Freedom to wander the castle...what a crock of shit!

A sigh escapes Ryan as he paces around the garden, the only part of the castle worth seeing. Even then, he wasn't much of an agriculturalist. Not only did that mean that he couldn't identify a single flower, but he didn't care much for them either. The boredom that was filling him was becoming poisonous. Of all of the ponies he could have gotten a hold of, he just had to call Celestia. He could have just as easily summoned Twilight. Then again, she'd probably leave him in there to 'Teach him a lesson', out of spite.

"Fuck!" Cursing to the heavens he falls back against a tree and presses his palms against his face. The situation is far from the worst thing he's had to deal with, but it was no less annoying.

Ryan could handle just about anything; Broken arm, fuck it! Shitty upbringing, who fucking cares? A doctor could give him two weeks left to live and he could still find a way to laugh at it. But what really got to him was the small stuff. For Example; Not being allowed to leave a castle, stubbing a toe, and a pox on anyone who would dare to hand him a Flathead screwdriver.

"Feeling a little distressed over there?" Ryan all but jumped as he pulled his hands from his face to see, the always lovely, princess of fuckery.

Princess Cadence, the princess of love. A title so stupid it was hard for him not to laugh at her when she was first introduced to him. So difficult, in fact, that he almost started crying when he finally doubled over and nearly blew out a lung.

If he were being honest, he would drill her six ways from Sunday if he got the chance. She may be married, but she was drop dead gorgeous, if also a bit on the annoying side.

"How long have you been standing there?' He asked, feeling a little uncomfortable with the idea that she may have been watching him this whole time. Then again, the guards here are probably eyeing him pretty hard when his back is turned. This thought did little to help how he was feeling.

"Not long..." She said in a soothing tone while she gave him a certain look. She was giving him a lover's gaze, something that calms even the edgiest of ponies at their worst. "What seems to be bothering you?"

Ryan leaned back as she stared at him with an unfamiliar look about her. "For starters; That creepy-ass look you're giving me." He began, causing Cadence's insides to twitch as she wondered how he could find such an intimate gaze unsettling in any way.

Going to a more neutral look, she tried again. "Sorry, I was just worried."

"About..."

"About you, silly." She said with a giggle. "Aunt Celestia got a hold of me and said that you were having problems and I thought that, maybe, I could help."

"U-huh..." Ryan wasn't sure how to feel about this, about her.

"It's been a while since I've seen you anyways." She went on to say, "So when my Auntie summoned me, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to catch-up." Obviously this story was a little stretched. She was asked to come here with a purpose, but she couldn't just outright tell him. His first reaction would be to fight her and that would jeopardize her whole plan.

So Sunbutt is the one who brought her here...Yep, I don't trust her!

"Right..." He replied suspiciously with a raised brow, not believing a word that came out of her mouth, aside from Celestia asking her to come down. "And what exactly are you supposed to be helping me with?"

"He already doesn't trust me." Cadence thought to herself, "Isn't that just perfect..." Being better at controlling her emotions, she was able to keep her annoyance hidden from view. "She said that you were stressed and thought that having a friend around could help you."

Oh really...

"If that's the case, why didn't she bring Big Mac?" He asked, fighting her bullshit with sound logic...for once. "Him I can tolerate, and on top of that I don't wanna sleep with him, so my behavior would be a little less bias."

This one caught her off-guard, causing her to nearly choke on her next words. "I-I uh..." She started glancing around nervously, looking for a way to change the subject. Looking up at the sun, she finally found something she could use. "Lunch!" She pretty much yelled. "It's almost time for lunch. We shouldn't keep my Aunts waiting."

Turning on her heel, she spun back toward the castle and made her way in with the human following close behind her. She could feel a sense of accomplishment radiating off of him. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She mentally yelled to herself. "How did I let him stump me like that?"

