Everyone was enjoying the party into the late night. Well, not everyone was enjoying the party that much. Marcus, Luke, Andrew, and Blake were all sitting by themselves in different booths. Each one of them have had about twenty ciders. As much as it proved helpful, being infected really sucked at some points. One of the biggest things that sucked was the inability to get drunk. So as they tried to drown away their boredom through alcohol, everyone else was having fun.

Drak was having a somewhat calm conversation with Ditzy. Brandon was busy trying to figure out how to apologize to Rose. Jaeden was busy dancing to the music that Vinyl was playing. For some odd reason Applejack and Ryan were busy arm wrestling and he wasn’t winning. Callie was sitting with Whooves at a table and eating cake. Marcus was enjoying his cider until he was disturbed by another pair of ponies.

One of the ponies was a unicorn. She had a mint green coat with golden eyes. Her mane and tail were two-toned with a mint green and white color. She wore blue jeans and a hoodie that was the same color as her coat. The other was a cream colored earth pony with sky blue eyes. Her mane was two-tones as well with cobalt blue and pink as her colors. She wore a simple sun dress that showed some of her elegance.

The mint green unicorn stared with her mouth agape as she got closer to him. He scooted back in his seat, trying to get away from the strange mare. As he kept scooting away she kept getting closer. He finally hit the wall with his back and was now trapped. The mare was now uncomfortably too close for comfort. She raised her hands and he closed his eyes afraid of what she might do. For a few seconds he felt nothing, but then he felt her hands touching his face.

Her touches were light and delicate as she traced his face. He was afraid to open his eyes, but curiosity got the better of him. He cracked open his left eye a little and watched the mare. As she continued to touch his face he finally opened his eyes to get a better look at the mare. He watched as she mumbled to herself as she explored his jaw and hairline. She went at it for a few more minutes before being pulled away. He watched as her face contorted to disappointment as she was pulled away.

“I am terribly sorry about that, but my friend here can be a bit touchy to things that pique her interest,” The cream colored mare said.

“It’s quite alright. I just didn’t expect to be poked and prodded by someone tonight. My name is Marcus,” Marcus reached out his hand for them to shake. His hand was soon taken by the mint green mare as she studied it.

“Again, sorry about that. My name is Bon-Bon and the one looking over your hand is Lyra Heartstrings,” Bon-Bon introduced as she smiled sheepishly.

“Any reason why she has to study my hand?” Marcus asked as he tried to pull his hand back. Lyra wouldn’t have any of that as she continued to hold on to it.

“Well, to answer your question it is because I like to learn about new species. Especially if it involves humans.”

“Why, are you some kind of human expert?” Marcus asked as he chuckled to himself. He then looked over to Bon-Bon who was shaking her head. He looked back at Lyra and was scared of her as she smiled. Her smile was warm and happy as she looked at him.

“I wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I have learned a few things. Most of the ponies here thought that your kind never existed. I believed and studied as much as I could so that I could prove them wrong. Now, not only am I talking with a human, but there are nine others that I could talk to as well.”

“Well, as much as that may sound true I don’t think that your books probably do us justice.”

“That is why I am so glad to have met all of you. I can finally have answers to all of my questions. When can we get started?” Lyra asked as she jumped in place. The human couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. She was like a little kid hyped up on candy.

“Whenever my friends and I are no longer on lockdown.”

“Yeah I heard about that. Who are you staying with?”

“I am staying with Rainbow Dash.”

“Oh that is so adorable. She is such a nice pony and very caring when she needs to be.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“Oh and why do you say that?”

“Well she has made it clear since day one that she hates my guts.”

“Oh, that is how she always is around new ponies. Just give her some time and you will see how nice she can be.”

“I guess we will see.”

“Hey, do you have a phone?”

“Yeah.”

“Can I see it?” Marcus handed his phone to the unicorn and she typed something into the phone.

“If Rainbow hates you then why do you already have her number?” Bon-Bon asked as she waggled her eyebrows.

“Because since she is my watcher then she needs a way to communicate with me. I’m pretty sure that if she had a choice then she would have just thrown it out.”

