“You don’t need to know my name.”

The bat pony mare just kept smiling, as if she knew something I didn’t.

“Please excuse me.”

I stood up off my barstool and stepped away, only to feel Fray fall out of the back of my skull without warning. I cursed, prepared for the worst but as I turned around, I found that the strange mare had caught my friend and was keeping it away from anypony who might have seen it. Considering that she hadn’t freaked out or yelled “traitor” to anypony, I figured that either she was an ally, or just didn’t care. I was still not too open for revealing too much about myself, though.

“My name is Lunar Pulse.” she offered, “I’m normally a DJ here, but I’m off tonight.”

The strange mare handed Fray back over to me. I stared at my companion, looking for some sign of whatever might have caused him to just… fall out of my brain while eyeing my new acquaintance with suspicion before turning my attention back to Fray.

“Fray…?” I whispered in its ear, a little worry tingeing my voice, “Are you okay?”

Fray stood in my hooves and wobbled a bit, “I am fiiiine.” it crowed louder than I had expected, “You were right. Cider is goooood.”

That loud, child-like voice of Fray’s began to attract attention. The crimson-winged batpony mare stood in front of me, shielding Fray even further. My little friend’s outburst was quickly forgotten as ponies returned to their drinking and dancing.

“Looks like the poor thing’s drunk, and judging by its size… and the fact that it came out of your skull, I’d say that the little bit of cider you just had rocked its tiny world.”

Hindsight is always 20/20, and I should have had the foresight to see that anything I did, something I kept telling myself over and over again prior to the event that was threatening to expose me to a group of possibly hostile ponies as a result of a rather stupid decision, would affect my companion in a more magnified way. There was no way to justify it, I’d messed up.

“I should have seen this coming.” I told Lunar Pulse, “I have to go.” pausing to look at Fray, “We have to go.”

Fray wouldn’t have any of that though, deciding that floating up to the bar and sitting down in front of our barmare was a better idea than keeping a low profile. If it had been any other situation, I would have laughed. Maybe.

“Hey… laaaady!” Fray called, getting the baremare’s attention, “May I have some more cider?”

Yep. It was going to be a heck of a night. Cover. Completely. Blown.

Lunar Pulse attempted to nab up Fray before anyone really noticed, but Fray avoided her grasp rather adeptly, despite its wobbly state. The barmare was, as I found out moments later as she screamed something about “The Dark One” being in their midst, not one of the unsung allies against the idea of having me banished from Ponyville. In response the bar stopped, the DJ playing cut the music, and it was about as cliche` as any one of those motion films, something which was becoming all the rage in Canterlot at the time, could possibly be with everypony staring in my direction. A few started to move away and towards the door, and I wished that I was in their shoes for a moment, before a roar of anger and mayhem sounded out through The Ciderhouse.

“Hey!” Fray roared back, its voice filling the room in a way that I was certain would have been impossible for any pony else, “You guys are too loud! Some ‘owls’ are trying to enjoy themselves!”

I managed to grab Fray while he was yelling at the crowd, “Fray. You are not an owl, and I really suggest you stop talking please!” I hissed, trying to get through to my inebriated blob of a friend.

“Why?” it asked, falling asleep right there.

Lunar Pulse raised her eyebrows a bit before stepping towards a back door, “You know, if you weren’t about to get your flank beaten down, I’d say that was adorable.” she called as I stuffed Fray as carefully as I could into a pocket in my poncho, “And I might still get that chance if you’ll freaking RUN!”

I glanced up just as a veritable wave of pony came crashing in my direction, sending flaggons soaring into the air, drenching myself and the crowd with cheap ciders and beers, tipping tables over, and coming quickly into striking range of myself. The first pony caught a square hoof on the jaw, as my natural reactions kicked in. I couldn’t rely on Fray’s help in the event that they failed though, and probably didn’t deserve to but I wasn’t in a position to have time to think about ir as another pony tried to sweep-kick me with her back hooves, barely missing as I jumped over her attack, hopped over the bar, ran towards the door and jumped over the bar again just before busting through the rear entrance of the bar and out into the cold night air. Glancing around, I caught the glowing yellow eyes of my new acquaintance in a nearby bush.

