"Holy shit she takes long showers." I moan into my hands as I slip down the fall, falling in front of the front door. I can feel the cold tile through my pants, though that's nowhere near enough to make me want to get up. I've been waiting for that girl for maybe half an hour at this point, and I can still hear the damn shower upstairs running.

"Did you say something?" I hear a small voice call out from the stairs. I look up to see what is basically a smaller version of Rarity, but with a slightly different hair color.

"Oh, hey." I say, the little filly's name slipping from my mind. "Just waiting for Rainbow Dash."

"Then, why are you in here? She's probably outside taking a nap or something." She says innocently.

"What? No, Rainbow is in your sister's bathroom right now taking a shower. She stayed the night in the office with me and woke up with a hang- feeling sick." I correct myself, not really sure if the kid actually knows about alcohol, or salt, or... whatever the fuck it is, I don't know anymore.

"Ah, that's too bad. Is she okay now?"

"A little headache maybe, but she'll live. Say, you sleep in awful late, don't you have school or something?"

"Yeah, but we're on break until next week. The only good thing about winter if you ask me, I can't stand the cold."

"You too huh? Looks like we have more in common than I thought."

"Really? My friends usually laugh at me because I hate going out in the cold. Guess we are kinda the same huh?"

"Yeah... hey you just said you have some friends, let me give you some advice."

"About what?"

"About those friends... D-Don't take them for granted kid... they're the best thing you'll ever have, and if you lose them, you'll never be the same again. Just... cherish what you have, and don't treat it like it's no big deal."

"Okay? Yeah, I couldn't imagine what I'd do without them. Do you have any friends Mr. Zack?"

"Well... had would be a better word to use. I guess your sister is really my only friend in the entire world. I lost all of my other friends whether I like it or not."

"That's awful! Don't worry Mr. Zack, I'll be your friend." She says confidently, trotting up next to me and nudging her head into my side. I swear if I didn't have a soft spot for kids...

"Oh, um... thanks kid, I appreciate it." I say with a small yet genuine smile. "Say, you better go get some breakfast, most important meal of the day right?" I say as I pick her up under her forelegs and hold her out in front of me.

"Right! I'm starving!" She says excitedly. I put her down, and she scampers off into the kitchen.

I look down at my feet for a second before I hear something at the top of the stairs. I look up to see a flash of something blue vanish behind the wall at the top. I squint in confusion before my face contorts into one that shows annoyance. I hadn't even heard the shower go off until just now.

"I know you two are there." I say sternly. A couple seconds later, Rainbow and Rarity slowly make their way down the stares, giving me apologetic looks as they do so.

"S-Sorry darling, but we couldn't help but listen, and-"

"Wait, listen? Oh God, you didn't hear any of that did you!?" I ask, groaning into my hands as I slap them against my face.

"Yeah... we heard it all." Rainbow says with a sheepish smile. "Don't worry, it's cool. I just didn't think you were that sappy." She says with a little chuckle.

"I'm not sappy." I retort. "I just don't want the kid to go through what I did for half of my life. You have no idea what kind of shit I've been through, so don't you dare try to tell me otherwise." I say sternly, pointing a finger at the both of them. They both exchange looks before looking back up at me as I now rise to my feet.

"It was just a joke, chill out." Rainbow says, hovering over to me. "Anyway, I hear Rarity made a little deal with ya. So, you get to spend an entire day with me, huh? You must feel so privileged." She says in a cocky tone of voice.

"Oh I've never been happier." I say sarcastically as I roll my eyes. "C'mon already, I tried of waiting around here." I readjust my bag on my back before nudging the door open, letting in the cool morning breeze. Normally, I'd hate it, but after being cramped up in here for what felt like forever, it feels like heaven to me. "I'll be back tonight Rarity, so don't come looking for me."

"Alright then, you two have fun." She says with a wave as Rainbow closes the door behind us.

"So, what's first on our list?" Rainbow asks. "Flying practice, or we could go for a run, or I could try to-"

"Rainbow, holy shit we just left the house and I already want to punch you."

"Well sorry, somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed..." She mumbles, crossing her forelegs across her chest.

"Hey, I slept in a chair because of you." I say, pointing a finger at her.

