Wild Flower

Chapters

Chapter 1: Weird Brothers
Chapter 2: Shitty Brothers
Chapter 3: A Little Push
Chapter 4: Enter Fillydelphia
Chapter 5: The Depths of Fillydelphia
Chapter 6: The Monsters Behind The Veil

Chapter 1: Weird Brothers

Author's Note

I hope this interests you!

Chapter 1: Weird Brothers

“ Damn this stupid old heap of junk…”

I kicked my foot hard against the side of the carriage, the old and weak wooden planks cracking loudly as a few splinters flew out. With frustration, I took a seat on a nearby rock, sourly glaring at the broken remains of the carriage wheel, which had completely shattered the moment I had hit a small indent on the road.

I was stranded now. For as far as I can see, there was nothing but a hilly and grassy valley. The distant mountains merely solidified the fact I was in the middle of nowhere. I could not see a single sign of civilization in sight. In fact, the only other sign that I was even trekking through preoccupied territory was this dirt road… which has undoubtedly never seen any maintenance in years. Does a dirt road even need maintenance? I don’t even care anymore.

At the very least, I had food and water. I could probably wait for someone else to miraculously cross by and help my sorry self, though the chances of that happening are very slim. I hadn’t seen any other person, or creature in this matter, for days now. I’d be lucky to even see any birds.

With nothing much to do, I spent what felt like hours just mingling around on the spot, hopelessly attempting to try and fix up the wheel of the carriage. Unfortunately, I wasn’t expert enough to put together hundreds of brittle pieces of wood back into its original form, so I decided to just bundle them up and save them as woodfire for when the sun setted. I managed to memorize the exact number of threads in one of my blankets by the time the skies turned orange. It was a splash of cold water to my face that I really was stranded.

As the stars began to appear and the area surrounding me glowed from the orange embers of the small fire, I decided to look over my stuff for the one hundredth time. Truth be told, most of these things I really didn’t need, but I had brought them for the heck of it. I probably should’ve at least sold most of these before leaving, because at this rate I might just have to leave some of them here and continue on the journey. It’s a poor loss, but in instances like these, sacrifices had to be made.

My half-hearted plan never came into fruition, however, as the very slim miracle I had quickly lost hope of became a reality. While silently chewing on tough jerky and staring blankly at the fire, my ears caught hold of the sound of a carriage. Strangely, I also heard the low rumbling sound of an engine. Looking down the dirt path, I quickly caught sight of two bright beams of light coming from two lanterns. My eyes widened as I noticed it was, in fact, another carriage. My luck couldn’t have been any better.

“ Hey, over here!” I shouted earnestly at the approaching carriage, waving my hands up in the air frantically. It was pretty redundant of an action, since they were going to come anyways, but I just couldn’t resist it. I mean, I had already begun to come to terms that I’d have to leave all my stuff and trek by foot. With this new chance, though, I probably wouldn’t have to.

The carriage had paused in its tracks for a moment, a very long moment. Then it began to move again, though this time at a painfully slow pace. I stood there and tapped my foot patiently until they eventually came into view. I was in no particular hurry, so there was no need to complain about the sudden delay. Besides, I know why they delayed; I would have also moved cautiously too if a random voice shouted out in the middle of the night. Yeah… I probably should’ve kept my mouth shut.

It was then, however, when the carriage had come into full view, that I had realized a single glaring fact; this was, in fact, not a carriage. I stared onwards with a gaped mouth as the vehicle came to a stop, the large blood-red cow catcher stopping just a few feet away from the back of my own carriage. Instead of two lanterns, two massive incandescent light bulbs shined brightly on top of the wheel fenders, completely overlapping my small fire and nearly blinding me. The wheels themselves were cartoonishly large and looked to be reinforced with both wood and metal. I couldn’t see much from behind the burning lights, but I could clearly see the red and brown schematic of this… train's body.

Was this even a train? It looked like a hybrid between a train and a sports car… so, a crain? No no, that’s stupid. It’s a locomotive of some kind, one I have never seen before. In any case, I most definitely hit the jackpot here. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen any relatively modern vehicle in ages.

While ogling at the rare sighting, I could hear some whispering coming from the driver’s seat. I couldn’t hear much of what they were saying, but it definitely sounded like two guys. Were they testing out their new ride or something? I doubt, at least not out in the boonies of boonies. Maybe they were just traveling at night… eh, their reason isn’t really important. It’s whether they’ll let me tag along or not… hopefully so. In any case, this is a pretty cool encounter.

“ You there,” a voice suddenly called out. They had a really old accent, like the type of accent you’d hear from an old radio in the Big Apple. Also, it was masculine. “ What manner of creature are you?”

Creature? They… ah, they’re probably not human then. I scratched my cheek with an awkward smile. I’ve gotten used to having to introduce what species I am… it’s an odd thing to have gotten accustomed to, really. “ I’m a human, but you probably never heard of it.”

“ Human?” another voice said, rather clearly in fact. I think he’s the first to have ever said human smoothly without straining the vowels. “ Brother, I don’t believe we’ve ever heard of a human before, no?”

“ Nay, brother, It appears we’ve come across a new species,” the first voice said. Judging by the tone of their voices, I’m assuming the former guy is the younger of the two. And they’re apparently brothers, too.

Two brothers… a very modern machine in this world’s standards… my eyes widened. “ Hey, by any chance, do you two have the last name Wright?”

There was momentary silence—a very long one, to be exact—until the oldest of the two responded with a tone of shock. “ Well… I wasn’t aware we were that famous...”

“ It seems our reputation has done us a little too well, brother,” the younger one chuckled. Suddenly, the headlights dimmed greatly, allowing me to un-squint my watery eyes from the scorching light. I watched with half interest as two tall, thin, and yellow stallions stepped down from the driver’s seats, walking to the front of their locomotive and tipping their straw hats in unison.

“ Hello to you, good human. You’re guess was… shockingly close to our actual family name,” the youngest one started, standing up tall, “ but it is not Wright that we go by.”

“ Rather, our family name is Flight,” the oldest continued on perfect cue, “ a name we’ve kept greatly hidden, yet you caught on so easily.”

“ Well, you guys give off the same vibe as two other brothers I’ve heard about,” I responded, passively eyeing down their attire. The two wore identical blue-and-white striped button vests with white dress shirts and black bow ties. The only difference between the two was the mustache of the older one. They gave off the vibe of old-fashioned wealthy people, or carnival salespeople. I’m innately feeling the latter in this case.

“ Two other brothers?” The youngest looked to his brother with an excited look. “ Brother, it appears we have some unknown competition!”

“ It seems so indeed, brother. However, I have great doubt they’re on par with our greatest creation to date,” the eldest spoke confidently, patting the side of their locomotive affectionately. His attention was quickly brought back to me. “ Now then, good human, what is your name?”

Oh right, I hadn’t introduced myself yet. Pfft, my goofy self. “ Name’s Robert Isacc Cowell, or just Rob.”

“ Three names… that’s quite the novelty,” the youngest hummed with practical interest, “ is that custom of you humans?”

“ Uh, yeah…” I blinked at the strange response. What was so weird about having three names? “ Do you guys… not have a middle name?”

The eldest smirked, stroking his mustache. “ Nay, we only have two names.”

“ But we’ve gained plenty more in fame,” the youngest immediately cued in. I curled my brow at his rather good rhyming. A sudden bad feeling grew in my gut.

“ Two marvelous words, bouncing town to town.”

“ Our influence could earn us two golden crowns!”

Oh god, they’re doing a musical. “Ok, hold on—”

The eldest once again rubbed a hoof on the locomotive, showing his blatantly obvious love for the vehicle. “ Take a look, what an outstanding piece!”

“ Put together, our greatness never cease!” The youngest exclaimed, slinging a limb around his brother’s shoulder in a merry fashion.

They then— holy shit, they’re starting choreography now. “ Please, just sto—”

“ Grab a pen, keep it written in your head,” the eldest brother somehow appeared to my side while I was still looking at their performance, gesturing with his hooves like he was writing on air.

“ A duo unmatched, our work quickly will spread!” The youngest did a backflip for some reason, with his brother sliding to his side and doing so as well. Holding both of each other shoulder to shoulder, they then began to fucking tap dance. And there was music, too! Where was the music coming from?!

“ He’s Flim!”

“ He’s Flam!”

““ We’re the world famous Flim Flam Brothers~!””

“ Traveling salesponies nonpareil~!”

As their flamboyant performance ended alongside the music, I stared blankly, unsure how to really respond. Of all the things I could have anticipated from this encounter, a musical number was not in the list.

“ Now then,” Flim started, standing up back and clearing his throat, “ what would seem to be the issue for you, Mr. Rob?”

“ Perhaps you need assistance,” Flam added. I wasn’t oblivious to him eyeing the contents of my carriage. “ or perhaps you’d like… a transaction?”

“...” I ran a hand through my hair as a long sigh escaped me.

A week had passed since I began my travels with the Flim Flam Brothers. After a… duration of time trying to clear up the fact that I was neither selling nor buying from the two, we eventually came into a mutual pact that they’d tow my carriage for a fixed pay. Fortunately, they didn’t try to tap out my entire wallet, but they were still really pricey. I had a hunch they were scamming me, though I really didn’t have any other option. Beggars really can’t be picky, after all.

Along the trip, I got to know more about the two brothers. They apparently came from a place called “Fillydelphia”, a blatantly obvious pun to a real place back home. True to their weird introduction—which thankfully never happened again—they were both traveling salespeople, or “salesponies'' as they coined it. This vehicle that they were riding was not only a legitimate locomotive but was actually—and oddly—an apple cider machine. The name, however, was too childish for me to say. It just sounded too stupid. They could’ve gone with a simple name like “cider juicer”, but noo they had to make it sound cheesy. And, of course, put a random four-digit number at the end for the hell of it. I don’t know why this is bothering me so much, but it is.

Other than that, the two were pretty average guys, albeit flamboyant in their way of speaking and whatnot. I managed to somehow tolerate their own questions, though really it wasn’t like they were asking anything stupid. The two, especially Flam the youngest one, showed really profound interest in my hometown, area of work, and—above all else—my wardrobe. And no, I don’t mean it like that. I’m referring to the actual wardrobe that I was carrying in my carriage. He said something along the lines of it being an “artisan masterpiece” and knew a few nobles that would pay a hefty price for it. I, of course, didn’t sell my only wardrobe. They could only take so much from me.

We eventually made it to forestry, a welcoming change from the endless planes of grass. But for some odd reason, the two of them became really tense and agitated throughout our trip in the forest. Hell, they looked even more disturbed than when they had first seen me eating the beef jerky some days ago. That was definitely saying something, since Flim nearly threw up when he saw me eating it.

“ What’s up with you two?” I suddenly asked after the two of them flinched from a squirrel jumping off a branch and over the vehicle. “ You’ve been jumpy like this since we’ve entered this forest.”

“ W-Well, you see, Mr. Rob,” Flam stuttered, pulling the collar of his vest, “ this is none other than the n-notorious Everfree Forest.”

“ There’s nothing good that comes out of these accursed woods,” Flim added with scrunched brows. Wait, what? How? He doesn’t even have brows.

I shook the thought away. “ You guys are just tweaking. There isn’t anything bad around here.”

I was pretty confident my comment there would ease them up a bit, if not just slightly. The two of them, however, gawked at me as if I said the most foolish thing in existence. They shared a look before Flim sighed with exasperation. “ It appears our human friend here has not heard about the Everfree, brother.”

“ Indeed, he hasn’t,” Flam nodded solemnly.

“...?” Everfree? Is this forest supposed to be common knowledge or something? Sorry, but I’m pretty new to this world—like, literally—so I have a few holes in my knowledge. “ You two mind telling me what’s so frightening about this place then?”

They looked at each other again before nodding. For the next few minutes or so, I was bombarded with tales and folklore of disturbing amalgamations of nature that haunted the locals of this forest for years. To me, though, they didn’t sound anything more than scary bedtime stories. Heck, the most gruesome thing they mentioned was when a stallion got a scratch on his hind leg from one of the Timberwolves they spoke so frighteningly about. Other than that, it was simply haunted house material.

“... Yeah, I can’t see what all the worry is about,” I leaned back on the driver’s seat nonchalantly after they finished their lecture. On a side note, the driver’s seat was a red sofa. Not that I’m complaining, it’s really comfortable.

“ Mr. Rob… we insist you take this seriously,” Flim spoke in a uncharacteristically serious tone. It made me actually pay attention a little bit more. “ This forest is no-pony land. Any small mistake can lead to a… devastating ending.”

“ Which is why we trek this road so carefully,” Flam continued, “ less we wish to abruptly end our journey, every step we take counts.”

I guess it’s just a matter of perspective here. Judging by the way they take this so seriously, I doubt they’ve ever seen anything as gruesome as I’ve seen before. But I guess, out of respect for their kindness, I should take this a little bit more seriously. “ Fine… I get it. I’ll help keep an eye out, or whatever.”

Both of them smiled, seemingly satisfied by my words. “ We greatly appreciate the gesture, Mr. Rob. Our trip within the Everfree shouldn’t be too long, so don’t worry too much.”

“ Mhm.”

Some minutes after that conversation, the Flim Flam Brothers screeched in terror as a leaf floated down from one of the low hanging branches. I silently continued my faux lookout.

True to their words, we left the forest in no time, now entering a very large apple orchard. As I had expected, nothing uneventful happened since the lore-drop about the Evefree forest. I still hold my doubts about what the brothers had said, though I kept that to myself to avoid causing some unnecessary trouble. At the very least, they seemed more at ease now that we left the “accursed forest”.

I idly watched the numerous apple trees zoom by as we made quick progress down the much more well-kept dirt road. This orchard was probably owned by some big apple company, and judging by the brother’s excited side conversation, I’m assuming they can’t wait to sell this machine to the owner. It came to my surprise when they had told me some time ago that they planned on selling this machine to a worthy buyer. It looked to be really expensive to build, and they confirmed that… though, they also confirmed they had plenty of resources to waste back home. In all honesty, I had thought that selling was the last thing on their list, but I guess we all have our own agendas. There was also the question of how they’d return home, and that was when I was kindly informed that this next town had a train station.

That alone solidified just how lucky I was to meet these guys. Had I gone on foot, I probably would’ve wandered somewhere else and died in a cave, never to have known of such a civilized area nearby… ok, that was a bit too harsh, but something like that would’ve happened.

Eventually, we made a sharp turn at the white fence guarding the orchard. From there, things started to get interesting, and rather quickly too. Out of nowhere, we were suddenly greeted with the sight of a large gathering of colorful ponies, all grouped together in front of the assumed entrance of the orchard. And… holy shit, that was one hell of a long line. While there was a large crowd at the entrance, there was an even longer queue of ponies in a uniform line stretching out on the road and past the horizon. Just what the heck was going on?

The mass crowd of ponies were specifically grouping around what looked like a wooden stand with floral and apple illustrations. Behind the stand were two other ponies—red and orange—with a yellow blob in between them. I’m assuming they’re employees of the company’s orchard or something. Although I couldn’t see any of the facial expressions clearly, the level and tone of the crowd’s voice clearly showed some level of displeasure. It looks like they were experiencing some customer complaints. With that number, though? Damn, the fuck did they do?

“ Well, it appears we came at the right time, brother,” Flam noted casually. He seemed more relaxed about what was going on. Actually, no, he looked… pleased for some reason.

“ Indeed, brother, and true to the rumors, it appears they’ve just run out of cider,” Flim hummed in response, stroking his mustache. He also looked pleased, like when someone offers you money. I guess they technically will be getting money soon.

So… rumors of running out of cider? Well, with that level of queued customers, I’m not really surprised. And assuming those are the employees, they’re probably heavily understaffed as well. Makes me wonder, though… is this company’s cider really that good, or is it the only orchard around to sell cider? Well, if it’s the only orchard around, I’d assume they’d hire more workers. no? In any case, it looks like the brother’s machine here might come in handy for them.

As we neared, all the heads of the gradually departing ponies turned towards the locomotive as the loud rumbling of the engine made us known. They looked confused, curious, and very parched. Like, almost as if they hadn’t drunk anything in days. Now that I’m noticing it… the weather does seem a bit hot… it must be summer right now… I really need to get my hands on a calendar.

We came to a stop right next to the entrance of the orchard, accidentally breaking the end of the fence. I wasn’t oblivious to the sudden glare a green and wrinkly mare sent our way, who stood next to the wooden stand. She just as quickly, however, gave a perplexed look when our eyes met, obviously having never seen a human such as myself before. The brother’s didn’t seem all that bothered by the looks, though, nor did they even seem to have noticed they broke the fence. With fluidity, they went on to jump down in front of the slowly gathering crowd of ponies. From there, they… oh god, the music is playing. Not again...

“ Why…” I pinched the bridge of my nose, a quiet groan escaping my lips as the Flim Flam brothers yet again fell into a random musical number. This time, they altered the lyrics a bit, but it was still the same flamboyant and obnoxious performance they had given me a week ago. Somehow, the ponies seemed to like it, their brightened expression showing growing interest. Heck, some of them were even singing along—no, everyone was singing along! The hell?!

I merely stared in awe as the brother’s easily riled up all the ponies' excitement with nye perfect success. As part of their performance, they jumped back onto the locomotive, the horns of their head—what the—is that fucking magic?!

Yes, yes it was, and not only were their horns enveloped with a green aura, they also began to demonstrate how this machine worked. Ok… ok, this just took a sudden turn. I, uh, probably should’ve already expected this sooner, with them being unicorns and everything… damn, did I just realize they were unicorns? I might need to get my attention span checked… well, in any case, I guess things are actually getting interesting now.

I watched intently as Flam shot a bolt of magic right at one of the metal bars sticking out at the back end of the machine. The green aura caused a spark of electricity throughout the machine’s components, and I felt the locomotive vibrate under me as the gears began to turn and the light bulbs began to flash rhythmically. Flim then used his own magic to levitate the giant copper cone over one of the orchard trees—after smoothly asking for permission from the orange pony while singing—-and instantly sucked in every single apple from there. I was momentarily in awe, but that’s as far as my shock went. I narrowly squinted my eyes when I noticed a few branches being sucked in as well.

“ He—” I didn’t get to say anything out loud, though, since they were still singing. And none of the other ponies seemed to have noticed either, being too entranced by the performance. Well, except for the same wrinkly old mare from before, who butted into their performance and somehow smoothly kept up with the song’s beat while saying her own argument. Man, were ponies just naturally in tune with singing?

This song was, clearly, much longer than the initial song the brother’s had given me. And the reaction, of course, was much more enthusiastic than mine was at the time. When the brother’s finished, nearly all the ponies were eager to come and try out the machine’s cider. One of them, specifically the yellow blob from before—which turned out to be a small pony—came up with an elated smile.

“ You’ve got a deal!” She was clearly just some kid, so her statement was quickly put down by the wrinkly green pony… I should just call her grandma at this point. Maybe the kid was between the red and orange pony? I dunno, maybe she just tagged along with them, something like bring your kid to work day. Well, that aside, it was clear from her accent as well as the grandma’s that they were southern.

Still… had they not noticed the branches being sucked in? That’s like a health hazard, right?

I wasn’t able to say anything about it again. The grandma huddled up with the other orchard workers, plus the yellow pony kid, and hushed quietly. The brother’s took this as an opening and quickly butted themselves. Based on what I could hear, this was where they started the real negotiations and whatnot.

“... then we split those sweet, sweet profits,” the brother’s said in unison, “ 75, 25!”

“...?” I curled my brow at their choice of splitting the profit. Clearly they were scamming the workers here, and even the orange pony could see through that cheap deal. The fuck? I thought these guys were chill. I guess they really did scam me… ah, whatever. I squeeze it back outta them later. For now, I’m not surprised that the orchard workers disagreed with their offer. But what was surprising was the sudden shift in the brother’s demeanor, claiming the orchard workers as their “competitors.”

“ Don’t you worry, everypony!” Flim suddenly exclaimed, having taken a stand at the podium in the front of the locomotive. So… that’s what it's for. I was wondering why they installed that. “ There will be plenty of cider for all of you!”

“ However, we must woefully part ways here,” Flam added, hopping back on the locomotive. Lighting his horn, he turned a key somewhere I didn’t see and started the engine. “ but we shall return to give you all more of this delicious and mouth-watering cider!”

With that said, the brother’s revved the engine and drove down the road at arguably dangerous high speeds, leaving the orchard workers behind in a large cloud of dust. As we drove, the brothers waved at the long line of ponies as if they were celebrities. In the meantime, I took solace in looking back to see if my carriage had not been disconnected and left behind.

“ So, Mr. Rob,” Flam started after we had left behind the unrealistically long queue and began to approach a line of rather old-fashioned buildings, “ what do you think of our marvelous presentation?”

“ Indeed, we’d very much like to hear what you, the sole human of this world, think about our amazing machine,” Flim tagged on.

I crossed my arms with an unimpressed look. They could fool those ponies, but they aren’t fooling me. “ I wouldn’t call it amazing if your machine is also sucking in branches and leaves.”

This, rightfully so, caused them to falter from their confident demeanor. Flam pulled onto the collar of his dress shirt while Flim fiddled with his bow tie, a cold sweat forming on both of their faces. “ A-Ah… we forgot how keen you are, Mr. Rob.”

So, it looks like they know about their machine’s faults as well.. but still tried to sell it. That’s kinda fucked up, if you ask me. “ Personally, I wouldn’t feed my customers branch juice if they ask for cider.”

“ Urk,” my words seemed to have irked them off. I mean, kinda deserving of them. It should open their eyes to how bad this could end up for them if they get caught. Flim ran a hoof through his hair, struggling to keep eye contact with me. “ L-Listen, Mr. Rob, our machine still has some… minor inconveniences that we’ve been working fervently to change.”

“ Indeed, believe us in that this latest model is our most efficient to date,” Flam added, attempting to put a positive tone, “ in fact, such an error should not be any worry! We’ve reduced the ratio of foreign objects in our cider by forty percent—”

“ Brother, that is classified!”

“ Whoops,” Flam immediately shoved a hoof in his mouth to keep quiet. It made no difference, though, since I already heard it all. I’m pretty sure someone’s dog heard it, too.

But forty percent, huh? And that’s supposed to be from their most efficient model? Does that mean their cider still has another sixty percent of branches and shit in it? “ Yeah, no. The thought of even having a foreign object ratio in your cider is a huge turn off. You guys are cooked.”

My comment yet again seemed to have irked the brothers. In fact, Flim was actually giving me a warning look now. Ha, priceless. “ Perhaps, Mr. Rob, since you are so well-versed in cider production, you could build your own Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000? Surely you could even make a better model.”

“ We are no novices in the arts of cider making,” Flam joined in with his own serious look. I couldn’t take either of the two seriously, even if I tried. “ there are many unavoidable elements in the process, Mr. Rob, so we would kindly ask you not to press any further on the matter.