“Come on! Unless you enjoy getting your butt kicked!”

I bolted into the bush after her, clinging to a futile hope that nopony had seen me do so. That same hope was shattered in an instant as somepony yelled after me, cursing my name and my lineage.

I was breathing heavily as I addressed the bat pony mare “We gotta move.”

“You gotta move. You’re on my tail.” Lunar Pulse hissed.

“Right, sorry.” I lifted a hoof and took off into the streets again, stopping to make sure Lunar was following as well.

And then we ran, chased by a mob of angry ponies. My hood slipped back from the top of my head as we ran, clearing my peripheral vision and allowing me to see possibilities for escape in a way that reflected my time with Aurora. I hopped up on top of a low box then another crate, and then swung myself up onto a rooftop, nearly losing Fray with the sudden jolt. It was just so fortunate that the move had bought me some time as I closed my small friend more securely up in a pocket, buttoning it, and then took off over the thatched shingling of Ponyville’s skyscape. As always, however, I eventually came to a point where I could no longer proceed alone.

“Jump!” Lunar Pulse commanded, “I’ll catch you!”

“You can manage that?” I asked, stepping back to prepare myself, “I’m not exactly light!”

“No time for arguing just-”

I had already launched myself, stretching my hooves out in front of me and hoping to catch something, if the burnt-orange haired batpony failed to catch me before I hit the ground. As luck would have it though, the mare was no slouch and caught my hooves, flapping her wings hard to make up for the weight as she lifted me back to another rooftop where I continued my escape.

“Sheesh, you weren’t joking! Lay off the cider for a while, alright?” she teased before pointing out in surprise, “Watch it!”

Instead of actually paying attention, I had been watching my new partner in crime instead of the path in front of me and found myself moving too quickly to stop an inevitable fall. Lunar Pulse’s cry of surprise and worry reached my ears just before I grabbed onto a sideways-oriented flagpole and launched myself back onto the roof, albeit on the other side of the alley that I’d fallen into.

“Slick moves, dude.” she complimented through the rushing wind, “Come on, let’s put ‘em to the test! The crowd’s coming!”

Checking my poncho’s pockets one more time before taking off into the night, I made sure that Fray was safe and secure. Then, once more, I bolted over rooftops with the wind singing in my ears and the howls of an angry populace to spur me on. There was a certain thrill to it all, a certain rush that made me feel alive. I was an outlaw, bound for jail, but only if the Night Guard could catch me. I was the Dark One, and my blood red mane and dark blue coat reflected that almost to perfection.

Eventually the fantasy had to end though. Lunar Pulse and I managed to get away from the crowd with enough time to say a few words and then part ways.

“You’re an impressive stallion.” Lunar Pulse complimented, “But I think this is a good place to separate.”

I nodded in agreement, “It would probably be a good idea. At least then they can’t catch us both.”

“You never told me your name, stud.” the golden-eyed bat pony said as she landed and sauntered over, “It’s a shame I don’t know the name of the stallion that showed me such a good time.”

I swallowed, feeling a little hot under my hood, “It’s Air Ramp…” I told her.

She was close enough to kiss me, and for a moment I thought she would. Just as suddenly as she’d come so close though, she drew away, grinned and with a flash of her crimson wings was off into the air.

“Maybe I’ll see you again some time!” she called out, disappearing into the night.

I smiled a little, “Maybe you will.” I whispered to myself as I headed off the rooftops at the edge of town and down into the fields below.

Fray was sound asleep in my coat pocket, snoring away. I found myself regretting having drank, causing Fray to act the way it had. I regretted even more that I was probably going to have to explain what a hangover was, and that I had taught it wrong. Cider was not good, and I’d have to tell it that. It certainly wasn’t good for somepony as small and young as my blobby little friend was, and as long as the little thing was so little, I wouldn’t be drinking again. Of that much I was certain.

That in mind, the last thing on my list was before me. I just had to visit Applejack. She was the longest-time friend I had so, at the very least, she would deserve to know where I’d disappeared to if I didn’t come back. The one thing that worried me was the fact that Apple family was very superstitious and even after the summers that I’d spent on the farm, helping them out in my younger years, I wasn’t sure how they’d receive “The Blight of Ponyville” and his dark magic-made companion. It was my hope that either they didn’t believe what they’d heard, or that they hadn’t heard about it yet at all.

