Saddlebags bounced at my side as I trotted down the road towards Ponyville.

The sun was shining. The birds were singing. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky!

Still, it managed to be a good day despite the ridiculously bright weather. Because I was going to the spa.

Yes, I’m male, and yes, I’m going to the spa for a full treatment. Pedicure, manicure, horn filing, the works. Rarity insisted on it after trying to get my mane under control for almost two hours. Apparently my hooves were basically horrendous, my coat needed a good brushing and shampooing, and the less said about my mane and tail, the better.

At least, according to her, and I was inclined to believe the white fashionatta over my own limited knowledge.

I wasn’t a manly man, I was actually rather feminine. But no matter how secure I was in what little masculinity I had, I just didn’t understand fashion. So I’d trust the trend-setter that I wasn’t trendy.

I’d almost, almost turned her down because she was insisting upon paying. Element of Generosity and all that, especially around a ‘crime against fashion’, but I did have a certain degree of pride. The mares had given me a bit of a confused look at my insistence at paying at least a portion of the fee, but I’d insisted and told them truthfully that it was a cultural thing.

That day had been… nice.

And no, I wasn’t hesitating because I didn’t want to enjoy ‘mare-time’. The talks, the attempted hair-styling, yes, even the make-up. I’d enjoyed it without reservation. Even the small talk between us. Talking about my horrendous fashion attempts with Rarity and how they could be improved, surprisingly, my vest was actually only off by color. It wasn’t fashionable currently, but it was elegantly simple and functional and Rarity actually wanted to be allowed to sell it.

That had kinda floored me, I hadn’t realized that anything I’d made was salvageable, but that was cool. Only stipulation was that I got 3% of profits from the vests and I got myself a light pink one, otherwise, the design was all hers.

Then there’d been the conversation with Fluttershy about the creatures in the Everfree and the tiger. Looked like I’d been mostly right, though the tiger’s ribs were fine, its foreleg was pretty messed up. I also learned a fair bit about the creatures of Equestria I’d have called mystical when I was a human. Well, things about them that didn’t involve beating their faces in as efficiently as possible. Been doing far, far too much of that.

Rarity had quite tactfully changed the subject to something she was more comfortable with. Gossip. The two mares had spent some time gossiping, read: Rarity talked while Fluttershy gasped and asked the occasional question. While I found it interesting, I knew none of the names mentioned and had nothing to contribute. So I just sat and listened as Rarity did her thing with both Fluttershy and myself.

For myself, it didn’t seem like much of a change aside from cleaning out my mane, but she assured me that it was a huge improvement and Fluttershy had meekly but genuinely agreed that it had helped. Ah well, I’d trust the mare that actually knew this stuff over my own horrendous judgement. I hadn’t been that good at fashion as a human, so pony fashion was right out.

Fluttershy though? Damn. Like… okay, sorry, let me get the accent and tone right for that: Daaaayyyyuuuuuuuuum.

Fluttershy is a freaking model. Seriously. I haven’t lived my life as a pony, nor have I had enough social interaction with ponies to pick up on social mores, so I didn’t know why she was as unbelievably sexy as she was, but my body definitely knew what it liked and it really liked Fluttershy when she was all gussied up. I’d probably have to sit down and really puzzle over that one of these days to isolate what made some mare’s sexy as hell and others not.

Regardless, after making sure I wasn’t drooling once Rarity had unveiled the shy pegasus, I had made sure to assure her that yes, she looked damn good, stop doubting yourself damnit.

Still, by the time Rarity had cleaned up both of us, it was late in the evening, and it hadn’t been long after that that I had headed home, it had quite honestly been the best day I’d had in a long time.

We’d scheduled this day for when I would already have to be in town for supplies, so hopefully I could get both done at once. I planned to get the spa treatment done first thing and hopefully leave dealing with the rest of the village for later.

And there was said town. Hoo boy. Here goes nothing. I took a deep breath, forcing down my fears and continuing my gentle canter.

I might’ve been completely terrified, but come on! Spa and massage! With two beautiful females! Fear was not allowed when there were sexy mares to be around!

Perversion, bolstering spirits for centuries.

More than a few ponies glared at me as I approached the town, but that was expected, it hadn’t been that long

Okay, now where the hell is the spa? Left at the eatery, right at the blacksmith… no, left at the blacksmith, whoops. Oh! Right, past Sugarcube corner on the other side of the market and down the third alley. Durr. Okay, so if I need to be on the other side of the marketplace then if I cut through this alleyway then I should be able to avoi– PINK!

“Gah!” I stumbled back from the sudden pinkness in my face, landing on my haunches and blinking at the pony in front of me, “Diane…?”

Who it was in front of me processed and a look filled with a mix of emotions crossed my face before I schooled it into a more neutral one, looking at Pinkemena Diane Pie. A Pinkie with a surprisingly serious expression on her face, though thankfully her hair was still froofy, still the seriousness and intensity of her gaze was somewhat unsettling. I swallowed down my trepidation, forcing it down there beside my fears and worries and spoke up, “Um… hi?”

“What…” a hoof was pressed to my chest, “Is your name?”

I blinked, suppressing the first response of ‘Sir Lancelot’, and instead forcing myself to think. No clue how Pinkie knew that was the question to ask, but hell, it was Pinkie, I don’t think I’d ever really understand how she did what she did, “My name’s Emeris.” There were other emotional responses that I could have, butat the moment, confusion was easily the main one.

“Hmmmm…” she gave me a look which I couldn’t decipher past the intensity of it. Then the pink party pony began to slowly circle me, looking me over with that same intensity. Worry began to seep into me, slowly encircling my chest, but I ignored it. There was a small spike of pain from the issue of my name, but I’d already had a good cry about that with Rarity and it’d been a few days since that so it was mostly a non-issue.

Still, it was a bit of an effort to not fidget beneath her gaze, and my disobedient tail still insisted upon flicking back and forth in agitation. I’ll deal with you later, tail.

Pinkie completed her circuit, her surprisingly intense blue eyes boring into mine. I met her stare, blinking in my confusion and cocking my head to the side in askance. I thought I knew what was going on, but I wasn’t about to assume. Her eyes narrowed slightly, “Your name’s not Gary?”

I shook my head, “No, that… that was a name for what the curse made me.”

