Zeroes to Heroes

Chapters

Chapter 01: Rylan
Chapter 02: Watch Your Step
Chapter 03: Watch Out!
Chapter 04: Watch What You Say
Chapter 05: Watch Carefully
Chapter 06: Watch as the Adventure Begins
Chapter 07: Everfree Forest: The Lost Woods of Equestria
Chapter 08: Forest Puzzles and Fillydelphia Problems
Chapter 09: Pull Back
Chapter 10: Mt. Griffon
Chapter 12: It Just Doesn't Work That Way
Chapter 11: The Griffon Resistance

Chapter 01: Rylan

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." - Henry Ford

Sunshine.

That was all I saw as I opened my eyes. I saw the sun shining right into my face, nearly blinding me. I grumbled and rolled over, hoping to block it out of my face and get some more sleep. I ended up looking down at the ground.

“Huh. I don’t remember the ground being several hundred feet below me,” I muttered. I closed my eyes, deciding to ignore it and get some mo-WAIT, WHAT?!

I shot up, wide awake. I was falling, that much was obvious. The ground was coming up quickly, and I had no idea how to survive this. How did I end up here? On second thought, who cares? Figure that out later. For now, survive, Watch!

Flailing in the air, I tried to form a plan in my head. But when you’re falling to your death, you have trouble thinking anything aside from OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD. I should know. I eventually decided to just roll so my left shoulder was pointing to the ground to take most of the blow. It probably wouldn’t do anything, but I figured my left arm was the only expendable part of me, being right-handed.

Just a few seconds away from impact, I suddenly felt something grab my shoulders and pull up, stopping me from falling. I didn’t question it, instead just being grateful as whatever grabbed me lowered me slowly to the ground.

“Thanks,” I said before looking up. My eyes bulged. Above me was the strangest thing I’d seen all my life, and that was counting the sudden waking up in the middle of the sky.

Above me, there was a blue horse with wings. Not joking here. I could tell it was female from the way her muzzle was shaped. (It’s called a muzzle, right?) She was light blue, pretty much cyan, and had wings attached to her side. Her mane and tail were six different colours, resembling a rainb – okay, you know who it is already! It was Rainbow Dash, but I didn’t know that at the time.

You’re reading this story, so obviously you know the basic pony idea. Earth ponies, pegasi, unicorns, magic, friendship, Ponyville, Equestria, Elements of Harmony, Nightmare Moon, Discord, yadda yadda yadda. I, however, was not aware of any of this. I thought I was still in the human world, just with a weird thing flying above me. However, that turned out to not be the case, naturally. Since all of you would already know who I’m talking about without needing me to describe them, I’ll just refer to these ponies by name rather than things like ‘the cyan pegasus who was yelling at me’.

Speaking of yelling, Rainbow was doing a lot of that. “What in the hay are you? How’d you get up in the sky? Can’t you fly? You don’t look like a pony! What in the hay are you?”

“Uh…why is a blue horse talking to me?” I squeaked, severely confused. She stopped for a second.

“You can talk?”

“…Yeah?”

“Then answer my questions!” Ugh, this is gonna go on for a while. “What are you?”

Fortunately, my urge to be snarky tends to override any confusion I happen to be experiencing at the moment. “I prefer ‘who’, but that’ll do…I’m Rylan Watch. Now, my turn to ask a question. What are you?”

Rainbow blinked. “You don’t know what a pony is?”

“I know what a pony is, but you certainly don’t look like one. I’m pretty sure ponies aren’t blue. And they don’t fly. Or have rainbow manes, or rainbow tails, or weird pictures on their sides.”

“…This is gonna take a while,” she sighed, echoing my previous thoughts. “Wait here. I’m gonna go get Twilight. Leave, and you’re not getting any help.” She flew off before I could question how a horrible book could help us.

Sitting down against a tree, I decided to use this time to take inventory. I pulled off my backpack and unzipped it. All I had in it were the few items I normally carry around: a blanket, a collapsible archery bow, three arrows, and two knives. Hey, I’m paranoid, okay? Besides, those knives have helped me more than once.

I pulled out my bow and checked it, making sure it wasn’t damaged, before doing the same with my arrows. I then pulled out the two knives and slipped them into my shoes, right between my sock and the inner part of the footwear. I had one knife for each shoe, so I could easily pull them out if things got dangerous.

I then looked over myself. I looked pretty much normal. Blue t-shirt with a darker blue jacket, on but unzipped. Light gray sweatpants and white shoes. Wristwatch on my left hand, surprisingly not broken. A Triforce necklace around my neck (I’m a nerd, okay?). All topped off with a green baseball cap. Yep, I looked pretty much the same as I always did.

Since it’ll be a while for Rainbow to get back with her friends, I’ll give you a bit of backstory in case you didn’t read the description of this story. My name is Rylan Watch. I’m eighteen years old and I dropped out of high school when I was fifteen. My parents didn’t even bother trying to fight me. They knew I would go through with it, no matter what they tried. Then they died in a car crash last year.

I’ve spent pretty much my whole life doing nothing productive. I play video games half the time I’m bored, and go on the Internet the other half. My only real skill is archery. I don’t like to brag, but I can hit a bullseye on a target fifty feet away with my eyes closed. I’ve been doing it for eight years, so I’ve gotten pretty good.

Aside from that, my life has no good points. I’ve never had a friend who didn’t turn around and stab me in the back at some point. Sometimes even trying to do that literally. I eventually gave up on friendship. That was actually one of the main reasons I dropped out; to get away from people. People disgusted me. Everyone I knew was a jerk. Even my parents weren’t perfect. Obviously I didn’t want them to die, but still.

Backstory complete, just in time. Rainbow flew back to me, five more ponies following behind her. I’m sure you know them. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. But I didn’t know them, so I was pretty confused. When they arrived, I quickly thought up the most dignified response to their appearance.

“What in the holy hell is this?” Yep, to me, that’s dignified. You should hear my undignified responses.

“Rainbow Dash told us about you. At first I thought you were just a weird-looking pony, but this…” The purple unicorn (Twilight) shook her head before looking over me. Her horn glowed slightly and I felt a weird feeling pass through me. “Alright. You don’t seem dangerous or anything, so I think we can trust you.”

“Are you serious, Twilight?” Rainbow groaned, obviously not as trustworthy. Can’t say I blame her.

“Rainbow, he hasn’t done anything yet. He’s confused, peaceful, and acts pretty much just like us. We can at least trust him until he does something bad, if he ever does.”

Rainbow sighed. “Fine.”

So then we got introductions out of the way (I'll skip that, since they go pretty much exactly the same as any Human in Equestria story), and I realized from what they told me that I was the only human around. I guessed that either I had woken up in a place really far away from my hometown (how I got in the sky, I have no idea), or this was some kind of alternate universe. I desperately hoped for it to be the latter, if only because if this place existed on Earth it wouldn’t be long before scientists discovered these ponies and began testing and experimenting with them. I’ve played Portal enough times to know that testing isn’t fun. (And the idea of being in an alternate dimension is kind of cool.)

“What’s that?” Pinkie Pie had been bouncing around crazily, as you might expect, asking me about everything I had. I had to explain the concept of archery to them, as well as why I had knives in my shoes (they were rather horrified by my story). Now, she was pointing to my Triforce necklace.

“It’s a Triforce,” I said instantly. I mentally berated myself. These were ponies. Why would they have video games?

“A…what?” They were confused, if Rainbow’s reaction didn’t tell you that already.

“Er…it’s a myth from where I come from,” I recovered quickly. I held up the small replica of the three triangles and pointed to the top triangle. “This is the Triforce of Power. It represents…well, power, and physical strength.” I pointed to the lower-left triangle. “This is the Triforce of Wisdom. It represents intelligence and mental strength.” Lastly, I gestured to the lower-right triangle. “This is the Triforce of Courage. It represents bravery and emotional strength.” I had no idea if what I was saying was exactly accurate, but it was good enough to please these ponies.

“Interesting,” Twilight nodded slowly, taking in the information.

“The myth claims that the Triforce exists in a sacred realm somewhere. If one were to find the Triforce, they would get their greatest desire granted. I honestly don’t believe that’s true, but it’s still a cool story.” I stood up. “Hey, you said there was a town nearby, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we head there? I’d like to get the whole I’m not a monster thing out of the way with the residents. Something tells me they won’t be as trustworthy as you five.” I suddenly stopped. “Wait, five? Weren’t there six of you a minute ago?”

The mares glanced at each other in confusion. I counted in my head. Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity. Who were we…

“Fluttershy?” I called out. That girl had been extremely quiet the whole time. Twilight had to introduce her to me for her, because she wouldn’t say anything that didn’t come out as a whimper. It was actually pretty adorable.

“Come on out, Fluttershy! He ain’t gonna hurt ya,” Applejack joined in. I admittedly found her accent slightly annoying, but figured I’d get used to it.

Silence. Nobody – nopony? – came out or answered. Rainbow sighed and flew behind the tree I had been sitting against before dragging Fluttershy out from behind it. She looked at me and squeaked in fear, hiding behind her long, pink mane.

“…You know what? I stick by my original statement. Only five of you trust me.” I have to admit, I was slightly offended. Just when I thought I found some people – okay, ponies, but whatever! – who wouldn’t instantly ignore me or run from me in fear, Fluttershy went and ruined my good mood.

“I think she’s just nervous, dear,” Rarity intervened. “She always gets this way around strangers, ponies or not.”

I sighed. “Fluttershy, you don’t have to talk to me, or help me, or even like me. But at the very least, could you not act so scared of me? Brings up bad memories.“

“Oh…sorry…” Fluttershy shakily stood up, and I realized that those two words (technically one, if you don’t count “Oh” as a word) were all she had said since she saw me.

“Well, now that that’s settled, let’s head to Ponyville,” Twilight decided. The six mares turned and started walking off, expecting me to follow. I did, but not until after facepalming at the horribly unoriginal name of the town. What’s next, a city called Canterlot?

Arriving in Ponyville, I looked around. There were plenty of houses and stores, so much it actually resembled a human town. Well, there was the occasional building that looked absolutely ridiculous, such as a library built into a tree or a castle made of clouds floating in the sky, but aside from that it was normal.

Except for the people walking around, for two reasons. One, they weren’t people; they were ponies. Two, as soon as they saw me, they gasped and ran away, hiding in houses. I heard what conspicuously sounded like gossiping whispers from several of them as they hid. I facepalmed again.

“This isn’t going to go well, is it?” I asked rhetorically.

“Well…we just need to find the mayor,” Twilight grinned sheepishly. “If we can get her on your side – which shouldn’t be too difficult – she’ll get the rest of the town on your side too.“

“Great. Where is she?”

“Town hall, probably. Let’s go!” Rainbow sped forward, but Applejack bit down on her tail (I winced) and pulled her back.

“Don’t go rushin’ ahead of us, Rainbow,” she chided the cyan pegasus. “We gotta stick together.”

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask,” I piped up. “How come some of you ponies have wings, and others have horns on your forehead?”

So Twilight explained to me the idea of the three different kinds of ponies. From what I understood, earth ponies were strong, pegasi could fly, and unicorns used magic. I was about to question why a unicorn couldn’t just magic themselves up a pair of wings and some extra strength to get the perks of all three types when we were stopped from continuing any farther by a line of angry-looking ponies.

“There it is!” one of the earth ponies called. He had a weird helmet on and looked as though he was the leader of…whatever this was.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked.

“We are the SAEFC!” the leader guy replied.

“…The what?”

“The Society Against Everfree Forest Creatures!”

I groaned. “I’m not from the Everfree Forest, whatever that is. I’m just-”

“Silence!” The leader glared at me. “We will not listen to a creature such as yourself! Attack!”

“No!” Twilight jumped in front of me, and the other five ponies did the same, causing the ponies that were about to charge me stop moving. “He’s not dangerous! We just need to see the mayor!”

One of the ponies turned back to their leader. “Bastion, should we trust them?”

The leader, apparently named Bastion (what’s with all the weird names?), looked down in thought. He then lifted his head and glared again. “This beast is likely controlling them. I have heard of creatures who can do that, like Capricorns.”

“Hey, no!” I protested, seeing where this was going. However, they didn’t listen. Of course.

“What should we do?”

“I hate harming innocents…” Bastion looked away in disgust. “If they refuse to move, attack them as well. But get to the beast! That is the most important thing!”

My mind struggled to process what it just heard. Not only did these ponies think I was a mind-controlling beast, they were about to attack the girls just to kill me?! NO.

One of the pegasi dashed forward at us, aiming for Twilight. Twilight was too shocked to move, but she didn’t need to. The pegasus suddenly screamed and collapsed, blood leaking slowly from his wing.

I stood in front of Twilight, a bloodstained knife in my hand. My act of defense surprised all ponies present, even Bastion. I glared daggers sharper than my knife at them all.

“Back off, all of you!” I yelled. “I didn’t plan on hurting anypony. I didn’t want to hurt anypony. But if you try to hurt me - try to hurt them - then I’m not going to hold back!”

Bastion glared. “You dare harm a member of Ponyville?!”

“This coming from the bastard who was about to have his squad hurt them!” I gestured to the six mares standing behind me.

“No more of your words!” Bastion charged at me, but I was ready. As he got closer, I tensed up and threw my knife to the side. Right before he reached me, I ducked, rolled to the side, and lashed out with one foot. I caught him right on the face and left a nasty bruise there (thank you, shoes!). This only worsened his anger, as he turned and went for me again. Of course, I forgot to stand up after my roll.

Thankfully, some quick thinking saved me some pain. I grabbed Bastion as he got close and flipped him over, giving me enough time to stand up. Just as he got up as well, I punched him in the face, pulled my second knife out, and held it to his throat. He didn’t move, instead looking at me in fear. I hated doing this.

“Listen, buddy, I’m not from the Everfree Forest. I don’t even know what that is. I’m not a Capricorn or anything like that. I’m not from around here, sure, but that doesn’t matter. I’m a human.” I spoke in a very threatening tone, one that I had practiced often. Bastion looked scared, but when I told him I was a human, his eyes suddenly opened wide. I heard all the ponies around us gasp.

“Human?!” they cried in unison. I blinked and backed away, taking my weapon away from Bastion’s throat. I looked around and saw everypony looking at me in shock. Oh crap.

I expected them all to attack me, but instead, they…bowed? Whatever they were doing, it looked like the pony form of bowing. Bastion was bowing. The line of previously hostile-looking ponies were bowing. The few ponies who came outside to see what was going on were bowing. The pegasus I stabbed in the wing was bowing. Even the girls who brought me here were bowing.

“Uh…” I looked around at all of them, confused.

“Please forgive us, sir!” Bastion begged. “We were not aware of your status as a human! We apologise for any trouble we may have caused!”

“Uh…apology...accepted?” I guessed. I was getting very confused. You’d think I was a king or something. “Can you…stop bowing now?”

The ponies obeyed and stood up. Suddenly, they didn’t look like they wanted to fight me, nor did they look afraid. Instead, they looked at me with what seemed like…respect?

Suddenly, Bastion gasped again and pointed behind me. Turning, I saw a horse-drawn carriage coming down from the sky, pulled by pegasus ponies. Flying carriages? …Toto, I don’t think we’re on Earth anymore.

When the carriage landed, I got a good look at the person – er, pony – inside. I could tell she was female. She had the horn of a unicorn, but also the wings of a pegasus. She was pure white, with a flowing multicoloured ma – it was Princess Celestia, okay! You know what she looks like.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight gasped. Instantly, the ponies were bowing again, this time to her. I instantly realized the situation and bowed as well, getting on one knee and crossing one arm over my chest. I heard the princess chuckle.

“Well, this is a surprise. A human bowing to me for once.” Her voice was soft and soothing. “Rise, everypony. You as well, Rylan Watch.”

My head snapped up, and I stood slowly. “You…know my name?”

“Yes, I do. I also know why you are here, great warrior.” She smiled.

My mind was racing. Great warrior?! I think you got the wrong guy! …Dear God, it’s tough to resist the urge to say “Sorry princess, but your warrior is in another castle.”

**Author's Notes:* Yay, new story! As I said in the description, thanks to Nathan Traveler for the title. And, oh hey, what's that I see? A "Romance" tag? Hmm...what could be coming up? Let's wait and find out...*

Oh, and I seem to have a thing for making the first word in all of my stories be "sunshine". Dunno what's up with that.

Next Chapter Preview:

"So...you brought me here."

"Yes."

"To fight against a great evil."

"Yes."

"Because you think I'm a great warrior."

"Yes."

"...You didn't bother checking my resumé, did you?"

Chapter 02: Watch Your Step

A hero is a man who does what he can. - Romain Rolland

Princess Celestia continued to look down at me, smiling. Now, I was nearly six feet tall, but she still had quite a few inches of height on me. From my rough measurements, I guessed that most ponies around here were four feet tall, but Celestia was nearly double that. If she wasn’t smiling in a non-threatening way, I would’ve been scared.

“…Warrior?” I asked in confusion. Several ponies had come outside by this point to see what was happening. Considering the ruler of their kingdom and an alien were standing outside having a conversation, I’d be surprised if they weren’t curious.

“Yes. I summoned you to this world so you may aid us in fighting against a great evil that shall soon rise.” Celestia spoke the last bit with a grim tone, as if she feared the evil. Why would she fear it? Isn’t she the princess or something?

“Hold on a second,” I demanded. This was getting really weird, really quickly. “So…you brought me here.”

“Yes.” Celestia nodded.

“To fight against a great evil.”

“Yes.” Another nod.

“Because you think I’m a great warrior.”

“Yes.”

I sighed and slowly facepalmed. “…You didn’t check my résumé, did you?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I…” I then noticed the crowd of ponies around us. It looked like the entire town was here. “…Can we talk about it later? Somewhere more secluded?” I didn't want to say I was a weakling in front of the entire town.

“If you wish, Rylan Watch.” She leaned closer and spoke in a whisper that the other ponies couldn’t hear. “At midnight, come to the field you first landed here in.” I nodded in confirmation, and she backed away. “Now, my little ponies, I must be heading back to Canterlot. Be kind to our friend. Treat him as you would treat me.”

With that, Celestia got inside her carriage and the armour-wearing pegasi lifted off, flying back to wherever she came from. I was too busy fighting the urge to find a tree to smash my head against after hearing there was actually a place called Canterlot here.

After the princess left, things got awkwardly silent. I looked and saw the ponies all looking at me, as if expecting an order. She said to treat me as they would treat her…I really don’t like being the centre of attention, though…

“Uh…change of plans,” I announced. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t treat me like royalty. Act like I’m just a normal pony, okay?” It felt weird asking others to treat me like a pony. Definitely the kind of thing that sounds hilarious when taken out of context.

They all nodded, and Bastion stepped forward. “As you wish, human.”

“Please don’t call me ‘human’. Call me by my name. Rylan.”

“As you wish, Rylan.” Bastion nodded to the crowd, and they scattered, heading back to their business. I did, however, notice them occasionally looking back at me. I can understand why. I turned to the six girls who brought me here, who hadn’t left.

“So…what now?” I asked in genuine wonder.

“You live in a library.” I stared at Twilight in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“You live. In a library.”

“…Uh, yes?”

I shook my head. “And I thought I was a nerd.”

“Hey!” Twilight glared. “If you’re so smart, where should I live?”

“It’s called a house. You should check them out sometime.” Hearing laughter, I turned and saw Rainbow Dash rolling on the ground, laughing. (Not joking, she was literally ROFL-ing.) “See? Rainbow agrees with me.”

Twilight sighed in defeat. “Rylan, you may be a human, but you’re still painfully annoying to get along with.”

“Apparently you’re forgetting the fact that I’m a human in a land of talking multicoloured ponies,” I nearly snapped. “I hardly think I’m the one who’s gonna be annoying to get along with.”

“Ya live in our town, ya live with us ponies,” Applejack grinned. “And if we have to put up with ya, ya have to put up with us.”

“Touché.” I sighed and watched as Twilight opened the door…without touching it? “How’d you do that, Twilight?”

“Do what?”

“The…thing. With the door. The door. It opened.”

Twilight looked at me in mass confusion, and I realized how dumb I just sounded. “Doors do that, you know.”

“You did it without touching it!”

“Magic.” Twilight gestured to her horn. “Unicorns can use magic. I told you that, remember?”

“I kinda forgot after the mood went from These ponies want to kill me to The princess thinks I’m a warrior, so forgive me if my memory of previous events is a little fuzzy.”

“Can you stop being snarky for one second?”

I stretched my neck like the Engineer. “Nope.” Twilight facepalmed (facehoofed?) before walking inside, gesturing for the rest of us to follow.

Inside the library was, naturally, books. There were several shelves of books, each one filled up full and the books sorted alphabetically, by colour, and based on subject. First ponies, then ponies with OCD? This is gonna be great.

“It’s getting late, so we’ll show you around the rest of Ponyville tomorrow,” Twilight decided. She used her magic to pull some books from the shelves, each one surrounded with a faint purple aura. “For now, you should read up on Equestria, since you don’t seem to know much about it.”

“And what are the rest of you gonna do?” I asked as Twilight deposited a pile of books half my height right next to me.

“We’ll figure out what to do with you.” The purple unicorn beckoned her friends into another room. “Come on, girls. Let’s give him some peace so he can read.”

After they left, I sighed and sat down on the surprisingly comfortable carpet. Rather than read all the books I was given, I checked each one’s title and tossed aside the ones that didn’t look relevant. Books labelled things like The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide didn’t seem important. By the time I was done my own method of sorting, I only had three books left.

