There Will Be Fire

I was whistling a merry tune on the train ride to Canterlot, as I had no intention of just flying there, I couldn't be bothered. Besides, I don't think that Jacob has recovered from his interaction with Slendy. Oh well. He told me that we'd meet up in Whitetail woods after I got back. Looking forward to it, actually.

Twilight's voice brought me out of my thoughts. She was attempting to comfort Jacob. Meh. I needed to ask her something. "Hey, Twi." I called. She stood up from my now-sleeping friend and made her way over to me. "What is it, Ryan?" She asked. Well, that's a start, and she dosen't sound mad that I scared Jacob. That's three points for being insane. "I remember I asked you something at the party, and you were telling me before we were interrupted. So, would you like to continue?" I asked her. She let out a deep sigh. "It's just that-" she was cut off by Pinkie climbing out of her mane. "You Pinkie promised!" She whispered cryptically. I quickly grabbed Pinkie, and stuffed her into a cannon (That's right, I know how to break the fourth wall now.) and pointed it out the window towards Canterlot. "Meet you there, Pinks." I said before triggering the fuse with a quick burst of fire. She was gone before too long.

Twilight was glaring at me in shock. "That was rude." She stated finally. "And how did you do that? I thought Pinkie was the only one who could do things like that." I smiled. "I figured it out. Now, as you were saying?" I asked her. She facehoofed. "It's basically that Dash thinks you're some kind of psycho rapist or something." She stated, slowly spinning her hoof in a circle to exaggerate, exaggeration. "Oh, that's fine. I just have to apoligize to Rainbow or something. As you can probably tell, I'm not currently the most sane friend you have, so, Meh." I said, shrugging. She seemed slightly confused at this. "Are you sure you're not at all offended?" she asked. I shrugged. "It's kind of a tradition of mine. I follow the customs of my forefathers, learning what we can but not giving any fucks. Well, I'm sure it's tradition at least. We're orphans." I stated, signaling between me and Jacob. She fixed me with a surprised expression. "I didn't know Jake was an orphan." She stated, walking over to him and taking a seat beside him. "I assumed that Chrysalis had just exiled him or something." She mused, rubbing a hoof through his mane.

Wait.....

Chrysalis? What?

"He's a changeling?" I asked her, surprised. She glanced at me in shock. "You didn't know? But I thought you had known each other for years!" She stated, standing up. Damn it, alien time. "Well..." I started. "Fuck it, it'll take too long to explain." I finished. I like keeping things brief, y'know? She sighed. "Fine, that'll have to do for now. But I know this is more than just a strange coincidence." She finalized, with one last glare at me before picking up Jacob with her magic and going into the sleeping car. Well, at least I managed to avoid the question. And with Pinkie gone, not only would I be able to get a good sleep, but no weird shit like 'Cupcakes' would happen. Ugh, cupcakes. Why did I have to see that? Now I'm screwed, I will never be able to take the party pony seriously again. But... I could use that example to tell Daniel why Pinkie was worse! Wait.... I should probably warn Dash to not make any cupcakes with Pinkie. Dear God, that story made me and Daniel not talk for almost a month.

Don't think about it.

I made my way into the sleeping car and plopped into my bunk, noticing that Jacob and Twilight were sleeping peacefully in bed together. Well, one friend's probably in a good place right now. Just before I fell asleep I heard the door to our cart open. A large griffin made his way through the cart, and he seemed like a normal griffin..... Other than the fact that he had a colorful scarf. It was in glorious shades of red, yellow, and green. Wait a second. "Oi!" I shouted at him. He stopped instantly. He slowly turned around. "The only person I know who says that is..." He muttered to himself. "Ryan?" He asked outright. "Ky-....ow..." I was cut off when I fell out of my bunk and hit the ground of the car. "Kyle!" I called, getting back to my feet. "Ryan!" he shouted, pulling me into a tight brohug. The kid I always thought of as my little brother was finally reunited with me. I wanted to cry with joy, but I still had a reputation to upkeep. The others, who were jolted from sleep by the constant shouting, slowly climbed out of the bed, complaning. Except for Jacob, of course. He looked shocked. "Kyle?" He asked quietly, still half-asleep. I pulled him out of his bed and into the tight hug. We seperated soon enough, covering it up with awkward coughs. "So..... Yeah." I said quietly. "Welcome back, Kyle." Kyle smiled gently. "Thanks, buddy." Rainbow rolled her eyes. Twilight held out a hoof and Kyle quickly took it and shook it gently. "So.... What have you guys been up to while I was gone? He asked quietly. Jacob let out a snort. "Well, our friend Ryan here burnt a field, burnt a basement, went insane, met Slenderman, and learned to break the fourth wall." He listed. I faceclawed. "You say that like I was unjustified at doing so." I replied instantly. Kyle frowned for a second before breaking into an even bigger smile. "You met Slenderman? That's badass!" He stated. "There you go. You're outvoted, Jacob. Slenderman is awesome. And, Ryan, I'm meeting him when we get back to Ponyville. You wanna come with?" I asked. "That's hoping we make it back after the party. Hearth's warming eve is tomorrow, and there's going to be a party tonight." Jacob interrupted. My eyes opened wide. "Are the princesses coming?" I asked quickly. He nodded. I rubbed my hands together.

"They're getting party treatment. I need Pinkie pie in here. We're going to plan the best. Party. Ever." I stated happily.

