job to go do?”

“I’ve got vacation days. I want to be here when he wakes up.”

“You’ve made that apparent several times, but you have to live your life while he’s out.”

I feel like they’ve had this conversation before.

“But Twi-”

“We can talk more downstairs. Help me get him back onto the couch.”

“Couldn’t you just levitate him?”

Twilight sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you? I don’t want to use magic with anything that has to relate to him because I don’t know how it will react.”

“...Fine.”

It sounded like Rainbow is taking my ‘absence’ pretty poorly. I needed to do something to help her out, but I still wanted to have some fun with this. I felt two pairs of hooves get ready to lift, one by my shoulders and another lower down my back.

“Ready?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah.” Rainbow’s reply came from right by my ear. Perfect.

“One, two, three!”

They both struggled to put me back onto the couch. Am I really that heavy?

“Yes.”

Why?

“Dunno. Maybe it was trying to shove an entire human into a pony body. Maybe it was Discord. I still don’t really understand much of magic.”

That makes two of us, buddy.

They eventually managed to deposit me back onto the couch, putting me on my back. As soon as the feeling of the hooves was gone, I rolled over, making sure to swing one forehoof wide to catch Rainbow across her shoulders. I ended up just slamming my hoof against something.

“Ow, my face!”

I think it might have been her face.

“You really are a terrible person.”

That’s not what I tried to do, I swear!

Twilight laughed. “Come on, Rainbow. Let’s go back downstairs.”

I heard two sets of hoofbeats start to fade away. One stopped for a moment, then rushed to catch up with the other. When I heard the door close, I opened my eyes. I sat back up and looked at Bronze.

Where were we?

“You were about to go downstairs and talk to them.”

I don’t think so. You had a problem that we were talking about, I believe.

Bronze let out a deep breath. “There are three major deities here. Two are ‘benevolent’ dictators. The third you have already met. Discord.” His lips slid back to show his snarl. I could feel the hate he poured into the name. “The older one, Celestia, is mad at me. When I brought you here, I told you I made a mistake. I thought it was minor, but apparently Celestia is still trying to clean up after me.”

What’d you do?

Bronze shrugged. “Something about messing up the fabric of magic. It’s complicated. She has her sister trying to fix it.”

Why doesn’t she just do it if she’s so powerful?

“The thing is, these two sisters are also the rulers here. They call themselves ‘princesses.’ What bullshit. Anyway, according to what I’ve been told, something happened a thousand years ago. The younger sister, Luna, was banished to the moon for a thousand years. She’s been basically forgotten about. She came back a few years ago, and most ponies are terrified of her, so they stick to what they are familiar with: Celestia.”

So they represent day and night?

“Not just represent, they control the day and night. As a result from the banishment, Luna’s half of representation has been overshadowed by Celestia’s. Since ponies go to Celestia more, she has most of the work of running a nation. She’s really stressed, and she sent Luna out to try and fix whatever it is that I broke.”

Why are they so mad at you? Ponies seem to forgive pretty easily.

“Well, you see… Wolves and ponies haven’t really been...friendly. It’s not in our nature. It’s only been recently that we actually managed to come to a relatively peaceful whatever-it-is that we have now. I’m how the Alpha wanted to test the waters, so to speak.”

Hold on, let me see if I’m caught up. So you’re a lesser member of a pack of wolves, who are all gods. Your Alpha somehow managed to meet with the goddesses here and negotiate peace relations, and the first part of that was to send me here with you?

“I can see that you’re confused, and that’s why I didn’t really want to talk about this in the first place. But not quite. You see, when people die- humans, ponies, wolves, doesn’t matter- their souls are...how should I put this? Recycled, in a sense. Reborn. It happens all the time, but the pony world is relatively new to this. You’re the first to go here.”

So why am I not being watched by a pony god?

“It’s all part of the big mixing thing they’re trying to do. It’s not just the wolves and ponies that are doing this. A few years ago, leaders from all of the deity groups formed this giant council thing. I don’t get much of it. I’m not high on the ladder. Something about equal representation and universal peace. Alpha isn’t really happy about it. But to answer your question, they’re sending out lesser gods into the domains of other deities.”

Like diplomats of some sort?

He nodded. “Something like that. It took a long time for the-I’m not trying to be racist or anything-the ‘prey’ races to agree to all of this. Me fucking up the magic here didn’t land me on Celestia’s good side. That’s where I was earlier, getting yelled at by the ‘benevolent ruler.’ I really don’t want to know what the Alpha is going to do to me when he finds out.”

There’s one thing that’s been on my mind.

“Shoot.”

If you’re a god, don’t you know all about magic? Or enough to know how to fix what you did?

“No. Yes, us wolves have magic to use, but we don’t really need to use our magic much. Never really needed to.”

I could feel a headache coming on. This is a lot to take in.

Bronze chuckled. “Told you.”

And something tells me that if I go downstairs, I’m going to have a lot more thrown at me.

“Probably. Oh, and another thing is you. Celestia’s not too happy with what Discord did. Celestia controls the sun, and she’s worried that ponies are going to start to jump to conclusions about your hair.”

So she thinks that people will think that I’m her son, or I’ve got her blessing or something?

“Pretty much.”

Maybe I should just stay up here for a while. My stomach rumbled before I could get an answer. Damn it.

I pushed myself to my hooves. I’ll be back eventually.

Bronze stood up as well. “Am I going somewhere? I need to keep an eye on you to make sure you don’t kill yourself again.”

Funny.

I opened the door and took a few steps out into the hallway. The murmur of conversation that drifted up died quickly. I got to the open main area of the library, at the top of the stairs. Twilight and Rainbow were both watching me from the table they sat at. Twilight looked happy, but it was nothing compared to the excitement in Rainbow’s face. As soon as she saw me, she dashed up and tackled me to the floor in a tight hug. After a moment of not being able to breathe, she sat up and slammed a hoof into my stomach, knocking out the small amount of air that I had managed to get. Then she went back to hugging me again.

“That was for scaring me,” she said into my chest. “Don’t do that again.”

“How long was I out for?”

“Two days,” the muffled reply said. “It was the longest two days ever.”

Well that matches up.

From where I was on the floor, I couldn’t see the ground floor or Twilight, but I could hear someone coming up the steps. Twilight’s purple mane appeared over the top step, and I gave her what I hoped looked like a pleading face. She smiled and stood there, not doing anything.

I gave her a ‘why do you do this’ look, and her smile grew. I could have just shoved Rainbow off, but I felt like that would have been inappropriate. I tried nudging her, and didn’t get much of a response. I tried another idea.

“Twilight’s watching, you know,” I whispered in her ear.

Rainbow jumped off of me and hovered in the air, scratching the back of her head with a hoof. She cleared her throat. “And uh, it’s good to have you back and all, Hot Head.”

Real smooth, Rainbow. I smirked.

“So, Hot Head,” Twilight started. “Can I ask you a few things?”

“Sure,” I said, getting up. “I can’t say that I’ll have answers for you though.”

Twilight opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it again. Before she could say anything, a loud crash sounded downstairs.

“Dammit, Spike…” she cursed under her breath.

I followed her downstairs while Rainbow jumped the railing. Twilight’s main floor was divided into a living area and the library. A kitchen and dining area were on the far side, and the open space where the party had been was now filled with bookshelves. By the looks of it, a bookshelf had fallen on Spike, whose hand stuck out to the side. Books and scrolls were everywhere, a couple open or unravelled. Twilight sighed.

“Ouch,” I sympathized.

“Lucky for him it was the shelf on the end,” Rainbow remarked, “otherwise he would have a lot more to clean up.”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned for his health?”

“This kind of stuff happens all the time,” Rainbow shrugged.

“And Spike’s a dragon, he can take it,” Twilight put in.

I noticed Twilight and Rainbow moving to both sides of the fallen bookcase and started to get a handhold. “Hey, hold on,” I said, making my way to the shelf. “Let me get this.”

Twilight looked at me as if I had two heads. “You can’t possibly be serious. This is-”

I ignored her and examined the bookshelf. It was a solid bookshelf, but it didn’t look too heavy. I moved to what would have been the top of the shelf, had it been standing upright. I got a hold and heaved upwards, tilting the top backwards. I held the top up while I moved closer, gently pushing books out of my way with my hind feet and moving my front hooves farther down the shelf. Eventually I got the thing set back upright again.

“There we go,” I said with a smile, looking up at the bookshelf. I turned back to see both mares staring at me with their jaws on the floor. “What?”

Twilight recovered first. “But-how did-but that-” She eventually ended her stuttering with one question: “How?”

“How what? It was easy. It wasn’t that heavy,” I was honestly confused now. Bronze was laughing by the door.

“It took four of us, including Big Mac and AJ to lift a shelf last time!” Rainbow almost shouted. “And you just did it by yourself!”

“Uhh,” I put a hoof behind my head. “Heh heh.”

Twilight shook her head. “And another one goes on the list of questions… Why don’t we start with that one?”

“What?”

“The questions I had for you. Why don’t we just start with…” she fumbled for words. “that?” She waved at the bookshelf behind me.

Spike groaned and sat up, books spilling off of him, holding his head. “Thanks for that,” he said, looking up at me. “I owe ya one.”

I nodded at him then looked back at Twilight. Bronze?

“Hmm?”

What am I allowed to tell her?

Bronze sighed. “I should really ask Celestia if you can tell Twilight all of this stuff. Or if she wants to tell Twilight herself. Uh, just explain what you can. Without my involvement, of course.”

You aren’t much of a help. I took a deep breath and sat down. Spike started to pick up and sort the fallen books. I tried to gather my thoughts. “I dunno. I’m strong?”

Twilight didn’t seem satisfied. Neither did Rainbow, for that matter. I started to feel like I was in an interrogation.

Twilight tried again. “Why don’t we just start from the beginning? What’s your story, Hot Head?”

I frowned. I hated questions like this. Bronze? I almost whined.

“Shit.” There was a pause as Bronze sighed. “I couldn’t really get in any more trouble, I guess. Just go ahead and tell them.”

Bronze sounded defeated. He looked the same way; his gaze was pointed to the floor and his ears drooped. Are you sure? I can probably get around it.

Rainbow spoke up before Bronze could respond. “Hey Twi, shouldn’t we tell the girls that he’s awake?”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “Oh my gosh, I completely forgot!” She pointed at Rainbow. “Yes, go get Applejack and Fluttershy, and I’ll get Pinkie and Rarity.” Rainbow flew out the window. The hoof swiveled towards me.“Hot Head, you stay here. Plan out your story while we’re gone.” Twilight’s horn flashed and she was gone.

I turned to Bronze. Do you have time to talk to Celestia before they get back?

Bronze shook his massive head. “Probably not.”

Go anyway. I’ll try and stall them as much as possible.

“You’re sure you’ll be ok while I’m gone? You aren’t going to kill yourself again?”

I gave him a look. You’re wasting time. Go.

He smirked. “Fine.”

A higher voice interrupted our conversation. “Are you ok? You’ve been staring at that wall for a while.”

I turned to see Spike looking at me around a stack of books he had in his arms. He went on, “You know that we have chairs, if you’re just thinking.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” I turned back to Bronze, but he was gone. I remembered Twilight saying something about Spike doing most of the cooking. An idea started to hatch.

“Hey, Spike?”

“What’s up?”

“You want to help me out with something?”

“What is it?”

“Do the girls like picnics?”

Author's Note

College tests suck. Being sick during test week sucks more.

Chapter 8

Chapter eight

I ran as fast as I could, landmarks zipping by me. I could have just teleported to somewhere near Celestia, but since the last meeting I’ve been banned from using magic near Canterlot. For all of the good that does. I didn't quite tell Hot Head the whole truth. Celestia wasn’t just mad at me, she was furious with the wolves because of what I did. Getting on speaking terms with her was going to be a problem. From listening in on Twilight’s conversations and reading her letters over her shoulder, Celestia was made out to be a patient, forgiving motherly figure. That was the complete opposite of what I knew her as. She’s a stubborn prejudiced bitch.

I needed to think of a way to get in the castle to see her. If she wouldn’t talk, maybe she would listen. I thought about it for a while, but I was saved by ramming head first into an invisible barrier. I yelped in surprise and stumbled back. I looked up and saw Canterlot Castle looming before me. One white tower in particular stood before me, covered in dark blue banners and crescent moon shapes.

This barrier wasn’t here before.

I looked to my right and noticed pony guards moving past the barrier like they didn’t even know it was there. I reached out and poked it with a paw. A translucent blue ring radiated outwards along the surface. I watched the top of it travel farther up, fading as it went. A dark head popped out of an open window near the top of the tower, midnight mane billowing out.

Luna. I felt a presence tap at my mind, and I let it in.

“WHAT DOST THOU THINKEST THOU ART DOING?”

“I think I just crashed into your barrier.”

“WHY DIDST THOU COME HERE?”

“I need to talk to Celestia.”

“OUR SISTER IST MOST DISPLEASED WITH YOU.”

“I know. Can you just let me in?”

“I THINK NOT.”

Even when she isn’t speaking, she’s still hard to listen to. “Look, it has to do with her faithful student, alright?”

There was a pause as Luna spoke with her sister telepathically. “...SHE’S BUSY. DO YOU WANT TO LEAVE A MESSAGE?”

“Argh! I don’t have time for this!” I backed up a few paces and threw my weight against the barrier.

“HALT! CEASE AT ONCE!” she paused for a moment as she thought. “MAYBE WE CAN HELP YOU INSTEAD!”

“Look, all I want is to apologize to Celestia and ask her something.”

“YOUR APOLOGY SHALL GO UNACCEPTED, BUT I MAY BE ABLE TO ANSWER THINE CONUNDRUM.”

“Well, to put it bluntly, shit’s been going down in Ponyville and the Elements of Harmony are starting to ask questions that are getting hard to dodge. I wanted to ask her if my ward is allowed to tell them what he knows.”

Luna leaned out on the balcony. I could see her smile from here. “WELL IF SHITE IS FALLING FROM THE SKY, A GOOD HARVEST WILL BE HAD LATER!”

I slowly raised a paw to my face. “Luna...no. That’s not what it means.”

She waved her hoof dismissively. “THOU DOTH NOT NEEDETH OUR PERMISSION TO SPEAKETH FREELY, SILLY MUTT.”

“What did you just call me?” I bared my teeth at her.

“RUN ALONG AND PLAY, MUTT, AND GO SUPERVISE YOUR PUP.” Luna’s head disappeared through the window.

I slammed the barrier again to relieve some of my frustration, then sighed. With one last look at the dark window, I made my way back towards Ponyville.

“Today?”

“Yeah, why not? It’s a perfect day for it!” Rainbow pointed out. And she was right; it was a sunny day with a few clouds and there wasn’t too much wind.

“Alright then! Let’s go for it!”

Rainbow took to the sky and hovered above me. She and Twilight had come back to the library with the rest of the girls and they were all pleasantly surprised at the picnic that Spike and I made. To be fair, Spike did most of it. I can’t cook to save my life. I had managed to keep the topic of conversation away from me on the way here, and once we pulled out the food, the chat was about that for a while. Rainbow had come up with a suggestion after we finished and now all eyes were on me.

I stood with my wings awkwardly spread, unsure of what to do. I looked up at Rainbow and gave her a sheepish smile.

“Well, come on! I can’t teach you how to fly from the ground!”

“Uhh…” I didn’t even know where to start. I looked at Twilight for a solution, hoping -praying- that she could tell me what I was supposed to be doing. She shot me a reassuring smile from where she sat on the checkered picnic blanket. Applejack smiled and tilted her hat back like she was going to enjoy a show. Rarity made a shooing motion with her hoof as if to say “Go on, dear.” Pinkie was humming idly to herself. Fluttershy was… well, Fluttershy.

I folded my wings and looked up at Rainbow again, about to try and chicken out of it. Before I could say anything, she shouted, “Oh, come on! Let’s go already!” She swooped down and picked me up, carrying me into the air. Higher and Higher we went, until we broke through a cloud, and set me down on it. Both crashing through and standing on a cloud have very peculiar feelings. I tested my footing. The cloud was only sturdy enough that I could easily break through it if I wanted to. Rainbow broke into my musings.

“To fly you must learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. The first part is easy. All it takes is the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight and the willingness not to mind that it’s going to hurt. That is, it’s going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. If you are really trying properly, the likelihood is that you will fail to miss the ground fairly hard.”

“What in blazes are you talking about?”

Rainbow cracked a smile. “Aw, I’m just messing with you. I’m going to try the way my parents taught me how to fly.”

“What was that?”

“This!”

She put both of her front hooves on my chest and shoved me backwards, straight off the cloud. I lost sight of the chromatic mare as I fell, and I tried to right myself. When I did, I caught sight of the ground far below. My wings locked up as I feared for my life. Oh no, not again… Why does this keep happening to me?! It was a silent plummet, aside from the wind rushing by my ears. After a couple seconds of falling, I started to realize something. Why is this so scary? It’s almost calming. Just floating in the air… I looked down again. Oh yeah, that’s why. Not quite floating.

“...wings!”

What?

“Pull up! Use your wings!”

I rolled and saw Rainbow speeding down towards me. I suddenly found a reason to steel my resolve. I rolled over again and put streamlined myself like I saw Rainbow do several times. I snapped my wings open and felt myself slow down. I looked down to see the terrain start to become horizontal rather than vertical. I’m doing it! I’m flying! I thought as I leveled out. Well, gliding. Close enough. I looked back at my wings, which were locked horizontally. I faintly heard someone yell “Twitchatwitch!” through the rushing wind. I looked forward again and my field of vision was suddenly butter yellow. “Ohshi-!”

I collided with the creature and we were both sent tumbling down the hill the girls were still sitting on. My head cracked against a rock and most other sensations were minimized by blinding pain. I tried to keep myself underneath the flashes of yellow and pink as we bounced so I would take the brunt of the punishment. Before long we stopped at the bottom of the short hill.

I was on my back, looking at the duplicate worlds spinning in the sky, with Fluttershy sprawled out on top of me. As the worlds started to merge, I heard a quiet “Oh...my.”

I blinked the blurriness away as laughter burst out. Rainbow landed with a thud on her back next to us in a fit of laughter. I groaned as I layed there.

“So… I’m not much of a tennis guy, but did I goal that slam dunk point?” I’m pretty sure my eyes were still spinning. I shook my head to clear it. When I regained focus, I saw Fluttershy’s face in a shade of red I had only seen in Rainbow’s mane in contrast behind her pink one only a foot away from mine. “Oh, hey Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy ‘eeped’ and tried to hide behind her mane more. I realized what position we were in and immediately put up a mask of neutrality and hid the awkwardness inside. Rainbow wasn’t helping earlier. Despite all of my efforts, I could feel my face starting to get warm.

“Fluttershy! Are you ok?”

I turned my head and saw Twilight standing at the top of the hill, one forehoof raised to cup her mouth. Applejack stood next to her, and Pinkie Pie had already started to roll down the hill. Sure, don’t even ask about the new guy.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. To my surprise, she tried to hide her face in my chest. As with the situation in Twilight’s house with Rainbow, I didn’t want to shove Fluttershy off. For some reason, that seemed like a worse idea than shoving Rainbow off. After a moment, everybody had descended the hill.

“Are we, uh... interruptin’ somethin’?” Applejack asked with a smirk. This only renewed Rainbow’s laughing fit. If it weren’t for the position I was in, I would have facepalmed. I had to settle for rolling my eyes. Applejack chuckled.

“Are you guys ok?” Twilight asked again.

Oh sure, now that you’ve thought about it, you include my well-being in that question. “I’m fine,” I replied, looking down at my deadweight, “but I’m not so sure about Fluttershy…She doesn’t seem to be hurt, though.”

“Oh, she’s just being Fluttershy,” Twilight nudged her with an outstretched hoof. “Come on, Fluttershy. We’re not going to judge you for Hot Head crashing into you.”

Rainbow paused in her laughing fit only long enough to shout a jab. “Yeah, we can judge Hot Head instead!” It only gave her laughing a renewed vigor.

Maybe it was just my position with Fluttershy, but she was shaking at this point and I couldn’t tell if any of the others noticed. I sat up enough to prop myself up on my elbows, hoping that would encourage her to get up herself. She finally seemed to get a clue and slid to the ground next to me. After she finally got off, I pushed myself to my feet and shook myself. Applejack gave me an odd look and I raised an eyebrow back. She lowered her gaze, shaking her head, and I could hear a chuckle under her breath.

I looked back at Rainbow, who seemed to finally be recovering, although she was still laughing on her back. I quickly scanned the others. Twilight and Rarity were trying to help Fluttershy, who refused to look up from the grass. Applejack looked to the sky, as if in thought.

“That looked like fun! Was that fun? We should totally try that sometime!”

“Gah!” I jumped, startled by a high voice right next to my ear. Pinkie stood there innocently with a smile on her face. In one hoof she held a bucket filled with water. “Pinkie, why do you have a bucket full of water?”

“For water-related emergencies, silly!” she set the bucket down in a hole in the ground that I hadn’t noticed before. She bounced back over to the girls huddled around Fluttershy.

What the- you know what? Not even gonna bother…

Suddenly, I got an idea. I managed to catch Applejack’s eye and jerked my head at the bucket, then at Rainbow. Applejack’s eyes twinkled as she nodded. She made her way next to Rainbow, and I picked up the bucket by its handle in my mouth. I stood next to Applejack above Rainbow’s unsuspecting head. I stuck out my jaw, dangling the watery inciter from it. Applejack brought the bottom of the bucket back, emptying its contents onto the clueless colorful creature below. Rainbow’s laughing ceased with the splash, and she brushed her wet bangs out of her face, surprise plastered all over it. She looked up at our smiling faces. I have to admit, she looks attractive with a wet mane. She narrowed her eyes at us, and I felt my grin grow.

“Of course you know this… means war,” Dash rolled to her stomach and launched herself into the sky. Applejack and I watched her go.

After a moment, Applejack’s eyes widened. “Oh nelly.” She dashed off.

I looked after her in confusion, then directed my gaze back towards the sky. A dark cloud with a multicolored tail drifted towards me. My ears drooped. “Oh damn.” I decided to be a man and take my punishment instead of fleeing the scene. I watched as Rainbow positioned the cloud directly above me. She flapped back from the cloud a couple of times, then turned and bucked the cloud. A flash of light blinded me as searing pain raced from my head throughout my body. My heart jumped. I don’t know how much time had passed; pain has a way of making seconds seem like hours. I blinked and found that the world had turned sideways. I lay where I had collapsed on my side. Rainbow Dash moved the cloud out of the way and bright sunlight got in my eyes, but I couldn’t move my leg to cover them. Come to think of it, I couldn’t move anything else either. Rainbow was at my side, apologising profusely. A shadow mercifully moved over my head as Twilight stood in front of me. I could hear her barking orders, but my mind was too numb to make any of it out. Twilight lowered herself to look me in the eye and I could only give her a blank stare in return. She frowned and stood back up again.

Dammit, why am I the one who’s always dying? Or, uh, almost dying. I corrected myself. You know what? No! I’m tired of this. I’m going to get up. Now.

