“And then – when the doctors are all done. Then can I go home?”

“Sure thing, Tim-bo. You – you can go home then. Promise.” Ryan choked, trying to keep his voice in check. The poor kid was too drugged up to remember any of his promises, anyway. At the very least, he wasn’t in quite as much pain as before.

“… ‘Kay.” The small child whispered, his voice barely heard over the ambient noise of the hospital and the beeping EKG machine he was hooked up to. The burns were covering most of his body, and it looked like Carlos had mangled his legs pretty badly. Ryan felt his fists clench in rage, both at Carlos and himself.

He should have known. He should have known Carlos would target him; hell, he’d even pointed them out. The Wilsons were about as average a happy American family could get. Mother, father, playing kid in a white picket fenced in yard, little dog yapping as it bounced a ball around with him.

That was all gone now.

And it was Ryan’s fault.

Ryan’s former neighbor slowly fell asleep, the massive amounts of painkillers finally doing their work. His little burned hand clung desperately to Ryan’s finger the entire time. He heard a shuffling behind him, but was too tired to turn. He knew who it was, anyway. She’d been frequently telling him off for not leaving.

“I know, I know.” Ryan said wearily. “Visiting hours and blah-de-blah blah blah.”

“Actually, I just thought you could use a little something to help keep you up,” Tiffany said, handing him a small Styrofoam cup of black coffee. She brushed a strand of bright red hair out of her face, taking a seat in one of the plastic chairs next to the bed.

They sat in silence for a while, listening to the beeping and Tim’s ragged breath.

“… Please don’t tell him.” Ryan said, not looking her in the eye.

“… You know that he’ll find out eventually, anyway.” she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “He’s a bright little kid; even if you or I don’t tell him, he’s bound to find out something from one of the doctors or other nurses.”

“Just… just let him sleep for now,” Ryan almost begged. “Ignorance is bliss, and all that.” Ryan regretted that moment forever afterwards. Perhaps, maybe, just maybe, if they had known the potential danger… maybe if they’d been better informed, they could have prepared. But in the end, no amount of preparation ever made anyone truly safe from the wrath of Carlos Caesar.

His fault.

“… Come on. I’m going to get in trouble with my bosses if you don’t skedaddle,” she said gently, but firmly. Tiffany was nothing if not a stickler for the rules.

Ryan gave a small sigh of defeat. He’d come back; he had to make sure the kid was going to be okay. From what he’d heard, someday, Tim might even walk again.

He hated that memory – the one of walking away. Perhaps, if he’d stayed, then he could have protected them. But instead, he did what he always had.

Ryan ran away. Ran away from his problems, leaving a slew more in his wake. They didn’t deserve to die; it wasn’t their fault. He should have protected them.

And he ran away.

Because he was going soft. That was what happened, when someone went soft. People around them started dying.

And it was his fault.

Ryan slowly pulled his finger from the sleeping child’s grasp, and stood to leave. It nearly broke his heart in half, to see just how much Tim was going to eventually face because of him.

“…G’night, daddy.” he sleep-muttered, tossing slightly as Tiffany dimmed the glaring fluorescent lights.

The pain in his heart grew.

“… Pssst.”

“Blargle flargle.”

“… Pssst.”

“Furkin’ slurpin’… mehn fuffle.”

“… PSSST! RY-PIE!”

“I don’ wanna blargle flargle-“

“WAKE THE BUCK UP!”

“AAAAAGH!” Ryan yelped in shock, Pinkie Pie looming ominously over him. He tumbled over, elbowing a very indignant Twilight Sparkle beside him as she rolled off the hospital bed, hitting the floor with a rather loud thunk.

“Wakey-wakey, cupcake-shakey!” Pinkie exclaimed cheerily.

“Pink, what the fuck?” Ryan groaned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The sun had barely begun to peek over the horizon. Twilight rubbed her sore flank, picking herself grumpily off the ground.

“You’ve been sleeping, for, like, a really long time!” she said excitedly, bouncing up and down with far too much enthusiasm for that time of the morning. The tip of her curling pink mane danced through the air, tickling his nose at odd intervals. He slapped it away.

“Yeah, I know,” Ryan grumbled, scratching his head and jabbing a thumb at Twilight (who glared at him for not even offering to help her up,) and said “She told me. About three days, right?”

