Falling Apart

by The Infinity Doctor

Rating: teen
Tags: Applejack, Original Character, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Big Macintosh, Screwball, Slice of Life, Human
Length: 5709

(Rewrite) Screwball needs a friend, so what does she do? Finds a human, naturally.

*Under Reconstruction*

I was just an ordinary human, doing an ordinary job- until I met a little girl named Screwball, everything pretty much went downhill from there.

Tags will change as the story progresses.
If you leave a like or dislike, please comment why-

Published 2014-02-16 22:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-16 16:41:24 UTC

Prologue

I think it's safe to say that this has been the absolute worst day of my life.

Just tuning in? Oh, that's just perfect- now I need to start from the beginning, thanks alot, and there was absolutely no sarcasm in there, whatsoever. Alright, comfy? Good. Hey! You! Down in front! Yeah, you! wha? No! Hold it, fine...make it quick.

Now, where was I?

Oh, right- see, I had just finished my shift at the local movie theater (A promising career- isn't it?), and had just started walking home....

X X X X X X X

'Stupid manager, always giving me the weekend shifts...' I complained inwardly, zipping up my jacket as the winter air did its best to turn me into a popsicle.

I swore as I almost slipped on one of the many patches of ice lining the sidewalk. Why am I walking, you ask? The answer is simple- I'm only sixteen, I don't have a car. And now some of you are asking 'Well why not just take the bus then?'; there's an answer for that too-
my house is only about a block from the theater.

I heard footsteps behind me as I turned the corner- ignoring them, I continued walking down the street. Hearing them get closer, I turned (and jumped) as a small girl wearing shorts and a t-shirt complete with a propellor beanie was walking next to me, trying to match my steps.

'I've never seen her around before...'

"Who are you? Do your parents know you're out here in that?" I asked.

The girl looked up at me for the first time, swirling pink eyes meeting my grey ones.

'Those contacts actually look pretty cool...'

"Yeah, daddy said I could" she replied, still trying to keep up with me.

'What the hell is he thinking? Sending her out like that'

"Why don't you come inside and warm up?" I said, holding the door open and not trying to sound like a pervert.

To my suprise, she skipped into the house. I closed the door behind me as I shook the snow from my boots and set them near the door.

"I'm home, mom!" I called, removing my jacket.
"Hello dear! What kept- oh, who's this?" she asked, kneeling down to the girl's level.
"I'm Screwball" the girl smiled, holding out her hand.
"That's not your real name...is it?"
"Yep! Sure is!"

My mother didn't know what to make of this girl, based on the look she's giving me now- and neither did I, as a matter of fact.

"Well...those contacts of yours are very beautiful"
'Screwball' gave her a confused look.
"What contacts?"
"Oh, nevermind" Mom smiled, standing up and patting her on the head "would you like anything to drink?"

"Do you have any chocolate milk?"

X X X X X X X

And so, over the next month or so, Screwball would come and visit- either following me home or already waiting in my living room- the fact that she visited didn't bother me, what did was when she disappeared before and after; frankly, it was confusing the hell out of me-
it was like she just appeared out of thin air. Every time she was here, she wore the same thing, no matter what- I was starting to get concerned about her clothing choice, but every time I asked her about it, her reply was "Daddy doesn't have a problem with it". As I
said before, I don't know what her father was thinking by sending her out in this weather dressed like that. Little did I know, I was about to find out, whether I liked it or not...

X X X X X X X

Screwball and I were sitting on the couch, watching television. My mom and dad had decided to go out together, leaving Screwball and I alone in the house, (back off, perverts!).

"Screwball, where do you live?" I asked.
"Oh, y'know, around" she responded, keeping her eyes on the t.v.
"What's your father like?"

This time, she actually looked up.

"He's the absolute nicest daddy in the world! He loves me very much"
"-and how do you know that?"
"He tells me, silly"
"Oh...well, does he know you only dress in that?" I asked, indicating her shorts and t-shirt.
"Yeah"
"...do you think I could meet him?"

Her eyes lit up.

"Yeah!" she all but yelled "he's been wanting to meet you, too"

Needless to say, this was news to me.

"Has he, now?"
"Yep, said he wanted to meet you as soon as possible, too"
"Hold on"

I got off the couch and grabbed a pen and piece of paper, I scribbled out a quick note to my parents and taped it onto the fridge.