“It’s going to be a funny day when you two start to get along. You two even share such similar qualities that you would even make a cute couple.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. There is no way that is ever going to happen. She doesn’t like me and I don’t like her. Also, what makes you think that I would even date her? She is a pony and I am a human. We are too different and it would never work out. Plus the thought of dating her is just sickening,” after that statement the music stopped and all the ponies and his friends were looking at him.

“What did you say?” Pinkie asked as she got up in his face.

He could see the anger that was burning in her eyes. As he looked around he saw that some of his friends even held the same anger. His eyes landed on Rainbow Dash and he could see that she was holding back her tears. He fumbled with his words as he tried to figure out something to say. As he tried to figure something out he couldn’t say anything. Instead of trying to explain what he said he just grabbed his cider and walked out of the building.

The ponies watched as the human stormed off into the darkness. Once he was gone, Twilight and the others went over to the cyan mare to try and console her. The friends were about to leave and stop their friend, but Luna kept them from leaving. They looked at her with a mixture of confusion and slight anger.

“I know that you want to help your friend, but you can’t. This is a problem that only Rainbow and Marcus can solve.”

“How am I supposed to solve this? You heard what he said and he might be right. We are too different so there is no chance that he would even want to become friends. So he can go die for all I care,” Rainbow said as her anguish turned into anger.

“Rainbow, you don’t mean that. You are just frustrated and letting your anger cloud your judgment,” Twilight said as she stroked her friends back.

“It will take longer than you think to gain his trust,” Rainbow said.

“What makes you think that?” Rarity asked.

“Well, he doesn’t believe that we are honest or loyal enough to help them. He thinks that we are just waiting to hurt them. As far as he is concerned he just wants this over with so he can go back to living his own life,” Rainbow said as her tears started to come back.

“You don’t have to blame yourself for that. What he says is true but this is actually the first time that he has released his anger,” Drak stated as he joined the group.

“What do you mean that this is the first that he has released his anger? He seems to be releasing it every day just fine,” Twilight said with anger rising in her voice.

“It may seem like anger, but it is actually false anger that he is showing. He has been hiding inside a protective shell of false emotions after a certain day. The reason that he is finally letting it all go is because you remind him of one person that he knew. Both of you are similar in the sense that you are stubborn, but are willing to try your hardest,” Drak said he started pulling up a chair.

“What exactly happened during that time?” Rarity asked.

“Well, it started after he and the others got infected. During this time they avoided using their powers since they never had full control,” Drak started to say.

“Drak, you know very well that none of us can share that story. We all agreed to leave it be since all of it was settled,” Brandon said.

“Are we sure that it was all settled? We weren’t there when he confronted her so all we know he didn’t do it,” The friends looked at him for a few seconds before stepping down. “Besides, this might do him some good if he can come to terms with it. It all started with a girl named Olivia.”

Two And A Half Years Ago

The friends have been hiding from Blackwatch for half a year. They have had a few close calls, but were able to escape. They have been constantly on the move but their escape didn’t slow down Blackwatch’s progress. As the friends were continuously hunted down they had to deal with new types of infected. The worst of all the new infected was Nemesis. He was directly controlled by Blackwatch and never stopped for anything.

Nemesis had the regenerative property that Blake had making him nearly invincible. The friends were leaving Las Vegas after escaping Nemesis. They were driving down the roads with their family until they came across someone in the desert. They pulled over and Marcus was surprised to see who it was. Olivia was an old friend of his from school. Even after all these long times she was doing better than they were.

She was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jean shorts. Her hair was brown and stopped in the middle He ran up to her and gave her a hug as he cried tears of joy. She returned the embrace as the others got out of their vehicles to say hi. She joined the group as they headed east to the nearest city for rest.

Something was off though during her time with the friends. After she joined their group they were hunted down more ruthlessly than before. After several surprise attacks the friends decided that they always needed to keep moving. They would only stop for a few hours to get supplies and a quick rest. This idea worked for a while until they ended up at the warehouse. One of the vehicles broke down and they had to stay the night so they could fix it.

The friends took shifts as they kept a look out for the enemy. The moon was high in the sky and Callie was on watch. Olivia came up the steps and relived her of her time. Once Callie was gone, Olivia flashed a light to the outside and then joined the friends back downstairs. She took a seat next to Marcus as he handed her a bowl of soup. The friends sat in silence as Marcus and Olivia continued to catch up.

