Any second now, I'll wake up in my room. I'll go out with K9 to hunt the Skampiers and make some caps. Hell, maybe I'll even go to one of Gastel's parties, Vol thought to himself as he followed the yellow pony down the forest path. He could hear howling nearby but whatever was causing it never came close enough for him to see. The hunter found himself examining the pony. She was small, just an inch smaller than K9 and appeared to be as timid as a child. The white coloring of her bags and the Red Cross made Vol sure that she was some sort of medic pony. He found himself wondering how much she would have charged for the care.

He was sure it would be a good amount. Any doctor worth being called such would charge a great deal of caps for their services. It was how they ensured they would have an adequate supply of, well... supplies. Many doctors had also taken up the practice of having a guard with them due to how enticing targets they were to Raiders and Chem Junkies. The fact that this winged, he had discovered that when she turned about and nearly shouted in surprise, pony was traveling without such an escort when she was obviously incapable of protecting herself was just one more piece of proof as to this scenario being a figment of an out of control dream. Vol had been spending a good amount of time around some of the kids lately. Their imaginative energies must have influenced his dreams.

One thing that was disconcerting about this dream was the forest itself. It had a sense of foreboding about it. While that same sense permeated the Skampier infested forest Vol hunted in, this one felt more unwelcoming. Whether it was simply that the forest was an unknown or that it was supposedly more dangerous, he was unsure. What he was sure of was that, at any moment, this dream could become a nightmare. In some ways it already was.

With his bow in increasingly unsure hands, Vol followed after the pony. K9 trotted along next to him, emanating protective vibes as he watched the pony. As if to allay the dog's fears, Vol scratched the animal behind one ear, smiling softly as K9 leaned into his touch. He remembered when he found K9. When he was younger, sixteen to be exact, he'd go out on explorations of the old military base that his village was situated in. That was also how he found his rifle, but that's a different tale. He had been exploring the old airfield when he had heard a pained howl. With pistol held in shaking hands, he followed the howl to a hanger at the end of the airstrip. Entering it, he worked his way past a partially disassembled Vertibird to the back. There, in a pool of blood, was a dog with her pups. The dog was wearing an old Police K9 vest with a hole through it. Blood leaked from the hole and, upon closer inspection, Vol noticed that all the pups but one were dead.

The dog at first growled at Vol as he approached. Vol, dressed in rags with a hood over his head and a red cloth hanging from his belt, lowered his pistol upon seeing the wounded animal. With one hand held, palm out, in a placating manner, he holstered his pistol and slowly dropped to a crouch. It wasn't long before the dog stopped growling and began to whimper instead.

"You're hurt," he had stated softly, as if the dog didn't know. The dog just whimpered again as she looked back at the lone pup curled up next to her. The pup was covered in the blood of it's family and was shaking in as it appeared to sleep. It awoke when it's mother, Vol could only assume as much, pushed it away from her with a hind leg.

"You want me to take him?" Vol asked. The dog gave a short bark before she laid her head onto the concrete floor, looking straight ahead. The teen watched as her breathing slowed to nothing, a tear threatening to fall from his face. Crying had drawn his attention to the pup. Carefully, he had scooped the animal into his arms and was surprised when it calmed and nuzzled his chest before falling back into a state of sleep.

A bump to his hand snapped Vol back to his current predicament. Looking down, he saw K9 looking up at him with his head cocked to the side. It took the human a second to realized that he had stopped walking during his trip down memory lane.

"A-Are you o-okay?" asked the yellow pony. Vol sighed.

"I am. Tell me, how much farther to your home?"

"We're almost t-there," she replied with a slight stutter at the end. Vol nodded and the three continued down the trail. Like the pony had said, they soon exited out of the forest next to a very... organic cottage. From what Vol could see, it was made out of all sorts of plants and had bird houses built into every nook and cranny of it's structure. A chicken coop was in a fenced area out back and many animals played around it, though they all stopped and stared at Vol and K9 when they appeared. Vol shivered; the animals had readable faces and he could read their fear. The hunter also spotted what appeared to be a Skampier but looked less... demonic.

"Is this your ho-"

"LOOK OUT FLUTTERSHY!"

"AH GOT THE MUTT!"

The two shouts interrupted the tranquility of the clearing. As the animals scattered fast enough to leave afterimages, the two wasteland beings sprung into action against this ambush. Seeing the cyan winged-pony shooting for him, Vol took up a wide-legged stance and prepared himself. It was too close for his bow, so he'd just have to take it head on. Dropping his bow, he took the hit and caved, falling back. As he fell, he brought up his legs and kicked out. This wasn't in an effort to lunch the pony as that would be to it's advantage. Instead, he hugged he pony close and pushed with his feet to complete the roll onto his chest, where he pinned the pony to the ground. One hand instinctively went for the knife on his calf.

At the same time that Vol faced the wrecking ball of a pony, a lasso found itself around K9's neck. Before it tightened, the dog put the rope in it's mouth and bit down. As the rope was tightened by the orange pony, it sawed against the dog's teeth and ended up snapping apart. With aching teeth, the dog charged at the dumbfounded pony. It wasn't long until he had his attacker by the throat.

