Child of Order

The air was cool, but not crisp. It was not biting and dry like the storms of the Crystal Empire, but instead damp. Rainbow Dash could feel the water in the air as she soared silently amongst the pine trunks; it was the kind that in the past she might have whipped into fog. It gave the air a different sort of condition, a kind of smoothness, warming it but making the cold somehow stickier.

Five had been “kind” enough, however, to provide her with a jacket, complete with a minimum of bloodstains. It was thick and warm and smelled of Gell’s perfume, but it had apparently been designed for a Pegasus. The style was what Rainbow Dash supposed would be considered a bomber jacket, and it had wing holes. Wing holes in clothing were always a good thing.

Brown was below her, moving through the thin layer of snow, his hooves crunching in the ice as he moved. He was moving quickly, but at a speed that seemed comfortable for him. Philomena sat on his back, riding him like a small and fluffy bus.

The view from above made Brown resemble a kind of rodent- -perhaps a kind of lemming- -but his ability to move quickly over the rough terrain was still impressive. Rainbow Dash almost wanted to race him, but realized that it would probably be unfair with all the rocks and logs below- -and the fact that, despite his bizarre musculature, Brown actually had rather short legs.

As they moved, however, she found her eyes wandering toward his flank.

“Excuse me,” said Brown from below, his eyes flashing upward. “I do not appreciate being objectified, if you don’t mind.”

“Sorry,” said Rainbow Dash, looking away. She actually did not even know what that meant.

“I was joking,” said Brown. He was hardly out of breath, despite bounding- -again, like a rodent- -through the forest floor. “You may stare at my rump if you so desire.”

Rainbow Dash felt her face grow hot, and she landed on a branch. Brown slowed below her.

“I was not looking at your rump!” she cried. “I mean- -why would I- -no! Just no! You are a lemming!”

“A what now?”

“Nevermind! I was- -I was just wondering if you have a cutie mark under there, that’s all!”

Brown smiled, and then opened his mouth to speak- -before suddenly looking terribly confused. “I don’t…I don’t know…”

“How did you even see me not looking at your flank?!”

“Because I keep track of everything above me. I could get snatched up and eaten by a Pegasus or griffon or roc or I suppose a large owl…”

“A Pegasus will not eat you.” That comment had been somewhat insulting, but Rainbow Dash was more focused on the fact that Brown did exactly what she did, except in reverse. When she flew, she scanned the ground below her. If Brown had been staring at her flank, even from behind her, she would have known.

“You have a cutie mark, though,” said Brown. “A cloud producing a lightning bolt consisting of, from front to rear, yellow, red, and blue.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome- -hey! You were looking at my flank!”

“No, I was looking at your cutie mark. And wondering how exactly your left limbs are linked to your body.”

Rainbow Dash almost answered, but realized that she did not actually know. She took her left foreleg in her right and gave it a tug. However it was held on, it was attached quite firmly.

“May I ask, though,” asked Brown, almost hesitantly. “Assuming that this will not be inappropriate or offensive…what does it mean?”

“Mean?” Rainbow Dash had not expected such a question, even though it was a story she loved to tell. “Well…”

Over the course of several minutes, Rainbow Dash told Brown and Philomena the epic tale of how she had acquired her cutie mark: how in flight school as a filly, she had been the first Pegasus in history to perform a sonic rainbow- -a phenomenon which, she would later learn, had caused her friends to acquire their cutie marks at nearly the same time. She explained what it meant- -a sign her speed through the skies, and her talent for flight. How her speed was matched by no Pegasus.

“I mean, come on,” she said. “Just look at this precision machine.” She gestured to her body- -and blushed as she realized that doing so might be misconstrued as flirtations. “I mean- -I did just do a rainboom, like, half a week ago.”

“I wasn’t born yet.”

“Oh.” Rainbow Dash kept forgetting how young Brown was- -and how weird it was. “But I did. Maybe I’ll even do one for you some day.”

“You do not need to,” said Brown. “Although I am sure it is indeed a sight to behold, there is no need to make such an effort on my behalf.”

“Are you saying a rainboom takes me any kind of effort?”

Brown blinked. “No.”

“I was joking.”

“I didn’t get it.”

“Clearly.” Rainbow Dash rolled over and fell from the tree, landing gracefully onto the snow below. She punched Brown in the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get a cutie mark someday.”