As they finished eating and putting away the dishes, Brandon heard something outside. He lifted his hand and all the friends gathered around him. He pointed in the direction of the sound and the friends nodded. Everyone grabbed their weapons as they put their parents in one of the containers to keep them safe. Brandon, Ryan, and Jaeden silently walked towards the sound of the noise. The other friends took positions around the room, as they got ready.

There was an eerie silence as the noise stopped. In the silence everyone held their breath waiting for anything to happen. A few of them started to sweat, as the intense pressure got to them. After a couple of minutes in the silence there was a loud whirring sound. The sound was familiar to all the friends as they ran to different areas of the warehouse. By the time the friends got away from the door it was swallowed by flames as it was sent flying.

Once the door hit the ground the friends looked over to the open doorway. As they watched they heard the heavy footsteps of something approaching. After several seconds of staring at the flames a creature seven feet tall came walking in. The creature wore tight black leather on his body and black combat boots. His arms and face looked like fresh scars and squishy skin. You could only see one of his eyes as the other was covered in his skin.

This creature was Nemesis and he didn’t look very happy to be there. He scanned the room trying to find the subjects. After looking around for a few seconds he started up his chain gun and opened fire. The friends took cover as the bullets whizzed over their heads and hit the walls. When the firing stopped the friends took a sigh of relief as they planned their next move. They didn’t have long to think as they saw gasoline head for the fire.

The friends saw as the vapors of the gas were ignited and headed back to the source. The friends jumped over the boxes they were hiding when the flames reached the tank. The force of the explosion was strong enough to send the friends flying everywhere. Marcus saw Olivia walk up to the creature and hand him something. He then looked over to his friends to see that they were on the ground in pain.

He watched as she started to walk out of the warehouse. He fought through the pain as he got to his feet and chased after her. When he disappeared, the friends crawled towards each other. Once they were together Nemesis came over and looked down at them. As it looked down at them it gave a little smirk as it lifted its chain gun and pointed it at one of the containers. The friends looked to where it was pointed at and became filled with a sense of dread.

The gun was pointed at the container that they hid their parents in. They looked back at the creature and tried to stop him. The pain was too unbearable for them to stop him as he pulled the trigger. The listened as the barrel spun and the empty shells hit the floor. It was as if time slowed down for them all as they watched the container get covered in holes. What should have only lasted seconds felt like hours as they watched the once safe container leak blood.

Tears flowed out of their eyes as Nemesis turned around and left. There was no sound in the warehouse except that of the fire crackling and some sniffling. The friends were pulled from their trance when they heard a gunshot. They all turned around and saw Marcus return. The friends stepped aside as he walked towards the container and stared at it. After a couple minutes of staring he turned around and signaled that they should all leave.

The friends didn’t say anything as they packed up some of their belongings and headed for their vehicles. The vehicles were started and they drove off into the distance. Words could have been said to help ease the pain, but they all remained silent. Most worry went towards Marcus as they saw the lifeless gaze that he held. He held no emotion and didn’t shed a single tear at the loss of his family. Alex went to see if he was okay and Marcus just told him that he was fine and didn’t have to worry.

Present

“So do you know what happened to Olivia?” Luna asked as she stared at the door Marcus walked out of.

“We aren’t really sure. We assume that he did the one thing that would have been smart. Though we can’t help but feel that he couldn’t because he cared too much for her. We tried to get him to talk about it, but he just avoided it like he did his feelings,” Luke said.

“So is there anything that we can do?” Pinkie asked as some tears started to form in her eyes.

“For now the best thing to do is let him blow off his steam. It would be smart to keep your guards away from him so he doesn’t snap at them, and don’t worry about him not coming back. Once he has cooled off he will come back,” Ryan answered. The blue alicorn wrote a few letters and sent them off to her guards using her magic.

Marcus

Marcus was walking through Ponyville letting the light of the moon guide him. As he continued to walk he could feel his anger steadily rise. Long suppressed emotions that he had begun to surface and there wasn’t anything that he could do to stop it. He reached the edge of the Everfree forest and sat down near the closest tree. He leaned his head back as he looked up into the sky and counted the stars.

