Chapter 3: The Loneliest Number

Chapter 3: The Loneliest Number

“Oh no…my friends don't like my parties, and they don't want to be my friends anymore…”

*****

Scccccrrrch. Scccccrrch. Scccccrrch.

The rustle of dragging hoofsteps echoed faintly through the still forest, broken only by the occasional murmur of quiet sobbing.

Scccccrrrch. Scccccrrch. Scccccrrch.

The gray colt limped weakly, his progress hampered by the dense foliage that surrounded him. His left hindleg hung loosely from his hip, digging a small furrow into the earth beside him as he walked. Pained whimpers broke from his lips every so often, the divots in the uneven ground jostling his battered limb.

He had no idea if this was the right way. The dark, crooked trees all looked the same beneath the impenetrable canopy of the Everfree as they bathed the foal in their twisted shadows. Eyes stared down at him from their branches—red ones, green ones, yellow ones—all drawn into thin, predatory slits.

They were watching him. Waiting. But keeping their distance.

The colt let out another pained whimper. Dried blood—his own and that of something else—matted his coat, constantly being refreshed by the seeping wound on his injured leg.

The bite marks ran deep.

Worse than the dull ache, however, were the noises that had begun to churn about inside his head. They’d started as whispers, at first, but had slowly coalesced into one, horrible, rasping voice. Its low speech echoed through the back of his mind, gripping him in a fresh bout of terror with every dripping word.

Move…heheheh…kill…tear….feeeed.

It frightened him. The way it sounded so vivid. The way its commands trailed off into a low hiss. The way it laughed…

….heheheheh.

Especially the way it laughed.

The colt shook his head, trying to force the darkness from his mind. Home. He had to find home. His mother could fix this. His mother could make it better.

He took another step forward, wincing as a fresh bout of laughter echoed through his mind.

His mother could make him safe.

*****

Warmth.

Happy’s eyes fluttered open at the sudden sensation.

Immediately he found himself squinting, scrunching his eyelids up against the blinding wall of light that danced before him.

A fiery yellow circle consumed the buck’s vision—peering down at him through a small gap in the clouds above. Rays of pure, unfiltered brilliance radiated outward from its center, bathing him in a shimmering halo of warm light.

It was the most beautiful thing Happy had ever seen.

With agonizing slowness—unanticipated weariness gnawing at his limbs—Happy lifted a shaky hoof toward the shining disk. His muscles groaned with fatigue as he stretched further, but he ignored them. All that mattered was the light.

He grit his teeth in concentration. If he could just...touch...it.

But the fiery yellow circle had other thoughts. Soundlessly as it had appeared, the patch of light began to sew itself together before him. In a moment, the dark clouds had rolled seamlessly back into one another, the familiar nebula of darkness reclaiming the Equestrian skies.

It was almost as if the light had never been there at all.

“MKEHH—*cough cough*…mkehh.”

A wet spasm wracked the raider’s throat as he coughed, spattering a fresh spray of blood onto his chest. He tried to rise up from his back. The sudden movement only succeeded in further aggravating his lungs, sending him rolling back onto the ground in a fresh fit of hacking.

Dry. So dry.

Happy felt as if he hadn’t drank anything in days.

Rolling lethargically onto his side—too worn out to fully appreciate the dull aches radiating across his body—the buck pawed at the air with his hooves. Eventually his limbs found purchase on the dusty earth.

With a tired sigh, Happy rose unsteadily onto all fours. The world seemed to spin beneath him.

Odd. He wasn’t usually this groggy when he woke up.

The buck shook his head fiercely, clearing out the thick cobwebs that had built up over his senses.

How long had he been asleep?

He inhaled deeply.

It was morning, at least. That much he could taste in the air.

Tilting his head to one side, Happy glanced down at his body. A thin layer of dust and sand had accumulated on his coat, forming a gritty second skin that covered his own.

Happy shook his head a second time, running a hoof through his sandy mane. A shower of dust rained down its wake.

Despite the exhaustion gnawing at his limbs, he giggled. Sand tickled.

Composing himself, Happy cast a glance at his surroundings. He was standing in the middle of a sandy flat, boulders the size of skywagons surrounding him like a rocky maze. He looked down. The ground at his hooves was churned up with noticeable severity. There were tracks all over the place.

