Corrupted Harmony

Garrett sat firmly on his bed, refusing to move.

"I told you, I don't do parties!" He exclaimed.

"Pinkie Pie gave you an invitation and you didn't give her no excuse, you gotta go," Applejack said, tugging on Garrett's arm.

"I'm a hardened killer, I've ventured to hell itself, I don't have time for parties"

"Hell hath no wrath like an angry Pinkie Pie, now lets go!" The farm pony exclaimed giving him a look.

"I don't like crowded situations!" Garrett said, and crossed his arms, now leaning on the wall.

"Come on Garrett we're your friends!" Applejack gave him a smile. Garrett did not return it.

"I don't have any friends, not you, not anyone," He said coldly. "Now please leave," Applejack looked at him, hurt.

"After all we've been through, after all the times we saved your bacon, and you cant even call us friends?" she asked softly.

Garrett looked at his shoes, his bed, anything but Applejack's eyes.

"I don't know, alright?" Garrett said, exasperated.

"Well when you find out, come join us," Applejack said, though it sounded cold. She left and slammed her door on the way out.

Garrett sighed. He leaped onto his bed and rubbed his temples. Were they really his friends? True, they had saved his life a few times, but he didn't know if it meant they were friends. Then again, they did go through the trouble of inviting him, and they didn't have to do that, Garrett could have cared less. He didn't know what to think. Colin had taught him many things about Terraria, but nothing more important than this; If you made friends, you took chances. Colin was firsthand proof. But... This wasn't Terraria. Fact was, Applejack and the others were safe... He sighed again and got up from his bed. He had just put on his pack when he heard thunder and the patter of rain.

"Shit,"

****

About 20 minutes later, Garrett was at Applejack's barn and could see light streaming through the cracks of the doors. He took a deep breath, did he really wanna do this? He thought and figured, yes, he was a sorry sucker and he did wanna do it. He knocked three times on the barn doors. suddenly the chatter inside died down. Garrett seriously had to swallow his pride and not simply run. Slowly, the door opened and Applejack poked her head out.

"Well look what the cat dragged in," she grinned and opened the door wider so the mares inside could see Garrett, in his soaking, shivering, glory. Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Ah, what perfect timing for a rainstorm!" she said, to the laughter of everyone inside. Garrett had a mental 'fuck this' moment and turned to leave when Applejack grabbed him and pulled him back inside. Pinkie Pie tossed a towel towards him, and Rarity handed him a mug of cider. He pulled the towel around him and nervously looked at each of the mares, each giving him a grin in return. He took a sip of the cider and sat on a bale of hay, next to Applejack, who gave him a pat on the back.

"Nice to have you here partner," She said, and held up a mug for a toast. All of them toasted to the Corruption meeting it's match.

****

"No way, No way you guys defeated a mare of darkness with the power of friendship, I'm calling bullshit," Garrett laughed, taking another sip of his mug.

"No, we totally did it, no swords or anything!" Twilight said for the 5th time. All of them were getting a bit tipsy from all the cider. Garrett had been a bit cold, but the cider took care of that right away, now he was all smiles.

"Yeah, ok!" Garrett said sarcastically.

"What about you, partner, whats the bravest thing you've ever done?"

"That's a tough one," Garrett said. "Sucking up and coming here?" he offered, to the joking boo's and groans. Applejack gave him a punch to the arm. Soon Garrett excused himself from the barn and sat on a bale of hay outside.

He stared up at the stars and wondered about how Terraria was doing. He sighed. He was conflicted. On the one hand, (or hoof, considering his current area of residence.) He wanted to stay here. It was relatively safe, he had friends, and it was over all a better living condition. Terraria was fine, but nothing compared to this. However... He needed to go back to Terraria. It was his duty to protect the people who lived in his town, he couldn't run away from that. He let out another deep sigh.

Suddenly heard a creak and out instinctively tried to reach for his sword, only to realize it wasn't there. He had left it inside the barn. He got into a shoddy fighting stance, only to see Fluttershy creeping out of the barn. He relaxed and invited her to sit next to him. "Whats up?" he asked.

"Just needed some space," The shy mare replied, sitting next to Garrett.

"You too huh?" He chuckled, Fluttershy nodded.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked.

"Home," Garrett replied. "Thinking about when I go home,"

"You want to go home?" Fluttershy asked.

"Its not that I really want to go home, I have to," He said, not being able to hide the defensive tone in his voice. "I cant just leave my town defenseless..." He trailed off.

Suddenly Pinkie Pie popped her head out of the barn. "Come on, its time to play games!" she shouted before running back inside.

Garrett and Fluttershy walked back into the barn.

Raze sat in the small cell in the Canterlot dungeons, wolfing down his meal. It was simply a bowl of dry oats and a glass of water. Despite the situation he was in he was grinning like a mad man. He had been searched but not well enough. He looked down his shirt to see the small machine. It was a mechanical eyeball. It was made out of iron, the pupils glowing red, with red wires trailing out the back. He spotted a patrolling guard and called him over. The guard was obviously new, looking over his shoulder often and fidgeting.

"Hey guard, I cut my arm, can I get a bandage?" He asked, clutching his arm that was actually fine. Raze discreetly grabbed the wooden bowl with the arm he was clutching.

"Let me see it," the guard said, unlocking Raze's cell. and stepping over to examine his arm. With lightning fast speed, Raze leaped up and smashed the bottom of the wooden bowl into the guard's temple. The guard crumpled to the ground. Raze chuckled.

"Moron," he muttered, walking out of the cell. He took the fallen guards weapon, a small knife, "Time for some payback," he said to himself, before leaving the dungeons.