Author's Note

Right back on schedule. This chapter is brought to you by the efforts of my lovely editor, and Grammarly. Let us know how good a job the combination did, I think it did better than my roughshod editing from last week at least.

Thank you all very much for reading.

Peace!

Back Alley Brawl

He jerked awake in a tangle of sheets and sweat, his arms and legs flailing as his voice gave a strangled cry. “THE FUCK WAS THAT!?” He struggled a bit more until he fell from the bed onto his head.

Picking his head up he gazed about in fear. "The fuck was that…" he repeated again, the still night air gave no answer. The memories of his dream, no nightmare, were already fading save for a melodious evil laugh and glowing teal green cat-like eyes in the darkness. He let his head thump back to the wooden floor with a groan. He was covered in sweat, and the muggy air was not helping in the slightest. Not for the first time did he wish ponies knew a thing or two about air-conditioning because he was getting tired of waking up with his small clothes stuck to him.

He didn't remember it being this bad back in Manehattan, hell even Stalliongrad. Though the latter might have been due to location. Still, the point stood, someone needed to invent A/C and pretty damn quickly.

Horn coming to life, he unknotted the sheet that had gotten tangled up with his limbs, and somehow his neck and horn too. A useful spell “Vestigo” was, had learned due to Twilight cramming into his skull. The filly had been scouring tomes and scrolls for spells that he could use with his low amount of magic. This particular spell allowed him to trace patterns. In this case threads and many of them. Couple that with levitation, and he could unwind anything given enough time. There was a spell called “Explico”, but it wasn’t wise to use it on anything that was wrapped around someone like he was. The results could be catastrophic.

It didn't take long to disentangle himself from the sweat heavy mess, sitting up he chucked the sheet away from him. He leaned against his bed frame, mind still whirling from the obvious nightmare that had plagued him moments before. Though details were beyond him other than the aformentioned pair of teal cat eyes staring at him from the darkness, the laughter was damn near spine numbing.

"The fuck was that?" He asked once more and then snorted. Who was going to answer him about what was in his own dreams? Even he rarely knew what was in his head from the time his eyes closed to when they opened again. He had never really remembered his dreams, there were the vague ideas of memories earned in the realm of sleep, but nothing as concerning as tonight. His life being what it was, he wasn't sure he wanted to remember the process in which his mind sorted through the memories of his existence.

His hand rose shakily to his brow and he wiped, sweat soaking into the fur of his palm. “Oh, gross, I need a shower.”

Stumbling down the hall to the bathroom in the dark, trying very hard not to trip into anything, he managed to get the light on and looked at his face in the mirror. “Well, I look fuckin’ awful.” Staring back at him was a haunted colt he did not seem to recognize. Fur and mane matted to his skin, he looked like he had been tossed into the spin cycle with lube.

"I'm sleeping naked from now on. This is bullshit." He lamented, plucking at his sweaty undergarments, to his dismay, it sounded very much like wet velcro pulling from his fur-covered flesh.

The longer he looked at himself, the more he realized just how big he had gotten. Orion hadn't really taken the time to look at himself since he first arrived in Manehattan years ago, other than in passing to sort his mane or some such. So seeing the buff, tired colt form in the mirror before him held a bit of an uncanny valley sort of feel.

In his head, he had the image of an angry pony midget, all muscle-bound impotent rage as his arms and legs barely moved. Maybe he should see if there were yoga classes he could get into, no sense bulking out if he couldn’t move his neck. Plus, it might be a good idea to maintain a more lithe form.

Yanking off the undershirt, he smiled as he ran a hand over his abdominals. He had never in his life had abs before now. "Oh yeah, I am gonna be a lady killer. Or is it a mare killer? Man, these ponies need to make up their fucking minds on the vernacular!" Their choice in verbiage was strange, he got it, but it was just weird how they used lady or ladies, but not man or men. Another tally against the near-complete sexism of the world.

Pulling off his undies and tossing them with the shirt he started the cool water in the shower. He was careful to keep the temperature a few degrees above mountain spring cold. He had learned that lesson the other day when his entire crotch tried to internalize itself. For that matter his ears and tail too. He had become a pony version of a Ken Doll in a matter of seconds and felt like hours before he could feel his extremities once more.

How was it this hot this high up in the mountains? It should have been at least a little cooler given the elevation, but instead, the summer heat felt like he was in the crevice of Satan's ass.

The door to the communal bathroom opened softly, and a reedy, stern voice spoke out. "The bathroom at this hour is meant only for the toilets to be used, young foal. Come out of that shower this instant."

"Oh God, this bitch."

Thorny Branch was a wafer-thin earth pony mare of an indeterminate but ancient age this side of a coffin. Short, with an even shorter temper, the earth yellow mare and Orion did not get along. Unlike Mrs. Evergarden and her assistant, this mare did not disappear in April, much to his dismay, and he was forced to go out of his way to avoid the woman when and where he could.

Mrs. Branch was an insufferable person at the best of times. She had the belief that colts and stallions were meant to be seen and not heard. He obviously, and loudly, disagreed with that idea. There had already been three altercations, the last resulting in him snatching the soap away from her and spewing the contents at her. Repeatedly.

He had been determined to drive his point home that time and at least the soap had not returned, but she had yet to relent. He better say something before her gnarled fingers opened his stall door.

"I woke up from a nightmare, felt like I had been drenched in hog spit and I needed a shower or I was gonna smell like armpit in the morning." That was straight and to the point. Besides, he didn't want to smell like armpit.

"Then you should have come to get either me or Mrs. Evergarden. Don't make those kinds of decisions for yourself." She hissed. He could just hear over the din of the shower, the clack of her hooves indicating her taking quick steps toward the stall he was in.

"Woman, I swear on the blood of Christ that if you try to reach in here I will do my best to beat you with anything I can reach. Including the stall door." He carefully moderated his tone, no need to wake up the entire orphanage. Satisfyingly he heard her pull up short. If he gave her any leeway in which she thought she could bully him around she would, and it would be an uphill fight to get her to back down.

"I swear by Faust's name you need to be switched." She growled. "Always acting the Jane Filly, that's no way for any colt to act."

He snorted. Jane Filly, their term for tomboy but for colts. He supposed it fit him well enough but it made him sound like such a girl. Compared to any other male he had so far encountered he might as well be.

Stallions, as he was often reminded, in society didn't have positions of authority unless they were born into it. Even then the mares' status equal to a stallion's station would still often end up having them taking charge more often than not. Nor did the males seem to have much desire for themselves beyond that, happy to let the females take lead on almost everything. He now knew what women's suffrage was, and he longed for the day of a civil rights movement that would overturn all of that. Not that he was gonna start it, but he hoped and prayed for it all the same.

Still, no one seemed to want to challenge him on his actions. Save for the angry lady beyond the stall door.

"You know what Mrs. Branch?" He never called her names, at least to her face. Orion didn't want to seem petulant. "I'll likely scream and yell if I was. And ya wanna know something else? Once it was over, I’d be just the same as before.”