"Ugh! Why do you still hate me Zack, I don't get it!"

"Look, Rainbow, I wanna like you, I really do, but some people or ponies just don't click! You're immature, you don't think before you speak, and you're just so full of yourself."

"I'm... what?" I sigh and rub my face, trying to calm down.

"Look, you want me to like you? Try showing me a different side of you. If you can show me that you can be genuinely kind and caring, maybe I'll consider liking you. Until then, just try not to get on my nerves, for both of our sake."

"Fine, whatever you say." She says, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, now that we're on the same page, I know what I want to do until my meeting with Twilight."

"Yeah? What's that?" Rainbow asks as I start walking in a random direction. She follows me, hovering in the air to my left.

"I wanna just chill, y'know, get some rest. These past few days have been pretty stressful to put it mildly, so I think a day off would be pretty nice. Do you know any good parks or lakes or something?"

"There's a park down this path. Hey, I'll race ya there."

"Challenge not excepted. Don't think I know how fast you are, I've seen you before, remember?"

"Oh, right... Well, I guess we could just get there slowly or whatever."

"Now you're thinking my way. I love speed, don't get me wrong, but you just have to slow down sometimes, y'know?"

"Ugh, but what's so fun about going slow?"

"Have you ever just walked through a park or forest or something just to take in the sights? If you haven't then you're really missing out."

"I can see all of the sights perfectly fine from the sky." She says while crossing her forelegs across her chest, somehow staying airborne while in a verticle position. Good thing she's coming to my meeting with Twilight which just so happens to be about anatomy. Annoying? Yeah, she is, but she interests me beyond belief. Just one look at her, and my mind tells me that she shouldn't be able to fly with the shape of her body, as well as the size of her wings. For now, I just have to chalk that all up to magic. Fuckin' magic...

"Alright, I'll give ya that, but the ground is pretty cool too. Of course, I'd give anything to be able to fly like you, but that's not gonna happen is it?" I ask with a chuckle. Flight has always been very interesting to me, and I even spent a semester in physics learning mainly about the subject. Here's to you Wright brothers.

"Yeah, speaking of that, what are you good at? No offense, but like, you can't fly or do magic. Are you really strong or something?"

"What? No, not really. I mean, I wouldn't say I'm weak, but I'm no Arnold Schwarzenegger." I respond, rubbing my bicep with my right hand. Maybe working out wouldn't be such a bad idea. I'm starting to kinda lose what athletics gave me.

"Who?"

"Never mind, you wouldn't know him. Point is, I'm not like you ponies. I don't need flight or magic to survive."

"Then what do you need?"

"This." I say with a smile, pointing to my head. "Knowledge is the greatest thing you can have. I dedicated my life to it... but look where that got me." I say with a chuckle. Point is, I like books 'n shit. I'm a nerd, I know."

"Agh, you sound just like Twilight now." Rainbow responds while rolling her eyes.

"Hah, really? Is she like this all the time too?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know the half of it. All she ever does is go on and on about this book or that book."

"Do you like books Rainbow? You don't really seem like the type."

"Hey, what does that mean?" She asks, turning her head to squint at me.

"Well... you're kind of a stereotypical jock. I thought you'd probably only care about physical activities and the such."

"I can like books if I want to." She says defensively.

"Oh yeah, what's your favorite book ever?" I ask with a sly grin.

"Daring Do, hooves down." She responds, swiping her forelegs out to the sides.

"Daring Do huh? Sounds interesting, what's it about?" I ask, trying not to crack a smile or laugh. I really hope she forgot the fact that I've mentioned that I know Daring. Speaking of which, I hope she's okay...

"This awesome archaeologist goes on these wild adventures, fighting off bad guys and all sorts of monsters and stuff. In her last book, she ended it with a cliffhanger where she was getting ready to explore some underground facility that she stumbled across. I can't wait to see what's in it!" She squeals like a little fangirl.

"Maybe the answers are closer than you think." I mumble with a sigh. "Hey, um... did these books even mention a Caballeron?"

"Heck yeah, they do! He's this evil stallion that always tries to foil Daring's plans, but she always wins in the end."

"Always wins huh? I hope that's true..."

