Author's Note

Hi! Guess what!
I'm fujcked up right now so editing this is prob;ly gonna be hell in the mornign!
But, fuck it!
FUck LIFE!!!
Real quick, I mad e a discord, fore those qwho dom't know so, ere's the link- https://discord.gg/WbMXxv5

Edit: To everyone on the Discord...Sorry about the drunken ramblings and the bullshit I may have caused. But yeah, I made a server a while ago while drunk...I don't know what else to say about it really. It's mine so it's kinda full of fuckery, I guess.
As a side note; Yes, this was a bitch to edit cause I was all over the goddamn place. Not to mention I'm not quite right in the head at the moment, so please point out any mistakes so that I can fix them as soon as possible.
As usual; If you enjoyed this chapter, be sure to slap that like button like a bitch and feel free to leave a comment below. Comments make me feel special :P

The Oncoming Storm

"How'd ya like it, hun?" Granny Smith asked, grabbing the empty bowl that rested in front of the rough looking human.

"Perfection, as always." Ryan answered with a smile as the elderly mare collected the rest of the dishes on table. "Thanks, Granny."

Looking across the table, Apple Bloom was still going on about something that her and her friends did earlier today. Applejack sat beside him, actually paying attention to her sister's story, and Big Mac wasn't too far off either. The two of them listened to their youngest sibling with smiles adorning their faces while the only non-pony in the room remained lost in his thoughts.

He had been like this since he arrived back at the farm with AJ, only breaking free when he was addressed specifically or tackled by a small filly.

How something so small can be so strong is beyond anything I can understand...

Even that comment, the one made by his own brain, went completely over his head. The stress of the situation prior to coming to the Orchard was still weighing heavily on his mind and his thoughts were a jumbled mess with only brief periods of sane words. He asked himself over and over what the hell he was gonna do, but that didn't get him an answer. In fact, it probably stressed him out more.

Doing his best to hold back the sigh that desperately wanted to escape him, he pulls his focus back to the group. Granny appears to be elsewhere, but the rest of the Apples are laughing. He must have missed something pretty funny; Or mediocre, knowing the sense of humor of most ponies in this world. It could very well be either of those...probably mediocre though.

Part of him was happy that he wasn't alone, and that things with him and the Apples were alright, but another part of him just wanted to go home and forget about today. If it were up to him, he would have done just that. But lord knows that Dash is probably back there waiting for him, ready for round two.

What am I going to do with you?

Applejack turned her attention to the human, noticing his lack of movement in her peripheral vision. He seemed troubled, which wasn't all that surprising, given how the day has gone for him so far. It bothered her seeing him so vulnerable, so closed off from the rest of the world even while standing in its dead center, so to speak. In this moment, she almost missed the old Ryan, who would do anything he wanted if it meant he could get a laugh out of it.

At least then he was more lively.

She had to shake those thoughts out of her head. Though she wasn't too fond with the transition period, it would all be worth it when he finally comes back out of his shell. Patience is key here. But still, it hurt her to see him like this. There has to be something she could do.

If Pinkie's logic applied to everyone else, the light bulb over her head would be visible to all as it sparked to life. "Hey, Ryan." She began, facing the vacant-eyed human as she finally got his attention. "How about you go wash up and ah'll meet ya upstairs in a few; Sound like a plan?" Her voice was low and sultry, her southern accent only managing to add an extra 'Umph' to her tempting tones as she fluttered her eye lashes at him a few times.

Ryan appeared to be mulling over the idea for a little bit before shrugging his shoulders and standing up. "Yeah, why the hell not." He said, going over to give Apple Bloom a quick hug before making his way upstairs. "I'll see you in a hot minute."

Applejack's eyes followed him up the stairs before turning back to her family still sitting at the table. Both of her siblings were giving her a look, one that was able read rather easily. "I'm sorry, but ah can't stand to see him like that!" She whisper yelled to them. "It just aint right, ya know."

Big Mac could understand where she was coming from, he saw how his alien friend was acting and he was no more comfortable with it than her. But still, her way of solving the problem was a bit...immature? "And yer way of helpin' him is by making-" He paused, glancing at his youngest sibling before continuing. "THAT kind of offer?"

"It's worked before." Applejack argued with a shrug. "That's how he usually deals with his problems. A quick-" Now it was her turn to glance at Apple Bloom. "ROMP is typically his go-to solution for dealin' with stress."

"Y'all realize that I know what yer talkin' about, right?" Apple Bloom cut-in, feeling a little annoyed with her older siblings for trying to keep it PG with her around. It's not like she was clueless, she's heard the noises her sister makes when Ryan stays over. Even a nine year old could figure it out.

