“Aaaagh!” Pinkie shrieked in excitement, bouncing in circles around Twilight. “I can’t believe the Grand Galloping Gala – is – tonight!”

“Pinkie Pie, please,” Twilight sighed, snapping her book shut quietly. “I’m trying to concentrate.”

“Really, Pinkie, dear,” Rarity insisted, admiring the shine of small red apple that sat blandly on the ground as Twilight readied her spell. “I point blank refuse to allow you to wear one of the dresses I’ve put so much effort into if you’re only going to jump around and get all sweaty.”

They all stood waiting in front of Carousel Boutique – Rarity, Pinkie, Spike, Twilight and Ryan. For the life of him, he couldn’t really tell how Twilight planned on making an apple magically transport them all.

“I still don’t get it,” Ryan scratched the top of his greasy head in confusion, staring down at the surprisingly shining apple. “This lil’ fucker’s gonna pull a whole goddamn carriage – with all of us cramped in it – the whole fuckin’ way? You ain’t got no carriage. Y’got a fuckin’ apple.”

“Well, that’s one way to put it,” Rarity rolled her eyes, backing away a step from Ryan. “And speaking of which, I refuse to sit next to the brute. Really, when is the last time you bathed?”

Ryan simply shrugged, earning a disgusted huff from Rarity.

“Honestly, Twilight,” Rarity said huffily. “How do you manage to put up with the uncouth gorilla?”

“Fuck you,” Ryan replied politely.

“Oh, you know,” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Just see a bit of myself in him, I suppose.”

“… I honestly can’t tell if that was sarcasm or not.”

“Okay,” Twilight nodded, a violet glow alighting the tip of her horn. “Here it goes…!”

Ryan inched backward slightly, nervously watching. If magic was involved, then it probably wouldn’t result in anything good.

“Did we miss anything?”

Ryan groaned deliberately and loudly at the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice, and she scowled at him as she landed. She was closely followed by Applejack and Fluttershy, and Twilight nodded to the both of them before taking a deep breath and releasing a burst of magic toward the apple. Ryan took a step back unconsciously, both dreading and almost hoping that it would violently explode.

Oh, the looks on their faces if it blasted them all with apple bits.

To Ryan’s mild disappointment, the fruit did not explode at all. However, he was thoroughly surprised when Twilight’s magic struck the apple, and it burst toward the sky into a fully blown and decorated carriage. Despite his scowl immediately after hiding his surprised look, he was slightly impressed.

“That’s some bibbidi-bobbidi-boo shit, right there,” Ryan said, a little stunned.

“That’s not all,” Twilight said a little proudly, nodding to the butter colored pegasus. “Fluttershy, did you bring your friends?”

She bowed her head quietly, and Ryan cringed a little to see three or four mice leap from her mane.

Ryan did not particularly care for mice.

They were just smaller versions of rats.

And for anyone that’s ever lived in Brooklyn, rats were like four-legged demons. And besides… they bite.

Twilight summoned another large flare of purple magic, and it whirled up her horn and flew around the gathered mice. Each one promptly sprang up from the ground, sprouting into fully grown, tall white horses.

Albeit, disturbingly mouse-like horses, but horses nonetheless.

“… Ta~da,” Twilight said proudly.

“Fuckin’ A, man,” Ryan grinned. “Now I’m gettin’ it.”

He started toward one of the tall mouse-horses, wondering if perhaps he could simply steal one and ride it the whole way to Canterlot. Or maybe just cause more trouble. Either way, it would be hilarious.

Indeed, trouble was caused; albeit, not by Ryan.

Ryan had only seen Opalescence, Rarity’s spoiled white cat, a couple of times before at Carousel Boutique. The cat did not like him, and he did not like the cat.

Ryan was not a cat person.

Afterwards, Ryan was bound to wonder if perhaps the cat had done it because the ‘horses’ were astonishingly mouse-like, or on purpose because all cats are obviously intrinsically evil. Either way, Opalescence leapt out of a nearby bush, yowling and scaring the living daylights out of four very large mousy horses.

Ryan spent all of his life in the city.

He didn’t spend a lot of time around horses, not including the ponies he had come to know.