"STOP!"

Everything froze: the fighters, the animals, the wind, everything. Vol had his knife pressed against the cyan pony's throat while K9 was standing over his attacker with his jaws locked around it's throat. Vol, however, was looking at the butter yellow pegasus standing just a couple feet from him. She looked so terrified and was on the verge of tears.

"Please," she pleaded, "Don't hurt them. They didn't mean it. T-they just thought you...that you were a m-monster. P-please."

Vol turned his head back to the pony pinned underneath him. Terror was plastered on her face as her eyes trembled. Tears silently rolled down onto the grass below. The man looked over at his pet, who had an orange pony on the ground with his jaws around it's throat.

"K9, stand down."

The dog growled and it seemed like he wouldn't listen. Just when Vol was about to repeat himself, K9 opened his jaws and backed away, licking at his chops as he kept both eyes on the orange pony. With that, Vol withdrew, and sheathed, his knife from the pony beneath him and stood up, careful not to push against the small sapient being. Once on his feet, he picked up his bow and turned to face the equine creatures, unsurprised to see them all in a hug of tears. With a sigh, he pulled his hood back up over his head. Feeling a bump on his leg, he looked down to see K9 looking up at him.

Moisture splashed on his visor, surprising Vol. He then realized, as his vision blurred, that it had splashed on the inside of the visor. He could feel the adrenaline running it's course, the pain of sore muscles, the rasping of excited breathing. This was not a dream. It was all too real. His body's processes, the fear in that cyan pony's eyes. All of it was too real. Again, he looked at the three ponies, still locked in their hug. He had almost killed the cyan one. The fear in it's eyes flashed through his mind. And K9 would've snapped the orange one's neck had Vol hadn't stopped him.

"C'mon boy," he whispered as he stood up, not knowing when he had fallen to his knees. The dog whimpered but followed him as he made his way back to the forest devoid of sunlight. He would disappear from the ponies' lives and vow to never threaten one again.

"Wait."

-----------

Fluttershy was surprised when it actually stopped. To be truthful, she hadn't expected it too. She also had no idea why she just told the beings that almost killed her friends to wait. She couldn't go back now, though. So, with Rainbow Dash and Applejack giving her looks of confusion, she spoke in another whisper:

"Wait. Please."

"Why?" came the reply as the creature still didn't face her. The dog was looking at her though, with a tilt to it's head.

Why? Because... Why did she want it to wait? To help it. Why couldn't she let it walk away? It looked so lonely. Why should she help it? How can I not? Why could she forgive it so easily? It wasn't it's fault.

"I..." she hesitated. She knew what to say and yet, at the same time, didn't know. She wanted to house it, care for it, talk with it... befriend it. There was no way for her to say that, though.

"You don't know, do you?" it asked, turning it's body enough to look around it's hood at her with it's one eye. All that the pegasus could do was shake her head meekly. The creature grunted in what sounded like amusement. She watched as it looked toward the forest, possibly debating it's options.

"M-mister," Applejack began in an uncharacteristically weak voice, "I just want to say that it's not Fluttershy's fault that Rainbow and me attacked you. She had no idea we were even looking for her."

Another grunt of amusement as the creature looked at them, "I never said it was. Miss Fluttershy, I believe you stated her name to be, seems to be the least likely person to plan such a devious move."

Fluttershy felt her cheeks heat softly from what she presumed to be a compliment, though it could just as likely been taken as an insult.

"Why's that?" Rainbow asked with some hostility, obviously taking to it in the second point of view.

"She's too sweet. Timid, caring. As well that she's a doctor. Would be a very ill move to purposely lead a potential patient into an ambush. Then they are more likely to pay you with a knife than caps."

The blush that had been building on Fluttershy's face left quickly. What did that mean? Potential patient... well, everypony was a potential patient. But the second part, about the knife and caps; what was that about? How bad was this creature's home?

Silence pervaded the four. Finally:

"Would you like to come inside?"

Fluttershy blinked as she realized that she had said that. Then again, who else would say it? They were at her home. She felt heat begin to rush to her face as the creature seemed to stare her down. She drew her head back and down, causing some of her pink mane to fall over one eye. This is a stupid idea. Why should it accept her invitation? It had no reason to. They weren't friends. Her friends did attack-

"I'd love to," it finally replied, a smile audible in it's voice. Fluttershy's ears perked up.

"What?" she asked, looking up so that her mane fell away from her eye.

"I'd love to," it repeated. As if sensing it's master's happiness, the dog let it's tongue loll out of it's mouth as it began panting happily.

Fluttershy smiled and looked to the two mares beside, "Applejack, Rainbow? Want to join us?"

"I'll be happy to," Applejack replied, joining the joviality of the group.

"Yeah, sure," was Rainbow's less than enthusiastic reply.

"This way than," Fluttershy said with a smile as she began to walk to her cottage. Finally, she could get some answers from the creature and, maybe, get to know it as a... friend. Next Chapter: Explanations and Expectations Estimated time remaining: 48 Minutes