A couple months had passed since he had started his journal. The apple bucking season had long ended and Nathan found himself unemployed as the first snow of winter started to fall. He had saved up enough money to last through the winter, and paid Twilight Sparkle in advance for his lodging, but the lack of income slowed his projects. Apparently Celestia had yet to respond to Twilights letters.

The small generator he had set up had done wonders for his quality of life. It was crude, and the electrical supply was sporadic, but he managed to rig up several devices using Twilight's cabinets and wires- a small heater, a rough battery, even an electrical lamp and a furnace. It had helped greatly with his primary project.

It had taken longer than initially anticipated, but he had done it. Getting the barrel just right, removing all the burrs, carving the handle from a fallen apple tree, reinforcing it with a stylized bracing plate. It had taken time. Now though, it was ready.

"Finally, something in this world that feels right."

He had crafted himself a shotgun.

He had considered not finishing the weapon, debating on whether or not the armament was necessary, but in the end he felt his personal safety trumped any faith he had in the safety of the village. Having a deadly weapon was probably going to get him a one-way ticket to… wherever ponies send their criminals. Twilight had mentioned something about the moon. With that in mind he had rigged up a few dozen bean-bag cartridges. As he sat there admiring his work, and carefully etching a pony motif into the bracing plate, he heard a noise behind him. Too late to hide it, Pinkie Pie bounded down the stairs. Dammit. I still never bought that lock.

"Hiya Nathan! Whatcha doing today? Want to come out and play in the snow? It's so gorgeous out! We can make snow ponies! Ooo or snow humans! Oh oh oh or snow dragons!! And drink hot chocolate! Wait... What's that?" Pinkie peered down curiously at the strange tubular object on the workbench. She saw the forming shape of the pony on the side and giggled with glee. "Ooo is that a new art project? Can you draw me on it? Please please please?"

"It's nothing Pinkie. Just something I put together. Just in case." He was a little nervous, unsure how the ponies would take the existence of a firearm. Even a non-lethal one.

"Just in case what?"

"Um... just in case..." That mob finally shows up looking for my head. "...I need to... point at something across a room?" It was the worst lie he had ever come up with. Even Pinkie Pie could see through that.

"Why don't you just show me? I'm usually embarrassed to show off new things too." Nathan shook his head.

"You? Embarrassed? I find that hard to believe."

"Ooo it's true. One time I made a new cupcake recipe that involved custard and I thought it would be really good but I didn't think anyone else would like it so I kept them to myself but then one of the Cakes found one and ate it and they said it was good and I just needed a taste tester and it would be ok and..." Nathan held up his hand to Pinkie's snout, silencing the prattling pony.

"Enough Pinkie. You want to help? Do you have any protective gear? Can you get it for me?"

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" She zipped off and re-appeared a moment later wearing a full set of what passed for protection here. Several pillows tied to her body, knee pads, a helmet, face shield, and a rubber ducky shaped water ring. Nathan sighed.

"I meant for me Pinkie. I don't trust this thing enough for you to be the tester. You could be seriously injured." Or killed. Pinkie giggled.

"You trust me though right?"

"Well... yes."

"You know I trust you right?"

"At this point I hope so." Nathan knew where this logic was going. Infallible Pinkie Pie logic was going to break him down.

"Well then I trust that whatever you've made won't hurt me. I trust you. Come on, it took me forever to get into this stuff. Please?" Nathan struggled with the request. Finally he relented.

"Fine Pinkie Pie. We'll test it on you. I'm sorry if this hurts. Stand over there please, and face me with the most protected area you have." Pinkie complied, rearing up on her hind legs so her stomach covered in three pillows was in front. Nathan loaded one of the bean slugs in the chamber and snapped it shut. He took aim. "Are you sure Pinkie?"

"Yupperoonie! Ready when you are." Nathan slowed his breathing and nodded. Sighting down the barrel he gently pulled the trigger.

BOOM!!!!

The slug flew out at an impossible velocity and impacted Pinkie Pie dead center. She rag dolled against the far wall, lifted in the air by the shot, and collapsed in a clump on Nathan's bed. The kick-back was almost enough to tear the firearm from his arms. Nathan dropped the boom stick and ran over to where Pinkie had landed. Fearing the worst he cried out to her.

"Oh shit. Pinkie are you ok?!" After a moment she started to giggle. Relief flooded through Nathan's body. "Oh thank God you're ok."

"Of course I'm ok silly billy! That was so much fun. I want to do that again! Can we go again?!" Now Nathan was laughing.

"No Pinkie, that was enough of a test." How could it have possibly had that much kick? Something isn't right here. Could it be the magical fields that affect my power generation also affect chemical reactions? "Thanks for helping though. For some reason it had too much punch. I'll have to figure it out." Taking her pillows off, Pinkie Pie could see a purple bruise spreading across her abdomen.

"That's probably why I have this huge bruisey woosie now." Nathan looked apologetic.

"I'm so sorry Pinkie. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Don't be silly it was fun. The bruise will go away. What are you going to call that thing! It needs a name! Ooo how about a bean-boom? Or a bag-pipe? Oh oh oh! I know! How about Nightmare Boom?!!!"

"Actually Pinkie, I was going to call it the Pie Cannon." Pinkie Pie wrinkled her nose.

"Pie Cannon? That sounds like it should launch pies." Nathan had a tiny grin on his face.

"Well, wouldn't you say it just did?"

"No it... wait... oh that's what you mean? Oh I get it! That's funny!" Pinkie Pie was rolling with laughter again. "Oh, ow." She held her side and snickered. "I guess I should take it easy on the laughing for a bit." Nathan nodded.

"Sorry again Pinkie." She shook her head.

"It's ok, really. But Nathan, why did you make that? Really? I'm your friend. I'll understand." Nathan sighed. He was hoping the pink pony would just drop the issue after the demonstration. Obviously he misjudged.

"Well... as nice as you ponies are, I'm sorry but right now I just don't trust you to be able to help me if something happens. If your princess finally gets around to responding to Twilight and comes to imprison me, or some of the other ponies decide to run me out of town, would you be able to stop them? Would you even try?"

"They wouldn't do that! They’re all so nicey wicey and stuff!”

"I'm not saying they would. I'm saying 'what if'?" Pinkie Pie looked sad for a moment.

"Nathan... you... you don't have a lot of trust for us, do you? You really aren't comfortable are you? I'm sad for you." Nathan just looked off into a corner of the room. She was right of course. As ludicrous as the pink party pony could be, she had such piercing observational skills when she wanted to. Finally Nathan responded.

"I'm sad for me too. Pinkie. I'm sad that I've come to a place I don't know and I'm dragging you all down to my level." He punched an empty cabinet, leaving a sizable dent in it, his knuckles splitting open at the impact. A small trickle of blood rolled down his fingertips. Pinkie Pie squeaked at the sudden impact but kept her cool.