Anyone who has spent time around horses knows that if one of them are ever spooked, unsettled, or frightened, you should never, ever, ever STAND IN FRONT OF THEM.

Ryan stood directly in front of the horses, shouting at them to calm down.

This lasted for all of about half a second, before he was violently trampled.

Ryan sat sullenly between Twilight Sparkle and Applejack, scowling hatefully at the fancily dressed ponies around him.

“Oh, don’t be such a sourpuss,” Rarity said calmly as he fiddled with his latest bandages. “Really, dear, what did you think was going to happen?”

“Bunch a’ crazy ass fru fru bitches. Bunch a’ dumb fuckin’ mouse horses,” Ryan growled bitterly, crossing his bruised arms.

These ponies were going to get him killed, one of these days.

Thankfully, it was a fairly uneventful trip to Canterlot; for once, Ryan had had quite enough excitement for one day. He was actually a little surprised that Rarity had managed to convince a couple of stallions to pull the carriage for them… which Twilight only got embarrassed over when asked why she hadn’t thought of that instead.

“Ooh, I can’t wait!” Pinkie wriggled next to Fluttershy in anticipation, clapping her hooves together. “This is going to be the partiest party of parties since the partiest part of that partiest party before!”

“Pinkie,” Applejack deadpanned. “I didn’t understand a word o’ that. But I can tell ya that I can’t wait for the Gala, neither!” she smiled widely. “Hoo, boy, am I gunna be rakin’ in the bits! Hungry fancy folk all millin’ about, with a bunch of empty bellies and full pockets!”

“Ha,” Ryan grinned across from her for once. “I like the way you think, Orange. Wait until just the right moment…”

“Eeyup.”

“Lure ‘em in while they’re hungry…”

“Eeyup,” Applejack nodded.

“And then bash ‘em over the fuckin’ head!”

“E-what?” she stared at him, flabbergasted.

He stared back for a couple of seconds, suddenly stopping his miming strangling someone.

“… Might be on a couple’a different pages here, kiddo,” Ryan said slowly, putting his hands down.

Rarity sniffed with a frown, covering her mouth with her hoof.

She shook her head and looked out the window as the night sky began to darken, and said “Well, you might be intent on being locked up in a cage with the rest of the rabid monkeys, but I shall be personally introduced to royalty.”

“Oh, my,” Fluttershy said interestedly. “That sounds rather exciting. Personally, I can’t wait to see the royal gardens; I hear that there’s an entire menagerie of cute little animals that Princess Celestia keeps-”

“Pfft, forget that!” Rainbow Dash cackled, pulling at her uncomfortably tight dress. “I hear that the Wonderbolts are going to be there!”

She held her head in one hoof, staring off into the distance for a moment.

“Yes,” she said dreamily. “Of course I’ll be the leader of the Wonderbolts for you…”

Rarity tilted her away in mild disgust, eyeing the amount of drool.

“Dear, I don’t know if you happen to have noticed, but your face is leaking.”

“What about you, Rye-Pie?” Pinkie asked him suddenly, pulling him from his reverie.

“What?” he cocked an eyebrow at her.

“Everypony is looking forward to the Gala for some reason or another,” Pinkie stated curiously. “So what are you looking forward to?”

Ryan opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again slowly.

He took a moment to really look around at those surrounding him (excluding Spike, who sat atop the carriage), the ponies that he had come to know. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Rarity, Twilight.

The honest farmer, the loyal acrobat. The kind caretaker and generous dressmaker. The cheerful baker and clever bookkeeper. The ponies that he had been with for what felt like forever, and simultaneously didn’t feel like nearly long enough. His friends that had been there by his side through thick and thin. His friends that he had risked life and limb for, his friends that he honestly questioned himself whether or not he could happily live without.

His friends.

“Man,” Ryan scoffed. “I can’t fuckin’ wait to get away from you crazy ass bitches.”

Twilight Sparkle snorted.

He had to admit, he was getting significantly exuberated over the idea of finally returning home.

All of Ryan’s waiting, all of his fights for survival, it would finally be worth it. Tonight, the night of the Grand Galloping Gala, when he would at last speak with Princess Celestia for what was hopefully the last time.

