Almost a week had passed since the first time Iclyn attended the fencing club. She made some progress, but it was far from good. At least two good months of training were required for her to become at least average. However, she learned how to move in a more efficient way, and always tried to be unpredictable. She picked it from the way Sirius fought: sometimes, he was slow and fought in a low stance, meaning he was more on the defensive style; other times, he was swift and precise, as well as aggressive. His attacks seemed to be erratical and completely chaotical, no clear pattern could be seen. It was his greatest advantage as well.

Sirius has improved his language quite a bit, and only some parts of it were still difficult for him. He stuttered less, made fewer mistakes, and overall spoke and wrote better. Although, some slowness and an easily heard accent were still present in his speech. He was determined to learn the language and spent most of his free time learning it. Even a small pause during the training was helpful in looking up a couple of words.

In conclusion, the week was very productive for both ponies.

Bullies hadn't shown up at all during the week. However, Sirius was on guard — he would not relax until he knew they were far away. He took notice of a strange thing — neither of them returned to the school after their supposed one week long suspension. Did they get expelled? The former human surely hoped so. It was far more peaceful in the class without them, at least to his knowledge.

A couple of ponies tried to approach him in a friendly manner, but he ignored them. He was uninterested in making friends, and soon the attempts were dropped. However, the classmates were more or less positive and welcoming towards him since he got three bullies possibly espelled, which made life easier for everyone.

Sirius didn't make it to a star pupil some expected him to be. He didn't slack but he didn't put much effort into learning either. He was mainly focused on Commonlang and Magic, two subjects he was interested in the most. In the latter, he received almost excellent marks. While he couldn't teleport anything yet, he was very close to it. What was noticed however, was the fact that his levitation was much more precise than that of others. While different items were swaying slightly in the grasp of most unicorns including experienced ones, Sirius's grip was tight, preventing any sway or bobbing, almost freezing the items in place.

Sirius begun to settle down in the new world. It was indeed much more peaceful than what he was used to. His mind calmed down, and he begun to consider living. While thoughts of suicide hadn't left his mind yet, he found the new world and Equestria specifically as a place worth living. They were filled with color and positive emotions, a striking contrast to what Sirius used to witness back when he was a human.

However, memories remained and the pain didn't subside. It was still there, deep in his mind, buried with his darkest secrets and times of terror. They reminded him of reasons he decided to end his life, reasons that couldn't disappear by themselves. All those powerful negative emotions were inside Sirius, memories he didn't want to recall still stored in his mind, and feelings of various type were there as well. He couldn't let them go even if he wished to.

And he didn't want them to go. He believed his suffering had a reason, maybe even a purpose. He had done many horrible things in his life, and he was very ashamed of them. There was nothing he could do to fix what he had broken, and thus, he knew he had to suffer. Maybe someone would end it for him, but he could only hope. After all, who would be able to understand him, understand his pain and misery? He thought there was no one. Even ponies — they were nothing like him, and he didn't expect them to understand.

But there was a dim sparkle of hope among the white ash that was his soul. As damaged as he was, as depressive as he was, he still subconsciously clung to his dear life, hoping it would change for the better.

And maybe it would. He just had to do something to change the way his life was going.

During the first weekend day, Iclyn approached him with an interesting suggestion.

"Hey, Sirius," she said. "Me and my friends are having a sleepover. Do you mind joining us?"

He was surprised, even shocked by the proposal. Inviting him? It had to be a joke of some kind. While Iclyn was friendly towards Sirius, he highly doubted she would just invite him anywhere at all. He thought he was nothing but a scary creep to her.

He knew how he looked. Thin, almost skeletal body and limbs, and dark circles around the eyes that bore a disturbing gaze. He didn't want to show emotion, and it seemed like it worked not exactly in a good way. His analyzing and judging gaze, paired with expressionless face were enough to scare ponies. He wasn't exactly a type of person to be invited to anything but a funeral.

Though, the chance was given to him to go elsewhere, somewhere nicer. Maybe it wasn't a joke. He begun to think.

Perhaps he should go. There was life besides training and studying. He could very well get to know ponies. Not befriend, just acquaint. Some connections might prove useful in the future.

"I don't mind." he finally responded.

"Alright!" Iclyn said cheerfully. She sighed in relief silently — she thought he would decline. "Grab whatever you need, and we'll go to the market. You know, buy some snacks and that sort of stuff."

Sirius decided to grab his saddlebags and most importantly, his longsword. He would go nowhere without the latter, even to a simple sleepover. He knew he was being paranoid with it, but he couldn't help it. He was physically weak and lacked stamina, his only choice of defense or attack was the usage of something aside from his own body.

Then, he went into the bathroom and looked at himself through the mirror. Recent nights were more or less calm and he got enough sleep. The circles around his eyes weren't as dark and would fade eventually, at least if he got enough sleep. He relaxed his face, and it became slightly more welcoming. His gaze became less of a stare as well. He almost looked relaxed.

A perfect mask to put on during a sleepover.

***

"So, we have to get some stuff. Don't worry, I have the money." Iclyn said as the two exited the apartment and headed out of the hostel. "Chips, some soda, matches, and a sleeping bag for you. Consider it a gift or something, it doesn't matter."

Sirius nodded in appreciation. The fact that he would be given something for free surprised him quite a lot, but it made it so much more pleasant for him to go with the filly. He didn't expect generosity from someone he barely knew. It had to be a joke.

Nevertheless, he hoped it wasn't. Otherwise, he would be very angry and might hurt those behind the joke. He didn't take it lightly when people made fun of him. For some, this kind of joke might seem harmless, but to Sirius, they were unacceptable. He didn't want to waste his time for others' laughter at his own expense.