She kept staring, and I stared back. If she was going to make her judgement, she was going to make it, and I didn’t know the thoughts going on in her head well enough to have the slightest idea what I could say to improve my chances, thus, I remained silent.

Then, like a switch had been flipped, she was smiling, practically radiating sunshine and rainbows, “Okey dokey lokey!”

Relief washed through me like a tsunami, making me smile exasperatedly at the semi-crazy mare, “We’re good?”

“Goody as pumpkin pie! Or blueberry. Or maybe strawberry–“

My mouth ran without my input again, though this time I didn’t really mind, “I prefer cake, can we be good like cake?”

“Oooh! Okey dokey lokey! What kind of cake?!” she bounced on her hooves, her mouth already opening to provide suggestions, but I knew exactly what kind of cake.

“Chocolate chocolate chocolate chocolate chocolate chocolate cake.”

She stopped bouncing, staring at me in slight confusion, “But… wait, six chocolates?”

“Yep, it’s… was… my grandma’s recipe. Chocolate cake, chocolate icing, chocolate chips in the cake, fudge filling in the cake itself, chocolate pudding between the layers, and dark chocolate shavings on top.”

The party pony let out an exaggerated and very theatrical gasp. If it had been anyone(pony) else, I’d have assumed it was faked, “That’s genius! Your grandma was a genius! Ooh! Ooh! I could do stuff like that with blueberries! Or burple berries! Ooh ooh! Or vanilla! Or–”

I chuckled softly to myself, a warmth filling my chest as she rambled on about ideas. I doubted it was actually all that new, but still, it’d apparently made her day… erm… sorry, forgot, Pinkie, so maybe it made her next thirty minutes until she found something else to amuse herself over. After letting her talk for a moment, I glanced at the sun to check the time, I should be at the spa in a little bit, so time to move this along.

“So… Pinkie, while I’m happy we’re cool, what was the point to this?”

She gasped theatrically again before beaming at me, “To see if I needed to throw you a party of course! Because I already threw a party for Gary! But you’re Emeris! And you need a totally different welcome to Ponyville party!”

…

Why didn’t I see that coming?

… right, because I’m a dumbass. Durrrrr.

“Ah, Pinkie?”

“There’ll be balloons and streamers and–“

“Pinkie.”

“–and cake! You’ve got to show me your grandmas recipe! And–“

”Pinkie.”

“Yepperoonies~?”

“Could you schedule it for next week please? I’m a bit busy today and I’m not…” okay, what was the tactful way to say this… the town hates my guts still? No… hm… ah! A different part of the truth! “I’m not all that good with crowds, I can only take them in… ah… limited doses,” total truth, just not the central issue, “I’m probably going to get my fill today, but I should be fine for next week, okay?”

“Okey dokey lokey!” she threw a foreleg over my withers, “You’re gonna love it!”

I made a noncommittal sound, smiling affectionately at the energetic mare. I probably wouldn’t enjoy it honestly. Parties weren’t really my thing, let alone giant social events like she probably would throw. But still, the thought behind it warmed my heart, and damnit, I was willing to give it a try, especially if I could reintroduce myself to everypony and apologize. Good opportunity honestly.

She started to zip off, but I grabbed the energetic mare by the tail with my teeth. She practically snapped back beside be like elastic, giving me a confused look, “Yeppers?”

I let go of her tail to talk, it was something I needed to say now before I tried to put it off, “Pinkie, I just wanted to apologize for… well… everything about me and the curse. I… was a bit too rough sometimes… I’m sorry.”

The pink mare put a hoof on my shoulder, smiling brightly, but gently at me, “It’s okay Emmy-wemmy! You did your absolute bestest with those crazy magics!”

Smiling gratefully at her acceptance, I still had to hammer it home, “Still, I’m sorry.”

Another gentle smile and pat on the back before she bounced off. How she was able to go that fast while hopping, I don’t think I’d ever… wait… oh! It’s all in the knees and back! That’s how she does that! Holy shit! That’s genius! I gotta try that out some time when I’m exercising!

Standing up from my sitting position, I glanced at the sun to be sure of the time once again before starting off towards the spa once again. A small look of confusion crossed my face as I smacked my lips.

… why the hell did her tail taste like grape cotton candy?

The massage had been… nice wasn’t strong enough, but wonderful was too strong…

… the perfect thing for the time. There we go.

Thankfully, there hadn’t been any other ponies in there outside of Fluttershy, Rarity, and the two owners. They had been hesitant, but thankfully, entirely non-confrontational. I think the fact that I had bits to pay up front and the two Elements of Harmony vouching for me had eased whatever worries they had.

I never understood the point of the facial or mud baths, and while I’d once learned the point of the cucumbers, I’d totally forgotten them by this point. They’d been damn tasty though, and the look on Rarity’s face when I’d eaten them had made me laugh.

The sauna had been surprisingly nice despite my coat, and horn filing was… hm… I… can’t really describe the sensation. It was kinda like a head-massage only better, but different and… deeper? I don’t know, there’s no analogous sensations for the human body to compare it to. It was like… like there was a tuning fork embedded in your forehead, and normally, it just gave off this note when it was used and a softer note when it was just there, but the filing tuned the tone into a much more pleasant hum.

Urgh, it’s hard to describe, but it was pleasant.

The pedicure and manicures (they called them something else, but I’d already forgotten the name, never been good at that) hadn’t so much felt good as they made my hooves look better. Though the circular sander, grinder, and welding masks they’d gotten out had seemed a bit… excessive. Especially considering how a ponies hooves had a limited grasping ability due to the soft section in the center being able to apply a certain degree of suction, but apparently they had been necessary.

Also apparently, my hooves were particularly tough, and had required a courser grinder to properly work on at first. I had a feeling that all the fighting I’d done as an alicorn had transferred over. Either that or magic. Magic was always a possibility here.

The massage though? Perfect. I was tense, hell, I was always tense. It’d been years since I’d had a proper massage, and while hooves weren’t as good as hands for gentler massages, I needed more of a deep tissue massage anyways and the use of teeth made up for any subtleties that their hooves lacked.

Fluttershy and myself talked little, myself even less than the shy mare. I just didn’t have anything to say, so I did what I like to think I do best, listen, and learn.