Ryan knew he had won this little game, but it wasn't over yet. She would likely continue to pry, but he couldn't figure out why. What is it that Celestia is hoping to accomplish by bringing her niece here? As much as he would like to think this decision was made out of good nature, he couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the case. She brought her here for a reason and he was determined to find out what it is.

Most of their time in the dining room was filled with silence, at least on Ryan's part. Celestia and Luna laughed and joked with their niece, but Ryan kept quite, carefully watching every move they would make.

He noticed that both Celestia and Cadence would glance at him for a moment, then back to each other. He could assume that they were communicating with their magic in these instances, as any words they spoke would come to a stop for that brief moment.

Luna would also look over at him, but with her it was different. It was obvious that Celestia and Cadence were secretly talking about him and were going about whatever bullshit plan they had, their expressions were forced neutral as well. The night princess on the other hand, when she looked at him, looked more like she was trying to make him vanish from existence.

When they were finished with their meals, Celestia departed to wrap up her day court while Luna went her own way to prepare her night court. This left only Cadence and Ryan to do what they pleased, to an extent.

Seeing how pacing up and down the halls would be the only way Ryan could keep himself sane, the two did just that with princess pink trying to psychoanalyze him the whole way. "Are you sure that there's nothing you want to talk about?"

"I'm so positive, it's almost terminal." He answered, using everything in his power not to let loose a whole new level of verbal hell on her.

"Well then, is there anything you would like to do?" She asked, still trying to find any way to get him to communicate with her.

"There's a lot I want to do."

She internally beamed at his answer. Finally, she could get this ball rolling! "Oh, really? Like what?"

"For starters; I need a drink, bad..." He responded, his voice almost making it sound like he was pleading.

She sighed, her plan failing once again. However, an idea came that caused her ears to perk up and her eyes to widen. "You know what, a few drinks doesn't sound so bad."

Ryan came to a dead stop, looking at her in shock. "I'm sorry, what?"

Cadence giggled at his reaction. "I'm saying you're right. A few drinks might be just what we need."

Something....Something doesn't seem right here...

Ryan eyed her suspiciously, wanting to call her out on something. He felt as though she were trying to trick him into something, but his inner Irishman was dying of thirst and crying tears of undrinkable whisky. "Okay..."

Cadence nodded and started walking with purpose toward the Sun-Wing of the castle. "Auntie, I think I may have found a way to break him...You might wanna Ryan-Proof the castle."

In a few short minutes they came upon the room that Celestia had reserved for Cadence. It was almost as luxurious as Celestia's, but didn't have the same sunny flare to it. First walking in, they could see a large bed, a balcony, and a cart with various bottled neatly placed atop of it with two glasses on the side.

It didn't take long for Ryan to leap after the bottles and start searching for whatever seemed the most pleasing. He found the strongest bottle on hand, not bothering to look at the name. Once he saw that it was at least 90 proof, he was content enough to pour a glass and chug it down.

His insides started to feel warm and the stresses of the past few days seemed to dwindle away thanks to that first glass. A smile worked its way onto his face as he filled another, intending to savor this one as he took a seat on the bed and sipped from it. "Damn, that hits the spot."

Cadence found her way to the cart, sneakily levitating a bottle hidden beneath the it. Ryan was too distracted by his drink to notice her grab the floating bottle. "It's good to actually see you smile." She said, looking at the label of the bottle she was holding. 100% All natural apple juice.

Ryan took another sip from his drink, almost laughing at Cadence's comment. "I guess I kinda owe that to you."

She poured her alcohol-free beverage into the remaining glass for herself before setting the bottle aside. "Oh no, you don't owe me anything." She said, feeling pretty good about herself at the moment. "I'm your friend, and if this is what it takes to make you happy, I'm more than happy to oblige."

Twenty Minutes Later

Ryan kills off, what's probably his tenth glass of whatever it is he's been pouring himself before laughing hysterically with Cadence. The stories of her small exploits as a child being more than enough to tickle his funny bone. "Man, at least that was you at your worst. I've done so much worse for less."

