Burning Sins

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!"

Nathan widened his eyes as a voice came from his right, his stupor and confusion broken as he found one of the many techno-colored horse people standing right next to him, hands on the barrel of a large cannon mounted on two wheels. Seeing that the large maw of that cannon was locked onto him, and it was only a few feet away, Nathan didn't have the time to react or reach for his own weapon before the cannon unleashed a colorful blast of confetti-riddled horror upon him. The concussive force of the blast was enough to send him flying backwards, but the condensed ball of party favors burrowed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and no doubt blasting a hole into his center. Clutching his chest as confetti, streamers, and various small party decorations fluttered down around him, Nathan scooted himself backwards as he tried to right himself, his body going into fight or flight whilst old habits and muscle memory kicked in.

A light blue missile was approaching him from above, a rainbow trailing behind it. Scrambling forward to avoid it, he narrowly dodged the body as it kicked up the dirt behind him. Seeing his backpack a few meters away, he crawled for it in hopes to retrieve anything inside that could help him, grabbing it just as that same cyan-colored blur slammed into his back. Yelling out as something wrapped around his midsection, Nathan felt himself being carried upwards. Thinking fast, he reached into the bag and grabbed a pocket knife. Flicking it open, he jammed it into anything he could reach over his shoulder, the blade piercing something organic as a cry of pain came with it. Grunting at the ringing in his ear, he yelped as he descended back to the ground, crashing through a few tables while the blue body tumbled elsewhere. Kicking off the broken pieces of the table, Nathan threw the knife into the crowd, hitting one of those noble-looking Ponies in the arm while the ones in strange golden armor rushed him. Flinching down as a torrent of strange energy went sailing over his own head, Nathan was caught off guard when another one of the Ponies tackled him to the ground. Struggling with a very strong orange mare, Nathan reached to his side into the bag, bringing out a metal bottle he used for water in his travels. Flinging it upwards, his strike was blocked and his arm was forced above his head. Gritting his teeth, he threw his other arm upwards. Punching her in the jaw, Nathan got his legs up and shoved her off of him. Scrambling to his feet, he found himself backing up to the same cannon that hit him before, the concussive force of the blast throwing him forward this time as a searing pain coursed through his spine. At this point, whatever these creatures were saying to him or each other was tuned out. Coupled with the ringing, Nathan knew that his present location wasn't safe. He had to either grab his stuff and leave or stand his ground and fight.

The second part was difficult, given the pink mare with the cannon keeps surprising him and blasting him into the dirt. Seeing as he was now in the center of the party, he was completely surrounded. It was like old times, now. Him against the world. He had to fight his way out the conservative and creative way. First things first...

"FIRE IN THE-!!!"

The pink mare was cut off as a fist scraped across her muzzle, throwing her away from the cannon as Nathan took control of it. With the fuse still lit, he used his foot to kick its aim towards the crowd of Ponies. With a dangerous blast of party favors clearing him the first few feet of a path, Nathan found his arms being restrained by those armored Ponies while another was holding a set of cuffs. Kicking his foot forward, he pushed the Pony into the bushes while Nathan headbutted the soldier Pony on his left. With his arm freed, he socked the other one in the jaw, throwing him over his shoulders into another table. Running for his bag, he scooped up his things and made a break for it while the numbers of present guards were low. Jumping over a few shrubs and into the thicket, he made his way around the unknown area as he realized he was lost in an unfamiliar castle. Heading for the only available entry inside, he hopped through a window just as the guards caught up with him. Sprinting through the hallways, he slammed or bypassed several maid and butler Ponies, trying to find his way downwards so he could escape the growing armada of strong-looking stallions and mares. Seeing a door ajar at the end of the corridor, he ripped it open and jumped inside, taking a moment to breathe and nurse his wounds.

Sluggishly kneeling down to sit, Nathan brought his hand up to his chest, coughing slightly as he drenched his hand in red. That cannon really ripped him up, and considering the dampness in his back, he suspected the blast in his back also ripped open another large gash. He needed to stop and think this through. This situation was aberrant at best and completely screwed at worst. He had to get his head on straight and figure out what was happening...

Moments earlier, he was walking through his own property, collecting wood to continue building the barn out behind his house. He had gone through the same path multiple times that day, but just as the sun set, a strange and sudden breeze swept over him, his vision turning some sort of pinkish rainbow in that instant the wind came. Then, the next thing he knew, he was standing in a clearing staring at humanoid Ponies.

Was he tripping on something? Is he in some sort of gang shootout and is just hallucinating?