“Yuppie duppie guppie!”

Shit. Ryan berated himself for not springing into action earlier. He gingerly touched his head, expecting it to twinge in pain. However, he felt nothing from it except a single strand of bandaging that had covered a small cut along his temple.

“… Hang on, just why was I out for three days?” Ryan asked suspiciously, peering at Twilight. He couldn’t believe he didn’t think of it before. Then again, he’d been a little preoccupied with making sure that he still had all of his limbs.

And the whole ‘psychic power’ thing. It made him shudder just thinking about it. Ryan simply wasn’t comfortable around any kind of magic, and it made it worse that it happened inside his head.

She shuffled nervously as she clambered back up onto the bed next to him, but not quite as closely as before. “Oh, er, well, you see… Um… We sort of… er…”

“Spit it out.”

“We had to keep you pretty heavily sedated.”

Ryan blinked, looking back to Pinkie Pie, who merely shrugged.

“…’Kay. Why?”

“Well, you see, um… sometimes… er… how do I put this…?”

“Ooh, ooh! I know!” Pinkie interjected happily. “It’s because sometimes, when you’re sleeping, you get all violent-y and thrash-y, and you cry a whole a lot because of really bad night terrors a-“

“Pinkie, shut the fuck up!”

Her muzzle snapped shut, and she glanced at him balefully. Her normally frilly and puffy pink mane deflated slightly at his unexpected outburst. Ryan’s fists clenched and unclenched furiously, and he strained to get the muscles in his legs working properly. “… Pinkie, when I’m sleeping, I want you to stay away from me. Understood?”

It wasn’t so much of a question as it was an expectation of obedience.

She nodded a little forlornly, but stayed her ground.

“That goes for you too, kid.” Ryan growled, eyeing Twilight.

“Will you stop that already?” she seethed, hopping off of the bed.

“… What?”

“I am a capable young adult! For Celestia’s sake, Ryan, why-“

“Um, I don’t mean to, um, interrupt anypony…” Fluttershy all but whispered nervously from around the corner. “But, um, all the noise is really distracting some of the other patients. Isn’t that right, Angel?”

Ryan froze in terror, and his head turned so slowly you could hear it creak.

There, in the doorway next to Fluttershy, stood that abominable little rabbit.

“… Oh, god.” Ryan breathed fearfully. “… It’s finally happened. He’s here to finish me off…!”

Twilight sighed, gently picking the rabbit up telekinetically and placing it into Fluttershy’s hooves. “I think it’d be best if these two were separated for now, really.”

“O-okay… if you insist…” Fluttershy said, her mane falling over her face. “Come along, Angel. We’ll come back later, if that’s okay with you…”

“Actually, hang on.” Ryan said quickly. “We could use your help.”

The entire room went dead silent.

“… I’m sorry, I must have misheard you,” Fluttershy said in shock, rubbing at one of her ears with her hoof.

“Did… did you just admit to needing help?” Twilight asked, blinking.

“Shut up, Purple. I’m serious.” And, indeed, Ryan did look very serious.

“We’re gonna need all the help we can get. I’m guessin’ Purple filled you guys in on the situation while I was out?”

“I would assume that you mean the changelings?” Rarity asked as she nosed around the corner, leaving a small glass vase of freshly picked flowers on the nightstand next to the hospital bed. There were a few lavender lilies, and a single yellow tulip in the middle.

When no one spoke, Rarity shook her head. “What? It’s not so uncommon to bring flowers to the mortally wounded.”

“Fuck you, bitch. I ain’t dead yet.”

“Evidently,” Rarity responded dryly. “I suppose I’ll be required to help as well?”

“I guess.” Ryan shrugged half-heartedly. “Three days is plenty of time for those little bug fuckers ta’ try snatchin’ off kids again.”

“Way ahead of you!” Rainbow Dash yelled through the window, causing them all to jump. She swooped in and landed gracefully, tucking her wings in at her side.

Ryan held back a grumble. He wasn’t particularly fond of Skittles. Hell, even Rarity was more tolerable than Dash was, and that was only because she gave him pants.

She also made fun of the size of your junk.

Rarity was less tolerable than Rainbow Dash.

“Dashie, what did Nurse Redheart say about using the window?” Pinkie scolded her, shaking a hoof in her direction as the room gradually became more crowded. “Everypony else has to use a sign-in sheet!”