"Only I'd be hunting your ass down right after with that very same switch."

This right here, this mare, had likely been the start of why he was suddenly okay with hitting a woman, mare in this case. Well, it might have begun before with Moya back in Stalliongrad. But this…creature solidified it.

They had all the power in the dynamic between the sexes. Many were often bigger and stronger than their male counterparts which was most likely the result of breeding and evolution.

He could hear her muttering, but she hadn't said anything else, and he decided to take his time cleaning off the last of the nightmare from his body.

By the time he had shut the water and toweled off he could hear the rapid tap of her hoof on the tile floor.

"Are you quite finished?" She was miffed but seemed to have her temper under control. "Someponies need their sleep." Maybe not.

"No one asked for you to stay up, I'm a big colt, I can get myself back to bed." He stepped out into the stall clad in only a towel.

"Where are your clothes!" His magic flared to life, such as it was once he learned how pitiful the light actually was, and lifted the sticky mass of fabric.

"Right here." He responded.

Mrs. Branch glared at him, the severe pull of the bun she always wore making it harsher. "You didn't think to bring your night clothes with you?!"

"Nope, couldn't imagine why anyone would be up at this hour to harass me." You old goat was implied in the silence. He brushed by her, not even waiting for a response, and left.

"Give her an inch and she'll take the entire mile. And the fucking village."

Getting to his room, he tossed the smelly clothes into the wicker hamper in the corner. It had been one of his suggestions, he had grown tired of having to haul his laundry down every morning before school. It was tedious and he often had to wait behind others before he could give up his payload and make a dash out the door. Mrs. Evergarden hadn't understood its purpose at first, but she had allowed him to order the thing made. When he hadn't come down with his laundry in a few days she had come to his room expecting a mess. Now all the kid's rooms had a hamper, and during that time, he had started taking care of his own laundry. Using the limited heat spell he had learned in class, meant to keep food warm, dried them quickly in the laundry room before putting them away in his dresser.

She had protested, but when he had made his case that if he was only gonna show up once or twice a week he might as well do it himself, besides he could study while he waited. That had made her finally relent, and Mrs. Branch had argued that he should be taking on all the laundry. As a proper colt should she had claimed. There were no colts in residence at the time, so of course, it all would fall to him. Fortunately for him, Mrs. Evergarden sided with him on that one.

But that had been the start of the arguments, the contest of wills between the pair.

Said mare stomped in after him and he pushed the small pony right back out with magic. He may not be that strong magically speaking, but he was a force with telekinesis.

"I try to keep civil with you. But if you try and come in here so you can annoy me more, I swear I will make you eat the contents of my hamper. Knock it off." Thinking back to a few minutes ago and at their entire brief history, that may be a lie.

He wasn't sure, the flickering light of his magic made it hard to see clearly, but he thought he saw her eyes widen and mouth fall open. He sighed in exasperation. If he let this go on the two would be going at it like cats in the morning. He knew he wasn't going to change but this lady seemed to believe she could browbeat him into submission. He dropped his magic field.

"Listen. I get it, you've grown up where stallions listened to their betters. Colts did all the chores and never complained." He released her, and she only stood there just beyond the door frame, watching him. "But I will not, nor will you ever get me to, be like them. I am my own person. I will not change for you just because you bitch about it. You can raise all the stink you want. But all you will make me do is plot for ways to get back at you."

Thorny Branch stared at him, without the light from his aura he couldn't tell what she might be thinking.

"I could take your study time away from you." She whispered, half to herself. He snorted.

"Yeah and let's see how that goes with Mrs. Evergarden. Plus, how would you go about doing so? I can already read just fine, better than most actually, and I still go to school. I'll just stay at the library there. Or hell, take Twilight's offer up and just go to the castle. Anyone else would see this as a no-win scenario but you feel you can break me. Besides, you would really be that petty?" She gave no answer.

By now he had taken hold of the door, prepared to hit her with it if she tried to force her way in again.

"You have been on me since you started in February. Give over. You do an awesome job with everyone else.” He glared at her when she opened her mouth to correct him. “You also have this place running smoother than I’ve ever seen it. You know your business, now, let me do mine.”

It was true, the mare was a whirlwind of efficiency when it came to getting the building in order and filing requisitions for things the orphanage needed. She even approved of the hamper idea, saying her family had something like it back when she still had foals living under her roof. She even beamed to know it was his idea, to begin with, then soured when he had laughed at her suggestion that he do all the laundry.

"So I'm just supposed to allow you to run around and do as you will? Let you ruin your future prospects with a herd?" She finally said. Was that defeat in her voice he heard?

"Yes. This might come as a surprise to you, but I don't want anyone to adopt me. Furthermore, I don't plan on getting into a relationship of any kind for a very long time." Sure, he'd bang the shit out of any mare that would let him, but he wasn't about to let himself get tied down with a wife, wives, and kids. He wanted to live, to discover this world for himself. Books don’t tell you everything after all.

He could clearly see the shock on her face now. Darkness couldn't cover that.

"But why? Why would you not want a loving family to take care of you? To raise you?" He hadn't been expecting the pleading tone, and he almost gaped in return. He had never suspected her of caring like that.

Every interview that had ever been made for him in Manehattan with a herd or couple he purposely sabotaged. Hard. Here he had only gone through three before he told Mrs. Evergarden to stop it.

He wondered if he should explain it to this old crone.

"Fuck it."

"Simply put, I don't care about it, and I won't pretend to." He put his hand up at her jerk. "Listen, any family that would take me into their home would expect me, at my age, to call them moms and dad at some point. It won't happen. They will not be happy, and I don't want to deal with that fallout. Believe it or not, I’m happy here. Sure I think some of the rules shouldn't apply to me, and I may violate the hell outta them like tonight. But I tend to stick to what I say. So believe me when I say I don't wanna."

"And….and a family of your own? A herd? What about that?"

The hesitancy only gave him a little pause. "Finally."

"What about it? So I can have someone demand of me? Like you? I will never be happy, nor will they, and I will be happy." He had thought he had been happy back then, only to realize now that he had just been drifting through life just doing enough. Like it or not his time here in this world had shown him what he was lacking.

Ambition. Desire. The need for more. He had never had that.

Mrs. Branch looked at him. The steely feeling he normally got from that gaze wasn't there.

"I see," she said quietly. Then she left.

Would that be the end of it? Not likely, but maybe they had come as close to equilibrium as they would get.

He closed the door, Orion dropped the towel into the hamper as well and jumped into his wet bed.

"Jesus fucking Christ…." He groaned.

"Why are you laughing?!" She shrieked.

This was the third time she had asked and she was at her wit's end over it.

Orion had been laughing since she had entered the garden. Mrs. Evergarden had told her where to find him when she had walked into the foyer. The matron had been walking down the hall with a bundle of crafting supplies and was just about to enter the reception room when she had noticed the purple filly.