"Yeah, oh! I forgot to mention that I actually got to meet Daring Do like a few weeks ago, and it was the greatest thing ever."

"No kidding?" That confirms it, Rainbow was one of the six friends that Daring told me about.

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either. I knew she was awesome, but I didn't know she was real! I thought all of the stories were fiction, but get this, everything in the books is real!"

"Sounds cool... Hey, is this the park?" I ask, pointing towards what is obviously a park. Just making sure this is the right one.

"Yep, this is the place."

"Alright, I'm gonna take a nap over by that tree." I say while pointing towards a large oak tree near a small river. "I don't give a shit what you do, but you better be here when I wake up. If you don't Rarity is gonna have my ass on a silver platter."

"You really have a... way with words." Rainbow says, rolling her hoof around for expression.

"I'm from Manhattan, deal with it." I say with a shrug as I set my bag down by the tree.

"You mean Manehattan? Is that where you're from?"

"The fuck is Manehatten?" I ask with a confused look.

"Y'know, one of the biggest cities in Equestria?"

"What the hell, you guys ripped off our names! I'm from Manhattan in New York."

"I don't know what New York is."

"Of course you don't, there's no way you could. I'm from a big city, and that's all that matters."

"Do you miss it? I mean the city life."

"You could say that. I like the simple country life that you can find here, don't get me wrong, but I do kinda miss the big cities."

"Hm, makes sense. Well, you take a nap or whatever, I'm going to practice my tricks." With that, Rainbow takes to the skies like a bullet fired out of a gun.

"Damn..." I whisper under my breath as I watch her start maneuvering around above the clouds. This girl... she's something else. Not sure if that's good or not, but I digress.

I lie down on my back, resting my head against my bag. I fold my arms back behind my head, and close my eyes, letting the sun pour down on me. I slowly drift off to sleep, hoping that maybe I'll wake up back in my dorm, this whole thing being a weird dream.

"This is 911, what is your emergency?"

"Hello, I'd like to place a missing persons report."

"Name please."

"Um, Zack Austin, twenty years old, male. He um, nobody has heard from him in months."

"Any idea where he went?"

"Well he left New York back in December, and now it's May an nobody has heard from him since then. He won't pick up his cell or answer any messages. I'm worried about him."

"Where was he heading to mam?"

"Washington D.C. for an internship at some stupid lab. God, I told him not to go!"

"Thank you for the information Mrs..."

"Durham, Olivia Durham."

"Well thank you for the information Mrs. Durham, we'll let you know if anything turns up."

"T-Thanks..."

Olivia drops to her knees, dropping her cellphone by her feet.

"Zack... Zack, where are you!? Zack!"

"Zack!... ZACK!"

"Agh! Fuck!" I yell as I swing my fist forward, knocking whatever was on top of me to the ground.

"Ow! What was that for!?" I open my eyes to see Rainbow rubbing her side with a hoof."

"Oh... sorry..." I say with a sigh, rubbing my forehead, which is covered in sweat, with the back of my hand.

"What was that all about?" Rainbow asks, a curious yet worried look on her face.

"What was what about?" I ask, still trying to catch my breath. It isn't even hot outside, why am I sweating like this?

"I don't know, you were screaming and kicking in your sleep like you were being attacked or something. I was calling your name over and over, then you just suddenly hit me. Thanks for that by the way." She says sarcastically.

"It was my pleasure." I respond while rolling my eyes.

"What were you dreaming about?" She asks. I look up past her, and see that the sun is directly over us.

"Shit, it's noon, I'm late." I mumble to myself, picking myself up from the ground. I sling my bag over my shoulder and begin power walking back into town towards Twilight's place.

"Hey, I asked you a question." Rainbow says in an annoyed tone. She catches up to me in a split second, seeming to appear at my side out of nowhere.

"Hm? Oh, I wasn't listening. Ask again."

"Ugh, I asked what you were dreaming about, stupid. You gotta learn to listen to ponies more carefully."

"I... it was nothing, don't worry about it. You wouldn't understand even if I told you, and frankly, I don't really think you would care all that much either." I say with a shrug. This gets me a hoof to the shoulder, which causes me to wince backwards a bit. This girl is stronger than she looks, I'll give her that.

