After saying their goodbyes to Zecora, the group started to make their way back into the Everfree forest on the path toward Ponyville.

They walked silently while thinking about what could be lurking around them in the woods. The wind was still blowing around them, making the tree branches move as if they were alive. The normal sounds of wildlife in the forest, which would have creeped most of the group out on any average night, now made all of them nervous. Save for Tom, who walked just behind Twilight at the head of the group.

Twilight eyed their surroundings nervously while following the path. She tried to think of a way she could get her mind off of the cold chill creeping its way up her spine. Suddenly she thought of something that could occupy her and her friends while they made their way through the forest.

“Hey, Tom,” Twilight spoke up suddenly while turning her head to look past Spike at the group following her.

“Hmm?” Tom’s head perked up from the sudden break in silence.

“Since we’re going to be walking for a while, I thought that maybe you could tell us more about who you are,” Twilight said in a curious tone. “What a slayer is, where you came from, and if you know about it, how you got here.” She added while motioning with her hoof.

Tom looked around at the others, who were all looking his way. He wasn’t surprised that they were curious about him, but he was hesitant to explain his past to them all the same.

“Yeah, Ah think we could all stand to learn a bit more about the person that saved our lives.” Applejack suggested happily from the back of the group. Everyone nodded in agreement before looking back to Tom and waiting for him to answer.

The human thought for a moment about the request and scratched his head. He was unsure of whether or not the ponies would be comfortable hearing his origins given how sensitive they seemed. But he figured that they deserved to know if they asked.

“Well if you must know, then I suppose I will tell you what I can.” Tom finally decided to give into the peer pressure and explain his past. The group continued along the path through the woods as they looked intently at Tom while he thought about what to say and how to say it. The boy finally looked up and sighed.

“Guess I should start from the basics before I get into my life story. A slayer is a person chosen to fight the evils of the world. They are given the power necessary to fight the forces of darkness and the knowledge of evil creatures accumulated by previous slayers. People are chosen to be tested as a potential slayer if they have been wronged by a great evil and possess the willpower and heart to fight for what is right. I was chosen when I was fifteen, a little while after I died.” Tom explained nonchalantly.

The ponies gasped in shock at the news they were hearing. They stood around in silence for a brief moment while processing the information they had just been given.

Finally, Rarity looked up from her thoughts and spoke up on behalf of the curious group. “Wait, you died...? How is that possible? You look alive now.” The white mare stated while giving the boy a confused look.

Tom looked back at the majority of the group before continuing. “Technically I’m not. It’s kind of weird how that works… anyway, I’ll get to that later. Before I became like this, I was born and raised in a town called Oak County. I lived with my two parents and my little sister in a small house for the duration of my life. I had a decent amount of friends at my school, I was excelling in several subjects, and I was even head of the school’s track team. Everything was going perfectly fine for me until…” The boy’s eyes trailed off as he thought about the rest of his story. He sighed sadly and took a moment to recollect himself. The group looked at him sympathetically.

Fluttershy looked up at him with a concerned expression. Whatever happened to him must have been horrible if he died in the end. She stared at him sadly while he attempted to go over the details of his past in his head. “You don’t need to tell us if it’s too painful for you.” The yellow pegasus spoke to him in a gentle tone while putting a hoof on his side.

The human sighed and looked back at her. He was surprised to see that someone was actually concerned for his story. Most people just ignored him or gave him passing thanks as he performed his duties.

“It’s ok… I need to remember this just as much as you need to know it.” Tom took a breath and looked forward before continuing. “There was a man by the name of Johnathan Pike that lived in my town. He was a notorious serial killer that only targeted teens and small children.” Tom’s fist clenched as anger filled his voice with each passing second. ”That sorry son of a…” He took a moment to look around at the group watching him and calmed himself down before saying something that would upset present company. “He killed three kids at my school over the course of four months. Nobody could catch him because he was so meticulous that he didn’t leave any evidence behind. After he killed his third victim, a curfew was put in place to keep children off the streets after dark.” The boy suddenly flashed a brief smirk and chuckled in a sad sort of way.