Mrs. Branch just sniffed loudly and turned down the hall in the opposite direction, a duster gripped in her fist.

That mare was what her mother would have called 'old fashioned’. Old, but straight back as a lightning rod, the curmudgeonous mare seemed to have it out for her friend. Though Twilight did understand, he did have a tendency to shirk all custom and respectability. He didn't act like any of the other colts she had met since coming into Princess Celestia's teachings. He didn't seem to like yielding to others either, mare or stallion alike. The fact that he proved himself right more often than not was a sticking point for many ponies in school.

He had not made any friends in class, no, just the opposite was happening.

Rumors were being spread about him, but he ignored them. Fillies, and a few colts, had taken to vandalizing his locker since the beginning of January. And from what she had been told by Moon Dancer, a filly she had met in class this past year, he was being targeted even more than usual in Theory class.

He never showed that it bothered him, but it must. It had to! Nopony could go through that and have it not affect them.

His conflict with Mrs. Branch just seemed to be the latest in a long line of ponies with growing animosity towards him.

Stepping out into the garden, she observed him. Leaning his back against the brown trunk of a red-leafed tree as he sat amongst its exposed roots, Orion had his head in a book. She smiled softly. The Princess was right, they had a lot in common in that regard.

Stepping forward her hoof fell on a branch left on the ground, snapping it in two.

The black pony's head snapped up in her direction, horn alight, with three small pebbles floating around him. She stopped dead.

"I told you lady I've already….oh, welcome back, Grape." The stones dropped and the horn's aura winked out. "Sorry about that. I thought you were Lady Ballbuster." His eyes squinted at her for a moment before his chuckles reached her ears.

He was laughing at her!

"And what is so funny?" She sniffed loudly, giving him a very pointed look.

Twilight hated when she had become the butt of one of his jokes. They were often mean-spirited and made her feel bad for a good while. Though, he was quick to apologize when he figured out what was bothering her.

Usually.

Today seemed not to be the day.

"Wore a sunhat did ya?" He giggled.

"How did he know?!"

She had worn a sunhat to the beach. She had been forced to wear it, seeing that was the only way she could read and study otherwise in the gaze of the Princess’s blazing sun. Her family insisted on visiting the beach during the warm hours despite her protests. She hadn't wanted to fall behind after all, so she bore the cap long sufferingly.

The hat did a surprisingly good job shielding her eyes from the sun, even if it was a bit floppy. But the result was that her fur, where the sun’s rays touched, had lightened considerably.

The headwear had also served as an excellent barrier between her and a brown-furred pegasus colt that had suddenly started to bother her the last week they were there.

He had kept trying to get her to go to a lū'au with him. She had been polite, but firm in her refusal, and that seemed only to encourage him.

"Would you like to go cliff diving?"

"Wanna come with me to the arcade?"

"I know a secluded strip of beach…"

She had refused it all, and more. His constant pestering had made her flush in frustration. She could not understand why he couldn't get the hint that he was distracting her from something important.

Her parents were absolutely no help at all, laughing the way they were, even Shining only snickered at her discomfort. She had expected more from her BBBFF. He was supposed to save her from crazy ponies. He was an officer of the Royal Guard after all.

That thought had only brought up the fact that this was the first vacation she and her family had had in a very long time. Not since Shining Armor started his officer training. And it will be a long while before the next as he was scheduled for a tour of assignments that would leave little room for him to see her.

She had cried their last night there, her brother holding her and giving comforting squeezes.

It had been the same when he had gone into training the year before she had become Princess Celestia's student.

Now she was home, and Orion was laughing at her.

He dodged the sudden mineral missile that was rather sharp just narrowly. His mouth dropped open in surprise as the pebbled buried itself in one of the small trees in the garden, head-turning he stared back at Twilight in shock.

She had thrown a rock at him, he almost couldn't believe it. Almost. He had gone out of his way to annoy her on more than one occasion, but he suspected there was more at play than just his mild teasing. For all the filly's faults she never lost her temper, oh sure she would lose her patience at the drop of a hat, but rarely did she get angry and lash out.

"Okay…. something got your panties in a wad. What's eating you?"

Her face had morphed from one of anger to shocked shame. "Nothing!" She said quickly, eyes darting everywhere but at him.

Her quickly reddening face gave the lie, as much as her fidgeting posture.

He scooted over from his spot against the tree and smiled at her gently. Patting a place near where he was sitting and gestured her over with the other hand. Not saying anything.

For a minute he thought she wouldn't move, even retreat. Finally, she slowly walked over and sat next to him. Neither said anything and he was content to let the silence last till she was ready to talk. His eyes drifted to the kitchen window that overlooked the garden and he spotted the “Crone”.

Mrs. Branch had a puzzled frown on her face and looked to have been watching for a while. He glared at her hard till she noticed she had been spotted. That neutral expression returned as she vanished from the window.

"Nosey ass bitch."

"I'm not going to see my brother for a very long time." Twilight's voice quietly spoke up, he almost didn't hear her, and nearly jumped in surprise at her voice.

"Spill kiddo." He said with a smile.

She smiled back and spilled. Boy did she spill.

"Okay, I can see why all the trips were so important to her and her family. But BBBFF? For real!?"

He had refrained from laughing as she told of her family's latest trip. Their last trip.

She spoke of what she saw, she ended up studying a good portion of the plant life on Horsululu. The name nearly broke him. Twilight also talked about the colt who had been clearly hitting on her, that was a little weird considering the gender roles in this world. He'd have to find out if that was a cultural thing for them, and how he might be able to move there.

But most importantly she talked of her brother. Shining Armor.

The stallion had started his training five years ago, and had little time for her since, as he was often on tour or assignment that placed him outside the country. Very unusual, given how the military seems to feel about their male service members. Then she mentioned his rather impressive, and intimidating talent.

Shining was capable of creating shields of various shapes and sizes. By sizes that meant anything as small as a pin, to as big as Canterlot itself if he had the right amplifier. There were relics of ages before Equestira’s founding that could amplify his ability and he was authorized to use them in situations that constituted an emergency. There hadn't been another individual capable of that since some General named Iron Wall, some two thousand years ago.

So the guard, Celestia in reality, had made an exception. Shining Armor was a true blue combat stallion. The purpose of these tours wasn't really known to Twilight or her family. Only that it was important for him to go. Orion thought maybe it had to do with learning to adapt to multiple scenarios and environments.

But that was what truly had gotten under her skin. The fact that her brother was gone for very long periods of time. He had been her best friend since she was tiny, her only friend till Orion himself showed up and Celestia strong-armed him into it. That wasn’t to say time with the Horse of Books wasn’t fun, and he actually enjoyed her company more often than he thought he would, but it really cut into what he had planned originally.

Still with all the training Shining was going through, it meant that they rarely got to see each other, and could barely communicate as his location was often on a need-to-know basis.