"Why wouldn't I care? Look, we might not be the best of friends, but that doesn't mean I don't care at all. C'mon, tell me."

"We're not friends Rainbow... And you just wouldn't understand, alright?"

"Ugh, you're impossible." She says while crossing her forelegs. "I'll get it out of you eventually."

"Hah, yeah, sure..."

We walk in silence, or hover in Rainbow's case, for the next ten or fifteen minutes before we stumble across the library. I jog up to it, knocking several times before taking a step back to wait.

"Think she'll be mad that I'm late?" I ask Rainbow, glancing at her from the corner of my eye.

"She does have a thing about tardiness..." She responds, rubbing her chin with a hoof. "I'd be careful though if I were you."

"That's very encouraging, thanks." I say sarcastically.

"It's what I'm here for."

"You're only here because of a bet."

"And I'm only staying with you because of a bet, so the feeling is mutual." Believe it or not, this cracks a little smile out of me, which in turn cracks a little smile out of her.

"Are you two done taunting each other?" A new voice calls out. I look back to the door to see Twilight standing there with an annoyed look on her face.

"Oh, Twilight, hey." I say awkwardly.

"You're late y'know."

"Yeah I know, Rainbow let me oversleep, so you should blame her." I say as I walk past Twilight, pointing a thumb over my shoulder at Rainbow Dash.

"Hey! This isn't my fault!" She yells out as she dashes into the library.

"You two fight like an old married couple." Twilight says as she closes the door behind us.

"Shut it Twilight!" We both yell in unison. This causes us to look at each other, and despite the previous tension between us, causes us to laugh ever so slightly. Maybe fighting is just how we're going to get along for now.

"Sheesh, alright, alright." Twilight says as she trots over to her little desk. "Now, who's ready to learn?" She asks in a cheerful attitude, the biggest smile I've ever seen plastered on her face.

"Oh no no no, you never said anything about learning." Rainbow says accusingly, pressing a hoof into my chest.

"I said we were going to a study with Twilight." I retort, grabbing her hoof and pushing it to the side. "Besides, I need you here, because you're part of the study."

"What? Me?"

"Yes you. I wanna know how you're able to fly like you do. There's gotta be something to it, something that makes you different."

"Why can't you just do tests on Twilight or something!? She can fly!"

"Well yeah, but I'm going to be helping Zack. It would be sooo much easier to do if I wasn't the test subject. So, for now Rainbow, you're our pony control, and Zack is our human control." Twilight says, her smile still ever so present on her face.

"But I don't wanna be studied. I already know how my body works."

"But I don't, so that's what I wanna learn. I learn best by observing a physical object. It's just not the same reading about it in books."

"I better get paid for this." Rainbow says as she squints in annoyance at Twilight.

"I'll buy you lunch." Twilight says in a monotone voice.

"Good, now get this thing started so I don't have to be here longer than I need to." Rainbow says, hopping up onto a little stand that Twilight set up. It's about two feet tall, which brings Rainbow up to a little bit under my height, making it easy to observe her. Twilight levitates a clipboard over to me, as well as a feather and some ink.

"No thanks, I have this." I take the paper, but pull a pen out of my pocket. Good thing I kept like ten of these in my bag at all times. Hope the thing has thawed out by now.

"What's that?" She asks, taking back the quill and ink.

"Ballpoint pen. See this little ball on the bottom spins around, picking up ink from inside the pen as it does so. We humans invented it to take place of quills like that. They last for a pretty damn good amount of time, and you don't have to worry about them dripping ink everywhere."

"Wow, that's less lame than I thought it would be." Rainbow says from her stand. "What other human contraptions do you have?"

"Oh, you wouldn't believe me if I just told you. I've explained the simple basics to Twilight, and that was enough to set her off."

"Wait, phone calls are just the basics!?" Twilight asks excitedly. "What else can it do?"

"My phone? Well shoot, it can play music, play games, read books, watch-"

"There are books on it!?"

"Holy shit, back off Barney the unicorn. I'm not going to actually show you until I find a way to charge the phone. But yeah, you can read books on it. I actually have a few on mine, but I don't know if they'd really be interesting to you."

