“Alright, alright,” Pinkie Pie slurred sleepily, gently nudging William further down the sofa. “Scooch, scooch. I’m goin’. Scooch.”

William nodded tiredly, complying to the bedraggled mare’s request. He scurried over the cushions, making himself comfortable as Pinkie Pie flopped onto the couch. William rubbed his eyes, remorsefully wishing that he had attempted to haggle for more sleeping time – but the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice emanating from the kitchen slowly jarred him awake.

“Coffee comin’,” Dash murmured, her voice sounding a little croaky. “Will.”

“Hmm?” he tilted his head up, having previously been lost in thought.

“Sugar, Will,” Rainbow Dash poked her head in through the doorway. “One lump, or two?”

“Black, please.” William nodded gratefully, curling up with his knees beneath him.

“Ooh! Ooh!” Pinkie Pie grinned ecstatically. “Do you –?”

“No,” Dash deadpanned automatically. “No, I do not have any more whipped cream, Pinks.”

Which seemed odd to William. He could have sworn that they had nearly an entire container full just the other day. He continued distracting himself with a loose string on the sofa, deliberately remaining silent and not drawing attention to himself. It shouldn’t be much longer before the others arrived, and Twilight would continue from where they had left off the night previously.

William again wondered why Pinkie Pie had stayed the night, but none of the others had. It seemed like a more convenient method, if they were all going to be back in the morning. Plus, Rainbow Dash hadn’t slept in his room. He was loath to admit it, but all the sudden changes were making him even more uneasy.

The mare sighed heavily, disappointment evident on her face. She shook her head sadly, but perked up afterwards when Dash asked her the same question.

“One lump, or two?”

“Just one,” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “But quadruple that.”

“… That’s four, Pinkie Pie,” Dash said flatly.

“I know,” she nodded. “I’m really cutting back.”

Rainbow Dash snorted, trotting off and eventually returning with three ceramic cups of freshly brewed coffee, which William noted were carried with unexpected grace with her mouth. He was sincerely surprised that she didn’t drop a single one, and gladly took his own while Dash made herself comfortable on the opposite side, leaving him sitting between the two.

After thoroughly shining the handle with his sleeve, of course.

They sat in silence for a long while, the only sounds coming from the happily chirruping birds as the morning sun began to clamber over the edge of the world. William breathed in deeply through his nostrils, letting the scent of the tantalizingly hot brew waft over his senses. Before, William only had coffee on occasion – Sister Francis sometimes took pity on him and allowed him a single cup in the mornings, and it was always cheap, weak stuff.

Equestrian coffee, it would seem, was much stronger; however, it also bore a heavy zing along with its slightly bitter taste, giving it an oddly attractive and simultaneously distasteful tang. He shrugged internally, assuming that it must be an acquired taste.

It was nearly remedial, with a comfortable silence.

Even the normally bubbly Pinkie Pie was quiet, eyes closed, peacefully sipping at her coffee – when it suddenly occurred to William that he had absolutely no idea how she or Dash were managing to hold their mugs. He gawked at the handle of his own for a full minute.

They didn’t even have fingers. Why did their coffee cups have handles?

“Don’t think about it too hard,” Pinkie mumbled and cracked an eye open, as if sensing his confusion.

He started to retort, but only closed his mouth and shook his head. It was clear that there were still many things he had left to learn.

Rainbow Dash breathed heavily through her nose, eyeing the clock on the wall as it ticked closer and closer to the scheduled time. She dreaded it, almost; but without being a second late, Twilight’s knock at the door alerted them to her presence.

They filed in with the expected genial greetings, all smiling friendlily and tumbling inside quietly. Twilight and Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity. William was all but ignoring them to focus solely on his drink, but a conversation with Pinkie Pie drew him away.

“Good morning, Pinkie,” Twilight said with a hint of surprise. “I suppose that would explain why you weren’t at Sugarcube Corner. You’re unexpectedly punctual today, I see.”

“Oh,” Pinkie laughed a little too loudly, placing her hooves together uncomfortably. “Punctual. You know me, preferably punctual Pinkie Pie!” she laughed again awkwardly, and cleared her throat before changing the subject.

“Well, actually –” William began, only to discover that a fuzzy pink hoof had mysteriously found its way over his mouth.

