“William?” Rainbow Dash yelled in panic as she soared over treetop after treetop, no sign of the boy on the ground below. “William, where are you?!”

Dash hurtled herself downward in a swift swoop once again, scouring as hard as she could in the dark for any clues to where he might have gone. Her heart throbbed painfully in her throat, and every beat pounded sickeningly in reminder that another moment was passing that he could be in danger.

Once more, Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to be sick, and she let out a tormented whimper as her wings ruffled against her sides uneasily. She prepared to take off again, and leapt high into the air.

Perhaps he was somewhere in town?

Dropping onto rooftop from rooftop, in between alleys and desperately asking late-traveling ponies for any sign of William, Rainbow Dash was on the verge of a complete meltdown when she nearly bumped headfirst into none other than Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie!” Dash grappled her shoulders, the pink mare’s mane as disheveled as her own. “Pinkie, did Twi or anypony find –!”

“Easy, Dashie, easy!” Pinkie Pie tried to calm her down and pull her from the center of the road and onto a sidewalk. “I’m glad I found you; how come you didn’t stick to Twilight’s search plans?”

“Did you find William or not?!” Dash shouted, nearly crying again.

“Not yet, but –”

Rainbow Dash attempted to simply take off again, only for Pinkie to snag her wing.

“Leggo!” she flailed, stomping back to the ground angrily. “Let go of me, Pinkie! I have to find William!”

“Not until you calm down!” Pinkie insisted, refusing to release her.

“Calm down?!” Rainbow Dash spluttered in rage. “Pinkie, William is missing! I –”

“Have no chance of ever finding him if you just keep flying around senselessly,” Pinkie Pie finished for her. She mused quietly to herself for a bare second. It wasn’t often that she was the voice of reason.

Dash had a retort on her tongue, but she bit it back tearfully.

Pinkie was right, of course.

It had been her own vain hopes that she could simply find William on her own, that covering as much ground as possible as quickly as she could would find him the fastest. Couldn’t any of them understand just how badly she needed to find her son?

“It’s going to be okay, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie hugged her softly, pulling her into a gentle hug. “It’s going to be all right, we’re going to find him. It’s going to be okay. I Pinkie Promise.”

Rainbow Dash sobbed into Pinkie’s shoulder, her knees buckling from the combined exhaustion and seemingly endless fear. She cried long and hard, Pinkie supporting her the entire time and patting her back, never once letting go.

After a couple of minutes, Dash finally collected herself and wiped her eyes and nose with the crook of her elbow, looking away from Pinkie shamefacedly.

“We’re going to find him, Dashie,” Pinkie’s own voice sounded a little croaky, but her weak smile was still there. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Right. Right,” Rainbow Dash shook herself. “We’ll find him. I’ll find William, even if it takes all damned night –”

“Hey, there y’all are!”

They jumped at the sound of Applejack’s voice, speedily trotting around a corner and beneath a lamplight.

“Applejack!” Dash perked up immediately. “Any sign of William?”

“Eeyup,” she grinned, which only grew wider at the flooding look of relief on their faces. “You ain’t gonna believe where Fluttershy found ‘im…”

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, it’s…” Fluttershy began uncomfortably, fidgeting. “I mean… It’s not that – hoo, wow. Maybe I bit off a little more than I could chew with this one,” she tittered awkwardly.

“You’re being very vague about the entire ordeal,” William pondered quietly. He slowly stood after the pegasus, and held the clubhouse door for her.

“Oh, I think I was, um… clear enough,” Fluttershy insisted, trotting past him.

“Daddy hurt Mommy isn’t anything aside from the murkiest description imaginable,” William argued, following her now that his curiosity was piqued. “It is completely inane.”

“Well, Will,” the flustered pegasus struggled to explain. “Rainbow Dash was… was hurt. Um, very, very badly by-by your biological father…”

“We have established this,” William rolled his small hand through the air, walking slowly beside her along the path as she led him.

Fluttershy bit her tongue, thinking. It was obvious that he was irritated, but she really was being ambiguous – not completely deliberately. It was just something that she didn’t look forward to explaining. However, she was the adult, and needed to behave as such in the situation; so, Fluttershy drew in a deep breath, braced herself, and plowed on.

“Dash went through a lot,” Fluttershy tried to clarify. “Nopony is really surprised that she doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“And nobody will tell me why,” William clutched the air futilely, a scowl returning to his face.

“Because your father was a monster.”

Fluttershy almost didn’t notice for a couple of moments that William was no longer walking beside her, and she turned quickly and trotted back to the boy. He bore an odd expression on his face, unblinking.