Memories ran through his mind as he pulled back the most painful ones. The most occurring memory was Olivia’s face. Two images continued to flash in his mind as he remembered his old friend and high school crush. Before the events she was always smiling and happy with everyone she met. She always knew how to brighten up the mood when someone was feeling down. The other was of her with a malicious smile as she took pleasure in their pain. She took even more enjoyment as she caused pain towards him.

He looked at his hands as he played back everything that happened with her. His hands shook as his tears finally burst forth. He didn’t try to fight it as he let his sorrow spill forth. Everything that he held dear to him always found a way of hurting him or he failed to keep them safe. His friends would look up to him during the down times for some inspiration. He would always use a false sense of security as he spoke to his friends.

He blamed himself for what happened to them. They trusted him to keep them safe and encouraged them to continue to fight. Now with everything that has happened he didn’t know what to do. Three of his friends were infected, they all lost their parents, and now they were in a strange world that could become their grave. He could see that some of them did enjoy talking with the many ponies here and became quick friends.

He hoped that those feelings of happiness were genuine and not false to make him feel better. All he ever wanted was to go back to his old life with his friends and continue to fool around. The tears slowed down as he continued to look at the sky, but with more interest than before. The moon on Equestria was way more beautiful than Earth. The moon shone brightly and could possibly be seen for miles. As he continued to stare up at the sky he didn’t notice a pony walking up behind him.

“The moon is beautiful this time of night isn’t it?” Marcus jumped as he turned around at the new voice. He lowered his guard as he saw it was Whooves.

“People could never get a beautiful night like this back on Earth.”

“I know what you mean. I visited Earth once to see what the night was like there and it was horrid. Looking at that moon almost made me wish I was back fighting Daleks,” Whooves said as he gave a slight chuckle.

“So did you come here to lecture me or give me words of wisdom?” Marcus asked as he took his seat under the tree again.

“I came over to ask a question actually. How long do you plan on living in your self-pity?” Whooves asked as he took a seat next to the human.

“How long am I going to be stuck in this overly happy world?” Marcus retorted as he rolled his eyes.

“You know it’s not your fault except you continue to bring yourself down.”

“Well, if you had the powers that we did then you would understand. These powers are meant for nothing more than evil. The sole purpose is to crush our enemies and annihilate any that get in our way.”

“Have you even tried to use them for anything else?”

“Why would we? We are just monsters that are waiting for our next set of orders. We can fight it all we want, but we can’t change what we
are.”

“You are correct in saying that,” Marcus looked over at the stallion to see what he was getting at. “Although you aren’t changing what you are. Your powers may bring about destruction and death, but that is only if you allow it. Trust me when I say that it is okay to be afraid of something so powerful. Sometimes though what we are truly afraid of is never having the power to make a difference,” Whooves said as he placed a hand on the human’s shoulder and gave him a warm smile.

“Seriously, how much do you know about us?”

“I watched over all of you during those four years. I have seen some of the things that you all have done, but I don’t know how you truly felt.”

“So you were more of a silent watcher that was testing our resolve,” Marcus couldn’t help but chuckle at the silly Doctor.

“You just need to remember one thing. No matter how much they changed you on the inside they never truly took your heart. All of you still have much to learn and even more growing, but you all have the capability to reach it. The only thing that you need to decide is if you are going to live in your self-pity or doing something about it.”

Marcus sat in silence as he thought about what the stallion told him. The stallion watched them for four years and has witnessed the death of many at their hands. Even with those facts stacked against them he is willing to believe and trust that they can still do some good. The human looked the stallion in the eyes and could see that they held no hate. He took one look at the sky before turning to the stallon, asking one last question.

“If we have the ability to change would all the ponies be able to accept us?”

“I will not lie in saying that everything will be alright. You may have met some ponies that were nice, but there are others that will question your motives or just plain not like you. I believe though that with the right guidance and help you all will do fine,” Marcus gave a smile to the Doctor and it was the first one that he truly meant to give. “I also know that you don’t much care for Celestia at this moment, but she does what is best. She may not do it in the best sense, but it has always worked so at least give her a chance of being a friend.”

