Close Bonds: Chapter Thirty-Two

"You... You can take me to him. Right?"

You're lost in the giant's eyes. Clayton's eyes. You snap out of it, nodding to him in affirmation.

"Today?" he anxiously questions.

Again, you nod. "Yeah. I dunno if he's home right now, but I--"

You're interrupted by shouts from behind you. You look over your shoulder to find that the crowd has gotten larger. They keep their distance as they eye you warily, the only thing between them and the two of you being the group of guards steadily approaching.

"Creature!" one of the guards, a unicorn mare, shouts. "By direct order of the princesses, we order you to stand down!"

You look back at Clayton. He stares at the group, his brown eyes widening in fear.

"Step away from the filly!" one of the stallions in the group adds. "Come peacefully! We mean you no harm, and would like to avoid using force if at all possible!"

"They've been chasing me..." he says under his breath, barely above a whisper. "They've been tracking me down for days, hunting me like... like some kind of animal. Those... horses, with the horns on their heads." He points towards the mare who spoke first. "They have some kind of witchcraft. They tried to put a spell on me. Oh, Jesus, you gotta help me."

He begins to shake. Despite his size, the giant looks frail. Weak. His eyes dart back and forth between you and the squad of guards with an unsteady gaze, sometimes flickering in the direction of the tree line off in the distance.

He shouldn't have anything to fear, right? The Guard is meant to protect good ponies, and the princesses are nice. Nothing bad happened to Ivan when they caught him, right? Then again, you really don't know what they did to him. He never really talked about it. Another thing that worries you are the marks on Clayton's hands... Knuckles, you think they're called. They look like the same ones Ivan had when he got into that fight with your dad.

Which means that he punched something. Or somepony. He could be in trouble now.

He takes a step back, looking as if he might dart off with or without you. You see the muscles in his legs tense up; you know what happens next, and you don't want to lose sight of him.

"Go!" you shout, taking to the air in a dead sprint. You don't check to see if he's with you; you can hear the giant's footsteps relentlessly pound the grass below, the wind rushing by as both of you make for a patch of trees nearby.

A beam of light whistles as it shoots past. You get tunnel vision as different types of spells whizz by, some popping midair and forcing you to dodge the explosions and resulting magic fragments. You begin to feel the familiar tug of telekinesis. You yank your hooves away from different colored auras before they can get a firm grasp on you. You look beside you to see Clayton doing the same.

About a hundred yards to go...

This human is almost hard to keep up with. His long, lanky legs take swift strides, his arms pumping in tune. In the distance, you hear wingbeats.

Seventy-five yards...

Clayton shouts. Out of the corner of your eye, you see something glowing a bright red. A quick glance shows you that it's his arm. He clutches it with his other hand, the limb pulsing with possibly harmful magic.

"Jesus H. Christ!" he yells. His arm attempts to straighten out automatically, and he fights to keep it in check. Veins pop out of his arm as his tricep flexes out into a stiff horseshoe, looking like the worst cramp you've ever seen.

You flap harder. You go faster. You watch more carefully for magic bolts. You don't want to get hit by that.

Fifty yards...

The sound of wingbeats looms over you. The hair on the back of your neck sticks up.

You let out a yelp when you're almost kicked in the head by a hoof. You take a dive, trying to gain what little speed you can while avoiding the guard above you.

He's a much better flyer than you are. There's no way you're gonna be able to avoid him.

Luckily, his attention seems to be more on Clayton. The human attempts to bat him off, but it's slowing him down.

More pegasi are approaching. The two of you need to get to those trees.

Twenty-five yards...

You're so close. Just a little further...

Suddenly, you feel it. A pressure in the small of your back, which spreads to accommodate for your wings, legs, and everywhere else.

You feel your pegasus magic attempt to fight off the unicorn magic, but to no avail. You feel extremely sluggish. You're still flying forward at breakneck speed, but now you're starting to take a descent.