I picked up the first one, Equestrian History, and began to read. I read about how Equestria was made and the strange evils that attacked the land, such as Nightmare Moon and Discord. If I’m being honest here, Discord sounded pretty cool except for the ‘take over Equestria’ thing.

After I finished speed-reading, I put the book down and grabbed the next one. Strange Creatures of Equestria. One of the pages was bookmarked, and I turned to it on instinct. It was about – guess what? – humans.

Humans are mysterious, mythical creatures that are claimed to not be from Equestria. Not much is known about their appearance, as nopony is still alive who has seen one. They are known to be great warriors that will be called upon when a great evil threatens Equestria.

Little is known about their powers aside from rumours and gossip. Some ponies think humans can transform at will. Some think humans are capable of magic more powerful than any unicorn or alicorn. Even more believe humans can wield the Elements of Harmony all by themselves. However, none of these claims can be confirmed for obvious reasons.

I shut the book, as the article ended there and went on to something called a parasprite. It bored me, so I turned to the next book. (My attention span isn’t very long, can you tell?)

The last book was simply titled Ponyville, so I figured it was essentially a handbook about this town. It was certainly thinner than the other two books. Opening it up, I started reading, actually curious this time.

Everything the book told me about Ponyville was stuff you readers probably already know. It included traditions, holidays, special events, and so on. By the time I finished reading, I was suppressing yawns. The girls still hadn’t come out of the back room. …No, Rylan! Bad dirty mind! Bad! I was about to go knock on the door when Twilight came out, still talking to the others over her shoulder.

“…it’d make more sense.” She turned to me. “Finished already, Rylan?”

“Just the important stuff.” I gestured to the three closed books beside me. Twilight sighed.

“Come on, Twilight! You honestly couldn’t have expected him to read all those books you gave him!” Rainbow defended me, flying in the air. I wondered why she couldn’t just walk on the floor, especially considering that’s what Fluttershy was doing, even though they were both pegasi.

“Well…I guess not.” Twilight sighed again, this time in defeat. “Anyway, Rylan, we were talking about getting you a place to stay for a while. At the moment, you can stay at any one of our homes except Rainbow’s. Unless you can fly.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Uh…no.”

“Then you can stay with any of the rest of us. Take your pick.”

I looked over the six mares – well, five, not counting Rainbow. I definitely didn’t want to be around Pinkie any longer than I had to, so she was out. I also didn’t particularly care for Fluttershy, who still had not said a word to me since that one apology a couple hours back. Twilight…well, she had been on the receiving end of most of my taunting and sarcasm so far, and I was smart enough to know spending the night with someone you’ve been making fun of was never a good idea. That left Applejack and Rarity. Hmm…annoying Southern accent, or being called “dear” every five seconds?

“Eh…Rarity,” I finally chose.

“Oh, good! I can finally take care of that little disaster!” Rarity practically jumped in joy. I did a double take.

“Disaster? What’s going on?”

“Why, your outfit, of course!” She gestured to my clothes. “Have you ever seen such a horrifying sight?”

I gave her a deadpanned look. “You’re asking if I have seen anything worse than a blue shirt and gray sweatpants?”

“…Yes?”

I considered telling her tales of my life back home, but decided it would be best to let them stay innocent for a while longer. “Just leave my clothes alone. They’re comfortable and that’s all I care about.“

“Why do you wear clothes, anyway?” Twilight asked. “It’s not like we do.”

I finally realized all of the ponies were lacking one thing: clothing. I then realized that I was in a room of said ponies, all of whom were female. Well…awkward.

“Uh…” I began to divert my eyes to avoid looking at them. “Humans are…anatomically different.“

“…What?” Rainbow sounded confused.

“We’re…built different from ponies.”

“Well, of course you are, silly!” Pinkie laughed and bounced around. Do they really not get what I mean? I sighed and finally looked at them again, glaring.

“We prefer to keep certain parts of our body covered up.”

Realization flashed across their faces, and in unison the six ponies blushed, diverting their eyes as I had done earlier. Awkwardness. Called it. I’m a genius. Give me my Nobel Prize.

“Er…well, I still think you need better clothing than that,” Rarity finally spoke up. “I could just make you some more…”

“You know what, go ahead. Just don’t make me look like an idiot.” I stood up. “What now?”

“We should probably head to my place now. It’s almost nighttime.” Rarity gestured out the window and I saw the sun setting. Surprised, I looked at my trusty watch. Eight-thirty.

“…Huh. So it is. Alright, let’s go.” I picked up my backpack and pulled it on. Thinking again, I pulled it off and unzipped it, pulling out my two knives. One of them still had some blood on it from the pegasus I stabbed earlier (if you’re worried, he was brought to the hospital and I was forgiven, so all is good). I slipped them into my shoes.

“We’re just walking through town, Rylan,” Rarity dryly remarked. “I don’t think you need to protect yourself that much.”

“Last time I thought that, I got this.” I rolled up the sleeve of my jacket and showed the huge scar I had on my left arm. Rarity winced at the sight. “Trust me. I’ve played enough video games to know that right when things look peaceful, something bad’s gonna happen.”

“…Video games?” Rainbow asked from the air.

“Oh, right. You don’t have them here.” I rolled my sleeve down. “Video games are basically just games that you play on a screen of sorts. You use devices called controllers to control what happens on the screen.” That was the shortest explanation I could think of.

“Interesting,” Twilight remarked.

“Yeah, it’s a lot better than it sounds. My favourite game is probably Halo: Reach. For some reason, I find something cool in the idea of landing on an alien planet and killing everything you see.” Silence answered me, so I looked around the room and saw the horrified looks on everypony’s faces. Whoops. “That…came out a lot worse than I intended it to.”

The time I spent at Carousel Boutique was pretty boring. I had a meeting with the princess at midnight, so I couldn’t go to sleep or I’d miss it. So I mainly just stood there, letting Rarity measure me for new clothes and hearing her complain about how unfashionable I was. Personally, I didn’t give a damn about fashion, but as much as I tried telling her that she didn’t listen.

Finally, she finished, so I sat around and watched her work. It was pretty boring. I couldn’t think of any conversations I could start. Finally, my watch showed the time as being ten minutes to midnight, so I stood up to head out.

“I’ll be back in a short while,” I called over my shoulder as I left. Rarity was too busy working to reply or stop me. Perfect timing.

I didn’t bring my backpack, but I kept my knives in my shoes, just in case. I kept a sharp eye out as I walked through town. Thankfully, the only ponies out and about seemed peaceful enough. They gave me a smile and a wave as I walked by, which I returned.

After a while of walking (and, admittedly, getting lost in the dark) I came to the field I had landed in when I woke up in the sky. I recognized the tree I had sat against and saw Princess Celestia standing by it.

“Hello Rylan,” she greeted me. “I trust things have been going well?”

“I’m a human who was mysteriously warped to a world of multicoloured talking equines and told I have to fight a great evil that will try to destroy this place if I don’t stop it using my great warrior powers.” I grinned and shrugged. “In all honesty, not the strangest thing that’s happened to me, so I’m good.”

Celestia chuckled. “I sense you doubt your skills.” Well, she’s quick and to-the-point, isn’t she?

“Kind of…” I put my hands in my pockets. “I’m not a warrior, princess. I’m just some guy who leads a crappy life. I haven’t killed a thing in my life, unless you count video games. Sure, I’ve put a few people in the hospital in self defense, but that’s it.” I sighed. “I don’t see any way I can help. Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Rylan, you may doubt your ability to handle this task, but believe me, you can do it. You just need some help.” She appeared to start using her magic, as her horn began to glow. I watched in awe. After a few seconds, she summoned a large box and deposited it in front of me.

“…What?” was all I could get out.

“Open it.”

I shrugged and reached for the box. I opened the flaps and looked inside. Inside I saw…a Legend of Zelda ripoff! (A sword and a shield.) Amused, I reached inside and pulled out the sword. My nerdiness compelled me to hold it over my head.

“DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN!” I hummed. I turned back to the princess, who was looking at me like I was an idiot. “…Inside joke.”

“Ah.”

I reached back into the box and pulled the shield out. This time, I avoided acting any weirder than I already was. “Wait…you’re giving these to me?”

“Of course. They are yours to keep, to fight with, or even to name.” Celestia nodded and smiled. I raised an eyebrow.

“Name? Yeah, because I’m seriously going to give a name to an inanimate object.” Jokingly, I raised the sword to the sky dramatically. “By the power vested in me as a great human warrior, I dub thee, Ihsoylr!”

Crickets chirped. Celestia blinked. I stared at the sword I was still pointing at the sky.

“Yeah…no,” I finally said, lowering the sword. Finding a sheath in the box, I slid the sword into it and slung it over my shoulder, using the strap to keep it attached to my back. I hung the shield over it.

“Before you leave, I have one other thing to give you,” Celestia stopped me. She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. I felt a strange wave pass through me, but this felt…good. After a few seconds, the wave passed and the princess opened her eyes, her horn no longer glowing.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I gave you a little bit of healing magic,” she answered. “By focusing, you can now heal others. However, by doing this, you will transfer their injuries to yourself.”

“…Why?”

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” Celestia quoted. “You can’t magically heal someone without someone else being hurt.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I shrugged. In reality, I didn’t completely understand it, but I was tired from lack of rest and wanted to just get back to Carousel Boutique and sleep.

“That’s all. I will contact you when it is time for you to head off to find and defeat the evil that threatens Equestria.” Celestia turned to go. “Until then, spend your time adapting to pony life. Make friends. Enjoy yourself.” With a flash, she was gone. I stood there, confused, until I turned and walked away.

Arriving back at Rarity’s place, I walked inside and looked around. She was still working. I facepalmed and checked my watch. Half past midnight. Whoah, didn’t realize I was out that long.

“Hey Rarity, it’s getting late,” I mentioned nonchalantly as if it wasn't hilariously obvious. “Where am I staying tonight?”

“Oh, of course! Here, I’ll show you to the guest room.” She put down her tools and beckoned me to follow her. She brought me upstairs and took me to one of the bedrooms. As we arrived, she noticed the sword and shield I had on my back. “Rylan? What are those?”

I looked and saw what she was talking about. “The princess gave them to me.” I pulled off the shield. “This shield.” I pulled the sword out of its sheath. “And this sword…Ihsoylr.”

Next Chapter Preview:

"I still think this is a bad idea."

"Aw, don't be scared! The Everfree Forest ain't that scary!"

"Maybe not, but...LOOK OUT!"

"AHHH!"

"APPLE BLOOM!"

Chapter 03: Watch Out!

As the eagle was killed by the arrow winged with his own feather, so the hand of the world is wounded by its own skill. - Helen Keller

When I awoke the next morning, I gracefully rolled out of bed. And by that, I mean I groaned, flopped over, and fell off the bed onto the floor. But I thought it was more graceful than what I normally did, so good enough.

Getting up and stretching, I instinctively looked for my backpack to make sure it was still there. It was, and it wasn’t missing anything. Ihsoylr and my shield were there as well (the name stuck, okay?) and hadn’t been taken. I noticed that beside them was a small pile of clothes. Rarity must have made those overnight. I reminded myself to thank her later.

After a quick change, I piled the clothes into my backpack before pulling out my knives. I then grabbed Ihsoylr and the shield and put them on my back, intending to practice with them later. I held my knives in my hand so I could slip them into their usual spots after I put on my shoes. I left my backpack there, since I likely wouldn't need its other contents today. As I headed downstairs, I heard talking. Maybe the others came over?

Sure enough, when I got down into the main room I saw Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash talking with Rarity. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were nowhere to be seen, and in all honesty, I was kind of glad.

However, along with them were three fillies, about half their size and ostensibly half their age. Yeah, the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Apparently they either saw the whole scene yesterday, or they had been clued in on what happened, because they weren’t scared of me.

Instead, as soon as they saw me, they began circling around me, firing questions at me like bullets from a minigun. (Okay, maybe not the best example to use in a place that hasn’t had a war in a thousand years.) I flinched away from them, trying to avoid their onslaught of questions.

“Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!” Applejack came to my rescue, calling the fillies away from me (as well as conveniently giving me their names for future reference). “Mighty sorry about that, Rylan. They’re rather excitable.”

“It’s fine,” I dismissed the topic. I never got along well with kids, so in all honesty right now I just wanted to get out of there. “Uh…I’m just going to head out and walk around town for a bit, okay?”

“Are you sure you don’t want something to eat first, dear?” Rarity asked.

I was about to say that I was fine when my stomach growled. I glared down at it for its treachery. “…Fine, I guess.”

“Yay! I spent a long time making breakfast!” Sweetie Belle cheered, charging into the kitchen. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo followed. I suddenly felt like my life was in danger.

“Er…maybe you shouldn’t eat here,” Rarity decided. Her horn glowed and she levitated a pouch of bits out of her saddlebags by the door. “Here, take these and go find a place.”

“Is her cooking that bad?” I asked as I took the pouch, already knowing the answer.

“More like ten times worse,” Rainbow shrugged. “If you want to save Equestria, save your stomach first by getting out of here.”

I smelled smoke. “…Probably a good idea. Thanks, Rarity!” I charged out the door as quickly as I could with a metal shield banging against my back, jumping into my shoes and slipping the knives in them as I left.

As I walked around town, I felt somewhat strange. It was like I was being watched. Looking around, I saw the ponies around me quickly turn their heads away. Apparently they were still bent on paying attention to me.

I shrugged it off. As long as they’re not outright worshipping me. That’s just annoying. I eventually stumbled across Sugarcube Corner, which I remembered the girls telling me about. Pinkie worked there, so I’d have to deal with her, but it was worth it for some food. I hadn’t eaten a thing yesterday, so even for a guy like me who doesn’t eat much, I was starving.

Walking into Sugarcube Corner, I was mildly surprised to see nopony else inside. Then again, it was pretty early in the morning, so maybe they just weren’t awake yet. The only pony in the room was Pinkie, standing at the counter playing with a baby alligator.

“Hey Pinkie,” I greeted as I walked up, pulling out the pouch of bits. She turned to me and smiled.

“Hey Rylan! What can I get you? Maybe cupcakes or muffins or cupcakes or doughnuts or cupcakes or danishes or OOH! Cupcakes?” She spoke so fast it made Busta Rhymes look like a turtle in comparison. I had to chuckle at her enthusiasm just to give someone food.

“Just a couple of doughnuts for now.” I was actually pretty surprised that these ponies ate sweets, but then again the point had kind of already been made that these ponies were almost exactly like humans. Aside from…well, being ponies, they weren’t really that different.

“Okie dokie lokie!” Pinkie reached under the counter and pulled out two doughnuts, placing them in front of me. “Ten bits, please!”

I pulled out the ten bits and put them on the counter. “Thanks, Pinkie.”

“No problem! Have a great day, Rylan!” She excitedly deposited the bits into the cash register beside her, and I left while munching on the doughnuts I had gotten.

I need to figure out what to do today, I thought to myself as I ate, ignoring the looks I was getting. Trouble could hit at anytime, so I need to be prepared. But I’ve already got archery and my knives, so why do I need a sword and shield to go along with it?

Sitting on a bench, I pulled off Ihsoylr and my shield, placing them beside me. For the first time, I got a better look at both of them. Ihsoylr didn’t look too special; if anything, it looked like the Master Sword, but with silver instead of blue, a longer blade, and a small picture of the sun instead of the Triforce. (IIIIII am suuuuch a neeeeerd!)

The shield was rather interesting. It was silver as well, but it had a dark red…border. Outline. Thing. The design was rather amazing. It had a large golden R in the middle (the same letter as the start of my name…coincidence?) and gemstones placed carefully on the rest of the shield. Sparkling rubies adorned the top part, glittering sapphires made up the lower-left part, and shiny emeralds decorated the lower-right part. If the shield was held at the right angle, the light from the sun reflected off of it and into my eyes. So yeah, I stopped examining the shield after I realized that.

Maybe I’ll actually get some use out of these when I learn how to use them. Then again, what’s to learn about swish-swish-stab? It’s a freaking sword. It’s not a fighter jet. And the shield…well, you just hold it up to block stuff. People do that with their hands all the time on instinct. It’s like that, but with a big heavy slap of metal instead of a hand.

Finishing off the doughnuts, I stood up, strapped the stuff to my back, and headed off in a random direction. I seriously hope I’m not walking out of town or anything. Then I’d just look like an idiot.

Twenty minutes later, I finally found my way back to town. I then turned to you readers.

“You didn’t see that,” I instructed you. “Got that?”

“Who’re ya talkin’ to?” I turned and saw Applejack, staring at me like I was insane.

“…Inside joke,” I said quickly, using the same excuse as last night with my little geek moment. “What’re you up to, AJ?”

“Ah was just takin’ Apple Bloom to school.” The farmer gestured to the schoolhouse that actually wasn’t too far from where I was. “What about you?”

“Just wandering around,” I shrugged.

“Wanderin’? As in wanderin’ out of town?”

“You never saw that.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Okay…no offense Rylan, but are ya sure yer supposed to be a hero?”

“If I’m being honest, no. Either I have awesome powers that I’m not aware of, or Equestria’s doomed.” I shrugged again. “No pressure.”

Applejack chuckled. “Least ya got a sense of humour about this whole ordeal.”

“I’m adaptable. My family used to move around a lot. We never stayed in the same house for more than three years, and we switched towns four times. I got used to things changing.” I smiled. “Plus, once you’ve played as many video games as I have, a world of talking colourful ponies isn’t the weirdest thing you’ll see.” I was tempted to give examples, but after seeing how they reacted to my description of Halo: Reach, I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the smartest move.

“Does playin’ all those video games give you a snarky attitude too?” Applejack smirked.

“Nah, I’m just like that normally. At least I’m reasonable though, right? You could’ve gotten a jackass human who sees this whole world as girly and wants nothing more than to throw all its residents off a cliff.” I paused. “I think I read a story like that one time. It was surprisingly good.”

“How can a story like that be good?”

“If you’re not on the receiving end of it, anger can be funny.” I checked my watch. “It’s still early. Hey AJ, do you know a place where I can practice with Ihsoylr?”

Applejack gave me a weird look, and I pointed to the sword on my back. “Oh, that. Well, there’s definitely a lotta room at Sweet Apple Acres. Ya can practice with yer…Eee-soy-ler…there.”

“Just call it a sword,” I sighed. “And thanks. Can you lead the way? As you saw earlier, I’m not used to this place.”

“Ah thought ya told me Ah never saw that.” She put on her best trollface.

“You ponies are impossible.”

“We ain’t the only ones.” She gestured with her front hoof for me to follow and walked off. I tagged along, pulling out my sword and examining it. It wasn’t gem-studded and shiny like the shield, so I figured I could check it out without getting blinded.

Turns out I was wrong, and the sun just bounced off the metal blade into my eyes. I put the sword away and glared up at the sun, as if blaming it for my problems. Sun, you troooooll…

“Here we are! Sweet Apple Acres!”

I looked around as we walked onto the farm. There was a field of apple trees bigger than a major league football stadium (okay, maybe not really, but it was still damn big) and a barn, which I presumed doubled as Applejack’s home.

“It’s big,” I said simply. I was in awe at the sheer size of the field of trees.

“We make the best darn apple products in all of Equestria!” the farmer stated proudly.

“That’s a pretty big claim.”

“Dang right it is! And it’s true!”

“I’m just going to tell you now that I despise braggarts, so keep saying that and you will lose all respect I have for you,” I warned her. People who boast are my number-three enemy, beaten only by criminals and whatever evil I was supposed to fight in this world.

“Heh heh…sorry,” she apologized sheepishly.

“It’s fine. Just warning you now. On a related topic, I doubt I’ll be getting along well with Rainbow Dash.”

Applejack chuckled. “Ah’m sure you’ll get along just fine with everypony.”

I snorted. “Twilight’s a nerd, Rarity’s overdramatic, Fluttershy’s scared of me, Rainbow’s egotistical, Pinkie’s something that doesn’t even have a word for it, and I’m a dick. I’m sure we’ll be the best of friends.” I turned my head towards her. “You’re probably the only one of us who doesn’t have a defining character trait that clashes with the rest of us.”

“…what?” She raised an eyebrow, confused.

TL;DR… “You’re the sanest one of us seven.”

“Are ya insultin’ mah friends?” She pawed the ground aggressively and glared. Definitely not the reaction I was expecting from her, considering I basically just complimented her.

“Normally to avoid a beating, I would just say no…” I turned away from her and looked up at the sky. “…but if I’m being honest, then I have to say sort of. Everyone – everypony – has their flaws. I have mine, you have yours, they have theirs. It’s just theirs and mine are more obvious. You know what I mean?”

“…Ah guess,” she replied, sounding less angry and more curious.

“If I’ve learned anything from the few adventures the six of you told me about, then I can safely say you’re like characters from a television show. You all have one, maybe two defining traits that heavily affect your personality. You’re the exception to this rule, for some reason. Aside from your accent, I can’t really think of any major personality trait you have, except maybe being competitive like Rainbow.”

“Huh…Ah see. That’s pretty interestin’.”

“Ah guess – I guess it is. Now look, your accent’s rubbing off on me!” I playfully accused. She just grinned.

“Live with it, pardner. Now, ya wanted a place to practice?” I nodded, and she led me into the forest of trees. After a few minutes of walking, we came to a clearing. It was big enough for me to practice in, but secluded from town so I wouldn’t hurt anypony walking by (or be seen screwing up horribly).

“Thanks, AJ,” I nodded to her as she turned to go.

“No problem. When ya wanna come back, just follow the path.” She disappeared into the trees and left me to my sword swinging. I pulled Ihsoylr out.

“Alright buddy, let’s do this. LEEEEEROOOOOY…”

An hour later, I was struggling to pull Ihsoylr out of a tree it had gotten stuck in. It was a pretty funny moment, especially since I had no bloody clue how it got stuck in there.