With a curious frown, Happy took a few slow steps forward, inspecting the marks more closely. Ponies had been through here—a lot of them from the looks of it. Panicked looking hoofmarks were everywhere, weaving frenzied circles in every direction imaginable.

Happy scratched his head with a hoof. Blurry, half-formed images darted before his mind’s eye.

Ponies.

Running.

Gunshots.

The buck stuck his tongue out in concentration. If he could just remember…

Happy began to pace, eyes fixed on the ground as he wracked his brain for something solid. His stomach rumbled as he continued to mutter to himself. Hunger. It was faint—nothing the buck couldn’t ignore it for now—but a nagging presence nonetheless.

After a few minutes of walking, the buck stopped short. His eyes had caught sight of an odd set of tracks mixed in with the others just ahead.

Fleeting memories and hunger forgotten, Happy trotted over to the spot. His wooden limbs were finally starting to limber up.

Happy stopped. At the his hooves were two deep furrows running parallel to one another down the trail. Set about eight hooves apart, they didn’t look like they had come off of a pony.

Happy glanced around.

There were definitely hoofprints around the tracks, but the lines themselves were a mystery.

Tilting his head in confusion, the buck slid back onto his haunches.

“YYYIPE!”

Happy shot straight up into the air a split second later, hooves clamped across his flanks like a vice. Sailing headlong through the air, he somersaulted several times before landing muzzle first into a small, sandy dune.

Whumph.

The buck just lay there for a moment, head buried in the sand like a delusional, four-legged ostrich.

“Hmmmph! Heheheh…hmmph…heheh.”

Happy giggled, his voice muted under the coarse sand. It was daaaark in here.

Bracing his front hooves against the ground, he pushed, trying to free his head from its gritty prison. It took a solid few tugs, but eventually it slid back into the open with a faint pop!

Happy landed on his haunches with a heavy thud. His eyes rolled from the impact, eliciting a happy chuckle from his throat as he tried to right himself.

His flank stung. Happy reached a hoof back. A thin trail of blood was running down his leg where the…whatever it was…had jabbed him.

A curious smile breaking over his face, Happy trotted over in search of the offending party. Sure enough, nestled in the sandy impression of his flank was the splintered end of a wooden rod protruding from the sand.

A joyful squee escaped the buck’s lips. Grabbing the stick up with his teeth, he began to parade around, humming merrily as he swung his makeshift baton back and forth. Now he just needed somebody to play with!

Happy whipped his head around excitedly. His eyes scanned for any signs of life.

The rock field, however, was as empty as ever. Just boulders and sand in all directions.

His ears drooped for a moment before perking up an instant later.

Ideaaaa!

Rushing over to one of the taller rocks, Happy began to beat the splintered stick against its side.

Tap! Tap tap! Tap!

He giggled at the tune. He had always liked playing music.

Eventually though, even the rhythmic drumming grew tiring and Happy found himself losing interest. Remembering his curiosity from earlier, he let the stick fall from his mouth and returned to the odd sets of marks he’d found in the sand. They stared back at him as they had before, twin grooves running off into the distance.

Happy tapped his forehead with a hoof. He knew he knew what made those kinds of tracks.

He wracked his brain, trying to remember. Remembering never came easy to Happy.

Tracks. Tracks. What made tracks?

Ponies. Ponies made tracks.

No. Happy shook his head. He’d already ruled that idea out.

Ponies…Brahmin…ghoul-ponies…wheels!

Happy let out an excited giggle.

Wheels! Wheels made tracks! Long tracks too, just like the ones on the ground before him.

Happy lifted a hoof to his chin, pondering the idea a moment longer. Now what had wheels?

Wagon.

The low snarl of the voice growled unexpectedly in the back of Happy’s mind, making him jump with surprise.

Wagon.

The images of the raid rushed back to Happy in a wave. He slumped onto his stomach as the memories washed over him.

Caravan. Waiting. Jumping. Falling. Turning. Griffon. Shooting. Hurting. Falling. Cold. Dark. Friends.

Friends!