Your mind screams at you to get those limbs working: to try to stick out your hooves to break your fall, anything. Yet, the only thing you can do is close your eyes as the ground approaches you at a frightening pace.

"Help..." is all you manage to utter.

You don't even have the energy to shield your face.

Suddenly, a set of hands grips you around your waist. You're yanked back up into the air, and placed in the crook of the human's arm.

Clayton groans, and you can guess why; the grip in his left hand feels a lot weaker than his right, and the case is probably the same for the entire arm as well. The arm he holds you with seems to be experiencing frequent spasms, and all of his fingers writhe independent of one another like dying worms. The sight makes you uncomfortable, yet you can't deny that those very same appendages are what likely saved you from a ton of broken bones.

Ten yards...

You're almost there now. The pegasi won't be able to navigate those trees at full speed, and if Clayton can keep running this fast all the way through, there's no way the unicorns or earth ponies will catch him.

It's just now that you hear a loud clunk. Your heart stops for a moment as a jerk sends you almost hurtling towards the ground.

A pegasus hovers above the two of you, smacking Clayton with a long wooden stick. That last hit managed to land square on the back of his skull. He grimaces, but makes no move to disarm the guard. You're so close already, if you can just make it to the treeline...

Suddenly, a group of three pegasi swoop down in front of you, blocking your path. They all hold wooden sticks in their hooves, and they all look ready to strike.

Clayton doesn't stop. He doesn't slow down a bit.

Each pegasus readies themselves in their own way, getting ready to strike.

Clayton continues to barrel towards the one in the middle. You whimper, and do everything a practically paralyzed pony can do to brace for whatever comes next.

Suddenly, at the last moment possible, Clayton jumps to the left. The guard on the end looks surprised, but nonetheless quickly takes her swing.

Clayton puts his left shoulder up, attempting to shield the side of his face. The stick glances off of his shoulder, then smacks him in the ear.

In the split second that follows, Clayton takes a wild swing. The guard, expecting this, ducks off to the side, easily avoiding the punch. Dodging his fist turns into a compromise, however, as she ends up getting slammed into by the full force of the giant's body.

The next moment flies by in a blur. The three of you tumble over one another, Clayton's momentum carrying you another few yards before you finally come to rest.

You lie on the ground, unable to move. Hoofsteps sound off in the distance. The pegasus mare lies on her side, eyes clenched with every pained, wheezing breath. Clayton seems to be unconscious.

What a mess...

You hear some other pegasus guards touch down. They take cautious hoofsteps toward the mess of injured bodies.

Suddenly, the human's eyes pop open.

He turns, getting into a pseudo-sitting position, and begins kicking at the pegasus guards. One of them drops his wooden stick and unsheathes a knife.

In a flash, he jumps up to his feet and begins running, scooping you up with him as he goes. More shooting, more wind rushing by, but you don't pay as much attention to that as much as to the trees dodging left and right, in and out of your sight.

Hm... The guards seem to be busy today...

You're walking around Ponyville, currently trying to decide what to do with your time until it gets closer to dark.

You're cooking dinner tonight, aren't you? Which means that you should probably be home in a few hours to prepare it... Although it would probably be a good idea to eat up that leftover spaghetti tonight. Waste not want not, after all.

It's hard to tell if you're really planning out your schedule based around dinner or if you're just trying to avoid the house for as long as possible. Both, maybe?

A sudden flash of green light just a few feet from your face causes you to almost jump backwards. Before you materializes a scroll, held together with a small patch that bears a familiar insignia.

Twilight's cutiemark.

It hangs in the air for a moment, before whatever anti-gravity magic was placed on it begins to wear off and it drifts towards the ground. You catch it before it gets too low, peeling off the sticker and unrolling the scroll to read what's inside. When you do so, what looks to be a box of matches and a large white feather with a weight and string attached fall out from the rolled-up piece of paper, both objects hitting the dirt by your feet with a soft plop!