I could feel feeling starting to come back. I tried to move my hoof, and my face twitched. I eventually worked through it, standing up again. I shook my head to clear it. The girls were all talking about what to do with me, none of whom were actually looking at me, which I found odd, all things considering. Rainbow was telling the others what happens when you get struck by lightning, with inputs from Twilight.

“...stopped heart, stopped breathing, temporary paralysis, even brain damage.” Rainbow was saying.

“Well, that paralysis was very temporary,” I said stepping up to lean on Rainbow’s shoulder. Rainbow jumped. There was a moment of silence as everyone looked at me with a shocked look, then I was dog piled as they all tried to hug me at the same time.

“Hot Head, you’re ok!” Twilight said.

“Duh. You should know me well enough by now, Twilight.” They all let go of me and we stood up.

“So what was all of that about?” Rainbow asked.

“I should be asking you the same thing, Rainbow. Wasn’t that lightning a little overkill for dumping a bucket of water on you?”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. “Heh, that was an accident. I was trying to make it rain.”

“Hold on, Rainbow, isn’t a direct hit from a lightning strike supposed to kill a pony?” Twilight asked the weather pony.

“Well, yeah, but…” Rainbow searched for a way out. “isn’t smashing into the ground at Mach one supposed to do the same thing? That didn’t kill him either.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “What gives? What are you?”

“Look,” I said, not meeting any of the ponies’ gazes. “I… I can’t tell you. At least, not yet.” I looked at Twilight. “I know I told you I would, Twilight, but… not now, ok?”

There was a collective “Aww” of disappointment as they dispersed that made me feel like shit inside. Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity started their own conversation; Applejack and Rainbow started up the hill again, leaving Twilight with me.

“Look, Twilight, I’m sorry. It’ll all make sense when I tell you.”

“It’s ok, Hot Head. I understand-” Twilight put her hoof on my shoulder, then recoiled. “Ouch!”

“Did...did I just shock you?”

“I think you did.” she called up the hill. “Hey Rainbow! Come here for a moment!”

Rainbow said one last thing to Applejack before fluttering down the hill. “What’s up, Twi?”

“Can you shock Hot Head with another lightning strike?”

“What?” Rainbow and I exclaimed at the same time.

“Why would you want to do that? Didn’t you just see what happened last time?” Rainbow gestured wildly.

“Well, I just put my hoof on his shoulder and it shocked me. I thought he might be retaining electricity somehow, and I wanted a second trial to have more data.”

Rainbow laughed. “Twi, some pegasi have that ability. Some of us can harness lightning and use it later. I’m surprised an egghead like you didn’t already know about this.”

“I can harness lightning?” I began to think of what I could do with that.

“Only some can? Can you, Rainbow?” Twilight seemed interested in this new concept. I supposed that she didn’t get concepts that were new to her very often.

“No, I can’t. Neither can Fluttershy, before you ask. It’s a rarity among pegasi. Actually, that explains a lot about why you just shrugged off a direct strike from lightning, Hot Head. Most ponies, even most pegasi can’t take a direct hit. If it’s a surge voltage hit or a step voltage, it’s not lethal.” She paused and looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, then pointed at me with a hoof. “Hoofbump.” She said simply.

I bumped the outstretched appendage, and I felt strangely drained as Rainbow grimaced and spasmed. After that was over, she collapsed on the ground, panting.

“Ok, Twilight, he should be safe now,” her eyes rolled in her sockets until she shook her head vigorously and stood up.

I gave Twilight a raised eyebrow as she squinted and cautiously reached out to poke my shoulder. She quickly pulled her hoof back, and I rolled my eyes as nothing happened.

A couple hours of a very enjoyable afternoon had passed and the sky had started to turn dark. Most of the clouds had dispersed or moved on, leaving one solitary one left in the sky. We were all at the top of the hill relaxing again, and had just started to pack stuff up when Twilight suddenly looked up.

“Hey girls! Tonight’s supposed to be a great night for stargazing, with a full moon and everything. Why don’t we stay out here longer?”

Ponies took a moment to think about it. I didn’t have much to say in the matter, since I didn’t have any responsibilities or commitments that I knew of. Applejack came to a conclusion first.

“Well Twi, Ah’d be glad to stay, but Ah’m a might hungry, and thanks to Hot Head here, we’re all outa food.”

“Sorry, I was hungry!”

Applejack waved it away. Twilight spoke up again. “I don’t have my telescope either. Why don’t you and Pinkie go get more food while I go get my telescope and we’ll all meet back here?”

“I’ll have to go check on Sweetie Belle, but I’m sure she’ll be fine for an evening.”

“I guess I’ll go check on Tank if everypony else is leaving.”

“I need to feed my animals tonight, but I’ll be back.”

“Ok then, meet y’all back here!” Applejack reared and gave a yeehaw and everyone dashed off to their houses.

“I’ll just… hang here then.” I said to nobody in particular as I found myself alone. I looked up at the night sky, noticing the cloud that was still there.

Rainbow’s words came back to me, Speaking of clouds, are you ready to sleep on the best most comfortable sleeping material ever?! and Cloo-ouuds!

As I thought of the best way to get up there to rest my eyes before the girls came back, a familiar presence invaded my mind.

“Hey man, we’re all in the clear. They said we can tell them about everything.”

Somehow I knew which direction Bronze was going to come from and I turned toward him as he approached, running up the hill with his loping gait.

Finally. You have no idea what I’ve been through trying to stall.

“Do I want to know?”

You might find it entertaining, since it involves my pain and discomfort.

Bronze’s face lit up. “Do tell.”

I rolled my eyes and replayed my memories of the past couple hours for him. I was right; Bronze did take great enjoyment out of the shenanigans that had occurred.

After he had recovered, Bronze said, “In all seriousness though, you really do need to learn how to use those.” He nudged my wing with his nose.

I laughed and butted his head back with my own. I will. I already know how to glide at least.

“At least you’re making some progress.”

So how did your talk with Celestia go?

“Eh, it... didn’t. Here, just let me show you…”

I blinked a couple of times after the flashback was done. Wow. She’s rather...loud.

“Yeah. She still uses the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice.’ Not used to the modern way of speaking.”

I can imagine.

“So why are you out here by yourself?”

I brought the mares out here for a picnic to stall for you. They decided to keep it going for dinner as well and went to go get food. Something about a telescope, too.

“So where are they now?”

I don’t know. Couldn’t be much longer.

“Why didn’t you go with one of them? Offer to carry something?”

I shrugged. Chivalry is dead. Besides, they all ran off before I could say anything.

“Well here comes one now.”

Really? I don’t see anything.

A violet light grew in front of me and faded to reveal Twilight, Spike on her back, and a large telescope in her magic.

You terrific bastard.

“Hey Hot Head! Am I the first one here?”

“Yeah. Hey Spike.”

“Sup bro.”

Rushing air sounded overhead and something landed on my back. I saw a cyan hoof in my peripherals.

“Comfy, Rainbow Dash?” I asked.

“Yeah, thanks for asking!”

Bronze chuckled and I mentally facepalmed.

Soon enough, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie had all returned. Applejack finally hauled her cart of food up the hill. I raised an eyebrow at her. “That’s a lot of food.”

Applejack laughed. “Ah brought extra, now that Ah know how my company eats.” She looked between me and Rainbow pointedly.

I gave a half-apologetic shrug. “Anyway,” I took a deep breath. “I made a promise to Twilight a while ago. She may have told you all about it, maybe not, but either way I need to tell you all something. It’ll probably take a while, so make yourselves comfortable.” I waited a second for Spike and the mares to settle down. “Somewhere off of my back, Rainbow.”

“Aww.”

I stared at the ground, trying to gather my thoughts. Then I looked up at Bronze, who sat down next to me.

“Hey. Even if we’re allowed to tell them, you don’t have to yet.”

I know. But they deserve to know.

A mischievous twinkle showed in Bronze’s large eye.“If anything goes wrong, I can wipe their memories of this. Just so you know.”

Thanks.

“Your sarcasm needs some work.”

Mine does? I think you-

“Hey Hot Head? Are you ok?” Rainbow waved her hoof in front of my face. “You’ve been doing a lot of staring lately.”

I glanced at Bronze again. “Well, about that…”

Author's Note

Sorry about not updating in a while. College stuff and Thanksgiving don't really leave much personal time.
I promise more plot-relevant stuff will happen next chapter.
Also, have fun with another game of Spot the References!

Chapter 9

Chapter nine

“How do you expect us to believe that!?”

“Because it’s the truth, Rainbow.”

“You expect us to believe that you’re a human from another world and that you've had a god following you around like a lost puppy and you've never told us?!” Rainbow seemed aggravated. I hadn't the foggiest of ideas why.

“Well when you put it like that I sound like I’m mad,” I said. “I’m not, though.” I looked up at Bronze. Come on man, help me out here.

“Are you crazy? This is hilarious!”

No it isn't!

“It does sound hard to believe, Hot Head,” Twilight said gently.

Applejack pushed her hat back from where it had been covering her eyes. “Now hold on just a minute. Maybe that’s why he’s been staring so much lately. If he is talkin’ ta some kind of god or somethin’, that is.”

“Let me see something, then,” Rainbow said. She swooped in front of me. “You say he’s right here?” She pointed to my right. I nodded.

“Watch, nothing will be here.” She flew at a moderate pace into what she thought was empty air, only to collide with… nothing. She went right through Bronze and kept going. “See?”

“Oh, come on!” I gave a death stare to Bronze, who started laughing. I shoved my head into his side, and he stumbled a bit.

Come on. Show them.

“No, this is funny!”

I reared up with a hoof to take a blow at Bronze, but thought better of it, dropping back to all fours.

Fine. I’m glad you take such amusement out of my hardships.

I took a deep breath. “Fine. If you guys are going to be this way, then I’m just going to go, before I do anything I regret.” I turned around and took a couple of steps away, ignoring what might have been comforting words and requests to wait. I needed to be alone. “Don’t follow me.” I threw over my shoulder, projecting the command through my thoughts as well.

I headed towards the woods nearby. Walking through the woods had always helped me clear my head as a kid. I started to feel better as the darkness of the woods came over me.

“Should we have just let him leave like that?” Twilight asked. By the look of the mares, they all felt guilty about the previous episode.

“He just needs to be alone, Ah guess,” Applejack looked towards where Hot Head had stalked off to.

“The poor dear. He looked passionate about the whole thing,” Rarity said.

“He looked scary,” Fluttershy whispered. “Did you see the fire in his eyes? And how his mane started to go crazy?”

“I think that his mane reflects how he feels. We made him agitated, I think,” Twilight went into her “teach” mode again.

“Thanks for the update, Twilight,” Rainbow said sarcastically. She looked over towards the woods. “I’m going after him.”

“What?” Most of the girls blurted.

“You heard me.”

“Yeah!” Pinkie Pie finally spoke. “A mad friend is an unhappy friend and if a friend is unhappy then it makes me unhappy and we should go cheer him up so we can all be happy together and then-!”

Twilight put her hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. “If you’re going, Dash, then we all are. Right girls?” Everyone gave consent.
I watched all of this transpire and I debated whether revealing myself to them was a good idea. I felt bad about making Hot Head mad, but I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. They had all gotten up and were starting to head out. I lost my last chance as a familiar aggravating smooth voice invaded my ears.

“Are you really letting your pup wander off by himself into the Everfree again?”
I didn’t even turn around. “Fuck off, Discord. You really aren’t helping right now.”

“Since when would I not be of any help, Bronze? You offend me.”

A growl was the only response I gave him. He teleported in front of me, and I shouldered him out of the way before he could say anything. “I don’t have time to rip your throat out. I’ve got more important things to do. Go bother Sunbutt or something.”

“I guess you don’t want my help then,” Discord inspected his claws.

“Was it that obvious? No, I think you’ve helped enough.” I didn’t wait for a response before I chased after the mares. A pink shape was just fading into the shadows of the forest, and I headed for that, casting one last worried look at the evening sky, hoping I could find my ward before the girls could.

I didn’t know my way in this forest. I had only been in here once, and that was when Discord made me an eternal candle. It probably wasn’t a good idea to wander around in these forests with a beacon, based on what kind of creatures the girls told me lived in here. At least I could see a little bit in front of me.

As I walked, I could feel my anger subsiding. I started to reflect on that last scene with Bronze. I’m normally pretty level headed. I don’t know what happened. I just snapped at all of them… for no reason.

I stopped and looked at a small branch on the ground in front of me. It was bent slightly, like tree branches normally are, so it convexed off of the ground a bit. As a kid, I would normally find a branch when I walked, carrying it with me and breaking bits of it off as I walked. I put a hoof on the branch and pressed down. A satisfying snap echoed through the forest as the stick broke.
I decided to keep going. I didn’t know what was ahead, but it had to be better than what was behind me. I stared at the ground as I walked, lost in thought. I wondered again what I had left behind at home. Matt probably missed me. I wondered how my brother was doing.

I must have been thinking for longer than I thought, because when I came to my senses I realized I was in a cave, based on the stone floor underneath me and the lack of stars overhead. A very warm cave. Heh, maybe I can just live here. I thought, looking around. I couldn’t see much outside of the small range my mane illuminated. I could see silhouettes of stalactites hanging from the ceiling of the cave far overhead. As I was looking around the higher parts of the cave, I wasn’t looking ahead of me. I bumped into something hard and unforgiving.

A wall of large red scales flickered in front of me. As my brain tried to put together what this could be, my eyes followed the scales as they ran up to a horned head, resting on massive claws. My eyes told me that this beast was a dragon, but my brain kept putting two and two together and getting seven. Dragon… dragons don’t exist!

The light I cast off must have woken the thing up. That, or I have really unlucky timing. Well, neither do talking multicolored ponies or heterochromia flame demons, either. As I stood there, trying to make myself as small as possible, the dragon raised its head and stretched. Somewhere in my mind I realized that there weren’t hoards of treasure around, but it didn’t register as important in my head. What was important was how sharp the teeth looked in the dragon’s yawning maw.

The beast came to and looked at me for the first time. It leaned down and stared me in the eye for a moment, then roared at me at point blank. I stood my ground, too terrified to fight or flee. Its eyes narrowed and a claw sent me flying towards the opposite wall. I felt broken, laying in a heap against the far corner, every bone a source of overwhelming pain. I was sure I was going to die when I saw the dragon inhaling, a sure sign of its next attack.

I closed my eyes and resigned myself to my fate as I heard the roaring inferno start. It felt strangely relaxing, instead of the burning pain I had felt after slamming into the rock. Was I dead? Again? I cracked open an eye. All I could see was orange and white fire, everywhere. Should I not be dying right now? I looked at my hooves. All the fur and skin was there. I looked over my shoulder. I was pretty sure my leg had broken from the impact, but it looked fine now. After a few oddly relaxing minutes, the raging inferno stopped.

I looked up at the dragon and saw my own confusion replicated on its face. We locked eyes for only a moment before it tried to crush me under a clawed hand. I managed to narrowly dodge it. A series of cracking sounds emanated from the beast’s hand, running behind me and up the nearby cave wall. Large cracking sounds came from the fissure as it elongated. It seemed the dragon and I shared thoughts again as we both paused to visually follow the crack as it reached the ceiling of the cave. A second of silence was shared as we looked back at each other. The dragon seemed to shrug, and I reared onto my hooves as the dragon bared its teeth.

It lowered its head and charged. I had no room to either side to dodge, so I charged at it, hoping an opening would reveal itself. As the red behemoth drew close, I saw my chance. I leaped at the last second and landed on its head. I thought I was such a genius, getting into an advantageous position. Before I could get off the dragon’s hard forehead, the beast slammed into the cave wall.

Explosive pain around my torso demanded my immediate attention, but after a few moments I was able to focus on a familiar sound of destruction. The crack in the wall had grown, shaking large pieces of rock from above. To make it even worse, the dragon looked up at the disturbance as a large rock descended directly above its head.

I groaned as I pushed myself to my feet. Hooves. Damn it! I looked around for signs of red scales, but there didn’t seem to be any. After the dragon’s chamber collapsed, a hole opened up underneath. I had fallen down a long, bumpy ride, now finding myself in a narrow, natural tunnel, with no visible end to it. I painfully turned to see a pile of rock behind me. Not going that way. I had no choice but to trudge ahead.

As I moved, I wondered if I needed serious medical attention. I was pretty sure I had been initially fatally wounded from that dragon’s first blow, but after the fire I had felt fine. Now I had at least a few broken ribs, and probably internal bleeding. At best.

Ugh… How much farther is this going to go? Does it even have an exit? My chest couldn’t have been getting any better with moving up a steady incline, or moving at all really. After what seemed like hours, but was probably much shorter, I emerged into the forest once again.

None of the trees looked familiar. I wished I had been paying attention when I had wandered into the cave the first time. Recalling the fall and the long walk afterwards, I realized that I was most likely no small distance from the original cave.

Great. I was lost.

I tried to remember some kind of navigation lessons from when I was a kid. Nothing of importance came up. I could try and find a river, but I could be wandering for hours. Logically, if I picked one direction and went with it, I would eventually get out. Yeah, I’m just going to try and find a river.

I was wondering for a while when I noticed some purple flowers that had become common for some reason. I didn’t pay them much mind. I kept walking, lost in thought, when finally I stepped on a fallen branch, emitting a loud snap.

A howl answered the sound.

Hey, Bronze is nearby. I should try to find him to apologize. Then I thought about it for a second. Actually… why should I apologize to him? He’s the one being a dick here. He should be apologizing to me!

I started off again, and after a while realized that I was stomping. I also realized my face had started to hurt from being in an angry scowl for so long. What am I doing? This isn’t me! I don’t like being mad at people! I consider myself a carefree spirit… what’s going on here?

I entered a small clearing and sighed. Maybe I just need some more food. I’m not myself when I’m hungry. I’ll just go back to Ponyville and-

And what? Explode in someone else’s face? Maybe it’ll be Rainbow again. That would go great: she would fly over and say “Hey Hot Head! We were worried about you. Well, they were. I knew you’d be fine,” and then I’d say something stupid and we’d start yelling again. Then she’d say “Hot Head! There you are!”

What? That’s not what she would say then. I would have been in front of her for a while; there would have been no need for-

“Up here you dolt! Come on, let’s get out of here!”

“...Rainbow Dash?” I looked up and sure enough, Rainbow was hovering above the clearing, in a partial silhouette, gesturing to me. Far behind her, and a little off to the side, garnering my attention, was a bright white ball in the sky.

The full moon.

“You’d think it would be easy to find a fire in the dark.”

“You can never be sure about the Everfree, Dash,” Applejack looked nervous.

“Yeah, just like you can never be sure about jelly-filled donuts! You think its going to be strawberry, then it’s just cream filled!”
Pinkie went ignored.

We walked in silence for a while, the only noises coming from the forest, Fluttershy jumping at every one. That mare really needed to grow a spine.

“Hey Pinkie,” Applejack spoke up, “Why don’t you sing us one of your songs?”

“Okie Dokie Loki!” Pinkie took a deep breath. “When you're rife with devastation,
there's a simple explanation-”

Recognising the song, I dove at Pinkie, tackling her to the ground. I pinned her and covered her mouth. “How about a happy song, Pinkie?”

A muffled “Okay” tickled my hoof. I let the hyperactive mare up, and she immediately went into another song. Thankfully, it was one we were all happy to listen to.

We all felt better after Pinkie’s antics. I had almost forgotten why we were in this stupid forest. Almost. Pinkie hammered the point in.

“Isn’t it funny how we’re in this spooky forest looking for Hot Head and Nightmare Night is only a couple days away?” She giggled, bouncing alongside Applejack.

Rarity looked at the forest around us. “I guess it certainly is… fitting of the season, Pinkie.”

“Shit, where’s Spike?” Twilight suddenly seemed shaken up. I had a moment’s heart attack before a male voice spoke up.

“Calm down Twilight, I’m right here,” Spike said, walking next to Fluttershy. “We were talking about-”

“Aargh! I can’t take this anymore!” I finally burst out, jumping and hovering above the others. “Look, I’m faster than you guys, I can find him faster if I go ahead alone.” I turned to dash off, but something on my tail pulled me back before I had a chance.

“Oh no ya don’t,” Applejack said, her voice muffled through my tail.

“Rainbow, you know how dangerous it is in here just as much as any of us,” Twilight put in.

“I’m the fastest flyer in Equestria, Twilight! I’ll be fine!”

“No, Dash! We stick together in here!” Twilight stomped her hoof.

I had to force down my anger, consciously opening my jaw to stop my teeth gnashing together. “...Fine. But hurry up, will you?” I landed next to Applejack and she let go of my tail.

“Look,” Applejack turned to face me as we continued. “Ah know that y'all’re worried about Hot Head… we all are, sugarcube. And Ah’m not tryin’ ta lecture ya, but-”

A roar interrupted her and shook the trees around us. Applejack jumped, startled. I wasn’t. Duh. I flew above the treeline before anypony could interfere again.

“What was that?” Twilight asked.

“That sounded like a...dragon,” Fluttershy squeaked.

I ignored the rest of the conversation and shot off towards where the sound came from. I grinned as the last thing I heard was a fading “Dammit, Dash!”

I made it to a cave. Being the only thing of note around here, I decided to investigate. I made my way inside, the limited light forcing me to the ground. My hooves echoed around the stone, no matter how quietly I set them down. I tried to force down anxiety, with varying levels of success. Tight spaces...Underground… Thoughts came unbidden to the front of my mind, threatening to send me into a panic. Eventually, one came up that I desperately clung onto. Loyalty. One of my old favorite phrases came to mind. “I’d never leave my friends hangin’!” I was in here for Hot Head. I had to keep going.
Finally, after only hoofbeats to accompany me, I heard distant thumps and scratches on stone. Picking up the pace, I wanted to see what it was. Before I got too much farther, another loud roar blasted by, flapping my mane around and forcing me to stand my ground. It was times like these that I was glad that I didn’t obsess over my mane like Rarity does.

A little farther on, the sounds quickly became obvious that a struggle was happening. A list of what creatures could give a dragon trouble quickly went by in my head. It was a small list, and one in particular stood out. Hot Head. It was probably wishful thinking, but if it was him, he’d be in trouble. I started galloping faster. The ground shook, the entire cave shook, as the battle escalated. The rumbles grew louder, and I heard a deafening crash. Senses obtained from years of dangerous flying told me to slam on the brakes.

I’m glad I did. Boulders and rocks of various sizes fell from above. I threw myself backward to avoid the cave-in, landing hard on my side. I didn’t completely succeed, I realized, as a rock the size of my head bounced onto my hind leg, accompanied by a sickening crunching sound, rolling to a stop somewhere nearby.

Fighting back reflex tears, I looked around as the dust cleared. The avalanche had completely blocked off the tunnel. I painfully pushed myself to my hooves, quickly hovering to get weight off of my leg. Moving to the top, I found a hole that I could peek through. Pressing my face to the opening, I couldn’t see much in the pitch black. I heard muffled grunts and strains, though. He’s still in there!