Happy shot to his hooves, scanning the boulder field for any signs of the other raiders. As before, nothing but the empty wastes met his gaze. His friends, and any other signs of the caravan they had been attacking, were long gone.

Tilting his head, the buck turned his attention back to the wagon tracks. The twin furrows ran side by side away from the disturbed sand, disappearing around the bend in the trail ahead.

Follow.

Happy nodded, allowing a wide grin to spread over his face. His friends had to be this way. They must have just followed the wagon! Yeah!

The raider giggled to himself and scrabbled forward, excitement already building in his chest. He’d find his friends and then they’d go and chase down that pesky caravan…together.

He nodded to himself.

Because that’s what friends did.

***

Clip clop clip clop clip clop.

Happy’s hoofsteps picked up considerably as morning began to fade into midday. He’d left the boulder field an hour ago, following the tracks with dogged perseverance. The trail had been growing steadily fainter all the while, prompting the buck to pick up his pace before it disappeared completely.

A sharp pain bit into Happy’s sides. Cramps. Thirst had returned with a vengeance.

Happy ignored the sensations however, not even acknowledging the spasms with a laugh. Solemnity had replaced his jovial mood from earlier. His keen eyes were zeroed in on the trail before him.

Friends. He had to find them. It wasn’t about the caravan anymore. Happy just wanted to find his friends.

He glanced down at the trail again, searching out the fading marks as best he could.

Suddenly, they stopped.

Happy almost flipped forward on the spot, his hooves locking up in mid stride. Bewilderment leapt into his features as he backtracked, glancing around for any sign of tracks he might have missed.

Nothing.

He expanded his search, trotting a wide circle around the end of the trail before coming to stop where he had started. Still nothing.

Ears drooping, Happy fell to his haunches.

“Friends…?”

Happy pawed the ground at his hooves. Where could they have gone? Were they lost?

Flopping onto his back, the buck massaged his temples—a few unavoidable giggles piercing his otherwise anxious demeanor as the pains in his sides made him wheeze.

He closed his eyes and did his best to picture the three other raiders.

Images of frenzied running through the shadows. Snapshots of panting doggedly at their sides. Blurry sensations of white hot agony and muted screams.

Happy shook his head in frustration.

His memories were a jumble. They always were. But at least they were there.

Before his friends there had only been…there had only been…

Eyes still shut, Happy winced.

He had been alone.

An unexpected whimper left Happy’s lips at the thought. He couldn’t go back to that.

Cracking open his eyes, Happy rolled back onto all fours and pushed himself up from the ground. A fresh surge of anxiety burned at his hooves as he began to pace.

“Friends. Run, run run…heheh…go? Friends…friends go run go where to?”

The buck mumbled to himself, thinking aloud. Talking through his thought process usually seemed to help. After a few minutes, the answer dawned on him.

Home home.

Of course! They had to be back at home home.

Happy let out a relieved sigh and wiped his brow with a hoof. They were probably just there waiting for him like they always did when he wandered off. There was nothing to worry about.

The buck giggled as the reunion played out in his head. He could see it now.

He’d come trotting in the camp and the red she-pony would start yelling ‘Where Happy long time gone gone?!’. Then the blue he-pony with the eye would say something like ‘red pony bitch’ and make the she-pony yell even more. The pretty green maned he-pony would say ‘loud whiny just just shut up!’ and then all three would run over and give Happy a big hug.

Oh! And Mr. Grrr Bear would be there, too! And the smiley ponies from the city pictures! And then they’d allll take turns throwing the baby pony’s blue sphere weapon at giant wagons full of screaming ponies before lying back and watching the big yellow circle in the sky look down at them through the clouds….

Happy tapped a hoof to his forehead in thought.

...and they’d all live happily ever after. The end.

“Heheheheh!”

Happy clopped his hooves together with glee. He couldn’t wait to make it home home.

Spinning on hoof, he turned back in the direction of the rock field. Though his memories didn’t always serve him well, his sense of direction was still crystal clear. Falling back on instinct, he allowed his hooves to carry him off toward home, a spring in his step as he made his way back to his friends.

***

After another hour of determined trotting, Happy’s eyes finally fell upon the familiar sights of home. The red lettering of the diner’s rickety signpost loomed ahead of him, just visible over the crest of the nearest hill.