Whoops.

You pick the objects back up, holding them in your idle hand while reading whatever's in the letter Twilight sent you.

Ivan, pease please get to your house ASAP. No time to Will explain when you get there. Write a letter to me one once you are home on any iece piece of paper, then burn it with the matches provided. Keep the feather on you at al times, it is one of Princess Celestia's wing feathers and it will allow me to locate you easier.

Signed, Twilight

Well, shit. Four strike-throughs, a misspelled word and the letter is barely formatted. Yeah, you'd better get hustling.

You fold up the letter and stuff it and the matchbox into your pocket. You assume the string was meant to act as some sort of necklace, so you slip your head through and begin your jog home.

While on the way, you notice that a lot of the guards running about seem to be eyeing you warily. Most of the time, their eyes land on the necklace you're wearing before they give you a look and go on their way.

Damn, why these ponies always gotta be after the hue-man? You thought there was no more prejudice in Ponyville.

You make it back to your house in about fifteen minutes. The unusual amount of activity in town, combined with the suspicious glances and Twilight's letter all serve to make you anxious, and you get inside as soon as you can. You need to know what's going on.

You get inside, shutting the door behind you and looking around. No one appears to be home.

You quickly make your way to the counter, setting the matchbox down and begin searching for a paper and pencil.

You sit down with your writing utensils, and set to work on your letter.

Dear Twilight,

"Ivan?"

You turn around in your seat. In the opening to the hallway stands Rainbow Dash. Her fur and mane are tangled, her eyes are slightly red, and tear stains line her cheeks. She looks like she's been crying.

You feel the familiar pang of guilt in your chest, followed by a torrent of other emotions that just leave you confused and unsure of what to do.

She approaches you, treading lightly and never breaking eye contact with you the whole way. Those mournful eyes make you sick to your stomach the longer you look at them.

"Ivan, can we... Can we talk?"

Oh, God, not now... Why now?

You hate yourself for what you have to say next. "Rainbow, I really wish I could right now, but something's going on."

She remains silent, opting to continue giving you that same stare. It seems accusing, as if daring you to explain yourself. You hurriedly produce Twilight's letter, unfolding it and holding it out for her to read.

"I got this from Twilight about twenty minutes ago," you explain. "I don't know what it is, but something's going on outside. The guards are rushing people inside their houses, I'm getting weird looks and, well... If whatever this is concerns me..."

You let it hang in the air for a bit. Finally, Rainbow breaks her stoic gaze, sighing. She nods, a look of understanding crossing her face.

You don't want to show it, but relief floods through you. "Thanks, Rainbow," you say, stepping off of your seat and kneeling down to give her a hug. She returns it, if somewhat reluctantly. "We'll talk as soon as we can, alright?"

"Alright," she says. She nuzzles your cheek. "See what's up with Twilight. I kind of want to know now, too."

You sense a tint of worry in your voice. You nod, nuzzling her in return, before going back to your letter.

Dear Twilight,

I'm at my house now. There's a bit of commotion outside. Rainbow and I would like to know what's going on.

Signed,

Ivan

You pull out one of the matches. Instead of a red tip like you're used to, there's a green tip. It seems to correspond with the bright green flame that erupts when you strike it against the box. As the Twilight instructed, you light the corner of the paper. The two of you watch, interested, as it consumes the letter much faster than a normal fire would. Seeing as how it leaves no ash behind, you let it drop onto the countertop along with the original match.

"So, I guess now we just wait," you say.

The two of you sit in awkward silence for a minute. Rainbow Dash gestures toward the couch after a bit, to which you nod back. You move everything to the coffee table, and you and Rainbow sit down and wait, albeit a bit pensively.

Another ball of green flame erupts over the coffee table. You instinctively reach out to catch the scroll as it falls, immediately opening it up to view the contents.

This one's much longer. You lay it open on the coffee table for Rainbow to get a look as well, and begin to read.