"Nathan, I'm not sure why you're here, or how you got here, but you're here now. You'll always be my friend. No matter what. I just let you shoot me with an untested shotgun. Please feel safe with me here." Wait... she just did it again... how... no. She’s not squirming out of it this time.

"Pinkie, how do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"How did you know what device I had built? I haven’t told you what we call it where I come from, or even how it works. Yet you knew roughly how it worked, and what it was called. Don’t screw with me Pinkie.”

"Sorry what?" she giggled nervously. "I just said I let you shoot me with the untested pie cannon."

"No. You didn't. You said shotgun. I know you did. I can see it in your eyes that you know you did. Pinkie... I‘ve told you once. Don‘t. Screw. With. Me." Now it was her turn to look distant.

"Look, if we're putting all of our cards on the table, I need to know something first."

"Yes Pinkie?"

"When we finally talk to Celestia, do you plan to go back? To Earth?" Now he knew she wasn't kidding. She knew. As much if not more than every other pony.

"I've already had this conversation with you Pinkie, and the others. Yes. I want to go back. At this point, I'm not sure what I'll find, or what my life will be. But this isn't my home. This isn't my life. Yes, I've enjoyed hanging out with you, and I've even gone out with Fluttershy a couple times, but this won't work." Pinkie gazed off, and a lone tear rolled down her cheek. Wiping it away before he could see it, she looked back to Nathan, forcing a mock smile on her face.

"Thank you for being honest. Wait you went out with Fluttershy a couple times? I didn't know that." Nathan blushed.

"Yeah apparently she's pretty smitten by me, much to Rarity's chagrin." Pinkie Pie looked deep in thought for a moment.

"You guys haven't..."

"Haven't...? Oh that? Oh. Oh God no. She's nice and all, but she's still a pony. Let's just say that at this time, that thought... disturbs me. For lack of a better word. We're side tracking though. How do you know these things Pinkie?" Pinkie was slightly miffed for a moment, then regained her composure.

"The other girls... they don't take me very seriously, you know? I'll say things and they just laugh and say 'that's just Pinkie being Pinkie'. I know things though. I don't know how I know, I just know. I knew what it was you were testing. I've known for the last two months you were working on it. Don't ask how, I don't know. You were right though."

"Sorry?"

"You were right not to tell anyone else. Twilight would have you thrown out of town so fast if she knew. Once you had it done, I waited until Twilight and Spike were out of the library, and made sure I was the first one to find you."

"I was wondering why neither of them came running after it discharged."

"They're across town having lunch with Bonbon and Lyra."

"So you know more about where I come from?" Pinkie Pie shook her head.

"No it doesn't work like that. I just know pertinent things about situations. I know you're from Earth, at least your Earth. I know what you've created.” Nathan sat there dumbfounded. He was busted. He knew it. “What I want to know, is why you designed that in the first place. Who were you going to hurt?”

“I told you Pinkie, I didn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Not anypony?”

"Yes Pinkie. I don't want to hurt anypony. What do you think I should do with all this? You claim you‘ve known for months. Now that it‘s done you confront me?" Pinkie Pie sat in quiet contemplation. After a while, she formed an answer.

"You should keep it. You worked so hard on it, I can see the hours you poured into it's manufacture. I need you to promise me a couple things though."

"What do you need Pinkie?"

"First, I need you to promise that you won’t try and kill anypony else as long as you’re in Equestria. I don’t know if you could, but I want you to promise me. Also, I want you to be honest with me from now on. No secrets or lies. If the others find out before me, you’re going to be in trouble. Pinkie Pie promise!”

"I promise Pinkie Pie. You have my word."

"Good." A smile spread across her face and the old Pinkie Pie was back. "Now I'm so gosh darn hungry I could eat a whole bushel of apples! I'm going to go grab some lunch. Let‘s go out to the forest near Fluttershy‘s cottage later on and ‘point at‘ some trees!!" With that she bounded off up the stairs.

Nathan sighed, replaced the case under the bed and got back to his art project. She might be the craziest of the ponies, but she was the most intelligent too. In her own way. He started to add a curly mane to the pony he had etched in the side of the firearm. Who else would be appropriate on the side of a gun called the 'Pie Cannon'?

A couple hours later, bundled up to fight off the chill in the air, the two of them were at the edge of the Everfree forest. Walking in for five minutes, Pinkie Pie and Nathan found themselves in a small clearing with a couple large trees encircling it. Careful to conceal the potentially deadly device, Nathan had prepared a locking case for the gun as well.

Pulling it out now, Pinkie Pie could see the image of herself on the side, and found herself both embarrassed and happy that he had taken the time to add her to what was currently his most valuable possession in his eyes. She knew, at the very least, every time he lifted that weapon, he would know she was guiding his conscious.

"Awww you big softie. You did draw me on it too! You're the best. Okie-dokie! Let's get this show on the road." Nathan, nodded, loaded the chamber to capacity and snapping it shut. While the tools and materials he had to work with were crude, he had managed to rig the shotgun up to hold three shots.

"Ok, Pinkie. Let's see what this can do." Taking aim at a tree, he braced himself and pulled the trigger three times in quick succession.

Crack-ka-ka-BOOM!!!

The tree in front of them had three evenly spaced and sized dents in the bark, and the impact had been enough to bend it over slightly. The sheer friction had scorched burn marks into the trunk, and it was currently smoldering. The power was still far too much for the purpose he had built it for.

“I’m going to need to halve the charge on these things. It’s still too dangerous and potentially deadly in this state. When we get back to the library I’ll see about fixing that.”

"Yupperoonie! I was thinking the same thing, and I'm glad you agree. Ok so let's..."

"Nathan? Pinkie Pie?!" They heard Fluttershy call out behind them. Spinning around, they both sheepishly grinned at her. Nathan slipped the gun case behind his back, while Pinkie hid the ammo case in her mane. Holy crap. How much can she conceal in there?!

"Oh hiya Fluttershy! Whatcha doing?" Pinkie Pie bounced around while Nathan smiled as naturally as possible.

"Well, I heard several loud noises come from the forest. I was looking for you two anyways and stopped to investigate. Oh!" Fluttershy had spotted the now smoking tree. "W-what happened?" Nathan and Pinkie looked around nervously before answering.

"It was... It was lightning! It struck the tree and we too came to find out what it was." Nathan responded. Pinkie Pie nodded emphatically.

"Lightning?" Fluttershy examined her friends suspiciously. Neither of them were capable of using magic, granted. But still... "In winter? Not controlled by a Pegasus? I don't see a cloud." Pinkie Pie blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Uh... well it's really dry out, so there's a build up of static, and the cloud was there, and it’s the Everfree forest and it made this freak super lightning bolt. Like 'ka-blamo!' and the tree was all burney-wurney.”

"O-ok. I'd never heard of that before. Either way, you two need to come to town hall. The mayor is holding an emergency meeting and everypony needs to be there. You too Nathan." Confident their cover-up was successful, the pink pony and human relaxed.