Sheesh, looks like I struck a cord there. Their little flamboyant personalities are almost gone now, the only thing keeping that somewhat present being their passive salesman accent. I had to hold in my laugh, though; they just looked stupid as fuck. In any case, I guess they didn’t want me digging any deeper in their fraudulent activity. Not like I care, anyways; they’ve given me the ride I asked for, so I’ll just leave them to continue their unscrupulous sales.

“ Whatever, just don’t be surprised once the cat’s out the bag,” I shrugged my shoulders, bringing my attention to the town we drove through. It was pretty small, to be honest. There were only a handful of buildings that I could even see as having two stories; the rest were one-story cottages or however you called these medieval-fashioned households. The town was relatively empty, and I’m assuming it's because of the long line back at the orchard. This must be a close-knit community, then.

As for what the brothers had said afterwards, they didn’t say anything at all. It was pretty obvious there was an awkward and tense air between us two parties… well, at least for them two. I was honestly completely fine, just minding myself as I briefly mapped out the town’s layout. Very spacious and very open. Oh, and also very colorful.

Eventually, we came to a stop right in front of a two-story red-roofed building. I wasn’t some knowledgeable expert in architecture, but this building was giving some Victorian-aged style. And given that it was right next to a large fountain, I’m assuming this was the heart of the community, and I’m also assuming this is the town hall or something.

I hopped off the locomotive and nodded at the two brothers. “ Well, this is where we split now.”

“ … Yes, it would appear so,” Flim nodded pensively. I guess they were still pressed about that. “ But… one more thing, Mr. Rob, before we depart.”

“ You want my lips sealed on the branch thing, huh?” I crossed my arms expectantly, tapping my shoe on the ground. It was pretty obvious, and if I didn’t point it out sooner I’m sure some ransom would come into play. This isn’t my first rodeo, of course.

“ P-preferably,” Flam said shakingly, looking around as if a squadron of police would pop out of nowhere and send them to the asylum. Probably would happen, haha. “ we’d rather not have our names so blatantly tainted from… ahem, unconfirmed news.”

“ Mhm,” I hummed blandly.

“ Do we have your word, Mr. Rob”? Flim asked.

… Well, I’d rather not get myself tied into their mess. It’s better to just get this over with and move on. At the very worst, I’d have to look out for their names whenever I try apple cider. “ Sure, I won’t say anything. You two do your thing, I guess.”

This seemed to have pleased them greatly. The brothers were now back to their jolly and obnoxiously flamboyant personas. “ We’re glad to hear that, Mr. Rob!”

“ It’s been a pleasure being your acquaintance in our travels,” suddenly, I hear the engine being revved back up again. Shit, I haven’t unlocked my carriage.

“ Wait, I—”

Without even a second breath, their red locomotive zoomed off into the distance. ““ Until we meet again, Mr. Rob!””

“ Wh— GET BACK HERE WITH MY SHIT!”

Chapter 2: Shitty Brothers

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 3: A Little Push

It was so random it genuinely surprised him, and normally he was never one to be easily surprised. One moment, he was seated on his patio, watching the sprinklers water the lawn as he drank an unbranded sports drink. The next, he found his world entirely submerged in sand.

Robert’s body went into shock as sand grains filled his mouth and nose. He instinctively tried to go for air but forced his mouth shut, pulling his arms through the dense sand to close his nose. His eyes stung as the sand particles grazed against them, and for a long moment he was frozen-stiff in pure shock.

But not long after, his survival instincts kicked in. With rejuvenated energy, Robert began to dig up, holding what little breath he had as he worked his muscles through the unfavorable environment. He pushed through the discomfort and pains, climbing up the depth of the sandy world, until he was free.

As the burning rays of light poured onto his skin, Robert threw himself out and rolled onto the hot sandy ground, instantly emptying all the contents in both his mouth and stomach. Curled in a ball, Robert tried desperately to clear his airways, coughing haphazardly while carefully taking in painfully breaths.

His misery lasted for a length of time he couldn't remember… and frankly, he didn't want to remember. When it had ended, though, Robert had found himself splayed on the hot ground, his dried body covered with wet sand mixed with his filth. Tears stung his eyes as they flowed freely, his vision blurry.

“... T-The fuck…?”

Since then, I have just been on autopilot.

The change of the terrain didn't matter to me, even as I reentered the town. I didn't care for the few stares I got—I never did in the first place. At this point, I was struggling to see what I even cared about anymore.

‘...we s-speed dialed the auction to get some extra bits…’

It's just crazy to me, just how easily I had lost everything. It’s like a slave working to the bone to grow their harvest, only for it all to be taken away and sold for the master’s benefit. Hell, not even the master is the one taking it…

…No, there was no comparison. It was exactly as I said it. I was shackled like a slave, life once again taking everything I ever fucking had. Anyone could think what they want about my analogy, but that's how I felt… how I’ve always felt since the beginning of this hell.

And now, I just felt… empty.

If I were to lose anything back home—before all of this happened—I would have only been mildly annoyed and probably replace what was lost… okay, except if I lost my house or car, but that was besides the point. Everything I've earned here, however? It's a whole different story… for each and every piece of item I’ve earned.

To me, they were the heirlooms of family heirlooms. And I lost it all… just because of two god-forsaken dumbasses!

“...!” It took me a moment to realize that I had—out of a burst of anger—suddenly lodged my fist into a nearby wall. I pulled my fist from the cracked bricks and blankly stared down at my bloodied knuckles, which stung severely. Just the thought of those two bastards was enough to rile me up this much… I normally don’t even act recklessly like. It just goes to shows how fucking shit my current situation is.

I'm… disappointed, beyond disappointed that I hadn't just lashed out then and there. I quite frankly had nothing to lose… so why didn't I?

Was it because of those ponies? No… fuck no, that much I can say for certain. They can all go fuck themselves… too ignorant and too shallow to see through the simplest of lies and deceit. Nearly kicked me out of this place just because of some prejudice… bunch of nonsense.

Then self-righteousness? Even I can't fool myself with that… I've walked a path of survival. I've left behind enough death to wipe my name off the book of heaven.

Then… what the hell is wrong with me? What reason did I have to control my anger? I had none! I could’ve just done it then and there, for fuck sake! Those two would have deserved it!

I… I can't think straight like this. I needed some cold water.

The plaza square was slightly more active than before, mostly due to some of the ponies at the orchid leaving after not getting their cider. I could see the same stone fountain in the center, unchanged and still pouring out the same crystal clear water. For a second, I thought of forgetting about my civility, but I managed to collect enough self appreciation to not jump for it like a crazed animal.

I entered the town hall, the only building I could be certain to have some water. As I entered, a few eyes looked up at me, specifically the receptionist.

“ Ah, Mr. Robert…” The receptionist said, her voice gradually dying out as I completely ignored her and the other agitated ponies, making my way towards the water dispenser. I took two cups and filled them both with the cold water. In one big swig, I washed the water down my throat, then repeated the process. At one instance, I splashed some water on my face, not caring for the mess I made on the floor.

After some time, I lazily walked to the corner and slumped onto one of the chairs, the twentieth round of water idly swirling in my hands. My drenched face stared down at the cups, silently in my own world, the quiet mummers of the others around me drowning away. Memories made their way to my attention, distracting me from the real world.

The moon’s rays brought a frigid chill that was only a monetary blessing from the day’s furnace, quickly becoming an unbearable tundra. The cloudless skies gave way to a beautiful canvas of stars, though the noticeable form of the beloved galaxy was nowhere in sight.

Robert stared up at the sky with heavy breaths, feeling warm trails of blood run down his arms and face. He slowly craned his head to his lap, where he silently watched his hands shake violently, gripping hard on the rusted pickaxe.

He tested his control of his body and managed to release one hand from the pickaxe, slowly levitating it towards the severed head of the rattlesnake beside him. His tired and blurred eyes looked on with unfiltered feat as the head dwarved his hand three times over.

“... Hey, big guy! Wake up!”

Suddenly, I felt a hard tug to my shoulder. I snapped out of my dazed state and looked up, finding my vision filled with Rainbow Dash’s annoyed and bitchy frown. I quickly noted, too, that Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, and another two mares were also standing in front of me.

I blinked my eyes, noticing the dryness. I must've kept them open for some time now. “... The fuck you want?”

“ Ah… he really is bad-mouthed,” the albino mare whispered to the yellow mare, who ducked under her bangs when we locked eyes.

“ Hey, Robert,” Twilight began before Rainbow Dash could start her nonsense, giving me a sympathetic look, “ we know you're… feeling under the weather right now…”

“ No shit,” I muttered blandly, my gaze falling back to the still water.

Twilight winced, though maintained a smile. “...so we wanted to help you out, any way we can!”

“...help?” I repeated. It felt strange, strange for me to say the word… specifically when it was directed towards me. When was the last time anything had offered me help. ?

“ Yeppers!” Pinkie exclaimed enthusiastically, appearing next to my seat with a goofy grin. “ We're gonna help you find all your stuff back! Then we can throw the Human-Named-Robert-Lost-His-Stuff-And-Got-It-Back-Plus-Five-Years-Late welcome party!”

“ … what?”

“ Excuse Pinkie for a moment, darling, she's rather excited to help,” the albino mare said, stepping forward, “ my name is Rarity, and I must say, after hearing your story, I just couldn't ignore helping you either!”

“...” I blinked silently at the introduction. Was she supposed to be another self-important pony? She even stood differently from the others…

“ Uhm, my name is Fluttershy,” the yellow mare spoke next, her head lowered and voice soft, “ I, um, saw everything that happened with you and the Flim Flam Brothers… I'll try to help the best I can.”

As they introduced themselves, I simply said nothing in response. Maybe if it were the old me—or frankly, if it were any other normal person in that matter—I would've felt some sort of heart-felt feelings and probably gave a respectable and normal response. But… with how I'm feeling right now, I can't even find the energy to move.

It's been a while since I've felt this level of kindness… can I even call this kindness? I'm just overthinking now.

“... Perhaps this is a bit overwhelming for you, dear,” Rarity noted with a small smile after I had remain quiet, “ we understand that you're new and still assimilating into Ponyville.”

“ But you don't have to worry about that, we'll help you like you're part of the community!” Twilight added with a beaming smile.

“ Ah think he'll be mighty fine,” Applejack said with a confident smile, “ he's got tough eyes on him. Ah know you ain't shaken by the looks from ponies, right sugar?”

“...nah,” I sighed, my body slightly relaxed. Even amidst my lamentation, I couldn't ignore how genuine these six sounded…and they were offering a window for me that I wouldn't lose anything from accepting. I don’t think I can bring myself to take any of these ponies seriously… but I guess I could humor them for a while. “... And how're you gonna help me?”

My question seemed to have pleased them all greatly. With giddiness, Twilight pulled out what appeared to be a map with her purple magic. I stared at the map for an awfully long time as she spoke. “ Like I said before, Fillydephia is an eighteen day trip on the road. However—as I was going to explain earlier—it’s a day and a half trip from Ponyville by train!”

… I forgot there was supposedly a train station in this town.

“ It's only been a day since you've lost your belongings,” Twilight continued, “ but I'm confident that we'll be able to reach there and get your stuff before they're auctioned off!”

So their idea was just a train ride from here to there… I need to get used to the fact I’m in a civilized country of some kind now, which is a strange fact to me to be honest. This would be the most modern town I’ve been through. Every other place I’ve stumbled upon has been vacant and some sort of time capsule in terms of style… well, that latter can apply to this place too, but my point still stands.

In any case, it seems they'll be paying for train tickets… they might expect me to pay later, though. “ How much does a ticket cost?”

“ Oh, don't worry a thing about that, darling,” Rarity sang with an extravagant smile, “ we will be paying for the tickets, so all that's left for you to worry about is getting back your belongings.”

“ I… uh… alright…”

“ And, um,” Fluttershy stuttered, her face flushed, “ I've asked the local wildlife if they can help lookout for anything that fell off the carriage, so…”

… right, even if those assholes somehow managed to bring my shit to that other town, that of course didn’t mean it was all of my shit. “ … smart thinking. Thanks, Ms. Fluttershy.”

“ Oh, no, that was Twilight’s idea,” Fluttershy explained in a quick and frantic manner, “ I could never so confidently come up with such an idea.”

“ C’mon Fluttershy, don't belittle yourself,” Twilight cooed, giving the yellow mare a soft smile, “ you're plenty of help yourself. I only noticed Robert's carriage when Flim and Flam first arrived. One of the wheels was missing and the others looked pretty damaged… so I assumed some of his belongings fell during the trip.”

“ That's about right,” I nodded. Well, she just solidified herself as the smartass of the six… and, honestly, I probably would've seen that eventually. I wouldn't necessarily think that as a bad thing, though.

Fluttershy then suddenly rubbed her front leg with a hoof and averted her gaze shyly. “ And… um, R-Robert, Fluttershy is just fine… you don't need to add a miss to it…”

“ That goes for the rest of us too, darling,” Rarity added with a cheeky smile, “ Twilight isn't the only one who'd like a first-name basis~”

“ Uh, sure…” I nodded slowly. That came out of nowhere…

“ How'd you even get to that level of… closeness,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue with a hint of disgust, giving me a scrutinizing look, “ you haven't even known each other for more than two days!”

Damn… even for something that small she’d still bitch about… but she does have a point there… how the fuck did it happen…?

“... My goodness, I can't believe Mayor Mare was going to exile you!” the purple mare huffed, her brows scrunched in annoyance. “ You hadn't even done anything! You were simply asking for help!”

I scratched my beard as the mare went on to rant to herself, glancing back at the back and forth scene between the mayor and Pinkie in front of the town hall, the latter of which was explaining the aerodynamics of confetti.

I shook my head, trying my best to ignore what was happening. I instead focused on my current situation, which was a narrow dodge from exile. Fucking exile, that's right. Not even twenty-four hours in this damn place and I was already getting an eviction notice… shitty ass mayor.

I shook my head once more, tuning my attention back to the purple mare. I regretted it instantly.

“... to then give an evaluation with a relatively low margin of the difference in—”

“ Miss,” I tried to call out.

“—however, with the substantial difference between bipeds and quadrupeds—”

“Ma'am…”

“—and it's just absurd to dispose of such revolutionary—”

“ HEY!”

“ Eek!” The purple mare squeaked, jumping up a bit. She looked at me with wide eyes, an expression almost similar to that of a prey. “ Wh–ah, y-your talking to m-me…?”

My simple stare was enough of an answer. She then awkwardly cleared her throat with a sheepish smile. “ Ah, sorry, I should've introduced myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle, Princes Celestia’s prod—”

Oh no. I raised a hand at her, pinching the bridge of my nose. “ Just… stop right there…”

She blinked at the interruption before pouting with a slightly hurt expression. “ But I—”

“ Twilight. I'll just call you Twilight,” I sighed. It would be a struggle having to memorize anything more than a first and last name… not to mention, these were fucking weird names they had. “ You can call me Rob.”

Twilight paused for a moment before nodding with satisfaction. “ Alright, Rob, I'll—”

I quickly cringed as she said my name. “ Ugh, fuck no. You make it sound illegal.”

“ Wha—”

“ Just call me Robert… full first name.”

“ …Uh, s-sure…”

A sweatdrop ran down my temple as I replayed the events of that day. I don't think that has been anywhere near a normal introduction…

“ Everyday brings a new friend and new experiences, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said confidently, glancing over to me supportively, “ wouldn't you agree, Robert?”

“ … yeah, sure.”

“ Well, whatever,” Rainbow Dash muttered, exhaling sharply through her nostrils, “ let's just get over with this… I got better things to do!”

As Twilight went on to silently admonish Rainbow Dash, I took the moment to look over the group. This… was an interesting group of women, or rather mares… damn, I'm just only realizing now I'm talking to ponies… I think I've fucking insane.

Well… in any case, I'm not sure how to describe it, but these girls definitely have synergy. Like, they just have this whole vibe… and stuff… man, the fuck am I doing? I want my shit back…

… I guess it won't hurt going with their plan.

With a sigh, I stood up and guzzled down the room-temperature water. I then crushed the cup and shot it across the room, bucketing it in the trash can and getting a silent ‘nice shot!’ from Pinkie. I looked towards Twilight with a curt nod. “Alright, I'll go with the plan. Lead the way.”

“ Great!” Twilight exclaimed, turning around and making way towards the exit. “ Just follow us and we'll take you to the train station!”

And with that said, I smoothly followed right behind Twilight, her friends flanking either side of me evenly. Except for Rainbow Dash, who hovered right behind me, a constant stream of snickers coming from her… I felt like I was forgetting something again.

We left the town hall and made some distance down a different section of the town I hadn't been through. The scenery was about the same, anyways, with only a few extra trees here and there. I could also point out the slightly larger houses, but it really made no difference.

We didn't make much progress, however, before Rarity gave an agitated comment.

“ I see why everypony is calling you the white-back monster, Robert,” Rarity huffed.

They're what? I glanced to my left side, seeing her eye my back with a disappointed look. I… oh, I see. That's what I was forgetting. I sighed dismissively. “ I got attacked by a marshmallow.”

Rarity blinked before lightly giggling in a lady-like manner. “ Oh, you… I see you're quite the jester, dear~”

“ You could say that.”

“ There’s no need to keep up that lie, sugar,” Applejack admonished with a frown, “ we ain't gonna laugh at ya for the real reason.”

“ Minus one pegasus…” I muttered under my breath, glancing behind me. Unsurprisingly, I worked hard to ignore the snickers coming from Rainbow Dash, even though Fluttershy seems to have tried to calm her down many times already. I was seconds from knocking some teeth out of her…

“ Pfft, can you really blame me,” Rainbow Dash snorted, struggling and failing miserably to hold back her grin, “ you look hilarious, haha! Who'd fall for something like fresh paint!”

I deadpanned at her with an eye twitch. I was beginning to question my restraints now. “ You tryna fucking fight or something?”

“ Oh my~” Rarity covered her mouth with a hoof.

“ Puh-lease, you don't got half of what it takes to face me,” Rainbow Dash snorted confidently. Ironically, she was flying in a position that left all sorts of openings to her vital organs…

…ok, hold up, damn! That sounded villainous as fuck… remember you're in society now, Robert. That's… probably a reason why I should hold back. And if not, I should probably make it one right now.

“ Please, let's not fight everypony,” Twilight spoke up, looking back with a small exasperated smile, “ we're supposed to help Robert, not agitate him.”

Rainbow Dash huffed, crossing her front hooves defensively. “ Fine, whatever… but still, I'd win.”

“ You can't say that, Dashy!” Pinkie exclaimed. “ You don't have white hair!”

“... what?”

“ I do insist we stop by my carousel, Twilight,” Rarity openly suggested. I noticed a calculative look to her eyes as she looked me up and down. “ I believe I can put together a quick and nice outfit for our dear friend Robert here. I just can't stand the idea of him walking through Fillydephia like this.”

I sighed quietly. I should've expected something about my clothes to happen sooner or later… if not from myself. I'm not so stupid as to not see they've been through a lot… hell, I've had to put up a few patches on holes that appeared. But I'm somewhat thankful she was sensitive in mentioning it… not like it would've made a difference if she didn't, of course. “ I know I'm not the prettiest sight.”

“ Oh, quite the opposite dear,” Rarity smiled in a rather suggestive manner, “ rather, the ponies in Fillydephia are quite… judgmental of looks. You'll find it easier to speak to them in fresher and more refined clothing.”

“ … sure, I guess.”

“ I think that's a good idea, Rarity,” Twilight nodded. She then gave me a positive smile. “ that is, of course, if it's fine with you, Robert.”

“... I'm in no hurry,” I shrugged, “ I'll go with your judgment.”

Really… I couldn't find much hurry. My shit was gone, and there was no guarantee it was still there. It sounds stupid, but… whatever. I'm just not in the right mind to think rationally at the moment, not even after the water break. I'm a whole fucking mess. Hell, it would've probably taken me way too long to realize I could use the train had these girls not approached me… same on you, Robert.

“ Excellent! Follow me now!” Rarity exclaimed merrily, prancing down a turn on the street. But as we followed her, I couldn't help but notice a fleeting feeling inside of me. The best I could describe it was something akin to liveliness. I'm not sure if it was the right word to call it, but I let the feeling entertain my thoughts on our detour.

“ Come now, darling, you shouldn't feel any shame. We won't judge.”

I gave Rarity an exasperated look. “ It's a different story when you have eyes on you…”

“ Hadn’t you claimed to not care about the looks?”

Yeah, I know. It's contradictory of me to say something like that when I've claimed to not care about the looks numerous times… but still. “ Would anyone willingly want an audience while they took a shit? The same idea applies here…”

“ Oh please, you make it worse than it sounds,” Rarity insisted, tilting her red glasses down, “ I'll need to take your measurements quickly if we want to get you some new clothes.”

I was silent for a moment, my lips pressed in thought, before glancing over to the others. “ And what the hell are the rest of you still doing here?”

“ It's an open space, partner,” Applejack chuckled, “ ain't no walls to hide behind.”

“ What, you chickening out?” Rainbow Dash added with a smug look.

I narrowed my eyes. “ Fuck off, Raintard.” She merely stuck her tongue out at me.

“ Uhm, if it helps, I-I'll close my eyes,” Fluttershy said shyly, raising her hooves to her face. She wasn't fooling anyone; I could still clearly see her looking through the gaps of her bangs.

“ If it's about climate, Robert, then you should be fine,” Twilight reassured with a confident nod, “ the weather is nice and Rarity always keeps her store at a comfortable temperature!”

“ You heard it darling~” Rarity sang in agreement.

“ Pluuus,” Pinkie added in a joyful tone, “ we also wanna see you in the birthday suit!”

Her comment got a variety of reactions.

“... Really, Pinkie?” Applejack sighed with exasperation.

Rarity placed a hoof over her mouth. “ Oh my, Pinkie… how scandalous~”

“ Who’s we?” Rainbow Dash grunted with disinterest.

Fluttershy silently looked elsewhere as sweat ran down her temples.

“ P-Pinkie, how could you say something like that!” Twilight stuttered with wide eyes. She was the only one blushing, oddly.

“...” I gave Pinkie a deadpan expression before sighing. I might as well get over this. “ Alright then, fine… fucking hell.”

Taking the bottom hem of my tattered and patchy navy-blue long-sleeved shirt, I cautiously pulled it off and then just as carefully folded it. As I placed it on the counter, I heard a small gasp from Rarity.

“ Robert, dear… is that… chainmail?”

I blinked at her before glancing down to the gray chain armor covering the entirety of my torso. “... Ain't that obvious?”

“ But what for?” Twilight asked with lost breath, sharing a genuine shocked look. Actually, all of them were looking at me with some level of awe. “ The only other ponies with chainmail are… the royal guards!”