"Oh, I'd believe it!" She said with a hearty laugh, not having a single doubt in her mind that he would push it to the extreme. Once Ryan had calmed down a bit, she figured now would be the best time to start probing him. "So what do you plan to do when Tia and Luna let you go?" She asked, still trying to be subtle.

"Oh, man..." He sighed nostalgically, "You know what I'm gonna do?" He asks, looking over at her with one half lidded eye. "I'm gonna tell them to eat shit, then I'm gonna go home." He couldn't help but to laugh at his own comment.

Cadence nodded, taking another drink of her apple juice. "Anypony special there, waiting for you?"

"Pft, Yeah!" He responded loudly, "My pillow! Best damn cuddle buddy I've ever had." Again, he goes into another laughing fit.

"So, you don't have anypony special waiting for you?" She asked, "There's no pony that you might have your eye on?"

He paused and thought for a minute. "I did have my eye on Fluttershy for a bit, but I-I-I....That was more for physical reasons. Th-tho...those tits...sweet Jesus, you could drown in those things."

Cadence knew he was telling the truth, she could feel that his lust for her overpowered any emotional connections he could have felt for that mare. She could also feel that he did have a certain amount of trust for one particular pony. It wasn't enough to call Love, but it was something. "Come on, there has to be at least one pony out there that stands out."

Ryan smiled, looking as though he were struggling to create an answer, "I...did have a bit of a thing with Rarity for a while." He replied, his intoxicated mind making him feel a bit more open. "It wasn't anything special, but I can...I know I can trust her t-to...To look out for me, in a way. If something were to happen to me, I know she'd come looking."

This was great! Well, not great. It's not a lot to work with, but it's a start. Perhaps if she pushes a bit more, she can get more out of him. "I don't know about you, but she sounds special to me."

"I don't know about special." He says with a fairly neutral look as he reaches over and grabs a random bottle from the cart. "I mean- I trust her. Hell, I gave her a key to my house." His eyes widened as he turned to face Cadence almost defensively. "But don't tell anyone that!"

"I think I'm getting somewhere, Auntie." Cadence put on a fake, but convincing, look of surprise. "Wait, so you gave her one, but not the others? Why?"
Ryan threw up an arm in frustration. "I don't fuckin' know! But I don't want the others to find out." He pours himself a drink from the bottle he was holding. "Have them thinkin'...I'm picking favorites or something." Cadences eyes widen and her hearts picks up as she looks at the bottle that Ryan just poured from, but before she can stop him he takes a drink. Instantly his face scrunches up and he spits it onto the floor. "What the fuck is this?" He looks at the bottle. "Apple Juice?"

That was it. It was over. All of the progress that she had made was going to go down the drain and there would be no way of fixing it. He was gonna find her out, he was gonna scream, the he was- "I don't do chasers, alright!" She hears him yell toward the door. "That's for rookies and pussies!" He lunged the bottle at the door, shattering it on the door as he grabbed another bottle, this time reading the label before pouring.

Cadence's heart rate slowed back down as she let out the most relieving mental sigh in her entire life. "Anyway, what were we talking about?"

Cadence looks over at him, thinking that now would be the best time to really go in for the kill. By now, thanks to the alcohol and drawn out conversations, he may just trust her enough for this. "Ryan, can I do something?"

Ryan shoots her an awkward look, leaning back some as well. "What?"

She lowered her eyelids, leaning towards the human as she gave him a look that was both sultry and loving. "C-could I kiss you?"

One of his brows raises at her as she asks this. "Really? Just a kiss..." He started putting a few pieces together in his head and came up with his own conclusion. "Look, if you're planning to have an affair...I'm down." Cadence almost loses her poker face at this. "You didn't have to get me drunk for that. I mean, look at you! You could have came to me sober and said, 'Hey, let's fuck!' and I wouldn't have batted an eye!"