"Sure Fluttershy, we're on our way. I just need to stop by the library on the way. I'll meet you girls there." Nathan walked on ahead, the gun case tucked into his side under his arm. Pinkie turned to follow, but as soon as Nathan was out of ear shot, Fluttershy stopped her.

"Back off."

"Back off what?"

"You heard me Pinkie Pie. Back off. I don't know what you're playing at, but he's mine. He's going to be mine. I don't see you going on any dates with him." Pinkie Pie blinked a couple times and started laughing.

"Oh you thought I wanted him? Don't be silly Fluttershy. He's all yours. He's not really into ponies though. Just saying."

"I don't care. He will be. You just watch yourself." Pinkie Pie bounded down the path towards town.

"Okie-dokie-lokie!"

"Order! Order I say! We must have order!" The mayor was calling out over the assembled ponies, a cacophony of voices crying out for answers.

"When did they come back?"

"Where are they now?"

"What is being done to stop them? What is Celestia doing?"

"My brother lives in Appleloosa, have they been seen there?"

"We demand answers!"

"If you would all kindly just quiet down, I can let you all know what Information we have!" Having returned the gun to his room, Nathan had rejoined Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie at the back of the group. Most of the town's ponies were there, and he could see Twilight, Applejack and Rarity up towards the front. Rainbow Dash was on a cloud directly overhead. He looked down at the meek yellow pegasus.

"What's going on Fluttershy?"

"I'm not s-sure. Something has the town in an uproar. Looks like the mayor has things under control now." Calling out over the crowed, the mayor began to speak.

"Listen, everypony. What I am about to tell you is of vital importance, but you must not panic. Princess Celestia is aware of the situation, and is doing her best to send aid to every town. I've called you here to confirm the rumours you have heard. Yes, it is true that changelings have been observed roaming the wilderness abducting ponies they come across. We don't know why, or what their plans are, but they seem to be avoiding towns at this time. As long as you stay inside Ponyville, you should be safe.”

"What is Celestia doing to help?"

"What can we do?"

"What if they come here?" Clearly, the mayor was becoming flustered with the questions. Nathan had heard about the Changelings from Twilght before. One of his evenings had been spent reading about various monsters and opposing forces the ponies dealt with on a regular basis. Small and crafty, they weren’t very strong. However, she had made it clear that they tended to work more subtly until they had been discovered. To be so aggressive was out of character for them.

"Please, my ponies. Calm down. Guard ponies will be coming to erect shields in every town. With winter upon us, it is expected that the changelings will be slowed." Nathan turned to Fluttershy and Pinkie again.

"Changelings eh? How concerned should we be?" Pinkie shrugged. Another voice called out and joined them.

"Probably not very. They're only dangerous in large groups, or if their Queen is with them." Twilight had spotted Nathan at the back of the crowed and had waded back to him, fielding his question.

"However, this is brazen for them. Nothing like what I've researched. It does concern me, but if Celestia is already sending help, we should be fine. We've defeated them before." Turning their attention back to the front, they continued to listen to the speech.

"... yes, Wall Flower, other towns have not been attacked either. It's only the wilderness. Once the guards arrive later today we will be safely sealed inside." The assembled ponies were still murmuring, but seemed to be calming down. Nathan was surveying the crowed, when he caught it out of the corner of his eye.

One of the ponies had slowly made it's way to the front of the crowed and circled around the backside of the mayor. She was so wrapped up in her speech she hadn't noticed. Nathan whispered out the side of his mouth, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

"Twilght..."

"I see him Nathan. What do you think he's doing?"

"I don't know, but if I were you I'd be getting my magic re..." the sentence was lost in his throat as they watched the mayor's eyes roll into the back of her head. In almost slow motion, she dropped to the ground, the bloody hoof of the pony who had just struck her waving in the air. The assembled ponies cried out in shock. In a slow curl of green flame, the flesh of the offending pony fell away, revealing a changeling in its place.

Seeing the shocked look on Twilight's face, Nathan knew she had seen the same thing as him. Where in the books Twilight showed him portrayed changelings as lithe creatures roughly the size of a pony, the creature in front of them was larger than Nathan was by half. The hooves were covered in jagged claws, the fangs protruded nearly a half-foot from it's mouth, and it's muscles rippled underneath the flesh. Veins on its neck pumped blood furiously. Nathan reiterated his previous concern, this time fear in his voice.

"Twilight..."

"Dammit Nathan I see it!" She covered her hoof with her mouth and blushed. Yep, definitely corrupting these ponies. Definitely going straight to hell. Standing to its full height, the monstrous changeling roared at the crowd. Several ponies expelled green flames and turned back to their changeling forms. Two more of them were the large type.

Panic.

The ponies screamed and ran for cover. The small changelings began to chase down the closest targets in sight and held them down so the larger ones could jump in and finish the ponies. Nathan noted they seemed to be merely knocking the ponies out, not trying to kill. Fluttershy took off as fast as her little legs could carry her, bolting for her cottage. She dodged a blow from a larger one and hid under a porch. Seeing she was momentarily safe, Nathan took off running for the library.

"Some friend he is, Pinkie Pie. First sign of trouble and he takes off running." Twilight saw the look of trepidation on Pinkie's face. "Just realizing now that he‘s a wimp?" Pinkie shook her head.

"No Twilight... I'm worried it might be worse than that."

"What?!"

"Doesn't matter right now- here come the changelings!" She leapt out of the way as one of the brutes brought down a hoof. The ground cracked where he had struck. She pulled a streamer out of her mane and tripped him up, smiling at the satisfying thud the changeling made. She squeaked and took off running as soon as a pack of small ones came her way.

All five of the friends were fighting off the changeling attacks. A flash of magic here, a dropped pan there. Applejack was furiously bucking anything that came within sight. Rainbow Dash was doing her best to target the offending creatures with lightning bolts. Several struck home, dazing them. Pinkie was pulling whatever she could out of her mane in an attempt to trip or waylay the group chasing her. Another streamer, a couple balloons, a few balls. A few tripped, but the remainder kept on her heels.

Another group was being taken care of by Twilight, her magic blasting several unconscious. She yelped as one managed to reach her and gouge her with a tooth. A small line of blood ran down her coat as she rolled away. Seeing her friend injured, Rainbow Dash swooped down and nailed the offending shape-shifter with a well placed kick.

"Thanks Dash."

"No problem Twilight. Look out, here comes more!" Another wave approached, and while Applejack continued to buck, Rarity used her magic to grab whatever nearby objects she could find and throw them at their foes. A potted plant struck a small changeling square in the jaw, taking it out of the fight.

"Nice work sugar cube. Keep up the pressure!" Applejack called out.

"A lady always puts the pressure on!" Rarity shrieked back. One of the changelings leapt for her head, missing her as she ducked and sailed well clear into a hedge. "Ruffian! Uncouth lout! Sneak up on me why don't you?!" As if on cue, one of the brute types reared up in front of her. A grin spread on it's face. "Oh... dear..."

Delivering a brutal backhand, Rarity spun back against the side of a building, spitting up a bit of blood. She slumped over, barely conscious.