“How are you doing, Rylan?” I turned and saw Twilight enter the clearing, the Cutie Mark Crusaders with her.

“Not too good. My sword got stuck in this tree about five minutes ago when I was practicing my stabs.” I gestured to the very obvious blade I was trying to free.

“Well, at least we know your stabbing is strong!”

“I was aiming for that tree.” I pointed across the clearing to a tree that my shield was leaning against.

“…How did-”

“I don’t know either.” I shook my head and pulled again, finally pulling my sword out. It was then I noticed the three fillies staring up at me. “Why did you bring them?”

“I didn’t. They followed me when they heard I was coming to get you.”

“I don’t do well with kids,” I said nervously, putting the sword away before any of them got hurt.

“Don’t worry, Rylan. They’re not going to annoy you. Right, girls?” Twilight aimed the question portion of that sentence directly at the fillies, who nodded in agreement. “See?”

“Assuming that ‘annoy me’ means ‘ask me questions’, why would they come if they couldn’t annoy me?” I was being snarky again, but like I said, I don’t do well with kids.

“We wanted to see you do some cool sword stuff!” Scootaloo cried, jumping in the air excitedly.

“Not a good idea. I’m not a genius, but even I can tell it’s never a good idea to swing a sharp object around when people – ponies – are nearby and could easily get their heads cut off.”

The smiles on their faces disappeared and they shuddered at the mental images I had just given them. “That’s pretty scary,” Apple Bloom remarked.

“Can you do anything that isn’t dangerous?” Sweetie Belle begged, giving me quivering puppy-dog eyes. However, I had grown immune to that trick long ago.

“Sorry, no can do. If you knew me, you’d realize that everything I do is either dangerous or stupid. Sometimes both.” I stalked over to the tree across the clearing, picked up my shield, and strapped it on. I noticed all three crusaders were giving me begging faces just like the one Sweetie Belle had on a second ago, complete with pouting and watering eyes. “That trick doesn’t work on me, girls. Cute stuff doesn’t faze me.”

They didn’t stop. Twilight giggled at their determination, and I sighed with a facepalm. Finally, Twilight intervened. “Girls, stop, okay? If he says he can’t do anything safe, then he can’t do anything safe.“

“Awwww,” the girls said in unison as they dropped their faces and walked back over to Twilight, their heads low. Most of you are probably thinking this is the point where I give up and show them something. Unfortunately, you’re wrong. I wasn’t kidding; everything I do is dangerous, stupid, or both.

“Twilight, you said you were coming to get me?” I realized.

“Oh, yes! The six of us talked, and we agreed we should send you to Zecora’s for a check-up.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sick.”

“Just in case. We don’t know much about your human world, but it probably has diseases, right?” I nodded. “Exactly. Even if you aren’t sick, you might still carry some diseases that could spread to the rest of us. It’d be best for Zecora to look you over.”

DING! Dirty mental image! “Who’s Zecora?”

“She’s a zebra friend of ours!” Apple Bloom shouted, suddenly no longer upset. Damn mood swings. “She lives in the Everfree Forest, but she’s really nice. She knows a lot about potions and herbs and medicine and stuff like that!”

“She’ll be able to tell if you’re carrying any illnesses,” Twilight added. I shrugged.

“Alright, why not. I’ll head over there now.” I prepared to leave, but Twilight stopped me.

“It’s in the Everfree Forest, Rylan. I doubt you can get there on your own.”

“Pfft. Oh, please. I don’t get lost easily.” Blatant lies!

“Then why are you walking in the exact opposite direction of the exit?”

I looked down and saw that, sure enough, I was walking on the path. Apparently I was walking the wrong way, though.

“…No reason.”

“Rylan, I’m not about to risk your safety. Somepony needs to guide you.”

“Ah’ll do it!” Apple Bloom jumped in the air, waving her front hooves about like she was insane. “Ah’ve been to Zecora’s lots of times! Ah can take him!”

Twilight hesitated, apparently not thinking it was a very good idea to send me with a filly. She looked at me and I gave her a thumbs-down. Obviously she either ignored it or misinterpreted it, because she looked back at Apple Bloom and nodded.

“Alright Apple Bloom, but be careful. You know how dangerous the forest is if you go too deep.”

“You bet, Twilight!” Apple Bloom jumped for joy. It warmed my heart somewhat to see her so excited.

“Can we come too?” Scootaloo asked, grinning widely.

“I don’t think so, Scootaloo. That place is scary,” Sweetie Belle shivered.

“Besides, if something bad happened, it’d be easier for Rylan to protect only one of you,” Twilight added. Oh, what, I’m a bodyguard now?

“Fine,” Scootaloo sighed. “Meet us back at the treehouse when you’re done, okay Apple Bloom?”

“You bet!” Apple Bloom agreed. Only slightly realizing what I was getting into, I sighed and reluctantly started walking back to the barn.

About an hour later, Apple Bloom and I were walking down the path in a dark forest. I kept my sword and shield in my hands, not wanting to risk putting them away in case something decided to leap out at us.

“I still think this is a bad idea,” I reminded her.

“Aw, don’t be scared! The Everfree Forest ain’t that scary!” How in the world she was braver than me, I’ll never know.

“Maybe not, but…” Before I could finish, my eyes fixed on a nearby bush. There were eyes in it. Glowing eyes…CRAP! “LOOK OUT!”

Apple Bloom jerked her head to the side just as the thing in the bush jumped out, accompanied by three other things. It looked like a wolf made out of wood. Wouldn’t be surprised if they were called Timberwolves…

“AHHH!” Apple Bloom screamed as the Timberwolves jumped on her and began clawing away at her. Their wooden bodies blocked my view, but I could hear the filly’s screams and knew whatever they were doing wasn’t pleasant.

“APPLE BLOOM!” I cried. Lifting my sword, I charged, slashing away at the Timberwolves. I drew their attention away from her and smashed one of them in the face with my shield. As it staggered, another two came up, but I stole a page from Link’s book and performed a quick spin attack, cutting their heads off. It would have been more gruesome if they had blood or anything, but apparently they were just enchanted sculptures of wood.

The last Timberwolf was smart and ran away. The wolf that was still dizzy from my shield blow received a stab through the chest, instantly killing it. I felt awful for killing three creatures, but didn’t bother mourning. I turned to Apple Bloom and my heart nearly stopped.

She was cut up in several placed. There was so much blood on the ground you wouldn’t have believed it came from a kid. It looked like she had a couple of broken bones as well, and from what I could see, she wasn’t breathing.

“Dammit dammit dammit dammit!” I yelled, putting Ihsoylr and my shield away faster than you could say ‘oops’. I picked her up and turned around, charging out of the forest.

**Author's Notes:* This was the hardest chapter to write yet. I couldn't think of anything to put in this chapter aside from the bit in the Everfree Forest. Thanks to TheMyth for giving me suggestions for this chapter and future ones!*

Also, I made references to two other fanfics, both of which are on this website. Can you point them both out?

Next Chapter Preview:

"How is she?!"

"She's asleep right now. We've done all we could to relieve the pain-"

"Don't care about that! Is she gonna live?!"

Chapter 04: Watch What You Say

Death is the last enemy: once we've got past that I think everything will be alright. - Alice Thomas Ellis

I barely remembered what happened over the next…how long was it? It felt like hours, and in all honesty it probably was. Anyway, after I got Apple Bloom to the hospital, I had run off temporarily, told the first one of the girls I found (Rarity, for those who are curious) what happened, and asked them to spread the word to the others. I then sat in the hospital, mentally berating myself.

Why did I agree to have Apple Bloom take me to Zecora? If somepony a little stronger had come, like Rainbow Dash, then they’d have been able to defend themselves for those few seconds! I would later look back and realize it was technically Twilight’s fault for choosing to send Apple Bloom with me, but at the moment, that wasn’t on my mind.

Right now, all I could do was pray to Celestia that Apple Bloom survived. But after not hearing her breathing, in addition to how it looked like half of her blood was gone and most of her bones were broken, even I was beginning to have doubts. I managed to keep my feelings bottled up, though. I was used to loss.

I barely even noticed when the girls came in. Rainbow Dash was first, unsurprisingly. The second she came in, she flew up into my face and started yelling at me. I didn’t even hear what she said. I was in too much of a daze to hear much of anything. I do know that after what seemed like forever, Twilight wrenched her away with magic.

The girls stood in front of me in a semi-circle. Twilight looked worried, both for me and Apple Bloom. Rainbow looked ready to strangle me to death at the slightest provocation. Rarity was staring down at the floor, trying hard not to cry. Fluttershy wasn’t even trying to hold in her tears. Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail had gone flat, and she looked like she had zoned out. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had come along with them, and they looked on the verge of crying. I nearly cried myself when I saw that; I may be immune to fake tears, but real ones are a whole different matter.

Applejack…I don’t even want to remember her emotions. I’ll leave that up to your imagination, because writing it down would mean having to imagine it all over again, and right now that’s in my top five list of things I don’t want.

“Rylan?” I was pulled out of my daze by Twilight. “What happened?”

“Wolves,” I said simply, my voice catching in my throat. “Wolves made out of wood…they pounced her.”

“Timberwolves,” Twilight sighed. However, I noticed it was a sigh of sadness, unlike the sigh of annoyance I was used to receiving. “What did you do?”

“When I saw what they were doing to her, I ran up and…” I glanced over at Fluttershy. “I’d prefer not to say exactly.”

“Why?”

Fluttershy was still looking down at the floor, so she couldn’t see me. I looked over at Twilight and drew my finger across my throat. She got the message and stepped back in surprise.

“Oh…”

“I should’ve been more careful,” I sighed, burying my face in my hands. “I should’ve been watching out for her better…”

“It’s not your fault,” Twilight tried to assure me. Rainbow cut her off.

“It kind of is!”

“Rainbow!” Rarity glared at the cyan pegasus, quickly shutting her up. “Rylan, dear, Twilight’s right. It isn’t your fault…”

“I’m supposed to be a hero!” I cried. “I’m supposed to protect others! Why couldn’t I help her?!”

“Rylan…”

“Twilight, no. You’re just going to say it wasn’t my fault, but it was. If I can’t even save a little filly, how the hell am I supposed to save an entire world?” I shook my head sadly. “I’m not a hero. I’m a failure. Tell Princess Celestia to send me back to my world and get someone good. If I stay, I’m just gonna end up causing more ponies to die.”

“Rylan, we don’t know if she’s going to die or not. The doctors are doing everything they can. There’s still a chance she’ll make it through.” Twilight had a hopeful smile on her face, but I could tell it was fake. I wasn’t assured in the least.

I turned to Applejack, who wasn’t even looking at me. I could understand why. Her sister was in the hospital and likely dead, and she had nobody to blame but me. It’s a natural instinct to blame things like this on someone, and I’m used to me being their scapegoat. I could tell that, as much as they said otherwise, all of the girls still thought it was my fault, at least slightly.

“AJ?” I tried to get her attention. She didn’t move even slightly. “Applejack?”

“Just leave her alone,” Rainbow groaned. “I can see why she hates you.”

It literally took all of my resistance to not turn and deck that cocky mare in the face. Even then, my right arm was clearly vibrating somewhat, and the girls could tell what I was thinking right then.

“Be quiet, Rainbow.” It took me a second to realize it was Applejack speaking. Her voice lacked emotion, and even her country accent seemed to disappear slightly. “I don’t hate him. It wasn’t his fault.”

“Then whose was it?”

“Rainbow, it’s possible for things to not be anypony’s fault,” Twilight chided her. “This was something that just…happened.”

“It was my fault,” I said again. “I’m not a hero. Heroes don’t let innocents die.”

We sat in silence for a long time.

After some long amount of time (I didn’t bother checking my watch), a nurse pony came over to us. I instantly looked up.

“How is she?!” I asked right away. The nurse didn’t even look surprised.

“She’s asleep right now. We’ve done all we could to relieve the pain-”

“Don’t care about that!” I shut her up. “Is she gonna live?!”

The nurse looked down at the ground, crestfallen. My heart sunk and nearly stopped beating. “…I’m sorry. We did all we could.”

I heard the two fillies start crying, but my brain barely registered it. All my brain could focus on was what the nurse had said. I knew it…I was hoping it wouldn’t happen…

“We’re still doing what we can, but the chance is so slim the doctors are already saying it isn’t worth it,” she continued. “I’m sorry, all of you…”

I failed…I couldn’t do anything…she’s just going to die, and I can’t do anything to help her…

Wait.

I snapped my head up, not even aware it had lowered. “Let me see her.”

The nurse looked startled. “Um…I don’t know if that-”

I stood up, trying to look intimidating, but not so much I’d look like I was about to kill her. “Look, I don’t like pulling rank, but I’m not afraid to do it if I really have to! Therefore, as a human, I order you to let me see her!”

The nurse looked at me in surprise, her jaw dropped. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, she sighed. “Very well, sir. Please come with me.” She turned and trotted off. I followed, but not before turning back to the others, who were looking at me with similarly shocked looks.

“Wait here. All of you.” I then continued after the nurse, who took me to the room Apple Bloom was in. She shooed out the doctors, all of whom gave me a strange look as they passed. I walked up to Apple Bloom, lying in her white hospital bed.

She was breathing again, but it was very weak. She had been bandaged in several places and was hooked up to a couple of machines. Having never been to a hospital, I couldn’t tell what they were for, but I just assumed they were keeping her alive for at least a little longer.

I turned back to the nurse. “I need you to leave the room. I don’t know if this will have any side effects.” She was obviously confused, but she nodded and left anyway, closing the door as she left. I turned back to Apple Bloom.

Focus… I placed my left hand on Apple Bloom’s forehead, focusing as much as I could. Transfer… I didn’t know exactly how to focus for something like this, so I just imagined Apple Bloom’s injuries vanishing. I imagined her returning to normal, fully healed.

Apparently, that was enough. I heard a slight humming noise, so I opened my eyes, having not realized until then I had closed them. Apple Bloom’s body was glowing a faint green colour.

The glowing seemed to start flowing to her forehead, where my hand was. I saw little green waves pass along her body, slowly but surely removing the cuts and bruises that were still visible. I heard her breathing grow stronger and her bones snap lightly as they fixed themselves. Finally, the glow stopped, and Apple Bloom seemed fully healed.

“Huh. That worked better than I tho-” I was cut off when the green waves suddenly shot up my arm, coursing all around my body. I screamed in pain as I felt my skin cut itself open, my bones snap, and my throat fill with blood. I collapsed to the ground as the green waves vanished, leaving me looking like I just came through a war zone. I tried to stand up, but one of my legs was broken (or both; I didn’t pay that much attention) and I just fell to the floor again.

I heard voices from outside, and I coughed twice, spewing a little blood on the floor before everything faded to black like the end of a crappy movie that ends on a cliffhanger.

“You’re pathetic, you know that?”

I stood in what looked like a cave, facing a strange-looking pony. He was an alicorn with a black coat darker than the night sky and a brown mane and tail that looked like they were combed neatly. This clashed greatly with the splashes of red all over him, resembling blood. His eyes were white and blank, but I could still feel him staring at me. His cutie mark looked like the moon from Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. I raised an eyebrow at this.

“…what the hell?” I asked, oh-so-intelligently.

“My name is True Force. I am a pony with far more power than you’d think. Even the princesses cannot hope to stand up to me.” True Force smirked as he revealed this information.

“You…you’re the thing I came here to destroy!” I realized. He laughed.

“Indeed I am! But apparently you don’t care about beating me if you’d easily give your life to save a little filly who isn’t important in any way.” True Force dropped his evil smirk for a glare and frown. “And I thought humans were smart. Some hero you are.”

I looked down. “I’m not a hero. But Princess Celestia…she’ll find a real hero. Someone who can actually take you down.”

“You wish.” True Force floated in the air without using his wings, crossing his front hooves behind his head as he leaned back. “You have no idea what I am capable of. I’m not free yet, but I can still interact with important figures through their dreams. I’ve been mocking Celestia herself for several nights now. And now that you’re here, I’ve got a new playmate! What fun!”

I glared at him. “You won’t find it very fun when someone smashes your face in!”

“But I’m afraid that won’t be happening anytime soon.” True Force summoned an apple and bit into it, speaking clearly despite the food in his mouth. “I’ve blocked all gateways to the human world. I did so just seconds after you arrived, in fact. Turns out I was a little late, but at least Celestia was only able to summon someone who wasn’t a hero, right?”

I gaped at this news. It could have been blatant lies, but knowing my luck, it was probably true. “You son of a-”

“Language, dear boy.” He waved his hoof and the apple he had taken only one bite of vanished, replaced by a strange diamond that glowed in the darkness. “It was the only way for me to ascertain my victory. Did you not realize you were the only human to arrive? Why would Celestia not summon, say, an army of humans?”

I realized he was right. I had never given that much thought, but he was right. Why would she only summon one human? Something had to have blocked her.

“Admittedly, an army of several humans I would not be able to stop. But a weak little human like you?” He crushed the diamond in his hooves. “Easy as one, two, three.”

“You won’t stop us,” I retorted confidently. “Even if I can’t help much, there’s still the Elements of Harmony, the princesses, and all of Equestria for that matter. You will be stopped, and then they can all finally be happy again.”

True Force seemed to roll his eyes, but due to his lack of pupils I couldn’t really tell. “Ooh, happiness. Woo hoo.” He summoned a balloon and waved it around mockingly. “Let’s celebrate.” He popped the balloon with his horn.

“Be cocky now, but I’ve played enough video games to know that bad guys never win.” I crossed my arms and grinned smugly.

“Have you ever played Chzo Mythos?” True Force asked nonchalantly. I blinked.

“Uh…no.”

“Well, if you had, you’d know that what you said is…wrong, to say the least.” He summoned a butterfly, which flew around the room for a little while. “Besides…video games aren’t real life. You don’t have superpowers, or amazing weapons, or anything like that. You’re just a failure. You’ll be easy to crush.” He then lowered himself to the ground, where the butterfly had landed. He brought his hoof down hard on it, squashing the creature.

I had no response. He was right about me being a failure, but I didn’t want to admit it. He was the villain, after all.

“No response? And I thought you were quick with your comebacks,” True Force taunted. He summoned a lightning cloud right above him. “You don’t have any retorts? How…shocking.” The cloud shot out a burst of lightning that enveloped him, but he didn’t even flinch. He shook it off and the cloud vanished.

“…I’m not a hero,” I said again. He looked like he was about to boast some more, but I cut him off. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll give up. I’m coming for you, True Force. I won’t let you win.”

“I’ll still win anyway.” True Force grinned and turned away. “I think I’ve kept you long enough. Let’s send you back to reality, shall we?”

Suddenly, I saw a flash of stars, temporarily blinding me. When the light cleared, all I saw was darkness, but I heard voices…

“…think it’s going to work.”

I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t. I could barely move. I felt a strange aura surrounding me. I tried to speak, but my mouth refused to open.

“He’s healing up fine, Twilight. Don’t worry.” I recognize that voice…wait a second, is that the princess?!

“I guess…I still can’t believe he was willing to do that.” That’s Twilight, I think…

“He is a hero, you know.” Oh how wrong you are, princess.

“Princess…Ah don’t mean to offend, but…do ya really believe that?” If the accent didn’t give it away, that was Applejack. She sounded a lot better than she did earlier that day…or week, or whatever. I didn’t know how long I had been out for.

There was a short silence, and for a second I felt the aura around me falter slightly. “…I’m not sure, Applejack. From what the six of you have told me about him, he doesn’t seem that…heroic, this event aside.” I heard Celestia sigh. “I thought that he would be a great warrior, just because he was a human…”

“One should not be judged by their looks.” That was Rarity. Is the whole group here or something?

“I suppose that is true.” I felt the aura dissipate. “There. He should be fine now.”

“Damn right.” I finally managed to move my mouth to speak, sitting up as I did so. I opened my eyes and saw the six mares looking at me in surprise. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders sitting in the corner of the room, and I silently rejoiced at the sight of Apple Bloom alive and well. Right in front of me was Princess Celestia. I could tell at a glance that I was in Twilight’s library, likely in a guest room or something.

“Good to know you are fine, Rylan,” Celestia nodded as though they hadn’t been talking about me.

“Been fine for the past several minutes. And I’m not deaf, you know.” I cast the group a small glare as I said that, and they all looked away sheepishly, except for the princess. “So you think I’m not your great hero? What a surprise.”

“Well, yes, but since you are our only option…” Celestia trailed off, seeing my look of anger. I hadn’t planned on getting this mad, especially considering even I didn’t think I was a hero, but I had just gotten pumped enough to beat that True Force dick into the dust…and then they go and outright state that I’m worthless!

“Oh, so I guess I’m just the opposite of what you wanted? Yeah?” My voice rose, growing to a shout.

“N-no, it’s just that…” For once, the princess was at a loss for words. I could hear desperation and panic creep into her voice. What, is she actually scared of a failure like me? What am I gonna do, bore her to death with random video game trivia?

“You know what?” I yelled, getting out of the bed. I grabbed my shield, which was on the bedside table next to me. “Screw this! You don’t need me, and I don’t need you!”

I threw the shield against the wall, half-hoping it would break in half. Obviously, it didn’t. I stormed out of the room, shoving past the girls.

“Rylan, wait!”

I didn’t wait. I kept walking, eventually running. I ran downstairs and outside, running as far away as I could.

Next Chapter Preview:

"Go away."

"We just want to help!"

"You can help by going away. You don't want to see this."

"We're not letting you."

"Too bad. It's happening, like it or not. Goodbye."

"No, wait! Please stop! NO! RYLAN, NO!"