Rainbow balked at her. “Yeesh, who put cauliflower in your cupcakes?”

“Ask Mr. Meanie Pants,” she replied sourly. Ryan could have sworn he saw her hair go slightly flat.

“Skittles, you said you were ahead of it, right?” Ryan said quickly.

“Oh, yeah.” she said offhandedly. “I’ve got some of the guys from weather patrol keeping watch for me. Nopony goes in or out of Ponyville without me knowing about it.” she said rather proudly, puffing out her chest.

“Hang on…” Ryan scratched his chin, thinking. “… Who are we missin’? Wait, cowgirl.”

“Applejack and her sister are helping Ms. Cheerilee with the schoolhouse, along with some of the parents who volunteered.” Rainbow Dash said helpfully.

“Well, I guess that’s good to he-“

“Speaking of which, Applejack said that when you woke up, she was gonna kick your flank through your head for giving a fire-starter to a filly.”

Ryan facepalmed.

Great. Just somepony else to add to my list of people I’ve pissed off today.

… Some ‘body’. I meant to say ‘body’.

He shook his head, thinking. They needed to take care of the changeling problem, before they tried another attack. Meaning that they needed to go get Applejack.

Ryan cringed, swinging his stiff legs out of the bed. He stood a little woozily, pain shooting into his back.

“Easy,” Twilight said nervously, ready to offer assistance.

“I’m good, kid. Back off.” he retorted roughly, but cleared his throat when he saw her expression. “First things first; get Applejack. Number two, go stomp some bug-fuckers inta’ the ground. And if that don’t work, you little shits do your ‘Element’ thing. How does that even work, anyway?”

“By being awesome, that’s how.” Rainbow Dash said simply, walking out of the hospital right behind him.

“Oh, hey. That reminds me.” he said suddenly, leaning down and picking Rainbow up.

“Wha-hey! What do you think you’re - !”

Ryan squeezed the cyan Pegasus lightly, grinning widely. He gently placed her back on the linoleum floor, and her face had gone a bright shade of red.

“That was for savin’ our asses back there,” Ryan stated simply, giving her the thumbs up. “You’re a little cooler than I thought. Maybe about twenty percent. Not completely awesome, but still. Thanks.”

“Hey, I was saving Twilight,” she grumbled, shuffling uncomfortably as she ruffled her wings. “… You were just sort of stuck to her. By the way, try losing some weight.”

Ryan didn’t spot the jealous look both Pinkie Pie and Twilight shared when he hugged Dash, but Fluttershy did. Frankly, there were an awful lot of things Fluttershy noticed.

“… ‘Kay, ‘splain it to me again.”

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash groaned as she flapped through the air lightly, drifting on the breeze above them. “I give up. Twi, you try.”

“Okay,” Twilight said lowly, not meeting Ryan’s eyes at first as they walked (and Ryan limped) toward the schoolhouse. One of the doctors had tried stopping Ryan on his way out, but after offering him crutches and trying to help him back to bed, he had backed away quickly.

Mostly because Ryan took the crutches and snapped them over his knee.

Which hurt his leg even worse, ironically enough. Hence, his continued limping.

He wasn’t the brightest of people.

She blew her mane out of her face, forcing herself to remain stoic. “Okay. Each of the Elements of Harmony retain their own Cutie Mark, symbolic of their personality. Laughter, loyalty, kindness, generosity, honesty, and magic. Each are bound by the magic of friendship, which-“

She was interrupted by a rather loud raspberry.

“Sounds like a load a’ horse shit,” Ryan deadpanned, limping slightly as he tried to keep an even pace. The clop, clop, clop of their hooves matched his thumping feet, and it was easy to notice when Twilight’s steps faltered.

“I didn’t say you had to believe it,” Twilight said grumpily after being rudely interrupted. “if all else fails, you just stay out of the way while the rest of us take care of the changelings.”

“And I didn’t say I was gonna stay outta the way.” Ryan crossed his arms. Or at least, he tried to. He found it easier to let them swing as he walked, to help keep some weight off his injured leg.

Push through it, asshole! You’ve been hurt worse than this – get over it!

Gone soft…

Rarity snorted, dodging a rather large puddle of muddy water in the dirt road. “Darling, I hate to admit it, but I don’t necessarily believe that being blasted with the Elements of Harmony would do wonders for your skin condition.”