Dear Ivan,

Thank you for responding according to my instructions. Included in this letter will be a brief run-down of everything I can immediately think of about the situation at hoof, as well as more intsructions should any of the given situations happen.

First off, the letters I am currently sending are being sent to you through the matchbox. Since the matches are reusable and usually arrive with the letters, I will be using the matches instead of mine or Spike's magic for both convenience and so that you have a steady supply of matches on hoof. We will likely be doing a lot of communicating this way for the next few hours or so.

You look at the coffee table. Beside the scroll lies a little match with a green tip; the one you used to send your letter to Twilight.

Huh. You hadn't noticed that.

Should you lose the matchbox in some way, I can still send letters to you through Celestia's feather. I can also send letters to you without it, however this is much more tedious for me. Also, in my hurrying I forgot to mention in the last letter that there is a small bag attached to the feather. Inside the bag is a pill that I need you to swallow. This pill, along with the feather, will allow me to accurately pinpoint your location at all times. The pill will wear off in a week, and the feather will not likely be needed after today. Still, until I say so, keep it on you.

You pick up the bag that you'd previously thought was some sort of weight. There's a string tied around the opening. You untie it and tip the opening over your palm, and out falls a pill. A humongous white pill.

"Uhh, Dash?" you ask, turning to the blue horse by your side.

"Water?" she asks, knowingly.

You gulp. "Yeah."

She takes off into the kitchen. You look back at the scroll and continue reading.

Keep the feather in sight at all times. It allows the Ponyville Guard to recognize that you are not a threat.

Follow the orders of the Guard, but to your discretion. They may confiscate the feather; try not to allow them to. If you feel you are in trouble, drop the feather; once the distance between you and the feather becomes substantial, I will be alerted and will be prepared to neutralize the threat. And yes, this includes the Ponyville Guard.

No matter the circumstances, I will be arriving with an METD squad shortly, as well as Canterlot Guard if necessary.

METD, short for "Magical Entity Threat Disposal." You don't know a whole lot about them, but you do know that they're highly militarized. And they're coming to Ponyville, possibly along with the Canterlot Guard.

The Ponyville Guard isn't enough, it seems. Although from what you've read in the letter, they may pose their own problem.

"Here," Rainbow says, placing a glass of water down on the table along with a knife. "The knife is so you can cut it in half."

"Thanks," you say. "Also, you're going to want to read this."

While you cut the pill into two and painfully swallow each half, Rainbow Dash reads the letter.

When she's caught it up with you, she looks up, wide-eyed. "The METD? Holy crap."

You nod your agreement while you finish off your glass of water.

"And... And... Another human?! Ivan, you're surprisingly calm about all this..."

The shock of what she says hits you like a sledgehammer. You stand stock still for a moment.

"I... What?"

Rainbow Dash places a hoof on a line of text. "Yeah, it says right here—"

Your hands slam on the wooden tabletop next to the letter, causing the pegasus to jump in her seat. You pay her no mind, your thoughts running a mile a minute when you read the next line:

Now, to fill you in on what's going on. An entity, one that has been described as having characteristics matching that of a human, stepped through the portal and into our world. One of the guards stationed by the portal has sustained minor injuries in attempting to apprehend the entity. What we can only assume is a human is now running about in Ponyville, and is acting much more wildly and irrationally than you had upon your arrival. I would appreciate advice on how to approach the human, as well as...

You don't read the rest. You slump back in the couch, suddenly feeling really dizzy.

"Ivan? You uh, you need another glass of water, or...?"

Your reply comes out as little more than a whisper. "Dash..."

"Yeah, big guy?"

You stare off into space. "There's another human in Equestria, Rainbow. Another human," you repeat, more to yourself than to her.

"I know. I read it in the letter. And can you stop making that face? It's creepin' me out..."