Chapter 05: Watch Carefully

As I ran, I pushed back tears. I may have overreacted, but come on! They just practically admitted I was worthless! You really think I’m gonna be able to sit and take that?! I thought these ponies were my friends…friends don’t call each other worthless. If they did, I’d be friends with half my school.

I ran for who knows how long before I heard a weird buzzing noise. I stopped, confused. Looking around, I saw that I had run all the way out of Ponyville and into a strange, peaceful-looking area. There was a forest (not the Everfree, mind you) in one direction and a large river in the other direction. There was a cliff that the river flowed over, creating a rather neat-looking waterfall. I was in clear view of the sun, so it wasn’t dark.

My mind snapped back to the buzzing noise. Turning around, I saw something coming towards me, fast. It looked like an orange blob, but when I squinted I could make out a young filly riding a scooter. Scootaloo? What the hell is she doing? Of course, I already knew the answer, but asking myself rhetorical questions is just a habit of mine.

Scootaloo screeched to a stop about twenty feet away from me, and I saw a wagon attached to the back of her scooter. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were in the wagon, and as soon as the scooter stopped the three fillies threw off the helmets they were wearing and galloped over to me. I took a step back, half-expecting them to tackle me.

“Hold on, Rylan!“ Sweetie Belle called as the three of them caught up to me. “What are you doing?”

I looked at them, sighed, and sat down. I figured they hadn’t really understood what just happened, so I decided I may as well clue them in.

“Well…I’m assuming you three know why I was brought to this world.”

“Yer gonna stop the evil!” Apple Bloom cheered. I shook my head sadly.

“I can’t, Apple Bloom. I can’t stop the evil.”

The fillies looked confused. “But…you’re a human! Humans are awesome warriors and stuff!” Scootaloo insisted.

“Not all of us are. Sure, some of us are strong, cool, talented…” I looked away, staring at the river as I spoke. “Not me. I’m not a hero in any sense of the word. I’ve never helped anyone else. I’ve always been too late, or too weak.”

“You helped me,” Apple Bloom said, putting one of her front hooves on my knee. “You saved mah life last week.”

“I don’t really – last week?!” I jumped up in surprise, startling her. “I’ve been out for a whole week?! What happened?”

“After you helped Apple Bloom, we found you almost dead,” Scootaloo explained. “Princess Celestia found out about this somehow, and came by really quickly to heal you. It took her a lot longer than it should have because something was putting a restri…rest…”

“Restriction,” Sweetie Belle interjected.

“Yeah, that! Something was putting one of those on her magic powers.”

True Force… I thought to myself. “So she came by every day to heal me, or something?”

“Actually, she spent the whole week healing you,” Sweetie Belle corrected. “The rest of us came by every day to see how it was going. You didn’t show any signs of waking up until today.”

“She spent the whole week healing me?”

“She stayed in that room, all day and all night, working her magic,” Apple Bloom elaborated. “She was really set on bringing you back.”

“Because back then, she actually believed I was a hero,” I snorted. “I’ll bet if she realized a little earlier that I was worthless, she wouldn’t have bothered.” I sighed and sat back down. “Why did you three come after me?”

“We wanted to help,” Scootaloo said simply. “Why’d you run away?”

“Because that’s all I know how to do.” I looked down at the ground. “When there’s trouble, I run away so I don’t get caught up in it. I never think twice about anyone else. I always say to myself, ‘It’s their problem, not mine’.”

“You didn’t run away when those Timberwolves attacked Apple Bloom,” Sweetie Belle pointed out.

I paused, having seriously no response. When I spoke, I sounded rather unsure. “…That was a one-time thing, I think.”

“Ah think yer just changing,” Apple Bloom smiled. “Everypony can change. Yer changing for the better.”

“It’s too late for me to change!” I yelled, standing up. “Do you know how many people have died because of me?! Because I ran away when they were in trouble, or because I couldn’t help them?!”

“None?” Sweetie Belle tilted her head innocently.

“A lot more than that! Like…” I counted on my fingers until I ran out of fingers and had to re-use some of them. “Fourteen! Not counting the thousands, or even millions of ponies in this world who will probably die because I can’t stop this bad guy!” I turned away from them, facing the edge of the cliff. Something clicked as I looked over it.

My life on Earth sucks, and I can’t even have one on Equestria…why am I still here? I looked at the cliff with renewed interest. Not like I’m gonna be missed… I know, I wasn’t in the right state of mind. I wasn’t thinking straight.

“Rylan?” Apple Bloom ran in front of me. “What’re you doing?”

I looked down at her darkly. My hair fell in front of my face, falling in front of my eyes. I didn’t even notice. “Apple Bloom, move.”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle ran beside their friend. “What’re you doing?” Scootaloo asked with concern.

“Go away,” I ordered. They didn’t listen.

“We just want to help!” Sweetie Belle insisted. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo nodded in agreement.

“You can help by going away.” I looked back at the cliff. “You don’t want to see this.”

They turned and saw the edge, instantly catching on. Apple Bloom glared at me, but less in anger and more in determination. “We’re not letting you.”

“Too bad. It’s happening, like it or not.” I stepped forward and jumped over them, an easy feat thanks to their small size. “Goodbye.” I ran for the cliff.

“No, wait! Please stop!” I heard Sweetie Belle yelling behind me. “NO! RYLAN, NO!”

I jumped.

As I fell, I looked down. Below me was a large, open field. The waterfall fell down into another large river a short distance away from where I would likely land. Least I get to die in a nice place, I thought to myself. I closed my eyes and waited for the collision.

Instead, I felt something grab my shoulders and hoist me up, saving me. I fought away the sense of déjà vu and opened my eyes. I was being lowered safely to the ground.

“Why couldn’t you just let me fall?!” I complained to whoever was holding me up.

“Because nopony wants the hero to die!” I recognized the voice. When I reached the ground and was released, I turned around to see my saviour. Scootaloo. So much for filly pegasi not being able to fly well.

“For the last time, Scoots, I’m not a hero!” I protested again.

“A hero doesn’t have to be somepony with awesome powers. A hero is somepony who is brave enough to do what they think is right to help others.” She sounded as if she was quoting someone.

I raised an eyebrow. “What are you, a dictionary?”

“Oh, the irony,” she sighed dramatically. I don’t get it… “Anyway, so what if you aren’t what we expected from a human? You’re still a human, and you’re still a hero to us. You were willing to likely kill yourself to save Apple Bloom. If that doesn’t make you a hero, nothing will!”

I thought over what she said. I did save Apple Bloom and nearly lose my own life in the process…but does that alone make me a hero? Heroes are supposed to be strong, talented, and able to stop whatever troubles are coming. I’m not any of those things…am I?

After thinking for a few more minutes, I looked up at Scootaloo. “Alright. Let’s get back to Ponyville.”

Scootaloo cheered and flew up into the air. “Let’s go!” she called back at me as she flew up.

“Hey, wait! I can’t…” She vanished over the edge of the cliff up above. “…fly.” I facepalmed.

Fortunately, there was a path up the cliff near the river, so I started hiking up that. It took me almost an hour according to my watch, but I finally reached the top. When I got there, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had left, likely heading back to Ponyville. I looked around until I saw the town in the distance and headed in that direction.

When I finally got back to Ponyville, the sun had begun to set. I looked around to try and make a guess where the girls would be, eventually settling on Twilight’s library. Walking over to the giant tree, I knocked on the door.

The door swung open quickly, revealing…nothing? I looked down and saw Apple Bloom. She smiled and turned around. “He’s here!”

I stepped inside and saw the whole group there. Celestia hadn’t left yet, so she was there as well. I deduced that they had all stayed there after I left, or come back when the Cutie Mark Crusaders told them about what happened while I was busy trying to get back to town.

“Rylan!” I turned my head to face Twilight, who looked relieved, angry, and upset at the same time. (Weird combination of emotions, I know.) “We were so worried about you! Why did you run off like that? And why would you try to kill yourself?! That’s just-“

“I’ve heard this speech before, Twilight,” I cut her off, irritated. “About four times. I don’t need a fifth one. What I did need was a little common sense drilled into my head.” I looked at the CMC and smiled. “Thanks, you three.”

The fillies grinned as Celestia stepped forward. “Rylan, I must apologise. I did not mean to offend you earlier.”

“It’s fine, princess,” I waved it off. “And I’m sorry too. For storming out and everything.” I paused for a second, trying to figure out what to say next. “…It’s really been a whole week, hasn’t it?”

“Indeed it has. I would have healed you quicker, but something was limiting my magical abilities. I fear the being of evil may be closer to escaping than we thought.”

“You mean the Tr-” I stopped myself. Do I really want to tell these ponies about that dream? It might not be a good idea. I don’t want to freak them out any more than they already are, especially after the crazy events that’ve been going on. “…tricky little bastard that I came here to stop?” Great last-second word swap, idiot. Everypony’s gonna see right through that.

“I’m afraid so,” Celestia nodded. Wait, they bought that?! “I’m afraid I don’t know much about this evil. I know it – or rather, he – was formed by darkness and hatred. He was the one who possessed my sister and turned her into Nightmare Moon, as well as a major force in Discord’s release.”

“So this guy is the cause for both Nightmare Moon and Discord?” Twilight summed up, shocked.

“Yes. Because of this, he has taken to calling himself the True Force.”

Rainbow suddenly looked pointedly at me. “Hey Rylan, wasn’t one of your human myths about that guy?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, you’re thinking of the Triforce. I know they sound similar, but they’re entirely different. For one thing, the Triforce isn’t even real, but this True Force guy apparently is.”

“Most ponies dismissed myths and rumours of him as just old pony tales,” Twilight mentioned. Oh, pony tales. Ponytails. Hilarious. “I myself didn’t even think he was real until just recently.”

“True Force is more powerful than anything this world has ever faced,” Celestia said darkly. “He is likely even more powerful than anything from your world as well, Rylan. I can understand if you do not want to fight him, especially after what we said earlier.”

I crossed my arms. “Princess, even the Elements of Harmony wouldn’t be able to stop me from taking on this guy.”

The ponies looked at me in surprise. “Wait, yer still willin’ to fight him?” Applejack asked.

“I’m not a hero. I never was and never will be. I’ve done heroic things, but that doesn’t make me a hero.” I leaned against the wall, looking away. “I’ll tell you what I told the Crusaders. I’m a coward who either runs from trouble, or is too weak or too late to fight it. I’ve caused plenty of people to die because I couldn’t save them, or didn’t even try.” I looked right at the ponies. “But that was on Earth. I’m changing, as of right now. I am making a vow that I will not let any evil harm, conquer, or destroy Equestria, or any part of it, even at the cost of my own life.”

Finished speaking, I smiled at the surprised looks everypony had. Obviously they weren’t expecting me to actually be willing to take on True Force.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I believe I left some important stuff upstairs.” I turned to the stairs and walked away to get my things.

A couple of days passed without much happening. I continued practicing with my sword, though I couldn’t help but notice I was suddenly a lot more skilled with it than I was on my first attempt. Even though I didn’t really need to, I also continued doing archery, since I had a feeling a bow and arrow would be a good weapon when I eventually went to face True Force.

I kept my dream to myself. I didn’t want to worry the others. However, after what happened on Post-Suicide Attempt Day Three (it was the best name I could come up with, okay?), I’m starting to wish I told them.

I was practicing my swordsmanship, as usual. Bastion, being a trained fighter, agreed to help train me. We were in the middle of a session when I heard a voice in my head.

Hello, not-a-hero. How are things holding up?

I paused, confused. I turned to Bastion. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” he asked.

It’s rude to not answer somepony, you know.

“There it is again!” I looked around for the source of the voice, but the only pony around was a rather confused Bastion.

“Maybe we should stop for today,” he suggested hesitantly. I was going to argue, but figured it would be a bad idea to train with a voice in my head.

“Yeah, probably. I’ll see you tomorrow.” We went our separate ways. I started heading for Twilight’s library.

Now that you’re alone, we can talk.

“Okay, seriously, where are you?” I called, confusing some nearby ponies.

In your mind. Only you can hear me. Don’t you remember who I am?

I suddenly recognized the voice and gritted my teeth. “True Force…”

At your service.

I figured I didn’t need to talk out loud to communicate with someone who was in my head, so I started thinking what I wanted to say rather than just saying it.

What are you doing in my head?

Just visiting. I wanted to see how you were doing.

I’m doing fine. Perfect. Never better, until you came along. Get out of my head.

Oh, I’ll be getting out of your head soon. I just wanted to stop by to tell you something.

And that is?

Don’t mess with me. You don’t know what I’m capable of. I’ve learned from Nightmare Moon and Discord. I won’t be playing games or passing up even a single chance to violently murder you. I suggest you just surrender now.

True Force?

Yes?

Screw. You.

I heard True Force give a huff of disappointment and annoyance before my mind felt clear again, as though he left. I was glad he was gone. Having a villain in your head is really nerve-wracking.

When I got back to Twilight’s library, I knocked on the door. A certain draconic assistant who has not been mentioned yet answered the door. I had only recently met Spike, but we got along surprisingly well (likely because we were the only non-ponies around, as well as the only males in our main group).

“Hey Rylan,” he greeted me as he opened the door the rest of the way to let me in.

“Hey yourself.” I looked around and didn’t see Twilight. “Is Twilight busy?”

“She’s in the basement working on something,” Spike explained with a shrug. “I don’t know what it is, and frankly I don’t know if I want to know.”

“I’ll go have a look. Thanks.” I walked over to the basement door and opened it quietly. Peeking down the stairs, I saw Twilight tinkering with a bunch of weird machinery I had never seen before.

Since she didn’t seem to notice me, I saw an easy opportunity for some fun. I snuck down the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible.

“No, that doesn’t work…no…I don’t think that would work either…” Twilight was mumbling to herself as she continued working on the weird device, her magic holding several tools in the air around her. I reached the floor and walked silently over to her. When I was pretty much right behind her, I leaned in until my face was mere inches away from her ear.

“HEY TWILIGHT WHAT’RE YOU DOING?!” I yelled as loudly as I could. Twilight shrieked and lost concentration, dropping all the tools she had been levitating. She whipped around to face me, and her scared expression slowly turned to one of anger.

“Rylan, what was that for?” she accused. I shrugged.

“I’m a troll.”

“…a what?”

“Inside joke.” I turned and headed for the stairs, stopping when I reached them to turn and face Twilight again. “By the way, did anypony ever tell you you’re kind of cute when you’re scared?”

Twilight blushed, having no response for that. I chuckled and walked back upstairs. First I freaked her out, then I embarrassed her. My work here is done.

Next Chapter Preview:

"Rylan Watch."

"Yes, princess?"

"Something went wrong. I thought we had a bit longer, but I miscalculated."

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"I'm telling you...it's time."

Chapter 06: Watch as the Adventure Begins

As I walked through Ponyville a couple of days later, I smiled. The ponies had eventually gotten used to me and no longer stared or bowed whenever I walked down the street. Well, except for a few kids that didn’t understand me yet, but other than that everything was fine.

Thanks to my training with Bastion, I was a lot tougher than I had been when I first arrived and hadn’t even touched a sword yet. Bastion told me that when the time came to take on True Force, he would provide me with any supplies he was capable of.

It was then that I began to realize it. Sooner or later, I’d actually have to take on True Force. I liked to pretend the whole thing was fake and I’d never have to fight him, but...that wouldn’t happen. I’d have to battle him, and I’d either have to kill him, or I’d die. Along with all of Equestria.

I sighed, putting my hands in my pockets. Looking around the town, I realized how much I had grown used to this world of ponies. I had only been here for a few days, not counting my week of unconsciousness, but I already felt like I belonged here. I had trouble just remembering Earth, though that was probably because I didn’t really want to remember it.

Earth just brought me pain and loneliness...but Equestria gave me a second chance. And I’m not gonna waste it.

I suddenly noticed the ground beneath my feet disappear, and quickly stumbled back. I snapped my head up and saw that I had reached the cliff edge that I jumped off a couple days earlier. Why do I keep coming back here?

After calming down, I looked around. This place looked so peaceful, yet could easily cause death at the same time. Things were always a lot different than they looked. Never judge a book by its cover. I’ve heard that aesop numerous times.

Looking around, I noticed something seemed out of place. There was a forest in one direction, but in the opposite direction there was a single tree. The tree almost looked...lonely. I walked over to it and examined it. It looked like a completely normal tree, but...something about it just emitted depression and loneliness.

“I know how you feel,” I told it, mentally chiding myself for talking to an inanimate object. You already named a sword; don’t go getting attached to a tree now!

Sighing, I sat down. Pulling off my weapons and putting them beside me, I leaned back against the tree, giving myself a perfect view of the waterfall going off the edge of the cliff. I sighed again and relaxed.

“Enjoying the view?”

I turned my head to the side in surprise and was shocked to find Princess Celestia standing there. She was smiling, but it looked fake...like she was trying to hide something.

“I guess,” I shrugged. “You okay, princess?”

Celestia sighed and dropped her smile. “Rylan Watch.”

I raised an eyebrow at her usage of my full name. “Yes, princess?”

“Something went wrong.” She sat down next to me, but did not look at me. “I thought we had a bit longer, but I miscalculated.”

“What are you trying to tell me?”

“I'm telling you...” She looked me in the eye. “It's time.”

Silence passed between us for a short while. Then I blinked.

“Wait, what?” I asked.

“Just this morning, True Force came back. He had previously been imprisoned, but he managed to escape. He is weak right now, but his power is gradually returning. We don't have long before he attacks Equestria.”

I couldn't believe it. True Force was back. Well, that explains why he wasn't talking to me today.

“So I have to go find him now?” I clarified.

“No, not right now. But very shortly.” She stood up. “You have the rest of today to prepare anything you might need for your journey. It will likely be a long one, as we are unsure as to where True Force is hiding out right now. All we can do is point you in one direction and have you follow it.”

“How long is long?” Great question, Watch.

“Long. It could be any length of time, from days to months, but Luna and I believe it will not be anything less than a few weeks. And that's if you walked nonstop, not accounting for obstacles or resting.”

“Oh joy.” I stood up, picking up Ihsoylr and my shield again. “Well, I'll see what supplies I can gather today. I'll set off first thing tomorrow. Where do I go?”

“Through the Everfree Forest.” I cringed. “Just follow the path through the forest and out the other side. From there, just continue heading east. You will know True Force's hiding place when you see it.”

“How?”

“You will feel the darkness emanating from the building, growing as you move closer. It is a feeling you will not be able to ignore.” She lit her horn. “Good luck, Rylan. You have the blessings of the sun and moon both. Be brave, and never give up.” A bright flash, and she was gone.

“Leaving so soon?”

“'Fraid so, Bastion.”

“Well, as I promised, I am willing to help you in any way you need. And I'm not alone.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have all of Ponyville at your back, Watch. The entire town is willing to help you. You just have to give the word.”

It was about an hour or so after my talk with Celestia. I had announced to Ponyville what she told me; that True Force was back and regaining power, and I was heading out to stop him now. They either replied with cheering or running home and locking themselves in. Even the six girls had just left for home in a rush. My heart had sunk a little when I saw that, but I tried to ignore it. Bastion, however, had stuck around to offer his assistance.

Where was I? Oh right, the whole thing about all of Ponyville being willing to help me.

“That's good and all, but aside from food and a map of the Everfree Forest, I don't really need much.” I shrugged.

“Not even backup?” Bastion blinked in confusion.

“No. I'm not letting any ponies come with me. No offense, of course, but considering what I'm gonna have to face, letting anypony come along would be like strapping a sack of bricks to my back. It'll just slow me down.”

“No offense taken, don't worry. But still...not even the Elements of Harmony?”

Again, I stretched my neck like Engineer. “Nope.”

“Well...as long as you're certain. I'm still unsure about this, but you do what you think is best.” Bastion gestured for me to follow him and started walking away, taking me to his house and inviting me in. “I think I have a map of the Everfree Forest, as well as a somewhat larger map of some more of the world around Ponyville. I don't know how far you'll have to travel, but hopefully it'll make your journey a bit easier until you go off the edge of the map.”

Off the edge of the map? That sounds like a cool name for an adventure story. “Alright, thanks. I'll probably just talk to Applejack about getting food.”

“You do that.” Bastion pulled out the maps from a cabinet and gave them to me. “There you go. The map of the Everfree mainly just shows which forks in the path to take and which caves have been known to house dragons. Other than that, it isn't very detailed. The other map, however, should prove very useful once you get out of the forest.”

“Thanks, Bastion.” I tucked the maps away in my backpack, which I had on under my shield and sword (don't ask how that worked, because I don't really know either).

We bid each other goodbye, and I headed out of his house. I took a moment to remember which way was to Sweet Apple Acres (horrible sense of direction, remember?) and started walking there.

I didn't even get ten feet away from Bastion's house before I was tackled to the ground. I instinctively swung my arm up, smashing whatever tackled me in the face and knocking them off. I rolled over and flipped up onto my feet, ready to fight if I had to.

“What the hell, man!” Rainbow Dash groaned, rubbing the side of her face where I struck her. It was bruised pretty badly, and I quickly realized what I had done.

“Oh crap, sorry about that! I didn't know it was you!” I crouched beside her to check on the bruise. “You okay?”

“I'll live,” she grumbled, getting onto her hooves.

“Why'd you attack me anyway?” I demanded.

“Payback for calling your friends a sack of bricks.” She gave me a glare as she said that, though it didn't look too threatening.

“You were eavesdropping?”

“I prefer the term 'intentionally overhearing'.” She shrugged and looked away innocently. “But yeah, close enough. And you're not ditching us, you know.”

“I'm not letting you come,” I stated flatly. “Not you, not Twilight, not Applejack, nopony. I'm doing this alone.”

