A/N: Well people, sorry for the UBER long delay on this. We hit a bit of a laziness streak, and at the same time editors block. We love reviews though guys, and I’m happy you guys are making such an effort for us. Anyway, enjoy reading. -Improviser

Chapter 9

“RARITY!” all of the ponies except Twilight shouted in unison. Nate and Evan ran up to the scene and began tearing through the rubble. Including Evan, who shouldn’t have been out of bed anyways, put in one hundred percent of himself to the job. Bromley and Josh looked away, both of them allowing Twilight to sob onto their clothes. Bromley knew that there was no hope, as did Josh. Bromley had lived through hell and back and Josh was previously a marine; moments like these were not unknown to them. Hopefully, they could help Twilight deal with her new emotional weight. The rubble was slowly dragged away to reveal the bloody mess of an unfortunate, dead unicorn. Her legs were broken, and her skull was crushed, but miraculously the beautiful horn was still intact. Applejack dragged Evan, who screamed and kicked every moment of the way, back to bed by his hair. Once the task was done, she told him to lay down for a while, and shot him a warning look through her grief stricken eyes. Twilight recovered enough to stand and determinedly looked at her friend’s carcass. For some reason she turned and looked to both Josh and Bromley for strength. They both nodded at her, both of the former soldiers were stoic, but she could see that they understood. Twilight could also see that she needed to attend to duty first. Almost stumbling, she approached Rarity’s corpse and stared down at it. Forcing the bile back down into her stomach, she used magic to remove the horn from Rarity without causing a mess, and looked around at the humans. With tears in her eyes she said, “The best use of this is to give it to one of you.”

“Who... and why?” Bromley asked softly, though making it fairly obvious he didn’t want it.

“Someone who wants to be a pony badly. Taking this and putting it to your forehead should transform you, if I theorised correctly.” Twilight said. Evan overheard and realized that it was exactly like his dream. However, he was instructed however by his mare to stay in bed. He decided he would tell her later. He was extremely tempted to get up to accept the horn though, but he stayed put obediently.

“Uhm, if I could make a suggestion, I mean, if that’s okay...” Fluttershy started, ”I think that whoever gets it should be ready for that kind of thing...” Surprisingly she was composed, though her face shone with dried tears.

“What in tarnation does that mean?” Applejack said, still quite upset at Rarity’s untimely death. Her hat bent down to cover her eyes and hide her tears.

“I mean, of course, I don’t want to force anything on anyone, but somebody like Keenan.... or Bromley. They seem well acquainted with their mares, and I think they deserve it most.” Nate winced at that comment, mainly because he knew he was included in that statement after recently offending Fluttershy.

“I’m okay with not being a pony,” Bromley said calmly, “and I’m sure Rain

bow Dash is too.” Dash nodded to make his point. “Keenan?” Twilight said, pointing the horn toward him. He raised his forehead in approval. Twilight chanted for a few seconds, then brought the magical horn to the man’s head, where it suddenly slammed to it, like a magnet to metal. When the base of the horn touched his forehead, it dug in about a centimeter. He grit his teeth, and then his eyes rolled back in his head. A large cloud of sparkles flew around him and once they dissipated, a pony was left in his spot. His coat was brown, and his mane was short and spiked, alternating brown and black. He had glasses and a horn. His cutie mark was a shotgun, as he had spent most of his life killing zombies. Pinkie bounced up and down, glad that her colt was the first to be converted. She finally calmed down and began to nuzzle him. Nate began digging a hole to bury Rarity, and Twilight began teaching Keenan, now a Unicorn named Coffee Essence, how to use his magic. Nate could barely hold back tears as he pulled Rarity out from under the wreckage of the room to take her to the impromptu grave. After putting her in, he began refilling the hole. There was some ground material left over, so he boiled it into soup and gave it to Evan, who was currently sobbing with Applejack.

Neither had been present at the funeral and they had huddled up for comfort in another room. Evan’s tears disappeared with the presentation of food, but soon reappeared when he learned that it was the ground that had been replaced by Rarity.