Home home!

Increasing his gait, Happy surged forward. Happy thoughts bubbled out from his lips in the form of hysteric giggles.

Almost there!

Happy flew up the side of the hill like a maniac, stopping briefly at the top to look down on the familiar oblong building below.

“Ahhhhhh.”

Happy let out a satisfied sigh. There was no place like home home.

Letting loose with another fit of giggling Happy took a few steps back before jumping forward—canon-ball style—over the edge of the hill. With a gritty sounding crunch he landed on the gravely hillside and immediately began to slide down the ridge.

His eyes watered as he picked up speed. Letting loose with a wide, lip-flapping grin, he giggled before calling out to the diner below.

“HOOOOOOOME HOOOOOOOM—mmmuahhh?”

Seemingly out of nowhere, an unexpected ramp-like projection appeared down the slope ahead, sending the jittery buck careening head over hooves into the air.

Happy flapped his legs at his sides as he left the ground, frantically trying to stay aloft. To his surprise, the ground continued to recede as he sailed higher and higher into the air.

The buck let out a hysteric giggle and flapped his hooves a little more forcefully. He could fly!

“HAPPY FLY! HAPPY FLY! HAPPY—"

WHAM! KATTSSSSSH! BRRRING-ERING-ERING!

Huh. The roof of the diner wasn’t as solid as it looked. At least the floor had held out.

Happy rose from the floor and shook himself off, knocking the oversized cooking pot from its perch atop his head. Brushing the dust from his forelegs, he glanced up at the ceiling.

A few rays of light filtered in through the newly added, pony-shaped hole in the roof, casting the diner in the dim glow of midday.

Happy grinned. It was so much brighter now! And the hole looked just like him!

Swinging his head around, he turned to his friends to point out their new skylight.

But the diner was empty.

Happy’s ears drooped to his sides, his wide smile slowly melting into a hesitant line.

But…friends.

Happy slowly took a step forward. His hoofsteps echoed loudly on the tile surface.

“…Friends?”

Nopony answered.

A rush of panic flared to life in Happy’s limbs. He sprang to his hooves, calling out a little more loudly.

“Friends? Friends!?”

Scrambling forward on the slick floor, Happy glanced around for any sign of the three raiders.

The diner appeared to have been cleared out. The walls were bare of their usual bloodstained trophies and the small stacks of loot the other three raiders normally stored behind the breakfast bar—food, ammunition, random trinkets—were gone. Not even a box of cram had been left behind.

Happy bolted into the back room—his room.

“Frrrrriends?”

A familiar, brown fuzzy face stared back at him from the confines of a tattered blanket.

Bounding forward, Happy grabbed up Mr. Grrr Bear and held him out a hoof’s length away.

“Grrrrr Bear Bear! Happy friends where how to run?”

He knew he sounded desperate, but he needed answers. Where were the others? Had they been through here?

The teddy bear’s small head slumped forward in his grasp. The buck’s eye twitched.

“Bear Bear no know how what run!?!”

Happy grumbled in annoyance.

What did he mean he didn’t know if they had been through here? Hadn’t he heard them come through?

The fuzzy stuffed bear just stared at him, unmoving.

“Hmmph.”

Snorting, Happy dropped the stuffed toy onto the floor and crossed his forelegs. If Mr. Grrr Bear wanted to play the cold shoulder game, Happy would play the cold shoulder game.

Ignoring his tightlipped companion, Happy slid back onto his haunches, taking a moment to organize his thoughts.

Friends. They had to be coming. They had to be. Maybe they were just….late.

Happy nodded to himself, the gesture restoring a little of his resolve.

Yes. Late. Just late. They’d be here. He just had to wait for them.

Forcing a thin smile onto his face, Happy picked up Mr. Grrr Bear in his teeth and trotted to the front of the diner.

Late. Just Late. They were coming.

He pushed open the double doors at the front of the building. They flapped shut behind him as he searched for a good spot to sit.

They were on their way. Any minute now they’d come over the top of that hill.

Happy settled onto his haunches a few feet from the diner’s entrance, dropping Mr. Grrr Bear at his side. He set his solemn gaze on the horizon.

Any minute now. They were coming for him.

They wouldn’t leave him behind.