"I... I need to find them." You sit up abruptly. "Talk to them. Meet them. Is it someone I know? Is it—"

"Woah, woah, woah." You suddenly realize that Rainbow Dash is sitting on your lap. She presses her hooves against your shoulders, holding you against the couch. "Hold on, guy. Twilight told us to wait here."

"But I need—"

"Hey. Listen to me." Your wild, shifty eyes are caught in her pools of violet. You attempt to break free of her hold, but the stare she gives you pins you back more than anything else does.

"Ivan. Settle. Down." She gives a deep sigh through her nose, the hot gusts of air blowing into your face and serving to soothe your nerves a bit. You take a deep breath as well, and attempt to do what she says.

"Good. Now, Twilight said to stay here, right? That's what we gotta do. We gotta trust her. You trust Twilight, don't you?"

You nod.

"Good. Don't worry about meeting this other human, okay? I know it's a big deal for you—hell, it's a pretty big deal for me, and probably everyone in Ponyville—but seriously, we don't really know what's going on out there. It could be dangerous."

"Twilight said that if I was in danger to just—"

"And another thing. She said she needed your help, right? She wants to do the best she can to make sure we can meet this guy, whoever he—or she is, I guess. She wants to make sure we meet the new human in the safest way possible. Nobody gets hurt: not you, not the other human, not any ponies. Something that they taught us in the Wonderbolts academy was that as a team, we could accomplish things quickly, safely and effectively. Well, none of that's gonna happen if you go rushing out there Ram-Doe style, thinking you can do in ten minutes what the Ponyville Guard has been trying to do for Celestia knows how long and magically find your human. You get me?"

You sit there for a little while longer, considering what she just said. She makes a surprising amount of sense.

It takes a few minutes, but her soothing words, along with just her presence manages to bring you down to a point where you're no longer having tunnel vision.

You let out a deep breath through your nostrils. Rainbow takes in your breath, then releases it just as you're breathing in again. You've noticed her do this before, but you never said anything. It feels good to feel her warm breath on your face, breathing in her scent before releasing it and seeing her do the same. It's relaxing.

"Thanks, Rainbow," you say, and without thinking, pull her into a hug. She hesitates but soon returns the embrace, wrapping her hooves around your neck and resting her chin on your neck.

For a second, you feel as if all is alright in the world. It really isn't though, a hug isn't going to fix all the fighting, all the words you wish you could take back. Ponyville's in chaos, and you might be wanted by the Guard again soon enough. But just for the moment, you'd like to pretend that everything's alright, that you and your love are just lying here in each other's embrace, not a worry or care in the world as you feel her soft fur brush up against your bare skin, her warmth seeping through your skin and heating you to your core.

You're broken out of your fantasy by a succession of loud, rapid knocks.

The two of you freeze for a moment. You gently nudge her off of you.

“You think it’s the Guard?” she asks as you make for the door.

You take a look through the peephole. You see a little orange pegasus, covered from head to hooves in dirt and shifting uncomfortably. “Nope,” you answer while you unlatch the door, “just Scootaloo.”

You open the door for her. “Hey, Scoots,” you greet as you beckon her inside.

“Hey, uh…” She shifts nervously on the porch, noticeably wincing when weight is put on one of her hind hooves. “Listen, I was wondering... how do you know when there’s a human?”

“I… What?”

“Like, do humans all have hands like that? And are there any monkeys that don’t have hair?”

“Scootaloo, why are you asking me this stuff?”

You ask that question, yet you think you know the answer.

No, it couldn’t be. They’re still looking for the other human right now. What are the chances that Scootaloo—

“Well, I think I met a human. He was really tall, was kind of dirty and had some fur on his face, and said his name was Clayton Wal— Wal-something. It was like your name.”

Clayton.

Clayton.

“Clayton?!” you nearly shout. Scootaloo leans back at your outburst, and a few guards outside look in your direction. “Where is he?!”

You try to step outside, but Scootaloo blocks your path. “He’s—He’s not out here. We couldn’t get past all the guards around town, so I told him to wait near the clubhouse.”

