Devil thrust his staff towards Out, who nimbly dodged each subsequent attack. She was fast, and her reflexes good. That much was evident to him. Still, if he could outmaneuver her or she made a mistake, he might be able to land a decisive hit.

Out’s punches focused entirely on landing a solid hit on Devil’s staff. It was strong, but Out was stronger. She had to be. And with the staff out of the way, the stallion was nothing but a sitting duck. She kept on dipping and dodging, only putting on the pressure when Devil made a mistake. Then finally, an opening happened as she rolled out of a strike and found the staff right there. She swung her hoof with her devastating right cross…

BONG!

Before recoiling as the punch landed and sent the pain right back into her hoof. She fell back, holding it close. “Dangit, dangit, dangit! What the hell is in that thing??”

“What? It’s just enchanted rebar.”

“Hey! I said, no magic, you-Gah!!” She flinched as she tried applying pressure to that hoof, only to wince in pain.

“Out, we’re Celestial Avatars. We’re literally brimming with magic. You had to have used your magic before everything, right?”

“Why the-Ngh! Why would I use magic? I got my hooves to take care of everything!”

“Yeah? Like right now?”

“Shut up! This is your fault!”

“Don’t blame me when you have a perfectly good weapon RIGHT THERE!!” He pointed to the pincer shield that came out of her cleansing, gathering dust in the corner.

“I don’t… Need… A stupid… Weapon…!”

“Fine. Be without magic. But when we have to fight something and you’re just breaking your hooves on it, don’t blame me.” He quickly slung her other hoof over her shoulder.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you in the barn. You’re going to get some rest until that heals.”

“I can’t. Promised AJ I’d help her with the bucking.”

“Well, how are you doing that when you only have 3 hooves, genius?”

She stared at him, eyes squinted as he brought her inside. “Are you always such a writhing pain in the hole?”

“Apparently, it developed as I got older. Helps that my teacher was too.”

“Remind me to punch them when I can feel my hoof again.”

Out was sour. Not only was she relying on one hoof for everything, but it was also her less dominant hoof. She refused help from Devil, who simply went back home, as well as everyone else who offered. She was going to train herself to be capable without her strong hoof.

She looked over at Applejack, who went downstairs at the crack of dawn. “Sorry about not being able to help, AJ. I adjusted my sleep schedule for nothing.”

“Ah, shoot. It ain’t a big deal, Box. Ya gotta get better like Big Mac, or else ya can’t help later. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this orchard all by myself!” She huffed her nose proudly before walking out.

Out Boxer felt pumped by AJ’s energy. She was right. There were no limitations that would stop her from achieving her dreams. She was going to be the strongest in both hooves! And it all would start with the apple juice in front of her. She slowly reached out to grab it… Only to knock it over in a misjudged attempt at grabbing it.

“Dangit!!”

She walked over to grab a small towel to clean the mess, only to slip on the juice and fall face first.

“Dnghht!!”

Getting up and cleaning up the mess, she walked over and tossed the rag again. “Okay, starting now. No more falls-”

“HEY, OUT!”

Apple Bloom's loud scream caused a reflex which, when translated in her state, lead to another fall to the ground.

“Out Boxer, are you okay??”

“... DANGIIIIT!!!”

Devil was chuckling to himself as he heard the faint echoes of his fellow Avatar. There was something oddly satisfying about being correct that he always tried to attain. Then again, it didn’t feel that difficult to be correct when working with Out Boxer.

“... Okay, that’s a little mean…” Devil muttered as he shook that demeaning thought out of his head. “She’s at least trying to overcome her problems. I can respect that.”

Yeah, at least she doesn’t run from her problems, that voice in the back of his head commented. Met plenty of people like that…

Devil looked up from polishing his staff, visibly confused. “How could you have met anyone like that? You’re a voice in my head!”

You’ll understand when you’re older… Let’s go get some lunch.

