“So, Drayke, you’ve been having dreams about Princess Cadence?” Pinkie Pie asked as we continued our journey. A couple of hours before, the dark forest had slowly transitioned from endless miles of trees into a wide-open rocky plane. Nothing grew here, and nothing lived here; it was just us.

“Yes,” I said slowly, slightly afraid of what she would ask next. It had been a couple of days since the incident with the Doppel-Drayke, and the ponies had been rather quiet about my revelation about my dreams.
“Will you ask her to marry you like Allen did with Luna?!” she cried excitedly.
I scowled. “I’m not in love with Cadence,” I said angrily. “She probably used some kind of spell on me the last time I was here; that’s why I can’t stop seeing her.”

Pinkie lowered her head sadly. “Oh,” she said quietly, falling back with the others.
I stared ahead into the distance, where the heat of the endless planes had started to play tricks on my eyes; it was like when you’re driving on a really hot day, but in the distance it looks like the road is wet and rippling.
Trippy, I thought as I squinted at the mirage. “Hey, Twilight, where exactly are we?” I asked, glancing around at the vast emptiness. Here and there I saw some rocky pillars jutting out of the ground at varying heights, but nothing else.

Twilight took a deep breath. “Well,” she said, sounding a little uncertain, “if we’ve been going in the right direction this whole time, which I am certain we have, this should be the Badlands.” She took a nervous glance around, as if she was looking for something.
I raised an eyebrow at her shifting gaze. “Something on your mind?” I inquired.
She gave a confused look. “I’ve heard stories about this place; they say strange creatures live out here, rarely seen by ponies,” she explained. “But I look around, and there’s no signs of anything other than rocks.”

I shrugged. “Maybe they’re just tales to keep little kids from coming out here,” I suggested.

Just then, I saw a flash of light, and a dark shape flew towards me at high speeds. Before I could react, it slammed into me and carried me several yards away before dropping me on the ground. I quickly pulled out my sword and held it at the ready, and I saw my adversary circling above, just barely close enough to identify them.

“It’s Black Heart!” I cried, waving for the others to hide behind a nearby rock formation.
Twilight looked concerned. “He’s an alicorn?” she asked, panicking.
I looked up, struggling to focus on the armored pony. “I don’t think so,” I said slowly, “it looks like those wings are part of his suit or something.”
I heard Twilight sigh in relief, and I jumped to the side moments before Black Heart took another dive at me. He skidded across the ground, spinning to face me as he did, and his wings folded to his sides and locked into his armor.

“I told you to stay in Canterlot!” he shouted through his voice filter. “If you look for Allen, only danger and death will be waiting for you!”
I held my sword in front of me, glaring at Black Heart. “I’m on a mission,” I growled, “and if I don’t finish it, I can’t go home. So, if I were you, I’d stay out of my way.”

Black Heart laughed cleverly. “I knew you’d say that,” he said quietly. “That crystal you always carry around, do you still have it?” he asked curiously.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, why?” I asked suspiciously.

Black Heart took a slow step forward. “What if I told you I could send you home?” he offered. “I could recharge your crystal, you could go home, and these ponies can go back where they will be safe.”
I stared at him, my expression transitioning from anger to disbelief. “You could do that?” I asked quietly.

Black Heart seemed to hesitate for a moment, but nodded. “Yes,” he said firmly. Either it was just me, or he sounded unsure about whether he wanted to do that.

I stared for a moment, deciding what to do, When I got an idea. Putting on a smug look, I pulled my crystal out from my back pocket. “Do it,” I demanded, holding the black gem straight in front of me.

Just then, something tackled me from my right. I looked up when I had stopped moving to see Rainbow Dash pinning me down, glaring angrily.
“You traitor!” she shouted angrily.
I glared back at her. “How am I a traitor?” I snapped. “You know I never wanted to sign up for this quest in the first place; I was only in it to get home. Now, I have a chance to get out of here without risking my life, and you really expect me to not take it?”

Rainbow pulled back a hoof menacingly. “I ought to clobber you right here,” she growled.
I grinned and looked her smoothly in the eyes. “Do it, then,” I challenged. “You don’t have the nerve.”
She stared at me, her gaze slowly losing its intensity as her hoof fell to her side. She looked down, defeated, and let me go.

“Fine then,” she pouted, “don’t help us find Allen.”

I looked at her over my shoulder. “That’s the plan,” I said nonchalantly, and turned back to Black Heart, once again presenting the crystal “Okay, charge it up,” I said eagerly.
Black Heart held his horn high in the air as a dark aura surrounded it, and fired a bolt of magic straight at the crystal. The gem seemed to hungrily absorb the energy, taking on a reddish glow as it recharged.

“It is done,” Black Heart said simply with a nod. “You can go home now.”

I nodded slowly. “‘Can’,” I said, pointing a now-glowing finger at the pony, “not ‘will’.”
Before he could react, a beam of black energy shot from my finger and struck Black Heart right in the chest. In an instant, he was encased in a shell of translucent, black crystal.