“Fuck you. What’s wrong with my skin?” he rumbled. He couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Well, aside from the numerous scars.

“Actually, I think Rarity’s got a point,” Twilight said nervously as she glanced back at him. He briefly wondered how she’d managed to take the lead, before remembering his obvious limp. Besides, she was cheating. She had extra legs. “The Elements proved pretty powerful against Nightmare Moon; and you aren’t exactly the nicest pony – er, person.”

“Whaddya mean?”

“I mean, the Elements of Harmony would probably blast you to Tartarus. Or worse.”

Ryan winced. To think that these little ponies had the potential to wipe him out of existence was just a little scary. Not that he’d admit it.

“… Hang on,” he asked as they drew closer to the schoolhouse. It was in sight by this point, and they could see that the place had quite a few more ponies than it did before. “I thought your Element things were supposed ta’ wipe out evil an’ shit?”

“… Or worse.” Twilight said simply, finishing her trek over the last small hill and heading toward the schoolhouse.

That made Ryan think.

Hard.

He stood atop the hill, watching as Rainbow Dash zoomed ahead, Fluttershy and Rarity trotting quickly after her. He was tired, but he remained standing. Putting more of his weight on his good right leg, he crossed his arms as a scowl crept back onto his face.

… You aren’t exactly the nicest person…

I’m not evil.

… I’m not evil. He thought again, more to reassure himself than anything. … Right?

Thinking back, he couldn’t really remember one time in his life when he hadn’t been as he had now. No, that wasn’t right; back before all of this. Before the ponies, before the Sharks, before everything. Before he’d been adopted by his Aunt Sarah – before his first kill.

He pushed the thoughts out of his head, forcing them away. No time for brooding; there was a changeling problem to take care of.

“I’m not evil.”

“I didn’t think so.”

Ryan jumped, forgetting that Pinkie Pie had even been there. He silently reprimanded himself. Of course she was still there; he hadn’t seen her walk off with the others.

Meaning she’d just been standing behind him the entire time he was contemplating.

“That’s, uh… good to know, I guess.” Ryan shrugged, running a hand through his greasy black hair. His leg finally began to give out, and he sat down to rest. Pinkie quietly sat down on the long grass next to him, silently looking out over the schoolyard at the working ponies. Some were bringing lumber over to the schoolhouse remains, some were carrying away ashes in buckets, and some were just lending a hoof to others that were working much harder than they were expected to. Applejack could be spotted easily through them all, her Stetson hat bobbing about this way and that.

“… What do you think, Pink?” Ryan asked suddenly, peering down at her.

“Hm?” she asked, a little surprised. He hadn’t noticed just how flat her hair seemed to have gone. In fact, she looked a little less… colorful than she usually did. She sighed heavily, a feature unbecoming of Pinkie Pie. It just didn’t look right. “… I don’t know what to think anymore.”

The normally bubbly, happy Pinkie Pie looked even more downtrodden as she spoke. Something stirred in Ryan, though he couldn’t decipher exactly what. He decided to try and help by cheering her up a little. Something. Something to make that god-awful feeling go away.

“… C’mon, kiddo.” He said, ruffling the mane atop her head. “You’re always so happy.”

That might not have been the right thing to say.

“… Yeah.” Pinkie whispered, and Ryan could hear her voice cracking. “… That’s good ol’ Pinkie Pie. Happy, happy, happy.”

He blinked. Ryan had never seen her so… miserable. He cursed himself for not noticing before, and more than that. He hated himself for doing what he had always done; he kept treating Pinkie… no, not just Pinkie. All of them. He treated all of them like they were merely anthropomorphic objects, incapable of defending themselves. Never, not once, had he bothered treating them like they were people.

That awful feeling clawed its way back into Ryan’s chest again.

Of course Pinkie didn’t have the exact same personality, twenty-four seven. That would be insane. He’d never even given her a second thought. Ryan never would have suspected that Pinkie Pie might possibly be unhappy, putting up a front.

Hell, his cousin Danielle did the exact same thing. It boggled his mind just how alike these two were.

And he treated Danielle and Donald, his cousins, like they were people. Of course he did; they looked like people. Why not these ponies?

“… Hey.” He said softly, throwing an arm over her shoulder. “C’mere.”