“Yeah, sure I could eat.” Nodding, the stallion spun his staff and then slapped it on his back. He slowly walked out of the library, then paused five steps out.

“Wait, did you mean me, you bundle of horseapples???”

As the days passed by, Devil saw his companion go from a burly but presentable mare to a disheveled and exhausted one that could be taken out by a stiff breeze. She smelled, she had food in her mane, and her coat was dirty. A small part of him felt a smugness start to swell, but something inside pulled him back to just staring at her.

“What??” Out shouted at Devil, who looked away from his companion and towards the stage at Applejack. It turns out, AJ’s stubborn nature was having effects on her as well. She looked exhausted from nonstop applebucking, and everypony could see that. Still, she took her award and headed out, leaving the ponies to disperse. Steeling himself, he turned to face his companion.

“Out, if you need help, I can-”

“Buck off, pervert. I’m not letting you bathe me.”

Devil stepped forward. “I wasn’t asking that! I’m asking if you need help doing literally anything. You look like hot garbage.” He leaned in to sniff the air around her, cringing. “And smell like it…”

“Oh, am I not pretty enough for you, lover boy??” Her scowl grew. “I can handle all this by myself!!”

Before Devil could try and argue, Out stomped off, stumbling because of her injured hoof. All he could do was sigh in frustration.

You can’t really be mad at her…

“I’m not mad. I’m frustrated with her. She’s so headstrong and just… Ugh…” He turned and moved towards Twilight.

It’s a complicated situation. She’s clearly a wo-... mare seeking independence.

“From what?? She’s already on her own!”

Once again, it’s complicated.

“Ugh, forget you…”

“U-Ummm, Devil…?” Twilight looked at the stallion, slightly nervous. “Are you… Okay? You’ve been mumbling to yourself.”

Devil flinched and nervously chuckled. “N-Nothing. Just… Ruminating on Out and AJ.”

Twilight nodded with a slightly nervous expression. “Y-Yeah… I know she wants to do everything on her own, but…”

“It’s not healthy…”

The unicorn nodded slightly. “What should I do…?”

Devil shrugged and leaned his back against the walls of the town hall. “Try and reach her, I guess? I doubt she’s going to listen though. Both of them are stubborn.”

“Ugh, I know… She’s such a great friend, but sweet Celestia…”

“Yeah…” His vision sharpened, and his voice seemed t dip in pitch a bit. “But if your friend was suffering… Would you give up at the first sign of resistance…?”

Twilight looked surprised at the sudden shift, but the stallion who was apparently her roommate got back up and walked off. “I’ll wait for her. It’ll be a moment, but she will break. You need to figure out what you want to do.”

With that, Twilight was left to mull over what Devil said. Was it right to just let her destroy herself? But this is her choice… She shook her head and sighed.

Time passed for the two, and both of them found themselves hit with a wave of troubles. Devil had gotten smashed by Rainbow Dash once again thanks to Applejack’s poor timing on a stunt, the entire town being poisoned by some tainted muffins, again, thanks to Applejack, and a stampede of bunnies that Devil Dust just barely managed to handle. Guess who was behind it.

Out, meanwhile, only degenerated further, tearing into her food with bare teeth and shattering jars before using her good hoof to smear its contents on anything possible. Any attempts at reason by the others were basically off the table, but one member of the Apple family still tried to make an attempt to help the injured boxer.

It was a week since the injury, and Out had just slipped on another mess she’d made, falling on her back. She didn’t understand, she would’ve normally healed by now! Why was this so difficult?? Her mind kept thinking about Devil’s words and seeing his smug face. She gritted her teeth in rage, trying to get up.

“H-Hey, Out? Do ya need-?”

Out finally snapped. “I told you I don’t need any help!!! I’m fine handling it on my own so just BUZZ OFF!!” She turned to meet the smug stallion’s gaze, only to find that it wasn’t Devil Dust.

It was Apple Bloom, who was now shaking in place and holding back tears.