That’s all it takes. You don’t even think. You barely register the shouts from behind you as you barrel past. You’re pretty sure you just jumped over Scootaloo, but you don’t care enough to think too hard on it.

Shouting. Male voices this time. More shouting. Hoofsteps, wingbeats. Your feather necklace trails behind you as you speed off towards the farm. All these things do is serve to urge you on.

You turn a corner, and what looks like a whole platoon of guards blocks your path. You simply run off in the other direction, and almost laugh when you hear the whole lot of them attempting to mobilize.

Pegasus guards keep getting near you, swooping down close to your head. Each time one of them gets too close, you swing at them, not really meaning to hit them but letting them know that you’re not gonna let them stop you.

Numerous times you feel the magical grasps of unicorns. It slows you down a bit, especially when they catch hold of your feet or hold down your hands when you’re fighting off a pegasus.

Finally, you find yourself at the gate of Sweet Apple Acres. You have an idea of where the clubhouse is, so you take off towards the west field.

Really, the clubhouse is in the east field. You’re just doing this to get the guards off your ass.

You know Apple land better than any pony in Ponyville, aside from the Apples themselves. It may just look like row upon row of apple tree to most ponies, but therein lies their mistake; as soon as they lose sight of you, you’re gone.

You look behind you as you dart down a row of apple trees. The group of guards is behind you; not overly close, but not far enough for your comfort. Pegasi attempt to track you from above, but if you do it just right, you can confuse them using the trees as cover.

You run straight for a little bit. Some pegasi have locked onto you, and you can hear the ground troops yelling things like, “I see him! Down here!”

You suddenly swerve off to your right. Instead of jumping into the next row of trees, however, you jump behind a single tree and quickly scramble up into its branches.

Shouts. Ponies run by you, and you hear pegasi swooping in low. At first, they all seem to congregate around the area you disappeared, peering around tree trunks and even searching in the trees themselves. Some ponies come dangerously close to spotting you, a few even seeming to look directly at you for a few heart-stopping moments. Fortunately, an ample branch covering and the lack of lighting through the foliage may have saved you.

Thirty minutes pass, and you’re still having trouble reining in your breathing. You haven’t run like that since you were on the high school track team; hell, you probably never even ran this hard then.

For the most part, it seems as if the guards have moved on. You hear occasional voices and hoofsteps, but for the most part they’re far away. It should be safe to come out from hiding.

You check one last time to make sure that no one’s around, then climb down from the tree. You stay low, darting from tree trunk to tree trunk as you move along the west field. If you move quickly and stay under cover, you should be safe; as far as they know, you could be anywhere in this vast two hundred and fifty acre farm.

For once, Applejack’s constant bragging about her apple farm has actually done you some good.

Crossing the entire west field takes awhile. By the time you’ve reached the main path connecting the gate to the house, the sun is setting. Traffic down the dirt path looks to have increased, as the road looks to be well-traversed by guard ponies. In the direction of the house, you can hear the sound of Applejack raising her voice at a pair of guards.

Sounds like they’ve contacted the Apples.

“Well, Ah’ll be darned! A million and one guards, and it takes an old green mare and her little grandfilly to find the monkey!”

You nearly jump out of your skin. You spin to face the voice.

“Hey Ivan!” Apple Bloom waves from beside Granny Smith.

“Buh… What?”

The old pony waves her walker at you. “Don’t play dumb with us, young colt! You’ve been causin’ a mighty ruckus ‘round here, an’ Ah’m keen on findin’ out just what my favorite little monkey’s gotten into!”

You’re still shocked, and are extremely unsure of how to respond. So, you answer with the thought that most immediately pops into your mind: “How the hell did you find me?”

You receive a whack in the head by one of Granny Smith’s walker legs. “Language, boy! An’ us Apples know our land better ‘n anypony—” She stops herself, looking you up and down. “Er, anything in Equestria!”