***

Rain.

Happy felt it. Thick, heavy drops that fell like stones from the sky. They rolled off his matted blue mane and down the back of his neck, spattering onto the muddy earth in a steady stream. He was drenched.

A bolt of lightning flashed in the distance, illuminating the heavens in a burst of light. The cloudy ceiling was a seething ocean of black thunderheads, monstrous billowing clouds slamming into each other with immeasurable force. The cool breeze of night had transformed into a howling gale, fueling their vicious movements.

Kaboooom!

The thunderclap followed a moment later, shaking the very ground Happy stood on. The raw, tingling sensation reverberated throughout his body.

The buck didn’t move. His forelegs remained firmly in place, eyes downcast even as the small lake pooling around his flanks grew deeper and deeper. His attention lay fixed on his hooves—entirely unphased by the raging storm above.

They weren’t coming.

As afternoon had faded into evening, he had waited. As the first storm clouds had rolled in overhead, he had waited. As the first drops of heavy rain had begun to fall, he had waited.

But his friends hadn’t come.

Happy was alone.

A second arc of lightning lit up the wastes. Half submerged in the puddle at his side, Mr. Grrr Bear slumped over, coming to rest against Happy’s hoof.

Slowly, the buck lifted his head. Tired, black rings circled his joyless eyes.

Another flash. The stuffed bear stared up at him, its one good eye glistening in the rain.

Happy just stared at it blankly. Slowly, he pulled his leg back, allowing the brown figure to slide face first into the mud.

Moving like an automaton, the buck rose to his hooves. A fierce blast of wind threatened to push him aside as he rose. He weathered it.

Happy took a mechanical step forward. Splurch! The mud sucked hungrily at his dragging hooves.

Another flash. Another step. Another flash. Another step.

The buck glanced over his shoulder

The fuzzy outline of Mr. Grrr Bear floated face down in the pool of dirty water.

Happy let his gaze linger a moment longer. Without a word he turned his head and continued onward, letting the darkness of the raging storm swallow him whole. Time seemed to lose meaning as his hoofsteps fell beneath him.

Heheheheheheheheheh…

The low, guttural laughter echoed through Happy’s thoughts as he stumbled through the darkness. A chill had settled into his bones, the cold wind and unremitting rainfall drawing every trace of heat and warmth from his body.

Happy was numb to it all. His hooves moved on their own accord, dragging him forward through the storm. He had no idea where they were taking him. He didn’t care. His mind was fixed on a single thought.

They didn’t come for him.

Heheheheh…

The voice laughed again. Its low, mocking tone seemed to ring in Happy’s ears from all sides. The sounds of the storm had faded away, leaving nothing between it and the buck.

Alone again again?

Happy didn’t respond, continuing his slow plod through the rain.

The voice let out a satisfied snicker.

Heheheh…Told Happy keep nothing friends. Told Happy.

Happy bit his lip. The mud continued to suck at his hooves, slowing his progress through the black void that surrounded him. Just ignore it and it will go away.

The voice spoke again, words edged with malice.

Abandon Happy.

The buck stopped in his tracks. His eyes met the ground, watching the rivers of mud and water flow past his hooves as another flash of lightning lit up the sky.

Ab...abandon Happy?

With a quiet whimper Happy dropped onto his stomach and curled into a tight ball. Hiding his head beneath his hooves, he began to rock back and forth slowly.

The voice continued to taunt him

Abandon Happy. Abandon Happy. Abandon Happy.

Happy moaned and gripped himself tighter.

Why hadn’t they come back? Could it be true? Had they really abandoned him?

A flicker of light at the edge of his vision stirred Happy from his thoughts. This time it wasn’t lightning.

Pulling his hooves from his eyes, Happy squinted through the rain. There. A small orange beacon dancing beneath some sort of rocky overhang off to his right.

A fire!

Happy scrambled to his hooves. Could it be? Did that mean? Were they—

Wasting no further time on thought, Happy bounded forward. Waves of water rolled off from his sides as his hooves plowed through puddle after puddle.

