Chapter 11

His friend had a new body, his mate was no longer mad at him, and even though he was in a world of pain from the fight with his best friend, Evan was feeling good. The only thing that was wrong was the fact that his friend was still outside with his own mate and Evan feared that he may do something stupid. Fluttershy was currently hugging Nate, happy tears streaming down her face. Everyone else was cheering, smiling and patting both of the ponies on the back in congratulations. Evan saw a perfect opportunity to leave as Applejack finally left his side.

He excused himself from the joy and walked to the front door, away from everyone else. When he stepped out though, all he saw was Rainbow Dash, lying broken on the ground. Her figure slept lifeless just a few feet from where Bromley once was. Evan sprinted out from the shelter on broken bones and a shattered conscience. He picked her up, quickly checking her over for injuries, and his eyes widened as he saw the faint bruise on her neck. The captain had gone professional on them.

“Well dip me in ketchup and call me dinner.” He thought to himself. Evan rushed the rainbow Pegasus towards the still partying group. He set her on her shared bed, and took inventory of the room. Seeing nothing too badly out of place he realized his friend was even further away than he had originally suspected. Swiftly, he ran back outside taking nothing except his guilt.The trail Bromley had carved in the dirt was fairly obvious. He must be shattered emotionally if Evan could see the path this clearly. He rushed as fast as his limbs would let him. He would not let his friend down now.

Twilight and Josh hadn’t talked since yesterday. She sat down on Josh’s bed, as he needed to rest, and she just wanted to talk. The human reclined backwards, his back resting against the wall behind the bed while the pony sat on her haunches, gazing at him expectantly.

“Oh. Hey Joshua.” Twilight said, her voice sounding slightly hopeful.

“Wuz Up.” Josh said blandly, the norm for him. There was always a spark of mystery in it though. She thought it as inquisitive, and somewhat attractive.

“I’ve been thinking about the other ponies and people. Evan has Applejack. Dusk has Fluttershy. Coffee has Pinkie Pie. Bromley even has someone to love him.” The petite magenta equine contemplated. Staring out into the space of his own mind Josh replied;

“That would seem to be the case.” She turned away, a hesitance in her voice so many nerds are all too familiar with as she asked;

“Well do you think we should as well?”

“We’re on some backwater mudball at the ass end of the ‘verse knee deep in ‘fun and interesting’ and the only thing I have going for me,” pausing his monologue to double-tap his index finger against his temple, “is this old thing. It's not what you would call an ‘opportune’ time if you catch my drift.”

The look of rejection on Twilight’s face was natural. This naturalness of his words did nothing to impede Josh from feeling like a douche.

With a weighted nasal exhale he continued, ”I’ll tell you what, we make it out of this alive and I’ll buy you a drink, see where it leads, alright?” Twilight perked up a bit, and Josh felt himself lighten up a little too.

Inside Dusk’s room, he, Fluttershy, and Applejack were talking quietly. Applejack had an odd feeling in her gut, and she realized with a start that Evan was gone.

“Hey y’all... either of you see where Evan went?” Her worried tone instantly alerted the two love struck ponies next to her.

“I don’t believe I- I have Applejack.. I’m so sorry...” was Fluttershy’s weak reply. Dusk nodded in agreement, but then returned his attention to the cream coated mare. Applejack nodded in thanks, and with the pretense of calmness left them to find Evan. Before long she had searched the entire perimeter of the base camp, unable to find any sight of her colt friend. No, he was more than a friend. She was deeply concerned for him. After all, one just doesn’t sleep with someone and just consider them a friend. Now that she began thinking deeply, Applejack came to a dark realization that she loved that insane man. And he had left her. Without warning. Not even a vague goodbye or a measly glance in her direction. She was decimated.

Applejack stopped moving when she got to the entrance of her own room. She sat there at the front door and finally just burst into tears. Terrible thoughts plagued her. Were his feelings not mutual? Was she just a toy for him to play with? Did he actually not care? She sat there, hooves covering her face. She realized she was being irrational, but there was nothing that could stop the flow of questions continually flowing through her head. Wet tears dripped past her hooves onto the floor, and splashing noise seemed to throw her out of her daze. She pushed the door open to her room, and stumbled in, tears still flowing. Her stetson hat was left forgotten on the floor as she jumped onto the bed.