Apple Bloom rolls her eyes. “Granny was readin’ me a story out in the orchard when we saw you bein’ chased up a tree like a squirrel.”

The green mare clicks her tongue. “Why ya gotta go an’ tell ‘im the nitty-gritty details…”

“So, what? The guards just let you stay out here during their manhunt?”

“Uh, not really…” The filly’s eyes once again wander towards her grandma.

“Ah fought ‘em off with every last bit o’ me, hooves an’ teeth included!” A pair of dentures pops out of her mouth as she says this.

“Uh, Granny?”

“Don’t worry, filly! The dirt’ll come right off!” She picks up the dentures and wipes them on her coat. Some of the dirt comes off, but most of it just goes into her mouth along with the false teeth.

You watch for a moment, slightly worried about the mare, but then shake your head. “Granny, I… I’m not really sure what to think of what’s going on here right now, but I really need to get moving.”

“Oh, don’t you worry ‘bout nothin’, feller. Me an’ the filly are here to help you!”

You look back and forth between the smiling pair. “Uh…”

“Fugitive or not, you’re still mah favorite monkey, an’ I’ll give you safe harbor in these fields for as long as ya like! Heck, I had my fair share of days as a young filly hiding from the ponice—”

“I really don’t think I’m gonna be here long, Granny. I just need to get to the north field as soon as possible, and then I’ll be gone.”

Apple Bloom pipes up. “You goin’ to the clubhouse?”

A lump travels down your throat. She knows. You really have no other option than to just admit the truth, do you? “Yeah.”

You can trust these two. You think.

“Going around the house is probably safer, but if you cross this here road there’s a shortcut.” The filly’s eyebrows furrow, and her hoof rubs her chin thoughtfully. “Although, if you cross this road, ya might get seen, and then ya’d get caught…”

She says it as if it isn’t the most obvious thing in the world, but you don’t comment and soon all three of you are deep in thought, analyzing the situation. Suddenly, a wide grin comes to the old mare’s face. “The two of you just wait right here,” she says. “Ah’ll take care of this.”

You and Apple Bloom watch, curious, as Granny Smith enters the path and begins walking down it in the direction of the house. Ever so slowly, she makes her way towards the group of ponies all gathered around near the porch. They all look like silhouettes from here, but you can see all heads turn towards her.

Applejack’s voice. “Granny Smith, where the hay’ve you been?! We’ve been lookin’ all over fer you!”

Then, the lights go out. You can’t see anything, but you hear a loud crash, followed by raucous laughter and cursing. Lots of cursing. Mostly from Applejack.

“Wow, Ah never knew AJ knew so many words…” Apple Bloom says in awe. “Oh, and Ah think that was supposed ta be a distraction.”

“Yeah. Let’s go.” The two of you dart across the open dirt road. She takes the lead, guiding you through her ‘shortcut’ across the orchard. It’s getting dark. Following the little blur of yellow and red becomes a challenge in itself, making you thankful that you don’t have to find your own way around anymore. As much as you know this orchard, she knows it better.

Suddenly, she stops. You do the same. She her head swishes this way and that, as if looking for something.

“Aw, shoot. I think we’re lost.”

You’re about to do an eternal facepalm until she breaks out into a fit of giggles.

“Naw, just kiddin’. We’re here, actually,” she says, pointing towards in a certain direction with her snout. You follow that, and realize that in the direction she’s pointing there’s a clearing. “It’s pretty well-hidden, so ya probably won’t see it until ya get close.”

In spite of everything, you smile. After making sure to give her a quick revenge noogie, you walk towards the clubhouse.

You’d heard a lot about this place from the Crusaders, but this is the first time you’ve actually seen it in person. For a clubhouse built by a few little kids, it’s honestly… quite impressive. It looks roomy from the outside, and has a nice little walkway leading up to the front door which you’ve been told has a folding mechanism.