"Definitely not lady like. A little help girls..." Her moan was barely heard over the fighting. Applejack dove in front of her, threatening the brute.

"Ah don't think you've any right to lay a hoof on mah friends. Twilight?!" Twilight and Rainbow Dash were busy trading blows with another brute. Several cuts covered their body, but they nearly had it whittled down. "We're gonna need more help! Ah don't think we can handle this alone! This ain’t like that time in Canterlot. These big ones are a whole other bushel of apples!” The brute in front of her took another swing, nearly cleaving her Stetson in two.

"We just have to hold out for Nathan. He'll be back!" Pinkie Pie screamed out. "I know he will be!" She had located her party cannon, stashed behind a nearby building, and was putting it to good use, dropping several of the smaller changelings.

"What? That yellow bellied snake? He took off runnin’ at the first sign a’ trouble."

"No, he'll be here! Just hold out!" One of the changelings dodged a blast and managed to put a hoof into her stomach, her bruise still fresh from the morning. "Augggh!!!"

"Pinkie!" Twilight cried. "You're hurt! Get back! We need to fall back and re-think this! The five of us can‘t do it alone!"

"No! Twilight! Just... hold... on..." Pinkie staggered but held her ground, firing point blank into the changeling. It arced over a nearby wagon, landing face-down in a pile of mud and snow.

"Pinkie Pie..." Twilight looked over at her friend, concerned for the unfounded faith she placed in the human.

Fluttershy cowered under the porch and cried.

Nathan sprinted in a dead run towards the library. The main changeling force was amassed near the town hall, but he could hear the screams of ponies come from all around him. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw a pack of changelings carting off a group of ponies. His attention was forced back to the fore as a group of changelings burrowed up from the ground, positioning themselves between him and the library.

"Oh hell no. You assholes can burrow now too?! That wasn't in the book!!" A quick glance confirmed these were yet a third strain of changeling. Completely lacking hooves on their fore-legs, their appendages ended in huge curved claws designed for burrowing, each ending in a razor sharp point. While the same height as the standard variety he could see that their body was elongated, making a slim form that could cut through the ground with ease. Similar to the brutes, he could see the veins on their body stand out.

They spread out in a semi-circle and one of them lunged for the human. Leaping to the side, he tucked into a roll bringing him up in front of another. Landing a solid punch across the face he noted that the back was covered in a thin sheen of armour. The changeling shook off the blow and countered with a claw swipe. It cut Nathan across his chest, drawing a line of blood. He winced from the pain and rolled away. He started running across the snow-covered ground away from the burrowers while trying to formulate how to get back into the library.

Two of the changelings went under, popping up moments later right in front of him, reminding him of their mobility. Looking behind him, the three others were slowly moving in for the kill, and all five wore a look of bloodlust. Nathan searched for an escape. Think dammit, think. How can I stop these things? What can I use? What… Ah ha! He had found his out. He watched for his opening. It came as one of the burrowers made another lunge for him. Hopping onto the reinforced back of the attacker, he leapt up from a nearby wagon, to a small tree, onto the roof of a house. He smiled down, seeing the disappointed looks of the thwarted monsters.

Climbing higher, he made his way to the apex of the roof and made a quick scan of the town. From his vantage point, he was able to take in the severity of the situation. Dozens of ponies were being rounded up in carts. The larger changelings were crashing through houses and grabbing whoever they could find, while the smaller ones continued to round of the stragglers. Those that resisted were soundly beat into submission. Off in the distance he could vaguely make out Rainbow Dash flying about, obviously doing her best to waylay the oncoming forces. It was clear though that they were losing. Nathan had to act quickly.

Taking a running leap, he bounded from the roof to a weather-vane and launched himself onto the nearest balcony of the library. Tucking into a roll he crashed through the window, several shards of glass piercing his flesh. The fresh blood left lines across the walls and floors as he came to a stop inside the library. Standing and brushing himself off, he gazed down to the library floor in shock. He had assumed that because Twilight kept her library locked while she was out that it would be devoid of changelings. He failed to assume that they wouldn’t just break the door down. Which they had. The library now contained several standard changelings and a brute.

They had noticed him as soon as he had crashed through the window, and the smaller ones were making their way up the stairs as fast as possible. Thinking fast, Nathan leapt out and grabbed a light fixture hanging in the middle of the room, striking several with his feet as he swung by. The rope supporting the lamp wasn’t designed to carry his frame, however, and it began to sag, threatening to snap. The smaller ones spread out, standing back from the sagging structure. Why don’t they just fly up? They have wings. His internal question was answered almost immediately, as the brute brought his front hoof-claws down on the library floor. The power shook the library, causing a crack to ripple up the side of the wall and ruin any remaining support for the light.

“Oh shit!” The lamp and human came tumbling down, landing unceremoniously in the middle of the library floor. A few of the more unlucky changelings had been standing directly underneath, and the weight of his body had taken them out of the fight, but many more were still conscious and began to surround him. Nathan groaned and stumbled to his feet. He still bore several cuts, split further from his impact, and his head and back were now killing him. “Oh boy. Not good.” The pack of changelings slowly moved in, while the brute stood back, a toothy grin spreading across it’s face.

It wasn’t going well. Rarity had barely recovered from her thrashing, and Applejack was running on empty. Twilight’s magic was starting to burn out after they had managed to take down the one brute, and Rainbow Dash had been grounded due to a lucky shot to one of her wings. Pinkie Pie was still going strong, but the spreading discomfort in her stomach slowed her considerably. All around them the snow was patterned with red, a testament to the amount of blood that had been shed. So far no one had been killed, and most of the injuries were superfluous, but the sight of blood had been enough to overwhelm Fluttershy, and she was now unconscious. Even if she had been awake, she had been in no condition to participate. They were going to lose this fight.

Evaluating the circumstances, Twilight made the executive decision. They had held the square as long as possible for Pinkie’s misguided loyalty in her friend, but enough was enough. Other ponies needed their help, and they would be no good to them locked up inside a cage or laid out to die.

“That’s it girls! We’re leaving! Applejack, grab Fluttershy. We need to move back and rethink our strategy. We can’t win like this.” Twilight started backing herself one of the town alleyways, motioning for the others to follow.

“No! Twilight!” Pinkie Pie cried out. Twilight, however, merely shook her head and blasted away another changeling.

“Pinkie! That’s enough! We’re going. With, or without you. Nathan isn’t coming back. Stop being so stupid. Let’s go!” Upset by the implication and insult, Pinkie sputtered out a sob, turned her cannon on three approaching foes and levelled them in quick succession. Wordlessly, she sprinted back to the alley, taking up a defensive position behind Twilight. The others followed, knocking away whichever changelings happened to be closest at the time. Applejack had hoisted Fluttershy on her back and leapt behind the cover her friends had provided.