“Doubtful,” said Brown. “I do not think Exmoori have them.”

“How would you know? You’ve never met another Exmoori before. Aside from those weird little…” Rainbow Dash shivered, recalling the failed clones that littered the facility where Brown had been produced.

“Those are not Exmoori,” snapped Brown. His expression and tone immediately softened. “Sorry,” he said. “But they aren’t. They just aren’t. I know I may seem cruel, but they do not deserve to exist.”

“Just a little bit.”

“But still…” Brown looked up toward the dark sky above, its light reflecting off the snow and gray trunks that surrounded them. His voice dropped to a near-whisper. “It is strange…in all the ponies I have seen, that I have never seen one like me…”

He suddenly stiffened and his eyes flicked around the forest.

“Brown,” said Rainbow Dash. “What’s wrong?”

She already knew, though. She felt the same thing: the feeling of being watched.

“It comes down to a matter of recourse,” whispered Brown. “I know where they are, and I have this…” Slowly, he brushed aside some of his fluff, revealing the butt of his unicorn-horn rifle. “What is your opinion, Rainbow?”

“Hold your fire,” she whispered back, “but tell me where they are.”

“Group of three at your five. Three, one each at three, eleven, and in a tree at eight.”

Rainbow Dash shifted her eyes toward the three position. At first, she saw nothing but pine trunks- -but then saw a pair of greenish-blue eyes reflecting the light from the snow. She was surprised how Brown had managed to see them all so quickly, and was annoyed that she had lost that particular contest.

“Alright,” she said, turning toward the main group of them. “Come on out, or I will go in there and punch each and every one of you in the- -”

Before she could decide on where she was going to punch them, the three emerged. Rainbow Dash had been hoping for a monster of some kind, something that she and Brown could fight another epic battle with- -but instead, the figures that stepped forward were deer.

Rainbow Dash had met deer in her life. They were generally timid and strange, living like a bunch of hippies in the forest. These deer, however, were far taller, towering over her and Brown. Their horns were also far larger than she was accustomed to.

Unlike most deer, they were wearing clothing, or some semblance of it made from wood. They were also carrying weapons at their sides, in the forms of bows. Their bodies were ornamented with various trinkets, including feathers of colors that could not naturally form on any bird.

Philomena released a low warble. Rainbow Dash, for once, agreed.

For a moment, neither side spoke. The deer stared at Rainbow Dash, and Rainbow Dash stared at them. She knew without a doubt that the others, the ones who had refused to reveal themselves, had their bows planted and drawn, and she wondered how fast she could move the golden feathers in her wings fast enough to block an arrow at close range. Her general conclusion was that she could not.

“What do you guys want?” she said at last.

One of the deer stepped forward. “You do not belong here,” he said. “This land is not meant for ponies.”

“Why are you here?” demanded another one. “Who has sent you?”

“We are looking for something,” said Rainbow Dash, feeling herself growing increasingly angry. She attempted to remember the description that Proctor had given her. “It probably looks like…” She made motions with her hooves. “A pile of rocks. A building, maybe? Probably a bunch of animals around it?”

Rainbow Dash did not actually know what this structure was, and Brown did not seem to know either. Proctor had never even explained exactly why they were supposed to be looking for it, but according to Five it contained something valuable.

The two on the edges began to move outward, surrounding Rainbow Dash and Brown.

“And why do you seek such a thing?”

“None of your business is why.”

“The thing you describe,” said the central one, who had yet to speak, “is a tomb. For what reason would a pony seek a tomb, except for to pillage that which belongs to the dead?”

Rainbow Dash was about to respond when she realized that was exactly the sort of thing that Five would do.

“This is the problem with ponies,” said the eldest. “You seek nothing except to steal, with no thought of what you deface, the damage you create. You stand before me now, your body broken and sickened with technology- -can you even look me in the eye and tell me what it is you seek?”

“I seek nothing except that which I am ordered to seek,” said Brown, coldly.

The deer nearest to him jumped back as if they had nearly stepped on a snake. In other circumstances, Rainbow Dash would have considered their reaction to be comical- -but now, it only added to the tension that filled the air.

“It speaks,” said one them, as though he had witnessed a miracle. “It- -it is a pony!”

