It’s coming up fast….too fast…..please let this be my last stop.

Ryan stared out of the window at Ponyville, which was drawing ever closer, its sugary colors and strange architecture becoming clearer and clearer in the blue day.

It’s beautiful. he thought as the train station came into view, I’m so glad that I didn’t make my way here when I had the Orb.

Ryan shuddered as he imagined the carnage that would’ve occurred in Ponyville if he had been there during his rampage; He had seen the quaint little town enough times back in his world to know where the Bearers lived, and he could have targeted them or, even worse, their family.

Maybe it’s a good thing that what happened to me happened. he thought darkly, That monster probably saved more lives doing what it did to me.

No sooner had that thought entered his mind than he felt the tide of sick horror flood his heart.

Do I really mean that? I couldn’t have really just thought that….could I?

Yes, yes I did. I deserved what happened to me...all of it.

The human shuddered and held a skeletal hand to his mouth as the realization of his own thoughts set in.

I did deserve it, didn’t I? All the trouble I caused here and on Earth, all the people and ponies I hurt, and for what? Because I felt emasculated by a cartoon? Because I wanted my daddy to love me? Pfft, as if he could ever love me.

“Excuse me, Zap. Are you alright?” said a voice from the doorway to his compartment.

Ryan turned and saw a white unicorn with a blue mane looking at him curiously, though he could tell that it was merely a clinical type of concern, the kind of concern one would have for a character in a book that they had grown attached to.

“I-I’m fine.” said Ryan, noting how quickly the worry vanished from the stallion’s face.

“That’s good.” said the stallion, “We wouldn’t want you to get sick during your first day now would we?”

Ryan shook his head, “N-no sir….uhm….if you don’t mind me saying, y-you look familiar.”

The stallion narrowed his eyes and held himself up higher, “I’m Captain Shining Armor, your chaperone and watcher….and I’m also Twilight’s brother.”

Ryan felt his hands start to tremble. He had seen pieces of the show, but he never knew that Twilight Sparkle had had a brother, a brother who was now letting some of the anger in his eyes show through his professional facade, even as he was turning away.

I have to say something.

“Wait.” said Ryan in a voice whose timidity matched that of Fluttershy.

Shining Armor turned back, his anger gone from his eyes, “Yes?”

“I-I just wanted you to know that I’m sorry for what I did.” said Ryan, forcing himself to maintain eye contact, “I was a monster, I know, and I know that I deserve worse than what I got. So if someone wants to hurt me then I understand if you look the other way, but please believe me when I say that I’m sorry for what I did.”

Having said his piece, he looked away, not noticing Shining Armor’s shocked expression. The stallion moved to say something, anything, but he found that words wouldn’t come. Zap’s words had thoroughly taken him off guard: He had expected his charge to be either to sullen and sad to even talk, or to deep in denial, as many criminals were, to accept the blame.

But Zap had surprised him, and that made his job just a tiny bit harder, knowing that there was a strong possibility that he might get emotionally attached to his charge.

Why can’t a simple job ever stay simple? he thought as he went to fetch his bags.

The whispering started the instant he set foot in Ponyville.

Not that that came as a surprise to Ryan, but it still hurt. The ponies didn’t charge him or yell at him like the ones in Canterlot had, but they radiated distrust and subtle anger, they whispered amongst themselves, pointing at him and giving him a wide berth wherever he went.

Oh well, he thought tiredly, there’s no use changing their views on me. I’m just gonna keep my head down and do what they ask.

He looked at Shining Armor and felt a twinge of envy at the happy look on his face, shoving that feeling aside, he moved towards his warden and asked him what his first task was to be.

“It’s been decided that you’ll be staying in Twilight’s castle, in one of the extra rooms. From there I’ll escort you to Applejack’s farm, you’re to start digging trenches for the upcoming Sisterhooves Social, after that you’re going to go see Carrot Top and help her garden, and finally, you’re going to help Spike in reorganizing the library.”