That being said, she felt as though she was ahead of her kin right now, having paid attention to the human's word choice when he was climbing the stairs.

Big Mac nodded his head. He wasn't mad at his sister, she was only doing what she thought would help Ryan. And right now, they all wanted him to be happy again. Not that he agreed with how she was going about it, but if she was so sure that it would work, then he wasn't going to stop her. "By all means, have at it then."

Waving off her brother's comment, ignoring the tension that had built just now, Applejack rose from her seat and traveled up the stairs without further exchange. Now she was the one who needed a bit of stress relief.

Apple Bloom looked up at Big mac, who was staring at the staircase as he leaned back, crossing his arms as he sat there quietly. She had no real expression as her gaze followed his and she leaned back in her own seat as well. "He aint gonna be up there, ya know."

Mac raised a brow, angling his head toward his little sister. "Pardon?"

"When he left he said that he would see her in a 'hot minute'." Apple Bloom explained, "I don't know what y'all have heard, but every time ah've heard him say that it usually implies a long period of time rather than an actual minute."

The stallion took a few seconds to think this over. She was right; Every time he's heard Ryan use the phrase 'hot minute' it was typically after he had gone a while without doing something or seeing somepony. Not long after he made this revelation, the screams of an angry mare could be heard from upstairs.

"Where in the haystack is he!?"

Apple Bloom wore small, cocky grin at the sound of her sister yelling. "Told ya..."

You just walked out on the opportunity to get back into bed with the cowpony...What the fresh fuck is wrong with you?

It wasn't like he didn't want to break the walls in that sweet, toned pony's body. But, it didn't feel right at the moment. He just wasn't feeling it right now and actually preferred to just talk to someone. When it came to talking, and not about mathematics, dresses, or like you just did a line of coke, there was only one pony he could think of to go to.

I can't help but feel like; If this girl wasn't such a sweetheart, she'd cut you in half with a chainsaw.

"That is a dark image you are putting into my head." Ryan took a few seconds to dote on that, finding the thought oddly appealing. He mentally created the image of a homicidal Fluttershy standing naked in front of him with a chainsaw. All while he's tied down to a chair, unable to fight back as she pulls the cord, her voluptuous body rippling from the aggressive motion. Arms out straight, shaking from the now running engine on the machine, causing her breasts to bounce lightly, she raises the saw up high only to slowly lower down onto his-

Ryan blinked HARD a few times, shaking his head to get that image as far away from him as possible. "What the fresh fuck is wrong with me?"

I don't know whether to be aroused or terrified...

"A little of both, maybe?"

Finding that particular train of thought to be more confusing than anything else, he decided not to dwell on it and continue on his quest to Fluttershy's cottage. He'd be lying if he said it didn't take too long, or that he didn't have to stop a few times to survey his surroundings. He knew how to get there from his own house, but that extra stretch given by the orchard through off his compass a little bit.

In time, he did find himself in familiar territory and got back on track. After that, getting to her humble abode was a breeze. He hardly saw any animals as he made his final approach to the cottage. Using that, he assumed that she was home. There wasn't any real evidence to back his theory there, but judging from the sun, the day was only half over, if even. And if he knows Fluttershy, which he does in some ways, she's probably in her house feeding the horde of small animals.

Ryan got up to the door and raised his fist to knock, but stopped as a thought occurred. Maybe he shouldn't bother the poor girl. It's not like his presence was something to behold. In fact, in his eyes, it was something to dread. Her day is probably going as good as it can and all him showing up will do is ruin it for her.

A slight pang in his chest as that thought came was all he needed to recede, lowing his hand back to his side as he took several steps away from the door.

Well...Now I'm depressed...Let's just go back home and...I don't know, chug a handle of rum.

If it weren't for his sheer willpower, tears would be working their way out of his eyes. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like a burden, a nuisance. Normally it wouldn't bother him, but lately it's been the bane of his existence. It was becoming increasingly difficult to hold himself together, so he quickly turn back and-

"Ouch!"

"Fuck!" It's not too often that something scares Ryan, but that caught him completely off guard. What made it worse though is that the he just bumped into was the exact pony he was trying to avoid. But, in that moment of embarrassment, his old nature grabbed hold of him once more whilst he rubbed his now sore chin. "Christ, Shy; You scared the shit out of me!"

His words not quite registering yet, Fluttershy held her eyes shut while her hand rested on her throbbing forehead. "I'm sorry." She began, her kind nature making her concern shift from her own well-being to the human's. "I didn't mean to."