“Indeed I am,” said Brown. “And I believe that we may have encountered a misunderstanding. Clearly your kind are too primitive to understand our motivations, but we wish to avoid violence.”

Rainbow Dash had a sudden urge to kick Brown.

“Primitive, you say?” said the eldest deer, stepping forward. His headdress clanked with random bits of metal and what Rainbow Dash thought might be bones. “And yet I know you. What you are. Can you say such a thing, brown one?”

“I am Exmoori,” said Brown.

“But do you even know the meaning of the word?”

“It is what I am. I am a soldier.”

“The ones who came before ponies. The tall ones, who came preaching of the sun, and who left when the darkness came. They understood. They brought stories. Stories of you.”

“How could they have stories of him?” demanded Rainbow Dash. “He’s only…well, not that old.”

“They spoke of ancient warriors from the north, of undying soldiers clad in woolen hair. These ponies came in the time of great war, but behind them fell only death and pain to horrible to comprehend. So many stories they told of those who called themselves heroes but desired nothing but murder and violence. The name Exmoor is one of shame, not pride.

“And you,” he said, turning his attention toward Rainbow Dash. “Our stories are far older. They speak of terrible things that walked this realm in the distant past. Of gold-winged gods who laughed as they rained destruction across the land.”

“They are spirits,” whispered one of them.

“Well, this spirit is about to punch you in the- -”

“No,” said Brown. “No. This does not need to end that way.” He stepped forward, in front of Rainbow Dash, and looked up at the deer. “You are their Commander. I am a soldier. I ask you: what is our recourse?”

“Recourse?”

“Yes. You talk much, but say little. What is it that you desire from us?”

“How many are there of you?”

“Of me, there is one.”

“But surely a soldier must have a commander.”

Brown nodded. “I do. One far stronger than I. Attack her, and you shall all perish.”

The deer stared down at the comparatively tiny fluffy pony before him, and then laughed. “Truly you are a fool,” he said. “You may believe yourself a soldier, but we are warriors. Many have tried to defile this land. Ponies tried, and failed. The dogs from beneath tried, and failed. Even the Demon Queen Vale failed to bend us to her will.”

“This is growing tiresome,” sighed Brown. “What a pointless exchange this is. Please advise, Rainbow.”

“This is pretty useless,” said Rainbow Dash, her own confidence equal if not greater than Brown’s, as though it were a contest. “We should go.”

She spread her wings and flew into the air, but as she did, she saw one of the deer leap forward and grab Brown. Oddly, he hardly even reacted. If anything, he seemed bored. Philomena, however, leapt into the air and clawed at one of the deer’s eyes, only to be knocked back and against a tree. She fell to the snow, dazed.

“You shall indeed leave,” said the elder deer. “But not like this. No. A message must be sent to your kind, that this is our land.” He looked to his associate. “Break his legs.”

“No you don’t!” cried Rainbow Dash, spreading the bladed feathers on her wings.

Brown looked up at her, though, and she immediately stopped.

“Don’t bother,” he said. “I’ll just heal. No point in putting yourself in danger for me.”

“I’m not going to let them hurt you!” cried Rainbow Dash. “You’re my friend, remember?”

Almost as soon as she said it, she felt a cloven hoof wrap around her front leg. Deer could jump surpassingly high, it seemed, and the one that had grabbed her pulled her onto the ground. She landed with a powerful thud against the icy ground, and the force knocked the wind out of her. She immediately felt a force on top of her, holding her wings in a position where she could not get enough leverage to escape.

Suddenly, she cried out in pain. The joints of her wings seemed to be straining, on the verge of collapsing under the weight that was now pushing forward. She recalled the feathers that the reindeer wore- -and realized where they came from.

“Take her wings,” said the lead deer. “And that golden eye. A pony does not deserve such things.”

His statement was punctuated with a sudden shriek of pain. Rainbow Dash managed to twist in time to see something she wished she had not. The deer that had been holding Brown was no longer holding him- -instead, the deer’s foreleg had been snapped and twisted around in a horrible parody of its original shape.

“Protect Rainbow Dash,” muttered Brown. He sounded distant and confused.