So I set off into the crunchy grass of a winter field. To my rear was the glow of some great fire, the cinders reaching even out as far as I was in the form of an ashen snow. In times past, I might have run towards the glow, into the smoke. I would have considered it my duty as a citizen to help any way I could have, even in the event that I was banished. But so much had happened in the past few months, which had torn down who I once was to the point that I no longer cared, and, as my imagination ran wild with the thoughts of trapped scared ponies, I found that I was not driven in the slightest to hope that they were okay.

As my thoughts swirled in darkness, ravaging the morality that I had once held dear, I found myself at the gates of Sweet Apple Acres. It was dark, but again, the Moon always shown through the clouds above just enough to light my way in spite of the clouds above. I sighed, steeling myself for the encounter ahead, mentally preparing myself to run if necessary. My hoofsteps crunched against the dirt path that lead up to the door of the Apple Family home, and as I raised a hoof to knock, an angry grandmother answered the door.

“Git back, ya hooligan!” Granny Smith yowled at me, “Ah gotta broom and ah’m not afraid to beatcha’ senseless!”

At first I was certain she knew it was me, but then I saw the lights turn on.

“Granny Smith!” Applejack called out, “Who is it?”

With the light showing on my face, revealing who I was, Granny Smith’s expression softened.

“I-Is that you… Little Ramp?”

She’d always called me that, because ‘Big Ramp’ had always been my father’s nickname by the Apple Family. It was sort of an in-joke, one that I never fully understood, but was nevertheless grateful for because it let me know that I wasn’t the abomination to them that everypony else in town figured me for.

“It’s me, Granny Smith.” I sighed with relief, “Can I come in?”

Applejack peered through the crack in the door, “‘Course y’can.” she told me as Granny Smith moved out of the way so she could open the door, “Yer always welcome here, partner.” she added with a soft smile.

I stepped inside, my hooves clattering against the hard, wooden flooring. Memories of summers past flooded my mind for a brief moment as I took in the smell of apple pie, which the home always smelled like year round.

“I suppose by now, you’ve heard the news.” I began.

“Now don’cha worry none about that.” Applejack insisted, waving her hoof, “Yer welcome here no matter what.”

“Even though I’ve played with dark magic? Even though…” I pulled Fray from a his pocket, still asleep, “... Fray here is proof?”

Applejack chuckled a little, “Well, Air… it ain’t like ah haven’t seen my fair share of ‘evil’ critters in the past few years.” she told me, “An’ I’ll tell you about ‘em tomorrow, if’n ya like.”

I decided it was time to tell her the truth.

“AJ… I won’t be staying around.” I admitted, “I have… something I have to do. In the Everfree.”

Applejack looked at me with a bit of surprise, “Yuh do know that place is a might dangerous right?”

Granny Smith nodded, “Fulla mystery and wonder though.” she mused as she put the broom back in a nearby closet.

I sighed, “And it’s after one of those mysteries that I’m going.”

Applejack frowned at me, staring into my eyes. I cast her a defiant look. The exchange was one we’d had on multiple occasions in the past. If I had my heart set on something, she’d know it just by the way I looked. Moments passed until Applejack sighed, letting the gaze fall.

“Ah suppose it can’t be helped. Y’all got yer mind made up.”

“I do.”

Applejack then took me down to the cellar as I explained that Scootaloo and Featherweight would be joining me. At first she was taken aback that I’d try to nab up to young ponies to go on such an adventure with me but, as I explained Scootaloo’s reaction to my telling her that I had no idea how dangerous things were going to get, Applejack nodded and said that it was just like the young mare. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had been around each other long enough for my orange friend to pick up on some of the Pegasus’ mannerisms, and it was just like her to follow somepony she idolized or was friends with right into Tartarus and back.

I smiled a little as Fray popped up out of my pocket, rubbing its head.

“My thoughts hurt.” Fray whined, “Why do they hurt?”