"Search the area. Find the Changeling and detain it before it gets loose outside of the castle."

Nathan grumbled as he shifted himself to hide behind the door as it swung open. With the guard coming and looking both ways, he turned and walked back out, leaving the door open for Nathan to peek through. Multiple guards were sweeping the halls trying to find him. He couldn't really see all of them, but from the numbers he saw out there already, there was at least two dozen in the hall he was in right now.

"Anything?"

"No. No traces of magic anywhere. The creature must have escaped to the upper levels."

"The maids told us he went this way, though. Think he might have jumped out the window?"

"Yeah, probably. Can never be too sure with these... whatever they are."

"Whatever they are? C'mon, Private. It's obviously a Changeling. Just a straggler who somehow evaded Shining Armor's spell. Didn't do a good job trying to disguise itself."

Nathan rose an eyebrow at the accusation. What the hell is a Changeling? And who is Shining Armor?

Nathan watched them patrol the hallways for a few minutes, attempting to find a pattern in their search. It proved fruitless. Their movements were erratic, completely unpredictable. He'll have no luck finding a way out from the inside of the castle. Pulling himself up, he ignored the protesting pain in his torso as he lumbered for the other end of the room he hid in. Coming to a window, he pursed his lips as he opened it and looked out. The courtyards seemed to be made from the protrusions of the mountain the city was attached to while the ground level was facing towards the multiple districts beyond the castle. Where the hell was he? And how is he gonna get out of the city? Even if he makes it out of the castle, there's no way he'd be able to just climb his way down the mountain without the very high chance of him tripping up on a rock and falling to his death.

Well, first things first, he had to escape this deranged castle. He wasn't safe so long as he stayed here.

Climbing out the window, Nathan ducked down on the other side, keeping a low profile as he moved around the base of the tower he was in. Coming up to a corner, he stopped just before another window, peering through as he heard voices from inside.

"C'mon, girls! He can't have gotten far! He had to have gone this way!"

Nathan cursed as he saw that blue rainbow horse flying about inside. Other Ponies, excluding the pink one he punched in the face, followed after her.

"Now, hold yer horses, Rainbow, we're comin'."

"Are you sure it went this way, Rainbow Dash?"

"Totally. There's no other way out except this hallway, and the front gate is heavily guarded. No way it could get out without flying, and it didn't have any wings."

"It was still disguised, Rainbow. It could easily revert back and use its natural wings to fly away."

"Yeah, well... Shoot! I didn't think of that! I'll head outside to look for it in the air!"

Nathan widened his eyes, pulling back from the window and hugging the wall as this "Rainbow Dash" flew past him, taking off with its stream of colors following behind it. Watching it fly upwards to the top of the castle, Nathan glanced back into the castle as the other Ponies continued on, conversing as they went.

"Well, at least Dash has got surveillance. C'mon, girls. We gotta keep moving."

"Y'all know what that thing was, Twilight? Ah'm assumin' it was just another Changeling, but... Ah never seen one that looked like that before."

The purple Unicorn horse slowed to a stop as she hung her head in thought, her finger coming up to her chin as she pulled some blinds back with a strange, purple aura coming from her horn.

"I'm not sure, Applejack. I was thinking the same thing, but... Princess Celestia seemed to be just as confused as the rest of us when we saw it. I was thinking she'd be a bit more defensive, given what she had went through as opposed to the rest of us, but she looked as if she didn't even know what she was looking at."

"Well, she has been in a Changeling cocoon throughout those dreadful hours earlier today. I'd be anything but out of my mind at the thought of any more of those beasties coming back and covering me with that nasty slime, darling."

Nathan's eyebrows narrowed as he heard more and more about these Changelings. Transforming? Slime? He was perfectly dry all around. He had no slime coming off of him...

Talk about an insult...

"I'm just glad Fluttershy isn't here. After the wedding, she was quick to go back to Ponyville."

"Can't say I blame the girl. Even Ah'm still shakin' from all that hoopla, and even now, it ain't over. The Changelings are still inside the castle, especially after all that."

"At least we only have to worry about one. C'mon, let's keep looking."