Realizing what she’d just done, she immediately stumbled out words to try and apologize. “A-Apple Bloom, I’m sorry! I didn’t-!”

But it was too late. Apple Bloom ran out the door crying, leaving the large mare by herself with what she’d done. Out felt the impact of it, and she collapsed onto the ground. Her soul felt broken. All this time, trying to be a good role model for the filly while helping the Apples, and what did she do? Yell. Her mind went back to her line of logic.

It’s HIS fault… He made me do this. If he’d just admitted… If he just…

She gritted her teeth hard. Nothing he could’ve done would’ve made her trust him. He was scum, just like every stallion she ever knew. Just like… Just like her…

“Happy now?”

She looked up. There Devil Dust stood, his face not in the usual carefree grin, but that ominous dark tone. She scowled as he approached.

“What? Here to rub it in? Here to say I told you so?? Well guess what, you’re STILL wrong! I don’t need anypony or any magic weapon! I’m strong! I’m-!!”

SMACK!

Without prompting or warning, Devil sent a powerful slap across Out’s cheek. Her eyes went wide as if she didn’t believe what had just happened. She lied forward on the ground while the stallion growled and began barking back.

“You done making excuses?? Cause never have I seen a mare make so many excuses for the fact that she doesn’t want help!! I don’t care what kind of life you had to lead you to this, cause if you’re yelling at fillies to prove a point, you’ve LOST!! You’re not strong! You’re WEAK!!!” He grabbed her by the head and shouted. “WEAK PONIES BULLY OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THE WEAKER ONES!!!”

Out stared in complete shock. This wasn’t the carefree, awkward pervert stallion he knew. This stallion was aggressive, pushy, and not afraid to be blunt. And the worst part of it all was that he was completely correct. She did lose. She was weak. She needed help. And those facts caused her to shed a few tears.

This other side of Devil didn’t care, however. He just dragged her out of the kitchen and up the stairs, where she proceeded to run a hot bath, strip Out Boxer down, and toss her inside. As he stepped out of the bathroom, he turned and pointed. “Soak in that and don’t move until I come back. I’m going to clean up the kitchen.”

Out said nothing, only sinking a little in the bath as the warm, soapy bubbles soothed her body for the first time. She thought about what he’d said again, wondering how she could probably be wrong. She still didn’t like him, and he was going to pay for slapping her, but she smiled slightly as she considered how it helped her.

Outside, Twilight could see as Devil carrying off a bag of garbage to the trash can. His tired, angry expression showed her that he was in that weird attitude of his. She slowly approached him, a slight smile on her face.

“So what was that about waiting until the breaking point?”

“Devil” eyed his roommate. “I did wait. She broke. And then she broke my limit by screaming at a kid.”

Chuckling with a sigh, she nodded. “Well, I hope she’s willing to at least listen to you for a bit. I don’t think Applejack is going to be happy when she wakes up.”

“Yeah, well neither am I. I’m going to kick her flanks up and down the orchard as part of a promise.”

“Well…” Twilight tapped her chin. “If you do teach her to use her shield, aren’t you not gonna be able to do that?”

“Oh, trust me…” Devil held up his homemade staff. “I’ve got more than a lifetime’s worth of experience with this. If she does beat me, it’s just because I’m going easy.”

Twilight giggled and nudged him. “We’re gonna finish up here soon. What do you want for dinner?”

“Ah…” Devil looked up. “You know what? Might put a pin on that. I’m gonna stay here until Out heals up. It shouldn’t take too long if I’m doing it.”

“Alright… Just remember to take care of yourself.”

“Always. You too… Brains.”

Twilight smiled at him before returning to work. For all of his faults, for all of his oddities, she couldn’t help but appreciate her roommate. He always made sure her life was a bit interesting, and she couldn’t really imagine life without him…

Life without Devil… She thought for a moment about it, then shook her head. I don’t… I don’t think I’d like it… No…

Author's Note

I don't know why I came back to this. It sucks, and I want it to die.