Frowning, I began my explanation. I told Fray that what he was experiencing was something called a hangover and that it was a result of drinking too much alcohol. Applejack seemed somewhat disappointed in me, in that I had ‘given’ Fray alcohol. I hadn’t explained everything to her yet, but she was right. As I’d said before, there was no excuse for not realizing what even the smallest amount of cider would do to a creature that lived in my brain half the time that was as small as Fray was.

Of course, the questions came, but I told the Apple Family that I was out of time. I had to go.

“Ah expect an explanation about everything when you get back.” Applejack insisted as she stuffed apples into my pockets, “For the road.” she added as we stepped back up into the front yard, “And remember, sugarcube… you’ve got a home here if’n y’can’t go back to Ponyville when y’return.”

I nodded, “When I come back… I’ll tell you everything.” I paused, considering something, “Oh… Appljack?”

“What’s up sugarcube?”

“Can you talk to Apple Bloom about Scootaloo?” I asked, “This whole mess… it’s gotten to your younger sister from the way Scootaloo tells it.”

Stepping out into the grass beyond the cellar, I was stopped once more by something AJ had to say. Information. It turned out that there was a friend of hers who lived near the Everfree. AJ told me that said friend found herself more and more within the Everfree Forest itself, and the pony in question was very shy, but that maybe she could help me find Princess Twilight, who might be able to help me figure out what Fray was after. Thanking my Applejack, I told her that I didn’t think there was time, but if I got the chance that I would try to find this… Fluttershy mare and seek her aid. Turning away, I saw Applejack remove her hat with a worried glance, and then return inside.

Once again I found myself alone. Little Fray had fallen asleep again, thankfully inside my head that time, and I set back out for the edge of the Everfree Forest to meet up with Scoots and Featherweight. I hoped that they didn’t encounter too much trouble.

The light I’d seen from Ponyville was dying, and the snow that had been nearly black, from the smoke of a fire I had only been told about, had at last turned white and pure, prompting me to stare up at the Moon.

Perhaps… I wasn’t alone. If Luna really watched over us all from Canterlot with the use of the Moon, then so long as I walked in the dark, I would never truly be alone. The thought of an eternal protector was somewhat comforting on that walk back, but such thoughts were pushed aside as soon as I saw Scootaloo and Featherweight. Waving once before approaching, I noticed that Scootaloo looked unhappy about something but, as strange as I thought it was, Featherweight was the one to break the news to me.

“... Mr. Ramp?” he started nervously, “Your… home is gone, sir.”

I furrowed my brow at the skinny stallion, “What do you mean… gone?” I asked, tilting my head a bit as I narrowed my eyes.

And then it occurred to me. The fire.

“It was a riot… Mr. Ramp.” Featherweight explained, “The Guards tried to stop it, but it was too late.”

There was only one thing I could do. I had already been mad, I had already cried, and I had already cursed. So I laughed. I laughed and headed into the forest, followed by a very nervous and confused Featherweight and a strangely quiet Scootaloo.

“Are you going to be okay?” Featherweight asked, “We could…” he trailed off as I stopped to look back at him and shake my head.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.” I laughed again, just a little, “It’s just one more sign, I guess. There’s no going back, and now there’s really no reason to.”

Scootaloo, however, was shaking. Not with cold, not with sadness or fear, but instead with anger. An anger that exploded forth like fire from the mouth of a cannon. In her rage she expressed to me how unfair it was that her friend, meaning me, was thrown from his home, and had lost everything. I reminded her that the ponies in Ponyville had not treated her well either and told her that my fate was something I’d come to terms with, but that I appreciated her rage in my place where once I might have.

The strangest thing happened as soon as I revealed that I didn’t much care about what Ponyville thought. She immediately calmed, as if I’d taken all her steam and fuel away. Maybe I had. Maybe my calmness about the situation was enough to even her mood. In any case, as we trekked back into the Everfree Forest, through the moonlit canopies, over ferns and down animal trails, everypony fell into silence until we reached the Grove once more.

And that’s where my real journey finally began.