The three Ponies looked around the halls as Nathan retreated from the window again, taking a few breaths as he faced forward once more. Crossing over a small junction in the palace yards, he made his way into some sort of large hedge maze. Good and bad for him. He'll get lost in here easily, but at least these armored horses will, too. Placing a hand on his stomach as he could feel the blood leaking from him, the human cleared his throat as he moved on, trying to ignore the pain and stifle the blood loss as much as possible. Passing out here is the worst thing that can happen to him. Who knows what these things will do to him if they got their hands on him? Thankfully, he didn't have to traverse the maze far to reach another exit, and with a stroke of good luck, it was near the main entrance. He kept himself under cover the whole way, as that blue horse was still flying about overhead looking for him. One wrong step and he would be caught in her crosshairs, and considering how fast she was, he didn't want to be thrown into the dirt by her again.

Coming out of the hedge maze to the last corner before the bridge, Nathan peeked around to find the drawbridge was heavily guarded. Several squadrons were posted there, keeping the only way out on lockdown. Cursing under his breath, he rested against the wall, head hung in thought as he tried to come up with another way to escape. With the guards grouped up in his way and several more patrols behind him, he was beyond antsy. Only this last obstacle remained and he was out of the thick of it. In his eagerness to move, he had unknowingly been standing in the open without aerial cover for far too long, and his heart stopped when he heard a tomboyish voice above call him out.

"There he is! He's down there!!"

Nathan's attention shot upwards, the cyan Pegasus pointing down at him from near the top of the castle. The guards standing at the gate all shifted their gazes towards the human, their natural stance turned aggressive as they charged straight for him. When he realized he was about to be assaulted from two different directions, both equally lethal, instinct took over, and he bolted away from the guards and the blue mare back towards the maze. Shoving and tearing down things such as statues, sculptures, and benches to slow his pursuers, he was pleasantly surprised to find even hardened veterans were slightly clumsy. One after another, they either fell, stumbled, or had to go around the fallen ornaments to continue the chase. Thankfully, Nathan managed to put some distance between himself and the guards to be able to lose them around the corner, but the same couldn't be said about the blue Pegasus coming down from above. With a powerful beat of her wings, her large mass rammed into his already-injured back, driving Nathan into the dirt. Growling in a searing writhe of pain, the human felt his body spasm from the collision, momentarily unable to get back up from the strike. The body that tackled him swept itself back into the air, laughing as she pointed down at him.

"Hah! Stupid Changeling! Ain't no way I'm letting some bug playing dress-up outrun me!"

Nathan glared at the Pony when he heard that name, that species. "Changeling". He had no idea what the hell a Changeling was, but apparently, that may be what humans are called in this place, and quite clearly, they're not welcome. The blurry image of the Pony was locked in Nathan's sight as he managed to get himself upright, slowly pushing himself upwards to flee again. However, that hit had taken too much out of him this time. The strain that was shot into his spine wasn't letting his legs work right. Every inch of him from the chest down wanted to shut down, to collapse on the ground and numb the damage. It was so tempting to just slip away into slumber, as the blood loss was making everything turn from blurry to delirious. Hazing lines folded into his vision, his hearing dulled as multiple colored bodies were approaching them. Blinking his eyes in attempt to clear them, he found the colored figures to not only be the guards catching up with them, but those mares he had seen in the hallway before.

"Great job stopping the Changeling, Rainbow Dash! Keep him surrounded as I put a forcefield around him. If he tried to move, try and stop him!"

Nathan widened his eyes as his brain processed that, looking around as a dome of some sort of lavender energy began to encase him from above. Forcing his legs to move, he bucked himself backwards, getting just outside of the shield's radius as it reached the ground. With him still free, the guards advanced on him, intending to tackle and shackle him.

But, somepony else reached him first.

Shining Armor slammed into Nathan's side just as he got back on his feet, shoving him backwards a few feet before catching a sloppy right hook from the human. Bringing his elbow down onto his arm, he had broken the bone in two, forcing it at an unnatural angle. Horrendous cries of agony boomed from the human as he staggered from Shining Armor, grasping his broken arm's bicep. Hearing the revving of energy being collected, he looked back up at the well-dressed stallion, raising up his other hand just as Shining Armor's horn blasted a torrent of lethal magic at the human. The erupting power seared the skin off of Nathan's left forearm, garnering more screams as the guards behind Shining Armor hesitate. A few glanced at each other, the brutality unnerving them. Their orders were to capture the Changeling... right?

Many of the patrons of the wedding caught up with everypony as Shining Armor slashed out Nathan's leg, dropping him to a knee. Princess Cadence gasped as she saw this, her hand coming up to her mouth in horror at what her newlywed husband was doing. Behind her, the Royal Sisters were in shock, stilled by the sight of the broken and bleeding target their guards were dispatched to apprehend. Even the Elements of Harmony didn't know what to think, Twilight Sparkle most of all. She had never seen her brother this... this... angry before. Sure, he was stern and upset with her when he blamed the disguised Chrysalis of being evil, but he would never go out of his way to be so aggressive, even as a guard of Canterlot Castle. He was a protector, a guardian. Not this!