“ … It's for protection, sma… Twilight,” I sighed, shaking my head lightly. Based on how Rainbow Dash reacted to calling her names… I could only imagine what would happen to others, specifically someone as… uh, kind as Twilight.

She nodded slowly at my words. “ I guess that makes sense… but from who?”

“ Take a wild guess, would you?”

“ Wait, so are you a royal guard, Robby?!” Pinkie asked excitedly, somehow appearing behind me and tapping her hoof on the armor.

I ignored the rationality of her motion and swatted her hoof away in annoyance. “ No, I'm not, and don't call me that shitty name again.”

Pinkie pouted, her hair deflating just slightly. “ But why, Robby?”

“ Tch… just get back to your fucking seat.”

“ Well, for whatever case you wear it, Robert,” Rarity continued, levitating the measuring tape, “ I'll need you to remove it as well.”

“... Fine,” with some effort, I lifted the metal protection off of me, feeling a significant decrease of weight on me. As I carefully dropped the armor next to my folded shirt, I turned back and waited for Rarity to begin the measurements, only to find a group of twelve eyes yet again ogling me. This was getting annoying… and why the hell did they all look sad now?

Rarity’s measurements tape eventually wrapped around my waist as she gave me a forced smile. I had a feeling it was forced, cause it didn't feel smooth from what I had seen so far. “... T-Those are quite the scars, darling.”

… I think that was just an over exaggeration, but whatever. I huffed, crossing my arms. “ Just get on with the measurements, will you?”

“ Gladly, dear.”

After the measurements were taken, Rarity—after blatantly revolting from his aroma—earnestly insisted that Robert took a bath. He was reluctant at first but eventually gave in, his form disappearing down the hall as he made his way towards the bath, a series of slurs trailing behind him.

“... Ah haven't seen scars that bad before,” Applejack muttered to herself. Given that the room was relatively quiet, every other pony heard her comment clearly.

“... p-poor Robert,” Fluttershy shivered, a severely worried expression masking her face, “ …I-I could see some b-bear c-claw marks on him...”

“ … They’re probably just fake,” Rainbow Dash snorted, though the tone of her voice made it clear that she doubted her own words as well, “ there's no way anypony can s-survive after… getting all of that.”

“ But they looked real, Dashy,” Pinkie countered. She had a similarly worried expression as Fluttershy’s. “ Like, really really real… Robby probably fought many bad creatures…”

“ Oh dear, that's just horrible…” Fluttershy squeaked with an even more sympathetic look.

“ It appears our human friend here has been through many ordeals,” Rarity hummed thoughtfully, most of her attention focused on the shirt she was magically sewing together at the moment.

Twilight in turn remained silent, her mind clouded with thoughts, though her face shared equally unsettlement to the others. In all of her life, the most scars she's ever seen were a few scratches her brother had from his training in the royal guard. But… this? It just felt… cruel.

There were many questions she wanted to ask… but she feared some may open a sensitive can of worms that the already sensitive human would probably not like to be opened. This thought was mutually shared upon the rest of them.

For now… it was best to just continue helping Robert. This discovery just may have made it even more of a reason for them to do so.

Man… I'm not even gonna lie, it's probably been over two months since I've taken a legitimate bath… and even calling my previous bath “legitimate” was a stretch…

My head felt so much lighter now with all the dirt and oils out of my hair… It felt fucking great. My muscles were relaxed, my back no longer itches, and my face felt fresher than ever. I should take baths more often, especially now that it's so freely available to me…

… I, uh, hope Rarity won't mind the mess… though I'm sure she can make the tub sparkly white again.

Sucks that I couldn't find any razors. I could seriously trim down this beard… maybe also shorten my hair so that I don't always have to struggle making a man bun. Eh, that was an issue I can worry about later.

After sucking up my shame and changing into my new clothes in front of everyone—which were actually really comfortable—we made quick progress to the train station. Whether surprising or not, there was no difference between the Ponyville train station and the ones I knew back home. However that fact benefited me to know, I'm not really sure.

On the trip to the train station, I used my cleared head to rethink my situation, and consequently the actions that brought me to it. I was in a predicament, with all my stuff either missing, held in auction inventory, or flat out sold. In short, I fucked up. If I wanted to get everything back—a feat I'm beginning to realize is gonna be next to impossible, as much as it stung—I’m going to have to start with the easy stuff and go up. Prioritize what is most important and then shoot for the others later.

It stung, but what could I do? I would’ve continued to sulk in that town hall had these ladies not helped me… and that goes to show how fucking pathetic I am. Crazy how I was doing so well by myself, but then crashed when life turned a leaf once again. Now I gotta be led like some baby…

At least there's nothing biodegradable in my belongings… I think. The only thing that would damage my stuff would be blunt forces… which I'm sure that carriage went through greatly… fucking hell.

In any case, I’ve come to realize one thing. Even with all the help I’ve gotten so far, this was something I had to do on my own. As shitty as those assholes that were brothers are, I had brought this into myself in the first place by blindly trusting them. And as much as these mares would like to help… It felt like another burden to me. I nearly forgot what help was… and I now suddenly have the luxury of receiving it.

I dunno… it just didn't settle well with me.

Besides that… I have a method of work that'll probably cause some trouble if these girls follow me. That is, specifically, just breaking in and taking my shit back… but of course, I’ll take the reasonable route first by asking. I’d rather not become some nation criminal or whatever, seeing as how easily I was at the brink of being exiled.

Haha! Fucking hell, man, my situation is a mess.

But yeah… I'm gonna stay solo. I'll pay these ladies back later on… or something. Once I'm at peace with most of my stuff back, then I’ll start worrying about how this society and its economy functions… and find out just how the fuck I’ve managed to not stumble across it sooner. Like, what? A whole civilization of horses?? The hell have I been doing all this time…?

As we approached the ticket booth, Twilight pulled out a purse from her saddlebag and removed a set amount of gold coins. That must be the currency… she must be stacked. “ Hello, six tickets for—”

I stepped forward, leaning in and cutting her off. “ No, one ticket is enough.”

“ Wait, what…?” Twilight gave me a confused look.

“ Hey, hold on!” Rainbow Dash shouted, floating up towards me. “ What’re you tryna do?! Tryna get away scott free, huh?!”

I deadpanned. “ Scott free from what…?”

“ You know exactly what I mean!”

I sighed heavily. Such an insufferable bitch…

“ Oh dear,” Rarity started, giving me a disapproving look, “ Robert, don't tell me you're…”

“ I'll be going solo from here,” I nodded without hesitation, “ you six… five… are nice ladies, and I appreciate the help… but, this is as far as I can ask.”

“ Oh, please don't be modest, Robert,” Fluttershy pleaded, “ we're really fine helping you get your things back.”

“ And we work better as a team, too!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“ I have to agree, Robert,” Twilight said, fishing out more coins regardless, “ we've decided to help you, so we'll help you all the way.”

I merely crossed my arms, looking at them with a bit of suspicion. This was overbearing, even with the different alien cultures. There’s a limit to how much help you give until it’s obvious you want something in return.

“ This ain’t the first time we’ve helped somepony find something they’ve lost, sugar,” Applejack added, “ and ah reckon you’d struggle making your way through Fillydelphia, too.”

Shit, she’s got a point there… wait wait, hold up. What’s she still doing here? “ Don’t you have your own problems to worry about, Applejack?”

“... Gosh darn it, you’re right!”

Pinkie gasped at my question. “ Oh yeah, Applejack has a competition against Flim and Flam tomorrow! How could I overlook such a historical event! I—” she gasped even louder, her voice raising up a knot. “ I haven't even set up the cider making competition cannons!!”

Twilight’s eyes widened, giving a hasty and apologetic look to Applejack, “ I'm so sorry Applejack, we completely forgot about your own problem!”

“ You don't worry, Twi,” Applejack huffed, digging a hoof on the ground, “ ah was beginning to forget about it too… for the better, I’d wish.”

“ It seems today has been quite unfortunate,” Rarity hummed sympathetically, “ those brother's are quite the troublemakers…”

“ Oh, c'mon, we can rush back once this is all done,” Rainbow Dash said, crossing her front hooves, “ it shouldn't even take us long to find all of this jerk’s stuff. Then we can come back and see Applejack beat those two!”

“ It's a day and a half trip, Raintard,” I facepalmed, “ her competition starts tomorrow morning. She wouldn't make it back in time.”

“ Well, what would you know about that, huma-jerk!”

“ Enough to know she isn’t coming along.”

“ I—urk…”

“ It’s fine, y’all can go ahead without me,” Applejack said humbly, giving a confident smile, “ us Apples won’t let some office boys take our business!”

“ Woohoo, that's the spirit, Applejack! Go Applejack!” Pinkie cheered on, jumping in the air while wearing apple-branded sports fan clothing. I'm not even gonna question where she even got that.

“ Well then, we'll be cheering you on, darling,” Rarity smiled, “ and once we return, we'll hold a grand celebration for your sound victory!”

Shit… the rest are still planning on going. I mean… if they’re really insisting on it… but… no, just one thing. It’s obvious to me they’re friends. And I'm not gonna act like I'm some friendship scholar or whatever—like that even exists—but I'm sure they’d much rather help their friend here instead of some stranger.

It’s not like I’m desperately against the help, but… I’ll be taking any chance I get to go solo.

I sighed, itching my beard. “ You girls are way too nice… but I still think I should go alone.”

“ …Goodness, it’s fine to show humility sometimes, Robert,” Rarity scorned, though I didn’t feel any negativity behind her tone, “ you of all ponies should know how much help you need right now, and we’re willing to take that stretch for you.”

Humility… when was the last time I didn’t feel that. “ Rarity, you’re a sweetheart, but I can handle my own issues now. Thank you for the help you’ve given.”

“ I-I… well, you’re quite welcome, dear,” she giggled bashfully.

Twilight’s brows furrowed. “ Fillydelphia is a big place, Robert. It's going to take some time making your way in your own.”

“ And I have all the time in the world to search it down,” I nodded at her, sticking out a hand, “ one map and a ticket. Give me that, and I’ll get my stuff back. I’ll pay everything back to you all once this mess is done.”

Twilight gave me an exasperated look. “ The issue isn't payment, Robert… but, if you’re so sure, then I—”

“ Now wait wait wait,” Rainbow Dash abruptly interjected. Holy fucking shit, when will her bitching end? “ This guy is all sorts of suspicious! He’s got a bad vibe and does bad stuff! As much as I would like for him to leave, it just doesn’t sit well with me knowing he’s on the loose!”

This little—

“ Don’t fucking talk about me like a dog, bitch,” I bit back viciously before I could control myself.

“ Woah there, partner!” Applejack hissed alarmingly, her eyes widened. “ Let’s not go there now, everypony.”

“ See what I mean!” Rainbow Dash pointed at me accusingly. “ What if he says this to other ponies?! Or worse, like when he messed up Flim and Flam’s loco-whatever! He’ll cause a bunch of problems!”

“ …I understand your concerns, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight nodded slowly, giving me a side eye, “ frankly, your manner of speaking is very rude, Robert, and you’ll eventually speak like that to the wrong pony.”

They’re making it sound like it’ll affect me or something. I just discovered this society; I couldn't give half a fuck what others think, whether leader or not. “ I can deal with those consequences.”

“... however, Robert is his own po—person, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight continued, ignoring my comment, “ as much as we help, if he wishes to do this on his own, we’ll have to respect his wishes.”

“ But Twilight—”

“ Sorry, Rainbow, but she’s got a point,” Applejack nodded, “ if he fancy’s the lone wolf path, we have no qualms denying him that right.”

“... Ugh, why can’t you all see it?!” Rainbow Dash groaned in frustration, her—holy shit, was that steam?! What the…

In a fit of anger, Rainbow Dash accelerated her wing flaps and rose up in elevation. “ Whatever! I said I would only help once, and only if he doesn't deny it! So I’m outta here!”

Before any of them could say anything, the blue pegasus was long gone in the wind, leaving behind a gust of strong wind. I put a hand over my eyes as I watched the rainbow blur fly off into the distance, parting clouds. Honestly, I saw it as a benefit on my part.

Twilight sighed dejectedly. “... Sorry about that, Robert. Rainbow Dash can be… cautious of new ponies.”

“ You don't say.”

“... U-Um, so it is one or six tickets,” the clerk stuttered behind us. He looked a bit frazzled, most obviously because of the sudden take off from Bitchy Dash.

I glance at the milky-yellow stallion before huffing. “ One ticket.”

“ Are you really sure about this?” Twilight asked again.

“ Yes,” I sighed. These si… five ponies were very insistent on helping me. I don't think this was natural, at all… but I guess it's not bad. “ If I can get by all this time by myself, then this should be no different.”

“ Well… alright,” Twilight smiled, levitating the coins to the clerk, “ this should be enough for a two-way ticket. If you need any more help, you can always come back… and actually, I can—”

“ Twilight, it's good. You've done enough.”

“... Hehe, if you say so,” Twilight giggled, levitating the map to me.

As I took the map and Twilight paid for the ticket, I had randomly and subtly noticed the sudden comfortness in my face. I brought my rough and callous-covered hand to my face, feeling less tension in my muscles. This… I'm not sure how to feel about this. Why did I even notice this?

As the discovery danced with my thoughts, I noticed at the edge of my vision Fluttershy approaching me. “ Um, I know you said you didn't want anymore help, b-but… my family used to live in Fillydephia. I could, um, b-be your guide… if you want…”

… The fuck? What is this convenience I'm getting??

I silently stared at the yellow pegasus’s offer before giving an exasperated look to all of them. “ Is it normal for you ponies to be this helpful?”

Twilight kept a smile while offering me the golden ticket. “ Well, I can't speak for everypony, but… Rarity does have her touch.”

“ Guilty as charged~” Rarity sang.

… You know what, fine. Fluttershy is arguably the quietest of the six from what I've seen so far, and if what she claims is true, then she could shorten the time I spend wandering around. “... Fuck it, make it two tickets then.”

Fluttershy smiled, her wings shifting on her sides a bit. “Yay…”

“ Wait, so can I also—” Pinkie started in excitement.

“ Fuck no.”

“ Aww…”

“ … Applejack, one more thing.”

Applejack tilted her head. “ Shoot, partner.”

“ That competition? It's a game of quantity over quality,” I explained, leaning against the door of the train cabin, “ you probably already know that, but just… don't let those assholes get to you. In the end, have a taste test or something.”

“ Oh my,” Rarity curled a brow, giving me an amused grin, “ well isn't that quite the helpful comment.”

I blinked. “ … is there a problem?”

Rarity chuckled. “ For a second, I had the picture you weren't the thoughtful type, Robert~”

I merely rolled my eyes at her. I wasn't going to humor that… and I'd feel shitty insulting the per—pony that literally put clothes on my sorry back. I'm cutthroat, not an asshole… maybe both… whatever.

Applejack was silent for a moment, a deep thoughtful look on her face. “ …Ah wouldn't be so sure that ponies would care about taste if them brothers can make plenty more cider.”

I snorted. “ Remember what your grandma said. Trust me, it'll make a difference.”

“ Well… if ya say so,” Applejack nodded, giving me a supportive grin. The train whistle slowed and my form began to move with the train. Applejack and the others waved at me and Fluttershy. “ You have safe travels, partner.”

I lifted a thumbs up at them. “ Yeah, will do… and you might as well beat those brother's asses, too.”

Applejack faltered for a moment, giving me an exasperated grin. “ Ah’ll, uh, try…”

Author's Note

I'm not sure if I depicted each character true to their nature. Please leave a comment if there's any contradictions or confusion in this chapter. As always, thank you for reading!

Chapter 4: Enter Fillydelphia

The seats were stiff.

I'm not sure why that was the one thing bothering me at the moment, but it was. There are currently many other things that I really should be concerned about, most obviously being that my “you lost all your shit!” situation… but I just couldn’t ignore the discomfort in my ass. That sounded so wrong, I know, but it's fucking bugging me!

Maybe these ponies' anatomy were the reason behind the stiffness... But even then, it felt like sleeping on a rock… and I’d know a thing or two about that.

I tried my best to ignore the discomfort by viewing the landscape through the cabin window. As I did so, I looked for any familiar landmarks that I had passed by before, but unsurprisingly every blade of grass was a novelty to me. It was as if I were in a completely different world… well, figuratively at the moment.

So weird. How had I not stumbled across this place sooner? I mean, with the amount of time I spend so far… I should've at least seen these ponies at one point. But frankly, this was my first encounter with this species. Just recently, I was under the assumption that I was the sole sentient creature in this world…

… Uhh, sentient and civil… yeah, something like that.

I could see many things in this landscape… things that should never even be considered nostalgic. Oak trees, birch trees… rivers with clean water… flower fields… damn, really pretty flower fields. Wish I had a camera for that…

So yeah, it all was like a scene right out of a calming nature documentary, or the backdrop of some romance film. I couldn’t find any hate for the sight before me. It was a nice scenery… but fucking unsettling all the same, especially when I compared it to the terrains that I've traveled through so far. Had I not known better—or rather, had I found this on my own—I would've fooled myself into thinking this was paradise…

Far off on the horizon was a short mountain range, and there was particularly one mountain that caught my attention. Of course, it was the largest one, and there was something like a white blob near the summit, though I couldn't make out what it was from this distance. I summarized that it was just snow on an irregular shaped part of the mountain… it gave me inquisitive thoughts about how I'd fare in a snowy biome.

“ U-Uh, Robert…?”

I snapped out from my self-reflection, glancing over to Fluttershy, who was seated across from me. She sat herself rather reclusively, not making any more movements than breathing. “ …what?”

“ Well, um, I was just wondering,” Fluttershy started, tapping the fronts of her hooves together meekly, “ are you… an omnivore?”

“...huh?” I tilted my head, a small feeling of concern growing in the back of my mind. Where was this coming from? I… well, I only told the receptionist that I was a herbivore. Fluttershy shouldn't know then… but then again, she's friends with Pinkie and that blue bitch, so I guess they had told her. However it is, I'd rather not have to go through another screaming session, if that's what this is indicating.

“ I-I, um, just couldn't help but notice your front canines,” she explained, having noted my silent hesitation, “ herbivores don't have c-canines… and, um, your jaw is smaller, so… a-also, I've tended to a few monkeys, and—oh my, I'm not calling you a monkey or anything, but t-they normally are omnivores… and… um…”

… I thought she was supposed to be the quiet type. I guess anyone will ramble on under pressure… but damn, that was pretty accurate reasoning right there. I didn't have an argument against her. “ … yeah, I'm an omnivore.”

“ Oh, I see…” she, thankfully, went quiet for a moment before glancing up at me shyly, “ um, then… why did you… lie?”

Ah, so they did tell her. I crossed my arms defensively. “ I nearly got exiled for existing, Fluttershy. The fuck you think would happen if I said I ate meat?”

“ …I-I suppose you're right… sorry…”

“ You're good… it's just how it is…” I sighed, leaning back on my seat. The backrest was also fucking stiff, but whatever.

This idle talk was bringing back some very recent bad memories, and I'm obviously talking about that bitch of a mayor. I'm still peeved off from that… it just made no sense. Sure, I'm a towering and skinny biped that came out of nowhere—I can get that point of view—but you'd at least think you'd already be dead if I were a some sort of threat… fucking dumbasses.

“ Ahem, ma'am… s-sir,” one of the train attendees said, walking up with a small decorative cart, “ would you like any refreshments?”

I glanced up at the attendee then down at the snacks and drinks being offered. And… wow, is that…

… Damn, I just realized that it's been a while since I've last seen plastic… maybe that would be a good thing under some other circumstance.

“ I'll, um, have some water, please and thank you,” Fluttershy said quietly.

The attendee nodded, handing her a plastic water bottle. The attendee then gave me a wary look. “ A-And you… sir?”

I hummed for a moment, struggling to see through the reflection of the plastic packaging due to the sun's angle. I was starting to feel the annoying ache return in my stomach. “ Whatchu got in there?”

“ We have some nuts, trail mix, both fresh and dried fruits, butter cookies, and an assortment of other pastries, sir,” the attendee explained.

Fucking what? Hell yeah man, gimme all of that. “ I'll take everything, then.”

The attendee gave me a startled look, sweat beginning to run down their face. “ S-Sir, there's an item limitation per pony…”

“ I don't give a fuck. Give me everything on the cart.”

“ Um… please don't be rude, Robert. There's plenty of restaurants in Fillydephia,” Fluttershy interjected meekly, “ I can, um, treat you to a place there if you're hungry…”

“ You…” I fell silent as I looked over at the yellow pegasus with a gradually softened gaze. Man, that kindness of her’s was unbearable… hell, she and her friend’s kindness was unbearable. If this is a recurring feature of all of these ponies… then I'm gonna have to grow a bit of tolerance. I can only say so many thank-you’s until it gets annoying. “ Thanks, Fluttershy, but it's fine. I won't be bothering anyone if I eat this right here.”

“ It's ok, I fine paying—”

“ It's not even about pay, Fluttershy. I'd rather eat now than wait any longer.” Frankly, I wasn't going to just let an opportunity like this slip by so easily.

“ S-Sir, I must insist—” the attendee helplessly argued.

I cut them off rather harshly. “ Come the fuck on, just let it slide this once. You don't usually get these types of requests, right? Not from a human—shit, you don't even know what I am. Plus I haven't eaten in a week… so lemme just fill up a bit and I won't ask for anything else.”

The attendee's eyes widened, unable to form a sentence. “ I—”

“ Just empty the damn cart on this table… I'll call you back for trash and shit when I'm done chowing.”

“...” the attendee bit their lip, deep in thought for a brief moment, before exhaling sharply, carefully placing all the cart’s content on the table, “ I'm so getting fired…”

I grinned, instantly going for one of the packaged snacks and tearing it open. It was caramel strawberry drops, and the smell reminded me of that pink pony. I wisely ignored it. “ Thanks, I'll remember this one.”

As the attendee silently left us with the empty cart—quietly muttering to themselves what I had no doubt were slurs—I went on to absolutely devour the snacks before me like a sloppy pig. I hadn't even realized until a few moments later that I was making an embarrassing mess, but like holy shit I couldn't care any fucking less. I haven't tasted sugar in ages… man, and this was fucking filling, too!

Sucks that there was no charcuterie… or any meat, to be honest. I would kill for spare ribs right now… uh, figuratively this time as well.

“ … R-Robert,” Fluttershy stuttered hesitantly.

“ Hm?” I glanced over, my crumb-covered face quickly furrowing in confusion when I saw her completely horrified expression. Woah… where'd that come from? “ You good?”

“ Is it true?” She asked, rather urgently. “... A-A whole week w-without food…?!”

I scratched my beard at her question, only to pause and realize I was scratching with my jelly-covered fingers. I stared at my hand hatefully. “ Fuck… uh, yeah, it's kinda hard to get food out on the road. I had to ration… my shit… and stuff.”