Soon, he and Iclyn arrived at the market. The filly picked some food, mainly hay fries, some daisy-flavored chips, some sandwiches, and a couple of apple and orange soda cans. Then, the two headed to another part of the market where they would be able to buy a sleeping bag. After the shopkeeper got the dimensions of Sirius, a simple sleeping bag was bought for him: it was gray with a hint of blue. Indeed plain and simple, but the shopkeeper assured Sirius that it's of good quality, and thus durable and suitable even for camping.

"Well, everything's done." Iclyn said. "So, Sirius, we'll go to the train station, arrive at Ponyville, and then go to the White Tail Woods."

"Why so far?" he asked, a small frown appearing on his face. He studied the map of the country during Geography lesson, and learned that both Ponyville and aforementioned woods were rather far from Canterlot.

"There's a treehouse our families built in those woods when they were foals like us. It has become a tradition to gather there, I suppose. Now, we use the treehouse. It's fun, trust me." the filly explained.

Sirius nodded, and the two resumed their way. He wasn't against a little trip into the woods. Besides, he always wanted a treehouse as a kid — might as well use the chance to visit one and spend a night inside. The city quickly became stale for him anyway.

Finally, the two arrived at Ponyville and headed to the White Tail Woods.

"We're a bit late, my friends should be there already, waiting for us." Iclyn said as the two crossed a field.

"Why do you take train when you have wings?" Sirius asked.

"Well, sometimes a trip on a train is faster." the filly replied. "Besides, it's really tiring flying all the way from Canterlot to Ponyville, and then the woods. I'd be out of breath, and I don't want that. I wanna play stuff with friends, I need energy, you know?"

The former human understood perfectly, and nodded.

"So, what do you do with friends?" Iclyn asked.

"Whatever we want." Sirius replied. While he didn't have many friends back when he was a human, there were some people he considered friends and hanged out with quite a lot. "We don't plan anything ahead before time."

"Yeah, we do it a lot, too. Why have plans when you can have fun?" the pegasus chuckled. "We do a lot of stuff. Sometimes pulling pranks on ponies, others just walking or flying around, searching for things to do. And sometimes, we go to our treehouse to have some fun away from everypony."

Sirius hoped such fun had no sexual undertones. While he understood it might be alright around these parts, he didn't want it, plain and simple. He just wanted to play some games, maybe socialize a bit, but nothing more. Not to mention he was sure he would never like ponies that way. He didn't want any sort of intimate relationship with anyone, for that matter.

However, he might be thinking too far. He had to admit he was becoming paranoid. Unsurprisingly, considering all that had happened to him.

The rest of the trip was spent in a complete and awkward silence. At least for Iclyn. She wanted to continue talking, to bring Sirius out of his isolated bubble. However, her efforts proved to be futile. The colt wanted to talk only a few times, and most of them ended with his words being final. And even if his words didn't end the conversation, it ended by itself due to awkwardness from Iclyn's side. Sirius was in complete control of the situation without trying.

Finally, the two reached the treehouse. There were already two ponies inside it, judging by the lively conversation Iclyn and Sirius could hear.

"Well, it seems somepony is indeed here." the filly commented.

The treehouse was fairly big, residing on a big oak tree, supported by wide and thick branches. While it wasn't too high off the ground, it would be impossible to reach if there wasn't a small slope connecting the entrance and the ground. It was climbable even for ponies.

Soon, the two entered the house and met another two ponies: a colt Sirius had previously met and an unknown filly. They were playing a game of cards.

"Oh, hi!" the colt awkwardly said, greeting Iclyn and Sirius. "We were waiting for you, Icy." then, he noticed Sirius. "Um... hello..."

"Hello, Wave Rider." Sirius greeted in return. He remembered the colt from the first day of school — he was the one who approached Sirius first and asked for an advice on how to deal with bullies.

Wave Rider was afraid of Sirius. He saw both the beating of the bullies and the incident at the cafeteria. During the former, the new colt proved to be tough and aggressive. During the latter, he showed even more aggression and violence.

Wave Rider was nothing like Sirius. He liked peace more than anything, and the presence of such a colt really scared him. It didn't help that he was smaller than Sirius and had glasses, almost attracting all sorts of trouble from stronger ponies, mostly bullies. While the book-loving colt was sure Sirius wasn't going to hurt him, it didn't help his fears at all.

"Uh, who are you?" the second new pony in the room asked. It was an earth pony filly of white fur, pink mane and tail, and vibrant blue eyes. She didn't have a special mark just like Sirius and she also seemed younger than him.

"I'm Sirius." the former human introduced himself.

"Ah, you kick ass in the Elementary school, I heard." she chuckled. "I'm Coral, pleased to meet you." she extended her hoof. Without hesitation, Sirius bumped it slightly with his own.

"There are a few ponies more to come." Iclyn said. "Well, feel free to go around the house. It's all ours, after all."

Things were going quite smoothly for Sirius. He couldn't wait for the fun part to begin.

He hadn't had much fun ever since his early childhood, and the memories of those times were ones he wanted to keep. Rekindling them with new ones would certainly help him.

Author's Notes:

Iclyn is trying to make Sirius feel better and introduce him to new ponies in hope that he would become more friendly. Will it bear any fruit?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I want your comments. All of them. Really, it's a shame this story doesn't have many comments. Thumbs up or down, favorites, they are all good, but I really want to know what you're thinking about the story. Perhaps, you have a theory about what Sirius had been through, maybe you will try to predict the outcome. I especially like in-depths comments.