As he drew closer, Happy’s view of the fire grew clearer. What he had mistaken for a natural overhang was actually the last remnant of a small concrete building, a little one-story box that looked like it had seen better days. Three of the four walls were still standing—just enough to support the dipping slab of a roof it seemed—but the fourth appeared to have been reduced to rubble by some sort of explosion. Through the hole, the orange flame flickered lazily the middle of the shelter. Happy could see a few shadowy figures gathered at its edge, shuffling about in the darkness.

His heart skipped a beat. It had to be them. It had to!

Pushing his exhausted limbs even harder, Happy bounded to the side of the small concrete structure as fast as his hooves could carry him. With a grunt he leapt over the rubble at the foot of the broken wall, landing awkwardly on the floor.

A sudden commotion rose up around the buck as he tried to gather his bearings. Panicked sounding hoofsteps clacked on concrete, joined by the piercing metallic din of tin plates and bowls falling to the floor in unison.

Grabbing his head in his hooves Happy tried to hold it steady, allowing his eyes to adjust to the light. Slowly, three pony shaped silhouettes solidified in his vision, huddled together in the corner on the opposite side of the fire.

“…friends?”

Slowly, Happy stepped around the fire, training his eyes on the shadowy figures.

Three pairs of terrified eyes stared back at him from beneath identical canvas caps. Their respective owners—two earth pony stallions, one red, one green, and a light blue unicorn mare—were huddled together in the corner, their forelimbs wrapped around one another as they stared fearfully in Happy’s direction. All three wore heavy brown jackets, pockets bulging with items he could only guess at.

Bones? Pretty rocks? What did ponies usually keep in their pockets?

Happy’s ears drooped. Slowly, he slid onto his haunches and hung his head. Traders. Just a bunch of traders.

“Not friends…”

Even with his eyes focused on the floor, Happy could sense the fear radiating from the three ponies in front of him. It broke over him like a wave, flooding his senses. More than enough to drive him into a frenzy.

But the changes…didn’t come. Even the voice stayed quiet.

Happy sunk to his stomach. He didn’t feel angry or aggressive at all, just…empty.

A dejected sigh escaped the buck’s lips as he rested his chin on his hooves. The three traders in front of him gasped at the sudden sound, huddling closer together against the wall.

Happy glanced up at them, tilting his head curiously to one side. He had never tried to talk to a…a not-raider pony before. He had always just…attacked them. With his clan. They had never been anything more than a game to him. A chase.

He thought about his friends for a moment.

But…maybe…if he just said hello to them…

Lifting a hoof in the air, Happy gave a little wave in their direction.

“Happy hi hello—”

The three traders cringed as one, pressing their backs up against the wall. The light blue mare began to cry softly, throwing her head against the red buck’s chest.

Happy’s face fell, his expression dipping into a confused frown. Staring at his own hoof, he slowly recoiled, laying his foreleg on the ground beside him.

He glanced up at the mare again. She was still crying. The two bucks at her side just watched him in terrified silence.

For the first time in memory, Happy was at a loss for words. Had he…had he done something wrong?

He glanced at his hoof. It was the same hoof as always.

Happy felt a pang of sadness as the realization hit home.

Him. They were scared of him.

But he wasn’t even being scary…was he?

Happy glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his body, as if seeing it for the first time. His barding was a mass of bloodstains and clawmarks—tufted patches of dead hide protruding from the thicker gashes in the leather. The few patches his of coat that weren’t caked with mud and grime were mangy—also stained with intermittent blotches of red.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Happy glanced to his side. A small pool of water had formed at his hooves, joining that which had dripped down from a thin crack in the roof above.

Happy’s eyes lingered on the shape within. A gray buck with a ratty blue mane stared back at him, the tips of his teeth—sharp, but not quite fangs—glistening behind his lips.

But worst of all were the eyes. Two yellow, bloodshot irises bore into his own, flickering hellishly in the dim light of the fire.

Cringing, Happy turned his head away. He could feel his hooves trembling.

Happy was a monster.

Memories of piercing screams began to echo through his mind. All those ponies…this whole time…

Happy’s hoof flew to his head. He felt…pain. True, throbbing pain, not the dizzy agony his body craved. It began to worsen as the wailing grew louder and louder inside his skull.

High screams. Low grunts. Bucks. Mares. Foals. Their voices rose up like a chorus of the damned, sending the buck staggering to his side.