I wished that last part was completely metaphoric, but… fucking hell, that memory will never see the light of day.

“ …Oh dear…” Fluttershy’s eyes softened even more than they already were, tears beginning in the corners.

Ah shit, the last thing I need to deal with is anyone crying. I instinctively reached out in an act to consult her but quickly retracted back, remembering the mess on me. Where the fuck were the napkins?

“... Look, Fluttershy,” I eventually said, giving up and wiping my hands on my new pants, “ don't… beat yourself up over my problems. No one should. I've been living fine with them so far… so, like, don’t cry and shit.”

“ B-But, it's so sad….!” She countered rather passionately, wiping her eyes with her fetlocks. “ Nopony should feel hunger…”

“ I…” My voice died out in exasperation. I was starting to see a reoccurring trait of idealism or whatever amongst these ponies. Like, the ‘no more war’ and ‘free the world of hunger’ type of shit. Unfortunately, as I have so ruthlessly learnt the hard way twice that life has no obligation to be kind…

“ I what?” Fluttershy sniffed, tilting her head.

“ Nevermind… just let it go,” I sighed, popping another pastry in my mouth, “ think of it all as a skill issue on my part, or something.”

“ W-What do skills have to do with starvation?!”

“ Chill, I was making a joke there…”

“...oh,” Fluttershy calmed down, giving me a slow and confused smile, followed by a laugh so awkwardly and painfully fake that I had to groan and facepalm.

I scowled as I yet again forgot the mess on my hands, my face now smeared with jelly.“ Just… fuck it all. Go back to the sadness or whatever. Let's just make this more unbearable, eh?”

That somehow seemed to have done the trick of making her sadness seemingly vanish all together, being replaced instead with the frequently confused look all these ponies have been giving me so far. “ Um… w-why?”

“ You tell me…” I grumpily said, opening a can of grape-flavored… man, I miss soda so much.

“ U-Um, ok…”

A day and a half have passed, as estimated. The trip had also predictably been relatively bland, especially since after the time I had stuffed my face full of the oh so precious food. Unfortunately, those snacks were just snacks; I was nowhere near satisfied with my hunger, and woefully I would stay as such until further notice… unless, of course, I accept Fluttershy’s previous offer, but that isn’t happening. In any case, it sucked that I was banned from receiving any more snacks thereafter… as the conductor had so sternly addressed… that old horse needs a vacation or something. He had some pretty decent lore, though, but I digress.

We didn't have many other idle chats afterwards, me and Fluttershy—partly due to the fact that she went reclusive on me. I guess that's where the “shy” comes in Fluttershy… and honestly, I wasn't mad or anything about it. I didn't feel any of that awkwardness in the silence, specifically the awkwardness you'd get when sitting with a stranger. From what I’ve known of her so far, she’s a pretty chill person… pony, or shit.

Fluttershy, however, had also taken to keeping a saddened expression on her face throughout the trip. I guess I probably should've lied there about my hunger streak, seeing how badly it affected her… though I doubt that would've made any difference. I guess the intentions would've been a good thing to my current benefactor?

…whatever, a week is tame in comparison to my other hunger streaks. I best keep that to myself, of course, less I want more unnecessary attention.

Arriving to Fillydephia was quite the revelation to me. In comparison to Ponyville, this town was way more advanced in terms of infrastructure and… yeah, infrastructure. It was all red-brick buildings with the occasional marble-white colored complexes littered in-between. No skyscrapers in sight and only a few utility pole lines. Pretty old school but hey, better than boiling hot deserts.

My face was planted on the train window like a child throughout the entry, looking in awe as the wooden bridge we crossed transitioned from sunny wheat fields to a cloudy and gray industrial realm. And as the train came to a stop at an even larger train station than the one at Ponyville, I quickly noticed that the streets were also paved; a stark difference to the dirt paths in Ponyville.

Man… I've really been wandering in circles all this time. Where the fuck have I been going to miss all of this?!

“ E-Eeee!” Hearing the sudden screech nearby, I returned my attention to the present, finding the local ponies all looking at me fearfully as I stood at the door of the train cabin. They began to swarm backwards, like oil when a drop of soap falls into it. “ I-It’s a m-monster!!!”

I scowled. Oh my fucking— already? I just got out the damn train, for fuck sake!

“ W-Wait, everypony!” Fluttershy beside me suddenly interjected before I could do anything in an uncharacteristically loud tone, gaining all the agitated ponies’ attention. “ Robert is, um, a h-herbivore! He wouldn’t hurt anypony!”

Pfft, who said I wou—I’ll shut the fuck up real quick.

Rather stupidly, her comment instantly had an effect. The collective fear of the ponies just as quickly eased out as it did appear, with many of them saying mutual oh’s before going back to their business. No second later, the train station was back to its original ambience of unfocused conversations, steam blowing, and all sorts of train noises.

I blinked exasperatedly and annoyingly at the crowd dispatching, still noticing the few glanced at my direction. “... the fuck was that all about…”

Fluttershy bowed her head at me apologetically. “ S-Sorry, Robert… um, T-This would be the first time everypony sees your species…”

“ No shit? Could’ve sworn I saw another human here somewhere,” I huffed with palpable sarcasm, running my clean hand through my knot-less hair. This was yet another pain in the ass that I was going to have to go through many times… is this what foreign exchange students go through? I gave Fluttershy a side eye look. “ I didn't take you as the lying type.”

“ …Oh dear,” Fluttershy looked down at the tiled stone floor with a hint of shame, “ Applejack would be so disappointed…”

I blinked. Not sure what that had to do with the country bumpkin, but sure. “ Thanks for it, though. Saved me a headache and shit.”

I realized, now, that I probably would’ve had to struggle through this random scene had I gone alone… and I would've done something stupid. Perhaps I was being arrogant in saying I could go solo… well, I'm sure I would've eventually made my way through it.

“ Please exit the cabin,” the conductor grumbled behind us, “ you're slowing us down… and scaring off our customers.”

I grinned back at the grumpy old stallion, who simply frowned back at me. “ You make it sound worse than it is, old geezer.”

“ Off the train, ape,” the conductor snapped, leaving no room for questions, “ save your reasons to yourself”

“ Sure, was planning on doing that.”

We then soundly made our way off the train and out the train station without much trouble, entering the bustling sidewalk on the main street. The attire of the local ponies pretty much set in the industrial theme of this town; stallions with the trousers, long-sleeved, and ivy caps while the mares with the dresses, blouses, and bonnets. Of course, there were the few stand-outs with formal attire, but I couldn't give three fucks about their rich asses.

I was yet again confused in the behavior of these ponies. At the train station, there was almost an uproar just from me standing there, but on the streets—not even a few minutes after that event—it was as if none of them even noticed I existed as we walked by. I… I don't even want to bother thinking about it. I think they're all bipolar or something.

We eventually came to a stop at a corner not far from the station. It was there that I was greeted with yet another thing that I haven't seen in ages; traffic.

I watched in mild annoyance as the numerous carriages drove past us, silently questioning the ethics behind ponies pulling a carriage for other ponies. “ So… you know where the auction place is, right?”

Fluttershy looked up from the traffic with a meek smile. “ Um, no, I don't…”

…The hell? Don't tell me she also lied about living here…

I narrowed my eyes. “ I thought you said you fucking lived here.”

“ I-I did! But… It was when I was a really young foal,” Fluttershy explained frantically, a sense of nostalgia behind her voice, “ I wasn't allowed to go to many places without my mother… b-but I know a few spots that can help!”

…Dammit, just what I needed. I’d rather not unnecessarily spend time looking around just based off childhood memories, but who the fuck was I to be picky? Shit… I guess it was slightly better than going in dark. “ Do you at least know where we can get a city map or something?”

“ Um… there should be some kiosks around every corner or two…” Fluttershy said, passively trying with great difficulty to look past the other ponies and through the sea of carriages. The fuck was she struggling for? She had wings…

Seeing as her attempts were utterly futile, I decided to make use of my height and looked around for the supposed kiosks. Rather quickly, I spotted a small booth selling newspapers and magazines another street ahead of us. “I think I found it.”

“ Oh, great! We can make our way there, then,” Fluttershy smiled softly.

“ If only this traffic could fucking end…” I grumbled quietly as the stream of carriages continued to pour. Why the fuck were there so many carriages in the first place? With this many ponies, this place felt more like a city than a town.

“ Um, Fillydephia always had problems with traffic control.”

“ Fucking hell…”

While it was an insufferable amount of time before then, we eventually got to one of the kiosks. Of course, seeing as how the kiosk I first saw had even more traffic up ahead, we decided to make a detour and luckily found another booth. As Fluttershy purchased the brochure—for some reason also having a light conversation with the booth owner, which I’m assuming was some sort of social etiquette—I was once more enlightened with not one but two interesting revelations.

One, it appears I couldn’t read shit. While it was something I was actively trying to ignore how it was even possible, I could easily communicate with these ponies, but their handwriting was a lost cause to me. Fortunately, the magazines and newspapers followed similar formattings like the ones back home, so there was little struggle for me to make educated guesses on what was being displayed. The pictures definitely helped…

That would then bring me to my second and arguably larger realization. The fucking newspapers, for some fucking reason, had three fucking photos of me in three fucking different angles! Photos, for fuck sake! When and how the hell did this even happen?! My ass hasn’t even been out here in this city for an hour and I’m already on the news??!

Just… I would normally just throw this in with the other shit that’s happened so far like I’ve been doing since meeting those brothers, but fuck man, I couldn’t ignore this one. What type of journalism does this city have to be able to mass print a new event that has happened in just under an hour… no, it was probably fucking thirty minutes! Fucking what?!

… Ah, maybe it has to do with their magic. Yeah… yeah, that makes sense. Those asshole brothers used magic for their machine, and Twilight also used magic to open doors and shit… man, I’m fucking insane. How could I be so nonchalant about legitimate magic? I just… I’m a whole mess right now. I need to settle myself for a moment and process all of that’s been happening so far…

“... um, Robert?”

I snapped away from my blank and glazed stare, looking down at a slightly concerned Fluttershy. She had what I assumed was the city map under her wings, with an additional magazine that had a baby bunny on the cover. “... what?”

“ I, um, bought the map… so…”

I blinked slowly before staring back at the newspaper hung on the front of the kiosk. “ I can’t read this shit. What’s it saying?”

“Hm…?” Fluttershy looked over to the newspapers before her eyes widened, probably also realizing the bullshit that was before us. How had she not noticed until now? God, are these ponies that ignorant? “ Oh my…”

“ C’mon, just read it to me.”

“ Um, ‘Element of Kindness Travels With A Strange Monkey. Confirmed To Be Friendly.’”

… huh… I guess that would explain why the street ponies were so dismissive about me. Hell, even now every one of these ponies are being nonchalant; the booth owner is suddenly sleeping right now, of all things. I’m… I’m just going to take it as a plus and leave it at that.

“ The Fillydelphia Journal is amazing,” Fluttershy passively commented in awe, “ I hadn’t even noticed anypony taking our photo…”

“ The fuck is an element of kindness, anyways,” I grunted.

“ Um… t-that would be me…”

I gave her a confused look. What? She has a title?

I silently stared at Fluttershy, looking her up and down. Now that I paid more attention, she did have a lot of femininity to her looks. If I were to describe it, she looked almost like a doll a young girl would play with. Adding that with the strange title…

“ … you some celebrity or something?” I asked bluntly.

Fluttershy’s cheeks flushed faintly, her eyes averted to the ground. “ Oh my, I w-wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a c-celebrity…”

“ Then what, a model? No way you aren’t special if you’re having your name on the news not even an hour after you arrived.” Obviously, it more or so happened because of me, but my point still stands.

“ … Um, I did do a bit of modeling before…”

I could see that. With her looks, she’d probably win all pony shows back home or something like that… but that’s besides the point. I’m getting distracted now… I should keep reminding myself that I’ve lost everything to my name… fuck… I want my shit back.

I sighed, nudging my head towards the map under her wing. “ Alright, forget it. Lead the way.”

Fluttershy smiled softly, sitting on her haunches and opening the map with her hooves. “ Ok, let’s see… oh… oh dear…”

My eyes narrowed in concern. “ What? The fuck is wrong?”

“ There’s, um, quite the number of auction houses…”

“ … Of fucking course there is…”

“ I’m sorry, sir, but we did not receive anything like you’ve mentioned in the past four days.”

Displeased with her words, I glared at the clerk with my fists clenched on the front desk. “ Can you at least let me look at your shit? Just for a minute? Then I’ll be out of your hair.”

The clerk shook her head, keeping her professional stoic expression. “ Our inventory is strictly prohibited from customers outside auction hours, sir.”

“ … shit, what about I give you three hundred coins? Five hundred? Give me a number and I’ll make it happen.”

“ Sir, our company frowns upon bribery. You may seek an appointment with our regional manager if you are unsatisfied with our policies.”

This little… fuck! To hell with these stupid regulations!

I stood back and clenched my fists tightly, putting one over my forehead as I blew hot air through my nose. Slowly, I managed to calm myself down, then made a sharp turn for the door before I lost grip of that control. “ Fuck this shitty place…”

“ Have a wonderful rest of your day, sir.”

As I left the chime of the front glass door behind me, I stormed my way to the closest bench and slumped my ass down on the cool surface. I put my head on my hands as I tried to control my uneven breathing.

This… this was the the third fucking auction house we’ve been to. The third and none of these fucking moronic assholes had my shit! And just like how that stupid fucking clerk had reacted, I wasn’t even allowed to look through their shit… dammit! It’s fucking giving me the urge to just break in. It’s so easy; just go in, look around, and go on with my day if there’s nothing. But nooo, if I did that then I’d have to deal with the local law enforcement. Like, shit, I almost forgot I now had to behave like a law-abiding citizen… fucking hell, what was the point in that? I wasn’t even registered into their system or whatever…

Fluttershy, who had frantically trailed behind me, meekly took a seat next to me. There was a silence between the two of us before she cleared her throat. “ U-Um… it looks like they didn’t have it either.”

“ No fucking suprise there…” I mumbled.

She bit her lip, looking back down at the map in her hooves. “ We still have another five to go to…”

Oh right, that too. Of fucking course this damn city had to have a total of eight fucking auction houses. Even if I don’t know shit about auctioning, even I could tell that this was obnoxiously excessive. Like, damn, why stop at eight? Go for twenty or something… dumbest bullshit ever.

“ Um,” Fluttershy started cautiously, “ w-would you like some ice cream, Robert?”

… huh? I glanced up at her between my fingers. “ … Ice cream?”

“ Y-Yeah… there’s an ice cream shop not far off from here… would you like some?”

“... what I’d like is to have all my stuff back,” I hummed into my palm.

Fluttershy gave me a slightly exasperated smile. “ I-I know, but you’re, um, really mad and… nopony does good when they’re mad… so I… um…”

… Fuck, she’s absolutely right. I can’t do shit when I lose my temper. How fucking pathetic am I? I can’t even keep my cool for a minute… the hell did my tolerance go?

No, this isn’t about tolerance. I’m just acting like a child right now. Get back to your game, Robert.

“ … you guys got double chocolate ice cream?”

Fluttershy instantly beamed with an eager nod. “ Yes! We also have triple-double chocolate brownie ice cream.”

“... lead the way, then.”

Accepting the small detour, me and Fluttershy made our way to the designated ice cream shop she was talking about. Turns out it was from a company she used to go to as a child, though they had relocated from the street she had lived on. From there, we entered a cozy and arctic-themed store, where I was joyfully given a serving of triple-double-whatever chocolate ice cream—about double the serving of what the other ponies were getting—as Fluttershy caught up with the front cashier. Like damn, does she know everyone here…?

… well, fucking duh, she used to live here.
Of course, Fluttershy’s persona had also made the price of the ice cream drop even lower than what was advertised. The celebrity status really pulled off in times like these.

We made our way to a different outdoor bench, one closer to a small shopping plaza that I hadn’t seen before on the trip. From there, we both comfortably enjoyed the ambience of the local life, the traffic in this area being much less intensive than near the main roads. I gladly took this opportunity to take my first bite of the ice cream, which surprisingly was nowhere near from melting. And… holy shit, yet another thing I missed about modernity.

“ … Fuck yeah,” I practically moaned as the savoury chocolateness melted on my tongue and cooled the roof of my mouth, “... this is what I needed.”

Fluttershy simply giggled at my honestly goofy reaction, a small scoop of yellow dandelion-flavored ice cream in between her hooves. That’s right, dande-fucking-lion flavor ice cream. I thought my crazy has never been topped before, but lo-and-behold this fuckery. “ You like chocolate as much as Pinkie.”

I blinked at her comment before a small memory came to the forefront of my mind. I cringed. “ That crazy girl? Fuck no…”

“ Heya, Robby!”

“ Wh— huh?” My eyes suddenly shot up, my body jolted in alarm at the sudden voice nearby. I looked around frantically at the dim environment, quickly spotting a painfully obvious blob of pinkness standing before me. My briefly blurry eyes adjusted and found that it was Pinkie standing before me, with a large pink tent behind her. “ …the fuck?”

“ Good morning, Robby!” Pinkie smiled, not a single trace of tiredness on her face. In fact, I could just faintly see her body shimmering on the spot.

With a silent yawn, I stretched my left arm while giving her a one-eyed scrutiny look. “ The hell are you doing here?”

“ I’m waiting for the cider, silly!” Pinkie giggled. She then randomly stuck a hoof into her hair and dug through it for a moment. I could’ve sworn I heard some metal noises, but I wasn’t given the luxury to question it, because she soon pulled out a green cupcake that had a large back question mark on it. “ Want a cupcake?”

I silently stared at the pastry, feeling both disgusted from where she pulled it from and fearful of the aftermath that would come from eating it. “ … No thanks.”

“ Oh well, suit yourself!” Pinkie said, tossing the cupcake into the air and catching the whole thing in her mouth. She gulped it entirely, having not even done a single chewing motion.

I gave the pink mare an exasperated look before glancing down the dark dirt road. The sun’s light was just barely lighting up the purple skies; it would be a few more hours until dawn strikes. I silently cursed myself for the fact that I was sleeping. Had those brother’s drove by when I was sleeping? No… I would’ve heard their engine had they done so. Fuck… that meant more waiting.

“ Hey, are you sure you don’t want super dumplicous scrumptious cupcakes?” Pinkie asked.

I gave a disgusted frown. “ Fuck no, I’m not eating your lice-covered shit.”

“ Lice doesn’t live there, silly!”

“ I… nevermind,” I sighed, facepalming with closed eyes.

“ Want a cake instead?”

I went silent for a moment before groaning. I could decide to ignore this weird pony, but then I risk the potential and most definitely the likely possibility that she’ll pester me to no end. “ I told you, I—”

Opening my eyes had only revealed to me a scene that had enough stupidity to make me visibly double take. Such an act spoke volume, because not once have I ever done a double take in my life until this very moment.

Standing goofily with an equally goofy smile, Pinkie was unboxing four double-stack cakes in front of her, with another two stacks of four other cake boxes behind her. When she finished unboxing the cakes in front of her—consisting of red, green, blue, and yellow, all of which having different designs—she gave me a beaming grin. “ Choose a color, any color!”

I silently stared at the pony, lost of words. “ … n-no, thanks.”

“ Alrighty, suit yourself!” From there, I watched in mild horror as Pinkie consumed each and every cake with the speed of one hundred piranhas, leaving behind not a single crumb of cake.

“ … I could never top that level of sugar addiction,” I quietly muttered.

We fell into a comfortable silence as we ate our ice cream. The weather wasn’t terribly hot, especially with the clouds and smog filling the atmosphere—that was definitely some concern, now that I think about it—but I’d rather not want to make a mess of my clothes anymore than I already have. Obviously and quite fortunately, this had given me the golden opportunity to people-watch, or in this case pony-watch.

Strangely, the more I looked at the daily business of these quadrupeds, the more I could find similarities to my people back home. The only stark difference would be the subtle anatomical conveniences, like oddly shaped door hands and window latches. Otherwise, it was like watching human activity but with ponies being the actors. A mother and her child doing grocery shopping… the group of teens carrying numerous bags as they left the clothing store… the lone stallion cleaning the windows on the third story of one building…

It… It really made me realize the normalcy behind this place…

Normalcy… being normal…

…man, what was it like being normal? It’s been too long… the fuck has happened to me…?

“ H-Hey you, mister!”

The fuck? A sudden short and squeaky voice caused me to snap out from my autopilot eating, looking down to see a short light tan colt standing a few feet off from my left leg. He wore a small dark brown ivy cap that failed to hide a dull orange mane, with an even darker brown trench coat covering his body entirely. He also had a dirty gray scarf around his neck, one that had the same color as his left cloudy eye.

I silently stared at the colt with a curled brow. Judging by the dirt on his clothes—as well as the unkempt look on his face—I assumed he’s homeless or something. So… even in this society, they struggle with things like homelessness. Interesting… whose kid was this again?

“ Oh dear,” Fluttershy looked up from the magazine she was idly reading, giving the colt a sympathetic look, “ poor foal… where’re you parents?”

The kid’s ears went flat on his head as he frowned at Fluttershy in embarrassment. “ N-None of your business, lady!”

“ Oh no… that isn’t good. We’ll need to find your parents, colt. It isn’t good to wander alone by yourself.”

The kid responded by raising his head high and giving a harumph at Fluttershy. He then glanced over at me and took my silence as cue to continue. “ …I-I heard what happened back in the auction house down the block, mister… and I think I got some news you’d like to hear!”

I blinked as I processed the colt’s heavily accent words. News? Oh… oh, I see where this was going. He’s supposed to be some street rat, right? Information in exchange for money or some shit… well, even if I did have money, I ain’t falling for some stupid shit like that. “ Ain’t got money on me, kid… go play elsewhere.”

“ I ain’t playing, I’m being serious!” The colt protested.

“ The fuck would a kid like you know? Run off back to your friends, don’t waste my time.”

The kid blew his cheeks out before turning his head to the side. “ Fine! Well, I guess you don’t wanna know where they took your broken carriage now, do you?”

… what? I narrowed my eyes at him. “ The hell did you just say?”

With a cheeky green, the kid began to walk away as if he were leaving. “ Nuh uh, I ain’t telling! You said that you—”

“ Sit your ass down and tell me, brat.”

“ …Y-Yes, sir,” the kid dutifully returned to his spot and awkwardly sat down.

I sighed heavily. This was fucking stupid… probably a waste of time… but I’ll humor the kid while I eat this ice cream. “ Start talking, kid.”

The colt pressed his lips with a conflicted expression. He then pointed a hoof towards the ice cream in my hands. “ G-Gimme that first and I’ll tell ya!”

