Ryan rolled his eyes as he heard Rainbow Dash sigh against his neck. The two had been walking through the Whitetail Woods for a couple of hours now. Somewhere in that time, the rainbow maned pegasus had been transferred to Ryan's back. Even in that time, with every sigh, there was a constant drone of 'are we there yet?' from the human's new backpack.

With a sigh of his own, he shook his head and grumbled as the inevitable question was asked. He grumbled silently as he pondered the worth of dropping his new companion and walking on his own. After a few seconds of thought, Ryan thought better and only shifted his weight to readjust Rainbow.

Looking back, he kept a calm face as he said in an even, albeit strained, voice. “You should know that I'm following your directions. Wouldn't that stand to reason that out would know of we are there yet?”

Rainbow looked down at him, her large cerise eyes taking in his features again, before shrugging and saying. “Well, I usually fly over everything really fast. Walking this slow past everything is so boring. Can't we go any faster?”

Ryan took a look at the surroundings as they walked. The forest’s trees created a natural blanket, casting everything in a slight shadow. The pockets of morning light filtering through the leaves and the chirps and scurrying of the forest's inhabitants served to create a peaceful atmosphere that most would stop to enjoy. Ryan was not most, though.

Sighing again, he focused on the path and absentmindedly said. “No. I'm not in any hurry, so we are not speeding up.” Looking back again, he raised an eyebrow and questioned. “How is it you can fly anyway? Those wings don't look big enough to create enough force to get you off the ground let alone fly.”

To his mild surprise, Rainbow’s jaw dropped and a massive blush spread across her face as he asked that. He calmly looked on and waited as she started sputtering and blurting out random words. Eventually she managed to get herself together and calm her blush. With a look of anger, she spoke.

'I can't believe that he just asked me that!? Who does he think he is!?’ Rainbow could feel her cheeks heating up and fought to bring her embarrassment down. It quickly gave way to anger as she regained her natural cyan hue.

Against her bodies protests of pain, she reached out and slapped Ryan in the back of his head. While she couldn't muster much force due to her exhaustion, she still managed to get the man's attention.

With a grunt, he looked back at her, with a cold fury. Whether too dumb or too angry to notice her companion's death stare, Rainbow huffed and practically yelled into his ear.

“You do not ask a Pegasus about their wingspan! We met today! That is so wrong! What is wrong with you!” With another huff, Rainbow looked away from Ryan. Her cheeks puffed out and red both from embarrassment and anger.

She let out a yelp as she suddenly found herself falling. Grunting as she fell onto her flank, she looked up at the towering figure that just dropped her. He slowly turned and Rainbow felt the same feeling of intimate danger that de experienced earlier at the clearing. Her heart rate picked up and she held her breath in fear as Ryan slowly crouched down until they were at eye level.

She would later deny it ever happened, but tell brash Pegasus was terrified in that moment. When she looked into Ryan's eyes, she saw nothing. Not a single ounce of emotion or spirit came out of them. She swallowed and vainly attempted to look away, but something about his stare kept her from looking away.

Jeez! What is he doing? I can't move! It feels like Fluttershy’s stare, but worse.’ While she had been at the mercy of her friend's stare only once before, Fluttershy's paralyzing power left her feeling like a foal being scolded by their mother.

Ryan's stare was much worse.

It felt like a top of food chain predator had finally cornered their prey. As if it was letting the animal watch as it pondered over how to kill it. Rainbow started shaking as she felt like a weak animal, about to he slaughtered by it's natural predator.

Ryan's thoughts ground to a halt as he felt his companion hit him. He stopped moving and though he knew she was speaking, he completely ignored her as he was assailed with his past.

Memories of pain and torture flowed through his mind, blood and war covering the globe as he fought tooth and nail to survive. He turned and looked back at Rainbow, but could only see the grotesque visage of the monsters that swore to exterminate.

His mind raged and twisted in a cacophony of torment, each one telling him do something different. Dozens of voices of friends and enemies alike giving him instruction on the threat he was up against. Out of all the voices, one spoke the clearest.

This voice’s anger and bloodlust cleared all of the other voices away. The deadly edge to it managed to bring Ryan into moving as he dropped the Pegasus from his back and turned to look at her. Crouching down, the man stared into her fearful eyes as the voice practically screamed into his mind over and over.

'END HER!'

Ryan almost gave into the voice. It was not new to him. It was a part of him, an add-on from his past, another change he's had to endure because of his choices. He would have listened to it and wrapped his hands around Rainbow's neck if another voice in his head hadn't decided to speak up.

'Ryan. Calm down. This isn't you. She isn't one of the Awakened. You aren't a murderer.’

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks as he listened. The new voice easily drowned out the angrier one as it spoke. It's light and calming tone instantly brought the man's rage down to a halt.

He looked away from Rainbow as the hallucination wore off and she looked like herself again. Sighing in defeat, he stood back up and thought back to who that voice belonged to. Closing his eyes, he shed a single tear as the images of her raced by in his mind. Shaking his head, Ryan looked back at Rainbow and sighed.

'I scared her too much. Oh well, she'll get over it. Right now, I need to find a town and get my bearings. And it seems she's my best bet.’

Shaking his head, Ryan stared down at Rainbow and thrust out his hand. The Pegasus flinched back a bit before understanding the gesture. Reaching her hand up, she grasped his and grunted a bit as she was forced onto her feet. She looked up at him and audibly gulped as he sighed and said.

