Ray takes a stroll

Ray woke to sunlight shining in his eyes and sat up to look around. He was sitting next to Vinyl who had a note on her head reading "Don't wake me. Got sweet gig real L8 2night. Gonna get wasted and show all da scrubs how 2 party hard. I love you Octy and Ray. l8r c u 2morrow."

Ray simply rose an eyebrow at the wording of the letter and slid out of bed. He quickly threw some clothes and his saber on before looking at the clock and seeing it was still very early. He booped Vinyl's nose and laughed to himself when her tongue stuck out. Ray walked to the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee when he heard humming from the bathroom. He made another cup and sneaked inside listening to Octavia hum in the shower. The knob squeaked as the water was shut off and the curtains were pulled back. Octavia gasped and tried to cover up when Ray said "Good-morning sunshine bear, want some coffee?"

Once she had finally regained her breath she finally was able to ask 'Why in the name of Celestia are you here?"

"That was a nice song you were humming. You don't sing do you?"

She looked at him unamused before taking a towel and drying off. Once she was dry she put on her bow-tie and took the extra cup of coffee Ray had brought. "I'm scheduled for a concert today and i'm afraid it's against band policy to bring an extra. So what will you be doing today?" she asked.

Ray shrugged his shoulders as the two sipped their coffee. "Do I need to do dishes or what?" He asked.

Octavia nearly did a spit take as she waved her hooves in an extremely panicked fashion before she finally choked out, "NO! That's Vinyl's duty and she even customized the dishwasher for it. If you do, then wait for me to leave. I wish to not have hearing loss at such a young age."

The two heard a knock on the door "That's my cue. I'd better get going. "I love you and i'll see you two later." she said kissing Ray's cheek before leaving out the door. Ray cracked his neck and loaded the dishwasher before noticing something. "Why does the dishwasher have an aux cord outlet?" he said to himself. Ray shrugged before switching the washer on and jumped as dubstep screamed at him and shook the house. Ray fumbled to stop the cycle and barely managed to flip the switch. Cursing to himself, Ray picked up anything that fell off any shelves or walls then left the house with his laptop, saber and revolver in their holster and sheathe.

Ray decided with it being still dark out that the only ponies up right now would be Applejack and her family. He arrived on their doorstep and knocked to be answered by a half asleep Applebloom. "Oh hello Mr. Ray, weird seein ya here right about now. come on in." she said with a yawn. "Who is it Applebloom?" said a feminine voice as he walked in.

"Oh it's you, well what in tarnation are ya doin up this early?" said Applejack.

Ray shrugged with a smile and looked around before he finally said "Y'all need any help?"

"Sure it'd be awful kind of ya tah help put the baskets on tha wagon when they're all filled."

Ray nodded and waited outside for the rest of them to head out. Once they had reached the trees and started bucking, Ray lifted the baskets with just enough difficulty to make him work for it. Ray looked at Mac who lifted them with ease and carry them without any trouble at all. He sneered at Mac who looked at him with a grin and said "Eeyup."

The trio walked back from the orchard and got some water as the sun had finally set in. "Well i'd better get going. I hate to leave y'all but imma see if anybody.. or well anypony else needs help." said Ray.

"Well we're mighty happy that ya decided to help out as much as ya did. Come on back anytime ya hear?" said Applejack to which Big Mac just nodded in agreement.

Ray headed off and seen a trail leading to a cottage in front of the woods. He walked up to it and knocked a few times before the door opened. Ray was in shock when he seen a bear wearing a black top hat and bow tie was the one who had greeted him. Ray looked at the bear in fear before stammering out, "Freddy?"

"No, that's Harry he just likes to dress up." said a familiar meek voice. Fluttershy grabbed Harry's paw and motioned for Ray to come inside. Ray looked at the interior and seen that despite animals nearly everywhere, this was a very well kept house. Fluttershy asked "Would you like some tea Ray?"

"Ya got sweet tea?" he asked in return.

Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion before Ray found the kitchen and showed her how to make sweet tea. Once done Ray sipped his in delight and motioned for her to try it. After taking a few sips she smiled and said with a quiet laugh, "We can't let Pinkie know about this."

Ray laughed and before long had decided he should head out when his eye spied something across the room. It was a fox with an eye patch, some gold teeth and a hook for one of it's front paws. The two beings stared at each other in a heated silence when he seen a hoof wave in front of him. "Umm... Oh yeah, yeah I'll see if we can get together again for tea sometime."

Ray walked into town and was trying to figure out why and how the tree Twilight lived in was still alive, yet completely hollow. He finally came to the conclusion that magic would inevitably be the answer when he heard something yell something about a duck. He was then slammed into a wall leaving him with some pretty intense whiplash. Ray could barely get to his feet and had to let the ring leave his ears before doing anything else. "Heh my bad dude. Are you ok? I'm still not quite used to spinning that many times doing my triple loop... Hey... Ray!..... RAY!" Rainbow Dash shouted.

Ray eventually got the urge to vomit everywhere out of his body before looking up at a swirling world and a rainbow colored mass yelling at him. As his mind slowly started to clear he finally understood what she was saying and just gave her a thumbs up. Rainbow Dash grabbed Ray and carried helped walk him to Twilight's house. Once inside Ray sat down and while a purple mass and a rainbow blur ran around and yelled a few things at each other. Eventually the two stopped and the purple blob scanned him with a strange beam. Sighing in relief it sent the mass of crushed skittles off for something. It came back with some water and a pill then handed both to Ray. He took a sip before dropping the pill in and chugging the water. Ray's headache started to clear up instantly allowing the world to stop spinning and the two blobs to form into Twilight and Rainbow Dash. "Ray are you hurt? Is there any other injuries that need attendance?" asked Twilight.