I stared down at my half eaten ice cream. I mean… homeless, right? He’s probably hungry… damn, poor kid. With a sigh, I offered it to the kid with no hesitation. “ Fine, here.”

The colt looked surprised at the offered snack, slowly taking it. “ U-Uh, t-thank you…”

“ Now spit it out, kid. The hell do you know about my shit?”

After taking a few joyful and irresistible laps of the ice cream—which I hardly could blame him—the boy hummed. “ Well, I heard about a beat down carriage bein’ taken in at a warehouse down Fetlock Avenue. They said it looked like one of those carriages from the ghost towns down south.”

My eyes widened as I took in the colt’s words. I quickly turned to Fluttershy with an outstretched hand. “ Map, quick.”

“ Um, o-ok,” as Fluttershy offered the map with her wing, I quickly opened it and scanned around the paper. Just as quickly, I stared back to Fluttershy, who mercifully pointed out the mentioned street for me. The street was several blocks away from us and—even better- was near one of the auction houses we hadn’t gone to yet. Specifically, it was the second to last auction house on the list.

This revelation made me realize something, and I looked back at the colt. “ Where do the Flim Flam Brothers live?”

The kid blinked before frowning. “ Sorry, I ain’t telling—”

“ Answer the fucking question, kid. Do those brothers live on that street?”

The colt flinched before stammering. “ U-Uh, yeah, I think like… two buildings down that road.”

…Fucking hell, I’ve been acting like a moron. I should’ve thought about looking for where those brother’s lived from the start… we’ve wasted and would’ve continued wasting time going through each and every auction. But… if this kid was telling the truth, then this could be much more efficient.

I ran a hand through my hair with a sigh before glancing at Fluttershy. “ Change of plans, we’re going to this…” I quickly look back at the map. “... uh, what’s this called?”

“Exotic Kingdom Auction House,” Fluttershy read.

…Fucking weird name. “ Yeah, we’re going there now.”

“ Um, alright,” Fluttershy nodded meekly, taking a lick at her half-finished ice cream.

I stared at the treat with exasperation. “ …Can’t you finish that faster?”

“ Um… I-I’m weak to brain-freezes.”

I sighed. Of fucking course, I forgot that exists. I stood up and stretched my arms with a frown. “ Then fly while eating it. We’re moving right now.”

“... F-Flying under city elevation is prohibited, Ro—EEK!”

I heard enough. Maybe that would explain why she hadn’t been flying all this time, but the fuck does that matter now? I got places to be and I don’t got the time to argue against the most random law and shit… fucking being a hindrance to everything.

With one arm swoop, Fluttershy found herself in my arms, her widened expression staring up at me. I merely gave her a nod. I could just slap the ice cream out of her grasps and make her go, but that’d just make me one hell of a fucking jerk… more than a jerk I already was. I’ll count this towards my repayments. “ Fuck it, eat while I carry you. Cool?”

Fluttershy merely hid her face behind the ice cream cone, her ears severely red. I guess that was cool. I glanced down at the colt, who had busied himself with eating the remainder of my ice cream. “ You’re coming with me too, kid.”

“ Huh?” the colt looked up with a chocolate-covered snout, his brows curled in both shock and confusion “ W-Why?! I don’t—”

“ Shut up, you already dug yourself deep into this, ” I grunted, nudging his side with the tip of my boot, “ you’re patronage ain’t done yet, smartass.”

The kid glared at my boot, swatting it away. “ No way, mister! I ain’t doing that! Besides, I can’t walk while eating my—WOAH!?”

Without a second breath, I picked up the colt by the nip of his neck and put him on my shoulders. His body went rigid as his legs instinctively wrapped half-way around my neck. I glanced up at his frightened face with a serious look. “ Get any of that ice cream on my hair and I’ll make sure you regret it well.”

“ Y-Y-Yes, sir!”

With my newfound luggage equipped, I glanced down at the folded map in my free hand. Memorizing the route to the designated area, I quickly made haste down the street, the only thing filling my mind being the idea of my belongings returned to my grasp. And, fuck, it better be like that soon…

Author's Note

I made a different version of Fillydelphia. I wanted to make it more industrial-themed for what I have in mind in the coming chapters.

Please comment any errors or anything that is confusing. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 5: The Depths of Fillydelphia

Like always, I just couldn’t help but star-gaze.

It was the one and only hobby that has entertained me throughout my life in this new world. I’ve tried other things like crafts like pottery, sewing, and woodworks, but all of them have either failed miserably or failed miserably. In short, I only found comfort in the simple, unchangeable hobbies that I could figuratively get my hands on, such as looking up to the stars. If there was to be a point where I stopped my nightly visits to the art gallery of the night, then… that would probably mean I died or something.

It was a different type of feeling, though, when you’re star-gazing on top of a moving object. I had no idea how to explain it, but just the feeling of star-gazing on top of a train was surreal. Hell, the idea I was even on a train in the first place was surreal. Makes me wonder what other modern things I’ve been missing out in this world.

Either because of the train’s relatively slow speed or because of some other logic I couldn’t find, I wasn’t finding any trouble holding myself on the roof of the train cabin—it helped that it wasn’t super curved, too. Without the risk of falling in mind, I let myself idly enjoy the nightly ambience, embracing the white noise of the train’s wheels.

It was… another acceptable distraction from all the shit that’s been going on. So much shit… so many necessary fuck-ups…

“ You ape, get down from there!” From the door of the cabin below, under the light of a hoof-held lantern, yelled the conductor of the train. I idly gazed down at the aged stallion, his dark gray horseshoe mustache failing to hide the scowl on his patchy face.

The hell was his problem? From the way these ponies have been behaving—besides from certain individuals like the enclosed Fluttershy and that pink sugar addict—I would’ve expected at least some sort of contentment that I was out of sight. And honestly, the same goes for me; I’d rather not bother myself with these creatures anymore than I already have. “ I ain’t bothering no one, chief. Calm down.”

“ I said get down, no questions!” the conductor barked out with growing annoyance, stomping his hoof against the metal floor. “ I don’t need yet another casualty on my train…”

…Woah, what? Casualties on a train ride? That’s a curveball. “ You ponies die on this train?”

“ Tch… you aren’t the first idiot to think they’re all tough and fool around on top of a moving train,” the conductor growled, “ so clean your clogged ears and get down here!”

… Honestly, I didn’t have any reason to listen to this guy at all. Hell, I don’t think there will be a point where I’ll ever listen to an order from these ponies. For fuck sake, the majority of them were a pain in the ass, and I’m not just talking about Ms. Raintard and the Asshat Brothers. That stupid mayor nearly got me on this country’s blacklist… and I'd argue that the receptionist also made things slightly more unbearable with the unnecessary reactions too.

Well… with how persistent this old horse was being, there’s no doubt that he’d be bothering me for a hot minute if I ignored him. I guess I’ll humor his request… and besides, he already fucked up the vibe up here.

“ Alright, geez,” I huffed, hopping down to the door of the cabin and landing on the small platform. I then gave the scowling conductor an exasperated look. “ How the fuck is this train still operating with a death toll?”

I found it to be a reasonable question. Normally—at least, from what I’ve read back home—a train would be out of commission for some time while they figure out the cause of death. And even if it doesn't go out of commision, then there’s at least an extensive check on the employees during the death of that person. But I dunno… I could be just spouting nonsense there…

“ What is it for you to know, ape?” the conductor responded blandly.

“ Just curious. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know why they're riding a deadly train?”

“... Tch… fine,” the conductor huffed in annoyance, “ there are some… special sources that clear up any, ahem… misunderstandings…”

… I guess corruption finds its place in any form of society… though, I should’ve already figured that out from Flim and Flam. “ Damn… shit’s crazy.”

“ Just, get back into the cabin, ape,” the conductor grumbled.

Gladly, I did. In retrospect, I’d rather not press anymore than I already have about other’s personal business… that sort of behavior has already been a big contribution to my current fuckery of a mess, anyways.

Entering the cabin, I leisurely made my way back to my designated seat. I found the majority of the passengers around us—which numbered up to four—were either sleeping deeply or failing miserably not to sleep deeply. Fluttershy in question was still in the same spot, having easily succumbed to the former. The way she curled herself reminded me of a cat.

Out of courtesy, I silently sat myself down across from her, leaning myself against the stiffness of the seat with a discomfortable sigh. I may not be able to get a good sleep from this, but it was better than the likes of a dusty old cavern… or cold sandy dunes…

Yeah… no complaining here.

I could, at the very least, attempt to kill time by counting the dust floating past the lantern.

I stared up with a neutral expression at the four-story Italian styled red-brick building in front us. The building painfully stuck out amongst the other older and more run-down buildings; it was spotless without a single trace of dirt in sight, had glass windows that reflected the sky with the shininess of a gem, and it even had its section of the pavement completely repaved with new concrete… or, what I’d assume was concrete.

…Do these ponies know how to make concrete mix? I heard it was difficult to make primitively…

A large yellow and green striped awning stretched out from the decorative wooden front doors, with the overly-extravagant words ‘Exotic Kingdom’ written in neon and forest-themed colors on top. Small caricatures of a parrot and bunny hugged either side of the text, their small eyes and mouths flashing through a gradience of warm colors. In comparison to the backdrop of the mute-colored factory appearance of the street—and arguably the rest of the city—this building felt way too out of place.

… Wait wait wait, did I just read that sign clearly? Holy shit, I did. It's in English…!

… Well… uh, good to know I guess? I guess it means I'm not going to look all that lost in literacy…

In regards to this place’s appearance, I was beginning to doubt whether what this kid had said was true. This looked more like a place where they sold animals than other non-living items… and I should’ve already guessed that from the name alone.

…Tch, the fuck was my dumbass doing listening to some random kid on the street. Have I really fallen that desperate?

“ Hey,” I glanced up to the colt on my head, who—after completely finishing the rest of the ice cream at an overbearingly cautious pace—was slumped on my head while groaning at a low tone, “ fucking lying can get yourself hurt, kid…”

“ Hrnnn… brainfreeeze…” the colt simply whined in response, my words flying over his head.

“... Tch,” I clicked my tongue, glancing down the street. In comparison to the other places we've been to, this was like an abandoned area. I guess it would make sense for scam artists to be living in these types of places. “... hold your tongue on the roof of your mouth, kid. It’ll make it better.”

“ Hrnn…” I'm not sure whether he did it or not, but whatever. It's not like me to be kind or anything… and I'm starting to see the impact it has when I do be kind… or something… but… yeah, I'll… just… nevermind.

Well, look where your unorganized dumbassery led you this time, Robert… I guess there’s no point in turning around. I’ll just make use of any lead I get, even if it turns out to be a lie… dammit…

“ U-Um,” Fluttershy started. I glanced down at her, having completely forgotten about her in fact. Her ice cream cone was completely gone, and I guess she had left the magazine back at that plaza. Her reclusive silence would really make her a good assassin or ninja. “ Y-You can, um, p-put me down now, Robert… please…”

Right, should probably do that. I had been in such a rush for nothing, anyways. Crazy, though, how light her body was. Felt like holding a featherless bird, if that made any sense. Either that or my body has really bulked up over the years…

With a slimmer of cautiousness, I knelt down and let Fluttershy hop down to the ground, where she gratefully wobbled onto her hooves with a quiet thank you. The kid, on the other hand, remained locked tightly on my head in his brain-freeze state, his groans having been replaced with muffled hums. For a moment, I had the fleeting thought of tossing him off and onto the street—frankly because he fucking smelled, as much as I tried to ignore it—but… that would be mean. There’s a fine line between asshatery and just being a flat out jerk, so I decided on letting the kid stick on as much as he needed.

After collecting her bearings with a small sigh, Fluttershy blinked up at the auction house with a look of uncertainty. “... Um, I guess we go in..?”

“ Yep,” I nodded. Whether it was the actual place where my shit was at or not, that would be up to what we find inside. We entered the auction house without hesitation. Initially, I had the idea that an auction house was something similar to a pawn shop with how they advertised and sold their products, with the only exception being an extra room where they held their auctions. But, as the past three auction houses have shown, it was a lot more… sophisticated in terms of design. Not sure if that was the right word, but this fourth auction house sure as hell made it feel like it.

The first thing to greet us was an enormous chandelier of crystal pipes giving the illusive shape of a diamond, which sparkled with a soft white-yellow hue. Of course, this chandelier was hung right above a grand foyer, one made of both polished and unpolished white marble. The walls, floor, and the few doors I also saw were also white in color. A wide mahogany receptionist desk was situated right in the center, currently unoccupied. And going back to the ceiling, there was a large mural of a golden cloudy sky, with a few silhouettes of pegasi flying. In short, this was nothing like the past places we had been to; it felt like I walked myself right into a luxurious and wealthy Greek museum or something.

“...pretty,” Fluttershy said quietly to herself, though with the deafening silence in this place, we could all clearly hear it.

“ Hm,” I hummed, though my eyes were focused on the vacancy at the receptionist desk. Man, it would suck if they were closed… no, if that were the case, then why leave their doors open? This place looked too expensive to do something as careless as that…

Are they just understaffed, then? That would mean yet another place where these ponies don't have enough of a workforce… which is weird, because I’ve absentmindedly noted that these guys are quite numbered in terms of population…

… well, whatever, it’s their problem I guess.

“ …Ah, one second, please!” I suddenly heard a flamboyant voice echo from the staircase. Alarmingly, I looked up, immediately feeling a sense of suspicion the moment I saw the pony in question coming down. They were a relatively tall and lanky red-purple stallion, one who wore a deep green tailcoat with a golden trim and bright yellow feather collar.

That was as much as I was willing to look at before I had to look elsewhere to save my poor eyes. The colors of his clothes clashed with his darker natural color palette so badly that it made him look like the masterpiece of a kindergartner on three packs of pure, unfiltered sugar. The colors just didn't mix at all, and it was a sight I had no doubt anyone with a right mind would be annoyed at seeing. And because of that, I dutifully and forcefully distracted myself instead with the droopy red-iris eyes of the stallion.

The stallion quickly reached the end of the stairs and stopped a few feet right before us, giving an over exaggerated bow. “ My apologies, honorable guests. Welcome to Exotic Kingdom! I am Sham Rock, and I shall be your guide during your visit.”

“...” I silently stared at his introduction. I wasn’t even sure how to respond to this guy. He was giving off Flim-Flam vibes and I was not liking it one bit. This could probably be why they even bother to sell all my shit here... fucking weird thieves…

The now-named Sham Rock stood back up in a confident pose, running a hoof over his slicked-back dirty brown hair as he gave Fluttershy the smile of a salesman. “ Now then, madam, to what may I do the honors of assisting you with?”

“ O-Oh,” Fluttershy looked startled, unprepared for the sudden attention. She gave me a quick and pleading look of help. “ I-um, actually, I am n—”

“ Why, excuse me, I did not mean to pressure you. I believe I see what you are here for now,” Sham Rock quickly interrupted, eyeing me up and down with a calculative and rather disturbingly gleeful look, “ It appears that you wish to sell this creature of yours, no?”

“ S-Sell?!” Fluttershy squeaked.

I narrowed my eyes. “ The fuck was that, shithead?”

“ Oh~! He even has a level of intellect… how marvelous!”

…Yeah, no, I hate this little fucker now. He’s just like those damn brothers. He even got that type of grin too… and man, do I just want to beat the shit out of those brothers. I might as well toss this guy in, too, since he's got the same insufferable energy.

“ N-No, I’m, um, not here to s-sell Robert,” Fluttershy interjected quickly, “ h-he’s … he's actually the one buying…”

“ Collecting,” I corrected, crossing my arms as I glared at Sham Rock, “ I'm not buying shit from this place and I don't plan to. I have things here that belong to me.

Sham Rock stared at me for a moment before nodding, his smile never leaving. “ …I see. Another affirmative claim of property… I must say, it's been a trending reason for our customers’ visits.”

Trending… right, I'm likely not the first one those assholes stole stuff from. “ You know the Flim Flam Brothers, right?”

Sham Rock’s eyes widened with unadulterated elation. “ Oh yes! Flim and Flam! They're quite the respectable gentlemen, I must say.”

My face scrunched in disgust, but I continued on regardless. “ They traded in a carriage around three days ago. Where is it? My shit is in there.”

“ A carriage, you say?” Sham Rock rubbed a hoof on his chin before nodding slowly. “ … I do believe they made a recent donation. They're arguably our best patrons! That reminds me, not too long ago they had—”

Oh, fuck no. I don't have time for this nonsense. “ I don’t care. Answer the fucking question. Where'd you put my shit?”

“ … Now, I would much appreciate it if you eased your tone, Mr. Robert,” Sham Rock calmly admonished with a momentary neutral smile, all before clearing his throat, “ As for the supposed carriage you speak of, I'm afraid we have not retrieved anything of such in the past three days… much less the past month.”

Bullshit. Absolute bullshit. “ I'm not falling for your stupid lies. Tell me where the hell you put my shit right fucking now or—”

“ I am not obligated to further satisfy your curiosity, Mr. Robert,” Sham Rock cut me off with a shift in his demeanor so sudden that it made me momentarily pause. Within an instant, he went from the unbearable salesperson persona into a much more monotonous and lifeless zombie. “ As I've said, we have not received anything in your description, not before or since the Flim Flam Brothers donations.”

I stood there silently, working my jaw as I gritted my teeth hard. It was so easy, so damn easy to just send this good-for-nothing flying into that desk… and then some more. The hell was he to boss me around for? It’s so obvious right now. My shit is definitely in this place, and it doesn’t matter if he tried to cover it up. If I have to resort to ransacking this place, then I will. It’s not the first time I’ve looted a place.

But… then what? This shithouse is large. Had it been smaller, I could’ve smashed my way through until I found what I needed. But this? I’d need a hot minute to clear this place out, and I’m sure these fuckers won’t go down without hindering me along the way.

My attention then went over to Fluttershy, who was nervously digging a hoof on the floor with a discomfortable expression.

… fucking hell, Robert, where’s your head at? What good does a plan like that do? A plan made on emotions? Hell, I’m only in this mess because I’ve been blinding myself with all these irrationalities. Now I would only cause trouble to not only myself, but my benefactors as well if I kept this up. I can’t even lie, Fluttershy is a good person, and I’d be shitty to get her in trouble because I broke some law out of pettiness…

… fuck, this is so annoying.

“ Now, unless you have other business with Exotic Kingdom, I must ask you to leave,” Sham Rock concluded. His seriousness then completely vanished in an instance, returning to his original giddy smile as he glanced over at Fluttershy. “ However, you are welcome to stay and have a look at our public catalog, madame.”

Fluttershy gave a weak smile before shaking her head. “ Um… no thank you.”

“... Fucking hell,” I exhaled, running a hand through my face. Try to keep calm, Robert. That’s the one thing I have to maintain, less I only make this worse. “... Just… ok, just tell me what those two idiots gave you then. Carriage or not, they still brought something.”

“... Assuming your derogatory epithet is referring to Flim and Flam, I again cannot give you anything more than I've said,” Sham Rock’s eyes narrowed, “ Exotic Kingdom’s business information is strictly encrypted for the protection of our customers and patrons.”

Fucking of course it is. “ Nothing? No blankets, jars, ties? Not even the fancy wardrobe?”

My eyes widened slightly as I instantly saw Sham Rock flinch briefly from the word wardrobe. Ah, see? He knows. Little fucker can’t hide it once I start naming my shit…

I narrowed my glare when his gaze faltered towards the wall. He then coughed into her hoof. “ … I must ask you to leave now, Mr. Robert.”

“ No, the fuck I'm not,” I took a step further, cracking my fingers in the process… before stopping and then wisely putting them to my side. “ You sly piece of shit, I can see through your lies. Tell me where you put my shit.”

“ Again, I cannot give you anymore information, Mr. Robert. Please leave the vicinity before I have to contact local law enforcement.”

“...” Did that even matter? The fuck could these ponies—no, no no no. Stop that shit, Robert. Can’t lose my temper that easily. It doesn't matter how easy it is. If I get the police on my tail, then I can kiss a peaceful life goodbye.

I sighed deeply in frustration, closing my eyes before making a sharp turn towards the door. “ Fine… I'm out of this shit hole.”

Unlike the other auction houses, I was not given a courteous goodbye as I left the building. In just the span of less than three minutes, just like the past places we’ve been to, I found myself back in square one. However, this time, I’ve actually made some progress.

With purpose, I then sharply made a turn on the street, quickly making distance from the auction house. Fluttershy caught up to me, giving me a surprised and confused look. “ R-Robert, where are you going?”

“ Taking the back route,” I said plainly, not stopping my stride even once.

“ The… why?”

I gave her a wide grin. “ It’s obvious, right? My stuff is definitely in that auction house, and that asshole knows it as well.”

Fluttershy pressed her lips, averting her gaze to the moving concrete. “ Um, W-Well… Mr. Sham Rock did say that Flim and Flam had been here…”

“ But he ain’t gonna give it to me. Best option I have left is to break in.”

“ B-B-Break in?!” Fluttershy gawked alarmingly, giving me a scared look. “ Y-Y-You can’t do that, Robert! That’s illegal!”

“ So what? What Flim and Flam did was illegal, and I never saw their asses getting arrested,” I scoffed with indignation. Sometimes, there were things in life that you just had to do in order to achieve what you need, no matter how unethical it was. And as much as I hate to say it… those two brother’s also share that principle with me. It's a good principle to have in the first place.

And even then… I think this is a much better “forceful” approach than my initial “fuck it all and punch them in the face” approach. At least I can explain breaking in rather than harming a citizen.

With that in mind, I made a sharp turn into the next alleyway I saw, quickly sinking into the darkened tunnel. Right behind me, Fluttershy began to fly to catch up. Whether she wanted to join in or not… I leave that to her decision. This should be something I do alone, anyways.

“... aaaugh,” yawning loudly, the colt craned his back and stretched his hooves over his head. Patting his lips together, he blinked lazily, taking in his surroundings as he returned from the dream realm. Very quickly, however, did his eyes instantly shoot wide open, noticing the substantial distance between him and the ground. “ W-W-Woah!?”

Feeling the sudden and erratic movement on my head, I glanced up with both an exasperated and annoyed frown. “ Finally woke up, huh?”

Given the frightened expression he had, I thought for a second he didn't hear me. But as his grip on my head grew tighter by the second, he became a stuttering mess. “ W-W-Where am I? W-W-Why are we so u-u-up here?! G-Get me down!”

“ Calm down,” I huffed deeply, grabbing the back of the colt’s neck and prying him off my head, “ we’re only two stories up. You won’t die from this height.”

Almost automatically, the colt diverted his death grip onto my forearm, his body visibly shaken. I sighed once again, plopping him down onto my lap instead of heading to my intrusive thought of tossing him aside. In all honesty, if I were a kid being manhandled by a giant stranger while being several feet above ground, I maybe would've also felt the same agitation. Still, it's annoying as fuck.