He moved quickly. The deer had never stood a chance. Brown used the broken limb as leverage, forcing the deer downward and plunging his hoof into its mouth. He twisted and pulled, dislocating it with a sudden thrust. The deer continued to scream even as its lounge lolled out of its ruined face. With its head now lowered, Brown removed one of its horns with a sickening crack and impaled it through the throat.

There was a whooshing sound as arrows were loosed from the trees around them. All of them were directed at Brown, and they struck his body directly, embedding themselves within his fluff with resounding pomfs.

The deer holding rainbow dash panicked, attempting to draw a club from his side. As he did, however, his hoof slid from the joint of Rainbow Dash’s wing down the limb’s structure. There was nothing Rainbow Dash could do to stop him as his leg ran against the golden feathers, instantly severing itself.

The deer did not seem to notice, and as Rainbow Dash was showered in blood, he took a step- -and fell on top of her. For a moment he looked down at the stump, and seemed so confused- -until a sharp hoof-stomp from Brown broke his neck.

The night suddenly flashed with light as Snoprancer’s magic poured from Brown’s rifle, striking those that were hiding in the underbrush around him. They stood no chance, and within moments they were all gone, their bodies torn asunder by the weapon.

Brown turned his attention toward the final deer, and raised his rifle. For a moment, Rainbow Dash saw his eyes, how cold and dead they were, just like they had been in the Crystal Empire.

“So,” said the elder deer. “The stories are true indeed. But know this, child of Exmoor! You may slay me, but more will come! I will be avenged! We will take the lives of your precious commander and that whor- -”

Until that point, Rainbow Dash had never seen what one of the necromancer rifles did to an organic body. The deer that Shining Armor had shot in the woods had been distant; there had been flashes of light, but nothing apparent. She had expected something like what had happened when necromantic constructs where hit- -for their bodies to break apart, or to form large, flaming holes. As it turned out, members of Shining Armor’s undead legion were quite a bit more durable than deer.

The elder deer exploded into a cloud of burning red mist, his armor exploding from the inside and bursting into splinters. Rainbow Dash saw the expression on his face just before it was removed from his body- -and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she saw his legs fall in different directions.

She looked down at her hooves, and saw that she was covered in blood and blood ash. Brown was as well, but rather than being horrified, he was smiling. Somehow, that was by far the worst part of it all.

“Brown,” said Rainbow Dash. “Brown, stop!”

“Executing primary orders,” said Brown, blankly. “Kill. Must kill. This is my purpose. This is what I exist for.”

He seemed almost to understand what he was saying, and he blinked for a moment, as if realizing the horror of what he had done- -but then something moved in the underbrush. Rainbow Dash twisted suddenly to see a young deer, one that Brown had not seen, running away from them.

“Exterminate all threats,” said Brown, coldly. He pushed his rifle back into his thick fur and bounded quickly after the deer as it escaped. “Must kill!”

He bounded off at high speed, chasing the fawn.

Rainbow Dash stood and spread her wings, preparing to follow him. Her joints hurt, but she doubted she had ever been in any real danger of having her wings removed- -her flight muscles were far stronger than any ordinary Pegasus’s.

Then she remembered the small glowing lump that had been thrown from Brown’s head, and instead of running toward Brown flew to Philomena.

“Philomena,” said Rainbow Dash, picking up the bird. “Come on, please be okay…”

The bird was hardly limp, and as Rainbow Dash picked her up, she shook her head sharply before spreading her wings.

“Thank Celestia,” said Rainbow Dash. She looked into the woods, and saw several bursts of magic in the distance lighting the trees. “Philomena,” she said to the phoenix, “something’s wrong with Brown- -I think he’s going to do something really bad. We have to stop him. Can you track him?”

Philomena nodded and took flight, flying up through the pine trunks and above the snowy canopy. Rainbow Dash followed her through the stretched and pale trees until they were both above the treetops.

The forest stretched out below them like an endless carpet of homogenous darkness, and Rainbow Dash could feel the chill of the boreal wind. It was definitely possible to see, but the darkness seemed deeper than usual.

She was still haunted by the expression she had seen in Brown’s eyes. It was something that she had seen before. That cold, dead expression- -he had been born with it, and he had exhibited it in the battle beneath the Crystal Palace, but this time it was different. This time it was tinged with something else, something other than tactical coldness. This time, he had seemed immensely sad, as though he were driven out of desperation without the slightest fragment of anger.