“Me, my sister, and this one friend of mine were really close. Everyone in town practically knew us like family from how often we would cause trouble. Anyway, on this one night in particular we had decided to hang out after midnight at an old abandoned house that was supposedly haunted… kind of ironic considering my current position if you think about it.” Tom kept a semi-cheery disposition throughout most of the story. The ponies were confused at the display. It was like he was simply telling them about an old camping trip he had gone on.

All the while he seemed to be gloomy and sullen at the same time. The group was concerned that he was emotionally unstable due to his odd behavior. Regardless of how he felt on the inside, he continued without missing a beat.

“The trip was fun and all. We got to scare my sister a little, had some laughs, the usual stuff a group of friends would do. After a while, my friend got the sense to check his watch to see the time. Sure enough, we were about a half hour past the time we were supposed to be home. We rushed out of the house and took a shortcut through the park. Little did we know at the time that there was a certain masked man hiding out in the bushes by the path. He jumped out and attacked us… gave my friend a nasty blow to the head which sent him to the floor immediately. I told my sister to run home and get help while I wrestled with the guy to keep him away from my friend. Last thing I remember, I turned to make sure my sister had left, when suddenly the guy jams a needle in my neck. I blacked out and he must have grabbed me and my friend.” Tom became more monotonous and gloomy as he progressed through the story. The ponies were understandably anxious and uneasy as they listened to the grim tale.

“When I woke up, I was strapped to a chair in a dimly lit room with gray cement walls. I looked around for a bit and found my friend strapped to a similar chair off in the corner of the room. I tried calling out to him when I realized that both of us had gags in our mouths. We eyed each other nervously for a while before the guy in the mask came into the room. He was brandishing a rather sharp and ominous looking scalpel in his hand, and to top it off he was staring at me intently. He walks over to me and starts toying with me by slowly bringing the blade of the scalpel as close as possible to my face. I shut my eyes and prepared for the worst possible pain in my entire life.” The boy explained apprehensively. Everyone gulped nervously as they mentally envisioned themselves in the same position the human had been in. The thought of a sharp object being shoved in their face by a crazed psychopath sent a myriad of tingles through their faces as they tensed up instinctively.

“Before I felt him press hard enough to cut me, he suddenly dropped the scalpel and I heard a loud thud that sounded like someone hitting the floor. I looked up to see that my friend had apparently broken free and smacked him with the nearest object he could find. He quickly untied me and helped me up and towards the door. Suddenly the man got up and charged us with another blade. My friend grabbed his arm and struggled to fight him off. He yelled for me to get out of there and run for help after I escaped.” Tom looked down sadly as he went over the scene in his head for the first time in a while. The ponies were looking at him with a mixture of sympathy and shock as they listened.

“I wanted to help him so bad… but something told me to listen to him and just run. I bolted out of the door and rushed to find a way out of whatever place he had taken us to. After running through a few corridors, I put together that we were in some kind of basement or something… nothing good ever happens in basements I guess. Unfortunately for me, I tripped and fell into a large pit in the floor. I landed in something wet, and when I smelled what it was I started panicking. I had fallen into a pit too deep to climb out of that was filled with flammable fuel.” Tom started growing uneasy himself as he got closer to the climactic end of his story. The ponies felt a sense of dread and sadness as they came to the conclusion of how the human died.

“I heard footsteps approaching from down the hall. At first, I thought it was my friend, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t when I saw a tall masked figure standing at the top of the pit. I can only imagine what he did to my friend, but whatever it was I just hope it was over a lot quicker than what he was about to do to me. He stared at me for a while in a creepy sort of way that only a sociopath like him could have, and then he took off his mask. I recognized him to be a guy from my friend’s neighborhood downtown from mine. He seemed like a nice enough guy… when he wasn’t busy kidnapping kids he helped out at community events and kept to himself mostly, but that didn’t really matter to me at the moment. He pulled out a match from his pocket and lit it. He could obviously see that I was covered in fuel and so was the surrounding area. I felt that it was pointless to scream or beg for my life, so I just watched silently as he tossed the match at my feet.” The human finished his grim story with a gloomy tone as he relived the event in his head.