Rarity spoke of nobility acting silly, of ponies whose names I would probably never remember and their troubles. Herds having issues, rivalries, successes, and failures. I interjected the occasional question when I didn’t understand the social context, but for the most part, I was quiet. Fluttershy though, actually knew who the seamstress was talking about, so she was actually able to interject something useful to the conversation.

It had taken most of the day, and when it was all done, I felt like a proper pony. There was of course, the mild existential crisis at feeling decidedly non-human, but I’d had years of introspection to adjust to the fact that I wasn’t human anymore. Besides, I was still a sentient being, this was no different than acclimating to a different culture. Not to mention that I’d spent most of a day with two attractive females and being tended to by two more, so fuck you existential crisis, fuck you.

A quick glance through my saddlebags confirmed that yes, they were still empty, damnit, I hadn’t magically gotten supplies while in the spa.

Blech. Ah well. To the market. And Sugarcube Corner, Celestia had eaten all of my cookies.

Really should admonish her for that one of these days. Yeah, admonish the immortal goddess of the sun who paid me my stipend to get the cookies in the first place, that’ll go well.

Still, it was a pain to have to get cookies again so quickly… though thank the divines I didn’t have to deal with psycho Pinkie anymore.

Dodging around the occasional inattentive pony, I slipped into the small bakery and…

… well, I would have got in line if said small line hadn’t scattered upon my entrance. Real subtle guys. And here I thought you weren’t treating me as bad as you had Zecora.

Freakin’ flighty ponies.

I walked up to the counter, happy to note that neither the Cakes nor Pinkie had scattered, though Mrs. Cake looked somewhat uncomfortable with my approach. Pinkie though had looked sad at the sudden disappearance of ponies from the line, but had perked up upon seeing me.

She waved a hoof, “Hiya Emmy!”

Very briefly, I considered asking her not to call me that, I normally didn’t care for nicknames, but I discarded it. It didn’t bother me all that much, and she’d pick up on that even if I asked her to stop, she’d keep doing it because it was funny. Eh, maybe later.

“Afternoon Pinkie, any chance I could get my usual cookies?” I kept my face pleasantly neutral as I tried to figure out a good way to make up for the loss of business my entrance had caused. My best bet was to assuage the town’s worries during Pinkie’s party for me…

“Yeppers~!” she ducked under the counter, pulling up a tray of the delightful icing cookies. And damnit, I wanted to splurge, “Would you happen to have gingersnaps?”

“Mhm~!” the pink pony nodded, beaming, “How many~?”

“A half dozen please.” Another disappearance behind the counter before the delightful treats were placed beside the others, “How much do I owe you?”

“Four bits~”

Levitating the appropriate number of bits out of my saddlebag, I replaced them with cookies. Delightful delightful cookies. Not having a sweet tooth does not mean not enjoying amazingly wonderful cookies.

I smiled gently in thanks to Pinkie before turning the smile to Mrs. Cake. I could tell that the looks of the customers still in there were on me as I spoke, so better make this good, “Mrs. Cake? Just… well, wanted to say I’m sorry. Both for the whole alicorn-ness mess… and that I don’t get to bring you a surge of business every week,” I shot a quick glance back at the door which most of the ponies in line had disappeared out of, murmuring, “Really hope I don’t start doing the opposite instead…”

When I turned back to the middle-aged mare, her face had softened, and she smiled, albeit weakly, at me, “It’s alright deary, you didn’t have any control over it,” there was something… weird… about the way she said that, but not in any way I could place.

Still, I made a face, “Not a bit, despite my best efforts. Still doesn’t mean I don’t have to apologize.”

Her smile strengthened, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Pinkie beaming, “Thank you for that dear.”

A wave of relaxation went through me at her acceptance of my apology. Almost made me happy enough to ignore the fact that I hadn’t the slightest clue what to say now. Thankfully, Pinkie Pie.

Yes, that’s a proper sentence, Pinkie Pie is simultaneously a noun, pronoun, adjective, and verb. Bite me.

The pink mare practically exploded like a firecracker, confetti included, and began babbling about a ‘making up’ party at a words-per-minute speed that I… didn’t really care to try and calculate. Long story short, she spoke fast. My best guess was that she was talking about making my ‘Welcome Emeris to Ponyville’ Party would have to be converted to also be a ‘Apologizing for a Terrible Curse that He had no Control Over’ party.

Mrs. Cake and I shared a glance before looking back at the stream of consciousness that was Pinkie Pie. The older mare gently put a hoof on the party-pony’s shoulder, “Now Pinkie, let’s let him go, he’s probably got plenty more to do today.”

I nodded in agreement, but from the way Pinkie Pie shut up right away with her customary ‘Okey dokey lokey!’, I had a sneaking suspicion that she’d done that to diffuse the awkward moment. Random she might be, but socially observant as hell she was as well.

Yoda my mentor still was not. Hrrrmmm.

I exited the confectionary bakery with a surprising amount of grace, the slightest of springs in my step. Progress. One pony at a time if need be, I’d make up for that ridiculous curse.

And now… for food shopping. Joys.

So far, so… painful? Awkward? Eh, not perfect, but close enough. I didn’t know how to haggle, and since Celestia would likely be cutting my stipend now that I didn’t need it, I would probably have to learn. But still, the hurting ‘wallet’ wasn’t as big of a deal as the hurt feelings. Money is replaceable, feelings are considerably less so.

They weren’t mean… well, most of them, the cucumber salesman had been rather… vicious. He’d snapped at me. Both verbally and physically. I think his daughter might’ve been one of my usual herd of fanmares, so… yeah. Couldn’t really blame the guy. But most every other vendor, while cold, had at least accepted my apology and gave me service.

Still, I had a wide assortment of vegetables, a solid amount of salt and sugar cubes, what else… what else…

My eyes scanned the marketplace, something easily done with my still surprising height (I’d been on the shorter end of average as a human! Why the hell was I the second tallest stallion here?!) and the bubble of space most ponies afforded me. Wish I could say I wasn’t bothered by it, but a small part of me was, ah well, I’ll deal.

Something jumped out at me though, bright blonde hair, orange coat, Stetson hat, apples, oh Celestia the apples. What she was selling looked pretty good too.

So that’s where Applejack had set up her stand.

A part of me was determined to shy away from the aggressive mare, but the more logical and by far more dominant side of me squashed it like a bug. She hadn’t been that aggressive, despite how much my brain wanted to group her and Twilight together. I wanted to be her friend, I also wanted to know what I’d done to make her act like that. Only way to find out was to walk over there and ask… and apologize and ask how I could make it up to her, because I wasn’t about to let her be mad at me if I could help it.