Rainbow Dash could not see below, but it seemed that Philomena could. The brilliant colored bird spread her wings and rushed down amongst the trees, following Brown’s trail. Even though the trees, though, Brown was moving incredibly fast. Theoretically, Rainbow Dash could fly faster than Brown could run. Philomena, however, could not- -if Rainbow Dash tried to catch up to Brown, there was too large of a risk that she would simply pass him and miss any sharp changes in course he might make.

“Come on, Philomena, fly faster!”

The bird squawked in protest, but accelerated.

Then, from above, she saw it: a clearing in the wood, a region where the trees had been cleared. Even from so high, Rainbow Dash could see the light below, flickering and red-orange, the glow of an inferno- -and she prayed that Philomena would not dip in that area, that she would pass beyond. Instead, the bird dove, and Rainbow Dash was force to follow.

When she landed, she found what remained of the reindeer’s village. All around her was fire and smoke, and the rushing, crackling sound of large fires.

“Brown!” she called, running through the paths between the collapsing buildings past the charred skeletons of so many deer, their bodies torn apart by magical force as they had tried to escape. “Brown, where are you?!”

An explosion rocked the camp, and Rainbow Dash saw a burst of fire and magic appear twenty yards to her left. The force was tremendous and nearly knocked her over. It was far more than a magic rifle could have accomplished.

From one of the buildings, a figure emerged, jumping through the cinders and ashes. For a moment, Rainbow Dash though that it was brown, but rapidly saw that it was a deer. She was barely older than a faun, the spots on her body barely faded but now combined with so much ash.

“Help me!” she cried, pleading to Rainbow Dash. She reached up and wrapped her forlegs around Rainbow Dash’s shoulders. “The destroyer! The destroyer has- -”

Her body disintegrated into superheated red mist and organs as it was torn apart by magic. Her legs remained for a moment before sliding off Rainbow Dash.

“No!” screamed Rainbow Dash, feeling the gore soaking into her coat. She wanted to jump back, but found that she could not- -her body had frozen. The horror was nearly beyond her comprehension. Even during the Choggoth War, things like this simply never happened. Even until then, there had been no violence, not murder. Ponies died because they got old and died in their beds- -not like this.

From one of the flaming buildings emerged a figure moving much slower. The flames licked his body, but had no effect, apart from singing the arrows that filled his fluff. Brown appeared, his body covered in embers, with the barrels of several weapons emerging from his fur, including a grenade launcher. The dissipation projector of his unicorn-horn rifle was still smoldering.

In that instant, Rainbow Dash had known that the elder deer had been right- -and so had Five. This creature, this fluffy pony, was unlike any of the other pony races. Standing before her, lit by the light of the dying village, his eyes blank and expressionless, was a monster. Whatever it was, it was not the Brown that Rainbow Dash knew.

“Brown,” she said, stepping forward, Philomena landing on the space between her wings, cowering from the empty gaze of the blood and ash-stained creature before t hem. “Brown, what have you done?”

“I have extrapolated primary objective,” he said, coldly. “This village was deemed a threat to Rainbow Dash. Subsequently, the threat has been purged.”

“You killed them,” whispered Rainbow Dash, “you killed them…”

“All were deemed threats,” said Brown. Then, of all things, he giggled and broke into strained laughter. “Kill- -death- -it is all I have. This is what I am for. Violence and death.”

“Brown, this isn’t protecting me! This isn’t right!”

“There is no right and wrong. Only the Commander’s orders.”

Rainbow Dash stared into his eyes, and Brown stared back. His blue pupils were tight to the point of nonexistence, and flitting about rapidly. Somehow, though, he did not seem to really be seeing anything. The way he spoke sounded confident, but distant and cold.

Something was wrong, though. The same sadness she had sensed before was still present, both in the way his mouth tried to smile and as something in his voice.

“Brown…”

For a moment, he seemed to hear her- -but then reacted quickly to something behind him. He jumped to the side, barely dodging an arrow that had been loosed by a badly burned deer warrior behind him.

Rainbow Dash suddenly felt a sudden impact in her right shoulder. She cried out, not from pain- -although it did hurt- -but from surprise. She had never realized the force behind an arrow, how it was more like getting hit by a hammer than anything else.