"Okay, let's go, which way is your house?" I asked.

"Here, sit down" she said, pushing me to the couch.
"What are you-"
"Now, look into my eyes"
"I don't think-"
"Look!"

Keep in mind, this is a six or seven-year old girl, and she's pretty frickin' scary when she's mad.

I stared into her pink, spiraled eyes.

'Are they spinning?'

I felt my eyelids grow heavy.

'They're definitely spinning'

"You're getting sleepy, veeeerrrrry sleeepy" she said, keeping her eyes trained on mine.

'What's going on?'

My head hit a couch cushion as I drifted off to sleep.

'What...just...happened?'

Author's Note

Alright- I'm going to take another shot at this. Chapters 2 and 3 are now invalid since I'm going to rewrite them,

For chaos' sake! *Rewritten*

For chaos' sake! *Rewritten*

I groaned as I came to, and cracked open an eye- finding a clear blue sky above.

My throat felt dry as I tried sitting up, and fell back onto the ground.
"Ouch...ow...owowow...that stings..."
"Are you okay?"
"Sc-Screwball? What happened?"
"Daddy wanted to meet you-"

She hesitated at the end, that can't be good.

"But?"
"-but...those nasty ponies turned him back to stone..."
"WHAT?! Ponies?! Where are we?!"
"Calm down-"
"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO-"

Screwball flew into my field of vision, and placed a hoof on my shoulder.

"It's going to be okay- you just need to calm down"

I don't know what it was, but I almost instantly stopped thrashing and took a few deep
breaths.

"Okay...okay...so...care to explain...why ponies...turned your father into stone?"

This sounds like something out of a children's show-

"He made everything better! Then those ponies went and made everything boring again..."

'I'm not going to get anything from her...'

"Well...here, help me up" I said.
"Uh, you might want to stay still..."
"Why?"
"Well- um, when we landed, you kind of...um...changed..."
"Changed...how?"

"Hold on, just don't scream"

The floating pink pony summoned a hand mirror

"Why would I-"

My brain lost all function as I stared at the behemoth in the mirror. I blinked, those grey eyes blinked with me. I finally registered what I was looking at, and let out a thundering roar.

X X X X X X X

Fluttershy jumped as a loud roar filled the air, effectively rattling the windows of her cottage.

"O-Oh dear, what do you suppose that was Angel?" the yellow pegasus asked

Angel Bunny shrugged and went back to munching on his carrot.

"It could be an injured animal..." she reasoned "but what if it isn't? What if it is?"
Fluttershy continued to argue with herself, finally settling on going out to find the source of the noise.

She gathered her medical kit and left her cottage, and took off at a trot towards the library.

X X X X X X X

By the time Fluttershy had arrived at the library, Twilight and her other friends were already there, arguing about the roar coming from the forest.

"That sounded an awful lot like a Manticore" Applejack said.

"No way- I bet it was a werepony!" Rainbow Dash added.

"Wereponies don't exist, Rainbow Dash" Twilight said, rolling her eyes.

"What do you think, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy squeaked as everypony took notice of her.

"Oh, hello Fluttershy" Twilight said "you're the animal expert, I was wondering if you had any idea what this creature might be"

"Oh...um...no- at least, not unless I could get a better look...I'm sorry..."

"Ugh- well let's go check it out, we can at least venture a little ways into the forest"

X X X X X X X

"What have you done to me?!" I shouted at Screwball "Why did you have to turn me into- into this?!"

"I'm sorry! Okay? I didn't know what would happen!"

"Then why did you bring me here in the FIRST PLACE?!?"

"I- I- I- just-"

"WHAT?"

"...all I wanted was a friend..." she replied quietly, a square tear slipping from her eye and onto the ground.

'Wha?'

My rage dropped to a simmer, I was in no position to forgive her- but this was heartbreaking to watch.

"Ponies don't like us...say we're bad luck...call us monsters..."
"Screwball-" I said, pinching the bridge of my nose "-okay, you needed a friend, but why bring me here? Why turn me into- into this?"
"They would've thought you looked too weird..." she said, as if it were obvious.
"Look weird? I look weird now!" I said, gesturing to myself.