Fluttershy, in response, moved slightly closer and put a gentle hoof on the colt’s shoulder with a gentle smile. “ It’s okay, sweetie… there’s no need to be worried. We’re only staying here for just a little bit.”

Her soothing words seemed to do the trick, for the colt visibly relaxed. I felt his shaking stop as he stared down meekly, most likely out of embarrassment. Curiosity quickly took hold of him, though. “ But… why? What are we even doing up here?”

“ Waiting,” I answered plainly.

The colt glanced up at me with a suspicious tone. “ For what?”

“ The Rapture.”

“... huh?”

I exhaled slowly, leaning back against the dry and smog-covered brick wall… which was a subtle reminder that I'd need another shower after all of this. “ You’ll find out soon enough.”

“ uh… ok…”

A silence soon followed, falling amongst the three of us as we allowed the ambience of the distant business of the city fill the void. Honestly, there wasn’t really much to talk about, especially in a situation like this. Here we were—two ponies and one guy—seated on the somewhat-rusted fire escape of one random building covered in boarded windows and cracked bricks. Oh, and don’t forget the ever present film of pollution in the air… like damn, that had to be some next level health risk. Fortunately, we seemed fine for now, but I’m definitely sure a doctor’s visit is needed soon…

… could these ponies even tend to me? Shit, they probably can’t…

…eh, no problem. I’ve lived long enough without a doctor’s visit ever since coming into this world, and there’s been many times where a doctor was definitely needed…

In any case, I took this time to be a quick reflection of what the actual hell I'll be doing from now. Sure, I'll be breaking into that shithouse, but what then? I'm not gonna act like I'm sneaky enough to make my way through the entire place without being caught… but I can’t see any other way I’d go about this. I guess anything would be a much better alternative than outright storming in, now that I’m clearly thinking about it. And above all else it probably would be convenient to have a map of the place too, despite the irrationality of that ever happening…

… yeah, this sucks—and frankly it’s infuriating—but I have to do the best I can here. There’s no going back on this. I’d be more at ease with some of my stuff instead of none.

But with that aside, I really don’t have a plan beyond breaking in and wandering the place. This is technically going to be my first robbery… if I were to look at this shallowly. I don’t even know how to lockpick, for fuck’s sake… and of course the latch behind the building—which is the only backdoor entrance to the place, mind you—oh-so-surprisingly has a lock.

Maybe I could wander around and find a crowbar or something… maybe even a bolt cutter… and for that, my best bet is probably a junkyard or something… did we even pass by a junkyard?

Agh, fuck this shit. I can’t even collect myself right now. Damn it all…

“ … Hey, Ms. Fluttershy,” the colt suddenly spoke up, gaining the yellow pegasus’s attention.

“ Yes?” Fluttershy replied, tilting her head.

“ You look familiar. Are you famous?”

“ Oh, um,” Fluttershy’s ears lowered slightly as she took on a shy look, “ I-I don’t want to brag or anything, but… um, I am one of the Elements of Harmony.”

“ Woah,” the colt’s eyes widened in awe—actually no, admiration, “ so you’re one of the nation’s heroes!”

“ Um, well… oh dear…” Fluttershy pressed her lips, seemingly overwhelmed from the attention.

Heroes? This is the second time hearing about the supposed Elements of Harmony, and now with the notion they’re war heroes. Or just heroes, cause they got magic here and everything. I… I guess this could serve as a short distraction. “ What’s up with all this element stuff? Sounds important”

“ You don’t know, mister?” The colt shot me a surprise and an almost appalled look. “ They’re the heroes of Equestria! They stopped Nightmare Moon and saved us from eternal night!”

Eternal night. Ha… well, not gonna lie, that’s not the most obscure thing I’ve heard… much less seen, but it still kinda feels overexaggerated. I glanced over to Fluttershy instead for a more rational response.

“... Uhm, y-yes. The colt…” Fluttershy started, though only for her eyes to widen, “ oh my, we haven’t even gotten your name, have we?”

The colt blinked, realizing as much as the two of us that we really didn’t even bother to ask his name, even after everything that had happened. Which is sort of… sad, now that I think about it. “ I’m Toothpick.”

“ Well, Toothpick, sorry for carrying you along without asking your name,” Fluttershy giggled, “ but yes, he’s speaking the truth Robert.”

“ Nah, it’s fine,” the now-named Toothpick shrugged dismissively, waving a hoof, “ I’m used to it… happens a lot more than I favor.”

“ …Who the hell names their kid Toothpick,” I decidedly pushed that topic aside and voiced my opinion. And frankly I think it was a reasonable question; I wouldn’t be caught naming my kid over some common house item… Well, in this kid’s case, it’s even less than that.

“ … That’s a rude thing to say, Robert,” Fluttershy frowned slightly.

“ Just wondering.”

“ The headmaster said my mum named me that before passing away,” Toothpick explained, not seeming visibly bothered by the question, “ I dunno why, but I think it has something to do with my Cutie Mark.”

So he pretty much confirmed he was an orphan, huh? Cool, I guess… err, not like that is a good thing, or something. Fuck no. And again, another strange terminology from these ponies. I don’t even wanna bother trying to know what a fucking Cutie Mark is, but… my curiosity got the best of me.

I was going to ask what it was, but the Toothpick suddenly stood up from my lap and turned around, showing the side of his hind leg. There, a clear image of a shiny metal needle could be seen.

Fluttershy’s fleeting look of sympathy turned into curiosity as she saw the Cutie Mark. For my part, I was questioning the ethics of giving a child a permanent tattoo. “ Oh, congratulations! What does your Cutie Mark mean?”

“ I’m good at picking locks,” Toothpick grinned with pride, “ I’ve picked over a hundred locks in all of Fillydelphia! There’s nopony better at picking locks than me!”

…

… That is… oddly convenient.

“ Well, that’s very good to hear, Toothpick, and I think it’s very good that you're confident,” Fluttershy said in a reassuring yet almost coding tone. It kinda reminded me of a mother speaking to a child. “ But remember to not let that get into your head, ok?”

“ Pshh, don’t worry, I know my limits,” Toothpick huffed dismissively, though his cheeky smile never left, “ because I don’t have any—woah!”

Hearing more than enough, I stood up while grabbing Toothpick in the manner of grabbing a cat. I walked towards the edge of the platform while he flailed his stubby limbs helplessly. “ Alright, I think enough time has passed. Let’s get our asses moving.”

“ Which donk—”

“ I said we’re going.”

“... Um, ok…” Fluttershy stood up and readied herself, although her hesitation was very obvious.

“ Wait wait wait, where are we going?” Toothpick exclaimed in agitation. “ A-And put me doooOOOOOWN!?!”

Deaf to his words, I made no hesitation as I leapt over the edge of the platform, descending two stories worth of air before crashing down hard onto the stone ground. Knees bent, I stood still for a moment as my body absorbed the shock of the impact. As crazy as my actions were, I have found myself in many similar situations prior to this, all of which confirmed my rather obscure resistance to fall damage. It was a feature of mine that I’ve made use of greatly.

That aside, Fluttershy—in a more graceful manner—descended down by gliding with her wings. For a split moment after seeing that, I stopped to realize that I had, in fact, befriended a mythical creature. Well… was it really befriended? I thought I already addressed this. Benefactor, right? Or, well, more than that, since she’s tagging along a lot longer than a benefactor would normally. And… she seems to think we're friends, I guess?

The hell am I spouting… I shouldn't be overthinking this.

With that said, I gave a firm nod to Fluttershy, to which she smiled back, and we began our short trip back to the Exotic Kingdom Auction House.

“... I thought you said you were good at lock picking.”

“ I am!” Toothpick shot back sharply with a frown, his hooves messing around with the bronze lock binding the large latch. His actions, although starting off calmly, gradually became erratic and almost desperate. “ It's just that this…. dumb lock isn't working with me!”

“ Well, yeah, that's the whole purpose of a lock,” I said dismissively, pocketing my hands. I scanned the area for the hundredth time and kept my ears focused for any approaching footsteps. Fortunately that has yet to happen, but with the noise we were making I wouldn't doubt we'd eventually hear someone coming. “ Try to keep it down, at least? I don't need you fucking this all up.”

“ Yeah, just gimme a sec… hrn!!” Toothpick grunted, somehow appearing to have found a knot or something. Whatever it was, I'm not sure if lock picking requires you to start yanking away at the lock to remove your pick. Well, with my lacking knowledge on picking in the first place, I can't really judge.

“... Ahah!” With an exclamation, the lock that Toothpick was messing with broke free, ceremoniously falling down onto the ground. “ Phew… that was probably the hardest lock I've ever picked!”

“ Well, good job,” I passively praised as I instantly went for the latch. Had this little runt not been around, I probably would’ve given up on this lock minutes ago… hell, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed this auction house in the first place until much later. This kid really has been helpful, huh?

Grabbing hold of the metal handles, I threw the wooden doors open, revealing a wooden staircase that went down into the dark. With the current time of the day making our general surroundings dimmer, this staircase into the void sort of gave an eerie feeling… not that I’m scared, of course.

“... I still think this is a bad idea, Robert,” Fluttershy said in a hushed tone. She took her eyes away from the abyss and looked down at the broken lock apologetically. “ … we should go back to Mr. Sham Rock and ask nicely… a-and, um, also replace his lock… maybe…?”

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. For a second I thought she had stopped with the righteous lecturing… but I guess a supposed ‘heroine of the nation’ would have her own take on all of this. “Look, Fluttershy, I get that this is maybe wrong in the general sense, but it's clear that guy isn't giving my shit back.”

“ …Maybe we just didn't approach him right.”

“ Doesn't matter, with that sort of attitude I doubt that fucking liar would’ve been honest in the first place,” I snorted, putting a foot on the first step, “ sometimes you gotta push to the extreme measures to get the things you hold dear to you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy hummed in partial agreement. “ But… for the safety of both you and your belongings, you should also try to find the most peaceful way to get what you want back, no?”

“… point taken.” I gave no other response as I began my descent down the stairs. With a short yelp, Toothpick caught up to me, though clearly not going anywhere ahead of me. For a second, I thought Fluttershy wouldn’t be coming—and I had nothing against her doing that—but a second later I could hear her light footsteps following.

It took a moment for our eyes to adjust, but at the end of the short stairs we were faced with a door surrounded by a concrete wall. This one, however, was metal and had no lock, and so I freely opened it to reveal a long corridor, which gave me the vibes of an oil rig. And with the numerous pipes and wires decorating the ceilings and walls—and for some reason the subtle scent of fish that I could catch in the air—I could’ve been fooled that I was in an oil rig… if I were to ever suddenly and randomly wake up here, of course.

“... Why—” I spoke out loud, though cut myself off instantly as I heard my voice echoing in the corridor. Standing stiffly, I waited for a moment before speaking in a much lower tone. “ … why would an auction house need all this piping.”

“ Um, I don’t know,” Fluttershy admitted sheepishly, although I really wasn’t expecting an answer from anyone in the first place.

“ Maybe, this used to be an old factory,” Toothpick whispered back, squinting his eyes towards the faint text on one of the pipes. I, of course, couldn’t read shit, so I soundly ignored it. “ Fillydelphia has a lot of factories.”

“ But an underground one?” I asked openly, leaving the question hanging in the air. I think there was a mutual agreement to the oddity of the situation.

In any case, it was rather fortunate that this corridor was somewhat lit from the small lights dotting the corners of the ceiling. It’s a much better alternative than walking through literal darkness, which was what I had in mind beforehand. I carefully closed the door behind us—much to Fluttershy’s poorly-hidden dismay—and continued onwards. Coming to about three quarters of the length of the corridor, we quickly met a split in the path. Both our left and right led to equally long corridors, which gave off the sense that this place was going to be a maze… well, it definitely is a maze, no doubt there, but just pointing it out.

Since we really didn’t know where to be going specifically, I decided to just wing it and choose the left path. That, of course, led to another split, and from there I chose the right path. Then left, then right. Quickly we were in this rhythm of interchanging paths whenever we saw a split, and quickly I was beginning to question just how large this place was. And it all looked the same too, in an uncanny sort of way. Each hallway was literally the same, and I confirmed that even the pipe patterns or whatever were the fucking same. The only thing that slightly changed was when we suddenly heard the large fans start to pick up. I got a good chuckle from when the two flinched, but otherwise we continued this repetitive pattern.

“ … The hell?” Squinting my eyes, I voiced out my thoughts as we stumbled across a path that—finally—was not the same damn copy-paste corridors we were wandering through. This new route had another flight of stairs, though instead of going up it was going even further down. Going down to where, however, was the question.

“ Should we go down?” Toothpick asked mindlessly, also looking down the staircase with partial interest.

“ …I don’t see why not,” I shrugged, beginning my flight down the metal stairs. Any second of hesitation was a waste of time, and as I’ve come to learn, that wasted time is invaluable in all situations.

“ W-Wait,” Fluttershy exclaimed, causing me to pause. I looked back and saw her distressed look, though I wasn’t sure if it was because of the stairs. “ D-Do we, um, know our way back?”

I blinked for a moment before nodding slowly. “ Yeah, we went left, right… right, right… left, left… uh…”

“ Wait, wasn’t it left, right, right, left, right, left, left?” Toothpick corrected.

“ No… fuck, um…” I scratched the back of my head, trying to recollect our turns, “... I don’t think so…?”

“ Oh dear…” Fluttershy’s shoulders sank lightly in defeat. “ we’re lost, are we?”

I mean… ok, maybe we are. But that shouldn’t be a problem in the grand scheme of things, right? I’m more so worried about finding my stuff than getting out… for now, at least.

I sighed lightly while waving a hand at her. “ Don’t worry ‘bout it, we’ll find our way out once I get my stuff back.”

“ Um… a-alright,” Fluttershy nodded. Whether her trust in me was waning or not, I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t even sure she even had trust in me in the first place, but whatever.

I didn’t leave room for any more conversation as I continued down the stairs. At the bottom, we were met with more corridors—hurray!—but the condition of the new level was slightly worse. Some of the pipes were showing signs of rust, and I could see a few drops of water(?) leaking from the corners. The scent of fish was also getting much stronger. It sort of reminds me of the fish section of a farmer’s market, or like an aquarium.

Toothpick scrunched his nose as we made way down the path, carefully avoiding the puddles of liquid littering the floor. “ Smells fishy in here…”

“ …metaphorically or literally?” I asked blandly.

Toothpick didn’t answer immediately, but he did snicker once he caught on to his double statement. “ Haha, both! I didn’t even notice that!”

“ Well, then yeah, there’s probably an underground water tank here,” I guessed. My on-the-spot theory came to a quick halt, however, as I noticed the first door we’ve seen other than the entrance. I went quiet for a moment, leaning into the glass window to see what was on the other side, but I couldn’t see anything but darkness. “... Toothpick, open this door for a sec.”

“ Sir, yes sir,” scurrying up to the mystery door, Toothpick got up to his hind legs with his pick in his mouth. Before he could go on any further, however, he stopped when he was faced with no lock. In fact, there wasn’t even a door handle. “ Uh, there’s no lock.”

Ah, I should’ve noticed the obvious there. I tried pushing against the door but it didn’t budge either. Perhaps it was a one-way door, or maybe it was a fake event. In any case, I ignored it, and continued on the path. It was a sign we were getting close to something.

“ … what was I saying again?” I started, rubbing my chin for a moment before snapping my fingers. “ Ah, right, this place most likely has a large tank around here. And based on the smell it’s probably a fish tank.”

“ But why though?” Toothpick asked, tilting his head.

“ Good question.”

“...?”

“ …Well, um, this auction house is called Exotic Kingdom,” Fluttershy added, “ maybe they sell… oh dear…”

Toothpick looked at Fluttershy in concern. I, on my part, simply curled a brow. “ What’s wrong, Ms. Fluttershy? What do they sell?”

“ I just thought of something terrible,” Fluttershy frowned slightly with a look of displeasure, “ I really hope not, but m-maybe this auction house s-sells… um…”

“ …Animals. They could be selling animals,” I finished for her, catching on to what she was implying, “ and judging by the name Exotic, it’s probably not domesticated animals like cats or dogs.”

“ Oh…” Toothpick nodded slowly, seemingly catching on. Or maybe not… actually, no. No point double guessing the colt. He hasn’t shown himself to be a dumbass yet. “ So like a Cragadile?”

… Nevermind. “... it’s Crocodile, Toothpick.”

“ No, Cragadile.”

I huffed, deciding not to waste my energy on that road. “ Ok ok, whatever. Maybe they do have some of those in here. I don’t know, and I frankly don’t fucking care. I just want my shit back and then I’m outta here.”

We fell into a silence once again, although fleeting. The splits on this corridor, as we eventually came to meet once again, was like a fork this time. I mindlessly took the middle route.

After some time, Toothpick gave me a curious look. “ Hey, Mr. Robert, what’s the stuff you’re looking for anyways?”

“ Hm? Uh… well, just some of my travel goods,” I said dismissively, passively realizing I haven’t actually told these two what my stuff even was, “ blankets, pots, tableware, furniture… yeah, all that good stuff.”

After listing off my belongings, I felt a content smile on my face. Weird, really, that recalling the things you own could elevate your mood like this so suddenly. Unfortunately, I also remembered that I didn’t own them anymore, and it just as suddenly vanished and I returned to my neutral scowl.

That aside, my explanation was met with silence. Curiously, I glanced at the two ponies with me, only to slightly flinch when I saw their rather judgemental looks. Like, even Fluttershy was giving me one. The fuck?

“ …Mr. Robert,” Toothpick began.

“ What?” I responded suspiciously.

“ You know you can… just buy all that back, right?”

I blinked before frowning. “ The hell are you trying to say, kid?”

“ Well, it’s just blankets and pots right?” Toothpick explained, not looking all that intimidated from my deep glare. “ You can probably get new ones, even better ones, from the store.”

Just blankets and pots? Just??? The hell?? “ The fuck would you know about that? Stop spouting nonsense.”

“ A-As brash as Toothpick said it, h-he does have a point, Robert,” Fluttershy added on, “ I, um, thought you were doing this for a… family heirloom of sorts… not…”

…

… I exhaled deeply, though I struggled to release the tight grip in my fists.

Just… ok. Ok, remain calm Robert. These two don’t know shit—none of them do. Don’t get mad at their ignorance… yes, don’t. I shouldn’t expect them to know any better…

“ …Let’s keep moving,” I managed to grumble, picking up my walking pace.

Slightly startled from the sudden speed, the two struggled to keep up with me, Toothpick more than Fluttershy. “ H-Hey, wai—”

“ Shut the fuck up.”

“...O-Ok…”

It felt like hours wandering this “auction house”, though in reality it was roughly ten minutes since we entered this maze. Even then, it was absurd just how fucking large this place was. It almost felt like there was a lot more going on behind the whole auction house thing, and I’m really starting to feel like that’s the case.

In fact, our most recent discovery can account to that. We’ve now found ourselves within a room—courtesy to a door that was actually not fake. Like I had predicted early, the room was the source of the fish smell. It was actually an observatory, with a large glass wall showing the deep blue expanse of a massive water tank. And when I say massive, I mean like baffling massive. It’s actually fucking insane how large this tank is, and rightfully we all just stood there gobsmacked.

“... Now this is definitely fishy,” Toothpick exclaimed.

I snapped out of my momentary awe and deadpanned. “... jokes aren’t funny the second time, kid.”

“ Still, I didn’t know something like this was under Fillydelphia!”

… He does have a point there. Given the whole industrial and depressively gray vibes the city had, the least of things a person would think this city had was an underground aquarium. And what’s even stranger is that I’m sure we're nowhere near a large body of water, like a lake or ocean. Maybe a few rivers, sure, but still. How they manage to get this amount of water all the way down here is just… absurd.

In any case, that wasn’t the only thing in this room. Near the far end on the other side was a desk, once you get past the rows of seats in the middle of the room. Perhaps this was like an observatory for rich folks or something, which I wouldn’t be surprised about. But that didn’t fucking matter; what really mattered was the piles of papers on that desk. In our situation, this was like hitting gold.

Walking up towards the desk, I picked up some papers and brought it close to the orange wall light. Of course, I wasn’t trying to read, but instead trying to see if there were any pictures I could deduce from. Unfortunately, it all looked to be just some documentation, with the only image being a logo on the top corner. And that logo… it didn’t match the logo of the Exotic Kingdom Auction House. Yep, some suspicious shit if I knew anything.

“... Oh my…” Fluttershy breathed, having also approached the desk and curiously looked at the papers.

I walked up to her and leaned down to look at the paper she was reading, placing whatever I was looking at aside. “ What’d you find?”

“ Well, uhm, these are shipment reports from a few months ago,” Fluttershy explained, gently turning to the next page, “ and… they talk about shipping a lot of creatures. Giant guppies, tropical fish, albino cragadiles, and… !!!”

Fluttershy suddenly gasped, putting a hoof to her mouth as her eyes gave off a look of pure horror. What? The shift in demeanor was so sudden it literally threw me off. I was quickly getting a bad feeling. “ What? What’d you read?”

“ …. I-I…”

“ Calm down, Fluttershy. What the hell did you just read?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath before exhaling shakingly. I could see the wetness of tears forming in the corner of her eyes…

… holy shit, this must be something serious.

“ T-They…” Fluttershy began, taking one more breath before continuing, “ they’ve a-also shipped in s-sea ponies…”

“...?” I tilted my head, trying to make sense of her words. Sea ponies? Like seahorses? But why… wait, no, if that were the case then she would’ve had the same reaction to ‘Giant guppies’ or whatever. Then… that means she was saying this in a literal sense… right? That this auction house brought in a bunch of literal sea ponies…

…an auction house, run by ponies, selling… ok, what the fuck? This… that would just be flat out slave trade, no??? I… wow…

I ran a hand through my hair. Ok, even if I really am more worried about getting my shit back, I couldn’t just ignore flat out signs of supposed slavery going on in the background. That’s… fuck man, and I thought that the majority of these ponies looked to be all sunshines and rainbows. I guess that was all just a facade, then.

“ …Where the fuck did they put them? These sea ponies,” I quickly asked.

“ U-Um… s-section forty-five?” Fluttershy struggled to read as the tears began to fall. This must be something that really messes her up… and I can understand why. I myself can’t really joke about trafficking other living creatures… especially from the same damn species. Humanity has an ugly record of that. “ I-It doesn’t say anything else but that…”

I exhaled, standing back up with a serious look. “ Alright, section forty-five. That’s good enough… maybe if we pass by section forty-five, we can probably do something about it.”

“ N-No, Robert…” Fluttershy quickly interjected, sniffing as she stepped back from the desk, “ we have to report this… i-if these ponies can do s-something so c-cruel, t-then they… they m-might do a-a-anything to keep it hidden.”