The sound of rushing air reached my ears, and a faint glow lit the room for a moment. The glow came from the dragon’s stomach as he gathered for a fire breath. It was flailing, and I couldn’t suppress laughter when I saw that the dragon had its head stuck in another pile of rubble on the far side of the room. I found no sign of my friend, though. It unleashed its heat-bearing attack, and I ducked down as I felt the heat through the hole. Hovering for a moment, I considered my options. I could try and dislodge rocks until I made a hole I could fit through, and look for Hot Head in the cave. And deal with an angry dragon, I added as an afterthought. Or, I could go find the girls.

I’ma go find the girls.

I made my way out of that hellhole and into the sky. I felt immediately better being where I belonged. Except for my leg. That hurt like hell. I went into a glide, gently banking from side to side to look for my friends. I picked up the odd sound of Pinkie’s bouncing first.

Predicting my point to be right in front of the group, I descended through the tree level. As I went through, my hurt leg bumped into a branch, sending blinding signals of pain to my head, blocking everything else. My wings locked up, and I cried out as I fell. My back slammed into another branch, breaking it, leaving a sharp edge for my foreleg to catch. The branch broke further down, closer to the trunk, letting me bring the stick embedded in my forearm with me. Mercy came as I landed on my head, as far away from that leg as possible, only for it to slam on the ground as the rest of my body hit the ground. Black formed at the edges of my vision, and the last thing I saw was bright, concerned green eyes above me.

“Apple...jack?”

I woke up on the forest floor, the majority of my vision filled with pink. Pink. I was never a big fan of the color. I prefered sky blue, or the rainbow spectrum of course. Heh. Rainbow… I like rainbows. Rainbows are awesome… I’m awesome… so that means I am rainbows, right? ...That didn’t sound right. I’m Rainbow...but I’m not rainbows… so does that mean I’m not awesome?

A sudden fear seized my chest, and I started to breathe faster. But I’m Rainbow Dash! I’m the most awesomest pegasus in Equestria! I have to be awesome… Who am I if I’m not-

A sudden stinging soreness started a small spasm that shortly ceased subsequently. I looked up and saw Applejack’s worried green eyes hovering over me, an orange hoof raised to smack again.

“You ok, Rainbow?” she asked quietly, lowering her hoof.

I blinked a couple times as my mind tried to catch up. I shook my head to clear it.

“No? Alrighty then, just let me know when yer feelin’ better. You took a nasty fall there.”

“What? No, I’m fine! Seriously, Applejack,” I gave her my normal cocky grin.

Applejack raised an eyebrow and gave me a skeptical look. “Well, if’n ya say so,” she finally said, shrugging.

“Um, Applejack? I, uh, I wasn’t quite finished.” My gaze shifted behind Applejack to where Fluttershy had spoken up. She stood looking at the ground, holding a roll of medical tape in her hoof.

“Oh, Ah’m sorry, sugarcube. Ah didn’t mean to shove ya aside like that,” Applejack took a step back to allow Fluttershy to take her spot.

“Thank you.” Fluttershy mumbled.

“What was that for anyway, AJ?” I accused Applejack. “That...kind of stung a little.” I was about to say that hurt, but it would take a lot more than a hoof to the face to hurt the Dash.

“Y’all were mumblin’ somethin’ about not being awesome enough. Ah figured that coming from you, it might have been somethin’ ta worry about.”

I decided to ignore the smirk that Applejack was giving me, and I turned back to Fluttershy, who had gone back to working on whatever it was she was doing earlier. “So what are you doing now, Shy?”

“Well, you crashed pretty hard. Your hind leg is shattered, and your foreleg is torn and maimed. I’ve given you a splint for both, and I bandaged your leg. You landed on your head, so you might have a concussion. Follow my hoof, please,” Fluttershy seemed oddly assertive. She wasn’t stuttering or mumbling like she normally does. “Good. We need to get you to some serious medical attention, Rainbow Dash. It’s very likely that you have a concussion.”

“But I feel fine! My wings are fine; I can still fly!”

“Rainbow, you blacked out. We can’t just blow this off.”

“Hot Head is still out there! I’m not going back until we’re all safe!”

“Be rational, Rainbow!” Twilight walked up behind Fluttershy. “What if you get hurt worse out here?”

“No! You can’t make me go back!” I crossed my arms across my chest. Or, I tried to. When I moved my forearm, it hurt. A lot.

“Oh, try not to move that,” Fluttershy spoke up.

“Can we just get going?” I asked.

“Ah agree.”

Twilight looked at Applejack in surprise. “What? You can’t expect her to-”

“Look Twilight, if she’s being too stubborn about it, we should just let her do what she wants. When have you ever been able ta tell Rainbow Dash what to do, anyway? The more time we spend dilly-dallying here is more time for something to happen to Hot Head.”

“She should have been named Hot Head…” Twilight grumbled, turning away.

A past version of me would have made a big deal out of that, but I had already gotten what I wanted, so I let it slide. I got up (painfully) and immediately hovered into the air to take weight off of my legs.

Rarity looked up from where she had been entertaining Pinkie’s antics. “Are you sure you want to come with us, darling? That looks pretty bad, even from over here.”

I groaned. “Can we just go already? I’ll be fine, I can fly for hours! This’ll be no sweat!”

After deflecting more concerned words and ignoring a raised eyebrow from Applejack, we were finally moving again.

A long while of catching Fluttershy looking at me out of the corner of her eye later, my pegasus eyes uncovered a light bobbing through the trees in the distance. I grabbed Fluttershy, who happened to be the closest, and pointed her head towards what I saw. Pointing with a hoof right next to her head, so she could trace the line, I asked, “Do you see that, Shy?”

“Um… see what?”

“Ugh, nevermind!” I took off towards the light, dodging trees and branches along the way. Bursting into a clearing, I saw our target limping forward, head down.

“Hot Head! There you are!” I called out, waving with my good hoof. He stopped and looked confused, but he didn’t look up. “Up here, you dolt! Come on, let’s get out of here!”

Author's Note

Heh, it's been... two months now? Man, time flies...
Anyway, finally an update! Real life stuff happened, some of which I'd rather not talk about, and then school is much harder this semester than it was last semester. Doesn't leave much time for writing.
I guess it doesn't help much when I fill that time playing Paper Mario either, huh?
Also, figures that Valentine's Day is the day where I actually have time to finish this chapter.

Chapter 10

Chapter ten

I looked up at Rainbow in surprise. How did she find me? I’ve been lost out here for who knows how long- Actually, it’s still dark out, so it couldn’t have been more than several hours… Anyway, not important.

“Let’s go! What are you waiting for?” Dash seemed impatient, and for good reason. I must have been standing here for a while without answering.

“I can’t.” I finally said, lowering my gaze to the ground. The purple flowers that were everywhere seemed really interesting at that point. Silence came from Rainbow. Apparently that wasn’t the answer she expected.

“What do you mean, ‘you can’t’? Why the hay not?!” Dash flew down in front of me, but stayed in the air.

“I’m sorry. I can’t go back.”

“Equestria to Hot Head! You haven’t answered the question!”

“I’m just going to hurt someone again,” I muttered.

“What are you talking about? You haven’t hurt anypony!” Dash was working herself up.

“It happened twice at home, and again here. I’m not letting it happen again.” I lifted my head and fixed Dash with a determined gaze. “I’m staying here.”

“What happened? What is ‘it’?” The agitation in her voice had left. I couldn’t tell what it had been replaced with.

“I can’t do it anymore,” a soft voice said.

“Wha-what? You’re not…” I trailed off, not wanting to even say the words, but she said them for me.

“Yes, I’m serious. I’m sorry. Normally I believe in second chances, but that was too much.”

“But Michelle…”

I remember her shoes. My head slumped down, tears threatening to run off my face and join the light rain. Her blue tennis shoes were framed by the tears in my eyes.

“Goodbye.”

And she left. The love in my life of 4 years left, just like that. Gone. I don’t remember how long I stood on that sidewalk, or how many people I was in the way of, sobbing.

Eventually I must have come to my senses and returned to my apartment. The only thing I remember of the next week was getting fired. The next few years were miserable, lonely, eons. My days consisted of wake up, look for a job, go home, cry myself to sleep. That kind of schedule isn’t life, but it was what I had. Until I met the girl who patched my heart.

I was working, flipping burgers. I had been for several months at that point. A new recruit, Genine, had been hired, and that day was her first day. I hadn’t paid her much mind. It was the same way I had treated most people during that depression. None of my coworkers seemed to mind. Our interactions were purely for business reasons, and that was acceptable for us. This one day, as I was debating whether a semi-burnt patty was okay to give to a customer, and why I should care, something broke into my thoughts by crashing into me, almost knocking me over. I looked down to what I had caught by reflex, and the most beautiful thing I had seen in years looked back at me, a small apologetic smile on her face. She was my first friend in a long time.

That lasted for two weeks before we got together. We went steady for two years. She was the light that protected from the dark life I once had. One day, we were eating lunch together at a sandwich place, having a good time, then she walked in. Michelle immediately swaggered over to our table, leaning on me and putting an arm around my shoulder.

“Oh, hey babe! How have you been?” she asked me. I tried my best to ignore her.

“Uh, who is this?” Genine gave Michelle a cautious glance.

I sighed. “She’s my-”

“I’m his girlfriend.”

“What?!” Genine and I exclaimed.

“Come here, cutie.” Michelle turned my head up with a soft hand and the next thing I knew, I was consumed by a kiss. It lasted a while; I was too stunned to do anything. My face was burning with embarrassment when she let me go. Genine looked shocked and betrayed.

“Genine, this isn’t-”

“Don’t give me that ‘this isn’t what it looks like’ bullshit. I’m done here.” I could only watch as Genine left.

Michelle laughed and sat down in the now unoccupied seat. “That was easy.”

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“You heard me. Why?” I stared daggers into her eyes.

“I still haven’t forgiven you.”

“That was years ago! How have you not gotten over that? You know what? No.” I stood up from the table. “Fuck you. I have an upset girlfriend to comfort.”

I hurried outside, but Genine was nowhere in sight. I looked for an hour, repeatedly trying her cell phone, and getting nothing. I never saw her again.

Turns out that she had gotten a job offer in another state and quit her job the day before that diner incident. She had been planning on telling me during lunch that day and offering for me to go with her.

This kind of thing happened with most of the friends I had made. I’d do something stupid and end up losing their friendship. All but Matt. Matt’s stubborn nature made him determined to keep me as a friend, and he did.

“Other than Matt, I hurt everyone I got close to. It’s going to happen to you girls sooner or later. If I just stay in this forest, I can’t hurt anyone.” I bowed my head again and started to turn away, thinking that everything had been said on the matter. A sharp slap to the face told me otherwise; it felt more like a punch than a slap with that hoof.

“Are you fucking kidding me? That’s the reason you wandered in here? I swear to fucking Luna, you have got to be the most idiotic, self-degrading, pessimistic, lovable nitwit I’ve met!” Rainbow raged.

I blinked. “What was that last part?”

She answered me by tackling me to the ground, hovering above me. “Buck up! Come on, let’s get back to Ponyville.”

“No. Were you even listening? I’m not-”

“FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA, I’M TIRED OF YOUR SHIT! COME ON ALREADY!” Dash grabbed me and sped off above the trees.

“Dash, let me go!”

“I’m taking you back for your own good!”

“Dash,” I said quietly, just loud enough to be heard over the passing air. “If you don’t put me down right now, you are not going to be-” I cut myself off when I caught sight of something over her shoulder.

The full moon.

“And that’s all I remember.”

I was sitting at a table in Sugarcube Corner, my head in my hooves, nursing what I could guess was akin to a hangover: a splitting headache and no memories of the past several hours. Sitting across from me were Vinyl and Octavia.

I had woken up, chained in their basement. Apparently it had been done “for my own good.” Vinyl had eventually come downstairs and let me free. She explained that she had talked to the Elements and had wanted to have a talk at Sugarcube corner over lunch.

It wasn’t lunch yet, and the rest of the mares hadn’t shown up yet. Octavia had explained that she and Vinyl had wanted to talk to me alone first.

Vinyl dragged her hooves down her face, sighing. “Oooh, boy.” She looked at Octavia. “Any advice?”

“Unfortunately, no. I do not remember anything from my first time, either, Vinyl.”

“Good,” Vinyl’s voice dripped with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. They couldn’t be seen behind her glasses, but her over-exaggerated movement told all it needed to. “Look, Hot Head… ugh, what a terrible name.” An audible clunk sounded as Octavia’s hoof connected with the back of Vinyl’s head. “Seriously! It isn’t a good name!”

“Vinyl!” Octavia started to chide her marefriend, but I cut her off.

“Isn’t there someone around here named Filthy Rich?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s actually…you know, something good to be,” Vinyl answered.

“True. I would rather be known as rich instead of for having a short fuse,” Octavia put in.

I groaned. “Was there something important you two wanted to talk about or did you just call me here to make fun of my name?”

Vinyl grinned. “Hey, at least he lives up to it!” Another smack from Octavia rewarded her. “Worth it.” Her grin faded a bit though. “But yeah, we have to tell you about something.”

There comes a time in most guys lives when he has two hot girls in his life and they come up to him with a proposition. (Yeah, you guys know what I’m talkin’ about.) So it’s only a natural reaction when I looked up with an eager look in my eye.

“Look…we’re going to be blunt here.”

“Yeah?”

“We don’t want you to freak out when we tell you this.”

“Okay!”

Octavia peered at me from across the table. “You seem quite eager all of a sudden.”

“Well, yeah. I was trying to guess what you were getting at, but I guess it depends on what you were actually going to tell me.”

Vinyl hesitated for a moment, and Octavia looked like she was about to say something, but bit the words back. I raised an eyebrow.

“What were you expecting us to say?” Octavia asked.

“Uh, well. Um. I thought maybe you were going to offer a, uh… a threesome.”

A moment of silence passed as they digested that. Vinyl broke out in laughter, falling out of her chair. Octavia had the decency to blush and try to hide her face. I felt my face grow hot, and lowered it to my arms on the table again. I feel so stupid…

Octavia and I waited until Vinyl composed herself enough to get back in her chair. “See Octy? It’s not just me!” Thock. “Worth it!” She leaned closer to me on the table. “To be honest, I was going to wait a week or two before asking you about it.”

“Vinyl!” Octavia huffed.

“What? I was going to talk to you about it first.”

“Seriously, Vinyl, can you go for five minutes without thinking about sex?”

“Sure. When I’m in the studio.”

As entertaining as this was to watch, I felt the need to cut in. “So what was it that you were going to tell me?”

Vinyl looked back at me. “Oh, we were going to tell you that you’re a lycan.”

I didn’t notice the thock of Octavia’s hoof on Vinyl’s head, or the ensuing “Watch it, you’re going to give me brain damage!” Werewolf.

Oh, good! Let’s just pile on to how much of a monster I am! Why me? Why do the gods like fucking with me so much? Am I really that special? Why-

“Woah, dude, calm down!” Vinyl started to shake me, alarm plastered on the areas of her face that weren’t covered by sunglasses. “It’s not that bad!”

“Wha-what? Not that bad? How could this possibly-” I could feel anger swelling. Vinyl cut me off.

“Octavia’s a werewolf too!”

I looked at Octavia, who looked visibly scared. She calmed down as I felt my mane do the same. “Where’s the camera?”

“Camera?”

“This is a prank. Where’s the hidden camera?” I sat back in my chair, crossing my arms.

Vinyl sighed. “This isn’t a prank. You’re both werewolves. I’m a vampire.”

I laughed. “You can’t be serious!”

She and Octavia both deadpanned me. “No… you can’t be serious. I’ve seen you outside during the day, Vinyl!”

“What, you think I’d sparkle or some shit? Direct sunlight makes me uncomfortable. I burn easily. Didn’t you also see the hoodie I was wearing?”

She was right. She had been wearing a hoodie that day. Damn.

Octavia put her hoof over mine on the table. “Hot Head, I know this is difficult. It’s not the end of the world. You can learn to control it, but with your short temper it’s going to take some work. Vinyl and I can help-”

“Rainbow.” I remembered.

“I’m sorry?”

“What happened to Rainbow?”

Vinyl rubbed the back of her head. “Well, uh, you mauled her.”

“What?!”

“Yeah. You’ve been out for three days. She was actually discharged from the hospital this morning. Thank Celestia for healing magic, right?”

I looked at Octavia, horrified at what I had done. She gave me a sympathetic smile. “I killed a rabbit on my first night. I was distraught for weeks.”

“You were drunk,” Vinyl put in.

“A rabbit isn’t a pony!”

“Well yeah, but you didn’t kill her either.” Vinyl pointed out.

“This is terrible! I-I-”

“Hey, hey. Don’t freak out about it. She’s coming with the rest of the Elements to lunch here. She can-”

“She’s coming here?! Nope, I gotta get outta here before she gets here!” I leaped from my seat, bolting towards the door when Vinyl caught me in her telekinesis and brought me back to the butt cushion I had been at before.

“I know this may be hard to believe,” Octavia said as Vinyl held me in place. “But think back. Did you get bitten lately?”

Caught in a jet engine, perpetually set on fire by a chaotic god, slammed into the ground multiple times at varying velocities, punched in the face by Rainbow Dash, got in a fight with a dragon, survived a rockslide…

“Nope.”

Vinyl did a double-take. “Wha-what? You had to have been. That’s the only way lycanthropy transfers!”

“What’s done is done, regardless of how it happened,” Octavia said.

I groaned, looking down at my hooves. I wondered for a moment how they would look as paws as I felt Vinyl’s magic release me.

Vinyl started to say something else, but stopped as the door opened. I turned around, having been facing with my back towards the door before, and shrank as six familiar ponies walked through the door. Well, one limped. I felt very uncomfortable as they entered Sugarcube Corner, suddenly physically as well as emotionally.

Vinyl waved them over, catching Twilight’s eye. “Hey guys. I’m glad you could make it!”

I watched Rainbow make her way over to a chair and slump into it, never meeting her gaze as Twilight replied, “I’d never miss a lunch with good friends.”

As greetings and small talk were exchanged, Rainbow and I were looking over each other. Whenever one of us caught the other staring, we both looked away. Rainbow had a cast on two of her legs, and one of her wings was wrapped in bandages. She was wearing a sportscoat, covering her torso. One ear had a piece torn out of it. She had her mane in a different style too; she had the left half of her face covered. I didn’t even realize that her mane was that long. On the other side of the spectrum, I was unscathed.

I couldn’t help but get lost in my thoughts as to what she thought of me. It’s not every day that your friend loses control and tries to kill you. I became more and more uncomfortable, both physically and mentally, the longer we sat there. My entire body bristled; it felt almost like that ‘pins-and-needles’ feeling that you get when you lay on a limb for too long. I had never felt this way before, and I couldn’t figure out what was causing it. That bothered me.

Applejack brought me back to the conversation. “Hey! Earth to pegasus!” she said, waving her hoof in front of my face.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“We were talkin’ about ya. Wanted your input.” At least she was blunt.

“I spaced out. Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright, dear. We were talking about a couple of nights ago,” Rarity informed me from across the table. Rainbow, sitting next to her, looked away at the floor.

“Oh.” I tried to keep the downer tone out of my voice. “You wanted my side of the story?” I met seven nodding heads, excluding Rainbow’s, but her ears twitched regardless. Damn it. “Well, I already told these two, but I’ll tell it again,” I tilted my head towards the two musical ponies on my left.

“...and that’s the end of what I remember.” I finished.

Silence met the end of my tale. Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy looked at me with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Pinkie Pie, for once, looked deep in thought. I wondered if I should be worried about that. Rarity looked ready to faint. The one eye I could see of Rainbow’s showed sympathy, but she tried not to show it. I felt disgusted with myself, an unsettling feeling in my stomach.

“Hey, this is supposed to be lunch, right? Can we get some food?” I asked, trying to temporarily change the subject and get a reaction out of Rainbow, who I know jumps any chance of food. She was the only one who didn’t react to the mention of food.

Pinkie volunteered to get us our foodstuffs, even though she wasn't on her shift. She made quick work of it, coming back after not even five minutes.

“Here you go!” she said cheerfully as she set down a tray with her head.

I dug in quickly, hoping to settle the feeling of dread in my stomach. I knew a confrontation was coming, sooner or later. I really didn’t want it to happen any time soon. Knowing my life, though, luck would have it come sooner than what I would have liked.

“Twilight,” Octavia asked, “did you bring the flowers I requested?”

“Oh! Yes, they’re here in my saddlebags. Did you want them?”

“Yes, give them to Vinyl,” the grey pony answered, scootching away from her white marefriend. Giving her a skeptical look, I started to do the same as two flowers floated across the table, switching from a violet aura to a light blue one.

“No, Hot Head, you come here,” Vinyl said, taking the flowers in hoof as Octavia sat across from her, in between Twilight and Applejack.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I said, slowly making my way over to her.

Vinyl looked over the group. “I’m sure you all have your theories about what’s going on, right?” She met reactions ranging from unsure expressions to nods. “Can I ask all of you to swear to secrecy as to what you’re about to hear?” This time she met unanimous affirmatives. “Good. Alright then. I’m sure you have all heard of vampires.”

Most of the ponies nodded again, but Twilight didn’t. “They aren’t real. Just a myth.”

Vinyl raised an eyebrow at her. “Just like werewolves, right?”

“Ye-” Twilight bit back the word with an uncertain expression on her face. “Up until a few nights ago, we thought that was true as well. But what do you know about them, Scratch?”

Vinyl laughed. “I know a great deal more than you do, Sparkle. And there’s a reason for that.” She raised her glasses, unveiling her blood red eyes. She also opened her mouth, her fangs sliding out.

Reactions were immediate. Fluttershy shrieked and cowered; Applejack stood up in a defensive stance; Rarity actually fainted; Pinkie shrieked along with Fluttershy, a smile on her face; and Twilight sat calmly. Rainbow hadn’t moved, but fear showed in her eye. I had never seen that expression from Rainbow before.

Octavia grabbed Applejack and shoved her back down. Twilight grabbed Fluttershy and Pinkie in her magic before they could bolt. Vinyl hadn’t moved. “If I had wanted to cause you harm, I would have done it before now.”

Applejack looked up from her place under Octavia’s hoof. “What kinda monster are you? And get offa me!” She shoved up against the other earth pony, who let her up warily.

“Isn’t it obvious, Applejack?” Twilight hadn’t moved her gaze from Vinyl’s eyes. “What was she just talking to us about?”

“Uh,-”

“It was a rhetorical question,” Vinyl stared back challengingly at Twilight. “Vampire.”

A couple of ponies tried to deny or further understand her with questions like mine earlier. I sat next to Vinyl, still a little shocked from her display. The flowers in her hoof still bothered me.

“So what does this have to do with him?” Rainbow spoke up for the first time. The words rang harshly in my ears.

“I was getting to that,” Vinyl put her fangs away and slid her glasses back on. The tension in the room fell a bit. “To answer your question, Rarity: No, Octavia isn’t a vampire. She’s a lycan.”

“A what-now?” Applejack asked, tilting her head. Fluttershy froze.

Vinyl put down the flowers on the floor, putting herself in between them and me. “A lycan. It’s a long story…”

“Wow. That was quite the story,” Twilight remarked after Vinyl and Octavia had finished. She turned to her yellow friend. “And you knew about this?”