My entire upper body was packed with muscle, covered in dark grey fur (maybe it was wolf? I don't know...), my previously human head was replaced with that of an Anubis, y'know, from Egyptian Mythology? A short black coat covered my head and long, pointed ears, a glistening black nose attatched to the end of my new face (muzzle?). Two long antlers smoothly transitioned from between my ears near the back of my head. A large dragon claw had replaced my right arm, covered in dark orange scales, my left was replaced with a griffin claw. (I'm into mythology, okay? Don't judge) A dark brown, feathered wing hung from my back, along with
a white, leathery one, equally as large. My mid-section, or...haunches...now, were feline in shape, white with grey tiger stripes, more confusing still was that those haunches blended into cloven-hooves that served as my legs and feet. I looked over my shoulders and found a thick blue tail with a rounded spade on the end idly swishing back and forth.

'How did I not notice that before? What the hell did she do to me? I look like something out of a sci-fi movie'

"I said I was sorry..."

"Screwball...sometimes sorry doesn't cut it...what did you turn me into?"

"I-I- tried to turn you into a draconequus, but...something just didn't work right..."

"You don't say?" I said sarcastically.

Her ears slapped against her head again.

"Sorry...sorry...all of this is just a lot to take in...okay?"

"Okay...what should we do now?"

"I guess the first thing we should do is to find civilization- are there any cities or towns near here?"
"Ponyville's a few miles that way" she said nonchalantly, pointing with her hoof.

'Of course the name of the town is a horse pun...'

"Welp, let's get going then, there's bound to be someone that can help me" I sighed, bulldozing loose plants and foliage in my way as I lumbered off towards 'Ponyville'.
"Um, actually...I have a few things to do..."

'Oh perfect...she's leaving me here in the middle of who-knows-where...'

"Fine- I'll catch up with you later, I guess"

Screwball gave a faint goodbye and popped out of existence, leaving nothing but empty air.

'So that's how she did it; one mystery solved, about a dozen more left'

I tromped through the dense forest floor as I headed in the direction of Ponyville, wondering if there was even anyone that could (or would want) to help me, but hey- it's worth a shot, right? I liked Screwball, I'd even go so far as to say she's like a sister to me, but I had the sinking feeling that she couldn't help me; so here I am, pushing my way through a dark forest with very little hope on the other side...so...yeah...I bet you're jealous, aren't you? Yeah, I thought not.

I began singing a tune in my head to pass the time, whistling as I continued walking through the labyrinth of jungle.

Okay, that got old fast...almost no time passed either...oh well...

'I'm thoroughly convinced I'll drive myself insane by the time all of this is over...'

X X X X X X X

"I still think it's gonna be a werepony" Rainbow Dash said, hovering above Twilight.

"How many times do I have to tell you Rainbow? Wereponies don't exist" Twilight sighed for the umpteenth time.

Rainbow huffed and did a lazy loop as the followed the trail leading through the Everfree.

"How do you think Applejack and Fluttershy are doing?" she asked boredly.

"I don't know, I just hope they know what to do if they run into this thing"

"There's nothing to worry about, Fluttershy's great with animals, and if it decides to get tough, Applejack can just hog-tie it until we get there"

"I really hope it doesn't come to that"

"Why not? If it's dangerous, it needs to be restrained" Rainbow reasoned.

"Yes, but still..."

"Hey, what would you do if we ran into this thing? Try to talk with it, or tie it down so it can't hurt anypony?"

"Well...I don't know..."

"I know which option I'd go with"

X X X X X X X

"So, whaddaya suppose this thing is, 'shy?" Applejack asked, trotting alongside Fluttershy "I mean, it sounded pretty durned loud from town, what coulda made that kind a racket?"

"I'm not sure...I hope it's okay..."

"Okay? Sugarcube, this thing out here's got a pretty loud roar, I think it can take care of itself"

"I suppose you could be right..."

'I just hope we don't run into this thing...'Applejack thought, glancing around the dark terrain.

X X X X X X X

"How long does this forest go on?" I muttered, shaking my leg in order to free it of the vines that had snared it.

I finally pulled it free and continued walking, leaving hoof prints in the dirt as I went on my way. My little hike was cut short as I found a trail that led either went deeper into the forest in one direction, or led out of the forest in the other; doing a proverbial coin-toss, I decided on heading right.

X X X X X X X

"Shh, you hear that?" Rainbow asked, landing next to Twilight.
"Hear what?"