"Are you kidding? That'd be the best thing ever!"

"Ugh, this is getting really... eggheady. Can we get back to me please?" Rainbow blurts out. We both give her annoyed looks, but I walk over to her regardless, clipboard and pen in hand.

"Alright first, I want to study your bone structure. Now, I have a hypothesis that your bones are probably hollow, therefor allowing you to fly. Twilight, what would you say Applejack weighs?"

"About seventy pounds."

"Okay, well..." I place the clipboard under my arm, holding against my body. I pick Rainbow up off the stand, which causes her to squirm around a bit before giving up. "I'd say you're maybe thirty pounds, forty at most. Even if your bones aren't hollow, you're definitely much much lighter than other ponies."

"They also have an innate magic flowing through them. All pegasi have it, and it's what allows them to manipulate the weather, as well as aiding in flight." Twilight adds in.

"Interesting... I don't really understand magic, but if those are the facts, then I can't really argue with them can I? Alright, you're turn Twilight."

"Actually, I'd like to just get a map of the human body. I can't really do that with those clothes on though. Could you please remove them?"

"Um, what?" I ask, gripping my shirt in my hand. "Oh, right, you guys don't normally do clothes do you?"

"What do you mean?" Rainbow asks, hopping off of her stand.

"Well humans, for as long as we can remember, have always covered ourselves with some kind of clothing because we don't have that much hair or fur to cover up our... more private areas. See?" I explain as I roll up one of my pant legs to reveal my bare leg.

"It's just skin." Twilight observes as she leans in for a closer look.

"Good job Sherlock, you cracked the case." I say while rolling my eyes. "But really, I kinda need to keep my pants on."

"What about your shirt?"

"I mean, I could, but it's kinda chilly in here and-"

"Please? This whole study is so I can learn more about you and humans in general. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, and I'm not going to miss it because of some piece of clothing."

"Fine, whatever you want." I roll my shirt up over my head, my arm getting caught in one of the sleeves. "Damn... thing!" I grunt as I pull it off of me, my arm popping free. Somehow I had managed to do a ninety degree turn, and was now facing the wall. I turn back around, laughing at myself for getting stuck in a fucking shirt. Well, I laugh until I notice the looks of shock on the two mare's faces.

"Y-You're a..." Rainbow mumbles out.

"Uh Z-Zack, I'm sorry, I thought you were a male this whole time. I'm so sorr-"

"Holy shit, you guys two? Y'know, Rarity did the same thing when I did this." I say while crossing my arms and leaning against the wall.

"You never told us you were a mare!" Rainbow yells accusingly.

"I'm not! I'm not a female, and I'm not a pony, so don't ever fucking call me that again. I'm a guy, always have been, always will be."

"Then why do you have... those?" Twilight asks, pointing to my chest. "And why are they so high up?"

"Wow, are you sure you and Rarity don't have some mind link? You're asking the exact same questions, with the exact same wording. Look, I don't have a clue why guys have them, nor do I give a shit. Can we just get on with this already?"

"R-Right." Twilight says with a blush. "Please stand still while I make a sketch..." Twilight starts scraping her quill across her paper while Rainbow stares at me with a curious look on her face.

"See something you like?" I ask in a taunting manner.

"What? Ew, no. I'm just trying to figure out why you have those. It doesn't make any sense."

"Ew?" I mumble to myself. That one hurt Rainbow, even coming from you. Don't worry, I'll get you back.

It takes a while, but Twilight finally gets my sketch down almost perfectly. After showing it to me, I noticed that she had really messed up on my feet. My legs look fine, probably just a lucky guess, but my feet are just little nubs that look kind of like a pony's hoof. I have to correct her by slipping off my shoes and socks. She apologizes, which wasn't really necessary, and quickly makes some changes to her sketch.

"I'm totally sending a copy of this to Princess Celestia!" She squeals in delight.

"Princess who now?" I ask, slipping my shirt on. Before I know it, Twilight is right in my face, standing only on her back hooves, making her close to my standing height, though not quite.

"You don't know the princess!?" She yells out, her voice making my ears rattle.

"Ow, no I don't. Who the fuck is Celestia?"