Taking a slow breath, I gathered up all the courage I had, all three drops of it. Despite the quivering fear in my ribcage, I walked towards the cowgirl (pony?) and her stand.

As had been the case so far during the day, as I approached the stand, the ponies that had been buying basically vanished. Skittish little bastards.

Applejack was quite obviously confused at the sudden disappearance of her customers. And I couldn’t particularly blame her, it was a dick move to be honest. Her look changed quite quickly when she noticed me though, going from confusion to what I assumed was a simmering anger in about half a second.

I swallowed, but steeled my heart, continuing my walk towards her. Thankfully, she didn’t really look as angry as she had last time we’d spoken.

A quick glance at the customers I’d ‘scared’ off, “Sorry about that…”

She snorted, but thankfully the simmering look wasn’t aimed at me, though the look she did aim at me wasn’t much better, “Alright, what d’you want?”

I didn’t cringe. I didn’t. But damn did I want to. Regardless, I met her vivid green eyes with my own, “I want to apologize.”

“And what, precisely, are ya apologizin’ f’er?” Aha! I knew that trick. It was a ‘girlfriend’ trick to get a guy to confess to things that she didn’t know about. Thing is, I knew exactly what I was apologizing for.

“Everything that needs it. But specifically? What that curse did to you and other ponies, and how I had to act to keep it from getting worse…” my eyes broke away from hers as a failure of mine flitted through my head, “And for failing to protect the Apple farm near Fillydelphia. I didn’t get there fast enough to turn the Ursa aside… I’m sorry.”

She was quiet a long moment after that before speaking, her voice surprisingly gentle, “Ah’m happy y’er apologizin’ for the first two. And that ain’t gonna be enough to make up f’er all that ya did. But ya’ don’t have to apologize f’er that last one. T’wasn’t y’er fault. According to Celestia, you weren’t even on this side of Equestria when the news came, and you were off so fast it shook the windows even here on the farm when ya passed by. You did y’er best to stop it, can’t blame yerself for that’n.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty for it…” I muttered. Still, I (metaphorically) shook that off with a sigh, “Still, if a simple apology won’t help for everything, what will? I want to make it up to you and everpony else that’s been affected by my curse for the past two years.”

“Well…” I seemed to have thrown the farm-mare for a loop, a small one, but still, “Ah don’t rightly know. Ah just know that a little ‘ah’m sorry’ ain’t gonna cut it.”

“’Fraid of that…” I murmured, irritated with myself for already slipping into my own southern accent, something closer to Georgia than her ‘Tenessee’ accent. My brain worked desperately for something that I could do… work… “How about I work the farm for you, two weeks, no pay. Best effort I can provide.”

Applejack blinked, “That… that might be a good start, sure. But, ya sure? Farm-work ain’t easy, and ya are a unicorn.”

“I’m probably not as strong as Big Mac, but I’ve worked on smaller scale farms before with my grandparents and I’ll give it my all.”

“Ah dunno…”

“Applejack, I can’t promise I’ll be extremely helpful, but I can, and do promise you that I won’t get in the way and I’ll lighten your workload.”

I didn’t waver under her gaze, keeping my eyes on hers as the considering look crossed her face as she scratched her chin with a hoof. Eventually though, the orange mare nodded, “Alright, I’ll let ya try,” a hoof was jabbed in my direction, “But if ah tell ya to do something, you’d best do it. Y’er gonna be there every day before sunrise, already fed,” I nodded at both, fully expecting them and not bothered by them.

It was then that she leaned over her stall, her hoof touching my chest threateningly, her voice suddenly dropping into a dangerous whisper, “And you’d best not even touch m’ah sister.”

I stared at her for a moment before my jaw dropped as the implication sunk in, “I… I would never… I…” I shut my mouth, my eyes hard. I didn’t know why she felt that I’d hurt them, but damnit, I wouldn’t and I had to assure her.

So I made a promise. A very solemn promise. An oath. A geas. A binding on my name and soul. “Applejack, I swear to you, on my horn and soul, as Emeris Fillson, until the time you release me, I will allow no harm to come to your siblings while I draw breath. Should any true harm come to them that I would have been able to prevent, my magic shall turn against me, and a mark of my shame shall superimpose itself upon my cutie mark.”

I meant it.

The attractive mare blinked a few times, “You… you jus’ did magic…”

“I just made a promise.”

Her mouth worked quietly for a moment, “That… that stuff’ll really happen if you break it?”

“Yes.”

Applejack sort of fell onto her haunches, staring at me in surprise, “That… that just might be more bindin’ than a Pinkie Promise.”

I shrugged as best as a standing pony could, “I meant it. I want you to trust me, and I would never hurt you or your family.”

Her mouth worked silently for a moment before she gave me a surprisingly appraising look, “Well alright then.”

Everyone knows how horrendous the sound of an alarm clock going off is.

Now imagine that alarm clock is in your brain.

Welcome to my life.

Mind you, it’s not that bad. But still, I wish I’d known another kind of alarm-clock spell than one that sounded in my head. Why couldn’t I remember another one instead of this one? Urgh.

Still, I rolled over Droolykins, ignoring his unhappy meow as I fell out of the bed with a thump. Navigating the house by memory and sound and the occasional furniture-detection-device-usage (A.K.A. – Shin meet chair, cuss repeatedly) I was able to get myself a quick breakfast before throwing on my pink vest and saddlebags with lunch and drinks and heading out towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Yes, I was walking through the Everfree right before dawn.

Fuck you Everfree. I was bristling with shining telekinetic blades. I had not had my tea today and I wasn’t in the mood.

Caffine tended to go badly with heavy labor that involved a lot of sweating and being far from a bathroom. Personal experience. Thankfully, I wouldn’t have to worry about sunburn.

The sky was starting to show the first signs of the rising sun, color starting to spread through the clouds as I walked along the path towards the Apple household. I have to admit, I liked Celestia’s sunrises quite a bit, but I still preferred sunsets.

There was no one outside yet, but the lights of the home were on so ponies were up. So with a nod to myself, I trotted right up to the house and knocked.