… fuck, the hell was I spouting? She’s right, something like this can’t just be solved so forwardly. If we’re talking about human… pony trafficking, then we’re talking about ponies that are resolved to kill. And not even that… in the case we do start freeing them so brashly, where would we even take the captives? We don’t even know our way out of here anymore, for fuck’s sake. This… why the hell am I acting so emotionally again? I thought I already dealt with this behavior…

“... I understand, Fluttershy,” I huffed, crouching down beside her. I took the cleanest part of my shirt and gently offered to wipe her tears away, to which she allowed without resistance. I didn’t really care if I got make-up on my clothing, though surprisingly I didn’t even get a smear. I guess she just had naturally heavy eyelashes, or just the ponies in general. “ Sorry, didn’t mean to say something brash, but try to calm down, alright? We can… we can still probably take a few of these documents with us as proof… or something.”

Although she didn’t verbally respond, Fluttershy meekly nodded. The best thing we could do right now is not settle on the topic for so long; we came here for different purposes, anyways. With that somewhat settled—though obviously not leaving our minds for a while—I stood back up and flipped through the other papers we didn’t look through. Eventually, Fluttershy got her bearings and also helped. While not saying anything outwardly, we sort of had an instinctive cooperation, and we stacked up papers we did and didn’t look through. I guess it was because of this that we eventually found the elixir of immortality, and by that I mean a map.

“ Fucking finally,” I exhaled, spreading out the blue-tinted paper to reveal a diagram of the entire area. My eyes momentarily widened at the size of the map before slowly giving a side-eyes towards Fluttershy. “...uh…”

Thankfully, Fluttershy gave me a knowing smile, although a weak one. I lowered the map down to her eye level and allowed her to read. Eventually, she pointed at a spot with the tip of her hoof. “ We’re right here… and here was the exit we came from… I think.”

“... damn,” My breath escaped me. She was currently pointing near the corner of the map. The fucking corner of the map. That was implying that the rest of the map was the whole damn facility. And I mean facility because there’s no way in hell this entire place was an auction house. That illusion is already gone; there’s a lot more dark stuff at play around here.

The question now, however, is where my shit was… and of more recent importance, where this supposed section forty-five is.

“ … this place is quite large,” Fluttershy commented, sharing an equal amount of surprise, “ there’s another exit here that enters into Fetlock Avenue… and that’s about, um, a few streets from the auction house.”

“ So this place runs all under this city, huh?” I guessed. Really, it wasn’t a guess but more of an observation. The sheer size of this map would attest to that. Like, damn, what’re they doing with all of this space?

“ Yes…” Fluttershy fell silent for a moment before speaking a bit lower, “ and… the, um, s-section forty-five is on Railway Street… a-across the city…”

Not surprised that she was also looking for that. Doesn’t help knowing it’s that far away from us, though. At least we got its location, I guess. “ Is this place like the sewers of the city or something? I doubt the city mayor or whoever would even allow some company to purchase all this underground space.”

“ Um, no, this is the Scorn Facility Map,” Fluttershy said, pointing towards some bold text on the top.

Facility. Ha, I knew it. And Scorn? That’s the name of the company, presumably. A negative word for a company of negative activities. In any case, this just means that all my shit was entered the black market. Oh, how I love that…

I sighed, running my eyes around the map. “ Ok, then is there—”

“ Woah!” Toothpick suddenly exclaimed out loud. Throughout our entire document search, the colt had been sitting near the glass window, staring blankly into the water void as if consciousness itself was a foreign concept to him. And really, I much rather preferred that than him messing around while we did our search.

That aside, the room suddenly got much dimmer, and I looked back just in time to see the shadow of a colossal tail leave the view of the window. We all just stood there in silence before I decidedly shuffled through the papers we looked through. “ … we should leave now.”

“ W-What was that…?” Toothpick stuttered with a gasped breath.

“ No clue,” I shrugged, rolling up the map, “ but if shark movies have taught me anything, you shouldn’t be standing near the window of a fish tank.”

“ R-Right…”

With that said, I made my way towards the door. “ Alright, let’s keep going. The longer we stay, the more at risk everything becomes.”

I didn’t get any verbal responses, but we were all pretty much on the same page. No second later, we returned the room to its vacancy.

“ …You telling me this place goes deeper?”

Fluttershy nodded meekly. “ Y-Yes, there’s about four levels in total… a-and they get smaller the further we go.”

Well, isn’t that fucking convenient. “ And what floor are we on?”

“ Um, floor three.”

Shit, so we haven’t even gone that far in terms of exploring this place… I mean, I guess that was already confirmed back in the observatory, but still. What the fuck man. I’m worried whether my shit is all the way down at floor one or something, because if that’s the case, then this little tour of ours will be needing an extension date.

“ Where’s the closest information center… or where do they keep all their logs of things coming in?” I asked. It would be smarter to just find out where they keep their log history, to not only reduce our search time but also probably give us more intel on this company’s dirty work. Sure, I’m not a detective or anything, but given the shit we’ve stumbled across… I don’t think we can just so simply ignore a responsibility like this.

Responsibility. Sounds very heroic of me to say, yeah… also doesn’t benefit me in any way by doing it… but it doesn’t hurt to be a good human sometimes, eh?

“... actually, there are two nearby,” Fluttershy pointed out two green dots near the corridor we were on. One was about three corners away while the other was two corners. “ They’re called ‘server hubs’, and... um, I don’t know if that’s what you’re looking for…”

“ No, this is good,” I nodded. It was a start, and we weren’t on a time restraint at the moment. I stood up from where we rested, glancing towards Toothpick. The little guy was having a blast dodging the gusts water vapor which occasionally shot out from a busted pipe. I’m not sure if that was safe, but he seemed to handle himself well. “ Toothpick, stop fooling around. We’re going.”

“ Alright!” Rather eagerly, Toothpick ran up to us with his tail wagging. Like, literally wagging. I thought only dogs and shit did that, but low and behold this kid. “ Where’re we going next?”

I simply snorted, rolling my eyes. Not sure where all the energy was coming from, but I guess it wasn’t bad. “ Just keep quiet. You’ll find out.”

“ Ok!”

The closest of the two “server hubs” unsurprisingly failed to stay true to its convenience of being the closest of the two. And by that, I mean the door was knob-less. That meant going to the second location. However, on the trip towards the second spot, the further we went the more the damage got even crazier. Rust became the new color of the pipes, and the fans sounded damaged. In fact, there were some corridors we couldn’t even go through since there was huge flooding from completely torn pipes blocking the way. And while it was just a small inconvenience—this place did have plenty of alternative routes—what really set me off was the claw-shaped marks on those damaged pipes.

“... the fuck?” I muttered to myself, closely examining the claw marks. I wasn’t all that worried about looking so close. They must’ve closed the valves for these specific pipes, because otherwise water should be spraying out right now. And judging from the shape of the marks as well as the crooked length, I could safely deduce that I had no fucking idea which animal these came from. But even without being an animal track expert, I could calmly conclude that we don’t want to meet whoever made these marks.

“ Hey, isn’t this kinda creepy?” Toothpick asked out, though the jolliness in his tone contradicted his words. “ Don’t all these claws mean one of the animals got out?”

“ Probably,” I hummed dismissively.

“… these are stress marks,” Fluttershy said, pressing her lips nervously as she also examined them. “ … the poor thing must’ve been hurting, and they didn’t know.”

… ah, didn’t she say she took care of animals? Right, so she’d know something about this. “ I doubt this company really cares about something like that.”

“ They should… all of this damage should be a perfect example why,” Fluttershy huffed with a hint of indignation. Ha, image; Fluttershy talking about you with indignation. Could never be me.

“ Well, let’s keep moving,” I stepped back from the pipes and began heading backwards, “ I’d rather we avoid any bad omens like this.”

“ Pshh, omen shmormen,” Toothpick snorted, quickly catching up to me, “ the water isn’t coming from the pipes anymore, so they probably fixed it.”

“ That’s no reason to not be cautious, kid.”

“ You’re just being a big ol’ worry wart, Mr. Robert. What’s the worst that could happen?”

The moment those words came out of his mouth, I instantly stopped walking and went rigid. Confused, both Fluttershy and Toothpick looked up at me, only to see me glaring back at the colt like he was the incarnation of the devil himself. “ … you…you little shit!”

“ …W-Wha…?” Toothpick winced back from my shout, confusion present on his face.

“ The fuck are you doing saying shit like that, huh?!”

“ I don—”

I cut him off as I slammed my fist into the wall, causing him to jump. “ NO! Don’t you realize what the hell you just done—”

“ R-Robert?!” Fluttershy interjected, concern and confusion filling her voice, “ d-don’t yell at Toothpick, he’s just a colt—”

“ Fuck no, Fluttershy! He just—”

I never got to finish my sentence, nor were we ever given time to prepare. No second later—as if on cue, in fact—the lights in the corridor began to suddenly flicker on and off wildly. The background noise of the fan propellers began to accelerate to seemingly dangerous speeds, causing the air to thrash around erratically. And to add to the sudden and arguably frightening scene, the ground and air began to shake violently with the sound of powerful stomps. The stomp quickly began to grow louder and more violent, and just when we thought something was coming…!!!

…

… everything went still.

The fans stopped altogether, the stomping all but disappearing as well. The lights returned back to their stable glows… but the one difference that stood out the most was the deep red hue that they now filled the area.

… Eventually, from the thickness of the silence, Toothpick mustered the bravery to speak out. “... w-what just happened…?”

For Fluttershy, she was simply too shell-shocked to even respond. For my part, I remained just how I was just moments before this jumpscare of an event. I was mad, cautious, and—above all else—serious. There was no room for me to afford anything other than those three, because what stood before us right now was no mere pony or whatever-the-fuck would be down in this metal maze. No, instead, what stood before us was the embodiment of nightmares themselves. The ghoul that perverts in fear, the envoy of terror.

However one were to call it, one thing that never changes is the suffrage that this creature brought…

… and it’s something I’ve grown acquainted with for a long time…

(Trigger Warning: brief gore)

Unknown, many years ago…

The flickers of flame from the small campfire was the sole beacon of light within the expansiveness of this sandy plane of existence. I sat right at the foot of the flame, barely reacting from the sparks that burnt the hairs of my legs. It was the source of warmth that fought against the fridgedness of the night, and I gladly embraced all the good and bad of it.

My eyes were locked on the flames, though my consciousness was everywhere and nowhere. I found that simply being there—both thoughtless and deluding myself in formlessness—was what kept me together… or kept as much of me together as I could. I’ve long cried out my anguish and questions to the dunes, and like always I was answered by the uneventfulness of nature. I figured that there was no point lingering in the why… but instead, I had to linger on the what. What to eat tomorrow. What path I must take for water. What cave should I rest in, or what incline of the sandy dunes should I camp at. From my confusion and hurt, I had come to realize that this was now a game of survival.

My wallet was the only remaining and intact proof that I once had life. The faded print on my driver’s license may be gone, but the image of my trimmed and cleaned self was still there. I managed to memorize the information of my credit card by heart before it faded away and turned into my pocket cutter… so did I do for the other cards that I had. I have yet to fall into insanity, but if the time were to come where I would go so far as to name these plastic cards, I…

… haha, what the hell am I saying? I’m already insane.

I was on night watch this night…. Or rather, every night. I couldn’t afford sleeping, not at least in the open. Many things have tried and succeeded in getting me in my sleep… and I’m disappointed that it took long before I got the message. Maybe if I can get to those distant plateaus, I could get some good shut eye, far above the ground where these starved animals roamed. But I couldn’t believe in that; I couldn’t, even if I wanted to. There’s no rest out here.

The sound of shuffling appeared to my side. I glanced over to see a small lizard crawling out from the sand. It must’ve been drawn from the heat of the fire. I felt nothing of it, nor did I feel anything when my pickaxe missed and caused it to scurry away. That same emptiness that filled my stomach also filled my mind. I just couldn’t… not anymore… I was at the brink of the finish line…

Perhaps it was because of that brief encounter that my vision was aligned at just the right angle, and at just the right time did the clouds part ways from the large move above, giving way to its pale light. My lazy eyes noticed it, and when I raised my head up just enough, I could fully confront its slender form.

Not far away from where I sat stood a black form, tall and nye-purely skeletal. The moon's light reflected from the onyx skin that hugged tightly to bone, giving it a plastic texture. The head, long and cyclical, had skin that drooped like that of an elder, but to such an extreme degree it almost looked like it was melting off. And those eyes—those pinprick white sunken pupils—did not blink even once. They stared right back at me, equally as lifeless… though, that quickly began to change.

I instinctively tightened my grip on my pickaxe, the sole weapon that has guarded me from these accursed words despite coming from it as well. My skin felt moist from my sweat, and I began being conscious of my hastened breaths. I slowly felt life return to me, despite it being a flicker. Even now, as my chest trumped with my beating heart, I still want to survive. I wanted to see another day despite everything I had to go through. That… was just the human in me, and I refuse to deny that part of me.

The movement was too fast. Meters covered in distance, the creature went on fours and ran at me with wild abandon, its spinely limps thrashing out in desperate need of flesh. The once silent night came to life with the scratch roars of a phantom, one not born of flesh but born as the amalgamation of horrors. I was frozen in fear. I didn’t know how to react to this, how to react to a demon of the night chasing after me. But I had to resist, to fight back despite the odds I was unsure of. At the moment of collision, I raised my arms up in defense, but it was futile; the force of impact sent my flying back, tumbling into the sand.

“ Agh!” We tumbled around like the very tumbleweed that danced in this world, gradually leaving the warmth of the fire. I roared in pain louder than the screams of thrill from this demon. My left arm fell into the grip of thousands of long needles, sinking so deep that I could feel them grinding within. The searing and immeasurable pain of pierced flesh clouded my mind, and it weakened my fight as I wacked my weapon helplessly against the creature. Thrashing against my skin, I felt its long nails hook and peel, freeing the warmth within me as it trailed down my body.

We continued to fight for a while, and each passing moment I felt my strength diminish. From behind the palm of the vice grip that the demon had on my head, my tear-stung eyes stared back at white pupils, which remained emotionless. The pain overwhelmed me, and for a moment I questioned whether this was really how it would end. Surely, if that were the case, I wanted to at the very least leave behind a lasting impact. A sign of my struggle, that I had not succumbed to my failed mind without resistance.

These thoughts clouded my mind alongside the prolonged pain. At that moment, as numbness took over me and everything muffled out, I felt solace staring above at the looming moon.

… That same demon stood before us. The same one that taught me what pain was all those moons ago, and the same one I continued to be plagued by since then.

Instinctively, my right arm moved to my back, but I realized once again that I was unarmed. I didn’t have my things, thus I was barehanded.

“... shit,” I muttered under my breath. Panic most definitely and rightfully should be on my mind, but it wasn’t there. I was level headed, and I felt calm. This level of calmness could only be found from years of tortuous agony that accumulated into unwanted experience, and I was unfortunate enough to have that. In other words, unlike these two confused and frightened ponies next to me, I was not afraid.

“ … Mr. Robert?” Toothpick asked out as I began walking away from the two, towards the spinely demon.

I gave no immediate response as I rolled up my sleeves and rolled my shoulders. I came to a stop a few feet away from the demon, my eyes never leaving its still and immobile form. “... You two stay exactly where you are now.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Toothpick spoke. “ Bu—”

“ No questions!” I snapped out loud, not caring of the volume of my voice. “ Stay where the fuck you two are until I say not to! Is that fucking clear?!”

“ …. Y-Yes sir…”

Good. That’s all I needed from them. With that said, I relaxed my body and narrowed my eyes. With my left arm trained forward and my right snuffed in between it and my torso, I lowered my center and widened my stance. I let everything else drown out, my thoughts only focused on the black towering demon before me and only it alone. Readied, I waited patiently, waiting to see the decision behind those white lifeless pupils.

Author's Note

... well, it's been a minute. Sorry for the lack of chapters this past few weeks... uh, month. Almost two months now, wow.

Yeah, I know, I believe that all of us as readers kinda get some sort of disappointment whenever a story has a hiatus. I hate to be like that for my own stories, but life has its demands (i.e. work and college), but I personally don't like to cling on to excuses so much.

With that in mind, I made this chapter roughly double the word counts from the others. I plan on doing that for ever five chapters going forward, just so I can train myself in writing out long chapters without losing quality.

Thank you for reading this far. I can't guarantee when I'll put out the next chapter, but it'll be regular size. If there's any part that doesn't make sense, please do point it out. I want all criticism when granted. See you then!

Chapter 6: The Monsters Behind The Veil

“... Agh! Dammit!”

I swore loudly, kicking the sand underneath my feet in frustration. With a face scrunched in anger, I watched as the small cloud of sand dispersed into the air, the soft winds pushing it westward and into nothingness.

“...” I sighed heavily. Despite the fit of rage, nothing changed. Despite me raising my voice in anger, nothing changed. Even now, as I stood here with my torn clothes and irritated skin from the sweltering sun above, nothing has changed for me. I, Robert Cowell—who was arguably the most average guy one could ever meet—was and stillis stranded in a damn desert. A desert!

Yes, that’s right. For whatever fucking reason that I have yet to figure out, two days ago I had found myself several miles away from the east coast… and buried six feet under the ground.

Buried. I was fucking buried! What more was there to be said to that? How the fuck should I even explain that? Exactly, I can’t!

“ Ugh,” I fell on my ass, staring off into the distant horizon. Though barely noticeable from the heat waves, there were a few masses of rock dotting the horizon, but other than that there was nothing more than sandy dunes and clear blue skies. I was even lucky to notice a cloud a couple hours ago…

…

… what the hell has happened to me?

Did… did I piss anyone off? I don’t think I’ve ever been on bad terms with anyone… except for that one guy last summer at the gym. But that was just a small thing. It isn’t my fault his membership expired. I don’t think anyone would go so far as to bury me alive for something like that. Like, holy fuck…

… dammit, I should’ve paid more attention to those stupid survival videos, despite the fact that they were fakes. But… can I really be at fault for that? It isn’t everyday that you’d wake up and find yourself buried under sand, for fuck’s sake!

“ FUCK!” I exhaled deeply, running a hand through my hair. I… I need to collect myself. I… I need to start thinking rationally. I haven’t eaten anything since I tried that one cactus out, and that was barely the best of experiences I’ve had. And… my phone’s at seventy percent. I can’t mess around with that. No point in checking for service… I need to retain that battery life, as much as I can…

…

… I squinted towards the rocks in the distance, trying to make them out from the heat waves. I eventually shrugged to myself and reluctantly stood up, continuing on my aimless walk. At the very least, I could lament my situation under some shade.

With the fans gone, the only sound reverberating throughout the corridor was the rhythmic drops of water from the damaged pipes and the thumping of the blood in my body. Not an inkling of a sound escaped the still form of the demon, who stood there in its crooked and statue-like posture. Its white irises started on with emptiness, attesting to the lack of life within its form. If I were to be poetic here, the way the red lights reflected off its porcelain-textured skin almost made this demon look like the envoy of death itself.

But even with those intimidating features, I remained firm in my spot. My focus was only and only on this demon. There was no way I could go easy here; any second of poor decisions could cost me greatly, as I've come to learn the hard way before.

“ … Mr—” From behind, Toothpick’s startled and concerned voice picked up, though I never let him finish.

“ Shut the hell up!” I barked at the colt without hesitation. I couldn’t afford any distractions, and the two of them should be well aware of that by now. Perhaps I could give some points to the kid for having the balls to talk in a situation like this, but I’m not about to humor any of that.

“ But why?!” Toothpick continued to persist regardless, despite his voice being rapid-paced and shaken. “ What’s happening?! W-Why is everything red now?!”

A vein bulged on my forehead, my focus wavering. Was this brat messing with me? Was it not already obvious what has caused all of this? “ Enough of—”

SHIEEERK!

My sentence was caught off immediately, for not a split second later did the demon move, going for the attack. It leaped forward with the springiness of a tiger, arms stretched out and claws ready for tearing. As animalistic as it appeared, it was a clever move; the demon knew when to take advantage of an opening, for it knew well the physical prowess it possessed.

But… I was smarter than that. I knew how these creatures play... and I knew just how to bait them into falling in my hands. My focus never wavered; it was a hoax, a facade to make the creature think it had the advantage. And so, I already saw its attack miles ahead and was already prepared for the counterattack.

Quickly, I slid under its outstretched arms. Onyx and razor sharp claws cut through the air I once stood in, and yet even with that failed attack the demon was already on its next assault, opening its elongated jaw and aiming to take a chunk off of my upper body. But I wasn’t going to let that happen. I immediately shot my left arm up and grabbed its outstretched forearm. With the same limb firm in my grasp, I clasped my right fist and sent a hard uppercut right at the demon's elbow. A resoundful snap echoed through the corridor, and the ear-splitting screeches that escaped its open maw confirmed that its right arm was no longer in use.

It wasn't over, however. These things won’t just stop, even if it loses a limb. And it was only further proven as—right after its scream—the demon lurched forward and tried to pincer me into a bear hug. Within such close vicinity, an attack like that was almost guaranteed. I wasn’t worried about that, though.

My left arm let go of the useless limp and quickly gripped the hidden neck of the demon, followed by my right hand taking a tight hold onto the cavity of its hollow rib cage. Using this brief momentum, I focused all my strength into my lower back to lift the demon into the air.

“ Hrn!” With a grunt, I succeeded, heaving the skinny but surprisingly heavy creature up into the air. The demon’s good arm flared around wildly, claws extended and swiping at my form. Aware of this danger, I wasted no time and chucked the creature towards the wall. It screeched loudly as it flew away, but not before managing to knick me at the bicep. With the speed of a fast ball, the demon crashed into the wall, the metal visibly and loudly denting.

I exhaled slowly, briefly glancing over at the new wound before returning my attention to the demon. It slid down and slumped upside down on the floor, its body twitching as it tried and failed to realign itself. The impact must’ve damaged its spine, probably due to the unevenness of the surface. Nonetheless, it was a good sign; I could end this quickly. Walking over to the downed form of the demon, I glanced down at its voidless eyes. Even now, as its body was nye-immobile, it continued to be expressionless. It… honestly made it much easier to deal with these things… though, whether emotions or not, I would’ve still done the same thing regardless.

Raising my foot up, I was seconds from going for the finishing blow, but suddenly the demon’s damaged arm shot outwards, going straight for my neck. The fatal attack would’ve landed had I not been on guard, but experience has made it that I was always on guard. My hand shot out towards its wrist, stopping the attack a few inches from the desired target. From there, there were no last words or anything; my foot went down, and a resoundful crack was the confirmation. The fight had ended.

As the demon’s form slowly dispatched into black smoke, I closed my eyes and exhaled. I gave myself that brief moment to calm down my nerves before reopening my eyes and addressing my wound. Three of its claws nicked my left bicep, leaving behind three equally long gashes. They weren’t deep, and despite the exploding flares of pain, I could still use my arm. Not the worst I’ve been through.