Ryan nodded and followed behind Shining Armor, the whispers of the townsponies following them like an invisible stalker.

Neither of them noticed the blue figure sneaking after them, her wings beating noiselessly as she propelled a cloud after them.

Rainbow Dash looked down at Zap as she sneaked above them, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on her target.

Don’t worry, Shining Armor, she thought, You aren’t the only one who's keeping an eye on that jerk.

Ever since the previous day at the castle, Rainbow has been preparing for the arrival of the jerk who had, without even saying a word, turned her friends against her. She would make him pay for that, but not yet.

It hadn’t taken long for her to properly spread the tales of his misdeeds amongst her fellow townsponies, and seeing their horrified reactions and anger at him had made her happy; it was a definite guarantee that he wouldn’t get a chance to do anything bad.

But, even so, there was something niggling at the back of her mind, a tickle that wouldn’t go away.

She knew what it was, of course, it was the saddened tone in Pinkie’s words as she told them that something was wrong with him.

Rainbow had tried to talk with Pinkie after that, trying to explain her viewpoint, but Pinkie had scolded her for saying such nasty things and had told her that, until she apologized for it, they weren’t talking. Period.

So they had stopped talking.

Why am I the only one who sees what’s wrong with him? I mean, so what if he had a rough time of it, it can’t possibly be worse than what he did when he first came here….right?

Growling silently to herself, Rainbow brushed that errant bit of doubt away, knowing that it wouldn’t help her concentration on the task at hand.

She moved the cloud behind one of the towers of the castle and left its comfort to go peer in at Twilight as she greeted her new guest.

After getting set up in his small room, Ryan was led to Twilight Sparkle, who was in her library, awaiting the pair of them.

The library was massive, at least eight times the size of his room down below. Each wall was bristling with thousands of books, books littered the ground near several empty shelves that had been placed on either side of a large window and there were literal pillars of old tomes that filled each corner.

At least I’ll be occupied. thought Ryan, allowing himself a small smile which he immediately dropped when he saw the small, purple and green dragon setting out sandwiches and cups of tea.

Twilight sat on a ridiculously plushy chair, her eyes were firmly locked onto the pages of a thick book that rested on her legs.

Shining Armor cleared his throat loudly and she jerked her head upwards.

The instant that her eyes alighted on her brother her mouth turned up in a beaming smile.

“Shiny!” she cried, leaping up, tossing the book aside and galloping to wrap her brother in a powerful hug.

Ryan, feeling out of place, turned away to avoid ruining their moment and found himself staring into the eyes of the little dragon.

Both regarded each other silently for a moment before the dragon said, “So….you’re Zap, huh?”

Ryan nodded, not bothering to correct him.

“I’m Spike.” said the dragon, sticking his tiny, clawed hand out.

Ryan shook it wordlessly, smiling slightly through shut lips.

“Uhm….can you understand me?” asked Spike, retracting his hand, “Can’t you talk?”

“I-I can.” said Ryan, unsure of what to do.

“Twilight’s been talking about you a lot,” said Spike, gesturing behind him with a thumb, “She says she’s been waiting to ask you lots of stuff, just thought I’d warn ya.”

Ryan nodded, looking down at his feet.

“You okay?” asked Spike, sounding genuinely concerned.

Ryan nodded again.

“Are you sure?”

Another nod.

“Oddly enough, I don’t believe you.” said Spike, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Spike, stop interrogating him.” scolded Twilight, the suddenness of her words startling both human and drake.

The Princess of Friendship cantered over to Ryan and smiled at him, “Hello, Ryan, how’re you doing?”

Ryan looked up, albeit with some hesitation, and said, “I’m fine, your majesty.”

“Oh you don’t need to call me ‘Majesty’” said Twilight with a faint blush, “You can just call me by my first name, oaky?”

Ryan nodded, “O-okay, Your Hi- I mean, Twilight.”