All the things that had happened to Applejack since the original crash suddenly seemed to emerge from her memories. The strange creatures. The blood and gore. The boy she loved fighting for her safety. Rarity’s death. Everything flashed into her head once again and there was no Evan to comfort her now. He wasn’t there to pull her into his surprisingly strong chest. Sobbing as hard as ever, she buried her head into her pillow. Why couldn’t she sleep? It was so difficult, without Evan’s warm body to sleep next to, she just could not drift into slumber like normal. She cried even more, now knowing that even her sleeping patterns would go askew. She stared at the empty side of the bed where Evan usually slept.

Sure, they would both end up in the middle anyways, cuddling the night away, but it seemed so much more profound. She laid in the middle of the bed. It was too cold. Sighing quietly she sniffed the sheets, his lingering scent comforting her just a bit. She couldn’t take this though, she needed to get out of this bed. She got up and laid on the floor. “It would be softer if Evan were here.” The blond pony thought to herself. She stared at the ceiling. No matter what she couldn’t get her mind off of him. At least she wasn’t thinking about Rarity. She turned her head and looked at the door. Maybe if she wandered outside enough, a zombie would get her. Then she’d stop thinking about anything. Permanently.

“Applejack?” Fluttershy whispered, poking her head in the door suddenly.

“What?” Applejack whispered, closing her eyes and squeezing a few more tears out.

“Dusk and I are worried about you. We want you to come into our room until Evan gets back.” Fluttershy peeked her head in and Dusk followed, confirming that he was okay with it.

“He ain’t Comin’ BACK!” Applejack shouted, increasingly louder, crying harder than ever. Fluttershy shot straight to the edge of tears and Dusk put his hoof around her. He turned her around and gave her a gentle push outside.

“Evan goes off a lot Applejack. Don’t be too upset. Have you noticed how we haven’t seen Bromley either? I’m willing to bet the two of them are taking good care of eachother.” Dusk said to the whimpering pony laying on the bed. He approached her and patted her back.

“Just trust in them. Those two... they may be crazy, but they always look out for each other.” Applejack seemed to settle down a bit, so he backed up and left her. As he stepped out of the room, he hoped to the almighty whatever, that what he said was true.

“FUCKING BROMLEY! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!” Evan shouted, running after his best friend as fast as he could. His lungs hurt. His legs hurt. His throat still fucking hurt. He screamed again;

“BROMLEY I’M GOING TO KILL YOU IF RAINBOW DASH DOESN- WOHA! FUC- OW!” And suddenly he was in the air. “THAT DICK!” Bromley had left a rope trap and he was now hanging from a giant rock by his foot.

“FUCK! BROMLEY! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!” Growling loudly he began to fiddle with the knot keeping him high in the air. Then he realized how high up he was. “How did he string this thing up so fast...” A gust of wind blasted past him, a BIG one. This gave him an idea. He shut his eyes, wrapped his arms around himself, and concentrated.

“Dusk’s wrong. He’s wrong alright. He don’t know the first thang’ about Evan.” Applejack paced her room and was beginning to wear a circle in the floor. She looked at her path and realized that she had been walking in a circle for what was probably the past two hours. With a sigh she laid back down on the bed that once belonged to Evan. She teared up yet again, probably the fourth time that day. She didn’t understand why her brain was telling her he was gone completely. Obviously he was out there, possibly dying because of zombies. At that her heart hurt, and she put her hoof to her chest as more hot tears spilled down her cheeks.

There had to be something to make this easier. At this point she felt like she somehow deserved everything that had happened to her. Did she lie? Did she somehow betray the Elements of Harmony? She opened her bleary eyes, staring blankly at the slightly fogged up looking room. Then she spied it, lying next to Evan’s pile of ruined clothes. It was a thin piece of scrap metal, probably from their old door which had been replaced with another by Josh. Still, the thin piece of metal shone in the sunlight and Applejack got off the bed and approached the alloy. She stared down at it for a second, before she picked it up in her snout.