“No you're not.” I turned and saw Twilight walking up, the other four mares and Spike behind her. I can see where this is going, and I'm gonna end it before it begins.

“I'm not letting any of you come with me to get youselves killed!” I yelled before any of them could speak. “That is all I have to say on the subject, and nothing you say is gonna change that! You will stay here in Ponyville and wait for me to come back.”

“Why?” Pinkie Pie asked, tilting her head curiously.

“Several reasons. One, I'm not letting you get hurt, because I can't protect all of you at once. I couldn't even protect Apple Bloom...” I shook my head to clear away those thoughts. “Secondly, a party of eight is much slower than a party of one. Especially when at least two of those eight aren't really known for their speed.” I cast a look at Spike and Fluttershy when I said that, causing them to look away in guilt. “And lastly, in all honesty, I've seen enough movies to know that when people group together, they usually end up dying one at a time, until they're all dead and they've failed.”

“Rylan.” Twilight looked at me with a look of absolute seriousness on her face. “Say what you want, but we're coming anyway. Even if you don't want us to, we'll just follow you through your entire journey. Because, while you claim to have seen movies where groups always fail, I've seen enough movies to know that, when working as a group, you're going to come across obstacles that require teamwork.”

Twilight, why must you be more savvy than me? I mentally bemoaned. “I don't-”

“Too bad.” Twilight smirked. “Consider this payback for that remark yesterday.”

...oh come ON. I threw up my hands. “You know what? Fine. Come along. If any of you die, though, I'm not gonna stick around for your funerals.” I sighed. I probably sounded really cruel, but I was really annoyed.

“Deal,” Rainbow said with a grin, doing a spin in the air. I sighed. This is not gonna end well...but they're not giving up, so I don't really have a choice.

Early the next morning, the eight of us stood outside the entrance to the Everfree Forest. The six mares each had on a set of saddlebags to hold our supplies, and I had my pack underneath my shield.

Rarity had put her crafting powers to use and made some more arrows, since just three likely wouldn't be enough. They looked rather different from my regular arrows, but still worked perfectly fine. I had stashed the arrows in my pack, along with my bow. I also slipped my knives into my shoes and strapped Ihsoylr and my shield on. We were ready.

I looked at Spike with a raised eyebrow. “Why are you coming again?” I asked, plain and simple.

“Because I'm tired of being left out of saving the world,” he replied.

“I'm not even gonna argue anymore.” I sighed and turned to Twilight, who was looking over the map of Equestria. “Know any of the places, Twi?”

She shrugged. “Only a couple.” She used her front hoof to point to a small town not too far from the Everfree Forest's exit. “That's Fillydelphia, I believe.” She moved her hoof to a large mountain just past Fillydelphia. “And that's Mt. Griffon. It's a dormant volcano where a lot of griffons live. Hopefully we'll be able to get by without much trouble.”

“From the volcano or the griffons?” I grunted sarcastically.

“Both.” Twilight rolled up the map with her magic and gave it back to me, and I tucked it in my pack. “I don't know any of the other places, but we'll likely find out eventually. Everypony ready?”

The other five girls and Spike nodded. I turned to face them all. “Listen, all of you. This is your last chance to back out. I know how dangerous the Everfree Forest is, and I'm willing to bet you do too. But this isn't just the forest. Unless True Force decided to be really dumb and hide out right near Ponyville, we'll be entering places nopony from Ponyville has ever gone. Unless we're really, really lucky, which I'm positive we won't be, we're not coming out of this without huge injuries, and possibly a death or two. Unless you're really set on doing this and risking your life, go home now.”

Twilight shook her head. Applejack shrugged. Rainbow crossed her front hooves in annoyance. Rarity flipped her mane. Pinkie bounced obliviously. Fluttershy pawed the ground nervously, but made no move to leave. Spike yawned. I facepalmed.

“You're the most stubborn group I've ever met. I don't know if that's good or bad.” I sighed and turned to the gaping mouth that was the entrance to the Everfree Forest. “Come on, let's go do that hero-y thing that heroes do.” I feel like I'm stealing that from something...

“That was a horrible one-liner,” Rainbow commented. I shrugged and started walking forward.

Together, we entered the Everfree Forest. The temperature seemed to drop a small bit as we entered, but I tried to ignore it. This wasn't the time to get cold feet, figuratively or literally.

We walked for a short while, conversing very little. Most of us walked on the ground, but Rainbow flew in the air and Spike rode on Twilight's back. Lucky bastard, not even needing to walk.

Eventually, we came to a fork in the path. I pulled out the map of the Everfree Forest and looked it over. We wanted to go to the right. I took that path and the others followed me. I gave the map to Spike, so he could tell us where to go without one of us needing to stop to look at the map.

After about an hour, I heard something and quickly stopped. “Everypony, shush,” I warned them quietly. They all stopped and looked at me. Getting paranoid, I moved my arm towards Ihsoylr's handle.

However, the noise disappeared as quickly as it came. I relaxed slightly. “Never mind,” I told them. “False alar-”

And then out pounced the Timberwolves.

Next Chapter Preview:

"Puzzles? Why in the bloody name of Nayru does a natural forest have puzzles?!"

"It's not exactly a natural forest, you know..."

"I get it, I get it! Ugh, this place sucks! It's more annoying than the Forest Temple!"

"The what?"

"...inside joke."

Chapter 07: Everfree Forest: The Lost Woods of Equestria

As the Timberwolves jumped out of the bushes, I heard at least two of the ponies scream. It reminded me of Apple Bloom, and memories instantly flooded back to me. I felt as if everything began to go in slow-motion, even though it was only about a few seconds long.

I pulled Ihsoylr out without a second thought and slashed at the first wolf, smacking it with the flat of my blade upside the head and knocking it over, dizzy. I turned the sword over to thrust into its torso to end it, but I was knocked away by a second wolf that began to tear at my skin. I punched it in the face (note to self: Timberwolves, though wolves, are made of wood, and punching wood hurts like hell) to knock it off, then rolled over, pulled out one of my knives, and stabbed it in its left eye.

The wolf howled in pain and I pulled the knife out, tree sap trickling out of its wound like blood. Picking up my sword from where it fell, I stabbed the wolf in the chest, ending it. I turned to the one I had knocked over before, only to find it had recovered and was preparing to pounce on Rarity, who was pushed up against a tree and unable to move.

I instantly knew I wasn't close enough to strike, nor would I be able to run over in time. Thinking quickly, I pulled my shield off my back and threw it, smacking the Timberwolf in the back of the head before it could jump. It fell to the ground and I ran for it, thrusting my blade into its back and killing it.

How many wolves were there? I quickly asked myself, having a feeling these two weren't the only ones. I didn't exactly count them earlier...

A scream from behind me told me all I needed to know. With speed that I would later jaw-drop at in surprise, I reached into my back, pulled out my bow and an arrow, and turned to fire. I shot perfectly, the arrow striking a third Timberwolf in the chest and causing it to stagger backwards, away from a cowering Fluttershy.

I knew the arrow wouldn't do much other than distract it, so I charged for the wolf and slammed it against a tree. I heard a crunching noise as I did so, and when I backed away the wolf crumbled to bits of bark.

Looking around, time seemed to go back to normal for me. The ponies (and Spike) were all safe, if mildly cut or bruised. I was bleeding quite a bit from my left shoulder where the Timberwolf had decided to slash at me, but it wasn't the worst injury I'd ever received. The wolves themselves were all dead, and there were apparently only three of them. That was good.

"Everyone okay?" I asked, just to make sure. They all nodded, breathing heavily as they tried to recover from the shock. "See what I meant by dangerous? Not even a fraction of the way through this forest and already we're being attacked."

"We know, Rylan," Twilight replied with a hint of annoyance. "We're fine, though. A little cut, but-" She cut herself off and gasped when she finally turned and looked at me. I instinctively looked behind me to see if there was another wolf, but thankfully there wasn't. "Rylan! Your arm!"

I looked at the wound she was referring to and shrugged, which sent a small twinge of pain through me from moving my injured shoulder. "I'll live. I've had worse." My reassuring words, however, did little to dissuade her.

"You need to get that patched up," she insisted. Using her magic, she pulled a first-aid kit out of her saddlebag.

"We haven't even been walking for two hours! We're too early on to take a break! We can't stop and bandage up every little papercut!"

"After what happened when Fluttershy got a papercut a while ago, it'd probably be best if we do bandage up every little papercut," Rainbow replied. I looked at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow, and she blushed and hid behind her mane. I'll have to ask about that story later...

"Sit, Mr. Hero. You're not gonna be very useful to Equestria if you've bled to death before you've even reached Fillydelphia." Twilight made a valid point, unfortunately, and I sighed as I sat on a log. Twilight levitated the first-aid kit (I am seriously tempted to call it a medkit...) over to Fluttershy, who took the supplies and began fixing up my shoulder.

When that was finally finished, we continued on. My shoulder was patched up remarkably well, though it still hurt a bit. I'd have to take it easy for a short while. I kept Ihsoylr and my shield at the ready, and my bow hanging from my pack in easy grabbing range. I didn't want to be ambushed by any more Timberwolves – or anything, really. After who knows how long, we came to something that completely blew my mind.

There was a cliff edge, leading to what looked almost like a bottomless pit. The path continued on the other side of the gap, about twenty feet away, on another cliff. There was no bridge between the two, but on the other side, there was a tree with a target on it placed right in the middle of the path and near the edge. I instantly realized what this was.

"Puzzles?" I asked with a facepalm. "Why in the bloody name of Nayru does a natural forest have puzzles?!"

"It's not exactly a natural forest, you know..." Twilight reminded me.

"I get it, I get it! Ugh, this place sucks! It's more annoying than the Forest Temple!"

"The what?" Applejack tilted her head in confusion.

"...inside joke," I said for what seemed like the millionth time since I arrived. "Let's just try to figure this puzzle out."

Obviously, it wasn't too hard. I just had to shoot the target with my bow, which somehow caused the tree to fall in our direction and create a bridge. I didn't get it either, but since I was already in a world of talking ponies that could fly and use magic, I wasn't gonna start questioning weird things now. Even if it looked like the Everfree Forest was just ripping off some of my favourite video games.

"Rylan?" I turned and saw Rarity looking at me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I replied, waving a hand in dismissal. "Just thinking is all."

"About what?"

About how this forest seems completely unoriginal. "Nothing important."

"Are you-"

"Yes, I'm sure." I was getting the hang of predicting questions. "Not everything someone thinks about is important."

"I just wanted to make sure, dear," Rarity sighed. I did the same.

"Sorry. This whole thing's just wearing on me. And having you seven force me to take you along isn't helping."

"We're just trying to help," the white unicorn explained. I chuckled dryly.

"Miss Rarity, I have three weapons within easy grabbing range. I don't really need help." I shrugged and looked at the path ahead. It branched off into two separate paths. "Spike, which path do we take?"

"Uh..." I looked over and saw Spike looking at the map in confusion.

"What's wrong, Spike?" Twilight asked, looking up at the baby dragon.

"This map doesn't show the fork," he answered, holding up the map for the rest of us to see. Sure enough, the map only showed one path at this point, not two.

"Maybe there's a super-secret third path that we have to take!" Pinkie suggested cheerfully. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she stared back in wide-eyed innocence. "What?"

"...Pinkie, do you see any third path around here?" I asked rhetorically.

"Of course not, silly! It's probably really well-hidden!" she grinned. I facepalmed.

"I suggest we split up and take different paths," Twilight spoke up, saving me from a bigger headache. "Rylan, Spike, Rainbow and I will go to the left. The rest of you go to the right. If either group finds something, they'll send Rainbow or Fluttershy to find the other group and let them know."

"Good idea," I nodded. The rest of the group agreed, and we split up as Twilight dictated.

I don't know exactly what happened in the other group, but I do know some interesting things happened to my group as we walked (or in Rainbow's case, flew, and in Spike's case, rode) down the path. The first thing was that we got attacked by a manticore.

Yes, I was confused by the apparent existence of mythical creatures, but again, pushed it to the back of my mind. Apparently the last time Twilight and her friends faced one of these, Fluttershy calmed it down and it left. Unfortunately, this beast didn't look like anything short of murdering a dozen or so ponies (and maybe a human) would calm it down.

"Rylan!" Twilight yelped as I dove to the side, dodging another would-be-fatal claw swipe. I hadn't even pulled out my sword or knives yet, I was so busy dodging.

"Hey, Twi! How about you try using your magic?!" I yelled back at her. She blushed, realizing she forgot all about it, and her horn started to glow. The manticore was engulfed in a purple aura and was unable to move, giving me time to pull out my sword.

However, just as I was about to charge the manticore, I noticed something...off. I paused and looked at it. Compared to what I read about them in the books Twilight gave me, this one looked mostly normal, but...

Its eyes! I suddenly realized that something was wrong with its eyes. I looked closely and saw that its eyes looked...empty. Like it wasn't alive. But it was...right?

"What are you doing, Rylan?!" Rainbow yelled at me, and I snapped back to reality. "Twilight can't hold it forever, you know! Do something!"

I stepped closer to the manticore and began to feel...darkness? It felt as though the manticore was giving off very slight waves of darkness.

True Force...he did something to this manticore... I realized. What do I do...hmm...well, it worked with injuries; maybe it'll work for this?

I sheathed my sword and stepped closer. The manticore roared at me and continued to struggle against its magic bonds, but I didn't flinch. When I got close enough, I reached my arm out, touching the beast, and focused. Thankfully, Twilight's magical hold didn't screw up my healing power.

I saw an effect similar to when I healed Apple Bloom; waves washed over the manticore and it slowly regained life in its eyes. When the waves stopped, I waited for the pain or the darkness or whatever to flow through my body.

Nothing happened. Instead, the manticore simply fell unconscious and Twilight released it. I looked at my arm and waited for the telltale wave to shoot up it or something, but nothing happened. At first.

Suddenly, my watch began to glow, and I turned my attention to it. It was glowing white at first, but then darkened into a light gray before the glowing stopped altogether. I looked at it in confusion. It looked exactly the same.

"What was that?" Twilight asked. I shrugged.

"Hey Twilight?" Spike called for the unicorn's attention. "Is this supposed to happen?" He pointed to the map he still had. At the spot where the map showed one path where there were actually two, a strange symbol had appeared. Twilight's eyebrows shot up when she saw this.

"How...how is this possible?" she asked, looking at it in shock. "Spike, did you do anything to it?"

"No! That just appeared when Rylan's watch started glowing!"

I looked at my watch, then at the symbol on the map. They don't appear related...

"Rainbow, go find the others and tell them to head back to the fork," I ordered the cyan pegasus. "I'm willing to hazard a guess that something, good or bad, happened there. I don't know why it magically showed up on this map, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Maybe Bastion enchanted it?" Rainbow suggested it. "I...think he was a unicorn."

"No, earth pony. But maybe he got a unicorn friend to put a spell on it." I shrugged. "For now, let's just head back. Rainbow, go find the others. Twilight, start walking. Spike, keep an eye on that map in case something else happens."

The three of them nodded and followed my orders. As we were walking back to the fork, Spike started to slowly freak out. Apparently the symbol on the map kept disappearing, then reappearing a second later. I eventually snatched the map from him and kept an eye on it myself.

When we got back to the fork, the other five mares were already there, looking at something on the ground. I ran up to take a look, and what I saw nearly took my breath away.

On the ground was a giant circle, with the symbol on the map in the middle of it. The circle looked like it was part of the ground, except it was glowing. I wasn't surprised when the ponies and dragon made sure to stay a few feet away from it.

"Rylan, do you know what this is?" Rarity asked. I shook my head. Suddenly, the glowing circle and symbol vanished, causing us all to gasp. I flipped open the map on a hunch, and sure enough, it had disappeared from the map as well.

A second later, the symbol came back on the map and the circle appeared again on the ground. We all looked at each other in confusion.

"Ah, there you are! So it was true, what I saw just now in my special brew!" a familiar voice rang out. We turned and saw Zecora trotting up. I remembered having gone to see her after the incident with the Timberwolves, this time with Rainbow Dash rather than Apple Bloom. The only thing about Zecora that annoyed me was her constant rhyming, since it sometimes rubbed off on you.

"What brew?" Pinkie asked. Zecora trotted up to the circle, rather close, but without touching it.

"I discovered some rare herbs that create a special mixture," Zecora explained. "When made just right, of the future it paints a picture."

"Sounds cool," I remarked. "Zecora, do you know what this is?"

The zebra nodded. "Its purpose I do know, do not fret; but how it was created, I don't know yet."

"All we really care about is what it does," Rainbow shrugged.

"These are rare panels throughout the Everfree, making getting around the woods rather easy. They are called Warp Acres, and as their name suggest, they transport you to another part of the forest."

"So they're like teleporters," I said, mostly to myself. "Where would this one take us?"

"And why is it vanishing like that?" Rarity added.

"Where it takes you, I'm afraid I'm not sure," Zecora admitted. "And it is disappearing, because this area is not yet pure."

"Pure?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"Warp Acres used to be all over the place, allowing you to travel through the woods at a very quick pace." Zecora gestured around her. "Recently, however, they have begun to disappear. The cause is likely the True Force that the ponies all fear."

"True Force is removing Warp Acres? Why?" Spike questioned.

"Probably to make it harder for us to get through this damn forest," I suggested. "Though I still don't know what you mean by 'pure', or why this one just suddenly appeared."

"Just a few seconds before this Warp Acre came," Zecora turned to me. "Was there a creature of darkness you managed to tame?"

I thought about the manticore. "You could say that."

The rhyming zebra nodded. "True Force has cursed the creatures of these woods. The darkness within them shall do no good. The evil within has the power to hide these warps. By removing the darkness, you have put them back on course." Zecora looked down at the constantly fading warp. "However, just defeating one being won't bring it right back. There is not one creature of darkness, but likely a pack. You have opened the warp for a short time, but the darkness could cover it back up anytime."

"You just rhymed 'time' with 'time'," I remarked. Zecora glared at me. "Fine, never mind. So should we try taking this?"

"If my calculations are right, the warp will soon fade," Zecora nodded. "I suggest you take it now before there is nothing but shade."

I nodded. "Just one question, though." I pulled out the map. "Why did the warp appear on this map? And why does the map only show one path when there are clearly two?"

Zecora studied the map for a few seconds. "This map is very old, and that path is rather new," she said, pointing to the path not on the map. "However, it has advantages to being old, mind you. Maps from long ago were enchanted by unicorns, showing the locations of any nearby warps."

I shrugged. "Makes sense to me," I decided. I looked back at the Warp Acre, which was looking weaker by the minute. "Well, see you later. We better get through this. Thanks for the help!" I called back as I jumped into the warp, the mares and dragon behind me.

A light filled my vision for a few seconds. When it faded, we were in a completely different part of the forest. There was one path and no danger around, so it looked like the warp did us good.

"That was helpful," I said sincerely, looking around. The ponies and dragon were standing up, apparently having fallen over during the ride. "C'mon, let's see what happens next. As long as it's not more puzzles, I'm fine."

I stared ahead, five minutes later, as we stood in front of a giant clearing filled with big coloured blocks on a checkered indent in the ground, looking very much like what I was dreading. I facepalmed.

"Why..."

**Author's Notes:* Sorry for the delay! I'm pretty sure I've posted enough blog posts, plus that announcement chapter, to let you know why, but just in case: dead computer, sickness, forgot to plan this chapter beyond "Everfree Forest", laziness, and writer's block; in that order. All better now though, and HOPEFULLY I can get chapters out at a better schedule now. (Totally jinxed it right there, I bet.)*

Chapter 08: Forest Puzzles and Fillydelphia Problems

"Push it to the left!"

"To the left, to the left, to the left..."

"Stop singing that and just push!"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it!"

"That's not left!"

"Well, it's not my fault we're facing completely different directions!"

Progress on the annoying puzzle was not going well. After some trying, we discovered that the blocks refused to budge even an inch if pushed by any of the ponies or Spike. So I had to do all the manual labour. Twilight trotted around, trying to help, but she was mainly just getting on my nerves. She kept giving wrong directions, and it got really tiring to push the same block back and forth.

Some careful observing revealed what we were supposed to do: push the blocks into a specific spot. There were six blocks, each one a different colour, and they were spread around a giant checkerboard indent in the ground. At one end of the checkerboard were six indents coloured to match the blocks. Common sense dictates that I would have to push the blocks into those spots and that it would be easy.

But as we all know, Equestria isn't exactly known for common sense.

Several of the squares on the ground reacted to the coloured blocks differently. If I pushed a block that was a certain colour onto one of the spaces, the space would either shove the block back (nearly crushing me in the process) or activate a weird teleporter, switching the block with a random other one.

Naturally, as Twilight and I were struggling with solving this puzzle, the others were having fun watching. Rainbow Dash and Spike were laughing their asses off, Pinkie Pie had pulled a bucket of popcorn out of nowhere and was chowing down, Rarity and Applejack were struggling to contain laughter, and Fluttershy was ignoring us in favour of talking with some of the non-demonic animals around the area.

"Rylan, don't push the red block there! That space pushed it back last time!" Twilight called to me, standing off the checkerboard to avoid getting crushed by the blocks that were easily four times her size.

"I suppose you have a photographic memory?" I shot back before pushing the block. It stayed. "See? Works fine!"

"Only now you've blocked the green space," Rainbow cackled. I looked and saw that, sure enough, I had pushed the red block onto the space right in front of the green square where the green block needed to go, making it impossible to put the green block there.