There was some commotion in the house at the sound, and I didn’t have to wait long before the door opened, a wide awake Applejack shrouded by the light of the house, “Morning, Applejack, reporting for duty,” I saluted.

Her eyebrow quirked up, but a small smile did play across her face, “Alright then, we’re just finishin’ up breakfast. You ate already right?”

“Mhm.”

“Alright then, ah’ll show you what we’re doin’,” she turned and called over her shoulder into the house, “Applebloom! You clean up the dishes before headin to school, ya hear?” I could hear the little filly in the house shouting back a response even as the orange mare stepped in front of me stepped out of the house, closing the door behind her as she lead me to the fields.

“I’m going to hazard a guess that magic is forbidden in this work?”

“Eyup. Not while y'er workin' to prove y'er sorry at very least,” she said with a flat look.

I winced a bit, "Right." Yeah, that made sense. Welp, there went my plans to make things easier with magic. Curses, foiled again.

Plows… are heavy.

And hard to pull.

Ow.

Ow, my everything.

It’d been a while since I’d hurt this much. Ow.

Again, at least I didn’t have to worry about sunburn. Thank Celestia for little favors.

End of the line.

With a grunt, I heaved the plow up and out of the soil, grabbed it with my teeth, and hefted it over the appropriate distance and setting it back down. Three hooflengths. Right.

I thumped my forehooves on the top of the plow, pushing the tip back into the dirt before getting back in front of it. A quick glance confirmed that the last row I’d done was, just as planned, straight as an arrow. Hah.

With a quick adjustment, I made sure the straps and harness around my shoulders wouldn’t tug at anything uncomfortably and began to tug, keeping my eyes ahead of me and the row beside me at the appropriate distance. Something appeared in the corner of my eye though, big and red.

I gave Big Mac a nod of acknowledgement as I kept pushing along, having to dig my hooves into the dirt a bit to tug past some of the harder parts of the field. Still, I kept an ear turned to the bigger stallion as I worked, in case he had something to say, a correction to what I was doing, advice, or an admonishment.

The Apple sibling walked beside me for a moment, and I thanked my experience in high-school marching band for being able to actually see him out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t even have to try to look over to actually see him. Conclusion: Yeah, I was almost as tall as the big guy, but he probably weighed half again what I did. Big Mac is a lot bigger in person than he is on screen. He’s built like a freakin’ war horse.

Muscle, sinew, bone, all in a large yet unimposing package. I wasn’t attracted to males, but there was nothing wrong with admitting that he was a fine specimen of the Earth Pony subspecies.

“Y’er helpin’.”

“Mhm,” I can be laconic too big guy, especially when I’m working my ass off.

“Applejack says you ain’t gonna be paid.”

“Nope.”

He was quiet for a long moment as we walked, me dragging the plow behind me. Then he spoke again, “Y’er sure about that?”

I took a moment to unpack the statement in my head, making sure I wasn’t missing any of the subtleties that might sneak into the phrase due to his laconic tendencies, “I’ve gotta make up for the mess I’ve caused somehow, and this is a good start.” The plow clanked as it met rock, and I looked back at it with a scowl, pulling the rock out with my magic and chucking it to the side before starting to tug again, “I’m sorry for all that, by the way.”

Again, a long silence from the larger stallion as we walked. Thankfully, it was a comfortable one, neither of us was particularly bothered by silence it seemed. No surprise there.

Then big red spoke, “I’m sorry,” I blinked and turned to the big guy, raising an eyebrow even as I pulled the plow along. The hell was he apologizing for? Big Mac shifted uncomfortably, a light pink coming to his cheeks as he gestured vaguely with his hoof, “F’er… y’know… uh… tryin’ to…”

Oh. Those times. I rolled my eyes, “Don’t worry, that stuff was more my fault than yours. Stupid curse made ponies act that way.”

“Ah still–“ this time I cut him off, stopping and pointing a hoof at the larger stallion, meeting his eyes.

“No. Don’t. You weren’t the only stallion affected like that. And just because you were the strongest, doesn’t mean you got the closest. It made me uncomfortable, sure, but a lot of the effects of the curse did.”

“But ah tried to mount you!”

This time I poked him in the chest with my hoof, eyes hard, “So. Damned. What. Shining Armor tried to mount me. Hell, half the damn Royal Guard has tried to mount me! You were not the only stallion that tried to mount me, and it was entirely the fault of my curse. There’s nothing to apologize for,” he looked like he was going to argue, but I wasn’t going to have any of it, “And don’t you dare give me some crap about how you should’ve resisted it. That damn magic affected even Luna. You did absolutely nothing wrong, and had no control over your actions.”

Big Mac deflated, looking away and murmuring softly, “Ah still feel bad about it though.”

I could easily sympathize with that, my hoof dropping to the dirt again and I’m certain that my look softened by several magnitudes, “I know… I totally understand. But trust me, you have nothing to apologize for.”

The red stallion turned and gave me a confused look and I raised an eyebrow myself, eventually I asked, “What?”

“How do you know how that feels?”

A morose feeling swept over me at that, “Doesn’t matter how much evidence says otherwise, how much logic might disagree, I always feel like the effects of the curse were my fault. My head says one thing, my heart says another…” I trailed off before shaking the excessive introspection off, “So yeah, I kinda know the feeling.”

A silence fell over us as he absorbed that. Though when a drop of sweat fell from my muzzle, I was reminded that I was supposed to be doing work. With a bit of a heave, I tugged at the plow once more, pulling it through the dirt, Big Mac walking beside me, his face pensive.

He didn’t speak when we reached the end of the row, but when I moved to pull the plow free, he grabbed it with his teeth, wrenching it from the dirt with ease and moving it for me.

I got back into place to pull the plow, looking at the bigger stallion for a long moment, “So… we’re cool?”

“Eyup.”

A happy warmth spread through my chest as I turned back to pulling the plow.

Progress. I loved it.

The end of day four of my arduous work on the farm.

Still hard as hell.

Heh, knowing myself, it’d be a month before my body acclimated to this kind of work. I’d started eating lunch with the older two Apple siblings. None of us talked much about anything aside from the work, what needed to be done, and anything I might be able to help with. Though their reaction to finding out that my name was Emeris had been a bit amusing.

“Y’er name ain’t Gary?”

“Nope.”

“Why… why’d you lie about that?”

