The Everfree forest had never truly been any sort of ideal tourist area, or anything else of the sort. Many, in fact, avoided it at all costs. Unknown plant-life, wild and uncontrollable weather patterns, and even a near eternally slumbering family of Ursa that resided within a large cave within the forestry made it a land that only the most foolhardy would attempt to deal with. To enter the Everfree Forest often was a major risk for anyone, pony or otherwise, who was not previously experienced with the land.

Yet as the night began to draw to a close, one could not help but notice the odd group out that made their way through the many pieces of shrubbery and trees that made up the sides of a well-worn path. Even more interestingly enough, however, were those that made up the group.

A shadow-spattered alicorn, an ever-so-grumpy changeling monarch, a smirking griffoness, and finally - trailing slowly behind - was one last pony. This one had dark brown fur and a simple black mane, with no particularly special traits to him save for his lack of a cutie mark and the gray jacket that fitted oddly around his equine form. His endless supply of grumbling as he took step after step with his trembling and unsteady hooves was a constant source of noise from him, allowing the others in the group to be certain he had still been there. Often times he would even trip over his own hooves and onto his face, which currently explained a succession of forming bruises he had earned alongside the laughter of the griffon.

"So," the griffon semi-casually called to the stallion that trailed behind them, "how you doin' back there? Still learnin' to walk, or what?" At this, the stallion gave her a glare.

"Shut it, Gilda. This is harder than it looks!" He replied, stumbling over himself once again as he let out a series of curses. "Seriously though, how the hell do ponies do this!?"

At his remark, the changeling queen near the front of the group rolled their eyes. "Oh please, don't be such a foal about it. I've turned into a pony every now and then for as long as I can possibly remember and I never had any of this trouble."

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to go from walking on two legs to four! Try to turn yourself into a human and walk around, then we'll talk!" With a growing sense of annoyance, if not only from his frustration of having to learn to walk in this state as well as the teasing of the griffoness and changeling, he watched as the insect-like being smirked.

"Now, why would I ever turn into a human? That's hardly any functional disguise I could use, and I doubt I'd be able to gather any love in that sort of form. Besides I've turned into a minotaur before. There's no appeal to being on two legs."

Before the stallion could provide another reply, an untimely force of nature in the shape of an exposed root suddenly held his tongue for him. Muzzle met floor as he once more tripped for what could only have been the twentieth time or so.

"Damn it." Placing a forehoof on his head in discomfort, he opened one of the eyes he had closed in his fall just in time to see a dark-midnight blue forehoof before him, gesturing for him to take it.

He managed to easily follow the hoof back to its owner, his gaze eventually falling upon a warmly smiling alicorn. With a sigh he returned the smile, taking the mare's forehoof as he lifted himself back onto his his own hooves. "Thanks." He said simply, gaining a nod of acknowledgement from the alicorn.

Repositioning his hooves he moved his gaze forward. He took note of the fact that, despite their earlier teasing, both the griffon and the changeling were waiting patiently for him.

"Geez, can you get any goofier while you're like this?" The griffon asked, momentarily sitting herself down and crossing her eagle-like arms as she looked to him. In return though, he gave a small smirk.

"Probably, yeah. Though, it would be a real shame if I just - oh, I don't know - fell full force onto your tail the next time?" Just as he had hoped, the griffoness quickly gave out an uncomfortable shudder at the notion, drawing a chuckle from both the alicorn and changeling.

Before he could truly take in his small victory over the griffon, however, he felt his nerves twinge as she then gave him a familiar, odd smile.

"Hm. You know, you miss my tail, and you just might end up doing something I'd actually enjoy." Though this went over the alicorn's head, the changeling had to suppress her own laughter, especially once she caught sight of the impressive shade of red that began to coat the brown-furred stallion's face.

"... How you manage to turn a subject in that direction every time, I'll never know."

"It's a gift, really."

"Yes, well," the changeling intervened, her laughter still fighting at the back of her throat to escape, "as... amusing as this is, we should get going."

At this, the three nodded in unison, with the only difference seeming to be a momentary glare held by the stallion towards the griffoness.

"Right, well-"

The snapping of a small twig echoed through the air. Such a small sound, normally muted by the many other sounds of the forest, had become amplified to the four seemingly out of pure tension. The equivalent of a s

With this, the long-lasting silence to follow was only an untold guarantee. Had there been a group of timber wolves following them? Perhaps a manticore, or some other cruel force of the Everfree? These thoughts rippled through the minds of only three of them, with the alicorn's horn beginning to glow intimidatingly and the griffon's eyes narrowing as she unfurled her wings.

Nonetheless, the fourth of the group remained calm, instead blankly looking towards a collection of brush in the direction the disturbance had come from.

"... You know, had you shown yourself earlier you would have saved us a lot of trouble." The other three looked to her strangely as she spoke, though she paid them no mind. She had been well aware of this being's presence for quite some time now, but had simply chosen not to speak up. In fact, she wanted to see where this would go, watching as the emotions of the being shifted violently whenever they would look in its general direction. Now, however, it had been caught, and her form of entertainment for the past hour or so was brought to an end.

"..." With a roll of her eyes as well as a a single purposeful thought, her jagged horn shone with a green and black aura. The same light came faintly from beyond the bushes, where the hidden being gave what sounded like a momentary squeak of surprise.

Within seconds, the being was lifted from behind the plant-life and into the sight of the group, all of their guards quickly dropping as such. Instead, their stances were replaced with confusion and partial surprise.

A familiar purple-furred earth mare with a gray and sunset yellow mane, as well as a seemingly permanantly bandaged eye.

"Halfy?" The griffon questioned. "What the hay are you doin' here?"

The changeling focused on the awkwardly floating earth mare who, upon noticing this, did whatever she could to further hide herself. Of course it wasn't really possible from her position, but she tried noneteless.

"Halfy, our friend," the alicorn then added, "why have you come here? Weren't you supposed to be slumbering at this time?" She asked, curious as to why her companion was apparently following them.