"It feels like I tried to headbutt a train." Ray said as he reached up to feel his head.

He pulled his hand down and seen that it was bloody and he was in a car. His vision was tinted red with the blood in his eyes and, looking down he saw that his leg was gone. He quickly shook his head bringing him back to reality where two mares were waving their hooves in his face asking if he was okay. Ray rubbed his temples and stood up slowly when Rainbow said, "Sorry for eh..heheh...you know..almost killing ya."

"I wouldn't worry about it...It's not the first or last time I'll take a hit like that." He said shaking his head.

"Ray...Are you sure you're okay? She easily hit with enough force to crush a pony skull." said a worried Twilight.

Ray gave a thumbs up before saying, "Yeah, I'm good. I should probably get going...Thanks for the medicine Twilight, the headaches almost gone." he said.

"Wait just a minute Ray. I have a question for you...Do you have any scars from your time in that swamp?" asked Twilight.

Ray was silent for a moment before he said, "When you gave me that examination you never asked me to take off my hoodie. When I was in the hospital, nobody took my clothes off for some reason. I always kept my muscle shirt on during the fights and the reason why is this."

Ray slowly took off his hoodie and muscle shirt exposing scars, bruises and bite marks over his body. There was even a small patch of burned skin on his stomach. "Most of these are from the dogs and a few are from this one bastard who managed to get the drop on me and Cody with a knife. He got me good...just not good enough. This burned skin is from the burning beam on top of me in the burning house and the bruises are new...Probably from the fight with Big Tiny. You all know where this bite on my neck and shoulder came from."

"Ray... Do Vinyl and Octavia know about these? asked Rainbow Dash.

"I asked them to not say anything about it." he quietly said.

"Oh.....Are you gonna be alright?"

Ray nodded and looked outside to see it the sun in the sky shining brightly. He sighed and said his goodbyes before taking his leave. Once outside Ray wandered around the town aimlessly thinking about his past and eventually found a bench to sit down on. He sat and wallowed in his own thoughts until another pony sat down next to him and opened something. He looked over and seen a mint green pony had pulled out a lyre and started playing a tune that was calm which helped him relax and focus on what he wanted to accomplish here. When he decided he could do anything he wanted he sat contently in the fact he could make his own way. Ray listened for a while before dropping a rather large handful of bits in the case and walking off without a word.

The sun had started to set and Ray found himself slap-boxing Sweetie Belle in Rarity's boutique. Ray was amused as he would gently slap the filly's hooves away before they could land on his face. An agitated Sweetie eventually faked a left hoof and pimp slapped him with her right. Ray looked shocked at the little pony who was now wearing a smug grin as he rubbed his cheek. Sweetie put her hooves back up and said, "Round two?"

Ray put his hands up in a defeated fashion and and chuckled to himself as she adopted a ridiculous victory pose much to his amusement. Rarity watched on with pride in Sweetie's victory across the room as she finished her latest project. Rarity stitched the last few seams and smiled as she reviewed her latest work of art. The outfit was perfect for Ray and his lifestyle. She had even paired with Rainbow Dash to make sure the fabric was athletic, but with a sense of class only she could bring. Ray was sure to love the light grey mesh spandex shirt with royal blue mesh knit trim. She even made matching wind pants to complete the look. She quickly folded them and levitated them to Ray as he was now playing a form of footsie death-match with Sweetie Belle. Rarity cleared her throat before Ray looked up and walked into the dressing room with the outfit. When he came out wearing the outfit, he stretched his arms and neck then said "I like it. I like it a lot actually. "

"Thank you darling you're too kind. It was a nice change compared to the usual dresses and formal wear i'm used to, and I'm glad you asked me to go outside of my comfort zone. I have to admit Rainbow Dash does know her athletic wear...I guess it's because she knows karate." she said as she admired her work.

"Really now? I didn't know she knew how to fight... I'll see what she can do sometime later. Oh, and thanks again for these Ms. Rarity." He said.

He dropped a handful of bits on the counter and started to walk out before he heard, "Oh and Ray dear, all of us girls can put up a fight in our own way". she said blowing on her hoof with a smirk.

"I'll keep that in mind." he said as he shut the door.

Ray stepped out into a cool night breeze and took a deep breath to fill his lungs. He looked up to see the moon was full and illuminating the otherwise dark night. Once he had taken in his surroundings he headed back to his house and stared at the door. Taking a deep breath he walked inside the dark house and to the bathroom. As he stripped Ray took another look at his sword before setting it under his towel. Ray turned on the water and stepped inside before quickly washing himself in mare shampoo whose label said it was guaranteed to make him smell of french vanilla. The label also said it would attract the stallion of his dreams. Ray laughed at the bottle's label before going quiet and retreating into his mind for a while. He remembered the bet he lost and was unable to pay off. He also remembered every second of what happened in the swamp. Ray's head quickly snapped up to the sound of the front door creaking open. Ray quickly dried off and put on his boxers before taking his saber out it's sheathe. Turning the light off he quietly opened the door and got behind the intruder before putting the blade to their throat. The intruder simply giggled and nearly fell before Ray caught them. Turning the intruder around he saw Vinyl in a drunken mess wearing a black hoodie. He simply face-palmed and led her to bed where Octavia was laying under the covers. Ray dropped his saber and laid down next to the two mares then drifted off once more into his dreams.

Ray opened his eyes to see he was once again in the room.