She nervously thought about what she was going to do, wondering if she was going to actually do the deed. She nodded finally in affirmation and turned perfectly to press the metal against her flank, right where her cutie mark was. With a grunt, she applied pressure and then pulled, slicing open her flank across her previously untainted cutie mark. A little whimper of pain echoed from her, but she rotated the blade in her mouth and lined it up again, then slashed cutie mark through again, in a cross. Blood ran down her beautiful coat, and the mare shook in pain. It hurt, a lot. But she knew she deserved all of this. Persevering, she turned again this time to her other cutie mark.

There was no chance to cut her right flank though, as she was knocked off her feet and slammed onto her back.

“What the buck are you doing?!” Said the rainbow pegasus that smacked into Applejack.

Applejack cried out as her cut flank let her know that it had scraped against the floor. She then glared up at her friend. Rainbow Dash glanced back at the blood for a second, before swinging her hoof down and smacking Applejack in the face. Applejack’s glare was gone, replaced with shock. She blinked up at her friend, realizing quickly how senseless she had been.

“I-I’m sorry Rainbow Dash... I don’t know what got inta’ me...” Applejack winced as Rainbow Dash clambered off of her, accidentally pressing her bleeding cutie mark into the floor once again. Applejack got up, and Rainbow Dash left for a second before returning with a roll of bandages.

“I’ll wrap it.” The blue coated mare was much calmer than usual, but Applejack detected massive strain in her voice. The bandage soon wrapped around her hind leg, and she gasped in slight pain as Rainbow Dash tugged it fairly tight. Worry nagged at her as Rainbow Dash didn’t speak, her normal talkativeness and competitive air gone.

“Rainbow Dash... What’s wrong hun?” Rainbow Dash tensed at that and pulled away, the bandage secure.

“Bromley ran away. And I’m not really mad at Evan, but he’s the one who made him leave.” She stopped talking, walking to the door.

“I... I’m sorry Rainbow Dash...” Rainbow Dash turned instantly, shooting Applejack with a glare from her fiery eyes that almost put as much fear into Applejack as the captain had when he had looked her scarily.

“I’m not gonna sit back and let him just go! Unlike you apparently.” Applejack flinched at the comment. “Come on, AJ. Buck up, and let’s go find our mates.”

Evan’s miserable form still hung from the rope near the rock. Another gust of wind came for the first time in about a quarter of an hour. His eyes and arms shot open and he used his light body to catch as much wind and momentum as he could. He then curled up and grabbed the rope. He didn’t hang there for long, and instead kept going. The next flip of his body meant that he would catch the rope with his feet, which he did flawlessly. He successfully repeated the process until he reached the top, where he untied himself and then scaled down the rock. As he was doing so, he saw two blurry shapes in the distance from where he came. Noticing it to be Applejack and Rainbow Dash, he turned back towards where Bromley’s tracks led.

“Bromley...” Evan growled in his head as he began walking in the direction of his friend’s path again.

Bromley was camped out on a cliff, above a large red valley that was beautiful to look at. Beside him, was a medium sized cave. Inside he had stowed his water canteen, and had prepared a clean area to rest. He had run far enough away from everyone. They would never find him. And if they did even manage to find his trail, they would be currently dangling in the air.

Exhaling loudly, he slumped against the rock wall on this giant piece of shit that everyone had crash landed on. It was desert everywhere, and he had hoped by leaving he might find someplace more life filled. Like a forest, or an oasis even. But no. There was only rocks and this... red shit all over the ground. It didn’t help that the rocks were also made of red shit. Bromley grumbled and got up to his feet. His life had only gotten more complicated since he got here. He had to take care of more people or ponies or whatever, and he also had even more drama in his life. He hated drama so much.

“Fuck this planet!” he roared in anger and kicked an oversized, round boulder. The boulder began to shake and rumble, until it finally moved to the side, revealing a massive hole leading straight down. Bromley stared for a second, confused as to why he could move the thick, chunky piece of land, and then glanced down the hole. He leaped back just in time, as a clawed hand, easily the size of him emerged.

“Of course. I insult the planet, and it sicks its dog on me.” Bromley’s voice was calm, even as he ran from the hole and slid down the ramp into the valley. He rolled when he hit the bottom, soon running again as (true to his suspicions) the hand was soon joined by another and an enormous beast pulled itself out of the hole. Bromley took a second to stare at the monstrosity.