She had always considered bows to be a pointless, obsolete weapon. She had seen the ice archery competitions in the Equestria Games, and considered it to be pointless. This opinion changed rapidly as she felt the pain from the blow course through her, tearing away at both her shoulder sinew and her very thoughts.

Brown turned quickly, firing from several of the weapons in his fluff. The deer that had attacked Rainbow Dash had already died shortly after firing his last arrow, but his body was blown apart into the fires that surrounded him.

“Horse…feathers,” said Rainbow Dash, looking down at the stick protruding from her shoulder. She reached up to grab it with her metal claw, but as she pulled, she felt the barbed end poke her in the back. It had already gone through her- -and pulling it was a very bad idea.

She cried out in pain and stamped her metal hoof into the ground. Brown looked at her, and she could see the comprehension of what had happened crossing his mind.

“Rainbow Dash?” he said, sounding confused. Then he looked around. “Where- -where am I? What is this?” Before Rainbow Dash could answer, she could see that he realized. “I- -I did this. No. Why- -why would I do this?”

Brown looked down at the bits of the fawn he had slaughtered without a care and recoiled. Then he looked at Rainbow Dash.

“NO!” he cried, stepping over the severed limbs and blood. “I- -I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t touch me!” said Rainbow Dash, pushing him away and wincing at the pain. Even motion was painful. She was glad it had not struck anything vital, especially her wing or Philomena, but she was not at all happy.

“We have to get out of here,” said Brown, still somewhat dazed.

Almost as soon as he said it, a log cabin near them collapsed- -not from the burning, but from a hulking mass of rusted and yellow-striped metal pushing through it.

“This just keeps getting better,” muttered Rainbow Dash.

The large equidroid approached them and stopped. Its single eye flickered and projected, of all things, a translucent blue image of Rainbow Dash herself.

“What happened here?” said the hologram, its voice tinny and strange.

“Proctor?” asked the real Rainbow Dash.

“The one and only,” said Proctor_Dasy, smiling. He then seemed to notice the arrow in Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. “Oh, crap! You’ve been skewered! This is bad- -”

“But I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that,” said a manically smiling Pinkie_Proctor. “You already got the point!”

“Stop joking!” screamed Brown. “I’ve hurt Rainbow Dash! Can you help me get her back to the Commander?”

“This unit was originally designed for rock farming,” said Twilight_Proctor.

“And although it looks repulsive,” said Procto_Rarity, “I can carry all three of you. Without breaking a sweat, even.”

The equidroid secondary body dropped to its knees, and Brown moved to help Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash shoved him away. “I said don’t touch me.”

“Rainbow- -”

“I can’t leave yet,” she said. “There could be survivors, deer trapped in there still!”

“There…there aren’t,” said Brown, the full sadness within his voice becoming apparent. The anger in Rainbow Dash’s heart toward him suddenly froze.

“I’m not detectin’ any life signs,” said Proctor_Jack. “It’s deader out here than Twalight’s bedroom. And yer bleedin’ tah death.”

Rainbow Dash looked down, and saw that more than a trickle of her blood was leaking from her shoulder, forming a pool below her.

“Fine,” she said. She tried to spread her wings, but found that flying relied more on her shoulder than she had expected.

“Rainbow Dash, let me help you,” pleaded Brown.

“We will talk about this later,” she said, limping onto Proctor’s back while an odd representation of her younger self sat below as a pixilated holographic rendering.

“You can walk,” said Proctor_Dash. “This unit as actually kind of slow.”

“Yes…” mumbled Brown, the weapons covering his body retracting into his fur. “I need a moment here anyway.”

Proctor_Dash nodded, and then the hologram vanished. The equidroid clanked as it rose and turned, its strangely jointed legs pulling it back in the direction it had come. It was not by any means dexterous or delicate, and the jarring motion was agonizing, but Rainbow Dash dealt with it. Having an arrow stuck in her side was painful, but she had felt worse pain before. In fact, she felt far worse pain every day, whenever she remembered the face of one of her friends.

Her greater concern was for Brown. She had seen the look of confusion and fear on his face, how he did not understand how he had done what he had done but still understood the significance of it. Even if he was a monster, a creature created by Five for her own sick purposes, he was still Rainbow Dash’s friend- -and she did not like to see him in such pain.