Taking a breath, Ryan calmed himself. His attention became focused solely on her and the damage he had caused. "Here, let me take a look at it." The pegasus made no attempt to fight him as he grabbed her hand and pulled it from her face. There was a red mark where she had bumped into him, but nothing serious. "You should be fine, but you may wanna ice it just to be safe."

Holding her hand firmly in his own, he pulled her toward her own home. "Come on, let's get you patched up."

"This is your last warning!" Rainbow Dash screamed, the rage in her voice nearly being enough to start the whole house on fire. Fortunately, her words weren't that powerful. Unfortunately, some of the projectiles being launched at the farm pony may be capable of doing such a thing.

Applejack ducked behind the flipped kitchen table, just barely dodging a hot pan her 'friend' grabbed off of the stove and whipped in her direction. Sure that she was safe, she turned her attention to the rest of her family, who were in no better a position than her. Though, her youngest sibling was at least armed with a wooden spoon. She'll get an A for effort, but it likely won't be helping them out of this situation.

A situation of which was starting to get very annoying for one particular mare. "Would ya stop already!" Applejack hollered over the sound of Dash tearing apart her home so she could keep hurling random objects at them.

"Not until you tell me where you're hiding him!" Rainbow announced, throwing a potted plant and a number of forks at the table. "I already got it out of Twilight; I know he's here somewhere. Now tell me where!"

If Applejack had a mouth like Ryan's, the next words out of her mouth would have been 'well fuck...' but the look on her face said that for her. "Okay, ah admit it!" She yelled, bringing the onslaught of flying kitchen utensils to a stop. "He was here earlier, but he took off."

All the Apples heard was a low grow as an entire drawer flew over their heads and smashed against the wall. "That's a load of horse apples and you know it!" She shouted, obviously not believing at least the second part of her statement. "He's here, I know he is. Don't lie to me!"

Okay, now this was getting personal. "Ah am the element of honesty, you feather-brained, twat!"

"Applejack!" Came a displeased voice from the elderly mare, cowering behind Big Mac.

"Not now, Granny!" AJ retorted, not feeling like dealing with bullshit from both ends of the room. "Look, Dash; I done told you the honest truth. He was here, ah turned mah back for two minutes, then he was gone."

"Where did he go, then!?"

Letting her anger get the better of her, Applejack rose up just enough for her head to be over the edge of their wooden barrier. "Now how the buck am ah supposed to know!?" She said with more than a hint of venom. "He. Left. While mah back was turned! Are you that buckin' stupid that you-"

Applejack fell back as a large bar of soap was nearly sent soaring down her esophagus. If she didn't bring her teeth down when she did, it very well would have. Quickly sitting up, she caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash charging out of the front door and running to Celestia-knows-where.

With that headache out of the way, she could get started on the next one; Cleaning up the mess that darn pegasus made when she came crashing in like a pissed off Yak. Spitting out the soap bar, she was going to ask if her family was alright, but that taste in her mouth was making it difficult to speak properly.

From behind Mac, Granny Smith peaked out once more, shooting her granddaughter a dirty look. "You deserved that last one, ya potty-mouth."

With the two now settled in comfortably on the living room couch, there was little to distract them while the only human to walk this plane of existence got to work on his not-quite-so-injured friend. With a bag of frozen peas held in his hand, Ryan pressed its cold exterior to the small lump on Fluttershy's forehead. She winced from the sudden freezing sensation, but kept herself still for the most part. It wasn't pleasant by any means, but it was a small price to pay to keep the swelling down.

Offering a grateful smile to one of her few furless friends, she thanked him out loud before letting the room fall into an odd silence. It wasn't quite comfortable silence, but it wasn't completely awkward by any means either. Though she wanted to say something, Ryan seemed pretty focused on making sure she was okay.

Taking one of her hands in his free one, he placed it on the bag so that he would no longer have to hold it any longer. Now free to do as he pleased, he figured the least he could do was offer her something. "Do you need me to get you something; Water, oats, fuckin'...anything?"

This actually earned the smallest laugh from Fluttershy as she looked at him with her large eyes, now holding the bag to her head on her own. "Not at all. I'm perfectly fine; Thank you."

Ryan let out a breath that made his cheeks puff out a bit. "Are you sure? Cause it's no trouble, really."

"Positive." She confirmed with a nod, still looking him over as a certain thought occurred. Not really a thought per say, moreover, one particular memory that got another light giggle out of her. "It's funny how history seems to repeat itself."

Being completely lost to what she was referring to, all the human could offer in return to her statement was a questioning, "Huh?"

"Don't you remember?" Fluttershy shifted a bit in her seat so she would be closer to Ryan. "This is almost like how we first met."