This was a bit uncomfortable, but she was determined to finish what she had started. In order to do that though, she needed him to kiss her, so she might as well just roll with it until it was done. "Well then..." She gets up from her spot and takes a seat on Ryan's lap, facing him. "Why don't we get started." She finishes, lowering her head towards his.

Ryan takes that as it is and leans forward, locking his lips with hers. There was a moment of nothingness, then something weird happened. His head started to tingle, but no longer from the alcohol. He felt as though someone was shoving their hands into his brain and pulling it apart. It was like a small slice of hell, worse than any migraine he's ever had, and he couldn't do anything about it. His body was frozen in place, unable move, to break away from this torture.

"Auntie...something's wrong!" Cadence regretted this decision the second she finally enacted the final stage of her plan. Doing this allowed her access into his mind, giving her the power to dig through his thoughts and emotions. To say that she didn't like it was an understatement. It was as if she had opened the gates of hell and was falling through a never-ending pit of sin. She could almost understand why he acted the way he did as she fed off of every emotion he has ever felt.

Not even a minute had passed and it was already too much.

Cadence broke the kiss, her eyes wide as she stared at Ryan with tears running down her face. She didn't bother looking him over, checking his expression, anything. In an instant she wrapped her arms around his head, pulling his face into her neck as she held him. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

There were several loud bangs on the door before it was eventually kicked open. Standing on the other side was Celestia and Luna, looking panicked and worried. They looked on to see Cadence in the human's lap with his face tucked away under her hair. His arms were dangling almost lifelessly on the bed.

The sun goddess took it upon herself to approach them. She didn't even get her first two steps in when Cadence came flying off of Ryan, who collapsed onto the bed right afterward, and nearly tackled her aunt.

Celestia was taken back by her niece's behavior. One minute she's straddling an alien, and the next she's hugging her and bawling her eyes out into her neck. She wanted so badly to ask what had happened, but knew that her niece was in a fragile state right now.

She looked back at her sister, who was as bewildered as her at the moment. "Meet me in my quarters. Once Cadence has calmed down we can speak there."

Luna nodded and and left to her sister's room as Celestia was left to deal with the situation. She looked over at Ryan; He was unconscious. The stress of the spell must have knocked him out with his weakened state of mind.

Looking down at Cadence, she couldn't help but feel bad. This was a horrible idea. She couldn't imagine what was going on in Ryan's head at any point in time, but Cadence got to see it all, and this is what it has reduced her to. A sobbing little filly, once again seeking comfort from her Aunt.

It took some time, but Cadence managed to calm down enough to where they could walk to Celestia's bedroom.

Cadence took a seat on Celestia's bed, looking pale and mentally damaged. The royal sisters stood beside each other in front of her before the eldest took a seat beside her niece.

"Cadence..." Celestia began in a voice just above a whisper, barely earning the young alicorn's attention. "It kills me to do this, but...can you please tell us what happened."

Cadence looked up at her aunt, her eyes still brimming with tears as she recollected everything she had just experienced. "It was horrible." She said, looking like she was going to break down again.

"I'm sure it was." Luna commented with a bit of snark in her voice. "I'd hate to be in that buffoon's mind as well."

"You don't understand!" She yelled at Luna, causing both of the literal goddesses to recoil from the sudden outburst. "You don't understand..." She repeated in a whisper.

Cadence turned back to Celestia,grabbing her hand with both of her own and pulling it to her chest. "Auntie, you were right! There is love in his heart, there really is; And it's pure, and it's strong, and it's beautiful." This bit of information earned a small smile from the elder alicorn, but was quickly lost as her niece continued. "But there's no way to get to it. There's so much anger, a-an-and hate!"

Luna rolled her eyes at this. "Of course there's hate. He's said it before himself, numerous times, that he hates everyone and everything."