Marcus nodded as he looked back at the little village. He could still see the lights that were on at Sugarcube Corner and couldn’t help the pang of guilt that he felt. He treated everyone that he met so far like shit and they continued to be nice to him. He felt even more sorry as he remembered the tears that Rainbow had when he insulted her. She was like Olivia in so many ways, but she actually cared and he just threw that kindness away.

He got off the ground and stretched as he looked around. He decided that it would be best to head back and give them a chance. The human and stallion were headed back to Pinkie’s place until they heard a loud scream in the woods. The two of them looked back to see nothing on the outskirts of the forest. They waited for a few seconds and another scream came rippling through the forest.

“Whooves, I need you to head back and grab everyone.”

“And what the hell are you going to do?” Whooves asked in confusion.

“Doing as you said. I may not be able to change much, but my heart is the same.”

“Are you sure that you can handle it?”

“Not really. That is why I need you to go and grab the others,” Whooves nodded as he sprinted towards the bakery.

The human looked towards the forest and took a big breath. As he released the air that he took in he started popping his bones into place. Ready for what was in the forest he took off to see who needed help. If there was one thing he hated about forests, it was the branches that were placed just right to smack someone in the face. He didn’t have time to dwell on it as he heard the scream once again. He was confused because this one was different. It was a different sound, but sounded like the first in the aspect that the screamer was young.

Not wanting a situation like Dinky to happen, he poured on his speed as he neared the origin of the scream. He reached an open clearing and saw two fillies guarding another that was on the ground. One filly was a unicorn and was as white as snow with a dual colored mane and tail of mulberry and rose. Her eyes were a light emerald. The other was a yellow earth filly with a red mane and tail with a light crimson bow. Her eye color was a brilliant gamboge. The one on the ground was an orange pegasus with a purple mane and tail.

He looked closely and saw that she had a nasty cut on her head. He wasn’t able to look long as his attention was pulled towards a loud screech. The creature he saw was part human and bird. Her hands and legs held talons and she had giant wings on her back. She wore little clothing that covered her body leaving nothing to the imagination. She was looking down at the three fillies with hunger in her eyes.

The creature dove down at the fillies and that was when he took action. He jumped in front of the creature taking a talon hand to his right arm. The creature flew back as it looked at its new prey standing before her. He took one glance at the creature before looking back at the fillies. He could see that the pegasus was hurt terribly and the other two had a few cuts and bruises. He looked back at the creature before coming up with a plan.

“You may not know me, but I need you to trust me. I sent a pony to grab some friends of mine and they should be headed over here. I need you to grab your friend and get out of this forest.”

“But what about you, mister?” The white filly asked as tears fell from her eyes.

“I will keep this creature busy. So when I attack her I need you to get out of here fast. Can you do that for me?” Marcus asked as he looked at the two fillies. They nodded their heads as they wiped the tears from their eyes.

“What is you name, mister?” The yellow filly asked.

“The name is Marcus. What are your names?”

“My name is Sweetie Belle,” the white filly answered.

“My name is Apple Bloom and this is our friend Scootaloo,” the yellow filly answered as she pointed to their pegasus friend.”

“Those are lovely names. Now take care of yourselves and get out of here,” as Marcus said that he pulled out one of his knives and charged the creature. Once he started sprinting, the fillies grabbed their hurt friend and ran for the exit.

The creature saw the fillies trying to escape, but had to focus her attention on the human as he got right in her face. He brought his knife up to slash across her abdomen, but missed as she flew back. During his fall back to the ground he grabbed his other knife and threw it at the creature. The creature saw the incoming knife and grabbed it with her mouth. The creature smiled maliciously as she crushed the blade with her teeth.

“You should give up, male. You have no chance against a harpy like me.”

“So that is what you are. I was going under the impression that you were some horrible abomination.”

“Say what you will, but the end result is the same. I am going to kill you and then feed off your entrails. After that I am going to get those three fillies that you saved.”

“Then why don’t you try it,” Marcus retorted as he gave her a smirk.

The harpy huffed at his arrogance and decided that she was done playing around. She flew straight towards him and reared up one of her clawed hands. As the harpy charged him, he did the same as he brought up his fist. He swung out his arm and right when he was about to hit her, she grabbed his arm and took for the sky. He tried to free his arm from her grasp, but she was tougher than she looked.