“Um, Will –?”

“Monster.”

She really didn’t know how to respond to the, quite truthfully, creepy stare that he was giving her. William let the word roll over his lips again, passing between them with a cold bite.

“Monster. You called my father a monster.”

Fluttershy was silent for a moment, but Will cut her off before she could speak.

“And… you think that I take after him.”

“No, no,” Fluttershy insisted quickly, brushing a lock of pink mane from her face, the cool night air nipping unpleasantly at her back. “Will, nopony –”

“Do you have any idea?” William interrupted again, a sharp tint in his voice. Fluttershy resisted the urge to cringe from the bizarre look he was giving her, and looked away. “Do you have any idea of just how often Miss Dash cries herself to sleep?”

She mulled over this information momentarily, and turned back to the boy. The odd, sharp gaze was just as firm – but there was sorrow in it, a premature weariness. William held her stare for a long moment, almost pleadingly.

“I didn’t know that,” Fluttershy admitted softly.

“She does. She has, and she does. She cries sometimes. In her sleep, I mean. I can hear her, even when she tries to hide it. Sometimes, she calls out for someone that isn’t there. And it pains me. I know that Miss – that Mother has… issues,” William struggled suddenly, gripping desperately at his own hands. “But believe me when I say that I honestly believe that she is a good woman. Mostly.”

“Will,” Fluttershy began awkwardly. “You know –”

“My name is William.”

“William,” she corrected herself quietly. “Some of us feel that Rainbow Dash might be – well, what I mean to say is –” Fluttershy stuttered, her wings ruffling along her back as she tried to walk slowly alongside him.

She took a deep breath, and asked “Will, has Rainbow Dash… hurt you, at all?”

“What?” William blanched, apparently stunned enough to cease walking altogether. He chuckled nervously, the odd look in his eyes coming back. “Surely you-you aren’t serious. Why, Mother is – she’s as harmless as the rocks beside the road,” he gestured to his side, as if it would prove his point. “She wouldn’t harm a soul!”

“You don’t sound very sure of yourself,” Fluttershy pointed out softly, nudging him to continue plodding forward.

And surprisingly, William had no ready answer to that.

“… Pinkie Pie told me what happened, Will.”

“… So I see.”

“Little fillies and colts don’t act like that, William,” Fluttershy said quietly, nudging him forward when he stopped. “You really, really upset Pinkie Pie when you did that.”

He cringed openly, and Fluttershy once again watched him silently wringing his hands. The boy seemed to have an obsession with constantly touching his own hands, and it was a little unnerving. Like he was checking to see if they were still there, or something.

“I-I’m sorry.” He hung his head remorsefully, looking truly repentant. “I am – truly – sorry. I was… merely attempting to display affection,” William struggled uncharacteristically, his thin brows furrowing deeply.

“It’s okay, Will,” Fluttershy patted him softly on the shoulder, pulling him into a little hug. “But now what?”

“Sorry?”

William blinked, coming to a full stop along with her and meeting her eyes. He hadn’t expected her to say anything of the sort.

“Now what?” Fluttershy asked again. “What are you going to do about it?”

William contemplated for a long moment, holding his chin in his hand and covering his mouth.

“… Why did you ask that?” he pried suspiciously, only for the pegasus to smile kindly as she drew away.

“Oh, you’re a very clever little colt,” she explained quietly. “I assumed that you might have some idea of the direction you wanted to take so that you could resolve the problem.”

And in that moment, although he was far too proud to admit it, William gained an enormous amount of respect for Fluttershy.

He still had a sneaking suspicion that Fluttershy knew, though.

Journal of William Zachariah Klaskovsky

Day 24 –

I am a weak minded, easily manipulated buffoon.

Surely this must be the case, as it took hardly any coercion from Miss Fluttershy to convince me to come back, after I vowed that I would never return.

To state that Miss Dash was pleased upon my return would be an egregious understatement.

In some parts, I do regret my actions.

In many parts, to tell the truth.

I do not believe that I have ever seen Mother so distraught, and –

I had to take a moment to reevaluate my priorities, and I have arrived at a conclusion.

My repeat offenses are obviously doing nothing but harm to Mother’s psyche.

The… tête-à-tête when I returned confirmed this.

I don’t know what I should do.

It is late; or, early, rather. My mind is heavy, and I do not wish to continue.

We shall address the issues at hoof hand sometime today.

And perhaps I shall finally learn precisely who this ‘Neil’ character truly is.

Author's Notes:

My conscience hath a thousand several tongues,
And every tongue brings in a several tale,
And every tale condemns me for a villain.
Richard III Act V.iii