“Because callin’ that… thing that I was by my name felt like far more of a lie. Didn’t want to associate that thing and its effects with me any more than I could help…”

“Oh… that… that makes sense…” The look on her face had been priceless.

Aside from the first day, I’d been doing mostly construction work. Unicorn magic was extremely helpful in repairing things, especially my constructs once I figured out how to replace the constructs with matter drawn from the air and conjuring material from my own energy.

It was a bit draining, but it’s hard to beat being able to simultaneously put twenty nails into a structure at once while holding it all in place by yourself.

I could, in thirty minutes, do a whole days work for the Apple siblings when it came to construction, just because of my magic and already there construction skills.

I had been quite surprised by the relative lack of building standards. While the buildings were superficially similar to the buildings I was accustomed to and had some extremely inventive systems of interlocking beams… I had been able to improve the resilience of the buildings, particularly the barn. Most of what I did involved interlocking boards or ones that needed to be nailed to one another or metal construction braces to hold beams together.

Most of it wasn’t all that complicated, but it made more sense for a species that had two manipulating digits rather than one and a half. A mouth and two pseudo-suction-capable hooves could do a surprisingly large amount, and unicorns had as many manipulation ‘limbs’ as they needed, but the amount of dexterity and the thinking it was conducive to were subtly different.

Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if equestrians were actually aware of the techniques, but that they were a professional-exclusive kind of thing and not something a group of farm-ponies would have the training to do.

It was definitely something to look up later on, or ask Rarity about, she’d know. I mused on the best sources of information on Equestrian economic structures and systems while I entered the Everfree forest.

Admittedly, I was rather zoned out, working like I had all day tended to make me creative and thoughtful.

That said, I had to shake it off, the sun was getting low in the sky and the Everfree was unbelievably dangerous at night. I could handle myself even as tired as I was, but not paying attention would’ve been asking for trouble. Something tingled at the edges of my senses, someone or something was following me already.

Still, I didn’t really bristle, as cliché as it may sound, I sensed no hostility from whatever was following me, at least not yet.

It’s not really a sense, at least not in the way the Pinkie Sense or full on ESP is. It’s a combination of the normal five senses and my magical sense, and my brain processing all of the little data points and information quickly enough to get a general idea of what was going on, but not able to pick out the individual bits.

An out of place twig snapping. Rustling bushes a bit too close. Dead zones of sound, where the birds and bugs weren’t making noise. Things like that. I wasn’t consciously registering most of it, but all together, it gave me a general sense of what was going on.

That said, whoever or whatever was following me was making my ears twitch, though they/it seemed to be falling behind the deeper we went into the forest. After about fifteen minutes, they were on the edges of my senses, but seemed to be struggling.

A bit weird, couldn’t place it to be honest, but whatever.

The bigger concern were the Timber wolves I could hear. They made a distinct creaking noise that I recognized from working on my grandparents orange grove and woodworking with my dad. It was very, very soft, but it was different from the normal sounds of the forest, and they tended to make the birds go quiet as well in passing. Though there were fewer and fewer birds out and making noise this close to sunset.

It was… hoo boy, that’s a big pack.

… damn, correction, that’s a fucking huge pack, that’s at least 30 of them, holy shit, I’d really better get moving, I don’t think I even could handle that many and I definitely don’t want to find ou–

A howl.

A scream.

That was a pony.

My eyes widened.

That was Applebloom.

That was Applebloom!

I didn’t see the trees, I didn’t feel the branches whipping against me as I galloped at full tilt through the forest, I didn’t pay attention to anything but the direction the sound had come from.

Celestia, please let me be in time.

Timber wolves, scattered about, in a loose circle, they snapped at me as I dodged past them, my eyes searching for– there!

A large Timber Wolf was stalking towards the small filly backed up against a tree.

No time.

I shoulder-checked the damn thing. It might’ve been three times my size and made of wood, but I’d been going full speed and it would move.

The predator went flying even as I skidded to a halt. I didn’t have time to care about what happened to it, another one had launched itself after me as I’d ran past. My fury, my fear, I focused it on its new target.

The sword-construct slammed into the wolf’s chest, a broadsword of anger and will that impaled the wolf into a tree not far away.

Another wolf, running at me. I swung my attention, and with it, my rage. The emerald hammer was nearly the size of the wolf and sent it skidding away as well. Then there was pain in my side.

I snarled as I turned, a wolf had clawed at me as it ran by, aiming for Applebloom behind me.

No.

I spun on my back hooves, rearing up and slamming my forehooves down on the timber wolf’s back hard enough to shatter it, breaking it into half. There was a sound nearby. I ignored the wolf’s pained scream and grabbed the back of its broad neck with my teeth and swung myself around, throwing the front half of the dying timber wolf into its oncoming companion.

The wolf yelped as it’s packmate impacted it and I could hear more than a few growls about me, but no more approached.

Damnit. Damnit damnit damnit.

Slowly, I backed up and placed myself over the small filly, she was whimpering beneath me as my eyes scanned the ring of predators around us.

Could I fight them all? The thought was immediately discarded. No, too many. I didn’t think I would survive such a fight, but there was no way I could protect Applebloom too. Her life was priority one.

Draw them away? No. Too risky. Applebloom’s safety. The wolves began to circle.

Could I manage their numbers at all? No. There weren’t any good places anywhere nearby to negate their numbers advantage.

A glance at my wounded side. Slight bleeding. Barely got past the skin. Flesh wound, inconsequential, ignore it. I tuned out the pain.

I had to get Applebloom to safety. In a tree wouldn’t be safe with Timber Wolves. I couldn’t escort her, too risky, and she wouldn’t go fast enough.

My home? No, too risky. I don’t know if I could open the wards for her fast enough.

Had to be the Apple farm, it was the next closest. Okay. Had to carry her. Best way? Saddlebags? No. Vest.

“Applebloom,” she whimpered again, “Applebloom, I need you to listen. Can you do that?” There was a moment of silence from here before I heard her swallow and another moment of silence, “I can’t see you Applebloom, I need you to talk to me, okay?” My voice was… calmer than expected. Despite my racing heart.

“Y-Yes…”

“Okay, we’re going to run to your house, alright? I want you to get up on my back and get up under my vest, okay?” my eyes flicked back and forth at the wolves circling us, they were trying to approach, and a warning snarl made one scamper back a few feet, “Do you understand Applebloom?”