Before, I’ve said that there was no turning back, but even then, some semblance of normalcy could have been attained. I could have had a chance if I’d chased after Lunar Pulse and run away with her that night. Another town, another name and back to normal I’d have gone, after some convincing. But instead, I’d walked away, chosen my path, and could for the first time… truly hear what Fray had insisted was calling us deeper into the dangerous and legendary Everfree Forest.

Like a song from ever so many pipes, low and sad, it also sounded of anger and excitement. Each tune was conflicting, but somehow they went well together, as if somepony had made the perfect orchestra out of the most unlikely combination of instruments. It is music that, to this day, I cannot fully describe, as there are no real words for the ethereal quality of the wind-like noises that rushed through my head, punctuated by sudden bursts of energetic whines and fluting. So profound was the noise, that it elicited something that I had never seen in Fray.

Predatory nature. Not of the kind that ended another creature’s life, but in the fact that a single, voracious nature had surfaced in my tiny counterpart.

Fray was a creature of information and curiosity, and the fact that it had been hearing so clearly for the past month what I was only just hearing in full for the first time lead me to believe that it had been holding itself together pretty well. The truth was much more interesting, but I will say that I am certain its change in demeanor was a direct result of finally getting closer to the answers it had been seeking. As if to accentuate the fact, there were also physical characteristics that morphed with its , such as its pupils becoming slatted and the fur that covered its blobby little body stuck up in random places, giving Fray a more feral appearance than was normally afforded to it.

The one thing that did not change, however, was its voice. It retained the childish tone, but in spite of that, was much more focused and concise than before.

“Ramp.” it said, ears twitching around as if trying to locate the exact direction of the source, “We are on the right path.”

My companion took up a position on my head, like a tiny, savage lookout. I could hear the call as well but Fray could hear it better and took up directing our path, sending me down pathways and deeper into the jungle-like forest than I would have ever dared to go before. Scootaloo and Featherweight kept close on my hooves as we crashed through the undergrowth, jumped over logs, and pushed through brambles and vines. For hours we ran, climbed, bounded, and slid until finally, we reached the first sign of what was to come.

“What is it…?” Scootaloo asked, staring at the statue in front of us, “It looks like a…”

“Pegasus.” Featherweight finished, “And judging by the age marks on the statue… it must be older than Equestria itself…”

“Older than the world?” I asked, “I think you’re crazy, and I’m the one hearing voices.”

Even Fray chimed in, “Yes. It is extremely illogical to make such a claim.”

Featherweight shook his head, “No. I mean it’s older than the country. There was a time before Equestria was unified under one banner.”

That much I knew. What didn’t make sense was the fact that Equestria was the name of our country, but we also referred to the world we lived on itself as Equestria. Something didn’t quite make sense there, but I pushed such thoughts off to the side and continued examining the statue.

“Look at the… um... wing muscles on this stallion…” Scootaloo whispered, notably NOT looking at his wings, “They’re so… big.”

I looked to Featherweight for his reaction, and noted that his expression was very… nonplused.

“Size isn’t everything…” he mumbled.

I just shook my head, “Come on you two.” I ordered, “Fray’s getting antsy, and so am I.”

Fray had said little since we’d arrived, and the crazed look in his eyes did little to put me at ease. He was completely focused on the noise, which apparently neither Scoots nor Featherweight could hear.

“Come on you two.” I repeated, dragging Scootaloo away from the statue, “It’s as if you haven’t seen a pair before.”

Scootaloo blushed a little, “Not a pair that big.” she told me as I just shook my head and rolled my eyes.

“I’ve had enough!” Featherweight barked as if giving up on something, “I’m going to scout ahead.”

I nodded and warned him to be careful, as Scootaloo stared at the young stallion as if he’d gone mad, asking me what I thought his issue might have been. I just smiled and the young orange mare that he probably had to either go to the bathroom, or he thought we should find a campsite. It was then that I really looked around, seeing that the moonlight was casting a bright light down through the canopy, bright enough that our path was always lit. I thought it was strange, because whenever I’d heard the Everfree Forest spoken about, it was always said that the forest floor was darker than night itself. Either way, other than Fray’s twitching ears, there was no indication of where to go next and even my little friend didn’t seem to have a clue.

Then something occurred to me.

“Scoots… is there anything odd about that statue?”