It’s claws were connected to each other by webbed material, much like a duck feet, and the webbing continued up its arms, connecting them to its sides. It looked bat like, except it didn’t appear to have a head. At the front of its torso was just a mouth, with two holes directly above them. It looked naked, no fur, just orangish flesh all over its body. Bromley continued to stare at his oppressor before it turned towards him, its endless chest holes boring into his soul. His eyes narrowed, and he reached behind him to pull out both of his blades as the creature let out a screech and bolted towards him.

“My god Bromley, you sure do walk a lot.” Evan said to himself, carefully tracing the path his leader had left him.

“Y’all sure do walk slow.” Applejack said coming around a corner that Evan had just turned. Rainbow Dash also turned the bend and stopped hovering.

“Yeah well what do you expect? I’m not exactly in the best of minds- PONIES! Holy shit it’s ponies!” Evan realized that he was no longer alone and talking to himself, and that the two ponies had somehow caught up with him. Applejack glared angrily at him, and he sighed.

“Applejack... Can we talk about this later? We need to find Bromley before he’s too far for us to track him down.” Applejack nodded at that in agreement, and Evan spied a glance at Rainbow Dash. She looked... different. At this moment her eyes were hard, like iced over blood. Her mouth was caught in a permanent frown, and even her hair seemed to look like it was shaded darker than normal. The captain hadn’t realized how much he would effect by leaving. Or maybe he did and didn’t care. It didn’t matter though, Evan was now confident he could drag Bromley back to base with the help of the ponies.

“Lets go get our captain.” He began walking, not waiting for a reply after that. The ponies followed him closely, but silence reigned supreme among them. Evan would occasionally stoop down to look at the tracks closer, or would climb up on a rock to get a better view, while Rainbow Dash basically did the same and would fly up high for a few moments and come back down. It was during one of these trips that the silence was broken.

“I see him!” Rainbow Dash’s voice was joyful, and Evan cracked a smirk at her.

“Where is he?” Evan called up, the glee in her voice reflecting into his own.

“He’s just over those rocks in front of you, in a valley. He looks okay- WHAT THE HAY IS THAT?!” Her voice abruptly went higher, and at that Evan began running, dread pooling in his stomach. He heard the clip clopping of hooves behind him, signalling that Applejack was also on the run. Evan then heard a screech that seemed to make the ground shake, making him stumble to his knees for a second before continuing to dash madly towards the sound. He practically flew around the rock mass that Rainbow Dash had mentioned earlier, and almost fell to his death as he reached a sudden cliff. His feet carried him to the edge, momentum almost pushing him over the tall cliff. His arms windmilled wildly in an effort to keep himself alive.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” He repeated frantically, but thankfully Applejack was there to save him. With a tug, he fell down on his rear, safely on the overhang. Rainbow Dash was already flying down the steep sides to Bromley and some horrific monster from a nightmare, leaving Evan and Applejack to watch.

“Applejack stay here. Or you know, be the classical person that gets told to stay somewhere and start heading down the mountain yourself. Just, stay safe,” Evan kneeled down to face the pony that meant so much to him, a tear forming in his eye. He glanced down at the pinkish creature and back to his mare. “Okay?” Before Applejack could answer he turned and leaped off the side of the cliff head first, wrapping his arms around himself in the shape of a torpedo. Down he shot, eyes barely open. Rainbow Dash was already next to Bromley who was currently being backed up by the beast.

“This is because of me. If this doesn’t work, they will die, and if it does work, I will die. But I at least deserve it.” Evan thought as he closed his eyes, but not before looking his mate dead in the eye and giving her a wide smile.

“Later AJ!”

“Rainbow Dash why are you here!” Bromley barked while dodging another swipe of the massive claws. She had swooped down next to him and gave him a short but meaningful hug.

“Evan and Applejack should be...” She was cut off by a scream of exhilaration and a woosh of air. A fleshy impact was heard and the deformed bat screamed and fell to its knees. It gave the confused pair a few seconds to gather their wits as it shook on the ground. Something dropped limply from its back, hitting the ground with yet another sickening thud. Just as the creature was getting up, Bromley took action. He ran forward with one sword, leaving one of them behind on the ground next to a still hovering Rainbow Dash.