The ponies could only keep walking in silence as they looked at Tom sadly. The human looked down at the ground and sulked as he reflected on his death. He spoke nothing more for several minutes leaving the group to process the wave of sadness washing over them. Finally, he looked up and smiled sadly.

“Death wasn’t so bad actually… in my situation, it was actually the most pleasant part of the whole ordeal. After a few minutes of struggling in vain to escape the flames enveloping my body, I collapsed to the floor and writhed for a while longer before the pain was replaced by calm blackness.” He added with a forced smile. The bleak attempt at lightening the mood did nothing to quell the uneasy feeling everyone had in their stomachs. Applejack and Rainbow Dash wiped freshly formed tears from their eyes while the rest of the group just let them fall down their face in a light stream.

Twilight sniffled softly and wiped her eyes before turning to look at Tom. “I’m so sorry I asked you to remember that Tom… I had no idea.” The purple unicorn’s voice trembled slightly from the feeling of sadness she felt.

“It’s ok Twilight. And besides, I came out on top in the end anyway.” Tom chuckled lightly to himself before turning to her and smiling. Everyone looked to him flabbergasted at his sudden upbeat attitude. They decided it would be better to let him explain rather than ask any more questions. The human looked around at the curious group and chuckled before continuing.

“As I said before, I was tested to become a slayer a little while after I died. I hated Pike, I hated what he did to me, to the other kids, and I hated every fiber of his evil being. And because of this, I was chosen as a potential slayer. I was suddenly conscious of my surroundings once more when I woke up to a puff of fire surrounding me and then parting away from my eyes. I was standing outside of some alleyway in town, wearing the same clothes I died in.” Tom took a moment to grab his blue jumpsuit and stretch it out to feel its material. Rarity looked closer to it and inspected it in its entirety.

“I was wondering why you were wearing such odd clothes. They don’t seem fitting for a monster slayer.” The white unicorn added while eying the outfit further. Tom looked at her and nodded in agreement before continuing.

“My parents gave these to me when I started exercising for the track team. I guess I just kept them because I died in them… and besides, they serve as a remembrance of my family. Anyway, I could feel that something was different. Somehow I felt more alive than ever. I looked down at my arms to discover that they were burned badly and blackened. This didn’t last long however as the same flames you saw earlier washed over my body and restored it to health. My breath turned blue and I suddenly became aware of my heightened senses. Along with all of this, I was suddenly aware of what I was and what my purpose was. I had been brought back to deliver justice upon the head of one Johnathan Pike.” Tom spoke fiercely with enthusiasm brimming in his voice. “I had one thing on my mind, and that was vengeance. Call it whatever you may… justice, revenge, karma, I didn’t care. I only wanted Pike to be given what was coming to him, and I wanted to be the person to do it. And to help me accomplish this, I was given the weapon I needed to do it.” He explained with a slight smirk.

“You mean your sword?” Rainbow Dash asked while pointing to the sheath on his back. The katana seemed like a fitting weapon for delivering justice to evil doers.

Tom chuckled briefly before turning to the curious pegasus. He then held out his hand and spread his fingers apart. The ponies watched him silently, curious as to why he was showing them the back of his hand. “Nope, I picked my sword up sometime later. These bad boys are what I’m talking about.” The boy stated before pausing as if to concentrate.

Suddenly, sparks appeared from Tom’s fingers just below the knuckle. A flame washed over each of his fingers as had happened when his injuries were healed. Only instead of healing an injury, something was being formed over his fingers as the flames passed over them. Metal blades were slowly coming into view as the flames passed his fingertips and extended into the air. After a short distance, the flames stopped, leaving fully formed metallic claws attached to Tom’s hand by the knuckles.

Tom waved the newly formed blades around and showed them to the whole group. Everyone looked on in curious wonder and amazement at the odd weapon.

“Wow! That is so cool!” Rainbow Dash stated excitedly while admiring the human’s claws. The others were silent, but judging from their awestruck expressions, they were equally impressed by the sudden appearance of the weapon.

Tom chuckled for a moment while articulating each of his fingers and further showing off the blades to the ponies. He seemed to be taking a fair amount of enjoyment in showing off his abilities to someone else.