“Eep! Um, no. I had just treated the bite. I went upstairs after that; I swear I didn’t see anything!”

“Doesn’t matter anyway,” Vinyl stopped the irrelevant interrogation. “Anyway, that brings me to these.” She placed the flowers back on the table.

The closer and more ‘in-sight’ those damn flowers got, the more uncomfortable I became. Octavia was shifting in her seat as well, her eye twitching occasionally.

“This,” Vinyl continued, holding up a stem with many purple bells hanging off of it. “is wolfsbane. We’ll come back to it. This,” she switched the plant for the other one: a stem with a single white trumpet-shaped bloom on the end. “is commonly known as a moonflower.”

She slid the purple wolfsbane in front of me, scootching it as close as possible to me. It smelled terrible. She stood, slowly pacing around me as she levitated the flower in front of her face. “Funny plant, this. Do you know what a moonflower does?”
I didn’t hear the words. I started to breathe faster, shaking in my seat. My eye twitched. I had been trying to be the least bothersome at the table, considering what I had apparently done before. That was why I had sat for hours, skin bristling, without complaining or leaving. It was getting harder and harder to do as Vinyl continued.
“You know, I can make this flower… disappear.” Vinyl tossed the wolfsbane to Octavia and shoved the moonflower in my mouth. “Moonflowers have the effect of immediately turning a lycan or werewolf into his or her wolf form.” Vinyl casually leaned on the table as I hunched over in pain.

Transforming was not a pleasant experience. My skin itched as more hair grew. My gums bled as sharp teeth pushed their way out. My hooves broke, bones cracked as paws formed. My left eye burned. A heat ran through my wings so great that it felt like they were being disintegrated. After what seemed like a very long time, but was probably a couple of minutes at most, the pain faded away.

I felt different. I stood up and whirled on Vinyl, who was smiling like she expected something. I grabbed her chest and pulled her towards me so we were face to face, growling at her. “What did you do to me?”

I noticed nothing else made a sound other than the multiple heartbeats of the ponies in the store. After a moment, Vinyl laughed. She actually laughed. In my face. For some reason, that enraged me more than anything that had happened here before. I spun around and threw her over my shoulder, sending her crashing through the back wall. Several gasps sounded behind me, along with a shriek and a quiet “Woah…”

After the rubble settled and the dust cleared, I stalked over to Vinyl as she sat up. “You know Octy, now would be a good time for that wolfsbane!”

The next thing I knew, another bitter flower had appeared in my mouth. Everything fell out of focus as I reverted. The adrenaline rush and strength I had as a wolf faded, leaving me feeling exhausted like I had just finished an intense workout. I groaned as I stumbled a bit.

Vinyl matched my groan. “Ugh, you wouldn’t happen to have an ice pack handy, would you Pinks?”

Pinkie bounced out of the room in her usual manner. Vinyl and I made our way back to our seats at the table while she was gone. As I sat down, the Elements scootched closer to each other and away from me. Vinyl and Octavia sat next to me. I layed my head on my arms on the tabletop.

I felt a hoof pat my back. “Are you ok, Hot Head? I know the flowers aren’t the most pleasant way to change.” Octavia’s voice was full of sympathetic concern.

“My head hurts.”

“Your head hurts?” Vinyl exclaimed. “Look at that wall!”

I looked over my shoulder. The wall had a large, Vinyl-sized hole in it. Boxes could be seen stacked through the gaping void. As I watched, a broken horizontal support beam snapped and fell to the floor. I let out a half-groan, half-whine and let my forehead fall onto the table with a loud thunk. Ouch.

Pinkie came bouncing back with the ice pack on her head and passed it off to Vinyl. Applejack looked up at Pinkie as she took her seat again. “Now how can y’all be so nonchalant about alla this?”

Pinkie looked at Applejack and blinked once. “I had a hunch.”

The mares started talking about implications or something. I tuned them out and almost fell asleep. “There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!”

Bronze?

“What happened? You went into that forest and we lost connection. I’ve been searching for days!”

It’s a long story…

...And then I threw her into the wall.

“Nice!”

Bronze had laid down next to the table during my story.

I feel like shit.

“I can’t really say that I’m all that surprised.”

Why can’t I have a normal day here?

“Murphy’s Law?”

Every day, bro. There was a moment of silence. Haven’t I been out for three days?

“Yeah. Been worried sick.”

So wasn’t it three days that I’ve been out of that forest? How did you not find me sooner?

Bronze shrugged. “Couldn’t make contact. I was in that forest for half the time, and the other half you were still asleep.”

Bronze?

“What’s up?”

Can you just kill me now before these ponies do?

“Nope.”

We chatted for a while longer before Applejack brought me back to the rest of the group.

“Well, as fun as this has been,” she said, pushing herself up from the table, “Ah’ve still got chores ta do on the farm. Thanks for lunch, Pinkie. Ah’ll see y’all around.”

The rest of the Elements made excuses about having things to do or needing some time to digest the news, all except for Rainbow Dash.

“No, wait! Guys, don’t leave me here with-” Dash cut herself off, hoof still outstretched to where the door closed on the last of her friends. The look of true terror on her face was like a solid blow to the stomach.

I gave the musical ponies a sidelong glance before shooting her a sheepish grin. “So, uh, I guess we have some talking to do, huh?”

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. I didn't mean to slip into an "every other month" schedule. The second half of the semester is the worse half.
Also, more references!

Chapter 11

Chapter eleven

Dash still had that look of terror on her face. I tried to inch closer to her, doing my best to not look aggressive. As soon as I got close, Dash bolted for the door.

“Rainbow, hold on a sec!” Due to her injuries, I easily caught up to her, sliding in front of her and putting a hoof on her shoulder. “We need to talk about this!”

The left side of my face suddenly burned as Dash slapped me. “There’s nothing to talk about!” she shouted in her scratchy voice. “Leave me alone!”

“If you would just hold on for one god damned second, I could explain!”

“You don’t need to explain anything! You attacked me! I don’t want to talk to you!” Rainbow looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. He brushed her bangs out of her eye. “You did this!”

The left side of Rainbow’s face had a huge angry welt where four claws had swiped her. The wound went over her eye, going a little over her muzzle. I couldn’t keep the disgust off of my face, but it was mostly disgust with myself. She noticed and slapped me again, making another dash to the door. She made it through before I could catch her. I barged through the door after her.
“Dash, come on! Just gimme a chance!”

Rainbow just ran down the street. Well, hobbled really. I lowered my hoof outstretched towards her when I felt a hoof on my shoulder.

“Just let her go, dude.”

I let out a breath as I looked at the ground. “Why can’t I do anything right, Vinyl?”

“She might just need time.”

“God fucking dammit. I fucking did it again.”

“Did what?” Vinyl cautiously asked.

“I fucked up and lost another friend.” I slammed my hoof into the ground. “I knew this would happen! Aargh, I’m so mad at myself right now!”

“Dude, calm down for a second. Just take some deep breaths.”

I turned on her. “That’s not going to help!”

Vinyl grabbed me, a scowl on her face. “If you don’t calm the fuck down right now, you’re going to lose control again.”

I growled at her, realizing she could be right. I forced myself to sit down. A moment went by without either of us speaking. “…It’s not like those scabs won’t become pretty awesome scars, either.”

“Ain’t gonna lie, those would be pretty badass if she got into the Wonderbolts.”

I sighed. “So what now then? I lose almost everyone I know as friends and I’m portrayed a freak?” I glanced at Vinyl out of the corner of my eye. Her glasses masked most of her expression, and her mouth was a straight line.

“We’ll get through this. Don’t freak too much.”

“Not the best word choice, Scratch.”

“Hey, we got word back from my parents, by the way.”

I looked up from the ground and at Vinyl’s grin. “I forgot about them. What’d they say?”

“They wanted to try the flight goggles again. And if that doesn’t work, ‘find a spell or something’.”

I brought a hoof to my face. “That’s not very helpful.”

Vinyl shrugged. “Oh, and word on the street is that the CMC are looking for you.”

The who? It took a second, but the memory of the three fillies at Pinkie’s party came back. “Those three little troublemakers?”

“Yeah. Good luck with them. One time they decided they wanted to get their marks in music and drove Octavia crazy for a day.” The DJ chuckled at the memory.

I smiled. “That would have been fun to watch.”

“You better believe it was!”

“So what are you doing the rest of the day, Scratch? You and grey sexy over there have a date?” I motioned toward the window, where the mare in question could still be seen sitting at the table, sipping at a drink.

“I wish,” Vinyl said, looking into the window. “I actually have to spin tonight.”

“Is there a club here? I haven’t seen one yet.”

“No, it’s in Canterlot. I was supposed to leave yesterday, but somepony had to discover his gift with perfect timing!” Vinyl looked back at me, a sarcastic grin settling on her features. I gave her my best not amused face. “That was a joke. You’re supposed to laugh,” Vinyl went on, punching me in the shoulder.

“So how are you getting there before tonight? Teleport?”

The DJ barked a laugh. “Hah, I wish. I’m not strong enough for that. The train’ll be fine. But I gotta go, I still need to get my stuff ready. I’ll see you later, ok?”

“Later, Scratch. Have fun.”

After the blue hair turned a corner, I looked back inside. Octavia was looking at me expectantly.

“I still have to talk to you, you know.”

Yeah, I know. Get off my back.

Bronze let out a huff as I opened the café door, settling himself down into a comfortable position. I made my way back to Octavia’s table.

“Well, that certainly could have gone better.”

“I still don’t understand what I did wrong.” I rested my head on the table.

Octavia raised an eyebrow at me. “Well, for starters, grabbing her and yelling at her when she obviously didn’t want to be here probably wasn’t the best of ideas.”

“Can it, smartass.”

Octavia huffed. “Look, I’m trying to be helpful. I might even be able to help you with your wolf side.”

That made me look up at her. “Really?”

She gave me a small smile. “I will not lie to you; it will be a challenge and it will be mostly on you. But I will give my assistance when possible.”

“Awesome! When can we start?”

“I still need to gather appropriate materials. I will meet you out in the field by the library tonight.” She got out of her chair and walked to the door.

“When?”

She answered me with a single word. “Dark.” Then she left.

I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Fuck me.

“Only if you really want me to.” Bronze looked pleased with himself.

Not in the mood for your sass today.

“Well too bad, because we need to talk.”

Fine. Anywhere in particular? I need to be outside right now. I stood up and made my way towards the door. Bronze heaved himself to his paws and followed me.

“Anywhere’s fine with me.”

We ended up in a park. I was stretched out on a bench and Bronze had made himself comfortable on the grass beside it. Is this going to turn into another lecture?

“Probably.”

Good. I projected as much sarcasm into the word as I could.

Bronze growled. “Look. I am not your enemy. We need to work together if we want to thrive here.”

Aren’t you just here to babysit me? Wouldn’t you rather be chasing rabbits or something right now?

“Don’t antagonize me.”

Fine. I rolled over and watched the clouds roll by. What were you going to lecture me about?

“So here’s the deal. You remember when I told you about going to talk to Celestia?”

And you got chewed out by her sister?

“Yeah. Turns out Sunbutt isn’t happy with what Luna told me.”

I snorted. Sunbutt?

“Her cutie mark is the sun.”

That’s hilarious.

“Yeah, it’s what the wolves call her. We don’t like her much. Anyway, Luna told me that we could tell Twilight and the others whatever we wanted. Apparently, at the last meeting, the leaders had agreed to not let word of this get out to the mortal populations.”

Good thing we didn’t get the chance then. Why do you say ‘apparently’?

“Well I wasn’t there. Luna wasn’t either, and neither of us had gotten the memo. While you were out, I went back to the pack and got chewed out by the Alpha.”

Uh oh.

“Pretty much. I had to tell him everything, and he’s pissed at me for letting all of this happen to you. As I was leaving, I was told about the decision I told you about earlier.”

So he didn’t even tell you himself? What a douche.

“Probably wasn’t the first thing on his mind. But this is my last chance. If anything else happens to you or to something that would fuck up relations more, I’m out.”

I sighed. So what do we do now?

“Now? I suggest we work on helping you stay under control. Or we can try to find Discord and fuck his shit up until he agrees to fix you.”

I like the second option better.

“I was joking. We need to work on you right now.”

Aww. We’ve got several hours before dark, so what do we do?

“I really need to talk to Sunbutt and see if we can work something out.”

I thought you needed to stay here and watch over me.

Bronze looked conflicted. “Alright, past experience has told me that leaving you by yourself is never a good thing. I really need to go do this, but I have to be here when you’re with Octavia. If I’m not back by dark, do not practice with her. Understand?”

I get that you want to be there in case something goes wrong, but what am I supposed to do if you’re still gone? I can’t just stand her up.

“I don’t fucking know. Go meet her but don’t do anything until I’m back, alright? I should be back by then anyway.”

Fine. Go, you’re wasting time.

“Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone!” Bronze called over his shoulder as he bounded away.

Don’t do anything stupid, huh? I rolled over on the bench. I’ve still got time to kill. What is there to do around here? I put my head down on my hooves. Suppose I could take a nap. Nothing’s ever happened to me here while I was sleeping.

I stood on the plane of white again. I looked around, trying to find Bronze. After a few turns, something appeared a short distance in front of me.

“Hey.”

The way the creature sat there, tail wagging, reminded me of how I first met Bronze. It looked like me. I had grey fur, and a shaggy flame-colored mane, but that’s where the similarities ended. It didn’t have hooves, living flame, my eyes, or wings. No, it had paws, real hair, and yellow eyes. It opened its mouth, and a pink tongue lolled out over sharp teeth.

“I said ‘hey’. Anyone home?” The creature cocked its head.

What are you?

The thing stood up and started walking towards me with the now familiar gait of a wolf. “Wow, that’s harsh. I’m you.”

No, you’re not me. I’m me.

“I’m the part of you that you’re afraid of.” The creature had made its way to me and was now rubbing its shaggy head over me. “You really should let me out to play more.”

I don’t think that’s a good idea. I tried to shy away from wolf-me, but he just relentlessly followed. Wait, more?

“Yeah, more. You already did it once.”

What? I couldn’t have-

“Don’t lie to yourself. I’m you. I know everything you know. That blue mare was a great time to play with.”

I grabbed the wolf by the throat and picked him up, slamming him down on his back and pinning him. I will not let you harm anyone else. I should just kill you right now.

“Killing me won’t solve anything. You’ll only be hurting yourself, after all.” The wolf stopped smiling and sniffed the air. “Hold on, you smell that?”

The stench reached my nostrils a second later. Smoke?

I woke with a start, the smell of smoke overpowering. I scrambled to my feet, looking around. Flames licked trees and engulfed grass and flowers. I bolted towards the entrance I had come through. There was a line of houses on each side of the road just outside of the park. The house closest to the park was the source of the fire, and spread it to the greenery of the park with a favorable wind. A few ponies were standing outside, looking on in terror. Two ponies were holding back a crying pegasus mare who was trying to get closer to the inferno. I slid to a stop next to them. “What’s going on here?”

A stallion looked up at me, then returned his focus on trying to retain his charge. “Fire started. This one wants to go back in there!”

The crying mare choked out a cry that sent a shiver down my spine. “My baby!”

Ignoring the stallions last words, “Ma’am, you can’t go back in there!”, I ran towards the door without a second thought. Someone else called out to me, but the words were lost in the roar of the fire. I slammed through the door, splintering it and smashing it to the ground. Inside used to be a foyer, dining room, kitchen, and living room, with a staircase leading upwards. Disregarding the burning furniture, I made my way towards the steps. I could hear crying coming from upstairs. “Don’t worry, I’m coming to help!” I shouted.

To my surprise, I got a response. “Please hurry!” A young filly’s voice called out. I started to climb the stairs, but as I put weight on the second step, it collapsed into a flurry of embers. I fell heavily into the stairs, breaking the other ones that I fell on, knocking the wind out of me. I looked back up the staircase. With the first half of the stairs demolished, and the other half probably not safe anyway, I needed to find another way to get upstairs. A smoldering beam broke above me and slammed in front of me, breaking me out of my thoughts. This kid doesn’t have time for me to sit here thinking. I quickly glanced around for something I could use. Grey feathers caught my eye as I turned my head. Wings. Duh. I launched myself to the elevated hallway. A shriek echoed out of a nearby room. I skidded to a stop in front of a doorway and threw myself into the room.

Three familiar fillies were huddled around three unfamiliar foals. Two unicorns and a pegasus trembled as the older fillies unsuccessfully tried to reassure safety. Most of them were crying. The room was filled with smoke, some letting out of a broken window. I ran over to them, shouting to get their attention. When they all noticed me, they clung to me, crying. There was no way I could take all six at a time, but taking multiple trips was out of the question. Ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat.
I struggled to make my way to the window with the weight of the others bearing down. I looked outside, seeing the ponies still sitting around outside. Examining the window closer, I could see that there was still broken glass shards around the edges. I glanced around for something to break them with, but nothing caught my eye. Well, time to earn my man card. Or my idiot card. Might as well be the same thing. I punched the rest of the glass out and poked my head through the portal. I couldn’t just drop them out the window from the second floor. A dark pegasus stallion with a light mane caught my eye.

“Hey, pegasus!” I shouted down. Luckily, he heard me, and looked around until he saw me. He pointed to himself as if asking ‘Me?’

“Yeah, you! Come up here!”

He spread his wings and I brought my head back inside. A moment passed before he hovered outside the window.
“Here, take this,” I told him, passing one of the foals to him before passing another one.. “And this. Go!”

The stallion departed with his load towards the safety of the ground. I watched as he set the two down, quickly reversing his direction to come back. I gave him the last foal and one of the fillies before taking the other two crusaders and leaping out the window. As my luck would have it, the side of the second level that I was in the process of vacating collapsed. The window folded in on itself, catching my hind leg. With my forward momentum gone, I lurched downwards, slamming into the wall. The impact knocked the yellow filly out of my grasp and dislodged my leg. It wasn’t a soft landing at the bottom. When the birds stopped circling my head, the pegasus stallion was dragging me away from the burning wreckage, calling for a bucket of water. It took a second to sink in.

“Nonono, wait-” That was all I could say before I was drenched in a torrent of cold water.

I looked up at Canterlot Castle again. I was familiar with the setting by this point. I poked at the barrier a few times, essentially knocking on Luna’s door. A moment passed before the being of the night emerged on her balcony again.

“WHAT ARE THOU HERE FOR NOW?” she asked, sounding bored and annoyed.

“I need to talk to Celestia. It’s i-”

“WE KNOW, WE KNOW, ‘IT’S IMPORTANT’. WHAT MAKES THIS TIME DIFFERENT?”

I reeled back what first came to mind as a response, as it wouldn’t have been respectful or helpful. “It’s about the boy. We need to come to an understanding before this all gets thrown to shit.”

Luna looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hmm. IT WOULDST HAPPEN THAT SHE IS NOT BUSY AT THE MOMENT.”

“So you’ll let me see her?”

There was a pause.

“WE WOULD, HOWEVER, THERE SEEMS TO BE A SLIGHT...PROBLEM.”

I held back a sigh. “What kind of problem?”

“WE ARE UNDER STRICT ORDERS TO KEEP THE BARRIER ERECT.”

“From Su-Celestia?” That slip-up would have cost me my life. Calling her Sunbutt around any pony could be a disaster.

“WHO ELSE WOULD WE TAKE ORDERS FROM?”

“I’m starting to lose my patience with you, Luna.”

“THAT’S PRINCESS LUNA TO YOU! KNOW THINE PLACE, MUTT!”

“Calm down, Luna.” A stern, motherly voice joined the conversation as Sunbutt herself joined her sister on the balcony. Luna grumbled to herself as she backed off. Remembering my manners, I lowered myself to the ground.

“Princess Celestia, I have urgent need to speak with you regarding the charge I am currently in charge of here in Equestria.”

“Rise. Come in, we have much to discuss.” Rather than opening the barrier for me, Celestia teleported me up to the balcony with them. I stumbled for a step, disoriented. Celestia was about a head taller than me, and Luna was about a head shorter. My shoulders were almost twice as wide as Celestia’s. Celestia continued on without waiting up.

She led me down a set of marble circular stairs, exiting the tower. A maze of corridors and hallways later, Celestia threw open a set of large doors. Inside the room sat a large circular table surrounded by chairs. Celestia sat in one, and I made myself comfortable on the floor.

“Sorry, small chairs.”

“You came here to talk to me about your charge?” Celestia asked after casting a spell that sealed the room. I nodded. “Normally I’d offer you food, but in your case I don’t think that would be in my power.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“So what about young Hot Head brings you here today?” Celestia raised a cup of tea in her magic that I hadn’t realized she had.

“My Alpha wanted me to clear up a few things with you.”

“Of course.”

“Contrary to what you may have heard, he does want to keep peaceful negotiations with Equestria. Hot Head is...challenging to keep an eye on, to say the least.”

“Word has it that your charge has my blessing.”
“That was one of the things I wanted to clear up with you. I assume you know what Discord has done to him by now.”

“I’ve been informed.” Another sip of tea.

“Discord turned him into a living torch, and ponies seem to connect your sun to it for some reason.”

“There is a reason, but that is ancient Equestrian history. You didn’t come here to hear that.”

“Indeed, I had not. However, there is also a connection between your sister and the creatures of the night, am I correct?”

“In a way, yes.” Celestia’s polite smile faded at the topic. “Am I correct to assume that you know the more recent history of my sister?” I nodded. “Nightmare Moon has become the scapegoat for most of what are considered to be monsters. May I ask why you’d bring this up?”

“Hot Head is a lycan. Also Discord’s doing.”

The news made Celestia quiet for a few minutes. “This is a problem. I apologize for not accommodating your request to speak with me sooner.”

“I want to know what you’re going to do about my charge and what you want me to do and not do while I’m staying in Equestria.”

“You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?”

I opened my eyes, laying on the flat white plane. The wolf-me sitting beside me immediately caught my attention. God dammit, you again?

“You won’t be getting rid of me that easily. I told you before, we’re one and the same.”

I pushed myself to my hooves. What do you want now?

Wolf-me gave a cheeky smile. “To be let out to play every once and a while.” After seeing the flat look I gave him, he continued. “Oh, you mean this conversation? That wasn’t me, you initiated it.”

You said the first line!

“Yeah,” he cocked his head to one side, “but you called us both in here.”

Fuck this and fuck you. I don’t have time for this.

“Actually, you probably have a long time. You seem to enjoy these ‘near death experiences.’”

This shithead was actually starting to anger me. I decided to ignore him, turning my back to him and sitting down.

“Oh, that’s how you’re going to be? Two can play this game!”

For a while, we ignored each other and there was silence. Eventually something prodded my shoulder.

“Hey.”

I didn’t respond.

“Hey, come on. I’m bored.”

You have a shorter attention span than I do. And that’s saying something.

“Let’s do something. I’m bored. Come on.”

I miss Bronze…

I trudged down the dirt road, lost in my thoughts. No matter where they went, they always came back to Hot Head and that night. The attack kept replaying itself in my mind. I couldn’t get away from it. Maybe Twilight has an amnesia spell or something.

All of a sudden, a rush of ponies galloping the opposite direction almost knocked me to the ground. “What the… What’s going on here?”