In Shining Armor's mind, there was nothing but static. Static, and the replaying memories of the manipulation and subsequent torture of mind control. No one had ever truly experienced the level of torment the groom had experienced. The way the Changelings burrowed themselves into his mind was like a parasite worming its way into his brain. It trapped him there, in his own conscious, plucking thoughts and feelings away from him like ripping a warm blanket off of him on a cold winter night. The manipulation of Changeling magic wasn't like an instantaneous alteration spell. It was slow, subtle, and painful. Twilight's observations, the headaches he'd received all throughout the wedding preparations was the only evidence that something was wrong. Shining Armor never noticed before, but when total control over his body was achieved, he was imprisoned in hazy nightmares, reliving horrible moments in his life while all the lovely memories faded away. Chrysalis had sapped his love, and would have done the same with his life, had things not turned out as they did. After all, he couldn't have done anything. He couldn't have done his job as a Royal Guard and continue shielding the Ponies. Standing before Chrysalis, he was but a mute zombie, dumbly taking orders from the rancid Queen.

It. Was. Misery.

And now, here he stands, giving one of her disguised grunts their due retribution for all the pain they'd caused him; for all the pain they'd caused to Canterlot, the Ponies there that he couldn't protect. Going after him and torturing his mind was one thing, but when innocent Ponies and even guards died in the skirmish that came soon after; with families losing their precious ones to something so simple as feeding... Shining Armor could only see red.

Wrapping a string of magic around the disguised Changeling's neck, he pulled on it with all his might, strangling the straggler of the hive as he used another spell to try and rid it of its disguise, to show its true face. He only rose an eyebrow when it failed, his mind coming up with one or more excuses as to why. Perhaps this one was more in tune with his magic. Maybe in his blind rush to destroy this creature, Shining Armor was losing focus in his magic. Honestly, he didn't care. He just wanted this... THING... to suffer like he did.

Kicking the human up in his nose, the bone behind it snapped as he fell onto his back, the string of magic dissolving as Shining Armor got on top of him. Taking it by the blue garbs it wore, he slammed his head down against its face, headbutting it near its left eye. At first, the disguised bug struggled in his grasp, but as he continued to hammer away at its face with his forehead, the combined force of his stronger skull structure as well as the horn on his head beat the thing into submission, and with one less eye to see through. Shining Armor rose his head up to continue the assault, his intent clear as Nathan stared numbly back at him.

"Shiny! Get off him!"

A pair of pink arms grabbed Shining Armor by his left, dragging him back as he threw his head again, barely missing the human as some of the guards came forth. Princess Cadence, along with them, held the senior guard back as others rushed to Nathan, a medic leaning down to examine him.

"Shining Armor! Stop it right now! You got him! He's not hurting anypony anymore!"

"I'm not taking chances! You saw what they do! You've seen what they have done to Canterlot! They deserve to die!!"

"Somepony help me!!"

Several Ponies ducked as Shining Armor's horn blasted more magic in Nathan's direction, the guards surrounding him ducking whilst the medic looming over the body was sweating, examining the damage done to him. Several points of injury was enough to leave a guard bedridden. Hell, he shouldn't have been able to get up from the two blasts of the pink Pony's cannon. He doesn't look strong, but judging from the tightness of his muscle and how they connect to the bone, this Changeling was built to last. Bringing over her medical kit, the medic looked up and brought over a Unicorn, instructing them to perform and reverse spell on the point of injury on Nathan's broken arm.

The human stared upwards at the sky, his mind just barely clinging to consciousness as a concussion was savagely beaten into his face. He gurgled and choked on the blood that rose in his mouth, coughing lightly as the medical Ponies worked. A hideous snap made him flinch as these Ponies had righted his arm, the bone sealing together with just a fracture left behind. His left eyesocket was bloody and caved, the eye itself being in pieces that either lay splattered onto his cheek or drilled deeper into the socket. He could feel the medic poke into it, taking out the bits and pieces of his eye. It... didn't hurt. Not even a little bit... Was... Was this what dying felt like? The fingers of his skinless hand prodded the grass under them. It was warm, and wet, as if he was bleeding himself a pool to float in. His remaining eye dully glanced to his side, seeing several colors wrestling with each other. Purple and pink clashed with white and blue, and multiple other whites were getting in the mix. Were... Were these Ponies fighting each other?