“Y-Yeah, a-ah think…” she was whimpering again.

“Applebloom. I promise, you’ll be fine. Things are going to be tense though, so if I tell you to run, I want you to run, as hard and fast as you can. Alright?”

“B-But–“

“Applebloom. If I tell you to run, I need you to run, okay?”

“O-Okay…”

“Alright,” another snarl at a wolf that tried to approach before trying to get my breathing back under control. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. I had to be calm. I couldn’t panic. She needed me, “Alright Applebloom, climb up and hold on. We’re going to start going once you have a good grip, okay?”

“O-okay,” her voice was a bit stronger. Good.

I didn’t flinch when I felt the young filly clamber up onto my back, I couldn’t afford to. My heart was already thundering in my chest, my eyes and ears jerking back and forth as I tried to keep as many of the wolves within the periphery of my senses as possible.

The little filly was working her way under the back of my vest, hopefully the thick material could protect her and act as a seat-belt of sorts, “Alright, Applebloom, I need to trust you here. If I have to tell you to run, I need to know you’re going to run home as hard and fast as you can, no looking back. Can you do that for me?”

“Ah…” she hesitated before her forelegs hugged my withers tightly, I could feel drops on my back, “O-Okay…”

“Good, now hold on, this is gonna be rough.”

I waited until I felt her legs tighten around me before I feinted one direction and launching myself in the other, galloping past the timber wolf that tried to intercept me. There was a howl, it sent a cold sweat down my entirety.

The hunt was on.

They bayed and howled as they ran beside me, the pack easily keeping up with me even at my full gallop.

Jaws snapped at my flanks and fangs of thorns nipped at my heels. One came at me from the side, snapping at me.

No! They wouldn’t herd me. I had a goal and they would not make me deviate from it.

The ax-construct nearly took the wolf’s head off.

More howls, shadows of predators flitted in and out of the edges of my vision. One lunged at me from the front, I snarled and didn’t slow, ’No!’ I threw my fury into it, a mace construct splintering its torso. I leapt through the splinters, ignoring the pinpricks of pain along my skin. I had to get her out of here.

I ducked beneath a low limb, hooves pounding on the dirt, panting as I zigged and zagged.

Wolf!

My head jerked away as thorny jaws snapped at my face, glancing across my cheek and drawing blood.

Oh hell no!

I headbutted it, sending it careening away.

Another! This time an ax construct answered its jaws.

I screamed.

I didn’t think, there was pain in my leg, I merely attacked, sword constructs stabbing at the space behind me. There was a yelp, and the pressure on my rear leg was gone. I ran.

Pain shot through my leg every thunderous step. Too bad. Applebloom needed me.

I couldn’t hear her over my panting, over the howls and barks of the timber wolves around me, but I could feel her whimper against my back. Damnit, we’d only been running a minute, maybe two, we still had almost six till we were at the farm even at this pace.

What could I do?

I grit my teeth.

Run. Run harder. Faster. Fuck my legs, fuck my heart, go.

My anger, my fear, I let it run through me and I forced myself to go faster.

Under the limb, over the log, weapons of rage speared at those that dared get close. Claws and teeth nipped at my sides and were met with hooves or head or blades. There was pain, they were at my heels, predators each larger than me, I had to get some space, I had to give Applebloom a chance.

I snarled, imagining the stars in the sky, each a pinprick of light, of hope, and now, of might.

I spun in place and let out a roar, my horn blazing brightly in the darkening forest as the air was filled with sword-constructs of every shape and style. Each a star in my own rendition of the night sky.

And the stars fell.

I didn’t care about accuracy, all I cared about was saturating the space with death, forcing them back.

There were yelps and whimpers and I could see the pack dance back even as some of its members were impaled on emerald blades.

“Applebloom! Run!”

“W-What?!”

No time. They were already starting to stalk closer. I reached back over my shoulder and grabbed my jacket with my teeth, Rarity would have to forgive me, I ripped the jacket apart, exposing the young filly, “Applebloom, run!”

“But what about yo–“

“Applebloom!” I tundered her name, my attention focused on the predators stalking towards us,”What did I say?!”

“T-To run-“

“Exactly! Now run! I’ll be after you soon but I need you to run now. Now go!”

I felt her nod vigorously on my back before leaping off of my back, her hooves pounding the dirt behind me as she ran towards her home.

One of the Timber Wolves tried to rush past me and chase her down. I shoulder checked the bastard, slamming it into a tree hard enough to crack it. With a scream of fury, I grabbed it by the back of its neck and tossed it into another tree, rushing over and slamming my forehooves down on its torso, splintering its entire torso.

“No! Not while I’m here! If you want her, you’re going to have to go through me!” I snarled at the pack as I stood over one of their splintered comrades, “I’m drawing a line in the damn sand! And not a damn one of you will pass! So bring it on!”

They brought it.

An inarticulate scream of rage escaped me as I met their charge and the world dissolved into battle. I impaled one upon my horn and dislodged it by slamming it into the ground. One tackled me, trying to bowl me over, but despite the pain of its claws in my side I swung around, slamming a spiked ball of rage into its side.

Teeth clamped down around a leg and a guillotine construct removed the offending head. A wolf slammed into my side hard, and pain flared, my breath leaving me in a gasp as I stumbled away. Another wolf joined that one, both going for my throat, I called upon my fear and magic and was suddenly bristling with blade constructs, impaling both of the wolves. With a roar, I fired the constructs away, tearing the impaled wolves to pieces.

There was a snarl, claws raked my side before I spun and introduced it to my blades. Sounds behind me, I bucked one in the head, reducing it to only so much kindling.

One landed on my back, claws digging in as it lunged for my throat. I jerked my head up, horn impaling it. With a heave that caused pain to lance through my muscles I threw it forward and off.

I didn’t have time to pay attention to what happened to that one, for another was on me in moments. Hooves lashed out, slamming into predators viciously. One came at me head on, going for my throat, no time to get my horn ready, I headbutted it hard, dropping it to the floor. Die damn you! The weight of my fury dropped down on it like a hammer, splintering it.

Another wolf slammed into the same side as the one had before and the pain made my vision blur, a scream of inarticulate fury escaped me as I responded with a construct.

It was then that one slammed into my other side, this one actually bowling me over. My head spun a I tried to lash out with my constructs, but I screamed at the sudden pain in my stomach. A timber wolf, almost half again as big as the others was at my stomach, claws digging, teeth ripping.