“Tally-ho!” Pinkie quickly scooted in chairs for the others, excitedly gathering everypony around in a semicircle toward the couch so that they were all facing each other. They all settled in uncomfortably, and Twilight cleared her throat before taking control.

“Right,” the unicorn stated. “Now that everypony has had a decent night’s sleep-”

Rainbow Dash coughed suddenly quietly into her hoof, shuffling restlessly beside William.

“- we can properly initiate a little group therapy.”

“Which, if you would have listened to me,” Fluttershy interjected while somehow managing to not sound rude in the slightest. “Is really what we should have done in the first place when Pinkie and Rainbow Dash came back.”

It grew deathly silent in the room, and William stared at them all. Even Fluttershy seemed horridly perturbed by the atmosphere, and promptly attempted to hide behind her drapes of pink mane.

“I-I mean, um-well-I-I mean, um,” she tried to hide a pink tinge. “If-if that really would – I’m sorry, forget I said anything.” Fluttershy hung her head, crawling backward into her seat.

“No, no,” Twilight shook her head. “You’re absolutely right, Fluttershy. It’s just that, well… everypony was a little, er… tense at the time-”

“Ain’t that th’ truth,” Applejack nodded. “You’d be awful surprised at just how hard o’ hearing some ponies can be when under stress. Huh, Twilight?”

The unicorn cleared her throat again loudly, giving a little frown.

“That – well, that was – can we get to the topic at hoof, please?” she furrowed her brows, her lips turning into a sharp slant.

“I agree,” William added without warning, and Rainbow Dash started. She had almost forgotten that the silent boy was beside her. “I believe I know of the ‘incident’ to which you are referring.”

Twilight stared hard at William, and his gaze met her own.

“Of course you do,” she said casually. “Now-”

“Tell me what my father did.”

Twilight felt a bead of sweat forming on her brow, and the attention of all those present was drawn to the boy. The look he was giving her as he sat before her in his pajamas – it was so bizarre to Twilight, seeing a colt looking so intimidating and sounding so disturbing.

He didn’t request, or plead. He didn’t bargain.

William demanded answers, and all without raising his voice.

Twilight cleared her throat again, realizing that she had been staring. Rainbow Dash gradually slid a protective wing over his shoulder, pulling the child a little closer to herself. However, his sharp watch never left her.

“Well, William…” she chuckled nervously, looking around for a little help. “That’s a rather touchy subject that we can get to in-in time…”

“Mother?” he turned his head toward Rainbow Dash slowly. “Has this not been put off long en- Mother, are you well?”

Rainbow Dash had gained an ominous, darkened look to her downcast face, and William suddenly felt much less safe in her embrace. However, she shook her head and the look slowly faded.

“… Yeah. Yeah,” she whispered croakily, hugging him close. “We’ve been-been putting it off long enough.”

Pinkie Pie laid a comforting hoof on her own, giving it a gentle squeeze with a soft little smile.

It took absolutely no more than that to break down every single defense that Rainbow Dash had been building for the last few hours, leaving her silently weeping in front of them all.

William swore that he felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, watching her eyes turn blotchy and red.

“I-I know this is hard,” Twilight began softly, uncomfortably looking from Dash to William, to Pinkie. “I know-”

“Fuck you,” Rainbow Dash growled, the sudden burst of profanity almost burning William’s ears. Dash felt Pinkie’s grip grow a little bit tighter, effectively trapping William between them. “You don’t. You don’t know, just shut-”

“Dashie.”

William was a little put off by Pinkie’s seemingly effortless attempt to silence the bitter mare, but Rainbow Dash did quiet herself at the sound of her voice.

“It’s okay, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie said sadly. “You know – everypony here knows – that she didn’t mean it like that. Everypony only wants to help, Rainbow Dash.”

Despite his endless curiosity, William was growing more and more certain that he honestly did not really want to know precisely what had transpired that Rainbow Dash could turn so hostile at the drop of a hat.

“You know it, Pinkie,” Applejack nodded sagely. “Heck, we wouldn’t be here at all if’n we didn’t care so much about ya.”

Fluttershy unexpectedly jabbed the farm pony in the ribs, and she nearly lost her trademark Stetson hat from the surprise. Applejack cleared her throat uneasily, an awkward guilty laugh breaking from her throat.