Proceeding down the alleyway, they made their way towards the edge of town. Their best bet was getting to a safe position, finding Spike and getting a letter to Celestia. Either she would have to deal with the changelings, or she would need to bring the Elements. During the meeting Spike had been tending to Fluttershy’s animals, and they expected she would still be at her cottage. As they proceeded, they continued to strike down any changelings that came close enough, but for the most part they weren’t hounded. The two remaining brutes were following at a distance, keeping within sight, but not close enough to hamper their escape.

Twilight was planning out their next move when it slowly dawned on her what was going on. She frantically debated how to proceed, but ran out of time. Coming into another open area, she noticed the houses on either side of the five streets that entered and exited the intersection had barrels stacked on top. Two more brutes sprang out and drove their claws into the ground, causing the barrels to tumble over and block the exits. Behind them the brutes, who had now closed the distance to the ponies, had done the same thing, blocking their escape from behind. Only one street was left, and it was blocked by a horde of changelings. They were trapped.

“Aw horse apples.” Applejack managed to spout.

Nathan found himself in a similar situation, and had a terrible feeling that unlike the ponies, who Twilight had explained the changelings parasitically lived off of, the monsters would probably not spare a second thought as to whether or not to rip him apart. The burrowing ones had made that abundantly clear already. He searched the room, trying to figure out how to survive this. Scanning the shelves and the tables in the library, a plan came together. Sorry Twilight, I don’t see another way. He rolled through a nearby pack of changelings and retrieved the fallen support rope for the now smashed lamp. Hooking it around one of the free-standing shelves he pulled with all of his strength. It took a moment, but it started teetering over.

Several changelings, distracted by the anticipated bloodshed, noticed too late that the shelf was coming down on them. With a crash, the books came down, plowing through a large swathe of foes, leaving a gap in their ever-tightening circle. The brute roared, and launched another seismic attack towards the human. However, Nathan had been anticipating and expecting this, and positioned himself in front of another shelf. Dodging at the last moment, the blow struck the shelving unit, sending another pile of changelings to nimbus land. A few of the smaller were still left, but Nathan felt the herd had been thinned enough he could deal with them himself. That brute on the other hand…

Diving through another offending group, he managed to get himself to the door of the basement and tore off down the stairs, closing the door behind him. He snickered as he heard a few of the more aggressive changelings thud against it, but realized that the door would buy him a few seconds at best. This is going to ruin so many months of work. Dammit. Not fair. Well it’s either this or die in a strange land by the claw of a monster that eats love and shits out malice… His decision made, he emptied every bucket of water he had on the floor, retrieved the Pie Cannon, knelt on his bed and waited. Within moments, the changeling mass burst through the door and proceeded down the stairs. Seeing it was a dead end, they took their time, slowly closing in for the kill.

Nathan steadied himself and waited. His nerves were trying to get the better of him, and at any given moment it was an extreme struggle to keep calm. Freaking out would cost him his life and he knew it. He waited. They came closer, the first few setting hoof on the basement floor, treading the ankle high water. He waited. Most of them were down now, and had begun to circle the room, filling it and assuring that Nathan couldn’t escape. He waited. Now the brute was in the room, and wading to the front of the pack. He was going to be responsible for the killing blow. The annoying pink flesh person was his. Nathan steadily levelled the shotgun at the monster’s face.

The brute laughed. What? This puny creature was going to poke him in the face with a tube? Hardly. He rose one claw-hoof high in the air, anticipating the kill, pausing to allow the dread to fill his target. Nathan just smiled.

“Every one of you creatures in this world are so god damned stupid. Seriously, I’m never getting sick of screwing with you quadrupeds.” Confused by the human’s words, the brute paused further, giving Nathan the time he needed to line up his shot. He pulled slightly to the side.

BOOM.

One of the bean-bag cartridges went off, cleaving a support post for his windmill system in two. The loose wiring from the battery fell loose and dropped in the water. An electrical shock rippled out from the impact point and the assembled changelings began to convulse. After a few moments, the remaining power stored in the battery was discharged and the monsters dropped still. Except for the brute. Fried but conscious, it managed to get a “weak” hit in while Nathan was distracted by his handiwork. Striking with the force just short of a sledgehammer, it spun Nathan back, forcing him to drop his armament.

Knocking him into a bedpost, the brute noted with satisfaction the human had gained a few more injuries on the way down. A black eye, a broken rib, and a myriad of cuts and bruises now covered Nathan’s body. Struggling to his feet, he frantically searched for his gun. The now dark room made the search futile, and it didn’t help a weakened but furious changeling was standing in front of him. Another blow rained down, but he sidestepped it, clutching his impacted ribcage as more pain shot through his body. Steadying himself, he grabbed the only thing within reach, brought himself up in front of the brute, and put on the boldest face he could.

“I don’t know how to dance, but you really seem like you want to, so you lead. I’ll pick it up as we go.” Nathan winked and brought his fist down across the beast’s face. The stunned changeling roared in pain. Nathan had wrapped a loose chain around his fist, and had put a dent in the face-armor of the brute. While pleased with the hit, the human was unprepared for the toughness of the brute’s skin, and his knuckles split open again. The angered monster brought down another hoof, trying to slam Nathan into the water. He stepped to the side again, but this time the brute was anticipating it. He altered the trajectory of his attack and caught Nathan on the leg, drawing a long gash from his knee to his ankle, ripping through whatever meager protection his clothes had held.

Screaming from the pain Nathan lashed out again. This time the beast was staggered and took a step back. The shot had sealed up one of it’s eyes, and it was starting to get disoriented. Without missing a beat Nathan struck again, and again and again. The chain fell away and soon the human was raining down blows with his bare hands. Blood mixed with the water at their feet, though much of it was his own.

“I. AM. NOT. BEING. KILLED. IN. CANDY. LAND. BY. A. GOD. DAMMED. LOLLYPOP. VILLAIN!!!” Finally, the brute stopped moving, and Nathan stood quivering, allowing the excess adrenaline to seep out of his pores. Taking a moment to inspect the defeated changelings, he noted that he had managed to not kill any of them. He spoke out to the room. “I’ve keept my promise to Pinkie Pie. You’re all lucky that pony got to me before you.” He retrieved his fallen weapon, loaded up on cartridges, and took off as fast as his injured leg and broken rib would allow him.

The girls were surrounded on all sides by the changelings. Twilight could have escaped if she teleported out, but she wouldn’t leave her friends behind. Fluttershy had come back around, but was quivering in fear, whimpering as the beasts closed in around them. The rest stood firm, but were sharing knowing looks. They’d been beaten.

“Last stand girls, or do we back down?” Applejack asked the assembled ponies. Fluttershy, of course had nothing to say, and was nearly catatonic. Rainbow Dash piped up first.

“If it was just us, we could take them, but the town is full, and who knows what the changelings will do to the townsfolk. I think.. I think we need to surrender.” Twilight nodded in agreement.

“I agree. If I could focus for a few moments I could erect a shield to repel the changelings, but it will take too much out of me, last for a few minutes only, and there are just too many of them. For now, they have us beat.” Pinkie Pie was breathing heavily, her internal injuries keeping her doubled over for the most part. She could barely contain the saliva dripping from her mouth.