He had made it worse by teasing her right out the gate the moment she had come to visit him. Granted he had no idea that this all was going through her mind, but maybe he should have gauged her mood before starting in on her like he always did.

He often forgot that despite her intelligence, she was still just a kid, and couldn’t take the rather rough humor as often as he liked.

"Listen Twilight, I'm sorry if I laughed and hurt your feelings earlier. I didn't mean to make you upset." He sighed. "Honestly I had no idea there was anything bothering you." He wrapped his arm around her to give her a hug. "No one likes when they are forced to be apart from someone they care for. Not even me. But your brother is securing his future, in a mare-dominated profession no less, that's pretty fuckin' amazing."

"But...what about me?" She whined, leaning her head against his shoulder. She had returned the one-armed hug.

"Twiggy. He hasn't abandoned you." He chastised gently, risking a chuckle that got her lips to twitch. "Just cause he will be transferred elsewhere, and possibly everywhere, doesn't mean he stopped being your BBBFF." He could not believe he said that with a straight face. "Write to him more if that makes you feel better, but don't expect him to return letters often. With his career choice, he may not get the option to write back as often as you, but I'm sure he will."

"Then what do I do without him around?"

"Simple, don't let him down." Her head jerked up to look at him, her arm slipping from his back.

"What do you mean?"

Standing up he snatched a couple of leaves from the ground, fiddling with them. He wasn't good at this. How do you coach someone to do their best?

"Do ya think he would be comfortable knowing that his long absences from your life are hurting you? Making you worry?"

She shook her head. But surprisingly didn't say anything. The filly certainly wasn't giving him much to work with.

"That's right. He likely has the same worries for you. How your studies are going. How your life is led without him. The best thing you can do is show him that you can take care of yourself. Make him proud of what you're accomplishing in what the Princess assigns you. Do as you have when he first went, and send him all the details. That way he doesn't have to worry for you."

He hoped that was right. It sounded right. What he should have done is send her back to her parents with these concerns, instead his dumbass had to try and fix it himself.

Twilight sat for a while, getting that scrunched-up look on her face when she was trying to figure something out. Nodding she smiled and looked up at him.

"You're right. I can't just mope about all the time. He wouldn't want that." She thought for another moment. "Mom and Dad wouldn't want that either. Thanks, Orion."

He waved a hand at her.

"Not like I did much but tell you what was plain to anyone else if ya asked. At least I helped you skip days of blubbering before you figured it out for yourself. For such a smart person it can sometimes take you forever to reach the obvious conclusion." He chuckled.

"Hey! I don't blubber!" His chuckles turned to outright laughter as she swung a fist in a mock assault.

"Oh yeah? I remember a certain filly bawling her eyes out at missing a test. All because that unnamed filly had gotten caught up in some spooky book full of Grimm fairy tales that she fell asleep drooling in."

Well, she hadn't told him that she drooled, but he had his suspicions about her sleeping habits.

"That's not...what you said. And “Starswirl the Bearded's Predictions and Prophecies” is not some spooky book! It's-"

"Yeah yeah. Ya told me before. I don't need a repeat!" He had not wanted to hear it again.

The book itself had fallen into her possession back in March, and she had become glued to it. She almost always found a way to bring it up, and this time he had triggered the discussion.

It was interesting, the little he had read from it, but it was all just nonsense. The idea that there was a red centaur that had been imprisoned in a place known as Tartarus for the crimes of draining magic from ponies was laughable. Then there was the creature named Discord, of which the book was fervent in its desire that no one says the name out loud, was a creature of pure chaos that had once ruled the world at one point. And at some time in the future, he was destined to break free once more to wreak havoc on the land once more.

It was full of children's tales. Stories meant to frighten little fillies and colts into obeying their parents. Even if the passages did speak of these events coming soon. And took some very dark turns.

Thinking quickly, he came up with the ultimate distraction. Ice cream.

"Hey. A new ice cream parlor opened up just down the street. I got some bits. Why don't we get some to celebrate your return?"

Orion was now allowed to wander their street, proving himself more responsible than most foals his age had been easy. He did hope that nothing was too sweet this time, ponies and their sugar was death for a normal mortal man.

Twilight's eyes glowed. Of course, she had a sweet tooth.

"That sounds great! I just picked up “Legends of the Surf” back in Horsululu! We can go over that while we eat!" She excitedly beamed, grabbing his arm, and she dragged him from the garden.

"Not more books! Dear God, this girl needs a fucking hobby!" He let himself be hauled away, internally screaming.

Thorny watched the pair of foals dash out the foyer and into the street beyond. A small smile on her face.

She was surprised. At eleven years old, Princess Celestia's student should have been the more collected one. Instead, in that dynamic, it was Orion that seemed to lead the pair despite him being dragged about now.

He was smart. Smarter than any colt she had ever met. And stubborn didn't even begin to describe him. Since February, she had watched him nearly have the run of the place. While he never caused trouble, he also never took orders or direction from anypony unless he was asked. He went his own way, often with no pony's involvement. Even Mrs. Evergarden held an easy hand with him.

Back in her day, you tell a colt to do something he did it, without complaint.

But Orion was unlike anypony she had ever met. He was far too aggressive for one. Even more so than the most ornery of fillies she had met in her life. Bold in his actions as well.

When she had first begun her tenure, she had kept her comments to herself. Choosing instead to get a feel for the establishment. All the foals were well behaved, bright, and even-tempered. Even the griffon was a rather pleasant filly, and she accepted the fact that she was a meat eater with little qualms.

But on her third day, she had discovered what was a well-known fact about the black colt with the way everypony else reacted to it. Orion Falls also ate meat, sometimes in larger quantities than even Screaming Rush.

When she stormed into Mrs. Evergarden's office to demand to know what was going on, she was simply handed his file. No word was spoken. Reading through it, and the little notes the directress had put in herself, her eyebrows rose to her mane. He was more than just a meat-eater. He was some type of mixed breed. Though none of the features of the non-unicorn parent was in evidence save for his teeth.

It had chilled her blood to have that in her hands.

Blinking, she realized she had gotten lost in her thoughts. Looking about herself, she noticed nopony was near her, the hallway quiet. Her gaze swept to the entrance of the orphanage once more, lips pursed in thought. Shaking her head she made her way in the other direction, toward her own rooms.

Stepping inside she closed the door behind her, and turned and smiled at the furnishings that had been put in for her. The three-room apartment had been a wonderful surprise. Her last position, as a social worker in Trottingham, had not afforded her such luxury. So it was nice to settle her old bones into comfort. The bed had been especially nice.

Which had been one of the reasons she was in such a temper the other night when rushing water had broken through her sleep. The sewage pipe to the colts’ bathroom ran through the wall near her bed.

But maybe that had been for the better. That confrontation had confirmed for her that nothing she would ever do would change him. Though, surprisingly, he had tried his best to be reasonable, violent, but reasonable. He had acknowledged her efforts and even complimented her on her work ethic. For the first time since their contest had begun, he had shown something other than disdain. Understanding was not something she had expected from him.