She sniffled, wiping her eyes. Ryan swore, every other day, at least one of these ponies was having an emotional breakdown.

And a small part of him was disgusted at the thought of helping them.

Oddly enough, not nearly as large as it used to be.

After a while, Ryan spoke. “… Look, Purple’s always jumpin’ my ass over not talkin’ ‘bout any o’ my problems. Ain’t fair if you don’t talk ‘bout yours, so spill.”

Blunt, yet direct.

Pinkie Pie took a quivering breath, and said “It’s just – I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”

Ryan remained silent, keeping one comforting arm over her shoulder as he waited for her to continue. It was strange, to Pinkie. For Ryan to actually listen was surreal enough.

“I mean, everypony expects me to live up to my expectations; Pinkie Pie, the party planner. Pinkie Pie, the happiest pony around. Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter. Pinkie Pie, everypony’s bestest best friend. Pinkie Pie, who can make anypony smile. Pinkie Pie, who can make anypony feel better. No matter how hard I work, no matter how hard I try… No-nopony ever cares about how I feel.”

Ryan watched her closely.

“… Nopony,” she breathed unhappily, finishing her small tirade.

Ryan hugged her tightly, kindly offering the edge of his shirt which she used to wipe her muzzle.

… Oh, god. Please don’t start crying.

The tears welled up in her large blue eyes, and Ryan could feel something stuck in his throat.

I swear to god, if you start crying, I’ll… I’ll…

“Pink,” he said firmly, unable to look her in the face. Instead, he cast his gaze out over the schoolyard, watching as Twilight and the rest talked things over with Applejack. “… Of course I care ‘bout how you feel. We’re friends, ain’t we?”

Pinkie nodded half-heartedly.

“So, what about them?” he asked, jabbing a thumb over at the rest of the ponies. “They’re closer friends to you than I am. How do you think they’d feel, if they spent all that time not knowin’ how unhappy you are? Fuck, I’ll bet they’d beat themselves up over it for weeks. Just because somebody don’t know how you feel, don’t mean ya’ can’t talk to ‘em ‘bout it.”

She continued wiping her face with his shirt.

“Christ, kid. I’m just here in psycho-land for a little while; at least, ‘till I figure out how to get back. Why talk ta’ me about your issues?” it sounded much colder than he really meant it to.

“I-I’m sorry…” she said miserably, tearing up again. “I-I just… I just thought that you, of everypony, would understand…”

… Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck don’t start crying. I swear to god, if you start crying, I’ll start crying. Don’t you DARE.

He pulled her closer. “… That didn’t come out the way I meant it to. I guess, what I mean is… they’re your friends. And if you thought I’d understand, then you should know for damned certain that they’ll understand, too. And they’ll care ‘bout you more than I do, too.”

Pinkie began weeping openly, sobbing into his shirt.

… Fuck.

“… That didn’t come out the way I meant it to.”

It’s the emotionally unstable ones. I ALWAYS get the emotionally unstable ones.

… Heh heh heh heh. Ponies. Un-‘stable’.

Ryan’s lips twitched defiantly. Now probably wasn’t the best time to make jokes.

Pinkie cried for several long minutes, clinging to his arm tightly. Her voice was muffled into his shirt (which was by now practically soaked), and he tried to improve matters by stroking her straight pink mane gently.

“… It’s okay,” he said uncertainly, but repeated himself quietly again and again. He rocked her back and forth soothingly, riding out the storm. Eventually, the flood of tears stopped, leaving her only with a couple of miserable hiccups.

They sat in relative silence for a while, Pinkie’s head and one forehoof on his lap. Pinkie let out the odd hiccup now and then, but aside from that, said nothing.

“… You never did tell me.”

“… A-about what?” she asked quietly, tiredly rolling her bright blue eyes to look up at him.

He briefly considered asking her about the Eight-Bits. It felt dirty, underhanded – to start interrogating her when she was so… emotionally vulnerable. Before, he wouldn’t have had any problem with it. But now, it just made him feel a little sick.

“… ‘Bout how you feel.” He finished bluntly, changing it before he spoke as he was glancing down at her. “You never told me.”

She sighed, exhaling through her nostrils heavily and watching the clouds go by. Some light had returned to her eyes, he was glad to see; some of the old bounce had returned to her mane. Not all of it. But some.

