“Are we still not allowed to see our classmate?” William asked quietly, raising a hand to the passing doctor.

Diamond Tiara slept quietly beside him, her head in his lap as they sat on the bench in the waiting room, and the earth pony stallion furrowed his brows as he was joined by Silver Spoon’s father from her room.

“You’ll have to take that up with the filly’s parents,” the blonde stallion snorted, glancing over at the portly aging grey stallion that trotted toward William and Diamond Tiara. Her father had a large bagged bundle of bits as a Cutie Mark on his flank, and a stern expression.

“Is this the one?” he asked the doctor quietly, pointing at William.

“See, that’s just the thing, Mister Bags,” the stallion said as he furrowed his brows and gave William an unexpectedly nasty look. Diamond Tiara sat up and rubbed her eyes at the noise, tiredly looking back and forth between the doctor and Silver Spoon’s father. “The teacher said that he was the one who got a good deal of the poison out of her system –”

“Ah, excellent,” the aptly named Filled Bags beamed pleasantly at William. “I don’t think the missus or I have ever been so worried about Spoony since –”

“Actually,” the doctor cut him off with a slightly antagonistic tone to his voice. “This… uh, colt here is a prime suspect.”

The resounding round of ‘Wait, what?’ was reciprocated by William, a stunned Diamond Tiara, and Filled Bags.

“You see,” the doctor patted his thinning yellow mane. “We found that the poor filly was poisoned with hemlock. It’s not even native to this region. Tell me, young colt,” the blonde stallion poked William roughly in the chest. “Why exactly did you feel it necessary to poison your classmate?”

For once in his life, William was utterly at a loss for words.

“It’s totally fine,” the doctor turned his head and continued conversationally. “Everypony makes mistakes now and then. Nopony is going to judge you if you just fess up and admit that what you did was wrong, and you’re a bad colt for it.”

William was completely flabbergasted.

He sputtered something incoherent even to himself, unable to completely comprehend the sheer gall. It was clear that the doctor before him was blatantly manipulating the question, attempting to misdirect his answer into something that he could be convicted with as a confession. However, William simply could not find it in himself than to do much more than stupidly open his mouth and close it a couple of times.

And for once, William was actually glad when Diamond Tiara decided to start talking again.

“How dare you!”

Diamond Tiara jammed her hoof in the doctor’s face angrily, nearly poking him in the eye.

“What?” he asked innocently, looking to Filled Bags for assistance. “What did I say?”

“How dare – how dare – you insinuate that William tried to kill my friend!” she shrieked, a wild look in her eyes. “I was a witness! If it hadn’t have been for him, Silver Spoon might not have even made it! He’s a hero!”

“Hey, get your foal under control, would you?” the doctor backed off a step and turned to Filled Bags, who merely shrugged.

“Not my filly,” he shook his head. And with that, he turned on the spot to return to his daughter, leaving him to face the wrath of the enraged Diamond Tiara alone.

“You ought to feel ashamed of yourself!” Tiara bellowed furiously, and William momentarily felt a little sorry for the nervous stallion. Almost.

“Look, miss –”

“No, you look!” the filly kicked over a chair, glaring daggers at the doctor. “You should be doing your job instead of making accusations!”

The stallion mumbled something, realizing that nobody was coming to his aid to drag away the angry filly, and eventually blurted a hurried excuse about dentistry before taking off at a swift pace.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Diamond Tiara shouted after him down the hall, jumping a little as she did so. “That’s what happens when you mess with my coltfriend!”

Diamond Tiara huffily reclaimed her seat next to the slightly stunned William, and let out an angry breath to bat away a tuft of mane from her eyes. She sat quietly beside him, warmly sidling next to her ‘coltfriend’.

And right then, William came up with what must have been a dozen different excuses for why he honestly couldn’t find it in himself to correct her.

William knocked on the door to Silver Spoon’s hospital room, awaiting a reply.

Diamond Tiara had already been escorted home by her own father, and William was pressed for time with the upset Rainbow Dash waiting for him. It had taken a bit of work, but he finally managed to convince her that he wished to spend a couple more minutes with Silver Spoon. Within a couple of moments, the heavy door was pulled slowly open, revealing the figure of Filled Bags. He blinked down at William, apparently not expecting him.