"I'll move it in a second," I sighed, sitting down against the block and wiping sweat from my forehead. We had been at this for over an hour, and I hadn't taken a single break in that time. Twilight levitated a water bottle over to me from our supplies, and I gulped down over half of its contents in one go. "Thanks."

"Rylan, could you come here for a second?" Rarity asked. I looked over and saw her examining the area. I stood up and walked over.

"What's up?"

"I think I'm seeing a pattern here," she explained. "The blocks you're pushing keep getting teleported as you get closer to the spaces they're supposed to go, right?" I nodded. "Well, I think this area was built to do just that. If you try to just push the block all the way there, it'll get swapped."

"Okay...?" I rotated my hand in a 'get on with it' motion.

"What if you stopped trying to avoid the teleporters and started using them?" the white unicorn suggested. "Figure out what block always gets switched with what block, and then try to activate a teleporter to get the block you want close to the end, then push it the rest of the way."

I blinked. How did I not think of that? "Perfect!" I gave her a thankful pat on the head (which seemed to annoy her, but at that moment I couldn't care less) and rushed off to try the plan.

After a little experimenting, I found the colours that seemed linked to each other and always swapped with each other when teleported. I put the plan into action by pushing the green block near the red space. Sure enough, it got switched with the red block right near the end, allowing me to push the red block into place.

"Yes!" I cheered, happy to finally have figured out what to do. Suddenly, the ground started rumbling, and the red block sunk into the ground. I looked around in confusion and saw the other five blocks slide themselves onto their spaces and sink into the ground as well. They sunk down until they vanished, covered up by regular grass, and the chekerboard disappeared as well.

"What just-" Twilight started, but was cut off when a Warp Acre appeared right where the checkerboard had been. Seeing what could be the finish, I practically pounced on the warp, diving into it. Just before I vanished, I saw the others rushing over as well.

"FREEDOM!" I yelled as I saw the exit to the forest after the teleportation finished. The others walked up to me, a little dazed.

"Well, that was quicker than I thought it would be," Twilight admitted. "Though that's probably just because of the Warp Acres."

"Who cares what it's because of? We're finally out of that damn forest!" I cheered. "Of course, we'll probably come back to it at some point in the future and have to solve more puzzles, but we'll burn that bridge when we come to it!"

"Um...don't you mean, cross that bridge?" Fluttershy interjected.

"Nope, I mean burn. C'mon, let's see if there's a town up ahead." I walked ahead, choosing to ignore the sighs coming from behind me. We walked in silence for a little while until I saw some buildings appear over the horizon.

"That's Fillydelphia!" Rainbow pointed out. "I recognize it, even from here!"

"Hold on." Twilight held up a hoof, and we all turned to her. "Doesn't something seem a little...off about it?"

We turned back and looked around. Of course, we were still at least half a mile away, so we couldn't really see much. I turned back to Twilight with a deadpanned stare.

"If you're wondering why it's so small, that's probably because we aren't there yet," I replied before turning around and continuing forward. However, as we got closer, I noticed that something did seem off.

"Where is everypony?" Fluttershy asked meekly as she looked around. Sure enough, we were the only ponies – well, creatures – in sight.

"Hello?" Rainbow called. An echo greeted her. "We're not gonna hurt you! Is anypony here?"

Creeeeak

I whipped my head and saw a young colt sticking his head out of a house door. He was either an earth pony or a pegasus, as he didn't have a horn, but I couldn't see the rest of his body. He was a very dark grey, which contrasted greatly with his bright orange mane. His magenta eyes looked at me in fear. It only took a second before the others noticed him.

"Hello there," Rarity greeted as she stepped towards the house. The colt's eyes darted between each of us and stopped at her, keeping that same fearful feeling the entire time. "Are you alright?"

The colt stayed silent, but he seemed to relax just the tiniest bit.

"Could you please tell us what's going on around here?" Rarity continued. The colt simply backed away and nudged the door open a bit more, motioning with his head for us to come inside. Now that his body was visible, I could tell he had no wings and was simply an earth pony.

I went in last, and as I started to enter, I noticed the colt looking at me with fear still evident in his eyes. I smiled gently and kneeled down.

"Don't worry, little guy," I assured him. "I'm not here to hurt anypony. I'm a human. I'm here to help."

My words seemed to brighten him up, and he allowed a faint smile before motioning me inside. I stepped in, and he closed the door with his mouth behind us. The house didn't seem too dull nor too fancy. It looked like a regular house, but something I noticed almost instantly was that aside from the colt (who had yet to say a word), nopony else appeared to be home.

"Is anypony else home with you?" Twilight asked. The colt shook his head. "You're all alone?" He nodded.

"What happened?" Rainbow asked. The colt stayed silent, instead continuing to lead us. He eventually took us to a bedroom and stepped inside. The room was nearly empty, and what little furniture was in it was spread around in a giant mess.

"Is the mess supposed to tell us something?" I asked, a little harshly. I was getting annoyed that he was being overly secretive and not saying anything. Twilight gave me a glare for my rude tone, but the colt didn't even react. This was getting less annoying and more creepy.

"So, what can you tell us about what's going on?" Twilight asked.

"He won't be telling you anything."

All of us whipped around and came face-to-face with...the hell is that?

Whatever it was, it looked like a pony, but all black and with holes in its legs like swiss cheese. It had buglike wings that buzzed annoyingly and a giant, curved horn. Its greenish-blueish-whatever hair hung over its face like a mop. And it grinned at us.

"You..." Twilight sputtered. I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. "That's Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the Changelings!"

"...the what?" I asked. As if on cue, a bunch of weird creatures that looked basically like smaller, hairless versions of Queen Chrysalis popped out of the mess.

"Those things."

"Ah."

"I'm sorry..." a voice whispered behind us. I turned my head and saw that the voice had come from the young colt, who was trembling. "She forced me to bring you here..."

"I don't know why you are here, human," Chrysalis hissed at me. "However, I don't care either. My plan was to lure the Elements of Harmony here to Fillydelphia by kidnapping most of the population. That way, I could destroy the Elements without the princesses interfering!"

"How many ponies did you kidnap?!" Rarity gasped. "It doesn't seem like there's anypony left in this city, and the population is supposed to be huge!"

"Oh, I only kidnapped a hundred or so," Chrysalis replied, waving a hoof (it's still a hoof, even for whatever creature she is, right?) like it was no big deal. "Eventually, I got tired of that, so I just killed this colt's family in public, and now the rest of the city's population is hiding indoors."

My eye twitched.

"You...killed this colt's family?" I asked, slowly and darkly.

"I would have killed him too, but I needed him to lure you six in here," she responded. "I don't need him anymore, though, so..." She waved a hoof in the colt's direction, and three Changelings charged at him, horns prepared to stab.

I wish I could say they didn't reach him. I wish I could say I jumped in and blocked their horns with my shield. I wish I could say Twilight used her magic to pull the colt out of harm's way just in time. I wish I could say the Changelings were morons and crashed into each other halfway there.

But I don't lie.

The colt screamed as the black horns dug into his skin. I tried to look away, but I couldn't. I watched as the Changelings literally ripped the colt apart, splattering blood all over. After a few seconds that felt like hours, they finished, glaring up at us with bloodstains all over their horns and faces.

"Now that that's done," Chrysalis interrupted. "Let's get started on the rest of you, shall we?"

CLANG

Chrysalis stumbled over, not expecting my shield to smash her in the head like that. She glared up at me.

"If you're going to be so insistent," she hissed with a grin, "we'll start with you." She waved a hoof at me, and the Changelings all turned to me before charging and flying in my direction.

I heard the girls (and I think Spike as well) scream, but it sounded muffled, as though I was underwater. I was too focused on the black demons heading my way. I didn't move as they came at me.

Then, one of them reached me.

Instantly, I grabbed the poor sucker that got too close by the neck, held it up, and put it in between me and a flying Changeling, getting it stabbed through the chest by its own comrade. The other creature was startled and began to wobble, but I grabbed it and snapped its neck at lightning speed. I felt something dig into my leg, and I instinctively kicked, smacking another two Changelings in the jaw (if they have one) and sending them out the window.

The rest of the bug-like pony things had stopped when they saw what I had done, and looked at one another worriedly. While they were distracted with trying to find secret messages in each other's eyes, I pulled out my bow, drew five arrows, and shot them all at once. Five arrows flew, and five Changelings fell to the floor, dead.

The rest of the creatures tried to flee, but I didn't let them. Drawing Ihsoylr, I jumped and brought my blade down in an arc, severing the heads of three Changelings at once. Turning, I slashed horizantally, doing the same to another two. Hearing a small buzzing behind me, I didn't even bother turning, instead just twirling the blade and thrusting it over my shoulder, the blade stabbing one more in the face.

By this point, every Changeling in the room had either flown away while I was distracted, or was dead. The only exception to this rule was Queen Chrysalis, who just stared slack-jawed at me.

"You...you are..." she stuttered.

"A human," I stated simply. "And a rather angry one at that." I pointed the sword at her. "Get out, now, or you're next."

She didn't hesitate. She lit her horn and teleported away to who knows where. I stood there, staring at the spot she had been for a few more seconds before my vision began to blur, and I passed out.

So, why did I get mad like that? Did I discover a superpowered angry side of me? Did the dead colt's spirit come to me in a vision and loan me his power? Did Twilight use her magic to give me strength? Did I go up a level?

Nope. That's just what happens when I get mad.

So why did I pass out? A combination of blood loss from that one Changeling who got me in the leg, and use of energy. I was tired from the block puzzle, the walking, and the battle. My body eventually said to me, "Hey Rylan, screw you!" And shut off temporarily.

When I woke up, I was back outside. Fluttershy and Pinkie were watching over me, but I didn't see the rest of the group.

"He's awake!" Pinkie cried upon seeing my eyes flutter open. This caught Fluttershy's attention.

"Try to be careful," she warned me. "I tried to bandage you up, but I couldn't really do much more than that."

"Where are the others?" I asked, my voice cracking a bit.

"They're looking for the kidnapped ponies," Fluttershy answered. "You've been out for about an hour."

Not as long as I expected... I sat up, being careful as Fluttershy ordered. "No news from any of them?"

"Twilight said she had a hunch and walked off one way, but she hasn't come back," the pegasus answered. "Though that was only a few minutes ago."

I looked at Pinkie, who was sitting a short distance away from me. She was looking off in a different direction. Weird...Pinkie's usually a lot more talkative...

"Pinkie?" She turned her head slightly toward me. "Are you okay?"

Pinkie turned some more so the rest of her face was looking at me and nodded, but there was some sadness in her eyes. Probably from the colt dying...the colt...we didn't even get his name. He was just a pawn for Chrysalis and her plans...

"I hate to say I told you so," I sighed. "But I told you so. You were the ones who insisted on coming with me. You wouldn't have had to see any of this. No crazy monsters, no dying innocents, and no killing sprees...from me or our foes." I reached out and laid a hand on the pink earth pony's shoulder. "Remember, there's still a chance...sort of. You can always go back into the forest and use the Warp Acres to get back to Ponyville. Or you could just stay in Fillydelphia and let the rest of us pick you up on our return trip. Considering what we just saw, I doubt anyone's going to think any less of you for it."

"I don't care what ponies think of me, Rylan," Pinkie finally spoke. "Even after what I saw them do...what I saw you do...it just makes me want to keep going. Because I know that if we don't keep going, this will keep happening...again...and again...and again." She stood up. "I don't care how many deaths I see, hear of, or contribute to. It's for the good of Equestria. You can't bake a cake without burning your hooves a few times." She smiled lightly.

"That's the spirit," I replied. "Though the cake analogy is a bit...never mind."

"Girls! Rylan!"

Pinkie, Fluttershy and I looked in the direction of Twilight's voice. The purple unicorn was galloping up to us, several disheveled ponies behind her.

"I found them! I was right! They were in the basement of that house Chrysalis was in!" she exclaimed.

The chatter of the rescued ponies eventually caught the attention of the rest of Fillydelphia's citizens, who slowly but surely came out of their homes to see what was going on. I'd say I witnesses several heartwarming reunions, but in reality, I got bored and just went back to sleep.

We need some rest... I thought as I drifted off. We'll keep going tomorrow...but for now, I think we all need a break.

**Author's Notes:* I know, I know! REALLY late! I'm sorry...I'd say "next chapter won't take as long" but I think we've learned I can't keep scheduling promises, so I'll just shut up.*

Chapter 09: Pull Back

I woke up in a bed somewhere. All I could gather from my surroundings was that I was in a room of some sort, and according to a nearby window, it was pretty much the middle of the night.

As my eyes cleared, I looked around some more. I could see Twilight sleeping in a bed next to mine, and Spike asleep at the foot of the bed. Using my oh-so-brilliant deduction skills, I determined that we were either in a hotel or a guest room at a home, still in Fillydelphia.

Memories of earlier that day (or the previous day, depending on what time of night it was) flooded back to me, and I instantly felt rage surge through me as I remembered the dead colt. Just seconds later, the rage was replaced by sadness, then guilt, then eventually all feelings vanished.

I need to get over it...the more I think about it, the more it's going to affect me.

No longer tired, I rose from my bed and took stock. Whoever brought me in here had, thankfully, brought in Ihsoylr, my shield, and my bow and arrows. They also let me remain fully clothed (thank god for that), though they had taken my shoes off and left them beside the bed. My knives were still in them.

Inventory checks out. Don't know if the girls still have the stuff in their saddlebags, but that's not really my concern at the moment. I sighed and looked around. Definitely a hotel room. The rest of the girls are probably in other rooms. I guess they took me here when I fell asleep after Twilight saved everypony.

I pulled on my shoes and reached for my weapons, but stopped. I shook my head, figuring I didn't really need them at the moment. Turning towards the door, I turned the doorknob and stepped outside the room. Moving carefully so as to not make any noise, I headed to the stairs and went down a few floors, eventually reaching the lobby and making my way outside.

A surprising number of ponies were up and about outside. Some groups of friends were walking and talking; some young colts and fillies were sleepily following their parents; some couples were making out in dark corners...Okay, didn't really expect that.

I started walking, a little surprised at how the ponies were ignoring me. Maybe the girls had already explained everything to them or something. Fortunately, I wasn't being given the royal treatment. I could just be left in peace.

This place...it reminds me a lot of home... I thought to myself. Instantly, I shook my head vigorously. No, Rylan. Earth isn't home. Equestria is home...I hope. What happens when this is over? What if I die in the battle? What if me being in this world causes some kind of world merging, like in Sonic X, and I have to get sent back to Earth to fix it? Anything could happen...

I sighed as I sat against a building. I thought I had gotten away from Earth...that place was hell to me. What if I have to go back? I don't think I could stand it...if I had to choose between going back to Earth or dooming all of Equestria, I'd just kill myself on the spot. Why am I even thinking about this? I promised myself I'd stop thinking about Earth...

"Mr. Human?"

I jolted my head up and looked to the side. A young earth pony filly sat on the sidewalk, looking at me with a combination of awe, fear, and worry.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, trotting up to me. For a moment I considered telling her everything, but even I knew better than to frighten children with tales of a world of war and death.

"Nah, I'm fine," I assured her, giving her a gentle pet on the head. She nuzzled into my hand. Awww...

"My family thinks you're weird," she told me. "My mommy thinks you're evil...is that true?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. Who told your mother that?"

"She just guessed when she saw you," the filly replied. "The rest of us didn't believe her, but we don't think you're pure either."

I blinked. "Pure...?"

"You're a hero, right?" I paused, but reluctantly nodded. "But you're not perfect, are you?"

"I..." I stopped. I realized what she was getting at. "No...no I'm not."

"I think something's getting to you," the filly said, moving away from my hand and starting to walk away. "Something's corrupting you...it's making you angry and dark."

My jaw dropped. "Wha...who are you?"

The filly smiled mysteriously. "I'm just a normal little filly...but, like the rest of my family, I'm a little bit...strange."

"What do you-"

"You met my brother." I froze.

"Your...brother..."

"Tricked by the Changelings, killed by the Changelings...all in front of your eyes. You never even got his name. And you regret not being able to save him."

I felt myself getting angry. I rose to my feet and glared at the filly. "Who are you? Better question: what are you?!"

"My brother's name was Final Push," the filly continued, seemingly ignoring my questions. "My name was Pull Back."

Was.

"What the hell is going on?!" I demanded.

"My parents are disappointed in you, Rylan Watch. So is my brother. And so am I." Pull Back suddenly glared. "The hero of Equestria? You should be working on saving our world. Instead you're worried about whether or not you have to go back to Earth. It's fine to worry every now and then...but don't let it consume you. You're corrupting yourself."

"What. Are. You." I growled each world, my fists clenching.

"I'm a message. I'm a warning. Call me either. But the reason I'm here is to tell you that if you let everything get to you...just like back in Ponyville..." My blood almost literally froze. "Then we won't need True Force. You'll be dangerous enough to Equestria on your own."

Pull Back turned her head to the sky, closed her eyes, and disintegrated. I stared at the spot she had stood, mouth agape.

I...what...that... I couldn't even form a coherent thought, let alone spoken sentence. I decided to go back to the hotel and get some sleep before anything else happened.

Rylan...

Hello?

Hello.

...

...that's all?

Did you expect me to say something else?

Yeah...like, who are you?

I am you.

...

...what?

I am you. You are me. I am Rylan Watch, and Rylan Watch is me.

Can you be more specific, Yoda?

Ugh...fine. I'm your conscience.

...so, you're like that little angel on my shoulder?

That's a cartoon gimmick. It's not real, moron.

Well, you're certainly pleasant.

What can I say? I'm you. We share the same personality...though I'm a bit more cryptic.

Why are you cryptic?

It's in my nature. Anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm talking to you.

You think?

Shut up. I'm here because you're corrupting yourself.

Yeah, that Pull Back filly...or whatever she was...told me about that. Stop focusing on myself and start focusing on Equestria, got it.

It's not just that...you're not just corrupting yourself through thought. You're physically darkening your very soul.

How?

You're getting black paint on it.

...

...sarcastic joke?

Yes.

Okay then. Just making sure. How am I darkening my soul?

You should be able to tell...just watch. And wait. And you'll see.

Wait! Why do you have to be so cryptic? Why can't you just spell it out for me?!

It's in my nature.

...right.

After that weird night and weird dream, the next day, we finally continued our journey. We picked up some more supplies at the stores, just in case. The last thing we wanted was to show up at True Force's doorstep weak and helpless, begging for him to just kill us quickly.

I was kind of relieved to be leaving Fillydelphia. I thought it would keep me away from that creepy filly ghost...or whatever Pull Back was. Too bad I have a habit of being wrong.

That night, after we had set up a small camping area and the others had gone to sleep, Pull Back reappeared, just blinking in out of nowhere, standing in the fire.

"You still don't understand my warning, do you?" she asked rhetorically.

"Frankly, I don't understand anything about you," I replied nonchalantly.

"You don't seem very surprised by my sudden reappearance," she pointed out. I shrugged.

"I'll be honest, I kind of expected it." I sighed and began fiddling with one of my knives. "Just make your speech about corruption and go. I'm too tired to deal with you."

"I'm not here to make a speech, Rylan Watch. I'm here to warn you of upcoming danger." I stopped playing with my knife and looked at her, my interest piqued. "Do you know where you are going next?"

"Uh...Griffon Volcano...or something like that."

"Mt. Griffon, actually. But you're right, it is still a volcano, and it is home to many griffons. It's essentially the griffon version of Ponyville."

"Why do they live on a volcano?" I asked, going back to twirling my knife but still listening.

"Why do ponies live right next to the Everfree Forest?" she responded.

"Why ask me? Ask them. But getting to the point, what danger are you warning me about? Or rather, failing to warn me about?" Yes, I was getting snarky. You should be used to this by now.

"Mt. Griffon is normally a somewhat peaceful place, but you still must be very careful there," Pull Back explained, apparently not noticing my comment or just ignoring it. "The king of the griffons, Dyntos, is not exactly fond of ponies. The only reason he hasn't launched an assault on any pony-populated places is because he knows they are watched over by the princesses. However, he still does not like equines entering what he considers to be his own kingdom."

"So why does he live so close to Fillydelphia?" I asked.

"Because, normally, ponies know well enough to stay away. However, you have no choice but to go through, so he will likely not enjoy that." Pull Back began to rise into the air. "Despite this, you must take the others with you. Do not leave them behind under any circumstance."

"You say that like I was planning to," I shot back. "Dyntos may be king of the griffons, but I'm still a human. Even if he doesn't like the others, he still has to listen to me!" I paused. "...Right?"

"We'll see." Pull Back suddenly vanished. She didn't flash or disintegrate or anything, she just blinked out of existence.

...I need some goddamn sleep.

Mt. Griffon turned out to not be quite as close to Fillydelphia as I thought. The map made it seem like it would take about half a day to reach from the city, but instead, it took...three? Four days? I lost count.

Pull Back left me alone, finally...at first. On the fourth day of walking since leaving Fillydelphia, we could finally see Mt. Griffon.

"It's so close!" Rainbow cheered, sounding both excited and impatient. "I could just fly there in minutes! Why do we have to be so slow!" Scratch that, she was just impatient.

"Because not all of us have wings that break the sound barrier," I sighed. "Try showing a little patience. The rest of us aren't exactly trying to move slowly." Rainbow replied with a groan and just slumped in the air, clearly annoyed. I turned my attention to the path in front of us.

"We should definitely reach Mt. Griffon by tomorrow," Twilight said, reading from her map. "I don't know how long it'll take to get through, but hopefully it won't be too long."

I've played enough video games to know that something's going to happen at Mt. Griffon that requires our personal attention and ends in a boss battle... I thought to myself. Just like Fillydelphia, now that I think about it. Though Crystal or whatever her name was wasn't exactly that tough. I just had to kill a few of her idiotic minions and she ran away faster than you can say "swiss cheese legs".