She had been aghast that he had come out against the idea of adoption. But as he explained, she realized he was fully aware and accepting of the ramifications of being without a herd, and she had to agree that he was right about what may happen. For a nine-year-old pony, he knew exactly what he wanted. And he had a goal he wasn't about to tell anypony else till he was ready. Or at least that's what she was beginning to suspect.

She sat down at her desk, a rather ornate if simple affair in dark wood with an equally ornate high back chair. Leaning over she fiddled with the small desk safe that was sitting there, pulling out a stack of notes and letters. Opening an inkwell and dabbing her quill into it, she began writing down the day's events. More specifically the events surrounding him.

Twilight Sparkle being his friend had been a stunning revelation. Nopony had told her when she took the assignment, but judging by her constant visits it was obvious they were as close friends as a pony could get with another. Even if he did treat her like a little sister more often than not.

There really was nothing to report beyond that. He might not be held in high regard, but save for a few perpetrators, foals and teachers had a fairly decent opinion of him even with the crass nature he went about with. Though rumor has it, he suffered from being bullied by certain students at school.

She had made careful inquiries about that.

She sighed, school wouldn’t begin for another three weeks, and her report would not be sent out for four. Plenty of time.

Looking out the window she could just see him and Lady Sparkle leaving the creamery. His ice cream was already going into a waste bin as he stuck his tongue out.

She found herself chuckling. He really despised sweet things.

What in this colt had upset the higher-ups of the CFP so much for them to make her take up the assignment here? With as little as she had found, there was likely nothing any of them could do about it. Or need to for that matter.

She eyed the unused fireplace in the corner of her room and idly wondered if she would be here long enough to enjoy it.

Summer was nearly over. School was right around the corner, and Orion was exhausted.

The past week he had been doing nothing but running back and forth to school and the gym. Aside from his normal activities, grabbing the required curriculum and his class schedule, which seemed to come piecemeal with the curriculum. Like they were making it up as they went along.

It was annoying that he had yet to determine his own class studies. Presumably, when he went to high school, or Secondary School as it was called here, he would have more freedom with his class courses.

He was grateful for this sunny Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Evergarden had thought it nice to take all the foals, a new batch besides himself, to one of the larger parks on the second plate.

He had no book with him today. Today was about him and relaxing, he wasn't even going to go to the gym today. Pilate would not be happy. She had begun giving speeches, speeches that had begun to sound like a feminist movement but for stallions. While he longed for revolution, he was not about to let her pull him along. It was strange though, he never expected her to want stallions and mares to be equal like that before. Did something happen? He shook his head, he was here to relax, not overthink shit.

Leaning against an old oak he watched the kids play, chasing and falling all over each other. It was cute, it reminded him a bit of those old videos on YouTube of foals just being born. All legs and no balance. This new group did not know him and had immediately tried to get him to join in on their games. It took more than a little firm denial to get them to leave him alone. But after flashing his teeth and growling the best he could, which hurt the hell out of his throat, they elected to leave him alone.

Mrs. Evergarden was over in the shade of another tree sitting on an old bench, a romance novel in her hand. There were pegasi flying about, and ponies of all ages chatting up a storm.

Peaceful.

Orion's eyes began to shut, there was an odd sound. His ear flicked. That sound happened again. Someone was in distress about something.

Cracking an eye open, he searched for the offending noise. Kids playing and falling, Mrs. Evergarden reading, a stallion pushing a colt who was protesting halfheartedly toward an alley across the street, a flight of pegasi soaring overhead. Ponies yammering away in a cafe across the way.

He frowned, something was off but his groggy mind couldn't latch onto it. Pushing himself up into a sitting position he looked around again.

Mrs. Evergarden reading, kids playing, a stallion pushing a struggling colt into an alley, a flight of-

His eyes locked onto the stallion and colt that swiftly disappeared into the alley entrance. His frown deepened. He thought he recognized the older pony and the younger for that matter.

Getting up, he looked around to see if anyone had noticed what he noticed. Nothing. There were guards a fair distance down the boulevard that ran along the side of the park, but they seemed engrossed in eyeballing another stallion who was fixing a flower bed's arrangement.

He snorted, more like eye fucking.

Turning back to the alley he saw no one there now. He shot another quick glance at Mrs. Evergarden. She still had her nose buried in her book. A blush was slowly darkening her fur. Must be getting to the steamy part.

He had taken a step before he realized it, toward the darkened path between the buildings. When had he stood up?

"Just take a peek, that's it. Make sure nothing is amiss. Besides, it's likely just a father and son taking a known shortcut."

But when he got to the entrance, he saw nothing. The alley was empty. Had he imagined it? Maybe he had dreamt it. Turning his head and thinking of leaving, his ears caught the sound of metal banging stone. He peered back into the depths and saw the alley bent in a way he hadn't noticed before.

He turned back to the park again, no one seemed to have heard anything, nor noticed his disappearance from the oak tree. The logical part of his brain told him to go right back over to his orphanage's matron and let her deal with it.

He hesitated. If he did, and it was nothing, he was going to look an absolute idiot.

"Shit…" He sighed to himself. "Fine, I'll just go in far enough to make sure it was just one of them tripping over a can or something. This is so stupid! Why am I doing this?"

His iron-shod hooves sounded loud in his ears as the noise echoed and magnified in the narrow alleyway. He should have taken them off. The rustle of his plainclothes made him keenly aware of the fabric rubbing against his fur.

In short order, and a fair amount of stumbling accompanied with some quiet cursing, he managed to get to the bend and looked around the corner. His face morphed from one of curiosity to horror.

There were no windows in this part of the corridor between brick and stone buildings, and little light to boot. But he could still clearly see Mr. Cottonridge, magic pulsing, holding the younger colt face-first against the wall. The brown pony's limbs were wrapped up in the blue magic field of the teacher, his little horn as well. The poor child's pants were being tugged down by the bigger stallion’s hands...

The colt was kicking and thrashing for all he was worth but not moving an inch.

"If you didn't always fight…so much this would be more pleasurable for you. I might even return the favor. Stop moving you cur!" His full arm slap to the side of his face sent the kid bawling but weakened. He no longer struggled.

Orion had seen enough and struck out faster than he ever thought he could.

Cottonridge's head was rocked by an overturned trash can turned metal battering ram. He had just begun fiddling with the laces on his own pants when he flew a dozen feet to crash into filthy cobblestone ground.

"Pull up your pants and run!" He shouted. He did not follow his own advice. Instead, he kept hurling various debris at the downed stallion trying his damnedest to keep him down till the colt, Bright Burst he finally remembered, got his shit together and ran.

He did indeed run, the opposite way past Mr. Cottonridge, and out into the street.

"Okay now I can get the fuc-" His head rang like a struck gong, and he found himself on the ground. Blinking sluggishly he struggled to his hooves or tried to. A pair of hands encircled his neck and he suddenly found his own magic being blocked.