Initially, the mare was only able to stay silent in response, both from timidity and unsureness as to what to say. Soon though, after gathering a sufficient amount of nerve and taking in a deep breath, she managed to speak up in a low and quiet tone.

"I... I w-woke up a while ago. When I did, Z-Zecora was still there, waiting for me." She recalled. "She told me that you had all left, a-and what you were g-going to do..." Again she grew silent. This time the griffon pressed her to go on.

"And...?" She said with a roll of her wrist.

"... And, well, I... I'd like to come w-with you." Everyone held a unique reaction to this. Raised brows, blank faces, smiles; it was array of different emotions and opinions towards what the mare had just said.

Glancing towards one another, the group watched as the changeling lowered the earth mare down to the ground, giving a short 'harrumph' as she placed her down next to the stallion of the group.

"Halfy, are you sure about that?" He asked. In return, he only received a momentary look of confusion. The earth mare had, in truth, been bewildered as she saw him. His loosely fitting jacket; his eye color and voice; more importantly though, what she could see of him through her eyes.

"J-... Jeremy?" She questioned unsurely. The stallion chuckled.

"In the flesh... Er, fur..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I needed to work on my 'pony' talk.

"H-how... Why are you...?" It wasn't really much of a surprise that she had been confused about everything. I was pretty confused too when this whole thing had happened. I quickly made to explain.

"Heh, yeah, as it turns out Chrysalis specializes in more than making just herself look different." Halfy, still with a raised brow, moved her gaze over to Chrysalis. Despite her obvious groan of exasperation, she didn't seem to have any issue with adding further explanation.

"It's a relatively simple spell. Usually, we queens cast it to teach the new-born members of our hives how to transform." Chrysalis' attention was then shifted to me, accompanied by a smug smile of hers. "Though, I suppose he and the new-borns pretty much have the same level of intelligence, so that might have made things easier for me."

Yeah, I should've seen that coming. If Gilda was still willing to flirt despite the situation, then it was only logical that Chrysalis would still keep our war of the words going.

"Thank you, Chrysalis." I said in a deadpan and sarcastic voice. "Anyways, Halfy, you've already done plenty to help us, why would you want to come along?"

Seeming to add to my point, Nightmare Moon gave her own input as well. From it, I could tell that she shared the same concerns that I did.

"Yes, Halfy. Your assistance to our cause has already proven its value ten times over. What of your home? Your garden?" The thought of her wooden abode and expansive orchard of plant-life - more specifically of those Lunar Blossoms that Nightmare Moon so cared about - flashed through my mind as Halfy looked towards the ground, absentmindedly digging a small hole with a forehoof.

"I... I've already asked Zecora to take care of everything while I'm gone..." Her attempts of putting our concerns at ease only really made them worse in a way. From her tone, I could tell that even she was unsure of this. And this didn't seem to be missed by Nightmare Moon either.

"Halfy, I'm going to be honest with you. We're going to be doing something that may not be the best ide- Oh, fuck it, sugar coating it wont help. We're doing something really stupid. And if you come with us, there'll be even more of a chance that you'll get in trouble for helping us than before." She didn't respond, continuing in her mindless digging. I knew it wasn't really from her trying to ignore me so much as it was she didn't know what to say.

"Halfy..."

"Let her come." Mine, Halfy's, and Nightmare Moon's eyes all turned as we all heard Chrysalis speak, putting our focus to her. Of all the times for her to start audibly holding any positive thought towards Halfy, it had to be now?

"What?"

"Her mind is set. Though I'm not sure why, nor am I sure I should even care, that's all there is to it. Even if you turn her away, she'll just keep on pestering us until you say yes. Believe me, it's not persistence I see from her. It's determination."

It was such an odd word to hear at the time. So oddly specific, but probably the most fitting. 'Determination'.

"Really? Cool." Gilda suddenly added in, making her way over to Halfy. " 'Bout time you got some guts. Figured you had it in ya." She playfully ruffled Halfy's mane with her talons, as if providing her own seal of approval to the matter.

Nightmare Moon and I, in the meantime, held different opinions of the whole thing.

"Sir Jeremy," I heard her suddenly say to me through my thoughts, ", what is it that you think? Should we truly allow her to venture with us, despite the risk?"

I was quiet for a moment, just thinking the idea over. I didn't want Halfy to put her neck on the line any further than she already had - hell, I was already tense about the fact that I had gotten Gilda and Zecora involved in this as well. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how she could help.

With that special talent of hers, we'd more easily be able to figure out who we could trust or otherwise. Plus, like Chrysalis said, she was determined. If that meant anything even remotely close to like how I was stubborn, then she really wouldn't just let this whole thing go.

I tried to cross my forearms in thought, but in doing so I had forgotten that I was using them to stand. I had once again become acquainted with the ground, taste and all.

After that, it didn't take a genius to guess that the laughter I heard was from Chrysalis and Gilda. I grumbled as I picked myself up with some struggle, cricking my neck in doing so.

"A-are you okay?" I could hear Halfy ask. She seemed to take notice of something about me, pursing her lips before, without a word, she brushed off a stray leaf from my head.

I could appreciate that.

Before I could vocalize this though, the sound of Chrysalis and Gilda's laughter were suddenly drowned out - quite literally - by the sound of splashing water. I had easily guessed what had happened as I looked to the two, seeing that whatever looks of amusement they may have had were gone. They had instead been replaced with drenched glares as they pointed daggers towards a smirking Nightmare Moon.

"Quit doing that!" They both yelled as I gave her a mental 'thanks' before finally speaking up to Halfy.

"... You can come, Halfy."

"R-really?"

I nodded to her in response. "If you're really this dead-set on this, then I'm not going to stop you..."

For a bit, she just looked at me, blinking in utter shock. Still, shortly after, her shock shifted to something else. A smile slowly made its way onto her features. It was pleasant, actually.

"Thank you."