*Snap*
*Rustle Rustle*

"It sounds like something's coming, let's hide in the bushes, then we can ambush it"
"But what if it's a Timberwolf? Or a Manticore?"
"Then we'll need to hide anyway! Come on"

Rainbow ushered Twilight into the bushes on the side of the trail and waited as the creature drew closer, heavy hoofsteps thudding against the dirt.

'That sounds too big to be a Timberwolf...' Twilight thought.
She was about to say something to Rainbow, but stopped upon seeing an enormous creature walking down the trail, its mix-and-match body parts ugly and beautiful at the same time, the creature's long arms hung off of its large frame, swinging idly as the creature walked past them.

Twilight stood there, staring at where the creature had left.
Rainbow shook her to get her attention.

"Huh? Sorry...what was that?" Twilight asked.
"I said- that thing is headed toward Ponyville! We need to stop it before it does! Who knows what it could do?!"
"Uh, yeah, yes- let's go find Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie, then we can work on capturing it, or at least divert it back into the forest"

Rainbow nodded and the two took off to find the rest of their friends.

Untitled *Rewritten*

Untitled *Rewritten*

"Alright, get down everypony" Twilight said, hiding herself behind a tree "It should be along any second- is the trap ready, Applejack?"

"Sure is, the net's hidden underneath those leaves" she replied.
"Good, those ropes should be able to hold it, do you think you could use The Stare on it Fluttershy? Fluttershy?"

"Hey, where'd she go?" Rainbow asked.
"I think she was there a few minutes ago" Applejack replied.
"You don't suppose that awful beast got a hold of her, did you?" Rarity gasped.
"We gotta go and find her!"
"But girls- we can't just go charging off! We don't know what it could be capable of!"
"This thing's got Fluttershy, we gotta go and save her!"
"Okay, fine, but one of us will have to stay here in case it comes this way"

They all nodded, and everypony save Applejack left to search the forest for the yellow pegasus.

X X X X X X X

"H-Hello?" Fluttershy asked quietly "Is anypony there?"

The butter-yellow pegasus was trotting through the Everfree, her medicine kit clamped between her teeth. The mare was searching for the creature that had emitted the pained roar a few short hours before, she knew an animal in trouble when she heard one.

She walked for a little while longer, and stopped when she heard soft sobs filling the air.
Peeking into a clearing from the bushes, she saw that a large, wolf-like creature was the source. She cautiously stepped into the clearing, getting as close to it as her wavering courage would allow.

X X X X X X X

I sobbed into my claws as I lay in the clearing, my mentality having taken a turn for the worse after walking for hours in the endless forest. My ears swiveled backward as something entered the clearing, it was something small by the sound and density of it.

'How did I know that?'

The creature continued its approach, hesitating as it neared. It wasn't long after that, that
I felt something stroking the fur between my wings.

"There there" a soft, angelic voice cooed "Please don't cry, it's going to be okay"

'What?'

"Where does it hurt?"
"Wh-what?"
"Goodness, you can talk!" she exclaimed.
"Y-yes, I can"

I carefully rolled over, taking caution to not squish the little yellow pegasus before me.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked again.
"Where does what hurt?"
"Your injuries"
"I don't have any injuries"

'Only mental'

"B-but I heard you scream"
"Not because I was in pain"

The pegasus suddenly grew very nervous and backed away, shivering.

"Oh-oh dear..."
"What's the matter?"
"N-nothing..."

"Oh...well...I'll see you around, I guess..." I said, standing up and wandering into further into the forest.

"W-wait!" she said.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Are- are you lost?"
"...yes...I am..."
"W-would you like me to show you the way out?"
"I would appreciate that very much, thank you" I said.

The timid little pegasus motioned for me to follow her as she trotted away.

'Well...this should be interesting...'

Author's Note

Finally! An update!

Apples

"So...can I assume you like animals?" I asked, following the timid pegasus through the dense, emerald foliage of the forest.
"Y-yes, I do....how did you kn-know?" she squeaked.
"That little mark on your flank...it's three butterflies...I just assumed..."
"Oh...well...yes...my sp-special talent is caring for animals"
"Neat..."
"Oh...there's nothing really special about it..."
"I wouldn't say that...it takes alot to care for animals"
She uttered something too quiet for me to hear as we continued walking.