“… I’m always alone.”

When Ryan didn’t say anything, she continued.

“I mean, the Cakes are always nice to me. They even let me live in their shop. And for company, I have Gummy; but that’s not really company. Me and Gummy both know he can’t talk. Talking alligators, can you imagine?” she gave a small giggle. The sad look crept back onto her face, though.

“… It gets lonely. All the time. I wonder if this is what Twilight meant, when she said she hated being left alone.”

… Ohhhhhhh.

… Shit.

Today was just chock full of personal revelations for Ryan.

“So, if you really want your friends ta’ know how you feel, you need to talk to ‘em. I ain’t sayin’ you should spill everything all at once; just let them know, y’know?”

Pinkie Pie shook her head, and Ryan watched her mane deflate slightly once again. He hadn’t noticed before just how closely it tied in to her mood. That was… interesting. He made a small mental note to watch the ponies more closely from now on.

“It’s not that easy…” Pinkie said, blowing her nose loudly with the hem of his shirt. “I mean, they’ve all got so much on their hooves already – they don’t need me being a burden to them. Especially not when they need me to be the happy, inspirational one.”

Ryan snorted. “Pink, they’re your friends. They’d move heaven n’ hell, just for you. You oughtta know better; if you’ve got a problem, then they’ll be there for you, whether you’re smilin’ or not.”

“And what about you?” she asked suddenly, looking directly at him. The slightly tilted head gave her a strange look, but not as strange as the look she was giving him now. “… Will you be there, when we need you most?”

“… ‘Course I will, kid.” He vowed, nodding.

“… Pinkie Promise?” she asked slowly.

“Pinkie Promise.”

“That’s what I thought,” she said with a deadpan. “you really are like an open book.”

“… The fuck is that supposed to mean?” he asked dangerously.

Pinkie shook her head again with a small, sad smile. “That didn’t come out the way I meant it to.”

“So say it the way you mean it, fuck nut.”

Pinkie twitched, and said “You just made a Pinkie Promise. Again. Do you really mean it?”

“Of course I do!” Ryan grumbled indignantly.

“But do you mean it, mean it, or do you think you mean it?”

“… What.”

“Look, pal, let’s face it.” Pinkie said flatly as she stood. “Twilight’s right; you’ve got a Supermare complex a mile wide. You’ll throw yourself into a fire for a damsel in distress, and make any promise at all if you think it’ll make you feel like you’re protecting somepony.”

Ryan’s mouth opened and closed several times, but nothing came out.

And then Pinkie simply walked away, trotting toward her friends like nothing had happened. His eyes trailed after her, watching her now-poofy pink tail dance in the breeze.

“And quit staring at my flank.” She said emotionlessly without looking over her shoulder.

He shook his head, standing with some difficulty due to his injuries and slowly lumbering after her.

Ryan swore, these ponies were going to wind up killing him eventually.

Pinkie had unexpectedly wound up doing what she usually did; leaving him even more confused than before. This time, though; this time, maybe he’d figure things out.

The poor, poor bastard.

Ryan thought he heard somepony singing something as they approached, but he couldn’t make it out. Something about ‘racist barns’?

“Hey, there y’all are.” Applejack said friendlily as Pinkie approached, Ryan stumbling after her. His tall frame cast a long shadow over her, and for a split second, Applejack could have sworn that something about Pinkie Pie just looked… off. The next moment, it was gone.

She balked at her, and Twilight waved a hoof in front of her face.

“Er… AJ? You okay there?”

“Wha-? Oh, shore, darlin’. Jus’ a trick o’ the light, is all.” Applejack shook her head, blond braided mane tossing this way and that as she did so. “It’s ‘bout time y’all decided ter catch up – heck, we got most’a the work done already.”

“Ohmigosh, we missed everything?” Pinkie looked horrified. “I didn’t even think about all the extra ponies coming in to help and all the fillies learning about building and rebuilding and I’ll bet even the Cutie Mark Crusaders had something planned in the way of construction – and you know how they get about that – and Cheerilee was going to go on a really long memory laden rant about her personal achievements and how she got her Cutie Mark and how she got to be a teacher and then the little fillies would try to paint themselves to look like Cheerilee so that they could get their Cutie Marks but Ms. Cheerilee gets all freaked out because she’s got serious daddy issues and the last time-“

“For fuck’s sake, Pinkie!” Ryan bellowed, and she promptly slammed her jaws shut.