“These are my claws. I have two sets of them, one for each hand. They take a fair amount of energy and concentration to summon up without good cause, so I’m going to put them away for now.” The boy concentrated for a moment before the flames appeared from both ends of the claws. They quickly flashed over the blades and left Tom’s hand empty as it was before. He clenched his fist a few times to show that they were in fact gone before resting his arm at his side again.

“With my newfound ability to heal and heightened strength and agility, I knew Pike stood no chance against me… it was just a matter of finding him. But before I could hunt Pike down, I needed to know a couple of things. I grabbed the nearest newspaper I could find and read the date. Judging from that I figured out I had been dead for roughly a few weeks. I also read a story about my death in an older issue. Apparently, the authorities had ruled my death as an unsolved missing person case. Me and my friend’s bodies were never recovered, so all they had to go on was my sister’s retelling of what happened.” Tom snarled quietly through his teeth at the thought of Pike escaping authorities even after what had happened. “I then ran to my house. Thankfully my family moved away shortly after my death, so Pike didn’t even have a chance to get to my sister. Kind of bittersweet now that I think about it, although I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to reconnect with them due to my newfound duties. Finally, I started to track down Pike. With my new evil sense at its peak, I could smell the sin on him from a mile away.” He shook his head in disgust as he thought back to the evil man.

“You can sense evil in a person? Like if they have done something wrong in the past?” Twilight’s curiosity was peaked again as she decided to interject to find out more about how the human’s senses worked.

Tom looked ahead to her and noticed her curious expression. He thought for a moment on how best to explain.

“At the time I had full use of the powers of a slayer. See, before a slayer finishes the test that brought them back, in my case, killing Pike… they are stuck in a kind of altered state. Their powers are at a higher level, their personalities change, and they are usually consumed with the desire to right whatever wrong killed them until after they succeed. Now that my test is over, my powers have dulled slightly as they returned to normal… well, normal for me anyway. Different slayers have different levels of control over their abilities.” The human explained to the ponies as if he were merely describing a simple math problem. He seemed to be more confident in the group’s ability to comprehend his explanation than they were.

Twilight was more puzzled by this answer than she had been before she heard it. But she decided to quell her curious mind and let Tom get on with his story before they reached Fluttershy’s cottage and she had to leave.

“I quickly tracked Pike down to his hideout, the same one he led me to on the night I died... I guess he didn’t make enough money to warrant moving out of that dump. I stepped inside and found him hard at work on pasting together a few newspaper clippings. He looked very surprised when he noticed someone had entered his seemingly abandoned hideaway, he looked even more surprised when he saw my face and recognized me… I will spare you the gory details, but my vengeance was carried out swiftly and with great prejudice as I laid his judgment upon him.” Tom stated with a slight smirk of pride. The ponies cringed as they thought of what must have happened. Although the boy had saved them from the actual depiction of the event, their imaginations ran wild as they pictured the scene in their heads.

The human shrugged heavily from remembering the whole ordeal. He then turned to look at the majority of the group for emphasis. “So there I was, gifted with immense power and given a choice. I could either use my powers as they were intended and stay on earth as an official slayer, or I could fade back into the afterlife now that my unfinished business was finally finished. You see, it takes a lot of energy to use a lot of the powers a slayer has. I can heal most wounds I sustain and use all of my other powers freely so long as I have the will to continue. Not many people choose to become slayers after their initial test, even fewer stay longer than a few years due to the immense strain on the body and soul. At first, I decided to stick around to help those in need, but I’m just not sure if being the slayer is right for me. After all, I have only been doing this for a few months.” Tom stated nonchalantly.

Rainbow Dash gasped in disbelief from hearing this. She would have figured that the human would have been hunting monsters for years judging from how good he was in combat. So to hear that he had only been a slayer for a few months came as a great surprise.

“A few months?! But you handled those monsters like it was your birthright!” The cyan mare exclaimed in shock as she thought back to how he had fought that army of creatures.

Tom was slightly flattered by the cyan pegasus’s statement. He smirked for a moment while rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. “As I said before, I was given the knowledge needed to fight the forces of evil. This includes combat expertise, and my background in martial arts sped the process up a bit as well.” He explained with a lighthearted smile.