Beyond the stallion, William could spot the quietly sitting form of Silver Spoon, and a bright blue-maned unicorn mare who blew her nose loudly beside her. William supposed that she must have been her mother, and he thought quickly.

“Can we help you?”

“Actually, yes, you can,” William stated carefully, giving a little wave to Silver Spoon. She looked away from him and into her lap, where she held her hooves over the hospital sheet. “I was merely wishing to check up on the wellbeing of Miss – of my friend, here.”

“Oh, absolutely,” Bags nodded kindly, ushering him into the room. “Come on in, son, come on in. I must say, young ‘un,” he said with a slight accent. “It certainly is fortunate that you got to our daughter in time; I cannot begin to tell you how relieved we were when we found out that she was going to be all right.”

Silver Spoon didn’t look up, and William took action.

“I know this probably sounds quite a bit presumptuous,” William clasped his small hands behind his back, doing his best to look professional. He looked at both of her parents, and cleared his throat. “But if you don’t mind, I would like to speak to Miss Spoon in... private.”

Silver Spoon actually opened her mouth on this one, but her mother beat her to the punch.

“Of course,” she nodded with a sniff, and Filled put a comforting foreleg over her shoulder. “We’ll be just outside if anypony needs anything.”

William was curious for a moment the speed with which her parents had simply… complied. It was bizarre, to him. Maybe it was because they felt a sense of obligation toward their daughter’s savior? He resisted the urge to shake his head as the door snapped quietly shut, leaving the two of them alone.

He didn’t have long.

Wordlessly, he walked beside Silver Spoon’s bed and stood quietly next to her instead of sitting. She fiddled with her hooves nervously for a few moments, William’s cold stare boring a hole in her.

“What?” she asked finally, a slight croak in her throat.

“I’m not going to ask you where,” William began in a low tone. “I’m not going to ask when you managed to get it, or even how. I want you to tell me why you did that.”

Silver refused to look him in the eyes, and said uncomfortably “I-I don’t know what you’re –”

“Liar.”

The filly gave him a hurt look, tugging at her sheets as she stole a gaze back at the closed door.

“I already know everything, Silver,” William spoke quietly, but his voice was cold and sharp.

“Then why…?”

“Because I want to hear it from your own mouth.”

Silver swallowed hard, unable to look at him any longer.

There was just something wrong with the way he looked at her as she lay before him.

Something wrong with his eyes.

It was what felt like forever as the seconds ticked by and William began to sweat with the fear that either her parents or Rainbow Dash would arrive behind him made him want to rush her, but he bit his tongue. Eventually, the filly took a shuddering breath and spoke.

“Diamond Tiara wasn’t – I-I mean… I thought that she didn’t want to be my friend anymore.”

“So you tried to kill yourself in front of her.”

Silver Spoon cringed, glancing again at the door.

It would appear that was something that nobody else knew, then.

She bit back a sob, and held her head in her hooves.

“You-you don’t understand,” she stuttered. “Diamond is – she’s my only friend. Nopony else cares. Nopony else really wants me. I-I don’t want – I can’t be all alone again,” Silver Spoon gushed it all out breathlessly, and when she turned to look at him, he saw that her eyes were blotchy.

William let out an almost silent sigh, his thoughts heavy.

“… That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” he asked quietly, keeping his gaze firmly on her own. From the way she looked at him, it only took him a few seconds to figure it out; however, it was still a few seconds too late to prevent her from wordlessly crying again, tears streaming down her muzzle. He didn’t think he’d ever felt quite so stupid.

She was jealous.

William resisted the urge to rub his own eyes, and tiredly sat down at last on the bed beside her. He inhaled heavily through his nostrils, and said “Miss Spoon. Did you know that Diamond Tiara has spent nearly the entirety of her time since your little stunt sobbing hysterically?”

She gave him a look mixed between mild disbelief and guilt, and clutched at her sheets again.