Spike snickered and Twilight shot him a stern look that silenced him before turning her attention back to the human, “I’m sorry for Spike’s behavior, he’s just a baby.”

“It’s fine, T-Twilight.” said Ryan, “It was kind of funny, after all. Um...though he did tell me that you wanted to ask me some questions?”

Twilight nodded with a smile, “I would indeed, would you like to take a seat?”

Ryan sat and waited until Twilight, Shining and Spike had taken their places and started eating before dining himself.

As he ate he allowed his newly-returned sense of taste to carry his worries and anxieties away.

When they had finished with their meals Twilight began her questioning.

Wiping her mouth, she asked, “So, Ryan, do you have magic in your world?”

Ryan shook his head, “N-no. At least, I don’t think so. There are some people who believe in it, but the rest of us sort of….dismiss them, o-or...well….or we persecute them.”

“Hmmm, interesting.” said Twilight, “Did you get that down, Spike?”

Ryan turned and saw the drake diligently copying their words onto a piece of parchment, “Every word, Twilight.”

The purple unicorn smiled, “Thanks, Spike.” She turned back to Ryan, “When you say ‘persecute’, what exactly do you mean?”

Ryan looked down, not wanting to see the look on Twilight’s face when he said it, “Back in the 1600’s there was a town in Massachusetts called Salem, it was a time when people were really, really superstitious and, if they thought that someone was doing witchcraft, they’d….they’d do bad things to them.”

“Like fining them or imprisoning them?” asked Twilight, jotting down some notes of her own, completely oblivious to the uneasy look in her interviewee’s eyes. Thankfully, Shining Armor was being more attentive and he poked her shoulder and gestured upwards.

When she saw the look on his face she blanched and said, “Oh.”

Sensing that the topic would yield more unpleasantness, Shining asked a question of his own.

“What about your leaders? What do they do?”

Ryan gave Shining a thankful smile before saying, “Earth has a lot of different leaders, some f them are fair and just, and some of them are just tyrants.”

“Who raises the sun and moon?” asked Spike.

“No-one does.” said Ryan simply.

This sparked a barrage of questions that took him nearly an hour to answer, it was only because Shining noticed the time and insisted that they go to Sweet Apple Acres that Ryan was allowed to go, and even then he could tell by Twilight’s look of annoyance and determination that he’d be answering more questions before he could go to bed.

Back they came along Ponyville’s main street, Ryan averted his eyes and tried his best to appear as small as possible, but the whispers and hushed anger still got to him. He was glad when they reached their destination.

Sweet Apple Acres was as lush and fertile and brimming with life as the rest of Ponyville, if not in a more rustic way. The sloping hills, gnarled apple trees and emerald green grass reminded him of his grandmother’s farm in New Hampshire, a place which was, on further rumination, the only place he really felt at home.

They had not gone ten feet down the dirt road that led to the main house when a barking, brown and white blur came rocketing down the path. It was only when it had leaped up onto him that Ryan realized that it was a collie.

The collie placed both front paws on Ryan’s chest, lifted itself up and proceeded to lavish his face with kisses even as its weight knocked him down.

Ryan was too stunned to stop the onslaught of doggie love. Shining Armor regarded him with an amused smile as the sounds of galloping hooves drew nearer.

“Winona!” called a high-pitched voice that held the same drawl as Applejack, “Winona, where are ya?”

A small, yellow filly galloped into view, her red bow bouncing in her equally red hair. When she saw Shining Armor and Ryan she stopped short.

“Hello, Applebloom.” said Shining Armor with a soft smile.

“Howdy, Mr. Armor!” said Applebloom with a smile of her own, her smile dropped when she saw Ryan, looking at Winona with a strange mixture of trepidation and happiness.

“Is that that freaky super villain who blew up Canterlot?” she asked.

Ryan’s attention went from the collie to the filly, “I guess I am.” he said, slowly getting to his feet. He bowed, although it hurt his back, and then straightened up, his eyes flicked to Winona, who was bounding around his legs, yapping excitedly.