“Stay!” He commanded Rainbow Dash and turned the sword downwards, ready to stab the creature through the heart. He saw the human form on the ground next to the monster roll flat, and his speed increased tenfold as he realized it was Evan. His blade whirred, and he jabbed forward as the creature stumbled to its feet, feeding his blade through one of the holes in its face. It screamed so loudly that Bromley flew all the way back to Rainbow Dash. he did happen to roll mid flight and land on his feet. Evan went flying as well, but instead into the wall behind Rainbow Dash, who had managed to find a rock to camp behind. Bromley himself opened his eyes at the sound of a rustle. The monster was standing again, and it was charging even fast towards him and Rainbow Dash. Time seemed to slow down as numbers began to frantically rush through Bromley’s head.

The angle was perfect, as Bromley rolled onto his feet in a brief second, tore the other blade from the ground, and shoved it in front of him, forcing the monster to impale itself to the hilt on his blade. He felt the sword penetrate through its torso region, and when it finally seemed to stop he quickly adjusted his feet, slicing the sword all the way through the side of the thing and making it bleed all over the floor. Apparently even that wasn’t enough though, as its hand swiped to slash him open. Calculations still rapidly flowing, he made use of his sword to stab through the creature’s hand, then let go of the blade to pull the other sword that was still impaled into its facial orifice out. The monster was now consumed with pain, and Bromley took advantage of that to climb on top of the deadly creature and slash down where he suspected its spinal cord was, finishing the beast. Spinal fluids gushed out and covered his legs, but he didn’t care as he kept slicing until the creature was long dead. With an exhausted sigh, Bromley fell from the creature, landing on the red floor with blood and other fluids spilling across it.

“Evan! EVAN!” Came a loud yell. Applejack came sprinting from the safe path down the slope. Bromley thought back to how the creature first collapsed.

“That idiot!” Bromley screamed mentally while quickly getting back to his feet. He turned back to the wall that Evan had become one with. As he reached Evan’s resting place, he fell from the wall, seemingly dead. AJ doubled her pace and finally stopped inches before his head.

“Oh you stupid asshole. I suppose you did help me more than anyone else did with the monster, but you didn’t have to go and kill yourself.” Bromley patronized him, even in his death. With a roll of his eyes he went up on the cliff to find his water canteen, before dropping back down and splashing the remaining water on to Evan’s face, in hopes that his friend wasn’t actually deceased. He had plowed into the monster head first after all.

“FUCK! Cold water! Cold water in hell! And why the fuck is Applejack in hell? That’s not okay! And Bromley! You died too! I am dissapoint young man!” Before Evan could continue in his rant, Applejack kicked him in the face, sending him a few feet to his left and silencing him for hopefully a few more hours. Bromley sighed and grabbed him by his arm.

“Guess I should drag him home.” Bromley muttered beneath his breath, then turned flawlessly in the original direction they had all come from, only to find a set of rosy eyes glaring heatedly at him from a blue pony.

“You are an asshole. What makes you think you can run away from me? Huh?” Rainbow Dash proceed to dart lower, hovering just barely over the ground, then kick Bromley where it hurt men the most, forcing him to double over in pain. “You think that’s bad? That’s nothing! You left me! Your balls will never know what I felt!” Rainbow Dash landed and bashed Bromley’s skull with her hoof. “Just go buck yourself! You left me hanging. No, not even hanging, you left me unconscious! They, ” she flung a hoof in the bystanders’ direction. “had to carry me inside! You did nothing except care about yourself!” Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof to smash down on his head again, despite the blood already starting to pour down from a concussion she had given him. As her hoof neared, his hand shot up, catching it, and his head raised to stare straight into Rainbow Dash’s eyes.

“That’s not true... That’s not true at all. I ran away so I wouldn’t hurt you, or anyone else in the damn camp. That idiot,” Bromley pointed at the unconscious form of Evan behind him, “broke the one damn wall that I put up years ago to prevent myself from hurting everyone around me. Do you know what it’s like to have to rebuild that wall? Knowing that you could possibly kill the people you love any second just because they anger you slightly, with perhaps a joke... Or a casual insult?” Bromley stood up after letting go of her hoof, the dizziness hardly affecting him as he seethed at the Rainbow mare now on the ground below him, looking shocked. “He didn’t have to do that! He just wants you to see every single damn side of me, even if it kills you or him or anyone else! He’s... Chaotic good.” Ignoring the blood now running down his neck, Bromley picked up Evan’s legs again, stumbling back towards the camp. Applejack lifted a hoof but Bromley shot a glare in her direction.