“I-I don’t –”

“She was horrified,” William pressed on. “Absolutely terrified when she thought that she’d lost you.”

Silver was silent, staring once more into her own lap.

“Cried and cried and cried,” he continued. “Said that she didn’t know how she could possibly go on without her best friend,” William lied nonchalantly.

An odd, half despairing but half hopeful look glinted in the filly’s gaze, and she blinked.

“Just something to mull over,” he patted her quietly on the leg, standing to leave without another word.

Journal of William Zachariah Klaskovsky

Day 19 –

I had a moment of weakness.

Can I even properly call it that anymore? Can I, in all earnestness, refer to experiencing emotion as a form of weakness?

It makes me wonder.

I should not be having doubts in myself. At least, not when I know that the only logical outcome is to value reason and rationalization over emotion; one must always take care not to become too straightforward. I would not wish to be blinded by my own conviction.

And yet, perhaps, in a way, I already have.

I used to be of the belief that all things had their place, that the greatest joy one could ever find in life was the mundane – after all, the mundane is all a man may reach.

It seems that my every attempt to retain my original sense of reasonable intent is somehow foiled at every turn. Or perhaps I have already begun conforming to this world more than I would care to admit. Regardless, I can still clearly see the balance beneath me, and I must be careful which way I should fall, lest I lose myself completely.

I digress.

For some reason, understanding basic medical procedures and proper application makes me some sort of hero now. I think I actually preferred being referred to as a potential assassin instead.

Honestly. Heroes wear capes, and I refuse to ever touch such a gaudy piece of material.

I managed to finally get a word in edgewise with Miss Silver – and to be honest, I was a tad surprised. To be frank, I really should have suspected it, but when I attempted to interrogate the filly I admit that my mind was… elsewhere.

The hemlock Silver Spoon ingested was not indigenous, nor must it have been easy to come by. Upon inquiring, it would appear that Miss Silver had grown jealous of the attention that her friend was no longer giving her, and devoured the root in order to take her own life right before her eyes.

I do not know how Diamond Tiara would handle this information, nor do I seem to know why it bothers me to keep this secret from her.

The emotional instability of seemingly everyone in this town is ridiculous. Honestly, I think that half of these people would cry at the drop of a hat. Diamond Tiara, while certainly not a weeping tart, would appear to not necessarily be the cold hearted serpent that I originally took her for. In her time of need, she turned to me – me, of all people – but out of personal reason or desperation I am not quite certain.

Either way, I successfully circumvented the death of her crony, which she seems more than grateful for.

In some ways, I suspect that this is partially because even Silver Spoon is not safe from the sharp tongue of Diamond Tiara, but I doubt that they would be so close were she not possibly her only friend. I think that Tiara nearly suffered a complete nervous meltdown, and even went out of her way for my own sake. All because I followed basic procedures and played into her emotional expectations; there when she needed someone reliable, someone to help and listen, a shoulder to cry on.

Someone bound to be with her in her time of need.

A true friend.

I cannot help but marvel that I practically own that bitch.

For the life of me, I cannot comprehend the mysteriously overwhelming sense of self-loathing and guilt for simply writing that sentence. Maybe I am falling ill again.

The skies overhead that day were cloudy and grey, swollen and pregnant with the possibility of downpour. They curved and twisted across the sky lazily, bloated and dark enough to cast a dreary shadow across Ponyville. The occasional rumble of thunder and peal of pale lightning streaking across the sky belied of a thick storm brewing.

That large oak tree had almost become a staple in William’s life by this point.

He reclined against it quietly, joined by Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo…

And none other than Diamond Tiara, of course.

Perhaps even more disturbingly out of the ordinary was that she sat without saying a single word, Scootaloo on William’s opposite side.

And try as he might, he could not seem to lose himself in his book with as much tension as there was in the air.

“So…” Apple Bloom tried to break the awkward tension. “I, uh… I hear Silver Spoon’s gonna be okay.”

“Oh, good,” Scootaloo glared distantly at the filly across from William. “Then maybe Diamond Tiara can go back to her.”