-------------------------------------
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The town of Ponyville was as lively as ever now that the sun had been raised. It was an odd cycle, but the moment morning came along in this small town it was as though someone had suddenly flipped the 'on' switch for activity.

Many ponies passed by each other and gave their greetings, be they friends or complete strangers. The brown-furred stallion with his loosely fitting jacket was no exception to these greetings, though he would have much rather preferred not to.

"Damn it!" He battered into the back of his own mind. "Why did Zecora have to say that the train came along every 'morning'? It couldn't have been every night? Or sunset? Literally anything else? Anything?"

"Sir Jeremy?" The human-turned-pony practically yelled as he heard the echoing voice of one of his friends, Nightmare Moon, overshadow that of his own thoughts. "Are you well?"

Before he could answer, Jeremy had to take a deep, shuddering breath. He could feel a bead of sweat going down the side of his head as he gathered himself.

"... Could be better." He responded. Technically speaking, he wasn't lying.

When he and the other members of his group had first been told by Zecora of the train only arriving during the day, only moments after Jeremy had been changed into the form of a stallion, it had naturally become an issue. Though Gilda was 'out of the loop' in this regard, having raised a brow when this came up, Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon were well aware of the issue that this posed. Even Halfy, who had later joined them, quickly understood the situation upon being told.

For Jeremy and the others, cluelessness was the only initial thing that he felt when the subject had come up, along with a good bit of guilt considering he was the only one holding them back.

Eventually though, Nightmare Moon had made a suggestion.

"Perhaps," she had said, "if you are ineligible of traveling during the day... We could do so for you?"

Though this was originally met by a confused silence, it did not stop the idea from being put into action. What other choice did they have, after all?

This is the reason that Jeremy currently made his way through the roads of Ponyville with what seemed like little to no reaction, though anyone that listened in on his thoughts would likely hear the ramblings and whimpers of a mad man. The reason that he held such a calm and simple face, though he was essentially giving out an internal scream. And, possibly among the more important of things to note, the reason his shadow occasionally seemed to shift in shape and appearance, and his previously clumsy walk suddenly seemed to obtain a regular grace to it.

"Continue to compose yourself for only a short a while longer, Sir Jeremy. We promise, we will not have to do this for too long of a time." Nightmare Moon told her fear-filled friend, attempting her best to comfort him while also guiding his body along. To her, his allowance of this possession couldn't help but to spark conflicting emotions.

On one hand, this had signified a great deal of trust. She would be in charge of almost every action he took. If she so chose, she could very easily put him in harms way. Yet, Jeremy had given little to no resistance to the idea, allowing her to take control shortly after they had reached the edge of the Everfree Forest and Ponyville, right as sun had begun to rise.

Alongside this, she would not be lying if she said that she quite enjoyed being in such a proximity to him. Especially now that the others were elsewhere, what with part of their plan to leave involving them arriving separately.

"It would seem suspicious if we all just went to the same place in a big group." He had told them all. "Plus, uh... we aren't exactly the least noticeable group around there."

Still, she couldn't help but to feel a twinge of guilt whenever Jeremy gave out an internal shudder, his fear likely pressing at him more and more as he remained outside. She had done whatever she could to ease his fear. She sealed off the majority of his mind from the rest of his body, she moved from one shaded area to the next, and she even purposefully sped up his/her pace so that they would arrive to the train station sooner, but unfortunately she knew that the comfort that this may have provided him was minimal at best.

Yet, here she was, gaining comfort out of the matter while Jeremy was moving against his will, making his way through what he had been forced to fear over his time in the Canterlot dungeons.

"A-any chance that we're almost there?" He asked her in a quiet and stuttering voice. As mentioned before, despite the fact that they shared the same body in a way, most of his mind had been sealed off from the senses of his body. This included sight. So, of course, he held no idea as to what was occurring in the world around him while Nightmare Moon guided them along.

"Yes, Sir Jeremy, we do believe we can already see our intended destination." She could hear him give out a loud mental breath as she said this, adding a sense of relief to her just as well as to him.

"Good... Good. Hopefully, the others will be there by now."

In truth, Nightmare Moon had felt relatively disappointed when he had said that. Nonetheless, this wasn't a time for her to enjoy. Not here, and certainly not as it was. Her priority, much like Jeremy's, was centered around one thing. To arrive to the train station and, afterwards, Canterlot.

Sooner or later, it would be time for her and her 'sisters' to have words.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, barring the fact that I was in the light as much as I could be... The entirety of this situation was odd, to say the least.

I mean, it's not exactly normal for me to be moving my body without really moving it. It felt as though my entire body were asleep and someone was constantly grabbing hold of me, moving my numb limbs with ease despite whatever command I would try to get through.

Despite this, I wasn't really scared of this feeling. The light that surrounded me as I seemingly involuntarily made my way down the dirt paths of Ponyville? OH YEAH, THAT SCARED ME LIKE HELL!

But not the fact that I couldn't move. If anything, all I felt from this was... Warm, I guess. Its hard to describe. It was as if Nightmare Moon was holding me as tightly as she could, moving me with only the slightest and most careful of gestures.

Plus, it wasn't like I thought she would hurt me.

She had done a lot for me over the time I had known her, and become one of my better friends, so why should I have even hesitated when she had given mention to the idea of the 'puppet shadow' spell she knew.

Granted, from the name I had originally guessed she would be controlling my movements from afar, but I certainly wasn't going to complain about this.

Even better, I wasn't the one controlling this clumsy pony that Chrysalis had made me into anymore. Now someone with much more experience was behind the wheel.

Or would it have been hoof? Hooves? Muzzle? Look, don't expect anything clever from me here, I can barely remember what was going on at the time. I was practically having twelve conversations with myself just to keep from remembering where I was at the time.

And besides, the fact that my mind made the best possible hiding spot from the light certainly didn't hurt. While Nightmare Moon was able to move me in whatever way she was, I was still able to blink, to talk, to 'move', anything like that, so long as it fit the limitations that my mind and some of the spells she had cast on them were provided with.