“The idiot did it to save me. I’ll take care of him.” Bromley barked roughly, his voice making both of the girls back up even further. The aura of anger and darkness emanating from Bromley was terrifying. Applejack silently clipped the belts Bromley had used to carry his swords on Rainbow Dash, allowing her to carry the blades. Both of the ponies kept quiet, fearful of Bromley. As he took the lead, both of the mares made sure to stay at least twenty feet behind him. Once they reached base camp, Bromley picked up Evan and slung him over Applejack’s back, then snuck through the back way to his room, Rainbow Dash silently following him.

Evan tried carefully to nonchalantly walk away from the house. He had woken up to a  thankfully empty room at home.

“AJ is going to be pissed...” he thought to himself while turning a corner. Unfortunately for him, Applejack was on the other side. “Oh! Fuck me!” he screamed as he turned to flee. Applejack growled and chased after him. “No no no! Don’t hurt me! I just woke up from a coma! I have lymes disease!”

“Now what in tarnation do fruit have to do with me hurting you?” Applejack called after him. Evans stopped moving and turned to face his pony.

“You know? I don’t really kno- oof!” Applejack had rushed forward in a tackle, and leaped into the air to give him a hug and a kiss, and take him down. She continued to punch and kick and beat upon Evan until finally she was satisfied enough to talk comprehensively.

“Why did you leave me!” she demanded.

“Do you really want that answer?” Evan asked. Applejack kicked him again. “Firstly: ow! Secondly: It’s because I knew Bromley needed help. You, were fine here, but he was not. If he hadn’t found that bat thing, something else would have gotten to him, and we would lose a captain.” Evan explained as calmly as he could.

“So you pick him over me?” Applejack asked incredulously.

“No. There is no someone over anyone else. I will take care of everyone who matters to me.” Evan said with a voice slightly deeper and more masculine than his usual tone.

“Fine.” Applejack let Evan up. His torso shot from the ground and he was once again on his feet. From his increased elevation, he saw something he didn’t like. Her flank.

“Applejack, who did this to you?” He tapped the bandage on her hind. Her expression turned quickly from rage to embarrassment.

“Uh well you see,” she began. Then her head sank low. “I did...”

“Before I get a white sleeveless shirt and a new reputation, why?”

“Well you were gone. And I thought you left me. Forever, y’know.”

“I could never do that.” He said softly. He carried her back into their room, and set her on the bed. He removed the bandage and looked at her cutie mark that she had scratched through. “That’s not ok,” He attempted to patronize her. “Bad horsey. No.” He waved his finger in her face.

“Well in that case; bad human, no leaving me!” She said as she waved her hoof at him. Evan nodded and laughed softly. He laid down next to her and caressed her hair, putting it back into its normal style. Unable to withhold any longer, he kissed her passionately, his tongue darting out and requesting entrance to her snout. Her lips parted slowly, and he indulged in her sweet mouth. It was hardly surprising that she tasted like the juiciest apple he had ever bitten into. He loved apples. They reminded him of home for some reason. Pulling back slowly, his mouth stretched into a loving smile.

“No you quit that. Y’all don’t get to smile at me like that.” Applejack got serious. There was no doubt that she was happy that Evan was home, and even less doubt that she had loved every moment of the kiss, but she was still mad.

“Oh bullshit! Can’t just tell me not to smile! You ain’t Hitler, little pony.” Applejack kicked Evan in the stomach and sent him flying off her and onto the floor. She got to her feet at the same time as Evan did. “It’s on now!” Evan ran towards his mare while she ran a him. He looked as if he were going to smash right into her, and she put her head down to ram him. At the very last second, he sidestepped and as she ran past he slapped her plot. She reeled and turned once again to face him. He chuckled, grinning evilly at the mare. Her face was bright red.