“And, uh…” she shuffled beneath the iron gaze of Fluttershy. “And I-I guess I got an apology t’make to you, Rainbow Dash. It just ain’t right of me to go turning somepony away just because of their young un’ – I mean, not that it’s your fault, about Will – I mean, not that he’s –”

Pinkie Pie deadpanned, silently miming digging with a shovel.

“Applejack feels just terrible for judging and holding a grudge for something your colt didn’t do,” Rarity proffered helpfully, and Applejack let out a silent sigh of relief before tipping her Stetson hat to the tired unicorn.

“Close ‘nough.”

“All anypony wants to do is help, Rainbow,” Twilight said truthfully. She placed her hooves together after placing on a pair of small black spectacles, a bundle of collected papers before her. “And this way, with group therapy, is the best way that we can all manage and simultaneously ensure that you aren’t separated from your son. Nopony wants to see that happen.”

Rainbow Dash choked out a mumbled apology, straining to clear her face.

“Just take all the time you need, Rainbow,” Twilight said softly as Pinkie Pie passed her a box of tissues, which Dash nodded gratefully for. “We’re all here for you.”

Rainbow Dash blew her nose, and cleared her throat loudly. When she revealed her face, William noted that she had once more gained that pained, dark look from before. She stared down hard at him for a long, uncomfortably silent minute before kissing him softly on the head and gradually pulling her wings away and close to her sides.

“Why don’t you start at the beginning,” Fluttershy suggested. “From where you want to start, and we’ll build from there. Okay?”

Twilight nodded. “I was just about to propose the same thing.”

Dash took in a long, labored and rattling breath, and took her time in exhaling shakily. She braced herself, tensing repeatedly beside William as she gripped the arm of the sofa.

“… Pinkie Pie tells me that his name was ‘Neil’. To me… he was only ‘Master’.”

There it was again.

That name.

William had to force himself to keep from involuntarily shuddering, a cold tingle arching at the base of his spine.

“Um…” Pinkie spoke suddenly. “Are-are you sure it’s such a good idea to have Will-”

Applejack cut her off, as it was clear that Rainbow Dash was having enough difficulty speaking as it was. Her hooves were shaking, and her wings were constantly twitching as if she were resisting the urge to unfurl them violently. She reminded William of a barely contained wild animal, one that was ready to snap at a moment’s notice. In effect, almost an exact opposite of the Rainbow Dash that he knew. She was always so controlled, even when she was absolutely furious.

The way she was behaving now, though, absolutely terrified him.

As if sensing his unease, Pinkie Pie drew him a little closer to herself; and though he initially tried to break contact, he soon gave up. William simply felt a bit safer with Pinkie Pie at the moment.

“I don’t remember how long it was,” Dash’s voice came out in barely a whisper, and William swore that he could have heard a pin drop. “I-I’m sorry that I was so wrapped up with myself before that-”

She shook her head furiously, grinding her teeth.

“It’s okay, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight reached for her. “We can stop if you want.”

Dash looked at her miserably, and opened her mouth to agree; however, she only shook her head again.

“No. No,” she croaked. “I should have gotten the whole thing off my chest as soon as I could, instead of letting my friends pick up the pieces.”

“Well, technically,” Twilight said uncomfortably. “Most of what we know came from Pinkie Pie.”

The pink mare froze suddenly, and William almost thought that he heard her heart stop.

“Right,” Rainbow Dash breathed, her eyes locked on some faraway object. “When she came after me.”

Pinkie released her chokehold on William, but still remained awkwardly tense.

Dash shook her head again, staring at the floor. She was silent for several more minutes, simply straining to find the right words.

“He broke me,” she blurted suddenly, holding her hooves out with the bottoms up, pleadingly. “It wasn’t my fault! I-I-I… he said you didn’t want me anymore!” Rainbow Dash’s voice grew louder and louder, shaking with every word.

“Dash, that isn’t –”

“He fucked me! He fucking broke me!” Rainbow Dash screamed, covering her eyes with her wings and letting out a heartbreaking whimper. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I can’t – I can’t. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…”

Pinkie Pie hushed her quietly, slowly slipping away from William and rocking her back and forth.

“I know, Dashie. I know. It’s okay, Dashie. Pinkie’s got you. It’s okay.”

Journal of William Zachariah Klaskovsky

Day 24 –

Ignorance is bliss.

Author's Notes:

“If I am mad, it is mercy! May the gods pity the man who in his callousness can remain sane to the hideous end!”
― H.P. Lovecraft, The Temple