The ponies looked confused. Kyle quickly piped up. "Ryan's like the Pinkie pie from where we're from. He throws the best parties, I'm not even kidding. They're LEGENDARY." He stated. I smiled. "I didn't know you thought so highly of my parties." I asked him. He smiled this time. "Of course bro. No biggie." He assured. I frowned for a second. "Now I regret shooting Pinkie out of that cannon..." I trailed off. The others gasped. "It's alright, I forgive you." Pinkie cheerfully climbing out from under her matress. "Aww, thanks, Pinks." I said, giving her a gentle hug just to show them that I held no hard feelings against the pony. "And we have a party to plan... For Hearth's warming, dear Pinkamena." I finished. "But now, It's late. and I'm pretty sure it's almost midnight. So, happy Hearth's warming eve, everyone." I stated before climbing into my bed. I heard a collective sigh behind me. Rainbow quietly climbed onto the bunk above me. Everyone else climbed into their beds quietly. We had a twelve-bed box, because they didn't have a nine-bed cart for all of us. Twilight had decided to sleep with Jacob, Pinkie and AJ were on one set, Rarity and Fluttershy, me and Rainbow, and, of course, Spike sat near the back. Kyle took the bed across from Spike.

I sat there for awhile, thinking about some random things. I heard the gentle snores of the others, and I realised how late it was. I tried to fall asleep, but something was nagging at the back of my mind. I heard a gentle sigh from above me. "Dash? Are you awake?" I called quietly. She took a few seconds to respond. "Yes." She sighed quietly. I took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about earlier.I acted kind of creepy. And you seem like a nice mare, I... Kind of want to become better freinds with you. Will you forgive me?" I whispered quietly. I'm not one for random emotional shit, but, I kind of wanted to get to know Dash. I heard Dash give another sigh. "I forgive you, Ryan. And I'm sorry too. I may have said some things about you." She replied softly. Rainbow Dash is showing emotion? Was that possible? I smiled gently. "It's alright, Dash. I don't mind. I'm sure you were just frustrated and scared." I could.... sense her being happy. Could dragons..... Sense emotion? I didn't care about this new power. At least Dash finally cares about me. Well, as much as she cared about a friend. Well, 'caring' may be a bit of an early exaggeration. At least she trusts me. There we go, I'm going all emotional again. But.... Maybe me and her could get together... like.... Her being my marefriend? Alright, fuck off mind. I need to listen to Dash. "I'm glad you forgive me too..... Ryan." She was cut off by a yawn. I frowned for a second. "You sound awfully tired. And though I want to talk to you, you need your sleep. We can't have Equestria's best flier falling sick from exhaustion, can we?" I stated. "But I want to...." She was cut off by another yawn. "Don't worry, we can talk in the morning, Dash. Good night." I gently whispered. She sighed. "Good night, Ryan." She murmured. " 'Night, Dash." I quietly called. Gentle, rhythmic snores followed from above soon after. I smiled gently. Sleep well.

I was drifting in a strange forest, and I could see large fish swimming through the sky while unicorn horns flew around, chirping in the silent woods. Many large lobsters walked around, and the woods were shrouded in a rasta pattern as the sun, which looked like a giant dolphin, started to set.

Holy Fuck, I am high.

I felt a strange sensation, and the forest started to fade around me. "Ryan." I heard a voice in my subconscious. I felt myself flailing in a void. "Ryan." The voice again, and it was a little louder, and clearer. Trying to off this high, fuck off mind-voice. I silently scolded my brain.

I hope my mind felt ashamed of itself.

But the voice kept calling louder and louder. I started to recognize the voice. Dash? I felt my shoulder being shook. I was suddenly jolted awake. "Ryan!" Dash called into my ear. "W-what?" I asked, shaken after being jostled from my sleep so suddenly. "What is it? What's wrong?" I asked, strongly alert now. Dash recoiled slightly. "It's just that we're here, and we're getting off the train, so I..." She trailed off timidly. Dash being timid? What? How? Why? "Is something wrong?" I asked seriously. "No." She replies quickly. Too quickly. "But we need to go, the princesses are expecting to see us." She finalized before speeding out of the train car. I stood up slowly, stretching and making my way out of the cart into the frosty morning air. What's wrong with Dash? I thought curiously. I shrugged it off as stress. "Hurry up!" Jacob shouted across the station. I rushed my way over to the group, catching some nervous glances from the locals. Princess Luna was waiting across from the station, making her way across to the group. A group of guards ran over and cut me off. I rolled my eyes, calling out to Luna to assist me. She came over and dismissed the guards, saying something about me being 'A friend of the princesses' and that I was 'absolutely harmless'. Why do I keep sending the impression that I'm harmless?

Come now, Wait till I start to feel like a pyromaniac.

The rest of the day went by without any real events. We booked rooms in a nearby hotel, each person with their own room. I got settled in basically, and took a nap before the party. Kyle came in and shook me awake, not unlike Dash did earlier. "Come on, It's time for the party." He repeated for the ninth time. I finally rolled over and climbed out of bed. "Shit, Parties. I forgot I was going to plan with Pinkie. I'll have to assist with one when we finally get back to Ponyville." I stated.

"But for now, we have a party to attend. And if there's less than twenty kinds of alcohol at this party..." I paused.

"I'm going to be dissapointed."