"Only the ruler of all of Equestria!"

"See, you keep bringing up this Equestria bullshit, but I have no idea what that is."

"Equestria is the country you're in right now doofus." Rainbow says while rolling her eyes. "I knew you weren't all that smart, but this is ridiculous."

"Hey, I had straight grades in college, AND highschool. Plus, this is the United States. Don't tell me you went and fucked that up to."

"What's the United States?" Twilight asks.

"You're standing in it. This is my home, my country and you all changed it." I say with a shake of my head. "Why did this happen to me?" I whisper pitifully. Now, I'm not one to cry over much, in fact there's almost nothing that can bring a tear to my eye, but some things can get through to anyone. This is one of those things.

Reality finally catches up to me in the moment, and I just completely break down. I slide down the fall, Twilight still hovering over me. My face is basically sliding down her chest and stomach at this point she's so close. She pushes off the wall, landing on all fours in front of me, and her face, as well as Rainbow's changes to ones of compassion, something I rarely see.

"I just... I lost everything man. Everything I ever worked for, everything I ever loved, it's all gone!" I scream into my arms as I wrap them around my knees. The sobs come in rhythmic beats, causing my shoulders to rise and fall along with my heartbeat.

Something warm presses into my side, something I've felt before because she did the same thing the last time I almost broke down. This time, I'm more open to her, more willing to accept the truth.

"I-I'm sorry, this isn't like me." I say between heavy breaths. I look up into Twilight's eyes, and all I see is my reflection, and compassion, empathy.

"It's okay Zack... we're here." Twilight says, wrapping herself around my chest. My arms go limp at my sides as I stare up at the ceiling. Another mass presses into my legs, and I look down to see Rainbow with her hoof gently pressed against my shin, giving me sad stare.

"You too?" I say, trying to force a grin, but failing miserably. She just nods in response, gently moving her hoof up and down my shin. She doesn't look like much of a crier, but I can tell she's trying to fight at least a couple of tears back. She doesn't go in for the full hug like Twilight, but it seems she at least cares a little bit. That might be the first nice thing she's done for me.

"I'm fine, really." I say, trying to push Twilight off of me, which takes a lot of force since she doesn't seem to want to let go. Eventually I get her off, and she apologizes for gripping on so tight.

"I just got kinda lost in the moment." She says with a sheepish smile. "But really, I'm so sorry that you lost everything."

"How did you 'lose' everything exactly? Can't you just, y'know, go back home?" Rainbow asks. Oh shit, that's right, I never told her where I came from. Only Twilight and Rarity know. I spend the next few minutes explaining in depth how I ended up where I am now. Of course, this brings back some painful memories, but I have to do it if I'm gonna get Rainbow caught up on all the details.

"Wow, that's... something." Rainbow says, kicking the ground with a hoof.

"Look, Twilight, is it okay if we reschedule? I'm just not feeling it anymore." I say as I stand back up, using the wall for balance.

"Of course, I totally understand. Hey, I don't know about you guys, but I could really use some lunch."

"Sounds good to me." Rainbow says, taking to the air like she's ready to head out already. "Zack?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'd love lunch, but I can't pay. I'll go with you guys, but I'm not getting anything."

"I can pay Zack, you don't have to-" Twilight starts to say.

"No no, I said I'd pay or nothing at all. This is my decision, let me make it."

"Alright, whatever makes you happy."

"Thanks. Trust me, I've gotten used to being hungry, so it's practically second nature."

"That doesn't sound all that healthy." Rainbow says as I open the door. Both of them walk out, and I close the door behind us.

"It's not, but it's how I roll. So, where are we heading?"

"There's this nice little cafe down the road. They have some of the best food in town." Twilight says with a smile.

"If you're talking about the place that I'm thinking about, Rarity already took me there. Somehow convinced me that she should pay for it..."

"Really? Somepony actually got through to YOU?" Rainbow says sarcastically, flying around me in little circles.

"Ya know, you're like a little gnat, Rainbow. Always buzzing around, small, and annoying."

"I am not small, and I am not annoying, right Twilight?" We both look down at Twilight, who suddenly begins whistling like she never even heard us. Nice move Twilight.