“Applebloom, that’s not very nice.” said Shining Armor sternly.

Applebloom pawed at the ground before saying, “Ah’m sorry, Mr. Zap.”

Ryan shook his head, “It’s...it’s okay.”

He moved onwards, ignoring Applebloom’s shocked expression and Shining’s exasperated one.

Winona continued her bouncing and yapping as Ryan walked on. Despite his sadness, the antics of the collie made him smile and he took a minute to bend down and pat her. Winona pushed her furry head into his palm.

Ryan had only started walking again when Shining Armor caught up to him.

“Do you have to keep doing that?” he asked.

“What did I do?” asked Ryan, genuinely uncomprehending.

“That thing….that….that….what’s the word? Oh, Lugubrious, that lugubrious thing that you keep doing.”

“What’s lugubrious mean?” asked Ryan.

“It means really, really morose and sad.” said Shining with a sigh, “Listen, I know that things have been hard for you, but you can’t go around acting like that. You’ll make Pinkie Pie cry...actually, now that I think about it, why hasn’t Pinkie Pie come to you yet? By the way you act it’s stunning that she hasn’t popped up yet.”

“Maybe she has better things to do?” suggested Ryan.

Shining Armor shot him a look, “Making people happy is her life, Ryan. She knows whenever someone’s sad and when someone’s new in town and when it’s someone’s birthday- y’know, mostly everything. So why isn’t she here?”

Ryan noticed the beginnings of a zone-out and he gently tapped Shining Armor’s shoulder.

“Hmm, what? Oh yeah, community service, sorry about that.” said the white unicorn, “Let’s get a move on, it’s nearly 12:00.”

He marched forwards and Ryan joined him, smiling slightly as Winona yapped at his ankles.

Shining Armor went up the steps to the front door and knocked. A moment later Applejack answered.

“Well howdy, Shinin’ Armor,” she nodded at Ryan, “And Zap.”

“Hello Applejack.” said Ryan, giving her a small smile.

“We’re here for his community service.” said Shining Armor.

Applejack nodded and gestured towards the fields that lay to the far left, “Big Mac’s over there, we got a plow and Ah’ll be over later with some refreshments. Any questions?”

Her tone held a subtle challenge and Ryan decided to meet it in his own way, “ Will Mr. Mac teach me how to use the plow?”

Applejack nodded, “Eeyup, though it ain’t hard to learn, so you should get used to it pretty quick.”

Ryan thanked her and then began walking out towards the fields. The sun was high in the sky and the heat was starting to rise from the dirt. As he walked closer to his first assignment, he thought, for the first time, about what he would do when his two years were up.

Maybe Celestia will let me stay here. he thought, Maybe I could find a nice, shady place to settle down in, somewhere away from the other ponies, someplace quiet and small, with a nice view and- and maybe some books to read. Just….just as along as I don’t have to go back.

He shivered as he remembered his father and it didn’t take much to imagine the painful heights to which his wrath would soar if he came back after two years on the missing person’s databank.

No, he couldn’t go back there, not now, not ever.

Ryan forced these thoughts out of his mind as a large, red blur that sat near a nother silvery blur resolved itself into a massive red earth pony with orange hair and a shining plow that looked newly bought.

The human stopped in front of Big Macintosh, their eyes locked.

“Are you going to teach me how to use the plow?” Ryan asked.

“Eeyup.” said Big Mac, nodding once.

“Okay.” said Ryan.

Big Mac stood up and began his lesson, Ryan listened intently, taking in all of the information eagerly, happily letting it drive out the dark thoughts.

Deep inside of his mind, the flow of black ebbed as a small scar healed.

Author's Note

Okay, just in case I need to clarify this, I am NOT one of those assholes who thinks the excuse "They were asking for it/deserved it/had it coming." holds ANY validity AT ALL. This is just one character's opinion and it WILL change.

With that said, stay tuned for some seriously sad stuff next chapter.