*Snap*

"What was that?" I asked, glancing backward.
"Oh...I'm sure it was noth-"

"Stay away from Fluttershy, you freak!" a scratchy voice shouted, followed by a sharp whistling sound.

Pain shot down my spine as I felt something hard collide with the back of my head, I slowly turned, painfully twisting my neck as a blue hoof struck right between my eyes. Pain rushed through my skull like a freight train barreling at full speed. I briefly saw a flash of at least three different colors before I felt the blue pony continue its assault. I felt one hoof connect with one of my shoulders, a sickening crack following as tears came to my eyes.

I reached up with my undamaged shoulder, and grabbed the pony, tossing her off of me before standing up.

"What the hell's wrong with you?!?" I roared "You can't just attack someone out of the blue like that!"
"I can if you're hurting Fluttershy!" she retorted.
"I wasn't hurting her! She was-"

I didn't get to finish, as the polychromatic pony sped toward me, her hooves outstretched.

"Stop it! Stop it!" I cried, her hard hooves connecting with my body.
She delivered a strong kick to the stomach, and I felt the wind get knocked out of me. She prepared to strike once more, and I grabbed the back of her neck with my working arm, before forcing her to the ground, pinning her beneath my hand.

"Hey! No fair! Leggo!" she struggled, attempting to escape.
"You wanna talk about fair?" I said lowly "You just beat the hell out of me for no good reason...how's that for fair?"
"Fluttershy-"
"-was showing me the way out of the forest"
"Yeah right!"
"You ponies can get on a guy's nerves...you know that?"
She shot me a confused look.

I felt something hard strike the back of my head, and fell to the ground as I absently noted there was something wet flowing down my back. I released my grip on the rainbow pony, letting her go free as I gasped for breath.

I looked to my right, and saw a purple unicorn standing about five feet away, her horn encased in a magenta glow.

I stared into Fluttershy's cerulean orbs as I steadily lost consciousness, my eyes blinking closed as she muttered worriedly.

Author's Note

Short update

A Terrible Catastrophe Part 1

The enormous thing sat in Fluttershy's living room, unconscious.

"I still say we shoulda just left the thing in the forest..." Rainbow grumbled, eyeing the creature "You know, where it belongs?"

"Ah hush, Rainbow" Applejack replied, though keeping an eye on the creature just as she was

"Y'all know as well as th' rest of us, we couldn'ta just left it bleedin' out on the ground like that"

"Oh yes, who knows what could have happened to the poor thing if we'd left it alone..." Fluttershy said, tightening the gauze wrapped around the creature's head.

"Poor thing? It almost ripped me apart!"

"Ahm pretty sure it got angry 'cause y'all tried attackin' it first"

"What do you mean 'tried'? I was handling it just fine!"

"That sure ain't what it looked like ta me" Applejack responed, smirking.

Rainbow continued grumbling to herself as she landed, looking at anything that wasn't the creature.

"Hey, anypony know where Twilight ran off to?" Applejack asked.

"Oh, I think she went back to the library...she looked like she'd been crying..."

"Ah couldn't rightly blame her, ah mean, did you see the gash she made in this thing's head?" she said, gesturing to the creature.

"I could only imagine..." Fluttershy said sadly.

"Right, well...uh, not ta be rude or nuthin', but I best be gettin' back ta the farm"

"And I need to get ready for tonight's thunderstorm" Rainbow added.

"Of course" she nodded.

"Just come and find one of us if this thing gives you any trouble"

Fluttershy nodded, felt a pang of fear run through her system as the two left. She glanced down at him, and took a deep breath, trying to convince herself that he wouldn't wake up any second and devour her in one bite.

'What should I name him? Does he even have a name?' she wondered, trotting across the room to the kitchen 'Where did he come from? I don't think I've ever seen anything like him...except for maybe Discord...'

Granted, he looked nothing like Discord- the only thing the two had in common, was the fact that they were both made up of several different parts from several different animals. He didn't seem to have any connection with Discord himself...if he possessed magic, surely he would've used it against them in the forest?

'I guess I'll have to wait until he gets better...' she thought, casting a glance to him as Angel hopped into the room.
The rabbit took one look at the creature, then squealed in terror. He dashed behind Fluttershy, and gave her a look that said 'Are you crazy?!'.

"Angel, this is...um..."

'What should I call him?'

She drew a blank- what kind of name would fit for a creature like this? He and Rainbow Dash did get off to a rocky start...that could cause trouble later on...