Bromley and Rainbow Dash looked on, and it was obvious she was attempting to be strong. Her eyes were red around the edges though, and her face was stuck in an emotionless half-frown. Bromley was doing the opposite, trying to find a reason to allow any grief through. However, his emotionless countenance was as hard and aloof as always, as much as he didn’t want it to be. He turned to view his pony friend and winced at her expression. He silently grabbed her hoof and lead her to his room, a gentle look appearing on his face.

Nate stepped out and, bursting into tears, slumped down to the floor, eventually falling asleep. He had a lot on his mind; from how Fluttershy was going to react to what the loss of Rarity would do to their further survival. He knew that Fluttershy was still angry with him, and this upset him greatly.

Twilight and Josh retired to their separate quarters with a brief nod to each other, Pinkie Pie and Coffee Essence to theirs, and Fluttershy to hers and Nate’s. It was a silent evening, besides occasional weeping.

After dragging Rainbow Dash into their shared room, Bromley sat and stretched out his arms a bit, indicating she could sit on his lap. She lowered herself from the air onto his legs and he idly stroked his gloved hand through her mane. Bromley sighed, and gently kissed her between her tear strained eyes. He wrapped his firm arms around her and quietly spoke into her ear in a comforting tone, “Rainbow... It’s okay to cry... It’s not a sign of weakness. Cry for those you love.”

At those words Rainbow Dash exploded into sobs, her face pressing into his chest. Bromley scooted back against the wall and held her close as she exposed her emotions to him. He was amazed she trusted him enough to bawl her eyes out all over him, and it made him smile despite the grave circumstances.

“I hate losing...” She lifted her face to stare at her boyfriend helplessly, trembling on his lap. She brought her lips to his and held them there, as he leaned forward and gently kissed his Dashie. She pulled away a few seconds later, the trembling ending, and her sobs slowly died down to exhausted whimpers. Bromley laid down, holding her small form close to him as she cried herself to sleep. He himself just stayed beside her, keeping her warm for a bit until night fell. When it did, he left.

Coffee was unable to empathize at all with Pinkie Pie. He had not known Rarity, and he had been on his own for years. Pinkie’s silence and the way she actually walked instead of bounced in her giddy ways disturbed him. Even her hair seemed a bit flatter, but he thought that was just they way she hung her head. Silently he approached her pink form, and noticed the tremble in her walking. Suddenly she collapsed against the walls in gasping breaths, hiccuping as tears flowed freely down her face. Quickly Coffee galloped over and nuzzled her neck, attempting to comfort her. He used his snout to lift her to her feet, and lead her back to their room.

Coffee lifted the emotionally overcome pony onto the bed and then leaped up with her, laying behind her and gently probing his snout through her mane, trying to help his little pink pony. She continued hiccuping and wetting the pillow with tears, and he drew even closer to her. She shied away and curled up into a tight ball. Sighing softly, Coffee gave her space and laid down on his side of the bed, facing her still to make sure she was alright. Soon her breathing evened out and the hiccuping stopped. He knew she was asleep, but it troubled him how she was closing herself off from him. He decided that she just needed some time alone for a bit, so he attempted to fall asleep, though unable to because of his worry for the small pink pony. He moved over and nuzzled her head, her hair spreading over his snout. He rolled back over to face away from her, closed his eyes, and laid there in the same manner throughout the entire night.

Evan knew how to handle the problem perfectly. Make a speech to the closest person and cry at the end. He waited a few silence filled minutes before Applejack began quietly sobbing again. “Hey AJ?” She looked up at her coltfriend. “It’s going to be okay. Don’t be sad because she’s gone. Be happy because we had her. And she is still alive. In here,” he pointed to her chest. Every corny movie line he had ever heard flowed from him. But amazingly, it was working, for Applejack stopped her sobbing and just began sniffling every now and then. “If you don’t forget her, she won’t die. Ever. And I know that this is not like losing a pet, or a distant relative. This is the real deal. And it takes one bad ass motherfucker to live through it. But you’re the strongest pony in all of Equestria, right?” Applejack slowly nodded. After a short pause Evan leaned down a little more and ended up halfway on top of his equine friend. His arms were wrapped around her and his chin touched the top of her head. “What’s life like for you in Equestria?” Applejack explained slowly at first, needing to stop for small cry breaks, but she eventually warmed up.