We continued walking, mainly in silence. Pinkie tried to strike up conversations with the rest of us, but Spike was the only one who'd entertain her, so the party mare and the young dragon chatted with each other while the rest of us just walked silently.

After several hours, as the sun fell and the moon rose, we decided to stop for the night. We were almost literally in the middle of nowhere; one giant field, with Mt. Griffon in one direction. We couldn't even see the giant skyscrapers of Fillydelphia anymore.

As per usual, while the others slept, I stayed awake a bit longer. I stared at the fire Spike had started for us, expecting Pull Back to appear and berate me some more. Nothing came, and I eventually began to nod off.

A growl woke me up. I looked up at the fire, only to see nothing out of the ordinary. Normally I would have just gone back to sleep, but I was smart enough to know that one does not wake up to imagined growls. I looked to the left and found myself staring right into a pair of glowing red eyes attached to a chicken's head.

"...Hi?" I greeted weakly. The chicken thing growled again, and its eyes widened. I suddenly felt my legs go stiff and numb, no longer able to feel them. I tried to look down, but the thing's gaze kept me staring at it, and I couldn't turn my head. Not good.

My legs went completely numb, and my lower body began doing the same. Mustering up all the strength I could manage, I reached with my left arm down to my foot, hoping to pull my knife out.

Instead, I hit solid rock. Crap.

Thinking fast, I tried reaching behind me to pull out my sword, but then remembered I had taken it off and left it several feet away. Double crap.

As a last resort, I tried reaching my hand out to the fire to try and grab a lit stick, but I was just a few inches too far away. So much crap it's like the world took a laxative.

I could just sit there as the chicken thing continued to stare, slowly turning me to stone. I couldn't move anything except my arms and shoulders, and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before those became rock as well. It was over. My life flashed before my eyes-

My eyes!

Realizing something, I lifted my left arm over my eyes, blocking the chicken thing's gaze. I felt my body regain feeling, and heard a shattering sound as the stone broke around me. The chicken thing growled, but I didn't look at it. I reached into my shoe, drew out one knife, and stabbed wildly, eventually connecting with something. Chancing to lower my arm, I saw that I had stabbed the chicken thing in the left eye, which filled me with an odd combination of disgust and relief. With one eye taken out, its power wouldn't work, so I was free to look it in the eye...which is when I saw something.

Now, I'm not an expert on dangerous glowing red eyes...but I'm pretty sure they at least have pupils. White, black, whatever. But this eye didn't. It was just pure red, and not exactly a bright red either. It was a dark red, almost brown. It looked lifeless...

...just like the manticore's eyes!

I reached an arm out and grabbed the chicken thing around the neck before focusing. I felt the darkness flow into me. When it finished, my watch glowed a light gray, before darkening to a somewhat darker shade, which worried me a bit. However, my worry was forgotten when I realized something.

I just used my healing power on a creature whose eye I just stabbed...uh-oh...

No, I didn't lose my eye. Sorry to disappoint those of you who don't like me.

Since my knife was still in the chicken thing's eye when I used my healing power, it couldn't fix the eye, so it just left it alone, and I didn't suffer any consequences. I'll need to remember that.

However, instead of losing my eye, I got to see somepony again. Guess who.

"You're still corrupting yourself."

I sighed and glared at Pull Back. "I'm trying to sleep after blinding a chicken thing that nearly got me stoned. Go away."

"You mean the cockatrice."

"Sure, the cocky trees. Whatever. Just leave me alone." I closed my eyes again, trying to ignore the ghostly filly.

"If you fall asleep to ignore me, your conscience will just tell you what I'm trying to tell you."

I sighed and opened my eyes, glaring at Pull Back. "I get it, I'm corrupting myself. Don't need to repeat it like a broken record."

Pull Back stepped closer to me, and I tensed up. "Can you really not see how you're corrupting yourself? It's plainly obvious."

"Let me guess," I sighed. "Taking the darkness from the manticore and chicken thing."

"Cockatrice."

"Yeah, that."

"While that would be the most logical conclusion...it is incorrect." Pull Back shook her head. "Taking their darkness is doing something completely different that you don't need to worry about quite yet."

"Then what am I doing wrong?" I nearly yelled, trying to avoid waking the others. Pull Back, rather than replying, just disappeared. Stupid ghosts...always so cryptic. I forced myself to go to sleep.

Hello.

Go to hell, conscience.

...Wow, way to greet someone. Love you too.

Seriously, get lost. I just want some freaking sleep.

Fine. Good luck tomorrow, then.

Wait, what about tomorrow?

You'll see.

...

...He left. Ugh. Confound these spirits, they drive me to insanity.

Next Chapter Preview:

"Listen, you, and listen well. We don't serve your kind here, so I suggest you just leave now."

"You know, that's a pretty neat coincidence."

"Excuse me?!"

"You don't serve our kind here. I find that to be a neat coincidence...because we don't serve your kind either."

"Are you trying to instigate a fight?"

"More like I'm trying to instigate a certain bird to shut the hell up before I get dangerous."

Chapter 10: Mt. Griffon

So I learned many things today. Eight things, to be exact, if you disregard the things that don't matter. You might be wondering how I learned so many things in just one day when I was on a quest to save the world and not in school. Well, long story short: Ponies.

Yes, that's the abridged version. Ponies. You mad, bro (or sis)?

The first thing I learned today was that, of the six ponies and one dragon I was travelling with, the only one who knew more than the obvious basics about griffons was Rainbow Dash. She had a griffon friend back in flight school or something, but the others had either never encountered one in their life, or never been in the same vicinity as one for more than twenty minutes. Rainbow aside, all of us knew nothing about them aside from the fact that they were a cross between a lion and an eagle, could fly, and about seventy percent of them were aggressive.

The other thirty percent were dead.

The second and third things I learned came from Rainbow as she told us about these beasts as we walked. It annoyed me to no end to have her acting like a know-it-all, but at least we were getting some important information.

"Griffons are usually carnivores," she told us. "Some of them have learned to eat plants and fruits and stuff, but the majority of them prefer meat. So when they live in large groups, like this city – if you can call it a city – they usually send out about ten to fifteen griffons in the morning to hunt for the entire population."

"Well, that's gotta be the worst job ever," I commented. "How many griffons live on this mountain?"

"Mt. Griffon's population is roughly the same as Fillydelphia's, so...I'd say somewhere from two to three thousand," Twilight answered. I ran through the math in my head quickly.

"So a maximum of fifteen griffons have to hunt for a minimum of two thousand other griffons, getting each of them three meals every day, meaning each hunting griffon has to collect approximately four hundred meals worth of food every morning, and that's if they have the maximum number of hunters and minimum number of residents suggested." I shook my head. "Remind me not to become a griffon anytime soon."

"O...kay?" Twilight sounded confused, making me realize how dumb what I just said sounded. I ignored it, however, in favour of continuing to listen to Rainbow. This is where I learned the third thing.

"Plus, even though some ponies think they do, griffons don't actually eat ponies. They mainly prefer animals like deer, cows, and birds. In fact, there's actually a law that prevents griffons from eating ponies."

Well, good to know they're not at risk of being eaten, at least... I thought to myself. Good thing Fluttershy's not paying attention. She'd be freaking out from hearing about the animals griffons eat...

Sure enough, Fluttershy wasn't paying much attention to what Rainbow said. She was locked in her own conversation with Rarity, a few feet away. I was thankful for this. I may be a dick, but even I hate seeing Fluttershy cry. Either I'm not as big a jerk as I used to think, or Fluttershy's tears are just that powerful.

Anyway, back on track. We were rather close to the mountain – maybe half an hour to an hour of walking away – when I learned the fourth thing:

Griffons are very, very territorial.

Out of nowhere, we were suddenly attacked by a huge flock of feathers, claws, and beaks. I heard the others scream, and I yanked out my knives, having a feeling that I'd need to be quick and that Ihsoylr would slow me down greatly. Stabbing wildly, I eventually heard the rustling die down.

Looking around, I saw four griffons lying in front of us. They were alive, but cut up quite a bit. Most of their wounds were on their wings, but one griffon had a large scratch across its torso, and another had one of my knives literally stuck in its talon.

I glanced at my companions. They weren't exactly unharmed; all of them had at least a few scratches, but that wasn't the worst of it. Rarity had a huge gash on her chest and Spike had been knocked unconscious. However, as soon as I saw Rainbow, I almost forgot about the others.

Rainbow was still awake, but barely. Her left wing had been cut up and was bleeding so much, there was more red than blue. Her right wing was even worse, being almost completely ripped off and held on by little more than a single bone sticking out. The rest of her body wasn't much better off. It looked like she had taken the brunt of the ambush. The sight of her lying there, looking like she was mere minutes from death, triggered something inside of me.

The other mares quickly ran to Rainbow's side, but I marched up to the griffons. They looked up at me, and I grabbed two of them by the heads, slammed them together, and knocked them out. The third one tried to stand and run, but I grabbed it by the neck and threw it to the ground, knocking it out as well. I then turned to the fourth one, who gulped.

"You have two options," I growled at it. "Take us to Dyntos and get medical help for my friends, or I'll slaughter your entire kingdom."

The griffon blinked. "I don't think you could really-" It (well, he, according to his voice) was cut off by the feel of cold, sharp metal suddenly against his throat and the sight of my glaring eyes boring into his soul. "At once, sir. Please don't hurt me."

"Good birdie."

That was the fifth thing I learned that day. Griffons, when confronted by threatening creatures, were much bigger cowards than expected.

I think I'm going to like it here.

I hate it here.

The griffon, who said his name was Caboose, took us to Dyntos as I requested. The griffon civilians glared at us as we walked by at first, but after seeing the various wounds on Caboose and the three recently awakened griffons following fearfully behind us – as well as my glare as I casually twirled a bloodstained knife – they quickly turned away. I snorted in mild amusement.

After Caboose had explained the situation (and I demonstrated my violence on a few guards who tried to stop us), Dyntos reluctantly ordered a few doctors to take care of the others. However, he told me to stay behind.

I didn't trust him one bit, of course. They were taking away my wounded and weak friends to Celestia knows where and telling me not to follow. I expected them to at least be healed and stuff, but what next? I doubted Dyntos would let them go, considering his hatred of ponies. I wouldn't be surprised if I saw them in a dungeon a few hours later. However, not wanting to cause any more trouble, I obeyed. For now.

"What are you?" Dyntos asked as soon as the other griffons had left. He and I were the only ones in the room. I didn't know if that was good or bad.

"My name is Rylan Watch, and I am a human," I replied casually, still twirling my knife (it looked cool, okay?).

"I thought so. You're that little pest the princess summoned, aren't you?"

I stopped twirling my knife and looked at him. "You know of me?"

"Of course! News travels fast around Equestria." He chuckled lightly. "Have a seat, my boy. I mean you no harm."

Wait...we're actually going to get through here without trouble? Seriously?! What kind of story is this?!

I hesitantly sat down on a chair he motioned me to. No traps went off.

"If I may ask," I said, going back to my knife. "Why are you so...passive about this whole ordeal? I thought your opinions of ponies were...negative, to say the least."

"To say the least indeed," Dyntos grunted. "And believe me, offering to help them is like a large blow to my reputation. I only do it because of you."

I raised an eyebrow. "Because I'm amusing or threatening?"

"Both. You took down four hunting griffons without breaking a sweat, and you took on any one of us who even looked at you funny on your way here. While you may pose a threat to us, I feel less fearful and more..." He leaned forward with a grin. "Challenged."

In one fluid motion, I took my knife, tossed it into the air, used my now-free hand to facepalm, then caught the knife again.

"If you think I'm here to usurp your throne, you need your brain checked," I sighed. "Me and my companions are only on Mt. Griffon because we need to get through. Once the others are healed, we'll be content with walking through and away like we were never here."

Dyntos laughed. "And you think I would allow that?"

I shoved my knives away, stood up, and drew my sword in a threatening manner. "This answer your question?"

He laughed again. "Human, allow me to speak." I sat down, still holding Ihsoylr. "As you know, I'm not a fan of equines. I'm helping your friends because I can tell that if I don't, we griffons may go extinct long before intended." He leaned back. "However, that is already enough of a stain on my otherwise clean reputation. To let you go free after attacking my citizens would destroy it entirely."

I glared. "Your 'citizens' attacked us first, feathers! All we did was fight back in self defense! If anything, you owe us for this!"

Dyntos glared back. "You dare speak in such a manner to royalty?"

"Bitch, please. Let's use some logic." I got up and strolled around nonchalantly. "You are the ruler of Mt. Griffon. Mt. Griffon is a part of Equestria. Equestria is ruled by Princess Celestia. Therefore, Princess Celestia is of a higher authority than you." I examined my sword absentmindedly. "Now, about us humans. Guess what, feathers? The princesses bow to us. To me. I outrank those who outrank you. With that being the case, I think it's not exactly a topic of discussion as to how I speak to one who is less important than me." Yeah, I sounded like a jackass. But is that new? Nope.avi.

Dyntos seemed to be genuinely angry now. He got off his throne and walked over to me slowly, glaring the whole time. "Listen, you, and listen well," he ordered. "We don't serve your kind here, so I suggest you just leave now."

Someone's getting pissed. "You know, that's a pretty neat coincidence," I replied.

"Excuse me?!"

"You don't serve our kind here. I find that to be a neat coincidence..." I spun my sword into a better fighting stance and pulled off my shield. "Because we don't serve your kind either."

"Are you trying to instigate a fight?" Dyntos asked, quietly.

"More like I'm trying to instigate a certain bird to shut the hell up before I get dangerous." Before Dyntos could claw at me, I ducked, rolled, and held my sword at his throat. "Watch it, feathers."

"You wouldn't dare kill me," he growled.

"And you wouldn't dare kill me, correct?"

Dyntos didn't reply for a few seconds. "If it means the safety of my people, I do what is required."

"Well, killing me isn't required. Us getting through this town...city...kingdom...whatever the hell it is...is required. Unless you're fine with living under the rule of some evil tyrant."

"I suppose that would be undesirable..." he agreed. "Fine. Put away your weapon."

I sheathed my sword and faced him expectantly. I kept my shield out, just in case. I didn't trust this guy as far as Spike could throw him.

"I shall consider this decision for a while," he declared, returning to his throne. "You and your...companions...are welcome to stay here for the time being. Come see me tomorrow morning, and I shall tell you my decision."

I silently nodded, and he called for two guards to come. They escorted me out, and we began heading towards the hospital, where the others were.

So the sixth thing I learned that day was that, apparently, griffons could be reasoned with just as well as ponies. Especially if you had a sharp edge to persuade them with.

I sound so much like a villain right now it's almost not funny. Almost.

The night was spent in the hospital. Most of the others had healed, but Rainbow was still hurt badly. Her wing was badly damaged and would be difficult to attach properly again. All we could do was hope.

The next morning, I headed back to see Dyntos again. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie stayed behind to wait for Rainbow, so Twilight, Spike, and Applejack came with me. Just in case.

As we were heading back to the castle, however, we were stopped by a small army of griffons that stood in our way.

"Excuse me, but we're heading to see Lord Dyntos," Twilight said politely.

"Lord Dyntos has ordered us to not allow anyone to see him today," one of the griffons proclaimed as he stepped forward. "He has also ordered us to find the ponies, dragon, and human in his city and kill them."

I blinked. "Wait, what?"

"These are merely our king's orders. We have nothing against you personally, but we have no choice. I am sure you understand." With that, the griffons suddenly shot forward, slamming into us and starting to attack.

Not wasting a moment, I pulled out my knives and stabbed the griffons around me, cutting up their wings, bodies, and faces. One was unlucky enough to get both knives in his throat. When I had a brief moment of peace, I looked around for Twilight, Spike, and Applejack. They were all separated.

Twilight and Applejack were having not too hard a time fighting off the griffons, but Spike wasn't faring too well. Being small and young, he couldn't fight back very well, though more than a few griffons had burn marks on them. Thinking fast, I charged forward into the griffons, knocking them over and giving Spike some more breathing room. We stood back-to-back, though due to his small size it was more like back-to-foot. I passed him my knives.

"You burn and cut the ones that come too close and I'll snipe the rest," I ordered as I pulled out my bow and arrows. "Get it? Got it? Good."

I began shooting arrows at all the griffons that tried to attack. I usually nailed them in the chest, but occasionally I would miss and hit their wing, or not even hit them at all. Fortunately, Spike made good use of his fire and my knives. He lit them on fire (somehow not melting the metal) for extra effect, and every time a griffon got too close to us, he'd slice at it and leave a large burning gash that caused the bird to retreat. I noticed he never made a fatal attack; he always aimed for their wings or feet. Can't really blame him. Kids were never meant to kill.

Eventually, I ran out of arrows, cursing under my breath. I put away the bow and pulled out Ihsoylr and my shield. I didn't have the range anymore, but I could still deal some damage. Finally, all the griffons fell, leaving me, Spike, Twilight, and Applejack standing in a pool of bird corpses.

The seventh thing I learned that day? Griffon blood smells awful.

"We need to go see Dyntos," I ordered, taking back my knives from Spike and putting the fire out. "Something's not right here."

We nodded and headed off, Spike climbing onto Twilight's back. Since we weren't in too much of a hurry now that the griffon army was dead or unconscious, I stopped to pick up as many arrows as I could. I'd have to remember to get some more somehow.

The throne room contained nobody but Dyntos, sitting in his throne. When we entered, he looked down at us in anger.

"How are you still alive?!" he demanded. "My army was supposed to take care of you!"

"Well, we took care of them," I replied, pointing my sword at him. "Now, tell us what's going on, or you're next."

Dyntos glared and charged forward at us.

"Wrong answer."

I twirled Ihsoylr so I was holding the blade behind me and thrust the handle out, smacking Dyntos in the face as soon as he got close. However, he barely flinched, clawing at my chest and leaving a giant rip in my shirt and skin before headbutting me, knocking me over.

"Rylan!" Twilight yelled before trying to hold Dyntos in place with a spell. It failed, as Dyntos fought hard against the spell and charged over to her next, kicking her to the ground. Applejack jumped in, but was fought off as well. I forced myself to my feet and pulled out my knives.

"Let's fight like gentlemen," I said coolly. He glared, flew above me, and dive-bombed me. I barely dodged. "That's not how you fight like a gentleman."

"I won't be defeated so easily!" he yelled. He pulled a sword out from behind him and charged at me. I used my shield to block him.

"What's going on with you?! You were a lot calmer than this yesterday!" I yelled over the sound of metal colliding with metal. "I thought you were going to let us pass through to, you know, save Equestria!"

"You are nothing but weak ponies and an alien who thinks he's a hero," Dyntos grunted. "Putting Equestria's fate on your shoulders is worse than leaving it be!"

I shoved him with my shield, causing him to stumble back. I didn't want to fight back just yet.

"These ponies are the Elements of Harmony and have saved Equestria at least three times in the past! And I'm a human, a legend! What makes you think we can't save Equestria together?!" I blocked another swing of his sword with Ihsoylr, but he quickly turned and cut me across the leg, forcing me to collapse.

"That is a good enough of an example. You cannot defeat me, you cannot defeat whatever threatens Equestria now." He kicked me onto my back, then raised his sword to stab it into my chest. "Farewell, human."

That was when I learned the eighth thing that day...

Author's Notes:

Eeeyup, cliffhanger 'cause I'm a jerk. What was the eighth thing Rylan learned? How will he survive a sword to the chest? What will happen now? Find out next time...whenever I get around to writing the next chapter. Heh...I suck.

Next Chapter Preview:

"What is this?"

"I think it's the human, Alpha."

"Woof woof. I'm a dog."

"Lord Dyntos considers this thing a threat? He must be getting weak."

Chapter 12: It Just Doesn't Work That Way

Stone and metal. That's all I saw when I woke up.

Typical dungeon building materials... my brain said first. Then, it realized what was going on. Crap.

I struggled to sit up, my entire body aching. Looking around, I confirmed that I was, in fact, trapped in a dungeon. Or a jail cell. Or whatever. Something like that. Wherever it was, it was almost completely empty. There wasn't much aside from me and two large wooden planks to be used as beds.

Looking at the bed I wasn't using, I saw Applejack, unconscious and looking as beat up as I felt. Her hat was missing, revealing her filthy mane; her orange coat had been dyed red and brown by blood and dirt; and I literally saw a sharp stone shard stuck in one of her legs.

Seeing her like that made me realize just how helpless we were. She and I were easily the best ones in the group who could hold themselves in a fight, minus Rainbow Dash, who was injured on top of her being missing with half the group. Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were who knows where and had little to no fighting experience, Twilight had her horn broken off, and Spike wasn't dangerous in the least unless a horde of a couple hundred griffons could be taken out by a couple first-degree burns.

We're screwed.

I sat there for...how long? I didn't bother looking at my watch when I woke up, so looking at it later didn't help. Surprisingly, it was still working. It was also the middle of the night.

...we don't even have any hope left, do we? I growled to myself. I try to help my friends. I try to save the world. It looks so easy in games and movies. Just go with the group, pull a few levers, and kill the final boss. Bam, saved, go home. But no. It just doesn't work that way in real life.

I thought for a moment. At this point, there are three possibilities as to what's happened. Possibility one: Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy are somehow safe and the Resistance is still fighting. Possibility two: Everypony is dead, we're captured, the Resistance is gone, and we're all gonna die. Possibility three: The Resistance has already won and will be here any second to break us out. I paused my thoughts. At this point, it's probably number two, but number one still has a slim chance.