So, suffice to say, I had my 'eyes' closed for a good bit of the time that we moved through Ponyville.

Curiously enough though, it still felt like I remembered everything here from the last time I had walked through. The dirt floors, the homely houses, and the seemingly over-friendly ponies that lived here. There was definitely a certain nostalgia to it. Were it not for the fact that my mind was in a blind panic, I would've tried to enjoy it a little more.

"Sir Jeremy?" Nightmare Moon suddenly asked for me, her voice seeming to come from some sort of outside source while I was snapped out of my thoughts. I responded to her with a questioning hum. "We have arrived at the station. Though, we are unable to see any of our other companions."

From just tuning in to my body's hearing, I could more or less tell what she was going on about. What was usually just the calm atmosphere that so heavily characterized this small town, accented by the occasional friendly voice, had become more stuffy and crowded. Rather than just one voice, there seemed to be many, each of ponies clamoring to ready themselves for their train to either arrive or leave.

"Oh, okay." I told her, keeping my mind's eyes shut tightly, especially as the sun felt as though it grew brighter in the skies above. "As for the others, we probably just need to wait for a bit. They had different routes than us, after all, and were only bound to take longer to get here."

I could feel her give a small and almost undetectable nod with my body as response. It probably would have looked strange if anyone else had seen it, but, hey, it didn't seem like anyone had so I didn't a really pay it too much concern.

Time from there seemed to take an eternity, the sounds of ponies continually spiking and flatlining in terms of volume while I tried my absolute best to be anywhere else. The mind has its limits though, so I could only keep up this imaginary facade for so long.

Soon enough though, through Nightmare Moon and I's silent ministrations, I heard a voice.

"Excuse me, mister." It said, high pitched and, honestly, adorable. "Have you seen my parents?" I could feel my neck turn on Nightmare Moon's command as she looked to the source of the voice.

And as for me, curious as to the matter, I took in a deep breath, 'opening my eyes' for a split second so as to look.

Initially, the first thing that came was a short flash, both from the light, and from the horrible memories that followed; I barely held myself from screaming, or doing anything else in that regard. Nonetheless, despite this, I had seen what I had wanted to. I shut out the images of torch lights and silhouettes as I shut my eyes again.

A small unicorn filly, seeming barely old enough to talk without mixing up her 'R's and 'L's, had been stood before us. Some of her more discerning features were a sky blue coat, a light yellow mane, and the lack of a cutie mark. Anypony else would have just believed this to be a really young filly who had yet to figure out her 'special talent'. Nightmare Moon and I knew a little more than that though, especially as we caught sight of her familiar green eyes.

"Thou art tardy." I heard Nightmare Moon say over our mental link, though I could tell it wasn't aimed towards me. I felt my body smile and turn completely towards the filly.

"Oh shut it." Chrysalis' entry into the link was sudden, accompanied by the mental image of her glaring. In other words, pretty much the same as usual. "Do you know how hard it is to make my way through this pathetic little town alone as a filly? It's almost sickening how many ponies kept asking me why I wasn't in school, or where my 'parents' were. Ugh."

Despite her mental complaint, the filly she had shaped herself to be continued with her act. "They got on the train, but I can't find them."

"And how are you holding out, exactly?" This time I could tell that she was referring to me. As to how, well, lets' just say that I didn't appreciate the image of me crying like a baby.

"Could you help me find them?"

"Same thing I told Nightmare Moon earlier... Could be better." As I relayed this, Nightmare Moon opened my mouth, likely to reply to the 'filly'.

So far, this was going perfectly, according to how we had planned this. Nightmare Moon and I had met up with Chrysalis - Or rather, a random stallion had met with a lost filly. The filly would say she couldn't find her parents and the stallion would happily agree to help her. Around this time, a certain mare, with a bandage around her head would come around, hopping aboard just as well in the hopes of seeing her family. Then, a short time after that, there'd be a griffoness who'd follow, claiming that she had to meet some friends in Canterlot, but didn't want to fly all that way.

It was a simple enough idea, and, with the bits that Zecora had given us for the tickets we would need, it had made things much less complicated. You can't really find too much suspicion in a varied group with different purposes.

So, yeah, aside from the fact that I didnt really feel like I was providing much. basically being a puppet with thought, everything was going just perfectly.

"Do not worry, little one, we shall help thee find thine guardians."

...

"..."

"... Didn't think that far ahead, did you?" Chrysalis told me, this time sending an image of her face of bemusement as she referred to Nightmare Moon's form of talking.

"Just get on the god damn train." I returned, just barely noticing Nightmare Moon slightly raise a brow in confusion through my body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeming to compose herself with a clear of her throat, the filly that was Chrysalis spoke up again. "Um... Thank you. I-"

"Move it! Outta the way!" A loud, gritty voice filled the air, interrupting the conversing three - or two, as any other may have seem it - as it demanded for a path to be cleared.

The three instantly recognized the voice to be Gilda's, turning towards its source in their shared and disguised forms.

"I knew this wouldn't work." Chrysalis added shortly afterwards. Jeremy ignored this comment, electing instead to speak to his body's current 'guest'.

"Nightmare Moon, what's she doing?" Jeremy asked, noting the sounds of grumbling and complaining ponies. As he could not see, Nightmare Moon relayed to him what was occurring.

"Miss Gilda seems to be pushing over everypony else..." She told him quite bluntly. At the same time though, she took note of what seemed to be a clear and unmistakable look of concern on her face, though in a much angrier tone."She also seems rather distressed, Sir Jeremy."

Chrysalis from her place next to the currently unified pair was able to see this clearly for herself. Though she had some trouble seeing over the taller ponies than her filly-formed self, she could still easily catch the emotional storm that was raging inside of Gilda.

Before she could even comment on this though, there were suddenly no more ponies that blocked Gilda's path, either having been pushed aside or smart enough to move after watching her.

From there, she reached the three within seconds.