With the fight ended, I became aware of the deathly silence once again. It also reminded me that I, in fact, had companions with me. In a rather alarming manner, I quickly turned back to see whether Fluttershy and Toothpick were okay. Sure enough—to my slight relief—they were still alive…

… although, they had very frightened looks.

The mortified expressions on their faces made me frown. I’m guessing they’ve never seen anything like that before… though honestly, I wouldn’t blame them. Seeing something like that for the first time isn't the best of experiences… especially if you’re the one being targeted. I would know that more than anyone else.

Though, it does have a bit of a contradiction, now that I think about it. If these sort of creatures are roaming around underneath a city of ponies… wouldn’t they probably already know what these creatures are by now? Or maybe they don’t know… since it's all the way down here. I mean, there’s a lot of hidden stuff here I doubt the average citizen in this city would know about… well, those are just some fleeting thoughts. The only thing that matters now is that it's dead, and I can move on comfortably with that.

“ … Hey, you guys good?” I asked out after a while of still silence. Still not getting a reaction from them, I huffed and walked up to them. Kneeling down, I snapped both my fingers in front of their faces. “ Hey, wake up. Fight’s over.”

“ Wh-Whu?” Fluttershy was the first to snap out of her thousand yard stare, shaking her head before looking around with a pale face. “ I-I… w-what h-happened…?”

“ Relax, the threat’s gone now,” I explained my best, trying to give a sense of ease in my tone, “ was just a demon, is all.”

“ D-Demon?!” Fluttershy visibly flinched while squeaking, her eyes shooting out in alarm. “ A-Aren’t t-those just s-scary b-bedtime stories?”

I curled a brow. “... no… I just killed one right now…”

“ Wh— k-killed?!”

“ Really?” Toothpick was the one to ask, his eyes slowly shifting from an uncomfortable fear into sparkling awe. “ That’s what you were doing?”

I squinted my eyes at the colt un-amusedly. Yeah, I wasn’t falling for his bullshit. “ … really now?”

Toothpick pouted at my response. “ Why look at me like that? I'm just asking.”

“ You watched everything that happened and now act as if you don't know a thing about it?”

“ Uh, yeah... it looked like you were just hitting the air and stuff.”

… what? The air? But… then… could they not…

Seeing my confused state, Toothpick continued. “ Yeah… suddenly there was this loud noise, and then I couldn’t move my body! But I could move my mouth, though, which is weird cause I couldn’t move my body! And… and then I saw you hitting the air and stuff—oh, and then there was a loud snap and another loud noise!”

I blinked at his jumbled explanation. “... well, yeah, I—”

“ And then the wall suddenly caved in,” Toothpick exclaimed, pointing at the same spot I threw the demon, “ and… you stomped the floor and stuff. Was that you killing the demon? And what’s a demon anyways? Sounds like a donut flavor.”

“...” I went silent, contemplating Toothpick’s words. Everything the kid said matched what had just happened… with the only exception being the fact that, apparently, it looked like I was punching the air in their view. Which… would imply that they couldn’t see the demon…

… and adding to the fact that they apparently couldn’t move… it would mean that they wouldn't have been able to defend themselves from it.

That’s… concerning. Being alone is fine and all, since I can deal with those things. But having travel companions that can’t even see them? And adding on the fact that they get paralyzed? That’s…

“... R-Robert, y-your arm…”

“ Hm?” I glanced over to Fluttershy, seeing her look at my injury with a greatly concerned look. “ Oh, yeah, don't worry about it. It'll heal… eventually.”

“ W-We should s-still tend to it,” she insisted, walking up close before grimacing, “ O-Oh dear… this is just terrible.”

I huffed, my gaze softening. “ Fluttershy, we don't have any medical equipment on us. We can't really do much about it. But I'll be fine… so don't worry about it, ok?”

“...,” Fluttershy went silent, her ears flat on her head, “...I-I’m… I’m not l-liking this p-place very much…”

I frowned with pressed lips. I’ve seen and listened to Fluttershy enough to know that she isn’t the type to deal with these sorts of stressful situations… I can understand her concerns here. But she’ll have to endure it, just for a little while longer.

With that said, I put my hands on my knees and began standing up. “ Ok, how about—”

SHRIEEK!

“!?!”

From behind the two ponies, another demon jumped out from the corner end of the corridor and began to rapidly close the distance towards us. By the time I registered this, there was woefully only a second worth of time to react. I moved without thinking.

Grabbing both of their shoulders, I threw Fluttershy and Toothpick away from the direction of the oncoming attack. However, it left me wide open, and I couldn’t guard myself. And so I took the full brunt of the force, feeling long claws roughly slice against my chest. I grunted back my yell of pain as me and the new demon rolled on the ground in a wild mess of limbs. Disoriented and my chest flaring with pain, I struggled to get my bearings as the demon continued its assault. More scratches and gashes began to accumulate on my body, and any more of it would start leading to lethal damage.

Grinding my teeth together, I shook away the pain and forced my head to refocus. These were pains I’ve experienced numerous times before; I couldn’t let them get to me now, of all times. Readjusting myself, I managed to grab hold of one of the demon’s flailing arms, briefly halting its assault. It was all the opening I needed. Grabbing the side of its head with my free hands, I forcefully pulled it down and smashed it against the ground. The attack froze the demon’s attacks momentarily, and I gladly took the opening to do it once again. And again, and again.

“ AAAH!” With a powerful battle cry, I continuously slammed its head against the ground, using my injuries and pain as fuel to my attacks. And with a final smash, the demon exploded outwards into black smoke, dispatching into nothingness.

Stillness returned to the area, and almost in reaction did the red hue disappear, returning the corridor to its original pale lighting. I breathed heavily, slowly readjusting myself into a sitting posture as I collected my breath. I stared down at my chest, seeing my completely torn shirt and the wounds that flowed freely. But instead of focusing on the numbing pain, I focused on the overwhelming disappointment that flooded me.

‘... I’m such a dumbass,’ I was a fool. I shouldn’t have relaxed without clearing out the area first. And because of that, I nearly got those two killed…

With lazy eyes, I looked back up at Fluttershy and Toothpick, both of whom were giving me horrified looks.

I sighed, calming down my breaths and grunting through the pain as I stood up. “ Let’s… let’s get moving… now. And stick to me.”

With a neutral yet expressful smile on his face, Sham Rock flipped the reflective open sign of the Exotic Kingdom Auction House, effectively closing the building for the day. He gave a small sigh to himself as he turned around, taking in the emptiness of the main lobby.

“ Ahh… let’s see,” Sham Rock muttered to himself, “ the mural could use a nice cleaning, though I’ll have to remember not to hire that gentlecolt… ah, and the busts. They will need to be polished as well. Sweeping may come later… hm, perhaps not for the crystal room though. Those idols are quite sensitive to dust…”

He continued to silently mutter to himself as he climbed the foyer, making his way towards the hallways of the second floor before entering a small office in the far-end corner. From there, he mindfully ensured that the door locked behind him and—keeping the same heightened awareness—cautiously approached behind the refined and refurbished desk, pressing a hoof underneath the wooden frame. In response, one of the bookshelves creaked open, revealing a small and aged elevator shaft. Approaching it, Sham Rock looked around once more before taking the small elevator, closing the bookshelf behind.

At the top of the elevator, Sham Rock exited into a dimly lit room. Unlike the office below—which held a homely and welcoming vibe—this office was dark, gothic, and unshy of the numerous skulls that littered its interiors. They varied in shapes and sizes, but the most common attribute of these long forgotten remains were their equine traits. Unfazed by this, Sham Rock continued his stride, walking through the piles of skulls and towards the small marble pedestal at the heart of the room, which held a large and clear glass orb.

“... I’m disappointed, Sham Rock.”

Sham Rock flinched, pausing his stride. He slowly looked over towards the direction of the voice, squinting his eyes to see a figure standing against the corner. His smile broadened, though the sweat forming on his brow was noticeable.

“ Ah, Arcsin! I… I am glad to see you are well.”

“ … I thought we had agreed to address me by my alias,” Arcsin eventually grumbled after a prolonged silence, his malice palpable.

“ I-Indeed, we have…” Sham Rock nodded slowly, adjusting his collar, “ though, that was under a more public setting, no? There’s not many ponies that come up in the room.”

“ …It seems you value your life little, fool.”

Sham Rock grinned, undeterred from the threat. “ Why, quite the contrary. I do believe I’ve kept my word to you and your fellows. I’ve been nothing but truthful to you.”

“ Truth is of no importance to me. I can find my answers if I so wish,” Arcsin scowled, his voice seething in disgust, “ your ignorance has blinded you from what has been transpiring below.”

“... well, I can’t say I’m that informed about Tar—”

“ Must I plague that silver tongue of yours, fool?”

“...N-No…”

Arcsin sighed heavily, emerging from the shadows to reveal a hooded figure. But even while hooded, it was clear from the shape of his elongated form that there was not a trace of any pony features. “ Three individuals have invaded the lower chambers… two ponies and one mammal of unknown origins.”

Sham Rock blinked at Arcsin’s words before his eyes shot open. A pale expression consumed his face. “ … A mammal, you say… p-perhaps bipedal?”

“ I needn’t not to tell you… they were your only customers today.”

Sham Rock pressed his lips, slowly nodding. He silently cursed under his breath. “ … I should’ve expected that rough mouth to go to the extremes…”

“ They’ve infiltrated to the third level,” Arcsin continued, approaching the glass orb in the center, “ they’ve become aware of your networking scheme.”

Sham Rock clicked his tongue, though he outwardly expressed a calm smile. Of course, this calmness was a blatant facade; the flamboyant stallion couldn’t even try to mask the stiffness of his body from the close vicinity with Arcsin. “ … concerning, but not dire. Your underlings roam that level… that bunch should be dealt with by now.”

“ Yet again, your ignorance has shown to reign over your intelligence,” Arcsin growled. Suddenly, the crystal orb on the pedestal suddenly glowed bright red. A beam of light expanded upwards, forming a hazy rectangular screen. From there, the images of the mammal could be seen, sparring against one of Arcsin’s underlings.

Sham Rock’s eyes widened as he watched the mammal dispatch the creature with ease, then doing it once more to the second one that tried to sneak attack. Despite receiving significant damage, the mammal didn’t even seem fatigued or any less weakened. “... h-how… valiant…”

“ Perhaps I cannot fully blame you for being unaware of this mammal’s prowess,” Arcsin continued in a monotonous tone, “ however… your obliviousness of the infiltration is where you are to be held responsible.”

“ …I-I was not unaware of any break in,” Sham Rock defended, his quivering eyes glancing down at his hooves as he felt Arcsin’s unseen gaze, “ none of the parameters went off.”

“ That is where your faultiness lies.”

“ Urk…”

The orb suddenly turned off, the images disappearing as a deep purple light now flooded the room. Arcsin walked around the orb, bringing himself closer to Sham Rock. “ … I hope you remain aware of the guidelines of our contract, Sham Rock.”

Sham Rock was as stiff as a statue. “ I-I am aware…”

“ Then,” Arcsin stepped back, looking into the orb, “ I shall have one of my candles address these intruders. It is without a doubt your incompetence would fail to resolve this issue if I were to leave it to you.”

With these words, Sham Rock sighed just slightly. It seems that he had just dodged a bullet here. However, his uneasiness was still present. “ … but… as those images showed… the mammal can adequately handle them.”

“ You’ve deluded yourself with a mere assumption,” Arcsin scoffed, “ those intelligible husks equate to the very dirt I step on. Not even the strongest of them could hold the title as my underling.”

“ I-I see…”

Arcsin returned his attention to the orb, as if it were a part of the conversation. “ You have heard my words. Send Cosine to the third floor.”

“ Yes, my liege,” a scratchy voice suddenly came out from the orb, before the purple light dispatched.

Sham Rock pressed his lips, carefully wiping the sweat from his brow. “ T-Then, I’ll see to reinforcing the security measures of this building… we must certainly not allow another slip up like this.”

“... Indeed,” Arcsin responded before falling silent.

An uncomfortable silence befell between the two, and for a moment Sham Rock was unsure of what to do. However, the sudden pressure on his neck was the sound hint of where this was leading to.

“... I must tell you, Sham Rock,” Arcsin continued, his eyes glowing a faint red from the shadow of his hood. Sham Rock had not even noticed, but Arcsin had moved behind him. “ This aid of mine has been incurred towards your debts. You must be aware of what that implies… yes?”

Sham Rock nodded slowly, his widened eyes never leaving the silver and curved claws that protruded from the deep-red rubbery skin of Arcsin’s hand. Arcsin continued his grip on Sham Rock, his eyes illuminating bright orange as they bore holes into the stallion. Eventually, however, Arcsin released the stallion, making his way towards the far end of the room.

“ This sparing generosity of mine grows thin,” Arcsin growled, though his voice died out as he glanced over at the piles of skulls, “ though… should you resume your offerings, perhaps I may be open to lenience.”

Without anything more to say, Arcsin’s body merged into the wall, disappearing from the room entirely. A deafening silence flooded the area, and for a moment Sham Rock continued to hold his breath. He slowly looked towards the rows of skulls that lined the walls, his eyes dilating as an uncomfortable grin stretched across his face.

“ … perhaps it’s time I reopened employment applications…”

“... I, um, think this is it…”

After what felt like hours of agitated walking, we found ourselves standing in front of a giant metal roll-up door. Next to the door were the numbers thirty-four on the wall, written out in that one font they used in the military. Can’t really remember what the font is called, but that doesn’t matter. What really mattered was the implication that this place also had militaristic ties to it… but that’s just a baseless assumption.

Given that Fluttershy confirmed that this was the place, there was no point just standing around. With that in mind, I went and grabbed the handle of the door and swung it up freely. The entrance opened up without difficulty, and we were greeted with a large and dark interior. We were able to see some railing due to the light from the entrance, but beyond that was just a dark void.

“ …I wonder where the light switch is,” I muttered to myself, walking slightly in without a second thought and looking both left and right. I wasn’t able to see any switch box or something on the walls, which meant that we’d probably have to—

“ Found it!” Toothpick’s voice suddenly shouted out, followed by the ceiling lights turning on with a loud shutter effect. I blinked from the sudden change of lighting, putting my bandaged arm over my face. Squinting my eyes, I looked to my empty side to find Toothpick nowhere in sight. My attention then went back to the room, where I could see Toothpick waving while standing on the second floor.

‘... how the…’ How he got up there was beyond me, but the notion quickly went over my head. Instead, I went on to gawk as I took in the sight before me. Instead of finding ourselves in a small room filled with shelves, cabinets, and desks with stacks of papers, we found ourselves standing in front of a large hangar. With one floor above and one below, there were numerous doors on each level, going to rooms that were windowless or had the blinds turned. In addition, there was a subtle but noticeable buzzing sound that filled the air—likely due to the ceiling lights. In short, it felt like walking into the heart of an office building… though, strangely, the entire lower floor was completely flooded. Must’ve been due to burst pipes around here.

“ … well, I guess we start looking,” I hummed, crossing my arms.

Fluttershy nodded meekly, though she gave me a concerned look—specifically towards my bandaged body. “ Um, please be careful of your injuries…”

… right, of course she would still be worried about that. Given that my shirt was beyond repair, and that Fluttershy wouldn’t stop pestering me about my wounds, after the fights a while back I went out of my way to use the jagged ends of the metal around the place to cut my shirt into strips. And with Fluttershy’s thoughtful and doting help, we used the strips of my shirt to bandage most of my wounds. It wasn’t the best, sure, but it left Fluttershy just slightly more at ease.

I’ve technically already noticed this, but… Fluttershy isn’t really the type for violence. That much is obvious. I… I kinda feel bad that she saw all of that unfold, but at the same time… I warned her not to come, so…

…No… I can’t use something like that against her. That’d be unfair.

I sighed, giving the pegasus a small smile. “ Don’t worry, Fluttershy… I’m a lot tougher than you think.”

“ U-Um, ok, but… just please be a little more careful.”

“ Sure, will do… let’s get searching so we can get outta here sooner.”

With a small nod from her, we both fully entered the hangar and began our search. For what, exactly? Well, we just needed to find an indicator of where they’ve kept their recent shipments. Once we get that, we can go there and get my shit back; simple as that Toothpick had already gone out of his way to begin searching the upper level, so me and Fluttershy pretty much split the main floor in half. Bottom floor was out of question, and I doubt there was anything important underneath that still water.

The first few doors greeted me with empty rooms, the only real differences being the toppled chairs and tables. Opening my fifth door, I found something different. Suddenly, I was greeted with a wave of a distinct foul stench. Scrunching my nose, I patted the wall earnestly before feeling the switch level for the lights. Flicking on, I was greeted with the sight of a corridor covered with moss, vines, and a dirt floor to pair with it. The corridor went in a downwards slope, with the ceiling lights barely lighting the path. At the end, I could see a sharp turn, meaning it went even deeper.

“... yeah, no,” I soundly closed the door and moved on. Despite the… oddity of what I just uncovered, it’s pretty obvious that whatever that path led to was irrelevant to our goals. And so, I moved on, going to the next door. However, each door I opened thereafter led to even stranger rooms. A room filled with honeycomb-shaped walls, another room with a kaleidoscope of glass panels, and even one with a bunch of fuzzy chairs. I had absolutely no idea what any of these rooms meant, but each one I found myself looking at only further added to my thoughts that I was wasting my time.

Eventually, me and Fluttershy met up at the far end of the hangar, having completely checked through each door on both sides. Judging by her confused expression, it also seemed like she didn’t find anything useful.

“ No luck huh?” I asked, leaning against the cool concrete wall.

“ Uhm, no…” Fluttershy muttered, rubbing a hoof on her leg with a wry smile, “ they’re very, um, unique rooms.”

“ Yeah… taking the exotic of their name to the next level,” I sighed, staring up at the second floor, “ anything up there, Toothpick?”

“ No, not really!” Toothpick’s voice shouted out. “ Except for this one room! I found a bunch of papers in it talking about logs and stuff! Why do these ponies like logs so much?!”

…

Me and Fluttershy shared a look. She gave an amused giggle while I simply sighed into my palm.

‘ This kid…’

The room Toothpick was talking about was just as we had expected it to be; an office room filled with file cabinets and stacks upon stacks of papers. This was the ‘server hub’ that we had been looking for on the map, not whatever the hell we stumbled across down below.

Getting to work, Fluttershy led most of the reading while I tried to figure out which papers seemed important enough. It really sucks that I couldn’t read any of this shit, despite me having clear and concise conversations with these ponies. Whether I permanently settle down in this civilization or not, one of the most important things I should do soon is get my literacy on their language. It will help in more ways than one.

“... Robert, I think I found it…!” Fluttershy exclaimed, her eyes widened as she lifted up a particular packet. I instantly dropped whatever I was holding and moved over to her, leaning in and staring at the papers. To aid me, she pointed a hoof towards a specific body of text. “ This here says a wooden carriage was shipped in a couple of days ago… the client name is FFB.”

Bingo. I fucking knew it, and here’s the damn confirmation! I struggled to hold back my grin. “ Yep, that’s it. Does it say where the carriage is now?”

“ Um… yes, floor four, section eight, deck three.”

… hm, so it looks like we went deeper than we needed to go. This meant that we just had to go up… which is a good thing. Once we get my shit, it’ll be easier to dip out of this black market shithole. “ Alright, that’s all we need to know then. Let’s get going.”

“ Wait, Mr. Robert,” Toothpick suddenly spoke out, jumping out from underneath one of the desks, “ didn’t you say we were going to see some of the sea ponies?”

I paused, my eyes widening slightly. Right… the whole attack from the demons had thrown me off for a bit. I nearly forgot about the sea pony trafficking they’re doing around here… nearly. But, like said before, we couldn’t really do much about it. Even if we did go there… I’m not sure whether we could safely bring them out or something along those lines. A shame, really, but I had to be realistic here.

… It’s sort of embarrassing, now that I thought back to what I was yapping before. Out of the blue response without even a second thought to it… I’m just shocked I did something like that. And now I sort of instilled the ‘heroic’ idea into this kid… I should be more careful with my words.

“ …Fluttershy, have you seen any documents about that here?” I cautiously asked. If we really wanted to make an impact here about the sea pony trade, then the best bet we got for that problem is just turning in a bunch of documents to the authorities. Whether it helps or not, it’ll at least be some sort of action.

“... hm… no, they’re all just recent shipments,” Fluttershy muttered as she skimmed through the papers, “ I… i-if the sea ponies are down here, then they've p-probably been down here for a while… so, we’ll have to look deeper.”

I frowned, looking around at the numerous file cabinets around the room. There was just too much; even if I did say before that we didn’t have a time limit on ourselves, that was a lie now. With the whole fight against the demons, I’m sure we’ve caught the attention of the owners of this place and will probably be expecting visitors soon. We’ll just have to take whatever we can before then.

Glancing around the room, I found a brief case conveniently resting on the side of one of the desks. Grabbing it, I put it on top of the desk and popped it open. There were a few documents in there, but enough space to fill it up. And so I did, taking up all the papers on the desks and stuffing them into the briefcase. When I was done, I closed it tight and locked it. The pony police could worry about unlocking it later.

“ Toohthpick, come here for a sec,” I ordered, beginning to remove the cloth bandages around my body.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened in shock when seeing this. “ R-Ro—”

“ Don’t worry, Fluttershy, the wounds are already sealed,” I quickly cut her off, giving her an assured smile as I undid the bandages. Sure enough, once I got the ones on my chest off, you could see three long dark scabs on my chest.

“ Why do you need—woah!” Before Toothpick could ask, I was already in action. Pulling him close, I dumped the briefcase on his back, causing him to bend sound slightly from the weight. No second later, I took the cloth bandages and wrapped it around his body several times, effectively, binding the briefcase to the colt.

“ You’ll be carrying this briefcase around, Toothpick,” I said, fastening the knot before standing up, “ make sure you don’t drop it, alright?”

“ W—it’s too heavy, Mr. Robert!” Toothpick complained, visibly struggling to take a few steps.

“ Don’t be a wimp kid,” I snorted, making my way towards the exit, “ hurry up, we’re going for now. We can’t afford to act too leisurely now.”

Giving no room for a response, I quickly made my way down the stairs, returning towards the main floor of the hangar. Barely following close behind, Fluttershy and Toothpick made their way back into the outside corridors and struggled to catch up to me.

Author's Note

I feel like this chapter was less in quality... well, I hope it turned out well.

So far, Robert and co. have found some lead towards getting his belongings back. The fight with the two demons was tough, but they managed to pull through. Will they face more in the coming chapters?

If you have any questions or comments, please do leave a comment. I love reading critique on my works, since I really want this to turn out well. With that said, have a good day/night (and also late happy halloween!)