Looking up at the sky, I could see naught but smoke filling the air. A roaring fire loomed further down the street. I rushed towards the building, pushing against ponies in my way. Standing near the small house were several worried looking ponies. I followed their gaze to a second story window. I watched as Hot Head crashed through it and onto the ground, holding Sweetie Belle and dropping Apple Bloom. One of the ponies, Thunderlane, rushed forward and dragged them away from the collapsing building. Before I could react, Thunderlane emptied a bucket of water over the unconscious hero, looking proud of himself.

Good. That’s him out of the way. It’ll be safer without a disaster like him around.

I was actually shocked. How could I think of a friend like that? One look at one of my casts quickly reminded me why. I sighed. I know that wasn’t his fault. But who else is there to blame? I looked back up at Hot Head, laying next to the six foals that he had saved. But dammit, he’s not a bad pony. Maybe he deserves another chance. One last thought was the deciding factor. They call me Loyalty for a reason.

I limped my way over to Thunderlane, shouldering him out of the way. “Move, you idiot!” I tried, unsuccessfully, to lift Hot Head onto my back.

“Uh, Dash? Wouldn’t it be better for him to rest?” Thunderlane asked.

“No time to explain, but I know what I’m doing! Help me!” I yelled back at him. With Thunderlane’s help, I managed to get Hot Head slung across my back. As soon as he was situated, I made a beeline for the wrecked home’s front door, or lack thereof. Intense heat immediately greeted me as I entered the doorway. There was a large flame eating at some furniture in what might have been a living room. I heaved his limp body into the flame, then hightailed it out of there before the heat and flames could do more damage to me.

I ran into Thunderlane again outside. “Look, I ca-” I broke out into a fit of coughs. “I can explain, but can I get some water first?”

“But I’m so boooored!”

I sighed again. Can you stop whining for five minutes?

“This is your head. Can’t you conjure a stick or something?”

I turned to look at wolf-me. Really? You want to play fetch with me?

“It’s better than doing nothing!”

Oh my god. If you’re me, isn’t this technically your head too?

“Yeah, but I can’t make anything happen in here.”

Why not?

“I don’t know! You think I haven’t tried? I’ve been locked up in here forever!”

Wolf-me had been whining about his boredom for what seemed like hours. I guess it was mildly entertaining for him.

“Why do you make it so empty in here?”

I don’t try to do it on purpose. If you really are me, then you have my memories and experiences. You should know why it’s lonely in here. This is where I go to escape.

“How can you stand being alone? I hate it!”

They say that humans are social creatures, but there’s only one person you can trust. Yourself.

“Dude. Why all of the feels all of a sudden?”

It hasn’t been all of a sudden. You just haven’t been paying attention for the past few hours.

“Has it been hours? I have no sense of time in here.”

I didn’t feel like that needed a response. It was quiet for a few moments.

“...I’m bored.”

“You still haven’t answered my question.”

“You didn’t ask a question.”

“You still haven’t answered me.”

“I’m still thinking about it.”

Celestia looked conflicted, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. I wanted to help, but I couldn’t think of much either. I said as much.

“Princess.” She glanced my way as I addressed her. “I’m not here to be your enemy.”

“I know.” Celestia looked out the window, up at her sister’s tower. “My sister isn’t taking these new… arrangements very well, and I’ve had to pick up the slack.”

“Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate.”

“You have no idea.”

I shrugged. “Like I said, I’m here to help.”

Celestia sighed again. “You said Discord made him a lycan?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then how the hell is he so close to death so often?”

“Pardon?”

“From what my sister tells me, lycans have almost instant physical regeneration for light to moderate wounds, and super strength and endurance.”

“I don’t-”

“Haven’t you been watching over him since you brought him here?” Celestia finally snapped at me.

I sat up, establishing a bit of height advantage over her in her chair. “With all due respect, Your Highness, I would have been watching him more closely if I hadn’t had to be constantly making these trips to Canterlot and wasting time dealing with Luna.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re doing it again.”

I stood up, hackles raised and teeth bared. “Don’t tick me off.”

The goddess in front of me scoffed. “Yes, I’m well aware of you wolves and your short tempers.”

I was about to lunge at her when a small scroll winked into existence between us, making us realize what we were about to do. Celestia cleared her throat. “Well then. Do you mind?”

I waved her on with a paw. She unfurled the scroll and it was silent for a moment. Her expressions ranged from a small smile to a troubled frown. “It seems that I am needed in Ponyville.”

Author's Note

Heh, been a while, hasn't it?
I...don't really have any excuses. I know I said that I would have more time to write after finals were over and school got out, but the opposite turned out to be true. I spent all of my time, all day every day, for the first couple weeks after I got home trying to find a job. I ended up with two part-time jobs. That really didn't leave me with much free time, and the little free time I did have I spent playing video games with my brother. School starts back up next month, and maybe I'll have more time to write then, but no promises.
But hey, at least this is a long chapter to make up for the wait!

Oh, who am I kidding, that's not worth it at all...

Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

It was as if I couldn’t fall asleep. I had been trying for a long time, maybe hours, maybe minutes. The wait only felt longer with having to listen to what was quickly becoming the most annoying part of my life complain about being bored. I was actually starting to get bored listening to him.

Will you just shut up already?

Wolf-me raised his head from where he previously had it on his crossed paws. “But-”

Look, you little shit. I know you’re bored. There is literally nothing I can do about it right now. I’m tired of listening to you whine and complain!

His ears flattened to his head. He stood up and walked over to me, lowering himself in front of me, almost like a bow.

What are you doing?

“Sign of submission to the alpha,” he said without looking up.

Stand up, you idiot. I’m not your leader, and you’re not mine.

He stood up, waiting for an explanation. I didn’t give him the pleasure.

We’re going to be stuck with each other for a long time. I don’t specifically mean right now, but that may be the case as well. First off, you need a name.

My counterpart’s ear twitched, but he didn’t do anything else.

I’ve just been calling you wolf-me in my head. You claim to be me, which I’m not questioning, but you can’t have my name because that would be confusing as hell.

He tilted his head.

Are you even listening?

No response.

Hey!

Still nothing. I snarled and poked his muzzle. Not-me blinked and started in surprise.

“Sorry, your mane is mesmerizing.”

I felt my eye twitch. You couldn’t have been entertained by that fifteen minutes ago?!

“Nope. What were you saying?”

Nope. Not going to repeat myself. I know you heard me. He stayed quiet as I went on. How about I just call you Punk?

“Punk? Why Punk?”

You’re annoying as hell and you have a problem with authority. I gave him a deadpan look.

“I don’t-”

My face was lying on something hard. As I moved it, I could feel a thin layer of something move with me. I opened my eyes and sat up. Around me there seemed to me a wreckage of a house. Memories came rushing back as my mind caught up with recent events. I was sitting on the remains of some unrecognisable furniture. Most of the structure was intact enough to stay standing, but I wasn’t going to take my chances. I stretched and made my way out the empty doorframe.

The one time I actually wanted to talk to him, I don’t get the chance…

The setting sun blinded me as I stepped outside. I raised my hoof to shield my eyes. Blinking a few times, I found myself face-to-face with what seemed to be a confused fire-fighting pony. The pony adjusted its hat before brushing past me into the burned building.

“There he is!” someone shouted. Something slammed into my side, knocking the breath out of me and clamping hard. I looked down, and to my surprise, a grey pegasus mare was holding onto me and crying in my shoulder. A little confused, I patted her blonde mane and looked around for someone to give an explanation. Rainbow Dash was standing a ways away, next to a group of six younger ponies and a dark pegasus, all watching the scene with varying expressions of amusement. I caught Dash’s eye and she immediately looked away. I could make out some words within the sobs.

“Thank you, thank you! Oh, I can’t thank you enough! You saved my baby!” the mare cried. I guess they were tears of joy.

“Look, ma’am, it was nothing…” I said softly to her. I don’t think she heard me over her own sobs. “It’s ok. Your baby’s fine, just let it all out.”

I really had no idea what to do. I’ve never had to comfort a crying woman before. I tried to gently pry myself out of her grasp. She resisted at first, but let me go.

“Please, what ever can I do to repay you?”

“Really, you don’t need to do anything for me.”

“I insist-”

“And I refuse. I couldn’t just stand by and let lives go to waste.”

“Your bravery and kindness will not be forgotten! Thank you!” The mare ran back to the group of kids, giving one of them, presumably her baby, special attention. Now that the rush was over, I could recognise another three as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but I couldn’t remember their names. The other two I couldn’t identify.

With my work here done, and the sun setting, I turned around and retraced my steps towards the park. If I remembered correctly, Twilight’s library was on the other side, and I had agreed to meet Octavia in the adjacent field at dark. I felt eyes on me, and I looked back. Dash was staring at me, but as soon as we made eye contact she looked away again, quickly peeking back afterwards to see if I’d stopped looking at her. I tried to pour as much “I’m sorry” as I could into the gaze, hoping that she would see and pick up on it. She actually turned her back on me, but not before I saw her expression soften.

On my way back, I ran into Bronze. He explained everything that happened with Celestia.

So what did she need to do here? I asked after he was finished.

“Dunno. Something about responding to her ‘faithful student.’ What did you do while I was gone?”
I told him I took a nap.

“Really?”

Yeah, nothing happened while you were gone. I fell asleep on that bench, woke up, and then you showed up.

Bronze narrowed his eyes at me as we walked. “Then why are you half-covered in soot and ash?”

I wiped a hoof across my muzzle and it came away black. Dammit.

“Busted.”

There was a fire. I sighed.

“I got that much. What did you burn?”

I didn’t burn anything! Why do you automatically assume I did it?

“I was half-joking. But your head is always on fire.”

It wasn’t me. I really was taking a nap when you were gone. The smell of smoke woke me up. I followed it to its source; one of the local houses caught on fire. I rescued six kids from inside.

“Six kids? That’s hard to believe.”

It’s true.

“Relax,” Bronze gave me a good shove. “I’m just giving you a hard time.”

Come to think of it, that guy drenched me after I fell out the window…

“Pffft, you fell out of a window?” He was having a field day with this.

How did I get back inside? I couldn’t come up with an answer. Bronze had no interest in helping, too busy laughing. I rolled my eyes and slammed my shoulder into his side.

Hey, at least I didn’t do anything stupid this time.

“Yeah, you did. You fell out of a window!” Bronze’s laughter returned full force.

I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.

We had made it to the library. Passing the giant tree, we made our way into the heart of the field. A small campfire had been set up, an earth pony sitting next to it. She looked up as we approached.

“Oh, good. You’re early.” Octavia stood up to greet me.

“Hey, Octy,” I responded. She gave me a funny look. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just weird to hear someone other than Vinyl call me that.”

“So what’s the first thing on the agenda for tonight?”

Octavia started to ruffle through a bag that I hadn’t noticed before. “Well, first things first, I’m going to have to explain a couple of concepts to you. We’ll go on from there.”

“Okay…”

The lycan turned around and sat in front of me, setting out a few items on the ground. One of them I recognised as wolfsbane, and I recoiled.

“Relax,” she said, setting it far off to the side. “That’s only for emergencies.”

Bronze chuckled from where he lay. Shut up, you.

“Um… I haven’t tried to teach this before, and all I have to go with are my own experiences. So, I suppose I’ll have to start with… Have you been feeling odd at all lately? Any urges?”

“Didn’t you ask me all these already with Vinyl earlier?”

“Yes, I suppose I did. Well, onto the next thing…” Octavia started to mess with one of the things she brought.

“What’s that for?”

“Oh, this? The smell of this is supposed to help you get in touch with your… uh, how do I put this?”

I decided to take a shot in the dark. “A furrier version of me in my dreams?”

She looked surprised. “Oh, you’ve met him already? Good!”

“Yeah, I’ve met the little prick.”

“Well that’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”

“If you knew-” I cut myself off. “You probably do.”

“If we have that covered, then that takes out what I had planned for tonight.”

“Really? What now, then?”

Octavia put away the incense. “Like I said, I haven’t done this before.” She shrugged. “Any questions for me?”

I thought about it for a second. “Lycans can change on command, right? Can you show me?”

“I don’t see any reason why not.” Octavia focused for a moment, then changes rapidly came over her. Her coat grew a few inches and became shaggy; her mane several and messy. She grew a wet, black nose on the end of her muzzle. Paws tore out of hooves. It looked much more pleasant than what I had gone through. She opened her eyes, and they were bloodshot yellow. I must have been making a face, because she laughed, exposing a set of canines.

“Woah…”

“So,” Octavia growled at me. “What do you think?”

“That was awesome! How do I do that?”

Octavia stopped smiling. She sat down and began to revert back to a pony. “Now, that’s where I have a problem.” I lost my smile as well. “I have no idea how to teach you to do that.”

“...oh.”

“...I still have control issues myself,” she admitted.

“Aww…”

Seeing my disappointment, Octavia was quick to offer a solution. “I just thought of something. Remember when Vinyl and I kept trying to keep you calm?”

“Yeah,” I drew out the word, starting to see where this was going. I was wary to try it.

“Get mad!” she exclaimed, as if it were the perfect solution to our problems.

“How about no? You remember the last time I lost it? I threw Scratch through a wall!”

Bronze grinned, as if he were proud, and his smile was contagious, a smirk spreading across my face. Octavia noticed as well.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Oh, just throwing Vinyl through walls, you know?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, hilarious.”

You paying attention? You could learn something about sarcasm from her.

“Shut up.”

Octavia started to pack up her stuff. “I guess we’re just about done here.”

“Woah, hold up. How are we done? We didn’t accomplish anything!” I reached out to put a hoof on her shoulder, then thought better of it. Octavia turned around to face me with a huff.

“Until we get an opportunity to go to Canterlot and meet up with The Inner Circle, there isn’t much more we can do.”

“The Inner Circle?”

“It’s an organization dedicated to helping ponies like us. And yes, I am perfectly aware that it is a terrible name. I’m pretty sure I’ve told you this earlier today.”

Yeah, when I was totally paying attention… “If we’re done here, I’ma just hit the hay.” I held out a hoof to the side. Octavia saw the invitation and went in for a quick hug. “Catch you later, Octy.”

She visibly shivered as she heard her nickname. “That still sounds odd coming from you.” She turned back to finish packing up her stuff as I headed off towards Fluttershy’s cottage. After a train of thoughts ran in my head for a moment, I started to worry if I would be welcome in her house after mauling her best friend.

Surprisingly, I was. Funny how the Element of Kindness lives up to her name.

“Are you sure? I can leave if you don’t want me here. I underst-”

“No, it’s ok. Why would I kick you out for something that you couldn’t control?” Fluttershy had looked up at me with a look of compassion that comforted me and made me uncomfortable at the same time. I was confused, and a little relieved. Suddenly, she moved in and wrapped me in a hug, resting her head on my chest.

It was completely unexpected. I didn’t really know what to do. I snaked a hoof around her. “Uh, Shy?”

“It’s ok. Rainbow will forgive you. She might just need more time.”

It was amazing how insightful Fluttershy was. As quiet as she normally was, it turns out she pays attention. She had immediately pinpointed what had been gnawing at my mind.

“How did-” A knock on the door interrupted my question. Fluttershy looked at the door and lowered her hooves to the ground. After trotting over to the door, she opened it and greeted the visitor. The door blocked visual of the pony, but that also meant that she couldn’t see me.

“Oh, hi Rainbow Dash!”

Oh no.

“Hey, Shy. Is Hot Head here?”

Before she had even finished the question, I was already diving out of the nearby open window.

“Uh, you know what? He just left.”

Nailing the landing outside (face planting on the grass, tumbling down a hill, and landing on a rock), I looked up to see that my amazing escape had put me a few meters away from Rainbow, who was sitting on the front doorstep. Well, shit.

“Wait, Hot Head! I’m not here to yell at you!”

“Why do I not believe you?” I hadn’t moved any closer.

“Look, I know it’s not what I normally would do, but I thought this would be a problem that is better to just face already and not run from it.”

I thought about how much it must have meant for her to come all the way out here with her injuries. Bronze nudged me forward.

“Go on.”

There was a small grassy hill near Fluttershy’s cottage, and we made our way there. On the top, Dash stretched out, and I sat beside her. Several minutes passed as I tried to find a way to open the conversation, staring at the stars that had started to come out. I imagine she was doing the same. An idea popped into my head.

“Wanna hear a story, Dash?”

The eye that wasn’t covered by hair looked up at me. “Sure, I guess.”
“Ok, so, there’s an annoying boss at work. One day, he comes in to work one day with a charade of a fake illness and he’s wearing a bikini. The employees are like ‘What the fuck, boss?’ The boss tells them, ‘Oh, sorry, I’m sick.’ The employees are still confused. ‘But what about the bikini?’ The boss says, ‘Oh, this thing? I accidentally put on my bikini instead of my suit today.’ One employee says, ‘Oh, yeah. Happens to everybody.’ The end.”

Dash stared at me. “Really?”

I chuckled. “If I tell you the backstory for that story, will you forgive me for telling such an awful story?”

“We’ll see.” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Let me start this off with telling you that I was really shy growing up. Still am, I guess. Anyway, I had moved the summer before high school started. I didn’t know anybody, and I didn’t really have any intention of getting to know people well. Books were my friends growing up."

"Sounds like somepony else we know," Dash mused.

"Yep. Freshman year changed my outlook on life, all because of one guy. I was sitting in a corner of a hallway, reading a book before class started one morning, by myself, like I normally did. A guy walks up to me and tells me that story out of the blue."

"Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Kinda weirded me out at the time. I ignored him the rest of that morning until class started. I didn't see him for the rest of the day, except for my last class. Turned out that he sat a few seats away from me.

"I had never been intrigued about another's life before, outside of family, of course. Except for this guy. This one moron that actually stuck by my side. He walked up to me every day before class and sat next to me in that corner. Eventually I moved part way down the hall, and he showed up there too. Every day, he would sit there and talk to me, telling me about himself or his observations. I don't know what happened. I warmed up to him."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Rainbow looked up at me again.

I let out a breath before I continued. "Remember how I told you I wasn't good with people?" I looked up at the stars. "I've lost every friend I've made, except Matt, and, hopefully, you guys. He introduced me to a few of his friends, but I didn't get close to them like I did for Matt. He was almost a brother to me."

"Stop being such a 'woe-is-me;' I'm sure it couldn't have-"

"Rainbow, I don't like reminiscing over my past. I've already told you much more than I've told anyone else, here and in the forest...that night. I'd appreciate it if you kept it between us."

There was a pause as she digested that. "Alright."

Another moment of silence passed."I'm sorry, about that ni-"

"Don't worry about it. It's fine."

More time passed as we sat in silence. "Hey, Dash?"

"Yeah?"

"We cool?"

"...Yeah."

"You hesitated."

"Look, Hot Head... I... Damn it, I'm not good with words.” Rainbow Dash fumbled with her hooves. “I'm just gonna say it. I've had...conflicting feeling about you for a long time."

I sat there, stunned, waiting for her to continue. I had an idea of where this could be going, but it was just as likely to go the opposite way.

"When we first met, you hauled me around town on your back without a problem, just because I wanted to be lazy. I thought, 'Hey, this guy might just be cool.' I like laid back ponies. I was bored one day, and I remembered how I crashed into Twilight when I first met her. I saw you walking around town, and I was curious to see how you'd react. We had a bit of a rougher landing than Twilight and I did, but you weren't mad at that either. I think it isn't too much of a stretch to say we both had fun with that."

I had a sarcastic reply, but I figured now wasn't a good time.

"I started to enjoy having you around. We had an awesome time at Pinkie's party, until that, uh, mishap..." She turned away, but I could still see the pink on her cheek. "I was worried about you, after the adrenaline died down. I hated those two days. Then we had that afternoon and the picnic you and Spike put together, and that was awesome..." Rainbow tugged on her bandages. "But then that night in the Everfree... You hurt me, Hot Head. I don't know what to think anymore."

It was apparent that she was done, but I didn't know how to respond. I decided to confirm my suspicions.

"Rainbow Dash... Are you into me?" She looked up at me, and her eye glittered. Her face was red, and she seemed to be choking on her words. "Because I think I'm into you."

"Wha-what? You aren't serious, are you?"

I raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. "Does it look like I'm joking?"

"I can't tell sometimes."

I brushed her hair out of her face, admiring her eyes, despite her grievous wound. It didn't look pretty now, but it would look awesome later. "I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that I am completely serious about what I'm telling you."
Rainbow squeed and hugged me tightly. If I had been a smaller pony she might have broken a rib.

"Hot Head?" she asked, her head still buried in my chest.

"What's up?"

"Can we just...stay like this for a while?"

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease Dash. "Aww, does my little Dashie want to cuddle?"

"If you tell anypony, I'm totally going to deny it."

"Sure, Dash," I chuckled. "We can stay like this for as long as you want."

"Awww! That's so adorable!"

Shut up, Bronze!

Author's Note

Another game of spot the-oh, forget it.
Yeah, I'm in the doghouse, aren't I? Been about half a year. Doubling a job and college is rough. I think I spent maybe 10 hours gaming this semester? It sucks.
It's not all bad news though. I'm not working next semester, so I'll have more time to study. (Read: game and write ponies.)
At least I still got this in before the new year, right?
Also, new tag! Hooray!
Another cause for celebration! (besides the new year) This story finally broke 50k words! Rejoice, my friends!

Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

“Hey. Wake up.”

I groaned, but made no effort to obey.

“Is this going to be a recurring thing with you?”

I like my sleep.

The wet nose poked me again. “Come on. Wake up.”

I don’t wannaaa, I whined.

“Too bad. You have a visitor.”

Who, at this early in the morning?

“It’s actually pretty late. Almost noon.”

Ugh, fine. I opened my eyes, immediately closing them from the glare of the morning sun. I raised a hoof so I could get my bearings without blinding myself.

Rainbow Dash stirred next to me, letting out the most adorable yawn. Bronze stood there, looking proud of himself, next to another figure.

A golden mare with a fiery mane sat in silence, staring into the distance, lost in thought. Her eyes were an orange color, matching the darker parts of her windswept mane. She was wearing a blue jacket. Almost looked like something from a branch of the military.

Uh, how long has she been here?

"She was here when I got here a few minutes ago. She hasn't moved since."

Who is she?

"How should I know?"

Well, looks like someone isn't the omniscient one I thought him to be... I smirked.

Bronze snorted. "Good to know that you don't need to be awake to be the bastard you are."

Before I could retort, I was interrupted by a fangirl scream destroying my left eardrum.

"Uh, I mean, Captain Spitfire!" Dash scrambled painfully to her hooves, awkwardly throwing a salute due to her injuries. "What are you doing here?"

"You know this pony, Dash?" I asked groggily, rolling to a more upright position.

And there goes the floodgate. "She's only the captain of the coolest flight squad in Equestria! How do you not know of the Wonderbolts?"

"At ease, Recruit," Spitfire said coolly. She then turned towards me. "You must be the infamous Hot Head, then?"

"Yeah, that's me," I confirmed, trying to ignore the overflowing fountain of excitement next to me. I stood up and offered a hoof. "Spitfire, I take it?"