Once she thought they were high enough she looked down at him and he saw the evil intent in her eyes. Before he could say anything she released her grip and he fell to the forest floor below. During his fall the harpy made sure to get a few swipes in of her own. He was bleeding from both arms and had a deep gash near his sternum. The harpy used this chance to fly up into the air until she felt it was enough. Once she was high enough she tucked her wings in and did a nose-dive.

She came speeding down like a meteor and threw out her leg. He felt as her talons impaled him in his abdomen. He grunted in pain as he grabbed her leg, refusing to let go. The harpy leaned down to try and rip off his hands, but when she got close he grabbed her head and pulled her in close. The harpy squirmed with all her strength to break free, but could not escape no matter her attempt. He looked at the approaching ground and gave a light shake of his head at how painful the landing is going to be.

Twilight And Friends

Twilight and the others were running as fast as they could for the Everfree. Whooves showed up to the bakery sweaty and out of breath. He tried to explain what was wrong, but was having a hard time as he tried to catch his breath. Luckily Pinkie was able to pick ‘Marcus’ and ‘trouble.’ That was all they needed to hear to go and get him. They were able to see the outskirts of the Everfree and poured on even more speed to get to him. As they were reaching the borderline of the forest everyone saw three fillies run out of the forest.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity exclaimed as she ran towards her sister.

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack said as she hugged her sister.

“Sis, we need help. Scootaloo is hurt very bad,” Apple Bloom said as some tears started to form.

“Girls, what happened in there and why were you in there?” Twilight asked as she looked over Scootaloo.

“We were trying to get some plants for our school project. We found what we were looking for, but we were attacked by a harpy,” all the ponies gasped as the word harpy left their lips. “Then some weird creature by the name of Marcus showed up and took the harpy on.”

“Do you know how far he went into the forest?” Rainbow asked.

“He is about ten minutes into the forest near a clearing,” Sweetie answered.

Everyone nodded as Luna took the three fillies to the hospital. They didn’t even think twice as they ran through the forest. Fluttershy was still scared of the forest, but Andrew stayed next to her to keep her calm. Drak was fearful of the forest, but could push down the fear long enough to find his friend. Ditzy was also a big help in keeping his senses together. They ran for as long as they could until they heard a loud shriek. The ponies recognized it as a harpy’s cry and ran faster. They finally reached a clearing and felt sick at what they saw.

Marcus

Marcus grunted as he felt his body impact with each branch on the tree towards the ground. The harpy wasn’t spared any expense as she hit a few branches herself. He saw the incoming ground and turned his body around so that the harpy was below him. They both hit the ground hard enough that it shook the ground a little. The human spat out blood as he felt the talon foot of the harpy pierce through his abdomen.

The harpy laughed as he was busy coughing up blood. His grip weakened from his fast paced blood loss. The harpy was able to pull her leg out and break free of his grasp. Once free the harpy kicked him into the nearby tree. He felt the air escape from his lungs as he hit the tree and cracked it. He groaned as he lifted himself into a sitting position. The harpy walked over to a nearby branch and picked it up.

The harpy used her claws to sharpen one of the ends into a point. Once her makeshift spear was made she turned around to face the human. He saw the malicious grin on the harpy and tried to reach for his knife. He couldn’t find the strength to reach for it as his vision started to blur. The harpy flew straight at him and impaled his right shoulder with the wooden spear. He gritted his teeth as he held in his pain filled scream.

His breathing was getting shallow and heavy. He could see the darkness that was coming and started to imagine the faces of his friends. He expected them to all have smiles, but what he saw was sorrow and misery. He could hear the melancholy of their voices as they spoke about him. They felt terrible that they weren’t there for him and blamed themselves for everything. This was the only thing that he didn’t want to see from his friends.

Light slowly started to return as he looked back at the harpy. She was standing over him as she twisted the stick side to side. He slowly lifted his left hand and pointed it at the harpy. The harpy was laughing at his futile attempt to fight and continued to smirk. He lifted his head and stared directly into the soul of the harpy. The harpy felt her blood run cold as she caught his gaze. She took a step back and as she did his left arm shot out and impaled her through her chest.