Which didn’t do much good, as she was still trying to speak.

“So…” Ryan asked a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “… What did we miss? Any plans for the bug fuckers?”

“Beatcha to it,” Dash spouted. “… Again.” she pointed to three little fillies, who were running back and forth with little clipboards in front of every pony they could find, matching up names, picking through their manes, and checking their eyes.

“… What are they doin’?” Ryan asked, leaning against the remains of the schoolhouse. The shade was a comfort from the sun. Old and new boards intermixed, giving the schoolhouse a slightly cobbled look.

“Hey, Apple Bloom!” Applejack called out, and the three fillies that were checking through the other ponies all trotted over simultaneously. Apple Bloom was easy to spot due to her large bow atop her head, and she perked up in front of her sister.

“Cutie Mark Crusader Changeling Checker Apple Bloom, reporting for duty!” she chirruped, using one hoof to give a small salute.

“There ya are, young un’,” Applejack said with a small smile. Her voice rang out clearly over the area, but only served to remind Ryan that her southern drawl was annoying as hell. “These little troublemakers – ah mean, assistants, have been makin’ darn shore no more changelin’s try ta’ sneak in on us.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Apple Bloom said, standing straight. “Not a single changeling has breached our outer perimeter, ma’am!”

“We got it, we got it.” Her older sister deadpanned, gently nudging her back to her friends, who watched silently. “Ya’ll are doin’ a right fine job.”

Alarm bells went off in the back of Ryan’s mind, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. A new filly had joined Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle; this one looked familiar. It took him a moment, but he finally recognized the small orange Pegasus with the light purple mane as the same one that had called that… Slenderman thing…

She had called him ‘Daddy’.

And she looked a hell of a lot happier than she did now. Come to think of it, both Sweetie Belle and the orange one shared a blank look, which Apple Bloom promptly took up as well as they resumed checking for changelings.

“… Hey.” Ryan spoke suddenly. He stood straight, waving at the fillies again. Twilight eyed him questioningly, but he carefully shook his head, meeting her gaze. She could see that something was bothering him, but she couldn’t tell what.

“… Hey!” Ryan yelled to the fillies again, getting their attention. “Appleblossom! C’mere!” she promptly trotted back over, clipboard in her mouth. Ryan left the other ponies and met her halfway.

“Dude, check this.” He said, dropping to one knee with a little difficulty. “I’ve got some super-secret work to do.” He motioned for her to step forward, so that he could whisper into her ear conspiratorially.

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened slightly, and she said nothing at first. “… Why are you telling me this?”

“Because, dude.” Ryan said, clapping the filly on the shoulder. She flinched, but didn’t drop her gaze. “It’s about the bug fu- I mean, the changelings.”

Apple Bloom watched him even more intently, pink eyes wider than ever.

“Look, dude. I think I have proof that the changelings already broke through Skittle’s defenses.”

“… Really.” Apple Bloom said emotionlessly. “… And… how precisely do you plan to reveal their current location?”

Ryan looked over both shoulders, and whispered into her ear again.

“Like this, you ugly son of a bitch.”

Apple Bloom tried to shy away, but Ryan’s grip on her shoulder tightened immensely as he grabbed one of her forehooves. In one swift motion, he lifted the filly high over his head –

Applejack didn’t see anything wrong, at first.

She watched Ryan hobble over to her younger sister. She even stayed her ground when, for some reason, Twilight silently held her back.

Applejack didn’t see the signs that Ryan did.

What Applejack did see was Ryan picking up her sister.

Ryan picking up her little, helpless baby sister.

And slamming her face first into the ground.

Ryan’s hand clenched tightly around the changeling’s throat, and it hissed at him in pain. What looked like Apple Bloom rippled for a moment, but kept its overall appearance. The only thing that changed were its eyes, and a pair of sharp fangs sprouted from her gums.

Ryan was about to punch the thing in the head; it’s form was small, but its strength was the same. It wriggled violently beneath him, before stopping promptly. He barely had time to register that the fangs had retreated with a light shnip! back into her gums, and her eyes shifted back to bright pink.

That was when the orange cowpony rammed into Ryan with the force of a freight train.

A very, very angry freight train.