She chuckled. "What gave that away?" She gave Dash a smirk.

"So what are you here for?" I repeated Dash's question.

"I wanted to come see the flaming pony for myself. I gotta see what my new competition is," Spitfire looked up at me with a playful grin. "I have a reputation to keep, after all."

She lost her grin suddenly as it turned to a concerned frown. "Now that I'm here, what the fuck happened to you, Recruit?"

Dash gave a nervous chuckle, rubbing the back of her head. "Long story. The gist of it is that I got in a fight with something I shouldn't have..."

Spitfire bright a hoof to her face and sighed. "What was the last thing I told you at the academy, Rainbow Dash?"

"Uhh...see you next year?"

"I told you to be careful. To think before you leap into things. Dammit, Dash, you're going to be the death of me," Spitfire poked the younger mare in the chest with a hoof, causing her to wince in pain. “I worry about you,” she added in a softer tone.

I was able to put together the pieces. Rainbow was a fanatic about the Wonderbolts, this famous flight group. She had gone to their flight camp and got to know the captain.

“Way to go, Sherlock.”

I was wondering when you would comment. Am I not allowed to make my own conclusions?

“Well, you know what happens when you assume things.”

I wanted to roll my eyes and sigh at him. “Not to be rude, but aren’t you a busy mare as captain?” I asked cautiously. “I mean, how do you have time to… y’know?”

Spitfire laughed. It was curious. She spoke to me casually, yet was stern to Rainbow Dash. “I’m actually not very busy when we don’t have a show coming up or when it’s peaceful.”

“Peaceful?” I interrupted.

“The Wonderbolts are also the elite wings of the air force,” Dash’s eye sparkled, the same way they always do when she talks about her favorite flying team. “It started with the EUP Guard-”

“We don’t need a history lesson, Dash,” I waved off her incoming lecture. “I get it.”

Spitfire was amused by the whole situation. “Anyway, I also came because I heard Ponyville throws a hell of a Nightmare Night celebration.”

“Shit, that’s today? I need to see Rarity!” Dash started to hobble away quickly, then froze. She immediately turned to Spitfire and saluted.

The golden mare sighed. “Dismissed, Recruit.”

And with that, she was gone. Man, she can still move when she wants to.

“She seems much better today than she was yesterday.”

I gave a hum of agreement. Nightmare Night is Halloween here?

“Yep. Strange how so many places share the same holidays.”

Yeah. I looked at Spitfire.

She caught my eye and turned back. “So what really happened to her?”

I frowned slightly. “She got caught by some monster in the Everfree. Not sure how she got away.”

A grunt was her reply. “Looks pretty bad. Is that why she had her mane styled differently?”

“Yeah. The doc says she’s lucky to still have her eyesight.” I decided to change the subject. “You bring a costume for tonight?”

“Nope. Didn’t bring anything besides a few bits for food and a place to stay,” she answered. Suddenly, she smirked and a glint appeared in her eye. “I have an idea for you, though.”

I was curious. Bronze’s ears perked up, signaling he thought the same way. “Really? Care to share?”

“Rainbow is going to love this…” Spitfire said menacingly.

“Is this something I want to be involved in?” I backed up a step.

"Trust me, you'll love it," she said, reaching up to pat my shoulder. "Come on!" Spitfire launched herself into the air, taking off into the distance. I watched her go, making no move to follow. After a moment, she noticed she was alone and turned back. She landed near me, giving me an odd look. "What are you waiting for?" She reverted into her drill sergeant tone.

"Well, I can't fly well," I tried to explain.

She didn't look happy. "No time like the present, is there?" she barked. "Let's see what you've got!"

A few hours later, I was on the Wonderbolts' stadium floor in Cloudsdale, exhausted, muscles burning. Oddly enough, the cloud floor wasn't soft at all. Spitfire had metaphorically beaten the basics and intermediates of flying into me. One thing was certain: she was a much better instructor than Rainbow was.

Bronze sat next to me, entertained by the last few hours and eager to see what was to come. He had easily loped along under us as we flew.

Spitfire stood a little farther away, not looking pleased. "Take a break, Recruit. I'll be back." With that, she trotted off into one of the dome entrances of the stadium.

She's a monster, I panted.

"She's actually impressed with you. She's really good with that drill sergeant mask."

Doesn't feel good. I groaned and rolled over. What did we even come here for, anyway?

I pushed myself to my hooves and made my way over to the exit Spitfire had left through. There was a cloud faucet built into the wall here, where no one on the risers outside could see it. As I helped myself, I could hear voices. Turns out clouds aren't very good at containing sound.

"Captain." A male voice bled through the walls.

"At ease, Lieutenant. We're not on duty," a voice I recognized as Spitfire's responded.

"Back so soon? I thought you had left for Ponyville on vacation."

"Relax, Soarin. I'll be out of your mane soon. I just need to grab something."

"Whatcha need?" Soarin asked.

"Do you know where that extra flight suit went? The huge one?"

"Should be with the others, I'd guess. What do you need that for? Found a potential?"

Spitfire hesitated. "You could say that."

"Nopony's been able to fill that suit since I got here. Don't we only have one super sized suit for a reason? Who'd you find?"

"I know Thunderblade's old suit hasn't been used since he retired, Soarin," Spitfire's tone started to become impatient. "He was the biggest Wonderbolt, but I found somepony who might fit it. Look, I'll explain later, okay? I'm on a time crunch."

That answer seemed to satisfy Soarin. "You're the captain."

Odd how we can hear so much. Aren't softer objects supposed to absorb sound?

"Usually. Clouds are mostly air though, maybe that's why."

You're no help.

"I'm not a physicist, either."

I'm an engineer. It bothers me.

I made my way back into the arena and broke into a hover, slowly circling the inside to wind down. Bronze kept pace with me, and we talked about nonsense for a few minutes before Spitfire arrived again, carrying a small bundle.

"Hey, you ready to go?"

I had caught my breath by this point, and I trotted over to the golden mare. "Yeah. Why did you bring me here, though?"

Spitfire shrugged. "Company," she said simply. I gave her a flat look. "What? I'm doing this for you, anyway."

"Fine. Where next?"

"Oh, I've got everything we need." She shifted the bundle she was holding. "Back to Ponyville!"

I groaned at the prospect of repeating that morning.

"Fine, I guess we can get lunch first," Spitfire said in an exaggerated exasperated tone, smiling. I narrowed my eyes at her. I know that smile. That's the smile that people use when everything goes according to plan, especially when that plan involves pranks or other hijinks.

"You know, I think we're going to get along nicely," I joked, "especially if food is involved."

"Wow, I thought I ate a lot."

Spitfire sat across from me at a small table. She had brought us to the private mess hall the Wonderbolts use. Although, 'mess hall' probably didn't to the place justice. It was a place of function over fashion, and the food it served followed the same philosophy. Nothing was fancy, but the food was everything an athlete could ask for.

Spitfire's comment made me look at all the empty plates we had left. She had a few cleaned plates, but I had a stack several times higher than hers.

"I'm not overstaying my welcome, am I?" I asked, pausing in my feasting.

Spitfire chuckled. "Not at all. We get this for free, so go nuts. I'm just amazed."

I tossed another plate onto the tower. "Life of a Wonderbolt is grand, isn't it?"

"It has its perks," Spitfire shrugged noncommittally.

A few minutes later, I had had my fill. I stretched in my chair, feeling the satisfaction of popping joints.

“You finally done?” Spitfire’s question was filled with amusement.

“Yeah. You’re going to end up being my best friend if you keep this up,” I said, standing up with the mare. I glanced around. “Where do we take these?” I pointed with a wing at the dishes on the table, wincing as I did so. Tomorrow is going to suck.

“Those? We can just leave ‘em.” Spitfire started towards the exit. “Come on, the flight back won’t be so intense. I’m not going to overwork you.”

That was a relief to hear. We left the establishment, and I still couldn’t get over the fact there there existed a city made out of clouds. And that I was in it. We took to the air, and the view just got better. I had been too exhausted to notice it when we had arrived earlier.

It was early afternoon, and so the sun wasn’t at the point of being in anyone’s eyes. Pegasi were everywhere, going to and fro about their businesses. The buildings’ architecture was both unique and a hodgepodge of different styles. I saw columns and trimmings that reminded me of ancient Roman works back on Earth, as well as modern engineering mixed in the works. There was almost no ‘ground’ to walk on, as nobody needed to walk in this city. The buildings looked almost scattered, like someone threw confetti in an area, froze time, and constructed a building where each little piece was.

We started to glide back in the direction of Ponyville. Spitfire still wouldn’t tell me what was in the bundle tied to her back, but I’m pretty sure I already knew.

“So, Spitfire,” I started a conversation to break the silence.

“What’s up?”

“Is there a reason we flew to Cloudsdale, home of the Wonderbolts, and went to the Wonderbolt stadium to get a costume for tonight? Could it possibly have anything to do with, I dunno, a certain group of fliers?” I knew I was being sassy, but sassy might have well been my middle name by now.

“Not much of a secret now, is it?” Spitfire laughed.

“Why don’t you just tell me the plan?”

“Alright, I guess you should know. You know how Rainbow Dash is obsessed with our group, right?”

“Yeah…” I still wasn’t quite sure where this was going. It had a direction, obviously, but I didn’t have a handle on how much it would diverge from the path.

“So we dress you up as a member, feed her a story on how you’re our newest guy, and watch her freak about it!” Spitfire was grinning by the end of it, despite the wind blowing in her face.

I was doubtful. “You really think she’s going to buy that? She’s been trying for years, and she’s the best flier I’ve seen. Nobody gets in in a day!”

“That’s the part that will irk her the most! It’s brilliant!”

I thought about it for a bit. I was sure that Dash wouldn’t fall for something that simple, and if she did, it would crush her. I couldn’t give up the chance that having a Wonderbolt on Nightmare Night would give, though. I needed to come up with something that would fool Dash, as well as everybody else. I got it!

“Hey, Spitfire!”

We pulled in to Ponyville and landed by the park as a familiar purple unicorn walked by. Several ponies were setting up decorations for the holiday.

“Hey, Twilight!” I called. “You’ve met Spitfire, right?”

“Hey, I know you!” Spitfire greeted Twilight. “We met at the Gala.”

“Yeah, I remember that. That night was awful,” Twilight reminisced. “N-not that meeting you was awful, I mean-”

Spitfire laughed and waved it away. “Relax, Twilight. Everypony hates the Gala.”

The two mares started to chat, and we made our way to a nearby set of benches. They shared one, while I stretched out on the other. Bronze laid down next to the bench, crossing his paws and resting his muzzle on them. The weariness of the day caught up to me, and the sun’s warmth cast a tempting cradle; I couldn’t resist passing out.

“Wow, that was quick,” Twilight commented, looking over at Hot Head.

“Dude’s probably exhausted. I worked him hard today. Kid did well,” Spitfire boasted.

“Oh, have you been teaching him how to fly? Rainbow Dash tried, but she isn’t really the teaching type,” Twilight shrugged.

“What kind of pegasus with good wings doesn’t know how to fly by a quarter of his age?”

“Well,” Twilight hesitated, “it’s probably not my story to tell, but…”

I listened in as Twilight told the pegasus the story of my charge. Well, the story that she knew. It didn’t include me, but the way she told it seemed like she was leaving something else out as well. She didn’t mention Sunbutt at all, even though they had met this morning to discuss current events. I wondered why she would leave out something like that, but maybe she just wasn't comfortable with talking about her mentor.

I sat up and scratched my ear. It wasn’t important. I was worried about what trouble Hot Head would get into tonight, and by extension, what trouble I would be getting into.

"Hey, wake up."

"I dun wanna," I rolled over. "Five more minutes."

"Party starts in an hour and a half. Come on, we still have to get ready," the voice was insistent.

"Noooooo," I whined, still half asleep.

There was a sigh, then "Up an' at 'em, Recruit! On your hooves!"

I was suddenly wide awake, standing at attention, saluting the madmare in front of me. Once I realized what I was doing, I lowered my hoof and gave Spitfire a flat look. “You suck, you know that?”

“Yeah, but you swallow,” Spitfire retorted, her grin growing to levels delegated by most as ‘shit-eating.’

Bronze howled with laughter. “I like this chick!”

Shut up, Bronze. I know you do.

“I thought you would be more classy than that, Spitfire. I guess we can be good friends after all,” I said nonchalantly.

"Come on, we're losing daylight. Where else do we need to go to get ready?" Spitfire cut to the point.

"We need to stop at Rarity's and Twilight's," I said, moving past the pegasus and continuing down the road. Spitfire fell in next to me, with Bronze taking up the rear.

"This is gonna be awesome," Spitfire commented. "I've heard stories about the pranks Rainbow Dash pulls on Nightmare Night. Pulling the wool over her eyes is going to be so worth it!"

"Keep it down," I hissed at her. "We don't want anyone finding out about it!"

"You're right. Sorry."

We talked until we reached the boutique. I stepped up to the door and knocked on it.

"It's open!" A posh voice called out.

Pushing the door open, I stepped inside Rarity's house. The interior looked exactly like one would expect from a clothing store. Racks of clothing divided the floor and dressed mannequins lined the walls.

"Who is it?" A voice called from a closed door.

"Uh, Hot Head."

"If you've come for a costume, darling, I'm afraid I can't help you. You should have come sooner," Rarity said, her voice a little strained.

"You ok, Rarity?" I asked, stepping closer to the door.

"Fine, dear, perfectly fine, don't come in! Nopony can see before the party!"

I rolled my eyes. Women. Doesn't matter the species, they're all the same.

Spitfire shook her head, sighing.

"Hey Rarity, do you have any fur dye?" I called back through the door.

"In my storeroom, second door on your left. Help yourself darling, I rarely use them."

"Cool. Thanks, Rarity!"

Spitfire and I made our way to the storeroom. The room wasn’t anything special, just a glorified closet, really. Shelves filled with linens of every kind and color lined the walls, and one in particular had a section filled with vials organized by the color of the liquids therein. I made my way over to the section of color that I needed, with Spitfire looking on a lower shelf for hers. I found mine quickly, and helped Spitfire find the rest of hers. One vial of each color would probably do it, and Rarity seemed to have several of every single color imaginable.

Ochre? The hell is ochre? How many shades of red do you need? And why is it in with the yellows too?

“There will always be only seven colors. Any more is just ludicrous,” Bronze commented.

Amen to that.

Our haul obtained, we made our way back outside, wishing Rarity good luck on getting her shit together. Of course, it was worded much more eloquently than that.

"And now we just need to go to Twilight's," I said.

"With time to spare," Spitfire remarked.

We got to the library without incident. There was a closed sign hanging in the small window on the door. I knocked, muttering, "Hope she's here."

Twilight opened the door, wearing a strange, star spangled robe and a beard faker than Rarity's eyelashes. "Aren't you guys dressing up?"

"Hey, Dumbledore. I was hoping for your help with that."

Twilight let us in, looking confused. "Who's Dumbledore? And why is Spitfire here?"

"Nevermind. I need you to make me look like a mare."

Spitfire stifled a laugh, and Twilight looked at me like I had lost it.

"You know what Rainbow does on Hollo-Nightmare Night," I caught myself. "We're gonna prank her tonight."

"I'm going to dye myself to look like Dash," Spitfire explained.

"And I'm supposed to look like Spitfire," I finished.

Twilight grinned as the gears turned in her head. "I can do you one better."

I raised an eyebrow. Twilight didn't answer, instead opting to quickly search the shelves and pull down a specific book. Spitfire and I shared an is this a good idea glance.

The wannabe headmaster came back with the book open in her aura. "I can manipulate your auras to the point where-"

"Twilight," I interrupted. "Short version. Almost out of time."

She frowned, turning back to the book. "I can make you look and sound like Spitfire. Pretty much turn you into her."

Spitfire's eyes lit up. "And me into Rainbow?"

"Easily. I just need some of her essence, like one of her feathers or some of her hair. Luckily, she crashes into the library often, and I think I have one. I'm going to need one of yours, too, Captain." Twilight winked out of existence.

"Looks like we didn't need the dye after all," I remarked to Spitfire as the golden mare reached around and yanked a feather from her wing. She just grunted in response.

Twilight came back in another flash of magenta. "You two ready?"

We nodded.

"Let's get started." Twilight’s face scrunched up as her horn started to glow. She took Rainbow’s feather and concentrated on it. Her aura spread to encompass Spitfire, and I took a step back.

I don’t claim to know anything about magic. In fact, I probably know less than the most mundane of earth ponies. Magic does...magicky things. Things a human/pegasus probably can’t even learn. That’s why I became nervous when Spitfire grimaced and started to grunt in what I could only assume was pain.

Spitfire rose off the ground, and it was as if some wind had struck inside the library. A swirl of it seemed to center around the golden mare, her mane whipping about. She clenched her eyes shut, enduring what she could. As I watched, her fur started to change color. Starting from her hooves, sky blue fur slowly enveloped her limbs. As the intruding color reached her torso, it suddenly sped up to whip around her entire torso up to her shoulders. The transformation reached her tail, adding the cooler colors to complement her fiery ones. The color spread throughout her face. When it reached her eyes, Spitfire opened them and her mouth in a voiceless scream. Her irises, from bottom to top, changed from orange to magenta. The color continued to her mane, rainbowifying that too, from the roots to the tips.
The magic aura faded, and the now blue mare dropped to the floor, panting. I took a step towards her. “...Spitfire?”

She grunted as she started to push herself to a standing position. “Yeah, it’s me.” She stopped, a shocked look on her face that I’m sure I was mirroring. What made us pause is that the sound wasn’t the captain’s voice… but Rainbow’s instead.

We both looked to Twilight at the same time. She had taken a seat, attempting to regain her breath. A confident grin plastered her face. “See? Told you… one better.”

I gaped at her while Spitfire took an inventory check. She looked over herself, then at Twilight, an eyebrow raised. “Cutie mark?” she asked, her voice cracking. “Man, this is weird.”

I looked (at her cutie mark, nothing else) and sure enough, it was still her flaming wing thing.

“Of course,” Twilight replied. “I can’t change who you are. Just how you look.”

Twilight seemed to have recovered, and she turned to me, picking up the feather Spitfire had dropped in her levitation. I backed up a step, Spitfire’s face of agony flickering across my vision. The lavender mare grabbed me before I could get anywhere.

I grunted, gritting my teeth. It felt like something was kneading my flesh with molten needles. Agony reigned as I shut my eyes. I couldn’t bear to look, but I couldn’t hide from the pain. The needles made their way up my legs, seemingly crushing and compacting them as they went. After about an eternity, my legs were done, but that meant my pelvis was next. I actually heard bone snap, and Rainbow’s gasp. Spitfire, not Rainbow. The thought vaguely went through my mind, quickly flushed by more pain. Something important near the pelvis was next. “Twilight… I kinda need those!” The pitch of my voice rose with every word, but it was too late. Gone. My ribs were next, receiving the same burning, crushing treatment. My shoulders joined the pain party accompanied by more cracks of bone. My breaths were coming in ragged gasps by this point, and the needles across my neck didn’t help much either. The biggest obstacle to bear came when it reached my head.

It got into my brain. The lake of consciousness I thought I was so familiar with. Twilight’s spell was the dynamite that destroyed the dam I didn’t even realize was there. Another large body of water flowed to mingle with mine. This process itself wasn’t painful, just… different. It felt almost like a different entity, yet the familiarity I felt told me it could be nothing other than myself.

Hitting the floor broke me out of my thoughts. I layed there for a minute, taking a moment to realize the pain was gone. I opened my eyes. Rainbow Da-No, Spitfire gasped and jumped back. The golden legs in my vision looked so alien, yet I felt… awakened. Enlightened somehow. I raised a hoof to look at it more. It looked like a normal hoof, yet smaller, slightly more delicate. I turned over and sat up, looking down. Gold. It was so bright. It was...weird. Also weird was how feminine I felt. I had lost most of my masculine form, including... Yeah, that. I was... curvy. I never thought I'd use that word to describe myself.

"Hot Head?" Twilight's voice derailed my train of thought. "You ok?"

I felt Bronze trying to talk to me. "I... I think I need a minute," I said, Spitfire's voice tumbling out of my mouth. I stood up and let him in.

"Dude, are you ok? I didn't like the look of that magic, so I severed the connection in case it would fuck with something."

I...I think so, I told him. At least my thoughts still sound like me.

"I could only imagine what losing that would feel like... You have my sympathy."

How chivalrous of you.

I felt a hoof on my shoulder. "Hot Head-"

I jumped, spinning around. "Rainbow Da-!" I started, calming down when the mare came into view. "Spitfire... You gave me a heart attack," I made a face, hearing my words in something other than my voice. "You're right, this is fuckin unreal."

"You alright? The captain of the Wonderbolts can't afford to be this jumpy," Spitfire joked.

"Is this what it feels like to be sexy?" The words came out of my mouth before I realized what I was saying. Bronze fell on his back, howling with laughter. I felt heat rush to my face.

Spitfire laughed Rainbow's laugh. "I'll take that as a compliment. And look, you're not a campfire anymore," she gestured with a blue foreleg to a full-size mirror on the wall.

I looked, but had a hard time realizing what I was seeing. The thing staring back from the mirror was Spitfire in every way, except for the lack of a cutie mark. It moved the same way I did. This is so bizarre.

“Does this mean I can’t be vulgar around you anymore?”

I’m still me, Bronze… I think. I ran a hoof through my mane, amazed that I actually had one in place of the flame I had become accustomed to.

“Hey girls, the party starts in twenty minutes,” Twilight said. “We should get going.”

I gave her a look. “Girls? Excu… oh. Right.”

Spitfire chuckled, sauntering past me towards the door. “It’s nice, isn’t it? I’m going to have to teach you how to do this,” she added, implementing more sway of her rump as she walked. Twilight laughed, following her.

“Nah… I think I’ll pass. Thanks.”

“That actually sounded like me! Keep working at it!” Spitfire called back over her shoulder.

I sighed. Tonight is gonna be some kind of fucked up.

Bronze chuckled. “On a scale of one to succeed, you’re bound for a negative seven.”

Thanks, Bronze. Good to know you have my back.

Author's Note

Eight. Eight months. I know.
See blog post for more details, and a State of the Author kind of thing.

Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"Hey, shouldn't we do something about our cutie marks?" I called to Spitfire as she was about to walk out of Twilight's house.

"Like what?" Rainbow's voice called back. "We can't change them."

"I know, but won't it be really obvious that we aren't who we're trying to be?"

Spitfire came back into the room. "I have my uniform here. Since you're now my size, you could wear that."

"No, that wouldn't be a costume for Spitfire," I tried to explain my logic. "You wear it. For Rainbow Dash, it would still be a costume."

Spitfire thought for a moment. "True. What about you then?"

"Wouldn't Spitfire be the better one to ask?" I raised an eyebrow, letting out some sass.

Ruby eyes shined at me. "I am asking Spitfire."

Well, looks like she can be cheeky too. I like this mare.

"We all do."

She went on. "I haven't dressed up for Nightmare Night since I was a filly, before I joined the Bolts."

The sound of clicks on wood marked Spike walking down the stairs. "Are you guys still here? Doesn't the party start in like 20 minutes?"