And then, he would say goodbye.

But it would all be worth it, because he could finally go home.

The shining prospect of the freedom he sought for so long, the possibility of seeing his remaining family again at last… it was enough to make his heart pound.

Truth be told, Ryan was in a fairly good mood as they finally disembarked from the carriage, dropping out one by one in front of the open drawbridge to the sprawling Canterlot castle. From far away in Ponyville, Canterlot was a little more than a speck in the distance, high upon a mountainside. However, up close, it was an unexpectedly impressive structure.

Enormous, spiraling towers reached high into the sky, banners waving brightly against the night as the sound of merriment reached their ears. Whitewashed stone walls spanned large distances, giving the castle a surprisingly luminescent glow in the moonlight. All in all, it was a very awe inspiring and opulent palace.

“Holy fuckin’ shitballs,” Ryan gaped up at the guarded walls, craning his neck. “This fucker’s like the pony equivalent of King Arthur’s castle, or some shit.”

“Actually,” Twilight stepped from the carriage carefully, her hooves clopping quietly against the ground as she stood behind him to admire the castle. “If I remember correctly, Canterlot was partially modeled after numerous other structures, such as the Taj Neighal –”

“Don’t care, bored now,” Ryan antagonized her flippantly, grinning widely.

She gave him a level glare as the others clambered from the carriage, all chattering of the night they were going to have.

Except for Spike. Spike just looked grumpy, and Ryan didn’t necessarily know or care why.

“… I’m kiddin’, kid,” Ryan stuck his hands in his pockets and said finally in order to deflect Twilight’s look. “Christ, kid, you’re starin’ a hole in my noggin.”

Twilight chortled, shaking her head slowly.

“Ryan,” she struggled as the others caught up. “You realize that… I mean, I want to make up for – well, what I mean to say is…”

He held up a hand, silencing her.

“I get it, kid, ain’t gotta drag it out,” he drawled. “Never gonna see each other again, yada yada yada.”

Twilight gave him a sudden torn, pained look as Pinkie Pie slapped her excitedly on the back, and Applejack trotted along with Rarity and Fluttershy toward the awaiting Gala. Rainbow Dash soared overhead, dragging a burst of wind behind her.

After a long moment of silence, Twilight wiped something from her eye on the hem of her dress and laughed.

“Come on, you idiot. Let’s go have the best night ever.”

“I’m telling you, we’re already pushing it – it has to be done now!”

“Just be patient,” Discord whipped his tail agitatedly back and forth, watching unseen from the TARDIS as his past self moved into position.

“Patient!?”

“This is our last chance, Doctor. There’s no more stalling; he knows where we are.”

“… Then it’s settled. If everything doesn’t go according to plan…” the future Doctor tapped his hooves quietly together, his mind heavy.

“It will,” Discord insisted. “It has to. We can’t let him win, Doc. Not again.”

“No. Never again.”

Ryan jumped at the loud fanfare from an entire row of shined trumpets as they entered, the massive sprawling hall decorated. Greeting each and every pony that entered was none other than Princess Celestia herself, long and flowing multihued mane rippling gracefully beside her.

Ryan never could bring himself to look at the princesses’ manes for long. They simultaneously constantly drew his eyes toward them, and also made him feel a little sick from watching the many colors.

On one side of Celestia sat a molting fiery red bird atop a small gilded pedestal, staring blankly at everypony as they approached.

Ryan held his breath and his head felt light for a moment, and he forced himself to continue forward with the others down a long, finely woven red carpet. This was it.

He was so close. After all this time, he was finally going home.

After all this, he was almost free.

He could almost taste it.

“I am glad to see that you and your friends could make it, my student,” Princess Celestia said warmly as Twilight knelt before her. Celestia pulled her into a tight hug with one wing, and more fancily dressed ponies in bejeweled dresses and suits swarmed in behind them.

“I’m even more glad to see you again, Princess Celestia,” Twilight grinned breathlessly, looking up at her mentor. “I’m surprised that I don’t see Princess Luna enjoying the Gala,” she admitted.

Celestia was silent for a moment, and said “I fear that my sister has been feeling… unwell as of late.”