I looked over at Applejack. With both of us beat up like this, there's no way we're getting out of here...not both of us. I stood up and limped over to her bed, kneeling beside her unconscious form. After plucking out the small stone embedded in her leg, I put my hand on her back and focused, eyes closed.

In a matter of seconds, I felt the wave of pain wash over me, as my entire body doubled – if not more – in the amount of bruises, cuts, and aches it was holding for me. I bit back a scream and kept myself on my feet enough to lumber back to my own bed.

"Ya didn't have to do that, ya know."

I turn my head to Applejack, who was awake, albeit barely. One eye was open, but it was clear it wanted to close.

"I know I didn't have to. I still did it." I shrugged, even though it hurt to do so. "Problem?"

She hesitated a bit. "No..."

"Didn't think so." I sighed and looked over at the bars, as though they held answers to our predicament. "Now, what do we do next?"

"Ah...don't know, Rylan. Ah don't know."

I paused. "...neither do I." I paused again. "Wait."

"Rylan?"

"Applejack, think about it." I turned to her, as much as it hurt. "You're fully healed, if a bit tired. Sooner or later, someone will come check on us. That someone will likely open the cell door, expecting us to be too tired and injured to move."

Her eyes widened, and her frown became a smirk. "How long did it take ya to think of this?"

I raised an eyebrow. "It's a basic escape plan, AJ. Take out the magic healing, and really, this has been done millions of times."

Her face reddened. "Er...Ah guess."

"Now we wait." I sat down and sighed. Suddenly, I realized something. "Hold on a moment..."

Applejack looked at me curiously as I got up, barely able to walk, and started examining the bars and door. Something about it seemed off, but I didn't know why.

"Huh..." I knocked on the bars that made up the door and received a tinging noise. I knocked on the bars that made up the wall and received the same noise. "I don't get it..."

"What?" Applejack asked.

"Something...I don't know..." I scratched my chin. "The metal...something about it seems...weird."

"Weird? How so?" She stood up and walked over to me and the bars, tapping them with her hoof.

"I don't know. Just something about them feels...I don't know. Familiar." I thought for a bit. "And...evil."

"Evil?"

"Kind of like the creatures I've cured," I explained. "This may just be me wildly guessing here, but I think...sometime recently...True Force – or one of his corrupted minions – came into contact with these bars." A realization hit me, and a smirk crossed my face. "And I think I know how."

Originally, we planned to just wait for someone to come by, but after an hour, we got bored. So I got a better idea.

"Finally, it worked!" I yelled as loudly as I could. "Go get help, Applejack! Don't let them catch you!"

Ten seconds later, one of the griffon guards burst into the dungeon and ran over to my cell. I was crouched, looking underneath one of the so-called beds, as if there was an escape tunnel underneath. The guard opened the cell door and ran over to me, shoved me out of the way, and peered underneath.

Instead of an escape tunnel, he saw Applejack's smirk. "Hey there," she greeted before she punched him in the face, knocking him out.

She crawled out from under the bed while I dumped the guard on one of the beds and took his keys. We traded a high-five (well, more of a high-hoof for her, but you know what I mean) and headed out. I locked the cell behind us so the guard couldn't escape.

"Ya sure ya can walk alright?" Applejack asked, concerned. I could see why; even an hour of rest hadn't done much to quell the pain.

"No," I answered honestly. "But I don't have a choice."

She sighed. "Once we get outta here, yer takin' a rest."

"Yes, ma'am."

We ran through the corridors (well, she ran; I limped quickly) as we looked for a way out. We couldn't find anything, nor could we tell where we were. I suggested breaking out by punching through the stone walls, but she said that wouldn't be a good idea, even if it was plausible. I think the blood loss was catching up to me and making it harder to think.

"You know, any moment now, the guard will wake up and yell for help, and we'll have every griffon in this building after us," I realized. "We gotta move fast."

"Ah'm trying!" she shot back. "Not mah fault Ah don't know where the exit is!"

I suddenly stopped. After realizing I wasn't moving, Applejack screeched to a halt and walked over to me. "What is it?" she asked.

"We don't need the exit," I said with a smirk. "We just need the kitchen."

Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Uh...am Ah missing something here?"

"No, but I am. My knives, specifically. That leaves us without much defense, fisticuffs aside. If we can find the kitchen, I can get two new knives, and we'll be better equipped."

"How does that help us find a way out?"

"Hostage situations. Never work for the villain, always work for the hero. I watch a lot of movies." With that, we bolted off again, this time looking for a kitchen of sorts.

An hour of running later, we found it. Well, not the kitchen exactly, but rather a little room with only the required utensils to make anything remotely edible. Likely where they prepared the prison food.

There were two griffons in the room, unfortunately. Knowing we couldn't sneak past them, we decided to fight. Applejack charged into the room and bucked one in the stomach, winding him and causing the other to try and fight back. This was all the diversion I needed to run in, punch the other griffon in the jaw, and gaze around the room quickly.

I didn't see any knives at first, so I just went for a giant pot lid that I smashed over the head of one of the griffons. He fell over, unconscious, but the other grabbed me by the throat with one claw. Applejack was held in the other.

"How did you two escape?" he growled.

"One of your guards is a traitor," I lied. "In fact, isn't that him?" I pointed at the empty doorway. The griffon turned to look, and I used the momentary distraction to reach for something, anything, within arm's reach. I grabbed a spatula, mentally shrugged, and knocked him on the back of the head with the handle. He dropped the two of us, and I hit him again, knocking him out.

"Quick thinking," Applejack remarked.

"Could've done better if I had another few seconds," I replied, opening drawers. Finally, I found two knives, exactly the same size as my own that I lost. Slipping one into my shoe and keeping the other in my hand, I went out the door, Applejack following.

Now armed, I felt more confident, and we were ready when the griffons came for us. We didn't kill any – not on purpose, at least – but we knocked them out and tried to figure out where they came from, hoping that would lead us to the exit.

Finally, we got outside, through what seemed to be a side door locked from the inside. It was just turning morning, and we had ponies to find. Using our limited memory of the city, we headed for the hospital to see if there was anything left over. There wasn't.

"Now what?" I asked, though I knew Applejack wouldn't have an answer. Sure enough, she just shrugged. "We don't know where the Griffon Resistance hideout is, we don't know where our friends are, and for crying out loud we don't even know where we are!"

"We're in front of the hospital-"

"I know that!" I grabbed my head in annoyance and growled. "What I mean is that we don't know where to go! And if we stay out here too long, we'll get caught!"

Applejack sighed. "Ah don't know what to do, Rylan. We need to find our friends, but we also need to find a way back to the hideout...Ah don't know where either of those are."

I felt a tap on my shoulder. Panicking, I turned and swung my fist, punching a familiar griffon in the face. I blinked as I watched him grumble a few choice words under his breath before turning to face me, a grin on his face.

"If you didn't want my help, you could've just said so," Stalwart chuckled. He motioned with his head. "Hideout's this way, if you're willing to follow."

Chapter 11: The Griffon Resistance

Just before Dyntos thrust his sword into my chest, I heard a crashing noise. It was enough of a noise to distract Dyntos for a split second. That's all I needed.

I grabbed the blade of his sword and pushed, sending him stumbling backwards. I staggered to my feet, still weak from the battle we just had. Suddenly, I felt a pair of talons grasp my shoulders.

"You okay?" a somewhat familiar voice asked from behind me. I grunted. "Quick, come with us. No time to lose."

I put Ihsoylr and my shield away and looked around the room. Dyntos was being held down by two other griffons, but he was struggling hard and would probably be free soon. Three other griffons were escorting Twilight, Applejack, and Spike outside.

"What's going on?" I demanded weakly as the griffon helped me walk. When someone's cut your leg with a sword, it's a lot harder to move.

"We're making our first move," the griffon replied. "You gotta come with us. We'll take you to our B.O."

"...what?"

"Base of Operations. I complained about the name too, but our leader ignored me. C'mon."

I didn't pay much attention to what happened next. I know another griffon saw my condition and carried my weapons for me, making it easier to move. It felt like we were walking slowly, but we were definitely making progress.

My vision started to blur, and I collapsed again as everything faded to black.

The eighth thing I learned today was that I get more sleep from blacking out than I do from just sleeping.

...what? You thought it'd be something important? Well, way to get your hopes up. It's me. What do you expect?

I don't know how long I slept, but it was too long.

I awoke looking up at a stone ceiling. I heard a few ponies – or griffons – talking in what sounded like a nearby room. I groaned as I sat up. My leg had bandages roughly wrapped around it, trying to cover the wound caused by Dyntos's blade. Looking around, I saw that the room I was in was small; it had nothing but a cot I was lying on, my items in the corner, a wooden door, and a small bedside table with an empty glass on it.

Probably had water or something in it that they were giving me while I slept, I thought to myself as I picked up the glass. There were still little drops of liquid in it. I put it back and checked myself.

Aside from the bandaged leg injury and any other wounds I had from the entire trip so far, I was fine. My knives had been returned to my shoes and my other stuff was within easy access, so I figured I was safe. I sighed in relief and opened the wooden door.

It led to a hallway, which I was at one end of. Along the hallway were a couple of other doors that likely led to rooms just like the one I came from. One larger door at the end, however, caught my attention.

The muffled voices seemed to be coming from behind it. I walked up to it and listened. The door was thick, though, and I couldn't eavesdrop, so I just shrugged and knocked loudly. The speaking stopped, and a few seconds later, the door opened and a griffon's face peeked out.

"He's awake!" the griffon called back into the room before opening the door and motioning for me to enter. I walked inside, limping due to my leg, and looked around.

The room was full of griffons. There were at least ten or fifteen of them, and along with them were Twilight, Applejack, and Spike. The dragon and earth pony were awake, though they looked a little exhausted and beat up. Twilight was out cold, and something wrong with her made me do a double take.

Her horn had been broken off.

The base of her horn remained, not bleeding or dangling off of her forehead or anything like that. The rest of her horn, though, from the tip to about two-thirds of the way down, was gone.

"We got attacked on the way back, and one of Dyntos's followers snapped it off," the griffon behind me explained. He walked in front of me and waved a talon. The other griffons all assembled into a line, no longer blocking the way between me and my friends.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked, surprisingly calmly. I looked at the griffon in confusion. "And why do I feel like I've seen you before?"

He extended his claw. "Caboose, leader of the Griffon Resistance, at your service."

Caboose...oh yeah, one of the guys I beat up when I first got here. Small world. I hesitantly shook his claw with my hand. Wait...

"Griffon Resistance?" I asked, as though I didn't believe him. (I didn't.)

"A group of civilians of Mt. Griffon who don't believe in Dyntos's rule," Caboose clarified. "He didn't know about us before, so we were able to plan in secret to overthrow him. He's been an absolute tyrant for the last few months."

"He's completely changed," one griffon spoke up. "He used to be kind, but...suddenly, he began working us all even harder, executing any slackers, and trying to 'take care of' anyone from outside who came in or near the mountain."

"Didn't he do that previously?" I asked.

"No, he just chased them away or ignored them," Caboose replied, shaking his head. "Something's happened to him, and we want to figure out what."

"I thought you were going to overthrow him?"

"We can't figure out what's happened if he's still in power. If we can take control, we'll have all the time we need to figure out what's going on. If we can fix it, we'll give him back the throne."

"It was going good until yesterday, when we had to reveal ourselves to save you and them," a female griffon added, gesturing to Spike and the two mares. "Then Dyntos found out about us, and now he's looking for us. Thankfully, Caboose had this hiding place planned for such an emergency."

I nodded, understanding so far. Suddenly, I thought of something. "Where are the others?" I asked.

"We have griffon members undercover looking for information outside," Caboose responded.

"No, not other griffons. Ponies. Where are they?" I demanded. "I see Twilight, Applejack, and Spike. Where are the other four?"

Caboose blinked in surprise. "We...didn't find them. They weren't with you."

"Did you check the hospital?"

He shook his head. "If your friends are there, we'll see if we can send someone out to fetch them. But we may not have much time. Unless they could get away and hide, Dyntos would likely have already captured or killed them for...well, being ponies."

Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy could probably have gotten away...but Rainbow, in her current state... "So, why are we here?"

"Hm?"

"Why are we hiding out here and not out there finding them?!" I yelled.

"Rylan, we can't just rush out there in the middle of the city," Spike interrupted. I looked at him. "The entire place is filled with griffons on the hunt for anything not a griffon. Plus, they probably know who the members of the Resistance look like, so we can't send them out."

"Well, screw the griffons, screw the Resistance, and screw the city! If none of you are gonna do anything, then I will!" I shouted back. I walked back through the door I entered through and slammed it shut.

A few seconds later, I opened it again and poked my head through.

"Where's the exit?" I asked casually.

About an hour later, I was sneaking through Mt. Griffon with Applejack and one of the griffons. He said his name was Stalwart, and I said I didn't care what his name was unless it would get the ponies back.

I didn't take all of my weapons, since I knew the more stuff I had, the less sneaky I would be. I just took my knives in my shoes. I hoped we wouldn't actually have to fight anything.

"Where's the hospital?" I whispered to Stalwart. He pointed in one direction, so we headed off that way. You're probably wondering why we went to the hospital if the ponies probably weren't there. Well, with a bit of luck, we'd find some clue as to where they had gone, if they escaped.

If they hadn't escaped, at least we'd know.

When we arrived at the hospital, we hid in a nearby alley with a clear view, keeping behind a small pile of boxes. Looking out, we saw the building was being ransacked by griffons. They were tearing the place up, not finding anything. Applejack swallowed, but I put a hand on her back to keep her steady.

"If they're looking, that means they haven't found the others yet," I whispered. "If nobody was here, then we'd have to worry. For now, we know they're safe."

Applejack nodded, and we looked for a way in. Having Stalwart fly us in a top window would attract too much attention, and there's no way we'd be able to fight our way through. There wasn't any entrance we could see.

"Dammit," I cursed under my breath. "What now?"

"We can't fight and we can't sneak," Stalwart muttered. "What other options do we have?"

"Retreat or give ourselves up," Applejack replied. "Ah don't like either of those options."

"If only we could somehow impersonate one of Dyntos's guards, we could just walk by them," I grumbled. "Of course, it's hard to pretend you're something a completely different species than you."

"I could try it, but I don't really look like a griffon guard," Stalwart mentioned.

I looked at him, then at the guards. "Do griffons look different to each other, but not ponies and humans? Because all griffons look alike to me if they don't have facial hair or different genders."

"And Ah bet all humans would look the same ta me," Applejack snipped.

"Touché."

"We'll have to create a diversion of some sort," Stalwart said, putting his claw to his chin...do beaks have a chin? I never bothered researching.

"A diversion? Oh, that's easy," I said. "Just make some noise."

"Unless we're going to give ourselves away, all we could do is make just enough noise to get a few guards to notice us," Stalwart replied. "We need all of them to notice us, not a few. There must be twenty guards there."

"Then we'll work our way up." I picked up one of the boxes we were hiding behind and climbed over the wall. Moving swiftly to avoid being noticed too early, I pulled the giant box over myself and hid under it. "Now, make enough noise to get a few guards over here, and then hide," I called out to them.

I don't know what they did, but I heard a few loud thumping noises, so it sounded like Applejack was bucking a wall or something. I couldn't tell if it worked at first, but after a moment, I heard footsteps. Or rather, talon steps.

"Around here?" a muffled female voice asked. I heard another grunt in confirmation. "I don't see anything, Sigma. I think your old age is catching up to you."

"I heard it too, Omega," another voice chimed in. This one was scratchy and hurt my ears to hear.

"Well, I didn't," the female – apparently named Omega – snapped back. "Let's just get back to our posts."

Before they could move, I reached out, grabbed a leg, and swung hard in the direction of Stalwart and Applejack. I heard the scratchy voice from before scream, and the sound of crashing boxes.

Since just kicking a wall won't get all the guards over here, maybe that will!

While the three griffons began yelling at each other for the griffon I grabbed screaming and him claiming he was attacked, I slowly snuck away, Solid Snake-style.

Well, not really. I tried, but after a moment, I felt the box lifted off of my body, and I looked up to see the three guards, looking at me with both annoyance and amusement.

"You could've at least let me throw the box off myself to make it look more awesome," I complained.

"Get him," Omega sighed. Sigma and the other guard looked at each other, shrugged, and hoisted me up by the shoulders. The guards ransacking the hospital came over, leaving it open.

"What is this?" one of the guards asked. He seemed to be the captain.

"I think it's the human, Alpha," Omega replied. She looked at me.

"Woof woof. I'm a dog," I said dully. Many claws met faces.

"Lord Dyntos considers this thing a threat?" Alpha groaned. "He must be getting weak."

"To be fair, there was only one of him, and he didn't take me by surprise," I stated. Alpha sighed in annoyance. "So...this is the part where you kill me, right?"

"Yes," Omega growled, holding her claw to my throat.

"Hold on," Alpha ordered. He stepped forward. "Human, I am willing to make a deal with you."

"Sorry, I don't have any money."

"I don't care about money, human. I care about information."

"You know what I care about? My name. Rylan. Call me that rather than 'human'. It makes me feel like I'm being interrogated by aliens." Which I technically am...

"Fine, Rylan. Tell me where your friends are, and we may let you off easy." Alpha looked like he was getting even angrier.

"I don't know." I shrugged as well as I could while being held up by my shoulders.

"Tell me!" he demanded.

"No, seriously, I don't know."

"I am running out of patience!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Well, if that's the case, you shouldn't be destroying the hospital."

He paused. "What?"

"You're losing your patients."

There was a pause, suddenly followed by various griffons laughing as they caught on. Alpha glared at them, silencing them.

"You want to play that way, I see," he grunted.

"The way with puns? Yes. I like that way. It makes me laugh."

"I mean the hard way."

"Sorry, I'm straight."

"SHUT UP!" Alpha was really losing it. "Why must you torment me so!"

I glared. "You're holding me prisoner, yelling at me, demanding answers, and trying to kill me and my friends. And yet you accuse me of tormenting you?"

He punched me in the face. "Where. Are. The. Ponies."

Ignoring my bleeding nose, I just shook my head. "I told you, I don't know. If they're not in there, I have no idea. I'm out here looking for them anyway."

"Alpha, I think he's telling the truth," one griffon piped up from near the back, working his way to the front. Alpha glared at him. "If his friends were with him, why would he be out here all alone?"

"Exactly!" I voiced my agreement. "Out of curiosity, sir, can I call you Logic? That seems to be your skill."

He smirked. "Actually, my name's Stalwart."

PLOT TWIST! How did I not recognize him? ...oh right, every griffon looks the same to me.

Suddenly, I felt one of the griffons holding me up get bucked forward, and my left arm was freed. I punched the other griffon, forcing him to let me go, and rolled back away from the crowd as Stalwart raked his claw across Alpha's face.

Well, apparently griffons CAN'T tell each other apart that easily, I thought as I caught my breath. I looked to my side and saw a certain orange earth pony looking at me.

"This part of yer plan?" Applejack yelled at me over the commotion as we got into the brawl.

"No, but if you managed to check the hospital, it works!" I shouted back as I kicked one griffon in the chest. However, I made the mistake of kicking with my bad leg, meaning I ended up not doing much aside from hurting it more.

"Stalwart flew in and checked while Ah waited here. Nothing!"

"Well, then buck," I grunted as I punched a male griffon between the legs. He stumbled backwards, knocking into another. I used this brief open moment to pull out my knives. "Once we're done here, we'll have to look all over the city."

"That might not be very easy," Stalwart yelled, flying back beside me. "This fight's bound to attract attention. Even if we wrap it up quickly, we'll be lucky to get away before some other griffons find us."

"Then you go look!" I yelled, slashing another griffon's wing. "If we're doomed to get caught, don't let it be all of us!"

"I won't leave either of you behind," Stalwart replied through gritted teeth.

"Yes you will," I ordered. "We're in a lose-lose situation here. Either we lose this battle, or we win and get into another, and the cycle repeats indefinitely. Unless we can somehow take down literally the entire kingdom, we're dead meat."

"Rylan's right!" Applejack shouted, joining us. "Stalwart, ya go find the others! Tell 'em what happened to us, and finish the job!"

"Us?" I glared. "AJ, you're going with him!"

"No can do, sugarcube," she said with a smirk.

"Yes can do, sugarcube!" I stabbed one griffon guard in the throat. "Go with Stalwart and get out of here! I'll down as many of these guys as I can!"

"With a leg and mindset like the ones ya got, yer gonna need help," Applejack retorted. She bucked one griffon in the head as he stumbled forward.

"Rylan, I think she has a point," Stalwart insisted. "Besides, if she came with me, it'd make us easier to spot and get us in this exact situation again. And if we split up, it'd just defeat the point of gathering all the ponies!"

"Fine, do whatever you want!" I shouted, tired of arguing. "Just do it!"

Stalwart flew off without a word. Two griffon guards tried to fly after him, but I threw my knives at them. One knife missed completely, but the other nailed one of them in the side. He fell down, and the other guard forgot about Stalwart to fly down and help his buddy.

And now I had no weapons.

"Rylan!" Applejack yelled. I felt myself being tackled down by a griffon, and he – or she, I couldn't tell – restrained my arms. I struggled, but couldn't do anything. A grunt and thud from a few feet away told me that Applejack was in a similar predicament.

"Take 'em to the dungeon!" Alpha's voice called out, sounding much more pained. "We'll deal with them later. We need to find the other ponies!"

Something hit me in the back of my head, and I blacked out once again.

Next Chapter Preview:

"Ya didn't have to do that, ya know."

"I know I didn't have to. I still did it. Problem?"

"No..."

"Didn't think so. Now, what do we do next?"

"Ah...don't know, Rylan. Ah don't know."

"...neither do I."