In fact, Ryan did remember that day; It was during his first week in Ponyville. He was living with Rarity at the time while preparations on his house were being finalized. The fashionista insisted that her go visit her critter-loving friend and, like an idiot, he agreed to go out an meetup with her.

"Not even a little!" Ryan all but yelled, "You got a love-tap from my face. I thought I was gonna fuckin' die!"

Fluttershy waved off his tone with her free hand, knowing he didn't mean anything by it. "Don't be silly. Harry would never even think about hurting anypony."

"Then why was he chasing me?"

"He thought you were playing." Fluttershy continued to defend, "He told you this himself."

Ryan shot her a deadpan look. Just because she has the power to talk to animals doesn't mean that everyone else does! "Even so..." He began, trying to avoid getting into an argument about her animal's habits. "I'm pretty sure the roles were reversed. You see, I was the one with the lump on their head and you were the one holding getting the peas."

"I was so worried." She squeaked, thinking back to when she found him on the ground, a previously low hanging branch sitting beside him, separated from the tree due to the impact. "You hit that branch really hard."

We were running for our lives! I don't care what she says!! That motherfucker tried to eat us!!!

"Yeah, I did. It wasn't fun." Despite the rather less-than-adequate meeting between the two, they hit it off pretty well. At least, as well as someone as kind as her can hit it off with someone as boorish as him. Though, the memory did tickle his funny-bone a little and he could see how this reminded her of that. "Damn, I haven't thought about that in a hot minute."

"Me either; It's nice to look back on things like that." Fluttershy's expression became something rather comical as she registered just how that last sentence came out. "Not that find it funny to think about you getting hurt! I just meant that it's nice to look back on good things!" Realizing she had, once again, messed up, she went back in to save herself. "Not that I think you getting hurt is a good thing! I just meant that-"

"Shush!" Ryan exclaimed, a hand now held over her mouth to make her stop sounding like a more panicked version of Pinkie Pie. "Calm down, I know what you were trying to say." He said, removing his hand from her muzzle as she visibly relaxed. "It is nice to look back on things."

It would be if we didn't fuck up every step we've taken so far.

That thought was mildly depressing as he was reminded that most of his past is just one fuck up after another. He's done everything from hurting others in every sense of the way to straight up ruining lives, his own included. Though he tried his best to hide it, his shame did show just enough for the perceptive, yellow pony-girl to take notice.

Having not spent a whole lot of time with Ryan during his stay in Equestria, Fluttershy wasn't sure how to approach the issue. Something was clearly bothering him and she wanted to make him feel better. But, she's heard plenty of stories on how he reacts when called out on his feelings. Especially the sadder ones.

Then an idea came to mind. A nice balance to help ease his mind without coming off as if she was prying for information. It also stayed on topic with their current conversation, so it wouldn't come off weird. "What do you think is your favorite memory?"

Don't even have to think about it.

A half-smile appeared on Ryan's face as his brain jumped to what was probably the only good memories he had. "Spending time with my dog." He answered as he cycled through all of the time he spent with his first pet. "I remember the first day I held him. Nothing has ever made me that happy."

"I was about eleven or twelve years old when he was born; A black and white English/American bulldog." Ryan continued, skipping over the details of the actual birth. This girl was an animal expert, she knows how it goes. "I knew it the second I saw him; I was taking him home with me. The first time I held him he was still too young to open his eyes. He crawled out of my lap and wiggled his way into my jacket and dozed off against my arm."

Having disregarded the bag of frozen peas during his recounting of events, Fluttershy had her hands cupped over her mouth. Both of which curled into fists as she pictured a younger, more innocent version of Ryan hugging a newborn, bulldog puppy. It was so cute she could barely contain herself. "That's so precious!"

To be honest, she never saw Ryan to be the pet owner type. He was usually so focused on drinking, partying, or really just himself in general that he would never have time to care for a pet. But, hearing that he was a pet owner at one point did make her feel like they were finally establishing some common ground.

She was tempted to ask about his pet now, but thought that to be a sensitive topic what with him being stuck here now. So, she moved on to the next best thing. "Could he do any tricks?"

Scratching his head, Ryan recounted a few things his dog picked up on while living with him. He wouldn't exactly call them tricks, but he's never known any other dogs to do them. "Well...He knew how to cheap shot men in order to steal their food."

This was nice. For once, a bad situation seemed to have been diffused and things were starting to calm down. The two expanded upon his pet's shenanigans, sticking to the topic of 'Funny Moments' with his dog. Unknown to either of them, something far worse than a rambunctious canine was headed their way, moving fast enough to leave a rainbow trail behind it.