“And then Big Macintosh tol’ me...” She was interrupted by a small snore. Evan had fallen asleep almost entirely on top of her. It didn’t matter. She was comfy and she felt much, much better. Maybe Evan could see what her life was like, instead of hearing stories sometime. Well, half of her stories.

The following morning, nothing went about as it normally did, or should, for that matter. Little effort was made to repair Rarity’s room. The only reason work was done was because the captain couldn’t stand lazing about for too long. Evan was still confined to bed rest, but he talked out a few farming options with Applejack. This still entailed little detail, as there were still many depressing feelings floating about. Nate brought up two twelve foot two by fours, thoroughly exhausted by the time he did. Fluttershy simply floated about to check on everypony and everybody, as the case may be. She did try to avoid Nate though. It pained him to have not talked to her all day, but he assumed he deserved it. After deducing that he may just be overreacting again, he lit up a cigarette and savored every huff.

Night had fallen, and nopony was really feeling up to sleeping. Bromley kept watch again. After about five minutes, the pony he had left to sleep alone came up on the roof with him. He heard her quiet wing flaps, though they seemed half hearted. He remained silent, even as she laid her head on his shoulder and leaned against him. Rainbow Dash kept watch with Bromley for a long time, both silent until Bromley finally broke the silence.

“How are you feeling?” Bromley queried somewhat randomly. Rainbow Dash turned to him, her eyes obviously moist. She glanced away again, before answering.

“I don’t wanna talk about it...” she sighed painfully. Suddenly the Captain turned rapidly, and a loud whimper- like squeal came from behind them. Rainbow Dash raised her head to look behind herself, having heard a ‘whump’ shortly after the odd noise.

Fluttershy scrunched up her nose at having made the two sounds, then stepped quietly over to the couple. “H-hello... Um, I-I’m curious... If you don’t mind answering... How are you two doing?” she whispered, taking a seat.

“I guess I’m fine...” Bromley said, his eyes peering at Rainbow Dash, filed with worry. She shook her head.

“No I meant... how are you TWO doing, you know, as a pair?” Bromley raised a brow at Fluttershy, and then looked to Rainbow Dash. She returned the gaze.

“Quite well,” he responded, a sigh slipping out as he finished. Fluttershy nodded slowly.

“It isn’t weird for you?” she asked. Bromley and Rainbow Dash shook their heads in unison, and as if to prove it, Bromley pulled the small pony closer to him. Fluttershy felt her heart sink. She floated slowly back down off the roof.

“That was kind of odd... But she did choose the... difficult one,” Bromley stated with a small smirk. Rainbow Dash nodded and glanced to the mound on the ground that contained her friend of late. The grave seemed to bring every bit of emotion flooding back into her. A tear slid down Rainbow Dash’s cheek. She no longer felt like she had to deal with this alone though, so she took a small jump onto Bromley’s lap. Strong arms wrapped around her delicate frame, and she succumbed to grief. Bromley meanwhile turned his piercing gaze towards the darkness, watching for anything that could bring more grief upon the little mare in his hold.

Evan meanwhile, watched from below. His grief stricken apple farmer was curled against his leg, yet he had a clear view of Bromley from his room. Even in this pure darkness, Bromley’s penetrating gaze was visible, and had he not known the man for as long as he had, it would creep him out a bit. A few thoughts flitted through his mind, and he just laughed to himself.

“... I fear for anything that dares put themselves against ponies. The scariest, most intelligent, and most powerful race in the galaxy is now guarding them, and of them its finest.

A pilot. A gifted scientist. A leader.

The bringers of insanity, death, and terror.

Yet at the same time producers of peace, love, and friendship.

Such is the human race itself.”

“Sugarcube?” Applejack nuzzled Evan, who was in a state of half-consciousness. After a few groans, he managed to sit up.

“Yes, Applejack?” He rubbed one eye tiredly and looked in her direction. She gave the boy a forced smile then buried her face into his chest.