Twilight tore her head away from the group as she looked forward onto the path. She then recognized where they were and how close they were to their destination. “We’re almost out of the forest everyone” The purple mare announced cheerfully.

Applejack offered a sigh of relief at the news. “Thank Celestia, Ah think Ah have had enough of the Everfree Forest to last a lifetime.” The farm pony remarked happily as she thought about leaving the forest and never returning. The others nodded in agreement while imagining themselves back in their comfortable homes.

The thick vegetation of the forest gradually opened up before the group. Soon the group exited the forest and stepped onto the more clean looking path that awaited them. Everyone looked up as the moon shone brightly in the sky. A line of clouds seemed to hover in place at the edge of the forest, leaving the sky past them open and clear. Tom stared a little longer than everyone else and marveled at the spectacle. He seemed confused and amazed by it, all at the same time.

“Is that normal?” Tom asked hesitantly while looking back and forth at the vastly different skylines. Twilight looked up herself to see what he was talking about. While oddly pretty, the occurrence was nothing out of the ordinary to her. She then looked back over to the boy, who was still looking skyward.

“We’re out of the forest now. The weather out in the rest of Equestria is monitored and controlled by pegasi.” Twilight hoped that her explanation would be enough for the human.

Tom looked befuddled at the Purple unicorn as he tried to rationalize her explanation. When he thought of a weather forecast, he never imagined that it would be possible for it to be accurate and controllable.
“Doesn’t that seem a bit excessive? I mean the weather seems to do just fine on its own.” The human said in confusion.

Being more seasoned in the topic, Rainbow Dash stepped forward and spoke up. She hoped that her insight on the situation would help more than any scientific babble that Twilight could come up with to confuse the human.

“We like to keep the weather nice and predictable… wouldn’t want any stray storms forming anywhere. But we usually leave the airspace above the Everfree alone. It seems to take care of itself anyway.” The cyan mare shook her head as she tried to rationalize how such a complicated system like the weather could operate by itself.

Tom started to question the process further but decided against it as the explanation would probably just leave him more confused than when he started. With nothing else to say on the matter of clouds, the group continued on their merry way. After a few more minutes of walking, the ponies could make out Fluttershy’s cottage against the dark landscape.

The property sat on a lush plot of grass complete with a stream running under a stone bridge leading to the yard. The house itself was comprised mostly of wood and grass, with various holes and perches built into the roof to accommodate the many animals Fluttershy cared for. The sight of the small cottage impressed the human. He took a moment to take in the surroundings as the group walked up to the house.

“Wow, this place is pretty nice… so which one of you lives here?” Tom asked while still admiring the décor around him.

The yellow pegasus smiled warmly at the compliment. To her the house was nothing special, serving as a modest space for her to live and care for the surrounding wildlife.

“This is my home, I’m glad you like it,” Fluttershy said while walking up to the door and turning to the group. “If you want, you could come over and stay for dinner sometime.” She motioned with her hoof and smiled at Tom.

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” Tom nodded in agreement to the proposal while returning the smile. Fluttershy was pleased to hear that the human readily accepted the offer. She then became aware of her fatigued body and drooping eyelids.

“I think I’m going to go ahead and turn in for the night. Besides, you guys probably need to get home as well.” The pegasus yawned and sluggishly lowered her head while fighting to not fall asleep on the spot.

The others all yawned as they became aware of how tired they were. Spike slumped forward onto Twilight’s head as he fought to stay awake. Rarity shifted her weight back and forth uneasily while trying to find the least tired of her legs.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. The others are probably already in bed, so Ah should probably run on home. Bye everyone, and it was nice meeting you, Tom.” Applejack spoke up while trying to keep from sounding too groggy. The orange pony waved at the group while starting her way back towards her home.

“We should probably start heading back to Ponyville, don’t you think Twilight?” Pinkie Pie could barely keep her eyes open, but she still somehow managed to sound upbeat and chipper.

Twilight nodded in agreement to her pink friend. It was getting late, and they needed to be up at a reasonable hour to meet the princess in the morning. So, the remaining group waved goodbye to Fluttershy one last time before walking toward Ponyville.