"Yo, J, you there?!" She asked loudly as she stood herself before him and Nightmare Moon. Jeremy internally flinched as he overheard her call him by the nickname she had given him, despite the fact that they were supposed to seem like total strangers to one another.

Even worse, he wouldn't be able to say anything to her without taking control of his own body again, and doing so would mean directly exposing himself to the light again; something he didn't think he be able to bear again.

"Nightmare Moon, ask her what's wrong." Jeremy requested of Nightmare Moon, receiving a physical and mental nod in return as Nightmare Moon then spoke up in his place. Unlike Gilda, she had seen the staring ponies and instead whispered.

"Miss Gilda," she began quietly, "Sir Jeremy wishes to know what troubles you."

At this, the griffon sputtered, seeming to have momentarily forgotten that her friend was, in fact, not the one in control.

"What the- Whatever, look, we've got a problem!" Much to the three's displeasure, Gilda continued to yell, only serving to attract even more attention to them.

"Miss Gilda, please, calm thine self. Thou art bringing unnecessary attention towards us all."

For the first time that they had met her, both Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis took note of a certain look that she held; one that breathed and gasped fury; one that Jeremy would know all too well to signify something really bad. Even more so when he realized that, of their group, Gilda was not supposed to be the next to have arrived.

"... Where's Halfy...?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I-I could barely breathe at the time. My legs felt like jelly, my stomach felt like it was doing backflips, it was terrible! All I could really do was stare at the pair of stallions. One was a pegasus while the other was a unicorn. They weren't alone either. I'm guessing that they had their marefriends with them, judging by how close they liked to be to the other two. There were four of them, so that made for a total of six.

They seemed familiar but I-I didn't bother trying to remember their names. I couldn't even tell you what they looked like. What was the point, after all? They were the same as all the others in my memories. If I had tried to give a name to each one, it would have just hurt more. I... I didn't want to think that they were real ponies. I didn't want them to be more than just things in the back of my mind.

Things that, at the moment, had stopped me just for walking in the town.

"Say, how long has it been, Halfy? What, five, maybe six months?" One of the two asked, though I could tell his tone was anything more than honestly curious. He didn't really want the answer. They never did. So, I stayed quiet. I did what I had learned to do after years of practice. I looked down at the ground. That had usually made things turn out less badly for me, I had noticed. Maybe they felt like I was trying to undermine them by daring to look back at them. Or maybe they just didn't want me to even 'look at the same air as them', or something like that.

It could be anything.

"I think that it was 6, Thunder Lock."

"Oh, right, right. Thanks, Feather High."

Thunder Lock and Feather High. I hated that I knew their names now. I hated that, until I could forget them again, they were ponies to me. I hated even more that I remembered those names after I heard them.

Usually, they'd only throw names from afar. Except for one time, where they threw a small rock. Something was different from before. Maybe it was the mares? They had never brought them along before, they were probably just trying to seem more confident now. To show-off?

Jeremy told me he 'couldn't get what kinds of horrible mares would have found that attractive' at some point, but its actually not that surprising how many of them there are when you know what to look for.

"So, how have you been doing then? Met any new friends? Any at all?" He was baiting me to answer. At the same time though, I knew he also didn't want me to answer. It was that same trick they used every now and then. No matter what you said or did, it would go in their favor.

Still, of the two options, I decided to stay quiet. My throat would always hurt so much when I spoke. It was like the air was sandpaper around them. It was so much easier to stay quiet.

"Aw, ThunderLocke, that's so nice of you, assuming that she would have anypony would want to be her friend." The other stallion laughed while the mares that were with them giggled. Why was it that they always had the same sense of humor, I wonder? Then again, I shouldn't think on it. It would be dumb of me, wouldn't it? Thats what some of the others like them would have told me. 'Just stay quiet and take what you deserve'.

"Yeah, I know. I'm such a nice guy. Eh, Halfy?" I felt him give what he seemed to pretend would be a light blow on my shoulder. I didn't feel that. I didn't get that chummy nudge that I saw Gilda would give Jeremy while they stayed over at my home. I wish I would have, but I didn't. Instead, I could only barely keep myself from whimpering as my shoulder started to ache. "Yeah, of course I am." He shortly after finished for himself. They did that a lot too.

"Hey, Halfy, you know what would be a good way to thank him for being so nice to you?" I tried to keep quiet again. But I guess I had forgotten something in the time I lived outside of Ponyville. Sometimes, I had to answer them. There wasn't any option. I had to. It was stupid of me to forget, and I couldn't blame anypony else for what came next but myself.

I got another 'nudge' to the same shoulder, though with even more force behind it. This, coupled with fact that I was still tender, was too much for me to hold. I couldn't keep myself from giving out a soft cry. I was so sorry at the time. I know I didn't do anything wrong, but I was still sorry. To myself. To them. I just... I couldn't help it.

"He asked a question, Halfy. Do you know what would be a good way to thank me?" Despite my nerves, I managed to take in a breath. My throat hurt so much just talking. It hurt so much to let myself know that they were real.

"N-n-no..." My voice hoarse from the struggle of having to respond. I could practically hear them smirk. I had told them what they had wanted me to, so it was back to being silent.

"Well, why don't you head on back to wherever it is you came from and try to make some friends this time. I'm sure that, if you're gone long enough, somepony might be willing to at least contemplate the idea." How badly I wanted to just disappear; to just vanish from that very spot, there and then. But I couldn't. Instead, I had to sit there and wait, ignoring whatever discomfort my bandage seemed to give at the time. They had been fine earlier, but now they felt like they were tighter. I figured that, in their own way, they were reminding me to keep to my place. I couldn't blame them, if that was the reason.

"Or," the other then continued, "if you prefer, we can stop trying to be so nice, and-"

"And what, exactly?" Just like that, the dirt didn't seem so nice anymore. My ears twitched as I looked up, recognizing the voice I heard. The two stallions, and the mares that accompanied them, had suddenly lost their smirks. Instead, they seemed annoyed.