Scootaloo stared up at it, “You mean besides it’s oversized-”

“Yes. I mean besides.” I sighed, “Look at the base. There’s something there on the front… a strange symbol, and it’s a little off-center.”

Fray chose that moment to speak, “It is the mark of Chaos.” it whispered in my ear, floating off to settle in front of it, “Fitting that it is off center like that, as if without purpose.”

I lined myself up with the small symbol, and stared off in the direction that it faced. The thicket that had seemingly surrounded the statue, with exception to the area we were standing in, since its original construction actually opened up with a new path that one could only see from the position of the symbol.

“Fray… turn around. I think I know which way we need to go.”

Fray swivvled on the spot, “I think you are right.” he said flatly and floated back to the top of my head, his slatted, almost cat-like eyes staring at the path.

“Scootaloo, can you go dig Featherweight out of the underbrush?” I asked, “He went scouting, but I’m pretty sure that-”

Without warning, Featherweight came crashing back through the hole in the thicket that I had intended to go through. The young stallion surprised me, I’ll admit.

“You guys won’t believe what I just saw.”

At his behest, we followed, entering the path. It was well-worn and had the hoofprints of what looked to be the same pony over and over for the past… well, however long. I wasn’t an expert at tracking, so I didn’t know.

“These hoofprints, judging by the state of the ground, range between 3 days and 3 years old. Somepony, the same pony, has been travelling this path for a very, very long time, over and over again.”

Well… question answered and, once again, I was surprised by Featherweight’s knowledge. I was beginning to feel that taking him along had not been a mistake after all. Even more so because as we headed forward by his direction, I heard the symphonic sound ever clearer, ever louder.

“And just beyond here…”

As the young, tan-coated stallion pulled back a wall of vines revealed a familiar sight mixed in with an unfamiliar setting. Angry sigils covered perfectly sculpted stone pillars that lead down a long pathway, each brick with a glowing sign of its own in a language long dead, and as pristine as the day they were lain. Further up the walkway was a gate, large and imposing with a dark gridiron barring entrance to what lay behind. The walls themselves had sigils that sparked and flowed, moving like ever-so-many small creatures. Even still, the sheer size of the pyramid-like structure behind said gate towered over it like a watchful sentry, and above it hovered the largest Moon I had ever seen, as if Luna’s watchful eye was more there than anywhere else in Equestria.

“I don’t know what it is… but… maybe this is what you’re looking for.”

“What’s that sound?” Scootaloo asked, seeming bothered by the very noise I had been hearing all along, “I can’t make sense of it. Is it music?”

“I don’t know.” I said.

“It is not music.” Fray interrupted, “They are voices. Voices like mine. They are familiar to me.”

Fray’s eyes darted around. Don’t ask me how I knew. I could just feel it, as if our connection was even closer there than it had ever been before. In fact, I’m certain I could see, at least partially, what Fray was witnessing, because the longer we stood, the more pronounced the sounds became, affecting my vision with heat-wave like shimmerings and the visage of symbols I did not recognize. I can only assume that Scootaloo and Featherweight were only getting part of it, and that Fray was the only reason I was being affected so acutely.

“We have to get inside.” Fray insisted, “It is in there. What we have been seeking. It is there.”

“How?” Scootaloo asked, “I mean… I can fly over, but… I don’t know if I can carry each of you over, I’m fast, not strong.”

“Besides.” I added, “We have no idea what’s on the other side.”

Featherweight nodded in agreement, staring up at the wall, which had to be at least ten or twenty ponies high, “Whatever is behind those gates isn’t meant to be seen or touched by just anypony. Maybe we’ll be able to see when the Moon sets and the Sun rises?”

Fray shook its head, “No! We must arrive before the Moon sets below the horizon.” it insisted.

I was about to ask why when the Moon, which had been falling lower on the in the sky as we’d debated what to do next, sunk just low enough to hit some small, shining object at the very top of the massive pyramid structure that lay behind the gate some distance away.

In that instant our world shook and fell apart, quite literally, and I could swear that I saw the visage of Trixie flash like a shadow just behind my eyes with the same symbol of Chaos that Fray had pointed out earlier framing her from behind.