*flash-!*

"!!!"

Nathan felt a jolt of electricity surge through him, pushing his consciousness back to the forefront as he let out a large gasp.

"Oh! OH!!! He's still awake! He's awake! Stop the treatment!"

The medic stood back up, ushering the Unicorn back as Nathan looked around. His heart was beating hard and fast, adreniline giving him the strength to finally move. Grasping the dirt with his fixed arm, he rolled himself to the side, throwing up a small lump of blood and mucus as he pushed himself to his knee. A sting of immense pain coursed through his right leg, the gash that groom Pony made with a knife cutting deep into his knee. Putting his left foot on the ground, he struggled to pull himself up. Hobbling on his left only, he fell against the hedge beside him, breathing hoarsely as he realized his lack of sight in his left eye. Reaching up, he grimaced at the contact, pulling his fingers away as he panted. Oncoming panic was inevitable. His self-imposed mission of escape was creeping back into his head. He had to leave. He had to get out! They've already done this to him! What else will they--?!

"LOOK OUT!!!"

*THWOOOOOO*

A beam of magic the size of Nathan's torso slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him through the many, many hedges that made up the maze. The powerful and searing hot energy had hit him like a semi-truck, pushing him out of the courtyards and through the castle's outer walls. Falling downwards as the magic subsided, Nathan felt his mind slip once more as he crashed down into the moat. The cold water brought him back for a brief moment, but only just as he drifted downstream. Looking ahead as the current became stronger, Nathan only had time to register the waterfall a foot away from him before he went over. Soaring downwards, the young man turned his gaze up, the ringing in his ears being the only noise he could comprehend as the ground was coming up fast. Several of those white Ponies were flying after him. Even that blue mare from before was speeding towards him at breakneck pace, but it wasn't fast enough. With a loud crash, Nathan felt his back give out as he hit the river below and submerged into the water.

"What were you thinking?!"

Shining Armor reeled back at the harsh roaring of his newlywed's voice. Cadence was positively livid. No, she was more than that. She was downright infuriated.

"I told you was no longer a threat to us! He was just laying there in the grass, completely immobilized! There wasn't even a need to use the shackles anymore from how badly you hurt him!"

"Cadence, honey, please. You know how dangerous they are. How many Ponies have lost their lives to that hive? How many mothers mourn their children, or sons crying over the loss of their parents? Eliminating the threats to Canterlot, even after Chrysalis' defeat, should have been the top priority for the remaining citizens' safety."

"I... Hahhh..."

Cadence wiped a hand down her face, taking a slow breath to calm herself as several guards flew off after the injured Changeling. Twilight even sent Rainbow Dash with them, hoping her speed would be enough to catch up and bring the devastated morsel back for medical attention.

"Shining Armor, I understand completely. You have a duty to protect this Kingdom as Captain of the Royal Guard, but I highly doubt Royal Guard training taught you to do THAT to a supposed threat that isn't even fighting back. Despite everything, we needed to take him into custody for interrogation. What would happen if there are more like him skulking about Canterlot right now? We could have gathered extremely important intelligence not only on them, but on the Changeling hive altogether."

She gave him a heated glare as she pointed to her head.

"Think, Shiny! THINK!!! Now, with your assault on the Changeling, we'll have to expend resources to keep it alive. Medical equipment and medicine we should be using on the brave soldiers and guards who participated in the skirmish on the streets."

Shining Armor remained silent, opening his mouth to say something, only to close it when he had nothing to rebut that. Cadence was right. Shining Armor had taken it one step too far and did more harm than good. He knew he wasn't okay, he wasn't right, but... at this point, he could and couldn't blame himself. The experiences he went through had taken their toll, and while the afterparty settled his nerves slightly, seeing this new Changeling put him in red alert. That alone forced him out of his right mind. Closing his eyes and looking away in shame, Cadence's stern glare melted into concern and pity.

"Maybe we should get you looked at. The castle's psychiatrist can help get you checked out. I doubt you'll be returning to your duties after tonight anyways..."

Both of them glanced towards the Royal Sisters, the elder solar monarch looking off towards the direction the Changeling was shot to in worry while the younger lunar princess was giving him a look of disappointment.

No... No, Shining Armor was indeed not going back on duty anytime soon, and that was evident when the guards and Rainbow Dash returned without the Changeling. Princess Celestia closed her eyes as Luna widened hers, both sharing some odd sense of discomfort as they dismissed the guards and ordered a few to escort Cadence and Shining Armor back inside.