The harpy let out a blood curdling scream as she looked at the arm through her chest. She looked at the human as he gave a dark chuckle and retracted his arm. Once his arm was back and turned to normal, the harpy fell to the ground with a thud. Darkness came over him again, but before he went out he heard footsteps. He looked over to his left and saw his friends and ponies standing on the edge of the clearing. He gave them a thumbs up as he fell to the ground unconscious.

Twilight And Gang

Blake was immediately at Marcus’ side looking him over. All the girls turned their heads as they got a good look at him. There was a good sized hole going through his abdomen and exiting his back. The wooden spear severed his shoulder tendon making his right arm useless. Blake laid him on his back gently as he went about healing him. Everyone else grabbed the mares and took them away from the gruesome sight.

Rainbow refused to leave as she looked at the dead harpy and the half dead human. She slowly walked up to him and knelt beside him. She looked at him through her tear filled magenta eyes at the small smile he had. Blake didn’t say anything as he saw her extend her hand out and stroke his hair. The pegasus didn’t know why she was stroking his hair, but it helped to comfort her as she felt herself fill with regret.

Blake kept his right hand over the hole on his friend as he placed his left on her shoulder. The pegasus looked over at him, but didn’t stop stroking Marcus’ hair. Blake gave her a warm smile as he tried to assure her that Marcus would be okay. The gaping holes soon closed and Blake was able to relax. Marcus was still unconscious, but he was safe for now.

“Do you mind taking him to the hospital?”

“I think that I can do that. But why do you want me to take him there? I thought that his healing ability would keep him alive.”

“Out of the four of us I have the best healing. The other three can heal, but not as quickly. Wounds that are fatal can still kill them but it takes a longer amount of time. Plus, I don’t know much about harpies so I don’t know what they are capable of.”

Rainbow gave a slight nod as she gently picked up the unconscious human and carried him. The two walked towards the others who were standing on the edge of the clearing trying to compose themselves. As they saw Blake and Rainbow walking towards them they all smiled. They all walked closely together as they exited the forest and headed for the hospital.

“You humans will still do foolish things won’t you?” Whooves stated.

“Sometimes being foolish can show the true side of someone,” Callie said.

“Still, I am very proud of him. I may know some of the things that happened, but not everything. I don’t know what happened to the four of you in Revelations and I could never tell how all of you felt throughout the years.”

“Maybe someday you will get the full story. For now let’s get him admitted to the hospital and hope for a speedy recovery,” Ryan said as he gave a slight chuckle.

Everyone smiled as they reached the hospital doors and entered. Nurse Redheart saw the group arrive and didn’t even question them. She stood up from her seat and led them to an empty room they could put Marcus in. Rainbow placed him on the bed as everyone went to find something to drink. Luke stayed behind as he pulled the curtains around himself, Rainbow, and Marcus. Once they were surrounded Luke went ahead and took Marcus’ shirt off.

“Whoa, what are you doing?” Rainbow asked as a blush started to form.

“I’m taking off his battered clothes and giving him a new set,” Luke answered as he went for the pants next.

“Well, a little warning next time so I can avert my eyes, okay?”

“I didn’t warn you because I need your help. I need you to hold up his legs so I can get his pants off,” the pegasus stared at him dumbfounded as she processed what he said. There was a few seconds a silence before she sighed and grabbed Marcus’ legs. She kept her eyes shut tight as Luke was able to get the pants off.

Now that Marcus was out of his torn clothing, Luke grabbed the bed sheet and pulled it over his friend. Once Marcus was decently covered, Luke cleared his throat so Rainbow could open her eyes. The pegasus smiled at Marcus’ sleeping form as Luke pulled away the curtain. Once the curtain was put back everyone returned with some water and handed them out. Everyone looked at Marcus before giving off a collective yawn.

They started leaving the room to head for the library to get some sleep. The cyan mare stayed behind as did Luna as they looked at Marcus. The pegasus grabbed a chair and set it up next to him and took a seat. The princess raised her brow as she watched the actions of the prismatic pegasus.

“Any reason why you chose to sit near him?” Luna asked as she gave a warm smile.

“Well, I am supposed to look after him aren’t I? That means no matter where he is I need to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Plus, I think it will do him good to see a familiar face and I want to thank him personally,” Rainbow answered not taking her eyes off of the human. The princess continued to smile as she patted the pegasus’ shoulder before leaving for the library.