For once though, it wasn't at me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'd say that both Nightmare Moon and I had uh... heard and seen enough. How could I tell, you might ask? Well, one of us was trembling in anger. I couldn't tell you who. I hadn't opened my eyes, but just from listening and from what Nightmare Moon told me she saw, I practically wanted to peel the skin off of my face.

Morbid? Really? Thats what you think is-

Whatever, lets just get back to it.

As it turned out, this wasnt exactly going on in the middle of nowhere. No, heaven forbid it have been done in some cliche place like an alleyway or something like that. Instead, it was happening in the middle of a busy pathway. Now, you might be hearing that and thinking 'why is that a bad thing? Isn't it good if others were watching'? Well, you'd be right. It was good that there were others around.

But that's where the good parts had ended. They could see it happening. They could hear it happening. It wasnt out of sight or anything like that. It was right there. Yet, nobody seemed to be paying attention. There wasnt one second that the ponies spared to look at what was happening, or even give a slight 'hey, what's going on here'. No, instead their days were apparently just that important to them.

Evidently, the bystander effect was no less real in Ponyville than it was back where I had originally come from.

Still, that was only more fuel to the flame. That is to say, more reason for me to be pissed off at the folks that were bothering Halfy. More specifically, the two shit ringleaders who led this shit circus.

Even now I could hear them as they arrogantly addressed Nightmare Moon and I.

"And just who the hay are you?" Seemed as though Nightmare Moon and I had shared a similar idea in regards to a response. I didn't even have to open the link I had to her before she had said exactly what I was thinking.

" 'Somepony who contemplated the idea'." Nightmare Moon quoted for me, every word sounding exactly as how I would have wanted them to.

Look, it was a cool moment and you cannot take that from her.

"... Sir Jeremy, they are grinning." I gave Nightmare Moon a mental nod as I then heard one of the two give out a light chuckle, practically filled with arrogance and stupidity. Mostly the latter, though.

It was like I was in Canterlot all over again! What fun! What nostalgia! What a sense of home!

... No, I am not overdoing it with the sarcasm.

"You can't be serious." One of the two then said. "You mean, you actually are a friend of one-eye there?"

If I had control of my body, I probably would have twitched a bit when they said 'one-eye'.

"Sir Jeremy, would it be wrongful of us to claim that we wish to hurt them...?" If it was, then I'd be in the same boat as she was in. Nonetheless, we couldn't let it get to us. So, after reassuring her that her sentiments were shared, I told Nightmare Moon not to do anything rash. At least, not yet.

"As a matter of fact, we are." She then continued through my voice, though once again allowing her 'Old Canterlot' accent to show again in the process. I had to say, it felt strange to hear my voice saying things like that. Then again, it was also pretty weird to hear my voice when I wasn't talking.

" 'We'? Now I know you must be joking." This time it was the original offender's voice who rang through. "To say that she could actually have one friend is funny. But even more than that? Ha, that's hilarious!"

I seriously hated this guy. Not disliked - no, I'm wasn't allowing him that kindness - I sincerely hated him, and his friend.

"You must not know that much about her, right? About her weirdo parents, or her eye?"

Hang on, before I continue, do you hear that? That little noise? It's just barely there.

... No? Cool. That's the sound of how much I really didn't give a singular fuck about what they were talking about.

I could feel mine and Nightmare Moon's teeth grinding both physically and mentally as she seemed to ignore the two, instead turning to face Halfy. "Are ye well?" She asked, though simply saying this seemed to trigger the idiots again. Their focus was aimed towards the way Nightmare Moon spoke this time though.

"Did you hear that Thunder Lock? 'Are ye well'? What a dork!"

"No wonder he's with her, the two are a perfect match of weird."

And now they were basically making fun of Nightmare Moon's accent. They didn't exactly know they were, but it was definitely close enough. Fortunately, aside from a few choice words under her breath, of which I wasn't even aware existed for ponies, she didn't react too badly.

"I-I'm fine." I heard Halfy finally reply. Nightmare Moon gave some sort of inquisitive hum before, with a narrow of her/my eyes, she spoke up.

"Then, pray tell, why do your favor your right shoulder?"

And that, ladies and gents, was the metaphorical straw effectively shattering the spine of that horse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Twas a difficult feature for us to ignore, yet even more so just to acknowledge. Our friend, Halfy, could not lie to us in this regard, for one could not hide what was so physically clear.

Even as she held her shoulder with her forehoof, attempting what she could in order to hide the proof of her more recent abuse, the discoloration that laid upon her remained ever so apparent.

"Um, uh, n-no reason. Really, I'm fine." We narrowed our eyes as she said this, doubt being my lead in this judgement.

In truth, anger could not begin to describe our emotions. So terribly it was we wished to bring recompense upon the afflicters of our friend's injury and state; to enshroud them in our darkest of shadows and show them what they have to fear as consequence.

We knew though that we could not. Though we could sense Sir Jeremy's own fury within his body, of which we controlled, we were also aware of his wishes to draw little attention. For an earth pony to use any form of magic, more incredulously that which was as recognizable as ours, would do naught but end our plot before it had began.

"We do not wish to hear lies, Halfy. You are aware of this..." Our friend said nothing more as we informed her of this, instead favoring the ground below her as she grew to be silent.

Unsure of what more to add, we decided to have the opinion of Sir Jeremy, ignoring the seemingly endless babble of the two 'stallions' behind us. In truth, they held no right to be referred to as them any longer.

"Sir Jeremy, it would seem as though they hath brought harm upon our companion. We take it you would like us to escort her away from this scene?"

"..."

"Sir Jeremy?"

"..."

We received no response from him. Not so much as even the slightest of sounds resounded from his dormant being, gaining our curiosity and, of course, concern.

The spell we had cast in order to gain control of Sir Jeremy's body harbored no intention to also completely shut out his mind as well. We had made sure of that. Yet, no matter our approach, he would not respond.