“Maybe I will,” Tiara snapped, not budging an inch. “We would have gone to see her today anyway. Isn’t that right, Willy?”

William’s book slammed shut with a bang! and he ever so quietly said “My name is William.”

Apple Bloom let out a heavy sigh, Sweetie Belle sharing her pain. It appeared that it was going to be one of those days.

“Yeah, Tiara!” Scootaloo scowled at her. “How come you don’t back off and get somepony’s name right for once?”

“Come on, gals,” Apple Bloom said in exasperation. “Oh, uh… and Will,” she nodded to the silently fuming boy.

“My name is William.”

“Maybe I’ll call my new coltfriend whatever I want,” Diamond Tiara stood huffily, butting heads with the frustrated pegasus.

“What did you just say?” Scootaloo pushed against her harder, beginning to knock her off balance.

“I’m not your ‘coltfriend’, Miss Tiara.”

Diamond Tiara froze for a moment, a light pink color rising in her cheeks.

“W-what?” she asked, dumbfounded.

“Ha!” Scootaloo crowed victoriously. “About time, something that Diamond Tiara can’t have!”

“I don’t like you either, Miss Scootaloo.”

The pegasus gave nearly the exact same reaction that the hurt looking Diamond Tiara did, oddly enough.

Silently, he stuffed his book into his bag and began walking away, leaving the school grounds.

“H-hey! Hang on!” Scootaloo darted after him, although she was the only one to do so. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” he said without looking back, rearranging the saddlebag on his shoulder.

“Wait!” she called after him, picking up her pace until she had to gallop just to catch up. “Hold up, Will!”

“My name is William!” he whirled on the spot, the most furious look she’d ever seen on his face. Scootaloo actually faltered for a moment beneath his enraged gaze. After a moment, he took a deep breath and wiped a hand across his face, depriving it of emotion once more as he continued along his way.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Scootaloo said uncomfortably, walking beside him as he kept up his brisk pace. “I’ll call you William from now on.”

“It’s not about that.” William stated angrily, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I am not an object to be squabbled over.”

“That’s your problem?” Scootaloo scoffed, but frowned when she saw his bitter, hard expression. “Look, William, I-I’m sorry I was fighting with Diamond Tiara again, but-but…!”

“No buts,” William held his hand aloft without looking back. “Goodbye, Miss Scootaloo.”

He left her on that note, and she stood forlornly in the middle of the road as the first few pitters of rain began to slap against the ground.

“… You can call me ‘Scoots’,” she said softly, even though he was already long gone.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight knocked hard on the wooden front door of her friend’s ground home, and Fluttershy stood uncomfortably next to her as a few drops of rain began to plink down from the sky. “Rainbow Dash, we know you’re home. Weather patrol shifts ended two hours ago.”

The pair heard a slight shuffling, a lock being lifted as an untidy Rainbow Dash pried open the door, her tussled mane poking over her eyes as she blearily looked out at her friends.

“Yeah?” she asked. “What do you want?”

Twilight cleared her throat uncomfortably.

“Do you mind if we come in?” the unicorn gestured toward the rain, having deliberately ‘forgotten’ their umbrellas. “It is kind of getting wet out here.”

After a moment, Dash nodded wearily and pried the door open a little wider.

“I guess,” her lips tugged downward, and Twilight and Fluttershy slipped quietly inside out of the cool weather.

“Ah, good,” Twilight cleared her throat once more, locking the door behind her telekinetically. “While we’re here, we need to talk.”

Rainbow Dash immediately became alert and suspicious, eyes darting back and forth between the pegasus and the unicorn.

“What’s going on?” her eyes narrowed, and Fluttershy rubbed her foreleg uneasily.

Twilight let out a deep breath, and said “We need to talk about William.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, relaxing slightly as she made herself comfortable on the sofa. Twilight and Fluttershy remained standing, however.

“Yeah?” Dash asked quietly. “What about him?”

“Well, um,” Fluttershy began awkwardly. “It’s-it’s, um, it’s about William…”

“Yes, thank you Fluttershy,” Twilight deadpanned. “We have established this.”