As they went, Shining Armor looked back at the hole in the wall, taking a breath to steady himself as he marched with his fellow guards. His wife stayed by his side, wrapping an arm around his and keeping close to comfort him. As much trouble as he was in, he needed somepony to stay at his side, and Cadence wasn't going to leave him. Not now...

And not ever again.

Princess Luna watched the crowd disperse, a large chunk of them staying near the damaged Captain as they returned to the interior walls of the castle. Still giving him a harsh stare, the Princess of the Night had already begun calculating various punishments for his disrespect and clear disobedience to their orders.

"Such a fool. To go out of his way to strike down a defenseless somepony, even if they are one with the enemy."

Celestia remained still, looking off in the same direction as she kept her eyes closed.

"The fault is not his, Luna. The events of the last few days have taken an extreme toll on everypony. He alone shouldered the greatest pain that came from the Changelings' seduction."

Luna shook her head as she took her place beside her sibling.

"Even so, sister, he should have exercised a modicum of restraint. Executing a small brand of guardsman brutality is one thing, but brazenly disobeying direct orders from on high is a grievous crime."

"I will be lenient. Besides, we have more pressing things to worry about."

Luna glanced up at Celestia, then narrowed her eyes as she stared at the hole in the outer wall.

"Yes. Of all the threats Equestria has seen, I never expected to see this one again."

Celestia opened her eyes, her gaze filled with disdain.

"A creature made of violence and endurance. A survivor with cunning intelligence and adaptability replacing strength, speed, and magic."

"A human..."

Both sisters let that name set in. A human. This name belonged to creatures much like themselves. They're sapient beings who have built whole civilizations in the past generations Ponies have been around. Not once has Equestria seen these great cities of humans, but every generation, a human would cross the veil, and either share their knowledge, or aid in protecting the land from threats too great for Ponykind alone. It all started with the first time Ponies were around. A young "woman" named Megan defeated a great many threats in those times, and as each generation passed, one human would come after her, taking the same dive she did. It seemed this generation was also graced with the presence of a human, but Princess Celestia had not expected to meet them in her own castle, much less after a great battle for the Kingdom had already passed. Thus, she was unprepared for her subjects to mistake the human for a Changeling, and brutally attack him.

This had all gone wrong, and would continue into a slippery slope of consequences if the sisters did not act. Princess Celestia prayed that, even after all those wounds were afflicted to the human's body, they survived the fall to the rivers below. If a human has shown itself now, that would only mean another threat is rearing its ugly head so soon after the last.

One other thought plagued Her Highness' mind as well. Documentation of humans had described them as extremely volatile. Many Ponies look to each other and make choices based upon what this will do the other, but that question is much more loaded when applying those choices to humans. They're not just friends in the making with emotions and beliefs of their own, but they're also a major threat if not handled properly, and judging from the look on her sister's face, both she and Luna were well aware that their subjects' lives are in danger. Not the Kingdom, not their livelihoods, but their very existences could be stuffed out by death if nothing is done. To them, the next course of action was already chosen for them. They needed to find the human, or what remains of him. Alive or dead, in their arms, they would find relief in ensuring they can't hurt anyone.

Though, they would very much prefer alive, as Ponykind has to make amends for a horrendous wrong they've done them tonight...

Rain beat down on Nathan's body like bullets, hitting him like hail and stinging him like needles. The young man was battered and broken, yet alive. His consciousness had faded into slumber, and his exposed injured were soggy and mudded. It was no secret that surviving the ordeal he did was nothing short of a miracle. By all means, he should be dead. Here he is, still bleeding out on the bank of a river, yet he still lives despite the amount of blood he lost and the grotesque maiming of his body. His chest heaved shallow or painfully long breaths, keeping air flowing through him as a wagon was pulling up on a dirt path not far off from the stream. A soft voice gasped as the wagon came to a stop, the wooden basket left behind momentarily whilst footsteps rushed towards him.

Murmurs between the figure and another was indistinguishable in the heavy rain, but one was noticeably soft and the other monotonous.

"We can't just leave him out here... He could die..."

"We don't have the medical supplies to help him..."

"Then we'll get a doctor to help... Big sis can send a letter to Los Pegasus when we get back..."

"I don't think mom and dad will approve..."

"He doesn't have to stay long... Just until he gets back on his feet... Please, Maud..."

A moment of silence passed between the two as they looked down at the human. After a brief period of time, a small bout of air escaped the second figure's nose.

"Help me get him in the wagon, Marble..."