I turned back, smiling, as the six ponies stared at me with gaping mouths. Rainbow Dash was the first to speak.
“You jerk!” she said as she tackled me once again, but with a hug this time, “why’d you trick us like that?”
I froze up. “Hugs, HUGS!” I said angrily, and the pegasus quickly got off. “Anyways, I did that to prove that if I’m given a job, I’ll stick to it. I may not be the most morally stable person, but I’m good for my word,” I explained. “Let’s get out of here; this thing doesn’t have the insanely-powerful ancient magic I used on Celestia, so I doubt that shell will hold him long.” Saying this, I pointed a thumb at the crystal statue behind us.

A hoof nudged me awake as I lay on the rocky ground. I rolled over to see Rainbow Dash standing over me and eyeing me curiously.
“Hey,” she whispered, “can I talk to you?”

I groaned as I stood up. “Eh, sure,” I mumbled. “Make it quick, though; I’d like to actually get some sleep tonight.”
She motioned for me to follow her several yards away from the camp. I could still see the fire we had set up, but there was no way the others could see or hear us.

“So,” I said casually, “what is this about?”
She sighed heavily and sat down. “Why are you so angry all the time?” she asked.
I sat next to her. “Because I’ve had a shitty life,” I said honestly. I was too tired to be dodgy with her questions.

“What do you mean?” she inquired. “Your life couldn’t have been that bad.”
I chuckled sadly. “Oh, it could. My mother was a drug addict, my father was an abusive drunk, and my younger brother was a manipulative weasel. The greatest gift I ever received was turning 18 and being able to leave that place for good,” I explained.

Rainbow Dash looked surprised. “There must have been something good in your life, right?” she asked.
I smiled fondly, looking off in the distance. “There was,” I said happily. “I had a girlfriend, Gwen. Everyone who saw us said we were meant for each other; we had the same hobbies, we liked to go to the same places, we liked the same foods… it was perfect,” I explained, my happiness suddenly draining. “No… better.”

Rainbow knew where I was going with this. “What happened to her?” she asked gently.
I sighed sadly. “There was an accident,” I said. “We were driving down the street when a car came out of nowhere and slammed into us. I got out close to unharmed, but Gwen was crushed; it wasn’t until a few hours later they were finally able to get her out and into an ambulance.

I visited her every day,” I continued, my voice starting to get husky. “I brought her flowers; she loved snapdragons, so I made sure to bring her some whenever I could. The doctors said even if she ever woke from her coma, it would be a miracle if she would be able to walk again. But… she never woke up.”

Rainbow nodded sadly. “I had no idea you had been through so much,” she said apologetically. “I’m sorry I gave you such a hard time.”
I nodded thankfully. “I’m sorry for being such an asshole,” I said with a laugh.

We sat there silently for several moments, until Rainbow Dash finally spoke up.

“Hey, Drayke?”

“Yeah?”

“I... think I might know something that could make you feel better.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t do this too often, but… would you like a hug?”

I stood up sharply and started to walk back to the camp. “Not happening,” I said firmly.
The pegasus flew past and landed in front of me. “Come on,” she complained, “I’m not the kind of pony to go giving out hugs like candy; if you want that, ask Pinkie Pie,” she said angrily. “I may not be the Element of Kindness, but I can tell when somepony is hurting. I know you like to pretend you're a tough guy who doesn’t need friends, but right now, I think we both know you want a hug,” she said with a slight hint of teasingness at the end.

“Lies!” I hissed dramatically. “You’ll never hug me!” With that, I sprinted for the camp. Just then, I felt something grab my feet, and I tripped and fell on my chest. I looked back to see Rainbow wrapping her forelegs around my feet.
“Trust me, Drayke, you need this!” she said in a strained voice as she struggled to hold me back.
“I do not need a hug!” I growled as I crawled across the flat, rocky plain, clawing at the ground below.

A couple of minutes later, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were all standing over us as Rainbow Dash struggled to wrap her forelegs around me as I held her back with all my might.
“Oh, just let her give you a hug!” Twilight cried with a roll of her eyes.

“Never!” I screamed defiantly. I looked up to see Twilight and the others giving each other mysterious looks and smiling cleverly.

“Well, if that’s the way you want to be,” she said slowly, “then so be it!” Just then, all five ponies leaped at me and piled on top of me in a massive pile, tickling and hugging me.

“Stop!” I screamed, laughing crazily, “Come on, guys, stop it!” I kicked my legs and rolled around, but the ponies refused to let up with their torment. After several long minutes of this, we eventually lay on the ground in a big pile, laughing and hugging.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Rainbow Dash asked teasingly.
I looked up at the starry sky, smiling happily. “I hate to admit it,” I said with a yawn, “but that was fun.”
We all sat there together for the rest of the night, a human and a group of ponies sleeping beneath an endless sky.