"You little shit! You pathetic waste of life! Cripple!" Wheezed Cottonridge, his breath rank in his nose. The stallion's hands tightened noticeably and Orion began to struggle for breath. "You worthless pathetic little buck. Because of you, I've been reprimanded, by the Princess no less! My fellow alumni look at me with disdain! And now you ruin my playtime! You are gonna pay for this!” He hissed, spittle flying from his mouth and splattering against Orion’s face.

He tried to kick the bigger pony but found his legs bound much as Bright's had been. Punching was ineffective as well as the stallion had him pinned down and his little arms barely reached his biceps as it was.

Orion's vision swam with darkness. "I'm seriously gonna fucking die!" His mind screamed in panic as his limbs slowed in their struggle. Suddenly the hands around his neck seemed to lose all strength as a scream, sounding much like a filly, blasted into his ears. Sparks swam in his eyes as his lungs filled with air. He struggled to pull himself away from his attacker, gasping and retching almost at the same time.

He found himself still unable to stand.

"Well, that's not gonna work." His legs weren't cooperating but at least he had some distance away from the dirty bastard.

Looking back at said douche canoe he noticed him clutching between his legs, eyes bulging, staring at nothing. Behind him stood Bright Burst, panting hard, trembling like a leaf. He didn't need to be a rocket scientist to put two and two together, the colt had kicked his would-be murderer square in the jewels. Orion wanted to laugh. He wanted to cry.

What had he been thinking? Why didn't he just get someone to check for him?!

"Well what's done is done, now what do we do?" Bright looked nearly ready to bolt again, at the same time his legs looked ready to give out. Scratch that, he just landed on his rear. The colt wasn't going anywhere.

Cottonridge was trying to stand.

Grabbing a heavy piece of wood, Orion haphazardly jabbed him in the throat and then brought the whole of it down on his head as hard as he could. The choking sound abruptly stopped. The alleyway was silent except for the two panicked breaths of a pair of very worked-up colts.

Twilight had taught him a bit about the signals guard forces used in the field. Stuff her brother had talked to her about.

A red flare flew into the air with a surprisingly little amount of magic required, though he noticed with a frown it barely cleared the rooftops before exploding.

He sent up a dozen more.

"Why am I here again?"

He was in one of the many identical guard stations scattered throughout all three plates. This one was on the other side of the city from the orphanage, three blocks from the park itself.

Once the flares had gone off, it wasn't long before guards had descended on their location. It had been a whirlwind of activity, as they listened to Orion's brief statement, they slapped cuffs onto Cottonridge, Bright Burst was no help as he seemed catatonic and went where he was pushed with no struggle.

That was worrying.

After arriving at the garrison they were separated, and he was grilled for the next two hours by a mare with a jaw so large that it preceded her by three days. That was an exaggeration of course, but damn was it big.

After that, he was sat on a bench next to Bright and informed that they would be dispatching a guard to get Mrs. Evergarden.

He cringed at that. Orion had seen her face when he was hauled out the alleyway behind the colt he now sat next to, and pedo-douche extraordinaire. She looked frightened and angry and even more frightened in turn. He could only shrug his shoulders and mouth “sorry” at her as he was loaded into a carriage.

She was going to be madder than hell.

He sighed and leaned back, he just wanted to relax on his second to last Sunday. What the hell was he thinking?! Even the guards were mad at him, and he really couldn't blame them. This was an utterly retarded bonehead stunt he had done. But, he had managed to save someone, even if that someone then turned around and saved him.

"Thank you…."

The quiet tone would have gone nearly unheard had he not been sitting so close.

"Oh uh….you're welcome, I guess?" He was not prepared to deal with a trauma victim, his throat hurt like hell from being crushed and the better part of two hours of interrogation.

Bright Burst was in his Theory and Control class now that he remembered who he was. His grades had been flagging like Orion's, but before school let out he suddenly seemed to improve and was getting high marks. He suspected he knew why that was now.

"This has been going on for a while hasn't it?" He winced. "Way to hit the nail with the proverbial hammer ya jackass."

"Yes…" whispered back the demure colt. Oh boy, this kid was really fucked. But what could he expect? Happiness and sunshine? The world didn't work like that and this poor bastard was in for a long road to recovery.

"Oh Jesus, sorry man." Silence. Neither noticed the flash of light coming from deeper within the station.

"Mrs. Evergarden, please get your ass here soon." This was far too awkward for him. What was he to say? “There there? Chin up old chap?”

"My herd is gonna be so mad at me…." Tears dribbled from Burst's eyes. Orion’s own bulged in shock.

"The fuck? Why would they be pissed at you? If anything they should want to castrate that fucko with a blowtorch. He took advantage of his position and power and abused you. None of this is on you!" He clamped his teeth shut.

He had no idea why he was bothering. He wasn't a therapist. "Shut your mouth, you idiot. Just keep quiet and wait for Evergarden."

"My mothers were….upset about my grades, he….he..he said he could help me...if….", He lapsed into silence. The tears still coming in fat drops down his cheeks.

"Oh come on!" He needed to shut up, why wasn't he shutting up?! "The asshole likely made your grades look bad to soften you up. Use your parent's disappointment to break down your defenses. I have very little doubt that he didnt orchestrated a situation where you would be pliable to his disgusting desires and took advantage. You hold no fucking fault in that!"

"But…" the colt was looking at him now, tears glistening on his cheeks and a puzzled look on his face.

Orion tried to stop there, but his mouth was on a roll.

"If you seriously think your parents, your herd, is gonna judge you for something that you had no fucking control over and was most obviously the victim of, then you're being dramatic! Yes, you should have said something, but you were scared of upsetting them. Right?!" The colt gaped at him. "If your parents truly love you, and judging by all the things you gushed about during Hearth’s Warming, and what you guys do together, I'd say they do. They are not gonna be mad. Broken-hearted for sure because they are going to be blaming themselves for not seeing the signs, but not mad at you."

It was true, and it did make him a little jealous. It seemed every other weekend Bright Burst and his family were doing something together. His parents abandoned him to his grandparents, and they didn't do a whole lot when he was young. Instead, he learned to machine and survive in the woods.

They were always buying Bright new things for his locker, his satchel. He had even seen his dad give him a big hug one day when he was coming into school. This kid's family loved the hell out of him.

The brown colt was frowning now, staring at the floor.

"They cannot blame you for this. No one can. This….man this fucking sucks. You got put through something that should never happen to any foal, anyone at all." He shifted his eyes away from the Bright. "Listen, this is a moment in life that will define who you will be." He grinned and looked back at him. "Let me ask you something, how good did it feel to kick him so hard his testicles that they likely haven’t even descended yet?"

He wasn't sure if he was going to answer him. But then a smile grew on the brown pony's face. A small one but it was there, and rather wicked to boot.