"You're small to me, and as for the annoying part... looks like I'm not the only one who thinks that was about you." I say, pointing down to Twilight who is now blushing pretty hard.

"Whatever... I'm not annoying..." Rainbow mumbles under her breath. I heard her, yeah, but I'll let it slide for now. No need wasting all of my energy in one argument when I could use it later to annoy the absolute shit out of her. I think that might just be my life goal at this point.

"So, Zack, what do you like to do in your free time?" Twilight asks, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Considering I have nothing but free time, I'd say surviving has become a regular thing for me. But when I was back in my own time, I'd usually go to the movies or play games or something. It was rare that I got any kind of free time once I reached college, but now it's all I seem to have. Honestly, I'm getting bored around here. There's like, nothing to do."

"There's plenty to do around here!" Twilight says happily. "What's some other stuff you like to do?"

"Um, I like playing sports, running is pretty cool, but tiring... I like to read, and-"

"You like reading too!?"

"Here we go..." Rainbow mumbles, hitting herself in the head with a hoof.

"I've always liked reading, haven't I told you this before?" I glance up at Rainbow who is giving me a signal to stop talking. Knowing Twilight, that probably isn't a bad idea. "Y'know, on second though, why don't we talk about something different." I say, much to Twilight's dismay.

"Well we can do it over lunch, because we're here." I look ahead of us and see the same cafe that Rarity had taken me to. In a town this size, the coincidence doesn't exactly surprise me.

"So, what do you guys like? To eat, that is." I say as we sit down. I'm practically squatting on the little hay piles that are the perfect height for the other two. I give up after only a few seconds of discomfort. I spot a crate against the wall of the cafe, and drag it over to the table. The crate is a much more comfortable height for me, though I'm screwed if someone comes looking for it.

"I like the daisy sandwich." Twilight says as she hovers a menu in front of her.

"The hell?" I mumble to myself. Guess Rainbow heard me, because she gives me a weird look.

"What? I think it's good too. Have you never tried it?" Rainbow asks.

"No, and I don't plan to. I can't eat half of the shit on this menu to be honest." I respond as I browse the menu which I don't plan to order from.

"Well what can you eat?" Twilight asks, peeking over her menu. I've already gone over this with Rarity, and it almost scared her off. Maybe these two won't mind as much?

"Um, well... I don't know if I should tell you guys. I already told Rarity and she wasn't all that thrilled..."

"Do you eat ponies?" Rainbow asks, backing away ever so slightly.

"God no, that's disgusting. I do... eat meat though. All humans do, well, most do anyway. I don't plan on eating you guys though. Besides, I don't think pony would taste all that good." I say with a smirk.

"Oh, that's... interesting." Twilight says, making a mental note.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. At least you guys didn't flip out like Rarity did. I know it might sound weird to you guys, but meat is just a normal part of the human diet."

"Still sounds sick to me." Rainbow says. She doesn't sound scared as much as she does disgusted. The same could be said for Twilight. Still a better reaction in my opinion.

"Well you're herbivores, so of course it will." The waiter walks up, and I notice it is the same guy from last time. This time he doesn't stare at me, but instead gives me a very quick and curious glance before returning to his professional manner. He takes their orders, and seems confused when I say I'm not getting anything. Twilight offers again to buy my lunch, but I turn her down. The only way I'll accept that is if I'm forced to, or if I'll literally die if I don't.

"And you say what I eat is disgusting." I say as I lean forward on the table. Both of them have flowers in their food, Twilight with a sandwich and Rainbow with a salad. Twilight has her magic to pick up her sandwich, but Rainbow has to shove her face into the bowl, which, to be honest, has to be the funniest thing I've seen all day.

"What's wrong with a salad?" Rainbow asks with her mouthful.

"Nothing other than the fact that there are fucking flowers in it. I don't know much about plants, but I do recognize some of these as being poisonous." I say as I reach over, picking out a red flower.

"Really? We eat these all the time." Twilight says.

"Yeah, that's what I'm confused about. I guess we have different digestive systems too. Learning more and more about you weirdos every day." I say while spinning the flower around between my fingers. I get a hoof to the shoulder from Rainbow, causing me to choke on the air I was breathing in.