Ryan took a deep breath, swallowed his pride, stepped forward and bowed quietly.

“Lard a- uh, Princess,” Ryan said carefully. “It’s been great knowin’ ya’.”

Celestia blinked, glancing down at a highly uncomfortable Twilight before looking back at him.

“Leaving so soon?” Celestia asked quietly as more ponies began to crowd around the entrance.

“… ‘The fuck do you mean?” Ryan asked, suddenly suspicious. “Of course I’m fuckin’ leaving. I gotta get back to my cousins. Why the hell do you think I’m here?”

Twilight, who had suddenly flushed a deep pink, began fiddling with her dress without looking up.

Celestia, with an odd look on her face, looked down at Twilight with a mixture of mild confusion and dissatisfaction.

“… Twilight,” Celestia began slowly. “You did tell him, didn’t you?”

Everyone else stood stock still, even the nearly dead bird next to the princess. A couple more of the ponies from the steadily growing crowd behind them even leaned in to listen.

“Tell me what?” Ryan furrowed his brows, crossing his arms across his chest.

Twilight hung her head in shame, unable to look up or even speak.

Princess Celestia took a long, deep breath, and said “Mister Miller… Ryan. Whereas a method of transportation may – and I do mean may – have been discovered, at least another thirty moons must past first before–”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Ryan shouted angrily, flinging his arms out to his sides. The molting phoenix beside the princess followed his every move closely, with red, beady eyes. “Are you shitting me?!”

“I-I-I’m sorry,” Twilight whispered. “I didn’t –”

Something began to boil deep within Ryan.

After everything he had gone through, after all this time – just when he was so close to finally getting home, it was yanked cruelly out of his grasp.

Again.

They weren’t going to let him go home. They were never going to let him go home. They were never going to let him leave.

Hail, Dawnbreaker.

They probably weren’t even planning on it. They were just going to keep him there, endlessly taunting him with the prospect of ever returning, mocking him and tormenting him until the day that he died.

They lied to him.

Again.

“I hate you.”

Ryan felt a foul, disgusting taint on the back of his tongue as the words passed his lips, and he glowered in repulsion at the stunned ruler of Equestria.

“I hate you all.”

And then, the entire world imploded.

Ryan sat bolt upright in bed, clutching at the sheets. He was coated in a cold sweat, beading around his face and neck. He breathed heavily, rubbing his eyes hard as dancing spots blurred his vision.

“Rye-Pie?”

“Pink?”

Clara rolled toward him, wrapping an arm around his midsection.

“You have another bad dream, baby?” she asked sleepily, a couple of strands of hair falling over her face.

“Yeah,” Ryan replied automatically, sitting on the edge of the creaky mattress and holding his head in his hands, blocking his eyes with his palms. He had been having the longest, strangest dream… no idea what it had been about. Something weird, that was for sure. Either way, it was long gone; he almost tried to hang onto the dream, but it slipped away like pools of water through his fingers.

“Come back to bed, baby,” Cara tugged at his bare waist lightly, giggling as she did so. “It’s just a dream.”

“Yeah. Yeah,” Ryan nodded slowly, sidling beneath the sheets next to her as she snuggled warmly against him and the last remnants of the nightmare vanished altogether.

“Just a dream.”

“I hate you all.”

Just a few, simple little words.

Incredible how just a few little words had such an effect.

Twilight gasped in shock as Ryan’s eyes immediately turned a dim shade of grey – along with the rest of his body. It began as a sort of ripple, shuddering downward until he appeared to have been coated in a thin layer of light grey paint.

The phoenix beside Celestia promptly burst into flame, confetti blasting out of its head as a cackling draconequus spiraled into the air. Lightning crashed inside as confused and frightened ponies panicked, the doors slamming shut behind them and locking others out.

“Discord!” Celestia shouted, leaping backwards and a light flaring at the tip of her horn.

“Yo!” the grinning God of Chaos waved her the symbol for peace. “What up, sun-butt?”

Ryan, who had previously been standing, dropped to his knees, barely keeping himself from the ground. Twilight rushed in horror to his side, her friends gaping at the leering draconequus.