"Shut up!" Cadence snapped, releasing Celestia from her grip as her hands balled into fists by her side. She turned to the night goddess, her eyes still threatening to unload a waterfall of tears. "You don't know what he's feeling, I do!" The room went silent for a few seconds before Celestia reached out to try and comfort her niece, only for her hand to be slapped away. "Don't touch me!"

Seeing Cadence like this, and having her treat them this way, hurt her dearly. But what's done is done and they couldn't make her go through all of this for nothing. "You say that we don't know what he feels." Cadence looked at her aunt, anger completely taking up her features. "Then tell us what he is feeling."

Cadence closed her eyes, taking a few shaky breaths to calm herself. Her head nodded from side to side as a few more tears rolled down her face. "He doesn't hate us, he doesn't hate us at all." Her now bloodshot eyes opened, staring into the purple orbs of her aunt's. "Auntie...He hates himself. He hates himself so much and h-he's scared. He's so afraid that his love will hurt somepony that he doesn't allow himself to feel it...and he's not just bottling it up."

A few audible sobs break through the young alicorn's throat as she tries to continue. "He's trying to destroy it...His love was given to someone and they hurt him so bad...It wasn't his fault, and he knows that, but he keeps blaming himself. He doesn't want to, but he can't stop." Cadence placed both hands over her mouth as she tries to muffle the occasional cries that escape her.

"She made him feel so horrible...She hurt him and he blames himself..." Cadence removes her hand from her face and slams them into the mattress as both sadness and anger threaten to overwhelm her. "All of that wonderful, wonderful love that he gave her...and now he feels like his love is corrupt, like it's evil." She stares straight into Celestia's eyes as if she is trying to speak directly to her soul. "He's forcing himself to be this way so that no pony will love him...So that he won't hurt them."

Celestia is left completely stunned. Looking over at her sister, she sees that she is in the same state as well. She looks back at Cadence almost pleadingly. "But love always finds a way, right? That's what you believe!"

Cadence nodded again, gripping the bed sheets hard enough that her nails have started to tear through them. "It's trying...It's trying so hard. But the minute it finds a way, as soon as he starts wanting to change, his mind works against it. It forces those feelings down and makes him forget ever having them, making it disappear completely; Leaving him hurting and not knowing why."

"And the part of his mind that knows what's going on doesn't care how much pain it causes him. As long as he is convinced that his love is evil, and will hurt whoever he gives it to, he won't change."

Celestia had been holding back this whole time, hoping that there would be a light at the end of this dark story. But there wasn't, which left her with a hole in her heart. However, before her first tear could fall, she heard something odd beside her.

Angling her head to the side, she found Luna sitting next to her on the bed, almost angrily wiping the tears that were trying to work their way out of her.

"Luna..." She said quietly, offering her sister a caring look.

Celestia wasn't met with a similar gaze. Instead, her sister looked angry. But, after taking in the solemn look from her elder sister, she became reduced to the same thing Cadence had been just a few minutes earlier.

Celestia placed an arm around her sister and pulled her close, meeting no resistance whatsoever as the night princess wrapped her arms around her and began sobbing into her side. Turning back to Cadence, she held out her open arm, offering a comfortable place for her to rest as well.

Cadence didn't waste any time following in Luna's footsteps.

Celestia just sat there, letting her own silent tears fall as her closest relatives rested their heads on her legs and let their emotions pour out onto her. There were no words to be said, no more stories to offer. All that was left was the tragedy that was the poor human's mind left to linger within their own minds as they wept for him, feeling sorry for everything that had happened to cause him such grief and heartache.

Even Celestia, the all-powerful God of the sun, almost as old as time itself, didn't know where to go from here or how to handle this. She cared deeply for Ryan and wanted so badly to help him, but didn't know where to begin. How can you repair that kind of damage? How can you fix something like that? "Why can't I help you?"

Author's Note

Okay, I had to take a bit of a trip into my own psyche to write this chapter and...I'm not all that happy with it. I'm actually kind of depressed now...
So, yeah. I'm gonna go ahead and have a few drink now and hope that I forget all of this...