But despite the whirlwind of screams, Happy could still make out one voice that rose above them all. It was faint, but unmistakable. The same voice that was always there, speaking in his words, lurking in the back of his mind.

Laughing.

Heheheheheheh…

Happy’s hooves flew to his temples as he tried to claw the sounds from his head.

Make it stop.

The wailing only grew more intense, ringing in Happy’s ears like a siren.

Make it stop.

Louder. Louder. The shrieks were everywhere, everything. He couldn’t think straight. Flashes of light danced across his vision, the screams blinding him with the sheer intensity of their volume.

“MAKE IT STOP!”

Happy leapt forward in a frothy rage, dimly aware of the three screaming voices that had joined the chorus in his head. Throwing himself against the nearest wall he began to thrash his head wildly, his skull cracking as he bashed it against the concrete again, and again, and again.

Fresh eruptions of light flashed across his vision with every connection, the sickening crunch of bone barely registering in his ears.

But the noises wouldn’t stop. The ponies kept screaming. The voice kept laughing.

“STOOOOOOOOP!”

Rearing his head back one last time, Happy hurled himself forward with all the strength he had left.

There was a flash of white light and the world fell out from under him.

***

“Hey…are you okay?”

Happy opened his eyes.

It was morning.

The light of the Equestrian skies streamed in from the demolished wall behind him, casting the inside of the concrete-walled building in a dim glow. The roaring fire from the night before had died down to a pile of embers which lay smoldering in the center of the room. Thin tendrils of smoke rose up from them like wiry, gray branches.

“Can you hear me? Hello?”

Happy glanced up to the corner where the three traders had huddled together the night before. It was bare. No doubt they had crept off into the storm after his…episode.

Happy nodded numbly to himself. He couldn’t blame them.

A dull throbbing pain still persisted in his head, beating slowly in time with his heart. He shrugged internally. At least the screaming had stopped.

Happy shifted on his stomach and lowered his head back to the floor.

Good. Now he could sit here and die in silence.

He closed his eyes to wait.

“Are you feeling alright?”

What!?

Happy slapped a hoof to his forehead.

Colt it was difficult to wallow in lonely despair with somepony trying to get his attention like that. He swiveled his head toward the source of the noise.

Happy’s head froze mid turn. His eyes widened as he took in the figure standing over him.

There, at his side, was the most stunning unicorn Happy had ever laid eyes on. Her shimmering yellow coat seemed to sparkle as he looked at it, even in the dim glow of morning.

He studied her face. Her crimson mane was drawn up into a braided pony tail behind her horn, with two thin hair loops extending from her bangs to the back of her neck. Her tail was braided the same way, trailing behind her and almost touching the ground. At its end was a small gold ring that glinted as she moved, the only piece of jewelry she wore save the two dark red bracelets on her left forehoof.

Everything about her seemed…perfect. Flawless. Untouched. Even her pocketed vest was well-maintained—the brown canvas faded with age, but otherwise spotless.

“Um…do you have a name?”

But the one thing Happy couldn’t tear his gaze away from was her eyes. They stared worriedly into his own, two sparkling aquamarine pools of light that seemed to ease away all the tension in his body. There was so much warmth in those eyes, so much caring...

Happy felt as if he could stare into them forever.

The mare returned his slack faced expression with a awkward smile. Her eyes began to dart back and forth uncomfortably as Happy continued to stare at her in silence.

After a few moments, she raised a hoof to her mouth, clearing her throat.

“Ahem…okayyy then.”

Tossing her braided mane back over her shoulder, Happy watched her worried smile melt into a genuine, cheerful grin.

“Well, I don’t know if you can understand me or not, but…”

She offered a yellow hoof to the fallen buck.

“...I’m Serenity. Nice to meet you.”

*****

Hindrance Added…

A (Self) Abusive Relationship - As calm and composed as you may (or may not) be in everyday life, from time to time, you can’t help but give into the urge to headbutt a concrete wall.

You receive a temporary -10 penalty to your INTELLIGENCE related skills every time your self-administered injuries drop you below 50% health. Additionally, when attacking an enemy in combat, there is a 10% chance your attack will backfire and deal damage to yourself.