...trouble...

...disharmony...

...entropy...

"Angel, this is, 'Entropy'" Fluttershy restated, removing a head of lettuce from the cupboard.

'I hope he doesn't mind..' she thought.

Angel stomped his foot, before voicing his disproval.

"Now I know he might seem big...and scary...and, um...loud..."
Angel was the first to agree with that.
"-but he's hurt, and he'll be staying with us until he gets better"

The rabbit squeaked again.

"Because Angel, if Mr. Beaverteeth or Mr. Bear was injured, could I just turn them away?"
He hesitated.
"Good, now eat up, I'll prepare something just in case he wakes up"

As Angel bit into his salad, he couldn't help but feel uneasy in the presence of the massive monster. He turned away, and faced the window, as he continued eating.

Pinkie Pie knocked at the door to Fluttershy's cottage, the spring in her step nowhere near as enthusiastic as it usually was.

"Y-yes? Oh, hello Pinkie" the quiet mare greeted, opening the door.
"Hey, 'Shy" the pink mare replied, her mane as flat as her voice.
"Not to be rude...but...what brings you here?" she asked.
"I...I just brought this for...for him..."
"Oh, would you like to meet him? He's not awake, though..."
"Still?"
"Yes..."
"I'd- yeah, I guess I will..."

Pinkie entered the cottage, and spied the creature strewn out on the floor, his jaw open as his pink tongue hung out the side of his mouth. She giggled a bit, before setting a package onto the floor next to him.

"Oh, what's that? If you don't mind telling..."
"I made him a cake..." she said, her voice back to its usual, sad state.
"Could I look?"
"Sure..."

Fluttershy walked towards the box, careful not to disturb the chimera-like creature, and opened it. On the pink-and-white icing, were the words 'Sorry you almost died'. Fluttershy felt herself smile a bit as she closed the lid, and set the box containing the cake on the kitchen table.

"Thank you, Pinkie," she said "I'm sure he'll enjoy it once he wakes up"
The party mare casted a side-glance to the creature, before a small smile wound its way onto her face.
"I-" she began, biting her lip.

She said nothing more, and left the cottage, walking down the dirt road into Ponyville.

Author's Note

I'm going to attempt to update this more often.
Hope you enjoyed this one, please leave your thoughts or questions :pinkiesmile:

A Terrible Catastrophe Part 2

"Good morning!" the insane, beanie-wearing fluffball cheered loudly, snapping him out of his sleep.

"Screwball...there is no- I repeat, no reason you should be waking me up at this ungodly hour," he claimed weakly, his new body weighed heavily against the floorboards of the cottage, as if the gravity of the planet was doubled on himself "it's still dark outside for god's sakes!"

"That just means we can get an extra-early start on the day!" the filly stated, landing on my chest.

"Screwball, I'm in no condition to get up, much less go outside and play whatever game it is you want to play."

"Silly! I can fix that!"

'Oh god...' I moaned to myself, hoping she'd just pull some aspirin out from under her beanie.

In the blink of an eye, Screwball was suddenly dressed in a nurse's uniform, her beanie now replaced with a white hat with a red cross on it.

"Wha?" I could only ask, concerned as to where this was going, and how this fiasco was going to end.

"Just sit back, and Nurse Screwball will take care of everything!" she said, way too cheerfully.

Her spiraled eyes spun rapidly as she removed a large, sharp syringe filled with a mysterious green liquid out of her mane, as an enormous grin threatened to split her head in two.

"Sc-Screwy, let's be r-r-rational here-"

He was interrupted, as Screwball plunged the syringe into his shoulder, forcing him to shriek in pain.

His screams were unheard by either Screwball, or the other residents of the cottage, as Screwball pushed on the plunger of the syringe with all her weight, injecting the mystery fluid into his body.

"Whoops, zat was not medicine!" Screwball quipped, studying what appeared to be a label on the syringe.

He grunted in pain as the liquid surged through his bloodstream, making him squirm in agony.

"D-D-Damn it Screwball..." he wheezed painfully "wh-what was in th-that?"

"Oh, y'know, just a little something I threw together." she replied cryptically.

He growled as he took Screwball by the neck of her uniform, his entire left arm blossoming in pain. Ignoring it, he shook her, making her spiraled eyes rattle in her head.