“Look. I'm sorry for that. Don't…” Ryan struggled to find his words for a bit. “Don't attack me like that. I have some… mental problems that can set me off if I'm provoked like that.” He sighed again and turned around. “Come on, let's keep going. We can't be far now and you should be good to walk.”

Ryan didn't wait for a reply and began walking. Sure enough, he heard the tell tale sound of footsteps behind him. Slowing his pace, he met Rainbow's slow tired walking with his own calm steady one. She kept her eyes forward and stole occasional glances at her companion as they walked.

A silence descended upon the two, only broken by the entrancing cacophony of the wildlife around them going about their day. The crunch of fallen leaves underneath a pair of light sneakers and heavy boots proved to be the loudest occurrence in the immediate area. The peaceful environment was disturbed by the sound of Rainbow clearing her throat. Glancing at her, Ryan waited patiently for her to speak.

Slowly, she said in a quiet voice. “Hey, I'm sorry for hitting you. I just got a little mad. Your not supposed to ask a Pegasus about their wingspan. It's not right.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow and looked forward again. He responded with, “Why is that? I'm not familiar with your customs and shit. Is it a bad thing to ask?”

Rainbow's voice picked up some as she said. “Well it's like this.” She spread her wings a bit, but winced as the fatigue from earlier still assailed her. “A Pegasus’ wings are really important to them. It's what makes a Pegasus a Pegasus. Asking about their wingspan or, Celestia forbid, trying to touch them is only really done by couples and stuff.” She ruffled her wings a bit before folding them back against her back. Wincing again, she rubbed her shoulder and continued. “Not to mention, they are really sensitive.”

Ryan nodded along and thought to himself as she finished talking. ’So it's kinda like asking about a guy's dick size, huh. Well, kinda, I guess.’ Shaking his head, he pondered silently for a bit before saying. “Okay, that makes sense. How far out are we anyways? What should I expect from this town of yours?”

His companion looked to the sky and squinted her eyes. “We shouldn't be too far out. Maybe another half an hour walking.” Looking over at Ryan, Rainbow raised an eyebrow and said. “What do you mean by 'what should I expect’ exactly?” Her voice held a bit of trepidation as she asked her questions.

Ryan, for his part, only shrugged and said. “What are the people like? Are there others like you? What should I expect them to do.” He shook his head and said. “Judging from your reaction earlier, I don't look exactly normal.”

Rainbow seemed to relax and smiled cockily as she puffed her chest up a bit and said. “Well, nopony there is as awesome as me, but there are some cool ponies there. They might be a little weirded out by you, with all the black clothes and no fur and stuff.” Rainbow pointed at the gray fedora on his head and asked. “What's with that anyway? Doesn't exactly fit that whole thing you got going.”

He grunted a bit and put a hand up to adjust the hat on his head. Sneering a bit, he said in a deadly serious tone. “It's important to me. Don't try and touch it. It's like trying to hit me, doesn't end well.” Rainbow's hand flew back to her side as the pseudo threat hung in the air, bringing with it back the silence of the forest.

The duo continued through the forest with no real urgency, much to Rainbow's displeasure. Her eyes constantly darted to Ryan before returning to the path in trepidation and the constant sound of her grunts every time she ruffled her wings in obvious anticipation gave Ryan a clear sign that she wanted to be out of his presence.

'Or maybe she wants to fly or something. Basing her movements off of Sa...her.. when she got anxious isn't really smart. Maybe she needs to take a piss or something, I don't know.’ He sighed and shook his head. 'Alright, sych up and close off. You need to get your bearings and decide on a course of action.’ Steeling his emotions, Ryan adopted a look of calm and breathed deeply through his nose. 'You don't have time to hesitate and freak out. Time to pull it together Rain.’

Rainbow didn't know how to feel at all right now. She cast a quick glance at the tall man walking with her. Sometime ago, the curiosity and panic seemed to melt of off his face while she was looking forward. His gait was a lot steadier now and he seemed to have pulled himself together.

She felt that this should have made her calmer as well. Ryan being less jumpy meant that there was less of a chance of him acting terrifying like earlier. It meant that Rainbow wouldn't have had to feel so helpless again.

While she wouldn't openly admit it, Ryan's stare terrified her and his mere presence put her on edge. She had slowly been regaining her confidence from hearing his apologies and questions, his relaxed way of speaking working to ease her nerves. That disappeared somewhat as his newfound calm fully sunk in.

She couldn't pinpoint the reason, but there was something wrong with Ryan. While he appeared calm and collected, his movements were off. His movements were fluid, but somewhat mechanical. He looked calm, but somehow on edge. It was as if he was forcing himself to stay calm.

Rainbow was about to voice her concerns, when she caught sight of something. A break in the trees ahead of the pair gave her pause before she smiled. Unlike earlier, she knew that it wouldn't be just another clearing. Speeding up, she moved to the edge and cheered as the familiar sight of Ponyville came into view.

“Yeah, we made it! Finally! That was the worst practice session ever!” Throwing her arms into the air, Rainbow turned and looked at Ryan, who was watching with a raised eyebrow.

Sheepishly laughing, she rubbed the back of her neck and said. “Well, thanks for helping me get back Ryan.” She laughed again and continued. “You ready to see Ponyville?”

With a smile, she turned slightly and showed off the town she lived to her companion. Her smile faltered and she grew confused as Ryan snorted and facepalmed.

Groaning, he said. “Ponyville? Really? That's it's name? Please tell me that pun is a one time thing.”

Author's Note

I'm back!