Apple Bloom follows you up the surprisingly sturdy walkway. Once you reach the door, she presses a button. The walkway automatically folds up into a small box on the porch of the clubhouse.

“Gotta make sure nopony follows us in,” she explains.

These ponies, man.

You open up the door and step through. The place is dimly lit by candles, and the shades are all drawn. Light snores flow through the air, and your eyes don’t even have to adjust to see the rainbow mane and tail in the middle of the room. The guilt smacks you upside the head, and follows up with a nauseous punch to the stomach as you realized you just completely ditched her back at the house. Her eyes open, blinking a few times before settling on you.

You take a tentative step inside while Apple Bloom shuts the door behind you. “Rainbow, I—”

She cuts you off with a “Shh,” placing her hoof on her muzzle. She then walks up to you, rearing up on her hind legs and giving you a hug.

“It’s okay,” she whispers. “I get it. Just… you really bucking worried me. Keep that in mind next time you go running off like that, alright?”

You know she’s joking, but you just can’t bring yourself to laugh at it. “I know. I’m sorry. How did you guys get here so fast, though?”

“Well, it’s a lot easier to get here when you’re not being chased by guards and taking detours around the Apple farm. We saw the commotion going on about an hour ago, and figured we’d be waiting for awhile.”

You nod, pulling her in tighter. It’s been a bumpy ride, and for her to put all your disputes aside for the moment to help you with something else is…

“I sent Twilight a letter explaining what was going on, so you don’t have to worry about that,” she says. “Oh, and I met your brother. I told him how we thought he’d died, and how excited you would be to know he’s alive.” She chuckles. “Looks aside, you two really aren’t that alike.”

That grabs your attention. Somehow, despite spending the whole day trying to get to him, you’d forgotten that he was supposed to be here.

“Where is he?”

Then, you hear the snoring again.

You look over Rainbow’s shoulder to find a large mass lying in a corner at the other side of the room. A mass too large to be a pony. Your grip loosens, and Rainbow takes that as her cue to release the embrace. She looks up at you, then follows your eyes to the lump, then looks back at you.

“Is it…?”

She nods. “He’s asleep right now. He’s had a bit of a rough day. He and Scoots.”

It’s just now that you notice Scootaloo curled up next to him. A wave of appreciation washes over you as it really begins to sink in how much these two have really done for you…

And then, once again, guilt.

You approach the two sleeping figures. Your footsteps make muffled thuds on the wooden floor, causing Scootaloo to instantly jerk awake. Your brother is a bit slower to arise, mumbling something while shifting a bit under some covers. The blankets lift, and underneath is another human.

A strange and alien sight. It’s so weird to finally see another human again, after so long… It doesn’t seem quite real. You’re compelled to move forward. This isn’t some sort of dream, is it? You just need to make sure…

You stand a few feet from him. The two of you stare at each other, him from his sitting position on the ground and you on your lightly rocking feet. What you see confuses you. It’s undoubtedly him, but the last time you saw him he was your little brother. The kid—no, man appears to be in his early twenties. Older than you.

“Oh… Oh man,” a deepened voice says. “It’s… really you. You’re…”

“...not dead?” you finish for him with a smile. No matter how old he may be, he still acts like the same Clayton you knew.

It’s only a matter of seconds before you drop to your knees. The next thing you know, you’re hugging and crying into a very smelly man’s shoulder. You feel his body wrack and shudder as well, and the two of you just hug it out for awhile.

You feel a set of hooves wrap around the both of you. And then another, and another, and one more. Here you all are, two long-lost brothers who thought each other dead, and the ponies who helped to reunite them.

You don’t think you’ve ever felt more happy for, nor thankful to, anything or anyone else in your entire life.

Author's Note

Just realized that this whole chapter is literally everyone scrambling around like ants. Oh well. The real interesting parts should happen next chapter. I think.

Thanks to some feg who wishes to remain anonymous and Jazzaman for proofreading!