“Ya’ varmint! Git back ere’!”  Applejack ran at him once more, keeping her head up to see his movements. He stood there plainly, the smile now replaced by an indifferent half-frown. Just before she had reached him, his hands shot from his sides and grabbed her shoulders. He gripped into the malleable flesh and spun her in the air. Just as she was beginning to fall, he let go. She panicked but then finally landed on her hooves somehow. She turned back to her mate.

“How did...” Her slightly annoyed and confused tone was humorous to Evan. He shrugged and leaped back onto the bed.

“You forget what, and who I am.”

“Yall’re crazy. And Ah love ya for it. But right now, yall need a beating.” Applejack rushed forward and Evan barely had time to fling himself out of the way. She made a sharp turn, still running at full speed. Evan backed up slowly as AJ kept running. Evan jumped in the air and AJ watched him as he flipped upside down. Her attention then turned to the wall in front of her that was closing in on her fast. She dug her hooves in but still hit the wall with her face and a thud. She felt a deep pound resonate from on top of her head and looked up with her eyes to spy Evan doing a handstand where her stetson used to be.

“You really are a lightweight aren’t ya?” Her voice sounded muffled in her ears.

“Well there’s that, and the fact that you just hit your head on a wall. You should probably go lay down until you get your senses back.” Evan said, even more muffled than Applejack.

“Yeah... I suppose...” Applejack said as she walked over to the bed, still carrying the unnecessary weight of Evan atop her head. Just as she began to lay down, Evan carefully cartwheeled off her head. As his feet hit the ground, he slipped on the stetson he had flung from AJ’s head. He went face first into a wall that resounded with a huge crash.

“Stop wrestling so loudly you foals!” Fluttershy shouted quietly, innocent as ever.

“I think they were actually... filly making.” Twilight said.

“If that’s the pony equivalent of fucking, then yeah.” Dusk said, holding back a laugh.

“Oh...” Fluttershy said, turning red and running back down the hall in complete embarrassment. The door opened and revealed a fully dressed Evan.

“Don’t get any sick ideas you dumb bitches. I’m a little too injured for that right now.” Evan said while leaning on the door. He looked absolutely terrible. Almost as if running after Bromley had only given him another beating.

“Hey, you stupid asshole. You should probably let me look you over, ‘cuz right now, you look like shit.” Dusk motioned to Evan’s body and after taking quick look at himself, he stepped out from his doorway. Dusk led him to his lab with Twilight and Fluttershy. They laid him down on a table and the two unicorn’s began checking him over instantly.  They poked and prodded but Evan remained mostly stoic. Only when Twilight touched his feet did he break his countenance and give a smile.

“Quit that! I’m ticklish.” Twilight stopped. She went into the next room with Nate and Fluttershy stayed with Evan. Mainly to make sure that he didn’t try to walk off. As if she could stop him if he tried. Dusk and Twilight came back into the room with a clipboard. Dusk spoke.

“You have a shattered left arm, three broken ribs, and a cracked femur. How in God’s good name did you do all of this crap to yourself? An an even better question is; how the fuck are you still even moving?” Dusk was a little stunned.

“No one ever believes me when I say I’m the tank. Now then, fix me?” Using their combined magic, both of the ponies fixed him very quickly.

Bromley closed the door behind the mare as he entered his room, and stripped off his bloody clothes in the dark. He put on some comfortable pants and a warm shirt and slipped off his fingerless gloves, laying them on a rock next to his bed. He turned to Rainbow, staying silent as he unclipped the swords Applejack had clipped onto her back to carry back to his place and put them on the rock as well. He climbed into bed, facing the wall. He was unsurprised when Rainbow Dash laid down on the floor near the bed.

“You can sleep by yourself tonight.” She said, curling into a ball in an attempt to keep herself warm.

“I know neither of us likes that idea.” Bromley said calmly.

“Only because I’m cold...” she said, jumping onto the bed and snuggling next to him. She pressed her face into his chest, warming up quickly.

“Dashie... I’m sorry... Really, really sorry...” his gentle voice caught her by surprise, and she stayed silent as he apologized in a sincere tone she had only heard him use once. The last time was when she first confessed to him.