"Yeah, but Spitfire just dropped into town without the forethought to bring a costume with her," Spitfire said, Rainbow's scratchy voice rolling out perfectly. "We can't show up and be the buzzkill of the party!"

Clever mare. I shrugged. "It was a spontaneous decision. I decided I'd rather party with the cool crowd than chill in my room in Cloudsdale by myself." Bam! Nailed it!

Bronze chuckled. "You just need to keep that up for the rest of the night, dude."

Oh, fuck me.

Spike shrugged and walked into the kitchen. I raised my hoof to Spitfire and she slammed it with a nice clop sound.

"Don't get too proud of yourselves. Fooling a child is easy." Twilight, despite her words, was smiling. “Everypony else will be more difficult. Especially Pinkie.”

“Consider this a successful test run then,” I put in. “Still need a costume, though.”

Twilight sighed. “I’ll be back.” She teleported with a pop, then came back a moment later, bundles of fabric of some kind in her telekinesis. She unfurled the first one.

“Oh, hell no.” I immediately refused the idea. It was mostly black, with some white frill on most of the edges. It wasn’t so much of a costume as it was erotica. It didn’t cover much of anything, although ponies walked around naked so much in the base case, but this was a matter of pride. Even if I was in a feminine body, I was still a man, dammit, and I would not be wearing something like a goddamn maid’s outfit. The skirt was short enough to be a large belt, and the top left little to the imagination. There was even a matching white ribbon to put in a mane.

Bronze and Spitfire immediately started to die of laughter. Twilight had the humility to at least blush heavily and quickly whisk the outfit back upstairs. “Why do you even have something like that, Twilight?” Spitfire managed to choke out through her tears.

“When you have a friend like Rarity, you get a lot of stuff you don’t really want to keep, but it would be rude to get rid of it,” Twilight explained, eager to get a move on. “How about this, then?”

The next one wasn't much better. It had a small red vest to cover the chest, though it didn't do a very good job. For the lower half, a pair of black stockings accompanied a tight black thong. To finish it off, a pair of bat wings, with red trim, made to slip over pegasi wings or just sit on a pony’s back went with a pair of silly felt red horns attached to a headband. The whole succubus costume was more slutty than anything, and it didn't help to stifle the laughter in the room.

“Really, Twilight?” I gave her a deadpan look.

“Okay, okay, fine,” she put that one away and took out the last one. It was large, purple, and fluffy. It looked like some kind of cartoon character. It was a full body furry suit, and I'd be damned if I wore it.

I sighed and put a hoof to my face. “Just give me the devil,” I resigned, holding out a hoof. Fuck it. If I'm going to be a mare for the night, I might as well go full out.

Bronze managed to pause in his laughter long enough to force out a quick “That's the spirit!”

I hadn't had to get dressed since I came to the pony world, and unless your name is Pinkie Pie, you can't really bend limbs well to put clothes on. Maybe this is why ponies almost never wear clothes. I had to put pride aside to ask Twilight to help me into the clothes. She put everything on with telekinesis as the clowns in the room recovered from their lack of air. I'm really glad Dash wasn't here for that.

I made a noise of discomfort as Twilight slid the wing coverings over mine. They felt cramped and restricting. Twilight either didn't notice or had the grace to ignore it. Once she took a step back and gave the all clear, I glanced at Spitfire, who had somehow put on her Wonderbolts uniform already, and asked, “Good enough?”

Spitfire shook her head, chuckling under her breath. “Good enough,” she repeated. “Let’s go.”

The three of us, and Bronze, made our way to the middle of town, where the party venue was supposed to be set up. Once there, I realized how inappropriate my costume choice was. There were kids everywhere. I leaned closer to Twilight. “You sure this was a good idea?”

“It'll be fine,” she replied, noticing my nervous glances. “Foals don't pay attention to stuff like that anyway.”

“If you say so.” I couldn't help but feel self conscious about the whole thing, even if I was in another body.

There was a stage set up in the center of the open area, yet was currently unoccupied. String lights connected it to nearby buildings by wire. Multiple seasonal games were scattered around the grounds, ranging from the classic bobbing for apples to… the hell is that? Are they launching pumpkins out of trebuchets?
“Oh man, I want to try that.”

Before I could respond, a crash sounded from behind me, along with several gasps of surprise and much stifled laughter. “Dammit, Spike…” Twilight mumbled, trotting towards where Spike had somehow managed to topple the whole barrel and spill everything. He even managed to destruct the barrel into its pre-manufactured pieces.

“I ain’t even mad,” I said to Spitfire, who nodded. “Just impressed.”

“You remember the plan?” she asked quietly, although even if we had been speaking at a reasonable volume, the background noise of the fairgrounds would have muffled it to any eavesdroppers anyway.

“We came up with it like two hours ago. How could I have forgotten already?” I asked, looking over her shoulder. I missed my height; before Twilight cast her spell, I could easily see above the heads of other ponies around me. Now, reduced to Spitfire’s height, I was having issues.

“Fair enough. What are you looking for?”

“If I know Applejack, and I’m pretty sure I know Applejack,” I started, finally spotting her. I pointed her out to my co-conspirator, and motioned in that direction, “she’ll have a stand set up to make a profit. You lead me there; Dash would be proud to show off Apple brand cider.” As I looked at Spitfire’s face, something bothered me. Something was off, and I couldn’t figure out what it was.

Spitfire noticed my unease, tilting her head a little. “What is it?”

I paused, searching for another moment. “Nothing. Let’s go. Make sure to be over-the-top excited.”

Spitfire took to the air, hovering a few feet above the ground like Dash normally does. I followed her on the ground.

“EEEEEE! Ohmygosh, Applejack! Come on, Spitfire! Hurry up! Cider!” Spitfire sang loud and proud, and having seen Rainbow’s fangirl act many times before, replicated it perfectly. Applejack, despite dealing with other customers, managed to have a filled mug set aside by the time I got to her table. Spitfire had already chugged one, and was making her way more slowly through a second.

“Come on, Spits! You have got to try this!” Spitfire thrust the mug from the table at me.

“Alright, calm down, Dash. I will.” I said, taking the mug from her. Ugh. I can smell the alcohol from here.

“Spitfire doesn’t have an issue with drinking. Looks like you gotta suck it up.”

Ha ha. Very funny. I took a large quaff.

It was good for the first second, really good, and then the taste of alcohol hit. I looked up at Spitfire, still in the air. “Wow. You weren’t kidding.” I was looking up at her face again, and it hit me. Her scars.

“Her what?”

Her scars! Her injuries! She doesn’t have Rainbow’s face! She has her old face!

I reached up and yanked on one of her legs, pulling her back down to earth. Somehow she managed to not spill anything. “Mask. Now.” I growled, leaning in close.

“What? Why?” She whispered back.

“Just do it. I’ll explain later.”

I turned back to Applejack, with the intent of distracting her while Spitfire got her mask on. I took another chug of the drink before asking, “So, Applejack. I know we’ve kinda met before, but I thought I should actually introduce myself, since Dash is too preoccupied with her cider to introduce us. I’m Spitfire.”

Applejack tipped her hat back, beaming. “Ah know who you are, Captain, but Ah ‘ppreciate it nonetheless.” She stuck out her hoof, and I shook it. “Rainbow showing you around Ponyville?”

“Yeah. I got bored of Cloudsdale’s lame excuse for a Nightmare Night celebration. I thought I’d come down here to have a night off.”

“Ah didn’t realize Cloudsdale had a Nightmare Night celebration.”

“Exactly.” I took another sip.

AJ chuckled, and in the brief silence that followed, looked me up and down. “Quite the costume choice, Captain.”

I shrugged. “Hey, drop the Captain stuff. I’m off duty. Coming down here was a split decision a few hours ago, and this was all I could find at the last minute.” I adjusted the headband. “It’s not very comfortable, either.” It was just now that I noticed AJ was actually wearing a costume, too. She was wearing typical old farm clothes, and it was easy to assume she hadn’t dressed up at all except for the straw poking out at certain points. Seemed to be an oldschool scarecrow suit.

AJ shifted too. “Ah know what you mean. Ah don’t know why Granny wants me to wear this every year. Straw ain’t exactly a silk dress, you know?”

At this point, Spitfire had come back, her mask pulled over her face. Only her ruby eyes and rainbow hair poked through, and her mouth was exposed as well. Her flight goggles were hung around her neck.

“Since we’re talkin bout it, that’s a quality suit, Rainbow. The Bolts give you that?” AJ asked, nodding at the costume.

“You know it!” Spitfire perked up. “They saw how awesome I was, and they gave me this so I’d be used to wearing it when they get a spot open for me! Tell her, Spitfire!”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, Dash, that’s exactly how it went,” I replied sarcastically. At that point, I noticed shadows shifting on the ground in front of us. I glanced behind me to find the source, and seeing other ponies in line, started to push Spitfire out of the way. “Sorry for holding up the line, Applejack. We’ll get out of your way.”

AJ waved us away as Spitfire tried to protest. “Wait, cider! Just one more!” She cried out, reaching futilely over my shoulder towards the treasure she was leaving behind.

“Really milking this one, aren’t you?” I muttered once we were out of earshot.

“I took a few years of drama back at the academy,” she shrugged, standing on her own again. “Why’d you freak over the mask?”

“You don’t have her scars,” I dropped my smile.

“What?”

“Her scars. Dash wore her mane differently to cover up her face recently, remember?”

Spitfire swore. “We need to find Twilight,” she said, starting off in a direction.

“Before we do,” I said quickly, reaching out and pulling her back. “I think I might have an idea why.”

“You’re not a unicorn. What do you know about magic?”

I read a lot of fantasy as a kid. And played too much Pheonix Wright. I wanted to say. “Think about it. Twilight said, and I quote, ‘I just need some of her essence, like one of her feathers or some of her hair. Luckily, she crashes into the library often, and I think I have one.’”

“Why do you remember that word for word?”

I shrugged. “Some things stick out. That was one of them. Anyway, she said that she had one of Dash’s feathers from when she crashed into her library. But Dash hasn’t been flying since… her accident.”

“So? Why does that matter?”

“Just shut up and let me finish. My guess is that Twilight’s spell takes what the pony looked like when the feather or hair or whatever was detached. So if Dash crashed into the library weeks ago-”

Spitfire’s eyes grew wide. “Then it would have been old.”

I nodded. “Exactly. She wouldn’t have gotten those wounds yet. We need to get one of her feathers from after she got out of the hospital, then bring that to Twilight. The way things are right now, you can only pretend to be Rainbow Dash until someone demands you take off that mask.” Spitfire looked thoughtful, so I went on. “Our options, as I see it, are to find her and somehow take a feather without her noticing, or…” I trailed off. Something about find one she left somewhere didn’t sound like a plan.

“Or?” Spitfire tilted her head.

I waved the inquiry away. “Nevermind. Stupid idea. Would never work.”

We sat there, trying to come up with a way to remedy the situation for a while.

“Remedy the situation, huh?” Bronze chimed in.

I glanced over my shoulder. The wolf sat a few feet behind me, a little to the side, looming over everything else in the area. It’s amazing how I keep forgetting you’re here.

“As much as I try to stay out of your way, don’t forget that you can ask me for any advice, or help with anything…” He examined a paw in a nonchalant fashion. “It’s not like I’m someone capable of anything like magic, or someone who’s been around for centuries, accumulating more knowledge than any mortal mind could comprehend.”

You’re kidding about that last part, right?

“Maybe.” The god set his paw back on the ground, leveling his piercing gaze at me. “I’m rather insulted you didn’t come to me sooner.”

I didn’t come to you at all. You brought it up.

Bronze brought his massive head down to my level. “Do you truly think it’s wise to smartmouth the one who brought you life? The one who could easily snuff it out without a scrap of effort?”

I suppressed a snicker. I used to do it to my mom all the time. Besides, if you truly wanted to hurt me, you would have done it by now.

Bronze laid down, giving me some space again. Rolling onto his side, he added, “Alright, you got me. Also, if you’re interested,” He held up a blue feather sticking out in between the toes of his massive front paw. “Just pulled this off of her a minute or so ago. She’s in Sugarcube Corner right now, in a Daring Do costume. Pretty good one, too. Dyed her fur and mane. Looks like she missed a spot, though.” He inspected the feather.

Dude, you are a lifesaver!

“Duh.”

Literally, too, I guess. I felt a sudden twinge of a mixture of strange loneliness and slight guilt. When this Halloween craze dies down, you want to just take a day or two to just hang out?

“Sounds good, little buddy.” He reached out and tucked the feather into the tiny red vest I was wearing.

Huh. I didn’t even realize there was a pocket in there.

Bronze winked. “All knowing god knows his stuff.”

Guess so. I started to turn back to Spitfire, but stopped as something else crossed my mind. You couldn’t just do the spell, right?

“Nope. I could try to replicate it, but Twilight’s casting of that spell was the first time I’ve seen it. Also, with how relatively little I know about magic, I wouldn’t want to dick with it. Twilight’s spell signature is all over you two, and I ain’t touching that.”

Fair enough. You know where Twilight is, then?

“Conveniently, also in Sugarcube Corner. As of right now, on the other side of it. Your marefriend is talking to the hyperactive one, and Twilight is sitting down with the schoolteacher with the dragon.”

Are you sure you’re not just some OP cheat code? I asked, sarcastically.

“Nope.” He said, getting up. “Go, before one of them leaves.”

Fine, fine. I’m going.

“Hey, Dash.” I tried to get Spitfire’s attention, but she didn’t respond. I poked her face. “Hey, Rainbow. I’m talkin’ to you.”

She recoiled. “Sorry. I’m still here. You come up with something?”

“If I know Dash, and I'd like to think that I do, if she’s not here at AJ’s stall getting cider, she’ll be in Sugarcube Corner. So we should go there and see if we can’t get a feather from her.”

Luckily, the bakery was just across the square from where we were. A short walk made short work of the journey, but Bronze didn’t follow us. I caught him eyeing the pumpkin siege engines out of the corner of my eye.

He was right. Pushing open the front door, Twilight’s outrageous outfit immediately caught my eye, and shortly after, I spotted the real Rainbow leaning on the glass counter, talking to a giant chicken working on the other side. “Wait here,” I muttered to Spitfire. “I’ll get Twilight.”

“The feather?” She asked.

“Got it covered.” I made my way over to Twilight’s table. The purple mare was indeed conversing with a mulberry colored mare, dressed in a classic bride of Frankenstein costume.

After some… evasive conversation tactics, I had managed to get Twilight and Spitfire outside without Dash noticing. I explained my reasoning to Twilight after we had found an out of the way spot. She didn't even let me finish before she put her hoof to her chin in contemplation.

“So we need a feather from her fairly recently,” she mused. “How do you plan on getting that?”

“Got it covered,” I responded smugly, pulling the cyan feather out of my vest. “Spitfire nabbed it off her a minute ago.” I quickly looked at Spitfire out of the corner if my eye while Twilight was looking down at the feather, to let her know to just keep quiet for now. I hope she got the message.

I stood watch, unnecessarily as nobody came near, as Twilight cast her spell on Spitfire again. I looked again after the light show had died down a little more. Spitfire’s mane had come out exactly as Rainbow's had been. I asked her to brush it out of the way. Perfect. The scars had been duplicated perfectly.

“Thanks, Twilight. Couldn't have done it without you.”

Twilight left to enjoy the night more, leaving Spitfire and me to implement our Nightmare Night plan.

“Alright, Spits, you ready?” I asked her.

“Of course,” she answered confidently, maybe even a bit arrogantly. “Dash has been fangirling over me for years. I’m pretty sure I know how she acts.”

I nodded. “Fair enough, but is the experience of a few years of drama classes enough to pull this off?”

“Are you really having second thoughts right now?” Her ruby eyes narrowed.

“No. Maybe.” I sighed. “I want this done right, but I also don’t want to hurt her.”

Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Dash will be fine. She’s not a little filly in flight school, hurt by every little jab at her feelings.”

That brought a small smile to my face. “From what I’ve heard, she was never like that. Fine. Let’s just go before I can come up with more reasons.”

With the other mare’s agreement, we went back around to the front of Sugarcube Corner, opting to use the front door for a better entrance. Spitfire threw open the doors, swooping through the doorway and ascending into the open air above the heads of the other ponies. The real Rainbow Dash was still by the counter, presumably talking to Pinkie up until about a moment ago. Before Spitfire could even finish her ascent, Dash had matched her, and they met in the air, glaring at each other. Every move Dash- Okay, this is getting too confusing to keep track of, and I’ve been here for all of a second. Every move Daring Do made, Wonderbolt Dash mirrored. Both of them leaned toward the other one, baring teeth. They both shouted “Impostor!” then “Changeling!” and “Quit it!” together, so much so that it sounded like one person’s voice.

For my part, I was damn well impressed. Spitfire was right when she said she could pull this off.

They both pulled back a bit, folding their forelegs, eyeing each other. They went through several more movements, with the Wonderbolt perfectly mirroring the adventurer every time. Eventually, Spitfire spoke.

“Alright, look. We both know I’m the real Rainbow Dash.”

The real Rainbow Dash scoffed, “In your dreams, maybe.”

It devolved into a childish nuh-uh, yuh-huh argument. Well, time to step in.

“Rainbow Dash!” I called out, hovering a few feet off the floor. Their reactions were immediate and, incredibly, exactly the same.

“Captain Spitfire!” They both swooped down to stop in front of me, immediately trying to get me to help each expose the other. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, because the same voice talking at the same time saying different words is incredibly confusing.

“Why don’t we just skip the asking questions only the real one would know thing? What’s the one thing Rainbow Dash can do that nopony else can?”

Wonderbolt Dash whooped. “Everyone knows I’m the fastest!”

Daring Do grinned confidently. “You challenging me to a race, changeling?”

Wonderbolt Dash closed the gap between them. “When I win, it’ll be obvious to everypony just who the spy is.”

As they both barreled out the door in sync, something caught my attention. Wasn’t Dash injured? When I saw her this morning, she seemed incapable of flying. I thought about it more, moving with the crowd that was filing outside, wanting to see how this played out. I looked up as I exited the building, seeing Dash and Spitfire circling each other in a slow hover. An idea hit me. Did she get a unicorn to heal her since, or are neither of these mares the real Rainbow Dash?

Author's Note

Told you I'm not dead. Just busy.

Prologue

“Look,” I said crossly, “I’m not gonna-”

“Dude, it’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. I’ve done it plenty of times.”

I sighed again. Matt was trying to talk me into doing skydiving. Sure, I do daring things, but those are on my skateboard or bike, not in the air. I’d hate to admit it to anyone, but I’m scared of heights.

“I don’t want to go skydiving with you! I’ve never even been in a plane before!”

“But it’s so much fun! You have a parachute!”

I tried a different tactic. “Isn’t skydiving expensive?”

“My older brother has all the gear for it. He even knows how to fly a plane, so I do it for free all the time.”

Dammit. I was running out of excuses. “But that’s not even legit-”

“I’ll take that as a yes! Bye!” -Click-

Shit.

I don’t know how I got from that conversation, down on the ground, where it’s safe, to up here in a plane, the bay door open, with Matt pushing me out into the open. I didn’t even scream; I was too paralyzed. Air resistance made me flip over, and I saw Matt diving towards me. I saw his mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear him over the rush of wind in my ears. He seemed frantic, but I didn’t know why. Then I heard engines. But the plane was too far away, and I heard them fade earlier. So why...?

Matt pointed behind me, to my left as I was facing him. The engines grew louder. I flipped myself over, and a large jet plane was below and far away, but coming fast. I froze in fear again, and I could only watch as I came closer to the jet’s path. Matt crashed into me, pushing me out of the way. He dove further, putting himself out of harm’s way. I thought he had saved me. Then something large and metallic slammed into me.

Twilight Sparkle was reading on her bed in her library. It was a usual morning for her; she liked reading before everypony woke up. It was quiet this early, as the sun rose. Except for today. Today she heard a loud explosion and felt it shake the library. The ground shook, windows broke.

“Rainbow Dash...” she growled. Ponies could get hurt from her rainbooms, and she knew that Dash knew it too. She ran to her window and threw it open, ready to give a certain pegagus a piece of her mind, but instead of a rainboom in the sky, she saw a black portal closing, and underneath it, something falling towards the ground, what seemed to be head-first. It was almost a speck, it was so high. She tried to teleport outside to the sidewalk, and ended up in the branches of her tree. She tried again, and when she opened her eyes, her viewpoint was lower than Spike’s would have been and she couldn’t move the lower half of her body.

“What’s wrong with my magic?” She asked herself angrily, looking down at the ground.. The sound of hoofbeats caught her attention. She looked up and saw an orange mare with a familiar Stetson desperately galloping down the road.

“Applejack!” Twilight yelled, relieved to see somepony. She could barely expand her barrel to get more air because of her position, and she worried that Applejack wouldn’t hear her. Luckily, Applejack heard her and veered towards her position.

“Howdy, Twi’! How’d you get yerself stuck in there? Does it have anythin’ ta do with the explosion I heard earlier?”

“Applejack! Am I glad to see you! Help me out of here! And not every explosion around here comes from me, you know!”

Applejack grabbed Twilight’s hoof and yanked. “Ouch!”

“Sorry, Twi’. Yer stuck in there real nice and tight.”

“Well stop yanking and dig me out then!”

Applejack stood back up and gave Twilight a ‘did-you-really-just-tell-me-to-do-that’ look. “Why don’t you just magic yerself outa there?”

“I think that explosion messed with my magic, Applejack. That’s why I’m down here in the first place!”

“Maybe this’ll do fer ya.” Applejack backed up a step and reared.

“No wait-!”

“Yee-haw!” She slammed on the ground hard enough that the ground around Twilight cracked and split. “And there ya go Twilight.” She gripped Twilight’s hooves again and pulled back. Twilight came out with a ‘pop.’ She didn’t waste any time galloping towards her library. Applejack dashed after her.

Twilight explained what she saw on the way. Her teleport had stuck her in the ground about halfway from Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres, so it wasn’t a short run back. When the library came in sight, so did the pony falling. They could see its grey fur and wings. It had already fallen past the top of the library.

“No!” a shout escaped Applejack’s throat, and she started to sprint. Twilight kept up her pace; it was the fastest she could go, and she didn’t want to try to teleport again.

Twilight left Applejack’s mind as she pushed herself to where the pony would land. It had almost hit the ground, and she dove to try and break its fall, not caring for the damage she would do to herself.

After the dust cleared, Applejack looked up from where she lay with tears in her eyes. She had felt no impact, and that and the small crater in front of her told her she had failed. Tears of anger at herself and fear for the unknown pony trickled down her muzzle. She didn’t move as Twilight ran past her and down into the crater.

“Applejack! Quick!” Twilight’s voice broke her moment of self-depreciation and startled her back into motion. She ran down to where Twilight was crouched over the pony, who, somehow through the mangle of broken bones and blood, she could confirm was a male grey pegasus. He had flame-colored hair, much like the Wonderbolt captain. He was large, about her brother’s size, which was odd for a pegasus. She couldn’t identify a cutie mark on him.

Twilight’s voice again broke through her brooding. “He’s alive! Applejack! Run him to the hospital!”

