The Saga of RK Act 1.

Four days later

I tightened the last strips of raw-hide that connected the armor that protected my right leg. I wore some basic armor made of iron that covered my torso and back effectively. It was fashioned like Roman armor, but much less detailed. The arm and leg armor was easy enough for me, a man who has never worked a forge, to make, but it was bulky and restricted anything faster than a simple run, but I could still swing my weapons effectively. I stood up and got a feel for walking around, testing my ability to run and swing. I ran around the hallow where I met Twilight to get a feel for running in the heavy suit. I walked back to our camp fire in the clearing a few yards away. There, everyone I have met so far on my little adventure was sitting around the fire, along with two ponies I have never met before.

"Ah, its the guest of honor! And in his suit!" Lyra greeted me, levitating a mug of foamy material.

"How's that armor fitting?" Twilight said, taking a sip of a mug of the same substance of Lyra's.

"It fits me very well.Thank you very much." I said with a smile as I sat down, grabbing a mug that was being levitated to me.

"Hi! Whats your name?" The new pink pony jumped over, getting a bit too close.

"Oh, why my names-"

"OH! Lemme guess! Rrrrichard! Rrrronie! Ricky!" She went through a few names, but none hit. "Ronald! Richie!-"

"RK. My name is RK." I interrupted her.

"Oh darn! I was just about to guess that one!" Pinkie sat down, pouting. I noticed a small, yellow pegasus sitting next to Twilight, who tried desperately to look at me, but always broke eye contact with me, hiding behind her pink bangs. I walked over to her, but she scooted away.

"Hello there. Whats your name?" I asked, sitting on the ground, wanting to get to know her. She simply stared at me, her eyes glancing from me to the ground, then at the fire, then back at me again.

"Her name's Fluttershy. She's obviously very... shy." Dash said, looking around awkwardly, trying obviously not to meet my gaze. I sipped the cider.

"So, RK, tomorrow morning, you an' Dash are gonna take out them nasty feeders, are ya?" Applejack shouted after finishing a swig of the cider. "Well, I'm grantin' ya the best of luck! To good health!" She, and the rest of our entourage  raised our mugs and shouted,

"TO GOOD HEALTH!" in unison. Everypony else was talking, joking, and laughing with one another, except for me and Dash.

"So..." Dash said, tapping the side of her mug nervously. "This is it, huh?" Dash said, solemn in her voice.

"What? Psh... this ain't the end. This is just the beginning of a new adventure, don't be sad." I said, a smile across my face. Dash looked up, uncertain.

"Well, what if there's more than we expected? What if they are too tough? Then what?" Dash said, staring at me with fear and upset in her eyes.

"Then," I grabbed her shoulders. "You run. Okay? Run away as fast as you can and don't slow down until you are certain that they are gone. Okay?" She stared at me like I was joking.

"What? No way, bro! I will not leave you!" She looked up at me, angry that I even thought of that.

"Dash, please, I don't want you, one of the few ponies who has shown me kindness to be hurt or worse. Please ,if this goes south, promise me you're gonna run away. Save yourself if things go bad." Dash looked up at me, tears rolled out of her eyes as she bit her lip in an attempt to not sob, then hugged me close to her chest. I felt warm and fuzzy deep in my chest, as I have been ever since the barn incident, with her showing her affection a bit more every day, escalating to this, where she hugged me close, her tears jerking forth my own.

Aw, I may be the one of the most horrible emotions that humans can express, but this is adorable.

'For once, I'm gonna agree with you, this is very cute. And I'm not the one feeling these emotions.' I picked her up and held her close, letting her hug my neck and cry into my shoulder.

"Its not gonna come to that, *sniffle*, is it?" She said after a little bit of crying. I held her in front of me.

"No. I will not let them beat us." I stared into her tear-stained eyes with my own.

"Promise?" She sniffled, smiling a little bit.

"Promise." I said. She looked away for a moment, her face deeply blushed. Then ,when I least expected it, she kissed me right on the lips. Just a brief moment of connection, before she pulled away and hid her face in my shoulder, one of the only parts of my body not hidden in iron.

Aw, flippin' heck. This actually hurts to look at how cute it is.

'Considering you are an emotion that thrives on sadness and anger, I understand why.'

We fell asleep in a few minutes, her front legs wrapped around my neck, and her heart beating in harmony with mine. I was so happy. The last time I felt joy like this was when Katie stayed with me the last night. The night before...