“N-no, you g-guys. Everything will be okie-dokie. Trust me..”

“Aww horse apples Pinkie. Nathan had his chance to come back. Mah bits are on him being miles from here. He’s left all of us. He was nothing but a stupid predator.”

“Don’t say that about him.”

“Pinkie..”

“Don’t say that about him!!! Fluttershy! Help me out here- you care for him! Tell them!” Fluttershy was still cowering behind her friends. She wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

“W-w-well Pinkie. I-i-f you say so. I believe in h-him.” She smiled meekly. Rarity responded crossly.

“Oh dear, he’s hardly worth the air he breathes. I still don’t understand what you two see in him. It’s bad enough that you want to date him Fluttershy, but Pinkie choosing to take blow after blow in blind faith? You two are quite the pair.”

“NO!” Pinkie shouted, then her ear tweaked.

“Pinkie? What was that?” Rarity asked. Off in the distance, they heard several booming noises. Pinkie’s eyes went wide. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. A few moments passed, and was followed by more strange sounds. BOOM. BOOM. Pinkie looked nervous. Rarity looked back at her again. “Pinkie, what’s going on? What aren’t you telling us?”

“Rarity… I…” Pinkie closed her eyes “…you’re going to find out in a moment. Please Nathan, don’t be using them…” The booming became louder and louder, and soon following every crack, they could hear changelings screeching in pain. The group that had blocked in the six ponies, stepped away to see what was going on, leaving the brutes and a few small ones to close in the gap. One of the brutes came right up in front of Applejack, and raised a hoof-claw. She shut her eyes, prepared for the worst.

BOOM BOOM BOOM.

Her eyes flew wide and just caught the sight of three bean-bags catching the changeling on the side of the face and throwing him into a wall. The other changelings had scattered, panicking over the quickly dissolving situation. The six looked over at the entrance, and all but Pinkie Pie had their jaws agape. Pinkie did her best to stand up straight while clutching her side, and offered the meekest “I told you so” look she had ever given.

There stood Nathan. His eye sealed shut and bruised, blood running over his cracked knuckle, his leg torn open, and lacerations covering the front of his chest. Smoking in his hand was an object that Twilight Sparkle had never seen before. Whatever it was, it caused a chill to run down her spine. The human clicked it open, slid three more rounds into the chamber, and snapped it shut. Spitting out of the side of his mouth blood spattered the snow around him.

“Now,” he stated to the assembled changelings, “would anyone else like to be an asshole and piss me off right to hell?” A few of them exchanged nervous glances, then snickered. Two of the remaining brutes dashed towards him, hoof-claws raised for the kill. Nathan snapped off the three shots at his disposal, then flipped the gun around grabbing the barrel. He could hear the heated metal scorch his skin, but his hands were numb from the pain of crushing them against the library changeling’s face. Two shots collided with one brute, while the third drilled his partner in the middle of the forehead, dazing him long enough for the human to swing the firearm around like a golf-club, catching the brute on the chin. Both beasts crashed against opposite walls of the street, leaving boulder-sized dents in the houses they struck.

The remaining changelings were nervous now. With three more brutes taken out, their overall strength had been greatly diminished. Rarity was the first to react to their stunned state.

“Twilight. This would be a good time!” Twilight was confused for a moment.

“A good time for what?! Oh right that!” She focused all of her magical energy on the horn extending from her forehead, and braced herself. Drawing in as much of the surrounding power as she could she projected it all in a spell that encompassed the entire town. Every single changeling remaining in Ponyville was violently ejected. Her spell wasn’t as strong or as large as she had seen her brother project around Canterlot, but it was enough to push away the relatively small force that had invaded the village. The spell complete, she staggered on her feet and then crashed to the ground. As her eyes shut down, she heard Fluttershy scream. Opening the one eye long enough to figure out what the issue was, she noticed that the changelings weren’t the only thing gone.

Nathan was no where to be seen.

Whispering under her breath, she began to calculate the implications even as darkness took her. This could be a problem…

Nathan awoke a little while later, near where Rainbow Dash had assaulted him a few months before. Now that the immediate threat was taken care of, he was able to lay back, and allow the pain to wash over him. God damn that hurts. Those guys weren’t kidding around. He was going to need a few days to repair and reflect on what had just happened. This was nothing like what Twilight had explained about the changelings before. That they were so totally overwhelmed… something was wrong. Even he could tell.

Off in the distance, he could see Fluttershy flying towards him. She was screaming at him, but he couldn’t hear a word she was saying. He could feel the blackness closing in around him, and struggled to keep awake. Looking down at his chest, he noticed now that not only was his rib cracked, but had actually pierced the skin, and now the tip was exposed to the air.

Oh.

Fuck.

He finally passed out.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Nathan opened his eyes, finally recognizing the telltale sound of the heart monitor in the Ponyville hospital. In the room were Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy. Seeing him come to, Fluttershy rushed over to him and threw her hooves around him in a huge hug. The pressure was painful on his chest, but Nathan accepted the embrace, allowing a smile to cross his face. Pinkie bounded over to him.

“Oh Nathan! You were sooooo super-duper awesome! Those meany-weany changelings didn’t stand a chance against you and your… whatever it is! How did you do that? I thought humans couldn’t use magic? Was it magic? If not what was it? How did you do it? Tell me tell me tell me!” Nathan eyed Pinkie carefully. She knew exactly how he had done it. She obviously had not let her friends in on the secret. I really can trust you, can’t I Pinkie?

“Oh uh… well that will take a long time to explain, and I’d have to show you how things work.” Twilight wrinkled her nose and pouted in disgust.

“Well that’s going to be hard seeing as we can’t find whatever it is you were using. It seems to have disappeared entirely.” Nathan looked crestfallen. Damn, my only protection and it’s gone.

“That’s too bad. Oh well. So, what’s the news? How long was I out this time?” Twilight began to fill him in on the details.

Soon after her spell took effect and ejected the offending army, the Canterlot guard ponies arrived to shore up the barrier and make it permanent. All the other towns and cities of Equestria had been similarly protected, and now guard stations had cropped up all over the country. Princess Celestia had wasted no time in declaring a sort of martial law, and her troops had clamped down on every major town and city. Being a benevolent leader, she and her sister had not abused their power, and for the most part, ponies were free to go about their days. However, inter-town travel had been restricted for all but the most privileged traders, and even then those had to bring along guard regiments for travel.

The spell had drained most of Twilight’s life energy, and she had needed a few days to fully recover. Even now she still was restricted to minor spells, but could perform most needed tasks. The others' injuries had been minor for the most part, except Rarity who had needed her abdomen bound for a few days to improve healing. As for the rest of the town, most of them escaped with little or no injuries, including the mayor, who escaped with a minor concussion. There had been one death, but the prevalent opinion is that it was self-inflicted in the panic. The changelings, for the most part, had not been there to kill, only detain. Overall, Nathan was in the worst shape.