The pegasus chewed her lip and hid behind her pink curtain of mane.

“Sorry, Fluttershy,” Twilight kept back a quiet groan. “Go on ahead.”

“Oh, no,” she insisted, her voice becoming even more faint as she failed to make herself seem as small as possible. “It’s fine.”

Twilight wrinkled her nose with a frown, turning her attention back to Rainbow Dash.

“We need to talk about William,” Twilight repeated herself as Rainbow Dash stood.

“Thank you Twilight,” she replied sarcastically. “We have established this.”

Twilight ground her teeth, and said “I’m serious, Dash. This is getting out of hoof.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Rainbow Dash’s scowl deepened.

“Well, um, Dashie, you-you see,” Fluttershy struggled. “I mean, some of us are a little worried that you might not have William’s best interests at heart, exactly…” she said uncomfortably, her voice growing so soft that she was barely heard.

“Excuse me?!” she belted angrily, her wings ruffling.

“Think of it this way,” Twilight intervened quickly. “Everypony is just a little worried about you – and William – what with your… behavior lately.”

“There is nothing wrong with my behavior!” Rainbow Dash insisted, stamping a hoof loudly against the floorboards.

“Listen, Dash,” Twilight said with difficulty. “We’re just worried about you and-and we aren’t quite sure that you’re really –”

“Don’t you dare!” Dash jabbed Twilight in the chest huffily, her wings flaring to their full extent. “I am just fine on my own!”

Twilight carefully put her hoof down, giving the pegasus a stern look.

“Not according to Pinkie Pie, you’re not,” Twilight’s voice was sad, but her firm look remained. She tried to hold her friend’s hoof, and looked her in the eye.

“Dash, we think that there’s something wrong with William.”

“There is nothing wrong with my son!” she shouted, slapping her hoof away furiously.

“You were the one who said it in the first place!” Twilight’s eyes narrowed.

“And I changed my mind!” Rainbow Dash bellowed, and Fluttershy suddenly regretted coming with Twilight.

“Will you just listen to me?” Twilight snapped.

“Not so long as you stand there and insult me and my colt!”

“He is not your colt!” she shouted back, raising her own voice to match Dash’s. “He’s adopted! By Discord!”

“HE IS MY COLT AND I’LL DO WHATEVER I WANT WITH HIM!”

“Say that again.”

Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned toward Fluttershy, who stood before them miserably.

“Listen to yourself, Dashie,” Fluttershy said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Just take a moment and really listen to yourself.”

Rainbow Dash blinked, the anger gradually melting from her features as her words drifted back into her own ears. It hardly sounded like something she would say at all, yet say it she did.

“… Oh, Celestia,” she whimpered, sitting down on the sofa hard.

Fluttershy was at her side in a moment, quietly putting a wing over her.

Rainbow Dash pulled at her mane, and her voice began to crack.

“I didn’t want this,” she moaned. “I didn’t ask for any of this!”

“I know Dashie,” Fluttershy pulled her in comfortingly. “I know.”

“No,” she pushed her away. “You don’t. You don’t have any idea what it’s like.”

“I can imagine.”

“I didn’t want a son! I didn’t ASK for this! I DIDN’T WANT FOALS!” Rainbow Dash finally broke down, her wings clamped tightly to her sides. “I-I didn’t. I know he’s not really mine.”

Twilight carefully sat down opposite her, and let out a long, drawn out sigh of discomfort.

“I know, Dash.” Twilight nodded quietly. “It wasn’t fair of Discord.”

“… Maybe not,” Rainbow Dash wiped her eyes, thankful for the tissue that Fluttershy kindly passed to her. “Actually, no. Definitely not,” she said with a mirthless half-laugh. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I made a commitment.”

“But-” Twilight began.

“I still love him, Twi,” Dash choked. “Just because he’s not really mine doesn’t mean I can’t treat him like he is.”

Twilight pondered this for a moment, noting as the rain came down heavier outside.

“… I’m sorry.” Rainbow Dash hung her head quietly, sniffling. “I-I know I’ve been a little… heh. I’ve been a little crazy lately.”