Ryan rolled with the blow, immediately knocked clear of the Apple Bloom impersonator. He flew a good ten – fifteen – twenty feet, hitting the ground at odd intervals. He heard something crack, and a horrible pain jarred through his bad leg.

“I’m gunna rip you a new one!” Applejack roared, stamping the ground furiously. The tearful filly clung desperately to her hoof, refusing to let go.

Ryan wheezed in agony, his vision blurring.

… Holy SHIT, that hurt.

He weakly grabbed at tufts of grass, trying to get his balance. He was damned lucky the cowpony hadn’t shattered his spine with that blow. He couldn’t move his leg, and even though it was difficult to breath, he all but dragged himself toward Applejack.

She must have taken it as some kind of menacing defiance, as she leaned forward and glared at him.

“Go on ahead, partner. Next time, yer head comes OFF.”

“…rap-… f’kkin… idjit..!”

Twilight charged forward, trying to catch up to Applejack before she wound up killing Ryan. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity merely watched in horror, and Rainbow Dash began rounding up the children to get away from them.

“Whassa matter?” Applejack taunted, ready to stomp him into the ground should he crawl any closer. “All too ready ter beat up a little, defenseless filly, butcha can’t put up a real fight?”

“Trap… idiot…!” Ryan breathed, but she couldn’t hear him.

“Applejack, stop!” Twilight cried out, but her friend shoved her away.

“Ain’t happenin’!” Applejack said roughly, her sister still clinging to her leg. She drew up to Ryan, and raised her hoof to stamp his head in.

“Give me one good reason not ter squish yer head like a bug,” Applejack growled protectively. Ryan tried to speak, but his voice still hadn’t come back; he simply couldn’t get enough air into his lungs.

“He-he tried to kill me!” Apple Bloom wept as she peeked from between the larger pony’s legs. A wicked grin curled onto her face, just small enough that only Ryan could see. “… Just like when he started that fire.”

… Oh, you son of a bitch.

“… Okay.” Ryan wheezed, pulling his shirt away from his neck and revealing his throat. Applejack was slightly surprised by this, but raised her hoof anyway. She wasn’t anypony to back down, for any reason.

“… You… you can… go ahead… and kill me,” Ryan huffed as he glared at Apple Bloom, struggling to form words properly. He tasted copper in his mouth. “… Just so long… as… as you answer… one question.”

The faux filly’s eyes sharpened, and her grip on Applejack’s leg tightened. However, Ryan wasn’t speaking to the fake Apple Bloom.

“… Hey, Applejack. What happened to your sister’s accent?”

Applejack blinked. Her one moment of hesitation was all the changeling needed.

The face of Apple Bloom melted away as the changeling sank its fangs deep into Applejacks’ shoulder. She let out a cry of pain, swinging hard and knocking the glittering black beetle-like monster away. Blood spurted from her wound, and a leveled blast of violet energy whirred over Ryan’s head and slammed into the changeling. Twilight’s horn sparked brightly for a moment, hurling another bolt and missing it by inches.

The changeling hissed in surprise, a pair of holed wings sprouting from its sides as it whirred away toward the Everfree Forest, darting close to the ground.

It was getting away.

It was getting away, AGAIN.

Ryan strained to pull himself to his feet, and only succeeded in dropping back to the ground, the pain in his leg unbearable. All he could do was watch the changeling slip away, his hand clenched after it as if he still had a chance to catch it. Despair grew in his chest, but Twilight shot one last bolt of purple energy after it. This one wasn’t as crackling with force as the other two; it was much darker, and a little more subtle. It smacked the changeling in the wing as it buzzed away, and it crowed victoriously at its escape. Little did it know that it wasn’t quite as victorious as it believed.

Applejack was in shock, and her friends helped her the best they could. Rarity, panicking, ran to get something to stem the bleeding, while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy offered her comfort. The other two fillies that had been with Apple Bloom were nowhere to be seen. Then again, it was plain to see how Rarity could be panicking; Sweetie Belle might have been taken, too.

… Great. Nobody gonna help me up. Fuckers.

Twilight eventually trotted over, carefully helping him to his feet. He nodded in gratitude, thinking furiously.

The changeling had taken Apple Bloom’s spot. And, in all likelihood, those other two as well.

Which raised a very important question.

…

Where the hell were they?