“What is the meaning of this, Discord?” Celestia bellowed, nodding to her guards to protect the civilians.

“Oh?” he asked innocently, pulling a comfortable sofa from midair and making himself comfortable on it upside down, still floating in the air. “Meaning? Tia, my dear, there’s no meaning to anything. That’s what life is all about!”

“Who is this chump?” Rainbow Dash stamped a hoof against the ground threateningly. “What did he do to Ryan? What’s going on?”

“Ah, the loyal Rainbow Dash,” Discord swooped down suddenly, tapping her on the nose. “I never liked the element of loyalty. Such a bore,” he grinned, vanishing the moment she angrily swiped at him.

“Girls!” Celestia said suddenly, flaring her wings. “Get behind me, now!”

A splinter of dark light filtered down from above, filtering through the ceiling and dropping lithely to the ground. A shadow burst from the spot it dropped at, the armored form of none other than Princess Luna standing ready.

“Luna!” Celestia panicked, and for the first time in her life, Twilight saw her mentor fearful. “Luna, stop! Get out of here!”

To Twilight’s surprise, Luna, who wore hefty and shining black plated armor with a single spike on each of her forehooves, stood shakily from the crater she had just cracked into the floor. Deep, sagging bags hanged beneath her bloodshot eyes, and the once glistering mane sticking out from beneath her shining black helmet was ragged and disheveled.

In short, Luna looked awful.

“I told you, sister!” Luna bellowed, a light blue glow alighting her horn as a silvery black battle axe erupted from midair, levitating dangerously beside her. “I warned you that he could not be trusted!”

“Ryan!” Twilight shook his shoulder worriedly, flanked by an anxious Pinkie Pie. “Ryan, get up! Please, get up!”

She held his arm in one hoof, shaking it weakly. However, after a moment, she realized that the greyed figure of her friend was still breathing… and as he ever so slowly raised her head, Twilight felt a similar sliver of fear that Celestia did.

He turned upward, revealing a disturbingly massive, shark-like grin, his pointed teeth gnashing greedily as he stood. Twilight and Pinkie jerked back suddenly, Ryan turning his hateful grey eyes toward the princesses.

“Whoop whoop whoop!” Discord shouted from above suddenly and drawing their gaze, blasting out of the air with a bang as a couple of cannonballs dropped from the air into the screaming crowds of terrified ponies. “Up here, ladies!”

The moment he did so, the greyed Ryan darted forward with impossible speed, a single trail of dust flying behind him from the force of the leap. Princess Luna’s head darted sharply at the movement, bloodshot eyes widening as she struggled to magically grip her battle axe.

Of course, she swiftly found that the blue glow around her summoned axe vanished the moment Ryan grabbed her horn.

“Back!” Celestia screamed at him, blasting a fiery bolt of golden energy at the assailant from the tip of her horn to protect her sister.

“Ah, ah, ah!” Discord tutted, snapping his talons as both the flaming bolt and Princess Celestia vanished in a single instant. “You’ll ruin the show!”

“Princess!” Twilight and her friends struggled to make their way forward through the falling cannonballs and cotton candy balls.

Princess Luna, however, was completely unresponsive.

A vicious, wicked green light emanated from Ryan’s left palm as he gripped her horn, the blackened scar on his hand burning with a lime glow. He cackled maniacally as the drained princess dropped to the floor, her armor clattering and vanishing as she passed out.

Ryan flicked his wrist, an emerald flame bursting from the scar on his palm as a jagged, black sabre erupted from thin air. He grabbed the ornate hilt, giving it a couple of swift twirls before turning toward Twilight, and she was horrified to see that his eyes glowed with the same hateful green light.

“Ryan, what have you done?!”

He twitched his palm toward them all, a flickering line of green flame spiraling up before them as he placed his foot atop Princess Luna’s unmoving body and crowed in victory at last. His voice echoed throughout the hall, his bursts of insane laughter mingling with Discord’s over the screams of terror from the running guests.

Ryan thrust the jagged black sabre into the air, a peal of thunder cracking throughout the hall simultaneously as he screamed his conquest at long last.

“Hail! Hail, Dawnbreaker!”

Author's Notes:

Hail, Dawnbreaker.