“I din’t even get along with ‘er that well... Why do I miss ‘er so bad?” She asked quietly. Evan felt a few tears soak into his shirt. He let one manly tear fall and raised her head to look at him.

“I’ll tell you a short story. One day, when I was about... 13 or so, I met Bromley. To tell you the truth, I absolutely hated the kid for a bit. Back then, he would smile a bit too brightly, his gums would show really huge, and it was super annoying. Well, I treated him pretty bad the first few days, weeks even, yet he stuck around me and one of my old buddies. Well two months into our... acquaintanceship, I guess, I saw something terrible. I passed by this really old neighborhood on the way back to school one day, and saw Bromley, pinned to the wall by three really big guys. Black guys. He didn’t look scared at all, in fact he scared the shit out of me just driving by. But I didn’t say anything to my parents, and we just kept driving. I knew he was dead though, there was no fuggin’ way he was alive. My thoughts were confirmed, when the next day he wasn’t at school. I was so sad. Terrified. I missed him. He wasn’t there anymore, even though I practically despised his presence. But he was dead! And I wanted him back,” Evan finished his little tale, and Applejack looked confused, yet somehow comforted.

“The cappin’ is alive though,” she said dully.

“I’ll finish the story another day. All I’m saying is, I totally get ya sistah!” Applejack just shook her head, sighing deeply and burying back into the insane boy’s chest.

“I’m so stinkin’ hungry... Do you wana go get some food and make a good ol college try at getting fat?” She moaned and dug her face into Evan’s stomach. Evan’s face darkened but he stayed where he was. Even though she thought her nose touched his spine, the motion was still comforting, and it lulled her into a half asleep state. He fell asleep after roughly two hours.

Nate woke up more angry than anything in the morning. He barely slept, he had no coffee, and Fluttershy was, once more, on the opposite side of the room. He decided mining was the best solution to boil down his anger. After three hours of endless pounding, he returned with enough material to replaced the collapsed parts of the late unicorn’s room. He silently replaced them, having Twilight mold them together. Twilight looked as though she were on the verge of tears the entire time. Nate couldn’t seem to get the pure anger out of his system, despite having gone through two cigarettes. Maybe talking to Fluttershy would help.

“Flutter, get over here,” he said after finishing the work and stepping into his room. She turned and began walking away, only to have Nate stomp up behind her.

“I- I don’t really want to-” she started.

“No, you’re gonna listen. I know how you feel. In high school, I felt like ‘love’ was pointless. I doubted it existed. It always seemed that even trying to make a relationship work would end in miserable failure. Until I met one girl named Taylor. She was everything I was looking for at the time. She never let things take off, and then she took her own life. You’re the first thing I’ve cared for like this since then. That means a lot to me. I know what I said was fucking moronic, but I don’t want to feel what I did when Taylor removed herself from existence,” he growled. She nodded and hurried away. Nate couldn’t really do anything else. He went back underground and pretty much just sat there. He had no will to mine, or do anything, for that matter. After pondering the idea for a while, he finally decided to grab a bucketful of water and go shower. The makeshift shower was simple a bucket with holes in the bottom. One would dump the water into said bucket and just stand there for roughly one minute, which would be about when the water ran out. There was no soap, but the water did enough to remove at least some smell, as long as one would take the effort to shower regularly and keep their clothes clean. This was more of the humans’ concern, though. Being a pony was much, much easier.

A/N Mr. Fail: Hello again. Hopefully, within the close future, we’ll start putting readings on YouTube, and people who can do impersonations of the ponies would be much appreciated, being able to voice act would also be preferred. Also, editors always welcome :/ We’re getting it done though. We could always go faster, though. Just make sure you do that one submission thing that I commented earlier (on FIMFiction only). Also I’m working on a new, COMPLETELY better website. It will be a LOT nicer looking and more functional. Also, I am considering starting a mini-tition for a cover. Reward will be to have access to reading what we have thus far without having to edit. Again, this is all still in the works, so it may not happen, but I’m not opposed to it. I guess it’ll depend on the number of people who’re willing.