"Really good. I...I was so scared, and when...when I turned and saw him on you...I don't know, something came over me. I had to do something. Kicking him seemed my only option." The smile grew into a grin. "He squealed like a foal!"

He laughed. Full-on laughter echoed into the empty station hallway.

Orion gave a grin of his own. "He's gonna be okay." The mirth on his face melted away.

"Just remember, you are going to have nightmares. You're gonna carry this for the rest of your life." He hated reminding him of what was likely to come, what he had seen on tv and in documentaries, but he wasn't about to let the kid deal with the shit without forewarning. "There are going to be therapists, let them help you, and remember you are not alone. You have friends. You have your family. They are all on your side and will be there to help you carry that burden, and remember how good it felt to kick that fucking asshole in the jewels. Remember what that felt like."

That got a smile and a nod from the colt, it was surprisingly firm. From brief, very brief, interactions in class, his fellow student was notorious for being soft and demure. The expression on his face now was hard. He wouldn’t be taking shit from anyone after this nightmare.

It was heartening to see.

Before either could say more, there were shouts and arguing coming from the front. The clatter of a bunch of hooves, then a flash. More shouts as something or someone thudded into the door.

"You have got to be kidding me…" It could only be the press. They must have gotten wind of the incident, and were now trying to force their way into the building.

He bit the inside of his cheek, a habit he had started to develop over the last few months when he worried over something. He had to get Bright out of here before they came and plastered his poor ass all over the papers.

"Fucking vultures!"

"Umm….Bright go find a closet to hide in!" He hissed at him. The colt just stared at him in confusion. "Don't look at me like an idiot! Get your ass in a closet now! These fuckers will ruin your life, now move!" He pushed him up and off the bench and practically hurled him down the hall. Finally the dumbass got the hint and booked it down the hall to a T and turned left.

Putting him out of his mind for the time being he started searching for something to bar the door with when said doors banged open and ponies of the press poured into the hall stumbling and falling over one another.

"Well shit."

Compromised mostly of mares, as seemed to be the norm, there was a surprising number of stallions in that jumbled lot. Picking themselves up off the floor several turned around, horns a light to shut and shore up the entrances as the rest turned and zeroed in on him.

"Aw, crap…." The sparkle in their eyes at spotting him spoke volumes about who they believed was the victim of this horrendous event.

The roar of dozens of voices washed over him, all asking questions and demanding answers.

Channeling a spell through his horn, he was going to have to buy Twilight something good for all those low-level spells she crammed into him, and he shouted.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Boomed across the mass of bodies pressing him for answers. The silence afterward was almost as deafening as his roar.

"No, I'm not the victim. Do I sound it to you?" He answered the last barely intelligible question he had heard before the buzz of words overlapped one another. "Nor will you be finding out today who that is."

Where were the fucking guards?

A mare with double chins, and the look of one that spent more time in front of the buffet instead of walking, used her bulk to push aside the others. Her chin wobbled as she began to yell at him, but he only had eyes for the buttons on her yellow blazer, they looked ready to kill as they strained under the pressure.

"Today a crime was committed! Against a foal! My readers have the right to know! You're just a colt! Who are you to bar us from finding the truth!" She bellowed and walked forward to pass him by.

Something snapped in Orion's mind. He forgot about the guard, his size, and even the fact that he didn't want to be there. This whore reminded him of every terrible thing that had happened to his grandparents when he had become national news. The ridicule, the accusations. The last he had heard before being sentenced was they couldn't even go into town anymore without angry stares and mutterings. They had become outcasts. It had been the last time they had spoken to him.

"Shut your fat fucking mouth lady!" He roared into her face. She recoiled as if slapped. “"Your readers have a right to know”," he mocked. "They have the right to know something terrible involving a foal and a sexual deviant happened today and that's it!"

Another mare spoke up as Miss Eats-For-Four rocked backwards under his onslaught in shock. This one had one of those press caps on. The straw-colored hat looked ridiculous.

"But shouldn't our readers know who perpetrated such a heinous crime!?" Many gave their own noises of agreement.

"No."

That just made the whole lot of them erupt. Orion crafted the spell from earlier and shouted over the top of them once more.

"SCREAMING AT A CHILD OF NINE ISN'T GOING TO GET YOU THE ANSWERS YOU WANT!"

In the back of his mind, a small, very small, part of him was pleading that he should shut the fuck up. Screaming that he had no business doing this!

But lizard brain was in control once again now.

"You want to know why you're not going to get anything today?" That got their attention even if their voices were still yelling, trying to be heard in the din. "Think of it from the victim's perspective, you jackasses! Their family is going to get harassed day and night by “inquiring ponies” with the need to know. That family is going to have to relive this event every single day of what happened. Of their failure to protect their baby, which is no fault of their own mind. Then afterward, folks around them will begin to treat them differently. They will have to put up with the knowledge everyone will know, and look at them with pity." He was breathing raggedly now, his throat that hurt before was now reminding him of the fact that fingers had been around them not too long ago, crushing the life out of him.

"Then there's the perp's family. Do you really think they know? Odds are they have no idea what's going on, but your reporting will make them pariahs and victims in their own right. No one will want to be around them, and they will not deserve that treatment because one of them hid a secret from them. They will suffer for your fifteen minutes of fame for having broken the story first just so you can feel adoration from your readers." The mocking tone returned to his voice toward the end.

Silence reigned. Taking advantage of the stunned stares, he picked up a fallen lampstand. The head had been shattered but the pole was still sturdy, and the broken end made for a good impromptu spear.

He squared his shoulders and stance, casting a baleful glare over them all as he held his makeshift weapon in both hands.

"And I promise you, you will pay for every step you make past me. You will leave them alone. YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?” He roared into their collective faces.

They gaped. In awe or fear, he really couldn't tell, all he knew was he was starting to see red. Suddenly, as one, they all dropped to their knees no longer looking at him. Keeping one eye on them, he shot a quick look over his shoulder. Suddenly that little voice in the back of his head had become very very loud.

Behind him stood the herald of the sun. Princess Celestia, glaring down upon them all.

At the sight of her, it had all come crashing down. His anger at the vultures looking to earn a quick buck vanished, and the realization of what exactly he had been doing, about to do, had hit home with all the force of a hurricane.

"The fuck is wrong with me?!" That question echoed in his head as every joint in his body locked up momentarily.

When she had heard what had happened in her city. Her Nation. It took everything in her power not to rush out of Day Court with little more than a fair thee well. It wasn’t the first time something like this happened. Truth be told it was not uncommon to see reports from the cities across her land speak of such vile atrocities. But to have it happen in her city, so close to her seat of power… Abominable.

She forced herself to stay. Partly as there was nothing she could do now. The aggressor was already in custody thankfully. So she stayed and dismissed the Court at the end of the session with as much pomp and circumstance as was allowed. She would not let ponies around her know what was going on before she had a chance to create her own narrative for this terrible event.