He had been out for a week, while the doctors and nurses worked frantically to put him back together. Their magical ability worked wonders, resealing his cracked ribcage and mending his cuts and bruises. After several days of intensive care, they surmised that all he needed was a good sleep to recover fully. Now awake, his body ached everywhere, but surveying their work he could see that any pain at this point was superficial. Even his chest barely bore the scar of the piercing rib. As the three ponies finished their detail of the last week, Nathan was prepared to ask a few questions.

“So, Twilight. First, that spell. That shielding-slash-repulsion spell. I understand it was the heat of the moment, and you needed to act quickly, but really? You couldn’t tailor it to leave me out? I noticed it didn’t affect the other ponies.” Twilight shook her head.

“No, it doesn’t work like that, I’m sorry. It’s a very specific spell used to thwart enemies of Equestria. It’s too powerful to be altered very much, and I had one chance. It nearly killed me to cast it as is.”

“Oh. So you have it set so it removes anybody except ponies?” Twilight shifted her eyes and shuffled her feet nervously.

“Uh… yes! That’s exactly it. It removes anypony that’s not a pony. Which technically means it doesn’t remove anypony, it removes any not anypony. If you know what I mean eh heh heh…” Nathan raised his eyebrow. Something was off, but he wasn’t going to push it.

“Well I’m glad everything worked out in the end. Things seem to be getting back to normal. I’m assuming that Princess Celestia finally responded to your letter you sent when I arrived, especially since from what I gather Ponyville was hit hardest by the initial attack?” Twilight shuffled her feet again, and looked up at the two other ponies and the human.

“Well, um. I have a confession to make. I never sent a letter in the first place.” Pinkie’s and Fluttershy’s eyes went wide. The situation blew out of control a moment later, as the other three Elements walked through the door, catching what Twilight had said.

“WHAT?!” Rarity screamed. “You assured us over, and over, and over again Twilight Sparkle that you and Spike had sent off the letter right away. You just kept saying ‘well you know how busy Princess Celestia is. She obviously has more important things right now. She’ll get to us’. Now it turns out you never sent it in the first place?! What were you thinking?!”

“I wanted to study him! I was looking for a new research project and this human dropped into our laps! I wasn’t going to let Celestia get rid of him before I got a chance to do a proper study and learn about him!” Applejack jumped in now.

“Ah might be just a simple farm pony, but ah can tell just as well as any of us how reckless that was sugar cube. You don’t know what he might have done. Ah mean, did you see that death pipe he was carrying? It took you and Dash several minutes to take out one of the big ones. He dropped three like it weren’t no thing.”

“Not only that!” Rarity was screeching again. “Do I need to remind you of his own admissions? He comes from a place where many people have these sorts of things. Bombs, guns, weapons. Twilight. Think about it. Nuclear. Warheads. They have that sort of thing!” Now Nathan was confused. Yes he had made reference to weapons of mass destruction, but never so specifically, that he could remember. He must have told Fluttershy at one point. Turning his attention to the screeching mares, he slammed his fist down on a bedside table and stunned them in to silence.

“Hey! I just saved every one of you from… well whatever those changelings wanted with all of you ponies. I don’t know. I did what I had to, to make sure you were all safe, and myself as well. They might not have tried to kill any of you, but I assure you they weren’t making any sort of concessions for me. I wouldn’t try to hurt any of you on purpose, and that ‘thing’ I was carrying wasn’t even lethal. They were all bean-bags. And YOU!” He pointed at Twilight.

“Research project? Study?! I’ve been waiting months to hear about a chance of going home, where the ponies don’t talk, magic doesn’t exist, and I can buy a leg of lamb and not feel guilty. It’s obvious to everyone here that none of us want me to be here. Now I find out you’ve been using me as a test subject? Jesus. H. Christ. You ponies can all go blow yourselves. Now, I need time to rest. Get out. All of you.”

“But Nathan I…”

“No, Fluttershy. I need time to think, and you six need time to figure out just what the hell you need from me. Until then, I’ll be waiting for your fairy princess to turn a pumpkin into a ‘take me home’ machine. Wherever in God’s name home is.”

“O-o-okay..” She started crying and ran out the door. Twilight raised a hoof and opened her mouth, about to say something, but the glare in Nathan’s eyes cut her down. She knew she had screwed up. She slowly turned her back to the human and left the room. The other four followed suit, and for once, just once, Rarity actually felt a shred of sympathy for the miserable human lying on the hospital bed, staring off into the ceiling. Closing his eyes, he heard the door shut. He lay there for several moments, focusing his thoughts, then finally sighed and spoke up.

“Yes Pinkie? What is it?” He opened his eyes and turned over, seeing the pink pony standing next to the door she had just shut and locked, but kept herself on the room side. Her normally curled mane was straightened, and she was staring at the floor. Several tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“W-why are you so angry all the time? You’re always yelling.” Nathan instantly regretted his outburst, realizing how much pain he had caused Pinkie and Fluttershy.

“I’m… I’m sorry Pinkie Pie. That wasn’t directed at you, or at Fluttershy. Sometimes I just can’t rationally express my feelings, and my communication skills are terrible. I know you’re there for me. I appreciate that you covered for me.” Pinkie Pie cheered up just a bit.

“Really? You’re not mad at me?”

“No Pinkie, I’m not mad at you. I just flew off the handle. You’re a good friend to have. Especially here.” Her trademark smile spread across her face, then tapered off.

“I owe you an apology too Nathan.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. When I heard you start to fire the Cannon, I heard the first five shots, and I assumed… I assumed that you had broken your promise and loaded it with the stronger cartridges intending to kill the changelings. At the time I was furious with you, until I discovered every cartridge you had expended showed much less charge residue than the ones you used in the first place. I thought you had broken your Pinkie Pie promise.”

“Well, you’re still half-right to be mad at me. When I retrieved the firearm, I did quickly make several half-loads for the smaller ones, but I’ve been using full strength shot against the brutes. I didn’t kill any of them, but that honestly might have been more luck. I’m sorry. Besides, the ones in the case in your mane have the fullest loads. Assuming they’re still there.

“Huh?! Oh!” She rooted around in her mane and produced the case of five shots. “Silly billy me! I’ve had them the whole time! Isn’t it amazing what you can lose in your hair for a week? Oooo like last month, I stuck a cupcake in my mane to eat later, and for the next few days everywhere I went stuff smelled like chocolate, and I was all like ‘whoa did someone dump chocolate all over Ponyville?!’ but it just turned out to be the cupcake! Isn’t that funny?”

“Pinkie…” Nathan sighed and looked down at the ground.

“Oh sorry. Right. Well, I’ll give them back to you then..”

“No.”

“What?”

“No Pinkie, you keep them. I don’t trust myself enough. If you have them, I won’t be able to access them unless I talk to you first.” Pinkie Pie blushed and shuffled uncomfortably at the responsibility.

“Maybe I should give them to Fluttershy? The two of you seem to be a thing right now.”