Before we could focus on this issue any further though, one of the the poor excuses for a pony spoke up again.

"Hey, you listening to us or not, weirdo?" We gave out a sigh as the ignorant pony behind us gave out yet another incessant yell.

We would have to postpone our worries of Sir Jeremy for after the situation had passed. Even so, we knew we would not enjoy this.

Our companion's gaze lifted towards us ever so slightly as we turned ourselves to face the ponies once more. Our eyes narrowed as we looked to them. If only for a moment, we took notice of one of the two's sudden intimidation, likely from not having expected our angered gaze. It was pathetic that it was truly so easy.

"What privilege does thou believe thine self to own in order to treat our friend in this such regard?" We interrogated, our voice almost a growl as we did so. Our tone was even as we spoke. They had dared to harm our companion and we had no reason to restrain our voice, of all things.

At our question, the noise throughout the area became mute, tension filling the atmosphere like wine to a glass.

After only moments though, the silence was quickly ended. Not by the words of the two before Halfy and I, curiously enough, but by their laughter: uproarious and loud.

"Ha! Oh, this is too good! The way this dork talks - Haha - is just perfect!" This brought about our confusion. To begin, what was a 'dork'? An insult, perhaps? Certainly, 'twas not one that we were aware of back then.

"Prithee, what exactly is the issue with how we speak?" As we asked our eyes remained narrowed, yet the disgrace of a stallion before us held no visible signs of backing down. They were likely too arrogant to do so as they then took another step closer to us.

"Look pal," he spoke, "I'll tell you what. If you and her just take your freakish selves out of my sight in the next ten seconds, I may consider actually letting you go without a fight."

A bluff. So very clearly a bluff. We could tell just by his eyes that this one was a coward by trade, only content on hurting those he believed he could get away with hurting. More than likely, he believed that we would back down, and he would 'win' this debacle. Yet, when he finished this bluff of his, he'd likely back down from whatever possible fight, making some sort of claim to justify his doing so.

This knowledge was simple to us. We were once one of the rulers of Equestria, after all, and understanding the behavior of our subjects was a necessity. It would seem that this behavior of theirs had yet to change too drastically.

"Now then..." Taking a seat upon the ground before us, the smirking foal of a stallion closed his eyes and began to count.

"One... Two..."

We could not help but to roll our eyes. All we would have to do was wait, yet we felt it wasn't even worth it. We had wasted enough time as at was and Halfy had been spared any further taunting. All we would have to do was step away.

"Three... Four..."

There was an issue that was made clear though. One that we could not ignore. We could no longer move.

"Five..."

'Twas not of our own will, but we simply could not move. Neither limbs, nor eyes, nor even our very lungs. Our body simply would not respond.

"Six... Seven..."

The we realized. It was not our body, just as it was not our doing. Without warning, our eyes sealed themselves, blinding our view of the world before us. We began to feel one of our forearms moving.

"Eight..."

We attempted to regain control but, no matter what we attempted, nothing seemed to function as we wished it to. Instead, we were reduced to the role of a meager blind spectator, unable to see, but easily able to feel and hear what was occurring.

"Nine..."

Our foreleg retracted as far back as it possibly could, as if testing its own limits until it could go back no further. Before we could even manage any sort of reaction as we realized what was occurring, we first heard and felt everything that happened next.

"Te-"

The first thing we could sense through the haze that had suddenly appeared around our mind was a loud and echoing thump, followed shortly thereafter by the sound of a comparatively softer thud. The next we could sense was the feeling: the sensation of a slight stinging sensation along the bare of our forehoof, as well as that of a sudden impact.

We were made utterly speechless.

We knew what had occurred, but as to what had caused it, we held doubt. Even as the haze over our mind faded; as we regained our sight and opened our eyes; as the first scene that lay before us caused our brows to raise in surprise, words unable to escape. Even through all this, we could not entirely believe what had just occurred.

The ponies that had been passing by suddenly took notice of us all, many pausing as they looked to us in shock. As for the group of six ponies before us, their numbers had suddenly been reduced to five. Furthermore, each held looks of utter shock. The reason behind all these gazes was easily found to be apparent as, with no more than a slight glance downwards, we took notice of the sixth member of the group. The other stallion was currently unconscious with nothing more than a clearly visible site of impact upon the left side of his face.

"...Sir Jeremy, you-"

"He deserved that."

It had been just as we had thought... Still, we withheld no surprise as our theory behind our uncontrolled actions - Sir Jeremy's controlled actions - were proven true. Since we had cast the spell, this was the only occasion that he had truly shown any resistance towards it. As such, we were unable to react when he forcefully retrieved command of his physical being, so as to deal his own sense of righteousness upon at least half of the bothersome duo before us.

This was, in fact, the first occasion we had seen of Sir Jeremy taking action upon his anger.

"We should get going, Nightmare Moon."

Just as he had put us into a state of surprise and distraction, he just as quickly removed us from it, our eyes blinking as we responded.

"O-of course, Sir Jeremy."

Turning ourselves to our other companion, we shared little of a moment to truly take in more of her own look of shock - arguably among the most so of all that were there - speaking to her in an attempt to gain her attention.

"Halfy?" She gave out a gasp as she heard us, almost as though we had given the message in the form of a yell. "Shall we be taking our leave?" She was silent for a moment, glancing to the unconscious stallion behind us before, ultimately, she gave a slow nod of her head.

With a single gesture we signaled for her to follow, to which she gave another wordless nod before beginning to trail shortly behind us as we headed towards the crowd of ponies that had paused to watch us. They cleared a path for us just as quickly as peasants would have during our rule. Though I disliked the use of that word, their lack of action today as they instead chose to ignore another pony being harmed hurt could only allow us to give them this such description. Peasants.

Curiously enough, despite our best wishes, the matter didn't seem to end there.