"Tell me right now, damn it!" he screamed, both in anger and pain.

Screwball looked genuinely terrified, tears slipping down her face as he held her firmly.

"That's not going to work this time! You tell me what was in that, or so help me I'll-"

"P-poison Joke, s-some Zap Apple jam, and-and-and some Griffon's bane."

"Poison?! POISON?! YOU POISONED ME YOU LITTLE WEASEL?!"

He shook her harder once more as he screamed at her. Screwball continued to cry as she did nothing to escape his grasp.

Surprising himself, he threw her, making her collide with a far wall of the house.

'Screw this.' he thought, charging out of the house, knocking down the cottage door.

He paid no mind to the damage he'd caused, and kept on running. His four legs pounded against the dirt and grass as he ran, feeling the wind in his face. He found himself running towards a large farm, apple trees as far as the eye could see. Taking a running leap over the rather short fence, he ran through the grove, finding a large, red barn in the distance. His animalistic instincts had taken over, and he bounded toward it, hoping to find something to fill his stomach.

He ran past the orange one, Apple-something, surprising her.

"What the- hey! Y'all come back here!" she shouted, giving chase to him.

Looking behind him, he found Apple chasing her. A feral grin split his muzzle, and he steered away from the barn, the orange mare still galloping behind him.

'Pony wants to play!' he chuckled inwardly, turning sharply as he headed into the grove of apple trees.

He leapt over fallen tree, presumably not bearing any fruit. Apple followed suit, clearing the fallen tree with ease.

"Hey! I know y'all can talk!" Apple shouted to him "Stop runnin'!"

He ignored her, and instead continued to dash ahead of the palomino pony. A small house set in a tree was coming just over the horizon. He vaguely heard Apple gasp, whether from exhaustion or concern he didn't know. Then she screamed as loud as she could, her voice piercing the air like a banshee.

"APPLEBLOOM! Y'ALL COME OUTTA THERE RIGHT NOW!"

Three small fillies suddenly came down the ramp leading up to the small house. He barely saw them, before his brain could make a decision. He was already running full force, and there'd be no way to turn without harming the three small ponies. He panicked, worried that he wouldn't make it.

'Do not harm the young.' a voice in his head stated.

He stumbled, surprised at hearing the voice.

'You are better than this,' it stated 'you do not harm the young.'

He hurriedly thought what he should do, as the treehouse was almost upon him. The three fillies were frozen with fear at the base of the ramp, their eyes wide, with fearful expressions adorning their faces. Planting his legs firmly into the ground- he leapt, sparing the three small ponies from harm. He breathed a sigh of relief, before he realized that there was one thing between him and safety.

The treehouse.

He crashed, his head forcibly pushed into his collarbone as the rest of his body was filled with splinters and other debris. His body mass being too heavy for the roof, plus his velocity, forced him to go right through the floor of the treehouse. He lost consciousness as plank after plank hit him over the head, combined with the many splinters buried in his hide. His whole body screeched out in pain as the rest of the treehouse collapsed in on him, entombing him in a barrier of wood and nails. He vaguely became aware of blood trickling down the back of his neck, indicating that the wound from the purple one had re-opened. His eyes closed, and he became dead to the world, falling into a deep sleep, the pain numbing only slightly as he barely heard shouts coming from outside the wreckage.

"See? I told you this thing would be trouble!" Rainbow stated as she helped her friends, plus Big MacIntosh, clear the site of the former CMC headquarters.

Said crusaders, were currently in the farmhouse, being tended to by Granny Smith.

"Ah wouldn't a' believed it if I hadn't seen it with mah own eyes," Applejack replied, tossing a plank into the wagon near the wreckage "ah mean, he just came tearin' outta the orchard like nopony's business, and...well, this happened."

"For its' sake, it better not have done anything to Fluttersh-"

Rainbow's eyes widened, and she darted off.

"Well, I'm certainly not happy that the treehouse was destroyed," Rarity said, daintily lifting a small piece of wood and placing it carefully into the cart "but...oh nevermind, it would sound morbid."

"Ah honestly don't think it'll make much of a difference right now, Rares." Applejack stated flatly.

"Eeyup." MacIntosh agreed.

"Well, maybe now that he's...'down for the count' as it were...perhaps this situation might be a bit easier to handle?"

"Provided that doozy of a landin' didn't kill 'im." Applejack replied.