“Sorry, that doesn’t work either. She wouldn’t understand. I need someone who I know at least… grasps the concept of what my world is like. I need it to be you Pinkie.”

“Ok. Ok you win silly billy. I’ll hold them for you. In the meantime,” she reached in her mane and pulled out the now locked gun case, “here’s the Pie Cannon back. I hid it from Twilight and the others for you. I had assumed they would have a hard time figuring out how it worked, but the etch of me on the side would have been a give-away, and I’ve been playing dumb.” Nathan smiled and retrieved the weapon from the beaming ponies mouth.

“Thanks Pinkie. Hey, uh, can you do me one more favour?”

“Sure!”

“Can you go find Fluttershy and send her back to me? I need to apologize to her too, and if we’re going to date we’re going to need to figure some things out.” Pinkie Pie twitched a bit, then nodded. “Wait, what was that Pinkie? That twitch?”

“Oh nothing. I just thought you weren’t really in to ponies.”

“Well I’m not… but this is a unique situation. Fluttershy’s nice. I would hate to turn down a nice pony.” Pinkie Pie smiled again.

“Okie-dokie-lokie! That makes sense. I’ll go get her! Oooo you want me to get her flowers too? I can do that!”

“Sure Pinkie, thanks. You’re a great friend”

“I know, right?” With that she opened the door to the hallway and bounded out of sight. Nathan sighed. What a strange last few months. No, ponies weren’t his thing, but for now he’d go along with her. She was very sweet, and seemed to have an overwhelming need to be near the human. It was nice to be needed. With that he drifted off to sleep, his overwhelming exhaustion taking hold.

Returning outside, Pinkie Pie was confronted with a quintet of squabbling ponies. Trotting up to her friends she bent her ear in trying to understand what the argument was about.

"...be that as it may Twilight Sparkle, you had no right to risk our lives and those of Ponyville over a reasearch project!" Rarity was barely keeping her voice below a shriek. "I understand you being curious but this is simply unacceptable!"

"Rarity, you don't understand! If he..."

"What? I don't care if you're concerned for Celestia. The fact of the mater is that if she couldn't deal with him, then we wouldn't have a hope. Your magic likely only had such an effect in his weakened state. You are putting us in harm's way every day. Darling, honesty, I swear that you worry more over our princess, who as far as we know is immortal and unkillable, than your own best friends." She turned away from the shamed Twilight and faced the rest of the gathered ponies.

"Do you see? Do you see now what I am saying? What I have always said? Even with Twilight's supervision he has managed to create a device capable of destruction. If a couple months of work can produce that, what might a few more create? He is a monster! A monster that needs to be put down! A monster that..."

"RARITY!" Rainbow Dash flew right up into her face and leveled a glare at her. "I will admit, and always have, that there are things about Nathan that bother me. I don't know what they are- I'll let a smarter pony figure that out. But are you really going to act like this? Treat him like this after everything? You saw him- he was lying in that bed hurt too badly to even be awake for weeks.

"He just possibly saved all of our lives, and you're going to treat him like a villain? That's so totally uncool Rarity. Totally uncool. I don't know what is wrong with you but you need to lay off of him." Rarity was shocked not only at suddenly being put on the defensive, but more so that it was Dash that was doing it.

"I-I beg your pardon?? Rainbow Dash if I didn't know any better I would think that you actually cared for the human." Dash wore a conflicted look and glanced between her friends.

"I don't know how I feel... not really. I don't think he's that bad though. Definitely not the monster you claim he is." Rarity scrunched her face up and looked to the others for support. Twilight was still staring at the ground, shamed into silence by her fellow unicorn, and it was already clear how Pinkie and Fluttershy felt. Finally looking to Applejack, she saw in her eyes an anger welling up.

"Applejack! You tell Dash! You saw him run away! You saw that thing he carried with him! Tell Dash she's wrong!" Applejack anxiously glanced between the others, struggling to form her response. She huffed and blew out her cheeks, a mild anger having replaced her anxiety.

"Dash, we all saw that thing. Ah don't think whatever he is or what he's done is natural. It just ain't..." Dash spun on her wings and glared down at Applejack. Before the Pegasus even spoke, Applejack regretted the words.

"Oh no. You don't get a say in this. The whole time that we were fighting you kept screaming about what a snake he was. Ran off to never return. He comes back, and saves the day, and you sit there trying to justify it. Like it's his fault you were talking smack about him. He came back though. You know what I call that? Loyalty. I happen to know a bit about it." Applejack stood dumbfounded. Her anxiety washed over her again, and like Twilight, she couldn't stand to look the others in the eyes. Especially Twilight.

Fluttershy, wiping away the last of her tears from Nathan's outburst, stood next to Dash and managed to put on the most stern look she had.

"Dash is right! Look at all of you, tearing him apart for science experiments and blaming everything on him. It's bad enough with Rarity, but you too Applejack?! I'm going home. You all need to think about what you've said." Dash was pleasantly surprised; it wasn’t very common that Fluttershy managed to stand up for herself, even if it was just for other ponies. Fluttershy trotted off in the direction of her cottage, with Pinkie pie bounding after her.

"Wait up Fluttershy! There's something I need to tell you!" She stopped and turned her face upside down, having been absorbed in the argument. She continued after the departing Pegasus, continuing to call out to her. "I can't remember what it is though! Flowers? Maybe we need to go get flowers!"

Focusing back on The other three ponies, Dash was still frustrated with the lack of consensus between them. Throwing her hooves in the air, she turned away, looking back over her shoulder.

"At least I can be honest with my feelings. You three are the ones that seem to be confused. Go send your letter Twilight. I'm done with you guys. Get back to me when you can stop being jerks." With a final flap she took off, leaving three of her friends to themselves.

The door to the hospital room opened some time later, rousing Nathan from his dreams. Without opening his eyes he turned his face to the door, and smiled.

"I'm glad you came back Fluttershy, I wanted to talk to you. Did Pinkie get those flowers for you?"

“Fluttershy?” Spike’s voice carried through the hospital room. Nathan’s eyes bolted open and saw the dragon, as well as Twilight standing in front of him. They both shared a nervous look. Curled in one of Spike’s claws was a scroll, bound with a wax seal.

“Spike, Twilight? What’s going on?” Twilight swallowed hard.

“Well, Rarity and Applejack forced me to finally write and send the scroll informing Celestia of your existence in Ponyville.”

“And?”

“She responded within moments. She needs up to report to Canterlot as soon as possible. The six of us, Spike… and you. She has informed me that if we do not escort you to the castle post-haste, she will be forced to send a regiment of her guard ponies to do it for us.”

Nathan fixed his sight on the scroll in the dragon’s outstretched claw. That didn’t sound like a benevolent ruler at all… though the idea of an outsider in her kingdom during a major attempted takeover of the country might have affected her… he gulped and read the contents himself, verifying the accuracy of Twilight’s explanation. Looking back up at the nervous pair, he had nothing to say. Only three words came to mind.

Oh.

Fuck.

Me.