"H-hey," the other stallion finally spoke up, breaking out of his earlier stupor, "you t-think you can just get away with that?!" His voice was clearly much more nervous than before. His confidence stemmed from his arrogance, much like his friend. Yet upon watching as he was quickly incapacitated, this arrogance - and as a result his 'confidence' - were quickly swept away. "How 'bout a fair fight, eh?! O-or are you too chicken."

He was an insolent one, was he not?

Without so much as turning to look towards him, we gave our response. "Verily, thou hast already lost. There is no need for us to waste our time with thee any further."

The sound of his sputtering came through clear, much like that of giggling from the mares that accompanied him and his defeated companion.

"Why you- get back here!" Immediately after yelling this, we could hear the stallion begin to run, his hooves grinding against the ground as he seemed to gain distance upon us.

Once again, we felt Sir Jeremy's rage flare, much like our own, as we narrowed our eyes. We turned ourselves and stood before Halfy once more, forming a barrier between her and the stallion. We could barely hear her seem to take a step or two back as we stood our ground with a calm mind. As to the reason of our calm mind? It did not make itself beknown to our aggressor until they were only seconds away from reaching us.

It was at that moment that a small portion of the sky seemed to blur with nothing more than a single feather being left behind to serve as the recognizable sign to identify its source.

The stallion very swiftly found himself to be pinned to the floor with an audible thud, his air escaping him from the simple combination of shock and pain he suddenly felt. His running was, of course, halted on the spot as a familiar figure kept him trapped.

Even as the stallion began to struggle, attempting to escape his restraint, the figure smirked.

"Geez, that was way too easy."

Upon hearing her voice, the stallion froze, his pupils shrinking to the size of a needle as he managed a short look behind him.

"G-G-Gilda!" We could not help but to raise a brow at his apparent knowledge of Miss Gilda's identity. It was this momentary confusion, however, that triggered Sir Jeremy's explanation.

"I wouldn't worry, Nightmare Moon. Gilda's only really well-known by the people who have bugged her before... Mostly because they're smart enough to not take the risk of doing it again afterwards."

We could only smirk at this, watching as the stallion who had dared to harm our friend seemed to hold a sudden expression of fear aimed towards the griffon. Justice could be oh so swift on occasion.

"W-what are you doing here? Heh..." The nervousness of the chuckle he gave was clear, down to its very essence. Miss Gilda seemed to have noticed this as well, leaning her head closer down to the stallion.

"Oh, you know, I just figured I'd come by, get some snacks, the usual biz."

I had no form of knowledge as to what this 'biz' was. Honestly, it was becoming painfully obvious just how much everypony's vernacular had changed over the millennia.

"Though, there was also another reason. What was it now...?" She asked jokingly, pretending to be in thought over the question as she shifted her gaze upwards, seemingly awaiting the answer she already knew. "Oh yeah! See, I came by to see a couple of friends of mine. A, uh, purple mare with a bandage over her eye annnnd a stallion with brown fur, usually wearing a jacket."

The stallion before her gulped at this, his eyes somehow becoming even more dilated as his gaze suddenly darted between the three of us.

"... I take it you get where I'm going with this, right?" She accentuated the end of her sentence by raising the stallions head with a single talon, forcing him to look to her straight in the eyes. She glared sharply at him, practically burning her gaze into his.

"Y-y-yes..." At this, Gilda gave a small smile, moving herself off of the stallion and making her way towards us.

"Then get out of here before I get mad." She finished, an impressive amount of self-satisfaction on her face as she did so. The stallion, upon suddenly realizing his given ability to escape, was gone in no more than a millisecond, leaving behind his unconscious partner and the mares that had accompanied them.

"... Nice right hook, by the way." Walking past us, Gilda aimed what seemed to be an approving nod in our direction as she made her way over to Halfy.

We simply watched as she did so though, barely overhearing the sounds of the crowd from prior beginning to scatter - and at a rather hurried pace - as we sat in thought.

Sir Jeremy had, if only for a mere moment, seemed like a completely different being. He had only commit an act of violence on one other occasion, when he had first helped us escape. Even so, he had done this out of necessity, and nothing more.

And yet, this time, he had done this purely in an effort to protect, not only Halfy's, but our honor as well.

"Nightmare Moon?" The sudden sound of Sir Jeremy's voice ended our thought-filled stupor, us taking a moment to regain ourselves before ultimately responding.

"Yes, Sir Jeremy?" We inquired.

"If you don't mind my asking, am I able to get some sleep while I'm like this? I feel exhausted..."

His voice made this apparent. 'Twas odd, considering no more than a few mere moments ago his anger had seemingly reached a level we had never seen before. Yet, now, he had apparently been drained? We suppose we weren't the ones to question this, nor should we. Nonetheless, this would not restrict our concerns.

"Of course, Sir Jeremy. You should be able to do so as long as we keep focus on our spell."

With this, we moved our attention to Gilda who, at the moment, seemed to be doing her best to lift Halfy's spirits. Patting her back, playfully ruffling her mane, simply anything she believed would elicit a smile from our recently abused friend. 'Twas quite the sight to see.

This was how Miss Gilda treated her companions in their time of need, after all; a trait that could only be identified using two words: A 'laugh' and a 'shrug'.

We could see with ease why Sir Jeremy had chosen her to be a companion of his, similar to his relation with Miss Zecora.

Curiously, this made us wonder as to what traits Sir Jeremy had seen within us, a changeling and a previously formless alicorn, to find worthy of befriending.

In fact, even now we questioned what the changeling was doing in our absence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If I had to wait for them any longer, I was going to make sure Jeremy and the others paid for telling me to stay on the train.

It hadn't exactly been difficult for me to sense the hostility that had formed in the near distance. Ergo, it wasn't difficult to guess that whatever it was that had gone wrong was serious.

I would have enjoyed slamming whomever was causing this trouble so hard into the ground that they be unconscious for the next week. Then again, thats probably the reason I was told to stay...

Meh. Still wouldn't have minded.

Next Chapter: Chapter 25: Even The Shortest Trip... [Here Again] Estimated time remaining: 7 Hours, 38 Minutes