Her first instinct once she left the Hall, had been to teleport into the dungeon and flay the stallion alive! Use her magic to keep him alert and breathing for as long as possible as she cracked his bones and lit fire to his nerves, and made sure he felt everything! Everything.

It had taken her the better part of two hours before she reigned herself into some semblance of royal control.

Seeing Cottonridge bloody and beaten in the medical wing of the prison had surprised her. His head had been cracked open with blunt force. There were several gashes that had been stitched up, no healing spells would be administered until he awoke and the truth was rooted out. Another mystery had been his testicles, they had shown signs of recent blunt force trauma. They were the obvious signs of a beating, she had thought the city guard had taken personal umbrage with him, and she couldn't help but not be upset in the slightest about it.

She then almost burst into laughter when she found out that two colts had brought low this villain despite the knowledge that the pair had been victims of the stallion in one form or another, did nothing to sober her humor.

Leaving the wretch to his suffering she then found out where the pair were being held and who exactly they were as she had only found out that there had been an incident at all.

Orion's name stood out like a bonfire in darkness.

Celestia was surprised that he had been involved, but not what he had attempted to do. Despite his rough exterior, he was showing incredible signs of being a courageous stallion one day. This was just another example. The fact that not only had he saved Bright Burst from further abuse but managed to inflict the majority of the damage on the stallion actually made her somewhat proud, and concerned by that feeling as that had been a very dangerous undertaking for a colt of nine years old. For a male of any age to do.

Teleporting into a room that had been reserved for such spells she paused as she heard voices just down the hall from her door. Foal voices. One of which belonging to the very familiar vocals of a black colt with a fiery temper.

She listened to the exchange for longer than she would have normally.

The way Orion spoke to Bright, the inflection in his voice it sounded as if he knew exactly what the colt was going through. As if he had experienced it himself. Was there something she missed in the original reports of him? She would have to take a closer look at the records of his life prior to coming to Equestria.

As he pulled a laugh from the colt she smiled. It was good advice, though a little rough and most certainly not something she wanted to be taught, encouragement of that sort could lead to disaster.

The sounds of other voices drifted to her suddenly, silencing both ponies in the hall. She frowned. She knew who they were. The Press. Oh, how she loathed them. They could find the most minute wrinkle in an otherwise happy event and make it solely about the wrinkle. Once began it was difficult to steer back onto the original story with any real success.

They would surely ruin these foals' lives. She grabbed the door handle. That's when Orion acted in a way that had stilled her. The way he had behaved before, with her during her request, had given her the view that he would always look out for himself. Always with his best interest in mind over all others.

This. This was something vastly different. In a flash, he had Bright rushing past her door and down the hall into a closet.

When the mob of ponies breached the doors she could hear him bar their path. The courage!

But the following shouting match between him and the crowd of press ponies left her with that dark feeling she had before when they had begun their conversation about her student and his role in her life.

He spoke as if he knew them for what they were. Had experienced it no less. Even championing the victimhood of Mr. Cottonridge's family. It was a very valid point, they likely knew nothing of what had been going on.

Again that strange mix of pride and anger coursed through her. Pride over the young colt and his willingness to stand for what he saw was right. Anger that her ponies would not assert themselves as the adults they were and were instead choosing to bicker with him as if they all were foals in the play yard.

Not for the first time she had lamented the fact that the ponies of Equestria had proven to be increasingly soft. It galled her no end the complaintive attitudes the descendants of a once mighty and courageous people held. Instead of action, they were prone to whining about anything and everything.

Celestia suspected it was her fault they were like this, and she saw no current path to repair it.

Her momentary lapse into thought came to a screeching halt when she noticed that Orion had quite succinctly declared that he would start hurting ponies that tried to get by him.

She fairly rushed out of the room just barely keeping her face a frozen mask of anger and not of alarm. Of course, he was the last to notice her. Shock registered on his face, then anger, finally it resolved into a frown so deep she thought his face would really stay like that.

Tossing the temporary weapon to the side he marched past her to sit on the bench in silence. She only caught one sentence from him, barely above a whisper.

"I'm a fuckin' moron…."

She frowned at that and turned to disband the press from the premises.

"I will need to get him tested," she resolved. His mannerisms were far too strange for her to ignore any longer.

"Well, that was a complete bust." Grumbled an older stallion, Sun Herald. The slightly pudgy stallion stomped away with the rest of his fellow members of the press from the front of the station.

Many voiced their agreements. Nothing would be going into their papers tomorrow. The Princess had ordered it, and nopony wanted to cost their position in the industry by trying to go against her orders.

"The way that rapscallion spoke to me! To think there is a foal, a colt, out in the world with a mouth like that!" Howled Fair Print.

The portly mare from Sun Times did as she always did, forcing herself to the forefront of the group.

"The nerve of him! Telling us what to do. His herd should get a sternly written letter. I might even consider placing charges against him. Ponies like him should learn there are consequences to threatening others!"

Not many were in agreement with that last bit, though a few made mention that it was odd for a colt his age to be so fierce. It was left unspoken that every stallion known was notorious for a lack of overall aggression.

Oh there were cases. Many in the crowd of press that drifted toward the center of the city had reported on those strange incidents when they had occurred, but those reports were normally written about the effect after the cause.

Some stallions had lost their wits at the loss of a foal or a partner in their herd. It was quite understandable.

But this unknown black colt had been quite literally both. Right from the moment they first managed to enter that hall that little pony had become the wall that halted their progress.

Petal Grace had paid attention to it all. Being a junior member of the journalistic elite, she had been regulated to listening rather than being allowed to ask her own questions. But it did afford her something either many never learned or remembered, she listened.

And as she often found, she learned far more than what was openly said.

"Did anypony find it odd the way he spoke?" Head down and flipping through her notepad, she was slow to realize that she was now the center of attention.

Sun looked at her with a skeptical eye. "What do you mean, Rook?"

She blinked in surprise and coughed into her palm.

"Sorry, I mean his speech. Did none of you find it odd?"

It had been the very first thing she noticed the moment he opened his mouth. The word “fuck” was not a word many ponies used. She had thought she had misheard till he said it again in variation.

This colt barely sounded like a Canterlonian. She detected a little bit of Manehattan in there, but what stood out and barely tickled her memory was Marussian. The foal was a foreigner.

"I know he was rude! Is what he is!" Interrupted Fair. She was still seething, anger increasing once attention had been pulled from her. Once it seemed all eyes were on her again she went into a tirade about the consequences that colt would have once she got back to the office.

Petal tuned her out. At first, annoyed at the mare's constant need for attention and self bravado, she began to believe it a blessing.

In her mind, she could see an opinion piece forming. One that would address them, the journalists, and the way they conducted their investigations and questionings.

A niggling thought came with it. Who was the flame-maned colt that so bravely stood against more than a dozen adult ponies, and where did he come from?

As she continued to ignore the hefty mare's increasingly abhorrent ideas of punishment, Petal Grace began to write down everything she remembered of the little pony. She would figure out where he came from. Who his herd is.