“Oh, very much so,” Fluttershy agreed with her enthusiastically and nodded, until Twilight shot her a look and she clenched her jaw shut.

“Everything’s going to work out, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight reassured her.

“How can you be so sure?” Dash bitterly looked up as Fluttershy passed her another tissue.

“Because,” she nodded matter-of-factly. “We’re your friends. And we’ll be here for you – and William too, by extension – no matter what.”

Rainbow Dash snorted miserably.

“Tell you what,” she said dryly. “Be a pal and drag that good for nothing Discord’s ass back here and make him take responsibility. That’ll make me feel a whole lot better.”

William’s nostrils flared as he approached the house, looking forward to drying himself from the rain. Simultaneously, his heart began to race as he reached for the door. He couldn’t really tell if it were enthusiasm or dread, to be truthful.

He was nearly at the door when he heard the voices, accompanied by an odd sense of déjà vu.

“I didn’t want a son! I didn’t ASK for this! I DIDN’T WANT FOALS!”

He froze at the door, his fingers barely slipping around the handle.

The sound of Rainbow Dash’s angry and mournful scream was clearly heard through the falling rain, and he paused. It felt like his fingers had suddenly gone numb.

“… I see.”

William wordlessly left without looking back, trailing over puddles like a ghost. The cold rain blasted him from above in sheets, but he couldn’t really feel it anymore anyway. His mind was elsewhere.

He walked for a long while, until he was completely drenched and sopping wet. The rain only continued to come down harder, peals of lightning splintering across the sky as the thunderstorm picked up strength. Had he been anywhere near the schoolhouse, he would have seen the old oak tree that he and the others had spent so much time beneath split violently in two with the force of a lightning strike, cleaving the worn oak cleanly down the middle.

William stumbled through the cold rain, trudging onward until he finally arrived at his destination.

His hands thrummed across the wood a couple of times, and eventually, the door to Sugarcube Corner was tugged open.

A rather surprised Pinkie Pie stood in the doorway, gaping at the shivering boy.

“Hullo, Miss Pie,” William stuttered miserably through his chattering teeth, his hands tucked beneath his armpits for warmth. “Can I please stay with you for a while?”

William wasn’t sure whether he had simply become so comfortable wrapped in the blankets in the living area of Sugarcube Corner or if Pinkie Pie had slipped him something in the hot tea, but he slept peacefully for the first time in a long while.

He twitched quietly from his dreams, the warm wing of Rainbow Dash yawning over his side when he awoke.

“Hey, Squirt.” Rainbow Dash said quietly, her scratchy voice sounding a little hoarse.

William slowly sat up beside her and rubbed his eyes with his small fists, blinking slowly; and for once, Rainbow Dash noted, without the constant furrowed brow and focused appearance, he actually looked his own age.

“… Good evening, Mother.” William said quietly, his voice dry. He noted that the blankets were still wrapped firmly around him, the dark of Sugarcube Corner interrupted only by a couple of candles in an adjacent room.

“Morning,” she corrected him, nodding toward the window where the last vestiges of the previous night’s rain dripped down the sill.

William was silent for a while, thinking.

“… I was really worried about you when you didn’t come home from school,” Dash pulled him into a close hug, and he could tell that she had been crying. “Thank Celestia for Pinkie Pie.”

“… I’m sorry.” William hung his head quietly. “I didn’t mean – I-I mean, I thought –”

William suddenly found it difficult to speak, as it felt like a golf ball had lodged itself in his throat.

“… I thought that you didn’t want me anymore.”

“Oh, Will.”

“My n-”

She cut him off, pulling him as close to her breast as she could.

“Now, you listen to me,” Rainbow Dash said softly, holding him. “No matter what happens, I could never throw you away like that. I just want you to know that I love you, William.”

“Mrf frmm rum frm.”

“… William?”

“… Mour smovvring me, Muvver.”

He pulled away from her tight embrace, his face bright red.

“Sorry.” Dash shook her head sadly.

“I said,” William cleared his throat a little, carefully wrapping his arms around the pegasus’s neck. “I love you too, Mother.”

"... Awesome."