"You're the weirdo Zack. We're perfectly normal." She says before stuffing her face back into her salad.

"Yeah... I'm the weirdo." I say slowly, watching her closely, trying not to burst out laughing. Twilight doesn't seem phased by it, so I guess this is how non-unicorns usually eat.

Twilight and I start chatting a bit while Rainbow eats. That is, until I notice that she's being awful silent. I glance over to her to see that she has stopped eating, and is now staring off into the distance.

"Oh Celestia..." Rainbow barely whispers. I'm lucky I heard it, or I wouldn't have know that she was staring at something behind me and Twilight that only she can see.

"Rainbow? You good?" I ask as I lean over the table, waving a hand in front of her face. She doesn't respond at all, which causes Twilight and I to turn around to see what she is staring at.

"What is she looking at?" Twilight whispers to me as we both try to search for anything out of the ordinary. Twilight doesn't it see it when I do, of course she wouldn't because she's never seen the guy before.

"Oh son of a bitch..." I mumble to myself, anger already starting to overtake me. "That little fuck almost gave me a black eye. Twilight, hold my bag, I'm gonna go finish something." I stand up, throwing my bag at Twilight. I don't hear it hit the ground so I guess she caught it.

A million thoughts rush through my mind as I approach the guy. Mostly "What the hell was this guy's name?".

"Hey, dickhead." I say as I tap on his shoulder once I reach him. He turns around, and his eyes turn to pinpricks in less than a millisecond. "You let something at your house." My brain doesn't even register my fist flying through the air, much less it making contact with the stallion's face.

He stumbles back a bit, rubbing the side of his face with a hoof. He opens his eyes, but now those pinpricks have been replace by a raging fire. At the initial punch, everyone around us starting backing up, but very few actually fan. It was like this was some sporting event and I was the main attraction. Can't worry about that right now, this guy has to pay up, not only for me, but for what he did to Rainbow.

He lunges at me unexpectedly, catching me off guard. His hoof makes contact with my gut, knocking all of the air out of me way faster than physically possible. I fall back, landing on my ass before cracking my head against the ground. My vision turns black and white for a split second before becoming blurry and fuzzy, the color slowly coming back.

The stallion leans over me, pinning my arms to the ground. I lift my head up as hard as I can, my forehead crushing the front of his nose. We both fall over in pain, and when I rub my forehead, I feel a little blood. I don't know if it's his or mine, but the fact that is there means I'm probably going off adrenaline right now if I actually hit that hard.

I slowly stand up, using a light pole for support. I look up, squinting my eyes to shield them from the sun. I see a figure hovering above the crowd. I can't see any color due to it being right in front of the sun, but I can see the hairstyle, and I already know who it is.

"Don't you fucking-" Before I can even finish my sentence, the figure vanishes in the blink of an eye, reappearing in front of the stallion. If I blinked, I probably would have missed him receiving a hoof to the face.

"Zack!" I spin around, hearing Twilight's voice. It takes me a second, but I spot her standing on the edge of the crowd next to... Rainbow? Wait then who... Rainbow has such a distinct hair style, I didn't think anyone else had it.

"You alright kid?" I spin back around to see a figure trotting towards me. I was right, they do have Rainbow's hair style, almost exactly the same. Only difference is, it's not rainbow colored, it's black and white.

"Daring?"

"In the flesh. We can chat in a minute."

"I... don't really feel so... good." I mumble as the back of my head starts throbbing again. I start losing my balance, and my vision starts to turn black around the edges.

"Hey, hand in there- Hold on." From what I can see the stallion was trying to sneak up on us, but Daring saw him just in time to give him another blow to the face. I think that might have done it, because he doesn't get up. From the looks of it, I won't either.

"I'm..." I whisper before falling onto my side. My head feels like it's on fire, and I place my hand on the back of my head. My hand sticks to my hair, and it feels warm and wet. I don't even need to look to know what it is.

"Zack, c'mon stay with me." I open my eyes slightly, but all I see is a blurry purple... something."

"S-Sorry..." I cough out with a smile. I close my eyes, and everything goes black. And it stays that way.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long, but you can probably see why.

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