“I was unstable Rainbow Dash. While I can entirely blame Evan, I can’t really hate him for it. You needed to see that. And... I was an idiot... I admit it... And I’m really sorry for what I did to you... I hurt the most awesome, most amazing Pegasus ever.” His hand reached back and stroked over the bruise he had left on her neck, and she let out a little yelp as pain shot up her neck, but then died down as tension was released. His fingers were just as relaxing as they were lethal, as he pressed down firmly on that spot.

“It’s okay... I-I mean; YOU BETTER BE.” She said, resting her head on his chest. He smirked that annoyingly attractive smirk and kissed her languidly, taking the time to enjoy his little Pegasus. He pulled away slowly, pleased with the blush he had caused. Judging by the stiffness of her wings, it was time to call it quits though.

“I won’t do it again... I’ll never leave you Dashie... I love you...” Silently he curled around her, and allowed himself to fall into an exhausted rest, leaving Rainbow Dash blushing and extremely happy at his words. His arms gently tugged her wings down to fold across her back, and his knees tucked up against her flanks to keep her even warmer.

“I-I l-love you too.” she stuttered, then lay awake for a bit. She thought over everything that had occurred, and deemed all of it worth it. She decided to fall asleep at that point though, totally missing the smile flitted across the grown man’s features, because Bromley could still hear in his state of half-sleep.

“A lot...” she finished, now fully asleep. Her quiet and slow breathing released the rest of the tension inside Bromley. He hadn’t felt so relaxed for as long as he could remember. It was undoubtedly a foreign feeling, but he loved it. He drifted into a peaceful, deep sleep, the comforting presence of Rainbow Dash allowing him to finally rest.

It was short lived though, because Bromley woke up in the middle of the night, confused as he was instantly pulled into reality by the sobs of Rainbow Dash. To let her know he was conscious he ran his hand up her back, his other hand lifting her head so he could look at her face.

“I-I-I...”  she attempted speech, broken up by another fit of tears. Bromley began to worry, and he was growing irritated with himself as the haze of sleep refused to lift from his brain.

“What?” Bromley patiently asked, still not fully comprehending. He blinked away the fog of drowsiness, and focused on the bright blue Pegasus.

“I thought you were d-d-...” Realization washed over him and he finally knew how much damage he had done. Mumbling to himself about his stupidity, and lack of self control, he rolled, tugging her onto his chest. She blinked confusedly past the tears, and he ran his hand through her mane above him. God it was so soft, and he continued smoothing back the multi-colored tresses as he spoke.

“I’m here Dashie... Feel me. Go ahead and touch me... I’m still here.” She blushed in the darkness, but he could still tell. Grabbing a hoof, he gently placed it on his face, holding it there while he stared up at her. Hesitantly at first, she rubbed her hoof on his face, her eyes softening as she rubbed up and down the healing cut on his face. It was sure to scar, but she didn’t mind. Bromley let go of her hoof. She rubbed down his cheek again before trailing her foot down his neck to his chest, drawing a little design there as she took him in. Bromley recognized the design of a cloud, and had to resist the urge to smile. He kept his face carefully stoic, his eyes glued to her face, and didn’t move at all, allowing the little pegasus to prove to herself that her mate was still here with her. Her hooves roved over his chest, arms, belly, and eventually his legs, until she seemed to finally assure herself that he was really here. Tiredly, she collapsed on him, nuzzling his neck as her voice, though still creaky, started to take on its normal tomboyish tone.

“Hehe... Aren’t you glad you met me?” She smirked at him and he chuckled and nodded at her.

“Yes. I really am. I suppose you aren’t so lucky though eh?” he grinned a bit more and she smacked his shoulder playfully.

“No... You make me 20% cooler.” She giggled a bit. Bromley just shook his head at the corny joke.

Defeneing: We have decided to release a chapter every three days! Even though its kinda iffyl. Unfortunately we have school. And this isn’t the only thing we are working on. I myself, am also working with someone to write the second part of “Friendship is a Miracle,” which is also a really good read, I suggest you read it. WHICH BRINGS ME TO THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

If you know Doomlord, or “Aramis”... Both of these people are now part of Dunder Shux studio, and their story will be released under our studio name.(Dunder Shux studios) ALSO, we are no longer just writing stories. A certain someone... Has decided to start doing some music for us! (yes doing.) If you’ve heard of Trixie’s Ballad, you know her name! And for those of you who haven’t... Go look it up!