“We can’t move him! What if it’ll hurt him more?”

“It’s that or let him die, Applejack.”

Her decision was made.

Applejack was galloping full speed towards the hospital, trying to make the ride as smooth as possible. She was tiring, though; the pegasus was heavy, another odd thing for a pegasus. Twilight had stayed to send a letter through Spike to give the hospital a heads-up. Applejack started to slow down. No! Keep...goin’...!

A while later, Applejack heard a snarky voice call down to her, one that she had never been so happy to hear. “Applejack! What are you doing? Who is that?”

“Rainbow! Am Ah glad ta see you! Git down here!” After Dash swooped down and started to fly with her at pace, she continued. “I’ll explain later! Take him to the hospital! Quickly!”

Rainbow flew closer, and they transferred Applejack’s load on the run. “Why? Who is this? Gah, he’s heavy!”

“Just go! Twilight sent them a letter explainin’ everythin’! Ah’ll tell you after Ah get there! Go!”
With that, Dash flew off faster than Applejack could keep up with. She slowed down and took a breather. Several minutes later, Applejack arrived at the hospital. When she threw open the doors, she was blasted by a cyan blur. She landed hard on her back. Magenta eyes stared accusingly.

“So what’s going on here? I’m on my way to work, when I hear this explosion, and I’m the only one who does explosions on that scale! I see a giant crater outside Twilight’s house, and I see you running from it with a pony on your back! Then when I sk you about it, you give me this task and no explanation! So cough it up!”

“Git off me! I came here to explain!”

The crackle of teleportation sounded from above where Rainbow straddled Applejack. Rainbow turned her head just in time to see Twilight landing on top of her. Twilight bounced off of the pile, trotting inside the doors, calling over her shoulder, “Sorry, forgot Spike’s out with Rarity!” Rainbow lifted her head off Applejack, trying to get her vision focused again.

“Well, looks like her magic’s startin’ to git back ta normal,’ Applejack observed.

“Huh?”

“Alright, look,” Applejack shoved Rainbow off of her and stood up, grabbing her Stetson off the ground and setting it back on her head. “Here’s what happened...”

“Well. We’ve got nothing.” Spike was blunt.

“There are always gems out here,” Rarity whined.

They were in the usual barren field, digging for gems. Well, Spike was digging, while Rarity was standing in the heat, fanning herself telekinetically with a giant paper fan, wearing one of her giant hats. Their empty cart was hooked up to poor Spike, who was finding nothing with Rarity’s guiding spell.

“Rarity, we aren’t finding anything!”

“My spell isn’t working correctly, Spike, and I don’t know why!”

Her spell was indicating gems that weren’t there, having Spike dig for nothing. He was getting frustrated, but he was trying not to let it show. He let out a breath, running his hand through his head ridges.

“You want to call it a day, Rarity? Or at least take a break for a while? We could go see Twilight, see what’s going on.” Spike was hopeful. It was hot outside. And why didn’t Rainbow Dash set clouds out today?

“Well, I suppose.”

They started on the long trek back to Ponyville. Spike felt odd; the relatively light load of the empty cart felt different than it normally did. It just felt weird, wrong somehow.

Author's Note

any critique that's more than "This sucks" or "This is good" is welcome and encouraged!

Chapter 5

Chapter five

After taking two wrong turns, with oddly no one to ask for directions I eventually arrived at Twilight’s house. It seemed deathly quiet, especially if all of the girls were supposed to be hanging out inside. From my own experiences, a group of girls is not normally a quiet group.

I hesitated at the front door. Should I just go back? No, Fluttershy told me to come here. Knowing her, she probably asked ahead of time for permission for me. She might even feel disappointed if I didn’t show up. Maybe-

Fuck it. I knocked on the door, and it slowly opened, but no-one was there on the other side. It was unlocked, and unlatched. Against my better instinct, I crept inside, although ‘creep’ is not the right word, because my hooves made loud noises on the wood floors. My head illuminated most of the room, but I still couldn’t see the far side. It made me wonder what happened to the girls.

The door slammed behind me. Before I had enough time to freak out, the lights turned on.

Dozens of ponies jumped out from hiding places, yelling “SURPRISE!”, including a pink one with a poofy pink mane that somehow jumped up from below my field of vision. Music started playing.

She got in my face and went on to ramble so quickly that I could barely follow. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie and I threw this party just for you! Were you surprised? Were ya? Were ya? I was so excited when Twilight told me about a new pony, because if there’s a new pony in town, it means a new friend! And I love making new friends! Even if they don’t want to be! I remember there used to be this cranky old donkey, his name was Cranky Doodle Donkey! At first, he was really cranky and sad, but nopony can withstand the happiness of Pinkie Pie for long! I always cheer everypony up! So what kind of cupcakes do you like? My favorite is-”

I tuned her out, and I saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash watching. Rainbow was hovering, keeping weight off of her hurt leg. They were remarking to each other. “Do ya think it was a good idea lettin’ Pinkie go full throttle on this one?” Applejack was saying.

Rainbow was laughing so hard that she was crying. “Man, this is too funny!”

Applejack chuckled along.

“-and then there’s the Grand Galloping Gala, which is this huge party they throw in Canterlot! And I thought ‘I love parties! I want to go! It’s the only place for me!’ But then when we got there it turned out to be one of those boring parties thrown by those snooty Canterlot nobles! But with all of my friends there, it wasn’t too much of a drag! I’m sure this party isn’t going to be a drag! I remember when Twilight first came to Ponyville! I surprised her so good at her party! But back then she wasn’t interested in friends and I didn’t see her for the whole party! I only saw her when we all went out to watch the sun rise! But the sun didn’t rise because meanypants Nightmare Moon wanted to keep it night forever! And then we-”

I heard Applejack again. “Should we stop her yet? She could keep on all night like this.”

Oh no. Please no...

“No way! This is gold!” I could barely understand Rainbow through her laughing.

“Ah feel sorry fer him. Ah’m goin’ over there.”

Oh thank you Applejack!

“-And then there was that other time when we-” Suddenly there was an orange hoof in Pinkie’s mouth.

“That’s quite enough Pinkie. I know ya’ll’re excited about yer new friend, but fer land’s sakes, let him breathe!” Applejack smiled at me.

I nodded my thanks to her as Rainbow joined us, still hovering, seemingly recovered from her laughing fit. “Having fun, Rainbow?” I asked, trying to let her know that I saw her enjoyment out of my misfortune.

She smiled guiltily and shrugged. Pinkie suddenly shouted, “Come on ponies! Let’s PAAAARTAAAYYYY!” then triple-backflipped into the midst of the dancing crowd.

“How did she-” I started to ask.

“Don’t bother. Even Twilight couldn’t figure Pinkie out.” Rainbow Dash laughed.

I noticed a refreshment table set up near the back. “Hey, are there any hard drinks here?”

“Of course not, silly! There are foals here!” Pinkie cartwheeled into view, then jumped away again.

“Wha-nevermind. Good. Never liked alcohol.” I said, leading Applejack and Rainbow towards the table. There were all sorts of baked goods, and I’ll look at the drinks later, but some pink cupcakes caught my attention. I never had lunch, and I’ve always had a huge appetite. Especially when it came to sweets.

Rainbow and Applejack both picked up a cupcake. Applejack took the paper off hers and threw the cupcake in the air, catching the whole thing in her mouth. I will never understand these ponies. Rainbow chuckled. “Nice.” She landed on her hind legs, using her wings to keep her balance. She then proceeded to do the same with hers, a little higher this time, catching it flawlessly. By now Applejack was done chewing. Rainbow chose another cupcake and made a throwing motion to Applejack, who seemed to understand and backed up a few paces. Rainbow gave the cupcake a high lob with her good hoof to Applejack, who took another step back and again ate the treat flawlessly.

I looked on in what some would consider awe. Rainbow leaned over and closed my mouth with the splint on her hoof. As I was looking at her face, which was only a couple of feet from mine, I couldn’t help but notice that a scabbed gash on her forehead, above her left eye, was the only thing marring her wild charm. I wondered how she even got so scraped up on a dirt road.

She looked back to Applejack, who had another cupcake in hoof. She launched it in an arc towards Rainbow. Another perfect catch followed.

“How much have you guys practiced that?” I asked in wonder. I then realized that they had both had two cupcakes each, and I hadn’t even finished the one in my hoof. The rest of it disappeared in one bite.

“Oh, we do this at every one of Pinkie’s parties,” Applejack said, coming back to stand by us again. I chose another cupcake.

“Pinkie always makes so many extra, so it doesn’t really matter if we miss. Even though we never really do anymore,” Rainbow boasted with a smirk.

I handed Rainbow my cupcake and motioned away from the group. “Try me. It looks fun.”

Rainbow laughed while she waited for me to get far enough away. Then she lobbed it towards me, much like she did for Applejack.

I saw it coming, and for some reason I was more excited about catching it than anything else since I came to Equestria. Time seemed to slow down, and some undeniable urge came to me to just jump for it. So I did. I pushed off with my front legs and launched myself skyward with my back legs. I could see every pony in the room, but all of my attention was on the tumbling pink prey in my vision. My mouth was open wide, and my treat was in the middle of my crosshairs. I chomped down and was rewarded with sweet baked perfection.

I landed and suddenly became aware of my surroundings again. I felt so many kinds of awkward as I made my way back towards the refreshment table. Rainbow was laughing and Applejack was chuckling. My face grew warm as I approached them.

“That was awesome!” Rainbow said as I came within earshot, which wasn’t very far away considering how loud the party was.

“Y'all looked like Winona when Ah toss her a stick!”

I didn’t know who it was that Applejack referenced in her simile. “Who?”

“Mah herdin’ dog, Winona. Y'all got that same look on yer face.”
“I never thought that I’d be compared to a dog,” I retorted, smiling to show that I wasn’t offended.

Before either of the mares could respond, the music changed. (A/N:I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me.) I winced and Rainbow and Applejack visibly cringed.

“I’m gonna go put in a request,” I said. They nodded.

I saw two tall speakers on the far wall. I assumed that a mixing table was in between them, blocked from my sight by the crowd, some of which were looking as displeased as I felt. Others just kind of stopped dancing, and a few seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Being physically larger than most of the ponies in my way, I could have just shoved through the crowd, but I didn’t want to hurt anyone. Some of these ponies looked so small and fragile. I started to carefully make my way towards the speakers, and after a couple of steps, I remembered what I was listening to. The black boxes of house-shaking awesomeness were being misused. I bumped ponies out of my way a little less gently, and my progress was faster.

When I reached the source of the ear rape, I saw a familiar blue top to a white pony tossing a stallion out of his previous spot behind the mixing table. I smiled as I saw that Vinyl and I thought alike.

The stallion had a brown coat and a lighter brown mane. He looked angry, understandably. But I held only a twinge of sympathy for him. Someone with that taste in music shouldn’t be a DJ. The music mercifully stopped as Vinyl took out the vinyl. Heh. He was yelling at his usurper.

“I don’t care who you are! Those are my tables!”

Vinyl didn’t even look down at him as she looked through the disks he had brought. “Don’t worry everpony! Just some technical difficulties! DJ PON-3 is in the house!” Cheers erupted from the crowd. She muttered to herself. “What shit is this? Why did you bring this crap to a party?”

“That is art! I demand that you let me get back to the job I was hired for!”

Enough of this. “Hey buddy,” I addressed the stallion.

He turned and the anger in his expression turned to surprise and fear. I guess this is the life of a living torch. Do I really look that freakish? The memory of when Bronze showed me my reflection came back. Yes... Dammit.

The stallion was still looking up at me, shrinking back more and more. Well, might as well make the most out of it.

I leaned in close and whispered loudly, “This is the part where you run away.”

A cloud of smoke and the slam of the door were the only signs he hadn’t teleported. Vinyl’s chuckle brought me back to the current moment.

“Nice job there. Thanks for that. How are my shades working for you?”

“You left these there? I thought they looked familiar. I picked them up because I thought that Twilight would be able to tell me whose they were. You want them back?”

She smirked. “Nah, keep ‘em for now. So what’d you come over here for?”

“Same reason you did. Find anything better?”

“Not from him. Fortunately, this library is the place for most of the parties that happen in Ponyville.”

“Ironic.”

“I know, right? Well, here or the town hall. Or Pinkie’s house. Anyway, I keep records stashed around for times like this!” Vinyl tapped the wall behind her with a hoof. A panel slid open and a rack of upright records slid out. “Hey, can you do me a favor?” She picked one up from the end.

“What is it?” A favor for this mare could only be a fun one.

“I made this a long time ago, and since then, I feel like it needs something else. I haven’t had the opportunity to remake it, and I need somepony with a deep voice.”

“Sure. What do you want me to do?”

“Can you dance?”

“Uh, depends. Freestyle? Sure. Slow, country, or intimate, no.”

“Great. Go out there into the middle. I’ll start up this record, and when I give you the signal, you stand up and shout, ‘DJ, spin that record.’ Then, when the beats hit heavily, I need you to make a spectacle of yourself. Got it?”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, and I couldn’t refuse. I had wanted to be a DJ since I was a kid, and now I was getting the chance to work with one. Score! “Isn’t that a little… I don’t know, cheesy?”

“Just work with me here. If we can get this right, it’ll sound awesome.”

“Alright, I’ll do it. What’s the signal?”

“You’ll know.” she turned her attention back to her tables, and I took that as a dismissal. I looked back at the crowd and noticed that I could have just gone around the whole thing instead of straight through it. I resisted the urge to facepalm.

I made my way around the crowd back to Rainbow and Applejack. “Hey guys, check this out. Watch the middle.” I weaved my way into the crowd before either could get off a word in response. I’m pretty sure that I had a stupid grin on my face as I made my way towards the middle of the crowd.

Vinyl looked up and lifted her glasses; immediately, a low note started followed by a higher one. I recognised a build up and I pushed myself back and onto my back hooves, pointing a hoof at Vinyl and shouting in the most rounded tone I could, “DJ, spin that record!”

I started to dance. I didn’t know how ponies dance, so I danced like I used to, on two hooves and awesomely. Ponies started to back up to give me some room, and I saw blurs of orange and cyan next to each other in the circle as I flung myself about. At one point, I threw a punch. It seemed like it fit. I threw in a few pelvic thrusts too, because why not? After a while, Rainbow got shoved into the circle and started dancing like me, spinning in portions to the beat before stepping out again.

If she was going to make this a competition, then I needed to step it up. I started to breakdance, dropping to all fours and then to my front hooves, spinning myself around, keeping my back hooves off of the ground. Then I spun myself into a headspin before rolling out of it.

All too soon it seemed, the song ended. I stood up, panting a little. A familiar voice broke out over the speakers.

“Hello, ponies! Are we ready to party?” Deafening cheers sounded all around me. “I said, are we ready to party!” My vision blurred from the ringing in my head from the cheers that were somehow louder than the last ones. “That’s more like it! Who wants to Balloon Party?” Another chorus of assent sounded. “Well, we’ll get to that later!” A couple of boos and awws here heard as she went on. “We’re gonna kickstart this!”

Bass rocked the floor. Someone else got in the circle as I left with Rainbow and Applejack back to the refreshment table. I smiled as I leaned against the table. This was my place to be.

I fell over as Rainbow tackled me with a hug. My head cracked against the floor, and after my vision came back, I could see that she was sitting on me, still in a hug, and going on and on about “oh my gosh, you never told me you were a dancer” and “when are you going to teach me some of those?” Applejack was laughing in the background.

“Ugh, Rainbow-” I interrupted. “Was that really necessary?”

“Um, probably not,” she leaned back and rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. Her wings popped open then, renewing Applejack’s laughter. She rolled off of me and tried to subdue her wings.

I stood up while she was occupied and got closer to Applejack. “What was that?”

“Ya don’t know what a wingboner is?” Applejack managed through her chuckles. “That’s odd, y’all being a pegasus and all.”

Uh oh. I could guess what it meant, and I didn’t want things to get awkward. “Great. I’ll just go and… oh yeah, Vinyl wanted me to see her. See ya!” I left as quickly as I could, Applejack’s laughter fading away, covered by the blasting bass.

I made my way back over to Vinyl, trying to not think of the implications of Rainbow’s… wingboner. The white DJ was still rocking it at the mixing tables.

“So how’d I do?” I asked with a sarcastic smug grin on my face.

“That was awesome! Nice dancing, by the way.”

“Thanks. So is what you do at parties? Just stand off to the side?”

She looked at me. “I don’t just stand off to the side. I provide the beats, man! I’m not much of a conversationalist, either.” She turned back to her passion.

“Me neither. But based on my inadequate experience, you seem to be doing well.”

She chuckled. “Maybe.”

We stood in companionable silence as I watched her work her magic. Most of the time she simply stood there, bobbing her head to the beat, occasionally dialing a knob, pushing a button, sliding a lever. I wish I knew how to do that. I could ask her to teach me. No, I’m sure she has better things to do...

Her voice interrupted my thoughts. “So how are you liking those sunglasses?”

“I like them. It’s not too dark in here.”

“You know what the best part of wearing shades is?”

“Aside from looks?”

“Yeah. Nobody can see your eyes.”

“What’s so great about that?”

“Well, you and me, we’re different. Ponies freak about our eyes. We can just hide them, and all that anypony does is give you grief about wearing them at night or inside.”

Right, we both have red eyes. Out of sight, out of mind is true then. “I guess there’s that. I always liked them because nobo-nopony can tell where you’re looking.”

“That sounds a little…” she paused, trying to think of an appropriate word. “creepy, doesn’t it?”

“Not if you think about it in the right way. I used to wear sunglasses to check out the chicks that go by. Being of the female persuasion, you probably already know this, but wo-mares don’t really like being stared at. So, if they don’t know I’m staring, they can’t feel uncomfortable.”

“That’s not how it-”

“That is how it works. In my head. Its justified.” I interrupted her with a ridiculous argument.

“I can see where this is going, and I’m not even going to bother.” She laughed, waving away the topic.

“I’ve always wanted to be a DJ. I just never had the time to get started with it.” Oops. It slipped out, and I panickedly looked into her lenses to see a reaction, trying to keep a collected face. I’m sure that my eyes would have given me away, if not for the shades.

“The basics are easy to learn and hard to implement well. But you’ll get used to them after a while.”

She didn’t even notice. Thank god. But why did that even happen? I’m not one to just blurt things out. Maybe I was just excited about being behind the DJ booth. Maybe it was-

Something small and brown caught my eye as it flashed by the window, running on the windowsill and disappearing. I had to fight the urge to chase it.

When I realized what I was doing, I found myself pointed towards the window, in a crouch ready to dash at the slightest provocation. I stood up and shook my head to clear it. What am I doing? I’ve never had the urge to chase small woodland creatures… Sure, I’ve had the occasional pellet rifle kill, but that’s completely different… right?

I looked back down at Vinyl, who didn’t seem to notice my odd attitudes. Man, she gets really into her work.

I spent a long while with Vinyl behind the stand. She even let me flip a couple records on and off the table. Eventually another memorable piece of conversation came up.

“Hey, you’re getting the hang of it!”

“Yeah, this is pretty fun!” I felt pretty excited. I looked up from the tables at her.

Vinyl looked at me for a couple of seconds, then jerked as if she had realized what she was doing. I raised an eyebrow at her, then remembered that I was wearing large shades. I smirked at her instead.

“Sorry. Zoned out.”

I chuckled. “It happens.”

We talked for another (shorter) while until I caught a bobbing group of rainbow colors making its way towards where Vinyl and I were standing. I looked for a yellow mane next to it, but I couldn’t find Applejack.

“You’ve got quite the DJ there, Scratch,” Rainbow greeted her with a nod.

“Yeah, he’s even got the look for it.”

“What look would that be?” I asked.

“Shades and wild hair,” Rainbow put in.

“Exactly!” Vinyl beamed.

Three small blurs popped out from in between the legs of ponies who were on the side of the crowd and rolled into my side before stopping. One was yellow, one was orange, and one was white. The fillies sat on the ground for a second, dazed, before they looked up at me at the same time.

“Woah, he looks awesome!” The one on the left, the orange pegasus with purple hair, slowly turned into an open-mouthed smile of awe.

“Yeah!” The white one in the middle had a two tone mane and a squeaky voice. “I really like your mane!” Oww…My ears…

“Is that real?” The yellow filly with a bow in her hair was looking at my tail.

“Uh, yeah?” I looked up from them to Rainbow. She laughed.

“They like you!”

I felt something on my tail. I turned my head to see that the yellow one was putting her hoof through it. “It’s warm! But it doesn’t burn!” she concluded. The other two were right next to her, all six eyes riveted on the spectacle before them. That’s smart. They see a fire and the first thing they think of is to touch it.

Rainbow laughed. “These three are the CMC.”

“The what now?”

“THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” the three of them shouted together.

The orange one went on, “We’re on a crusade to get our cutie marks!” They went back to inspecting my tail.

“This is Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Applebloom,” Rainbow introduced them. As she said their names, one by one they straightened and smiled. Then they went back to my tail at the same time.

I turned back to Rainbow. “Why are they so synchronized?”

She shrugged. “They were meant for each other. They’re alike in every way.”

I felt a weight on my shoulder. Scootaloo was feeling the back of my neck, the only place of my mane that she could reach. I know that kids are curious, but isn’t this a little much?

“C’mon guys, thats enough,” I tried to say kindly. The ‘CMC’ zipped around in front of me and started to bombard me with questions. I couldn’t follow any of them, but I thought I heard a ‘Can you adopt me’ somewhere in there. “Woah, woah, one at a time.”

“What does that feel like?”

“What, the mane?” They nodded. “Like a normal mane, I guess.”

“How did you get it like that? A spell?”

Warning bells went off in my head. It probably wasn’t a very good idea to tell them about a chaos demon if they didn’t already know about it… On the other hand, they’d probably figure it out anyway.

“Long story. I’ll tell you later.” I almost said ‘when you’re older.’ I realized they hadn’t even asked for my name yet. “I’m Hot Head, by the way.”

“Where are you from? What do you like to do?...” The questions started faster again.

“Girls, look. I’ll be happy to tell you my life story, but right now we’re at a party!”

They looked a little disappointed. I heard a build to a bass drop coming, and I leaned over and gradually slid the volume slider up.

Applebloom glanced at my tail again, then pulled the other two into a huddle. I glanced at Rainbow, who wasn’t there. Probably went back to Applejack.

The CMC straightened out again, smiling. There was something about the way they did it that I didn’t like.

“Ya don’t have a cutie mark either!”

“No, I suppose I don’t.” I had no idea where they were going with this.

“So that means that you’re eligible to become a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“Uhh…” I’ve always had trouble saying no to kids. “Sure, why not?”

“Alright! We’ll have the initiation tomorrow!”

Sweetie Belle narrowed her eyes at Scootaloo. “Did you ever rewrite the script?”

“Uh, maybe?”

They seemed to forget that I was there as they walked away, discussing what they were going to do with whatever later. I looked back to Vinyl, who I couldn’t tell if she had been watching the whole thing or ignoring it. “What did I just get myself into?”

“Dunno, bro.”

Author's Note

Ugh. College is fun, but the work sucks.