Fury.

Fuck no. I am not going down by being mauled by a fucking matchstick!

My fear, my fury, my pain, I focused it all and introduced the fool predator to it. The largest sword construct I’d ever made, almost three stories tall and broader than a tree, slammed into the wolf. It wasn’t impaled, the blade was almost larger than the wolf, hitting it with enough force to reduce it to sawdust and kindling.

As quickly as my trembling legs would allow me, I struggled to my feet, panting in the silence as the massive sword construct faded. There was a soft dripping, and belatedly I realized it was me, slowly losing blood.

My eyes flicked around at the ring of predators around me.

Wait.

Around me.

I snarled, getting my bearings as quickly as my blurry vision would let me. I lunged, blade constructs appearing in the air, flickering even as they chipped at the wolves and did what I wanted, opening a hole for me to lunge through.

I didn’t run, I couldn’t run. I spun in place once outside the ring of timber wolves, my eyes probably wild even as blood dripped from me.

Once again, I stood between them and Sweet Apple Acres.

I prayed to whatever could hear me that none had gotten past me in my lapse of attention.

Then the half dozen started to growl. There was a moment of fear, my heart seizing up. But fury, my ever present shield, it surged in my chest, burning away the pain, the fear, the worries, the exhaustion. I was all that stood between them and Applebloom, an innocent filly, and I would not fall! “Come on! Is that all you’ve got?! Not one of you will get past me! Not while this body still draws breath, not while this body can move… not… not while I can still stand! This is the line in the sand, and no one will cross!”

Someone crossed that line.

My eyes widened as two streaks went past my blurry vision on either side of me, one of orange, one of red.

“Wha–“

The two slammed into the remaining timber wolves like a train wreck, tossing the predators aside, splintering them against the surrounding trees and one another. My brain struggled to compute, no fight? I didn’t… no more fight?

It was over within only a few moments, whatever timber wolves had been left had either ran or been killed by the two pony-shaped blurs that had rushed past me.

“… wha–… I…” I tried to force my brain and eyes to focus, clarity slowly coming to my vision, “A… Applejack…? Big Mah–” there were sudden sparkles in front of my eyes and the world blurred, my legs trying to fall out from under me. I stomped a hoof to keep myself standing, but not before I felt something warm, almost hot, press up against my side, pushing me up.

“Sugarcube! Sugarcube, you okay?!”

Yeah, definitely Applejack, “Not… not really…” first priority, had to focus on that, “Applebloom? Is she…?”

“Applebloom’s fine!” I sighed in relief, that was all I’d needed to know, “What about you? Mac-“

“Okay… look…”

“-we need to figure something out, ah’ll-“

I bumped my head against Applejacks, “AJ.” I coughed as I tried to straighten myself a bit, “Listen, first thing… first thing we need to do is get out of this forest. Your place is closest…” the world was fuzzy again, damn, “You… one of you is going to have to carry me… I can’t walk… I can’t walk like this…”

The adrenaline was fading, and with its fading, the pain was reasserting itself. Warmth was going away, my skin felt cold and clammy. There was a lot of pain.

“Sugarcube…” green eyes met gray-green ones, mine rather unfocused. She swallowed, then nodded, “Y’er right, Mac, help me get him up.”

I felt blunt teeth on the back of my neck lifting me carefully off the ground even as the farm-mare lowered herself. The large stallion set me carefully on her back, but despite his care, I hissed in pain, my eyes rolling back as my wounded stomach and ribs met her coat. There was a stinging in my face, and I belatedly realized that I was crying, a salty tear had found its way into the scratches on my cheek.

Applejack slowly raised herself up again, and I gritted my teeth to keep from groaning, “O-Okay… don’t… don’t go too rough… don’ think my ribs can take it right now…”

“Okay Sugarcube, you jus’ hold on.”

“Will do…”

The mare began to walk, and I winced in pain at each little jostle, making my injured stomach rub against her. The world was a blur, and as the adrenaline faded, so too did my focus. Blood dripping slowly from my wounds as we moved along.

My emotions were a mess as I stared at the dirt slowly passing below us and the orange coat of the mare I was draped across.

Had… hard to think… had to stay awake…

“Mac… coul’… coul’ you thwack me a good one…? Hard… gotta stay awake…” I couldn’t see the stallion, but I knew he was there.

There was a pause before there was a sudden pain, relatively mild really, at the tip of my muzzle. Unfortunately, it didn’t do its job, it just blended in with all of the other pains, “Did’n… didn’ work… try–” a sudden sharp tug at my ear made me gasp, “Nng! N’kay! That worked! That worked! I’m awake!”

Belatedly, I realized that it was Applejack’s face that pulled away from mine after that, “C’mon Sugarcube, stay with us…”

My head drooped again, “Sure… sure thing…”

I said that, but the clarity the world had gained rather quickly faded, the edges of the world growing fuzzy once more. I tried to find something to focus on, something other than the pain throughout my body… was that… red…?

It was red…

I was bleeding… oh yeah…

Oh… I was… “Well damn…”

“What is it Sugarcube? C’mon, it ain’t much further…”

“I’m getting blood all over your beautiful coat…”

“It… it aint your fault Sugarcube… it’ll…” she swallowed, “It’ll wash out anyways, don’t you worry…”

“But it was such a beautiful shade of orange… and I’m getting it all… all messy…” my eyes tried to drift closed, but I shook my head, ignoring the feeling that my brain was rattling around inside.

The world faded in and out, blackness trying to overtake my vision.

Nope.

I blinked it away, forcing my eyes to focus, full clarity didn’t return to me, but enough did.

The Apple siblings said something, but it was little more than a vague echo to my ears.

Time… I didn’t really have a sense of it… minutes felt like hours… and yet… the next thing I knew, there was a muffled thump, pain making itself known in my side.

Blinking away the tears that had appeared, I lifted my head… it felt like lead… I looked around as best as my blurry vision would allow me. A light green blur was closest, an orange blur, a red blur, and a small yellow blur… I was… I was in the Apple family house…

Hearing returned to me slowly as I forced myself to focus…

They were… arguing…

Why?

Ah… they… they weren’t sure what to do… I probably looked horrible…

“Loo…” I croaked, coughing and trying to gather my voice, thankfully they fell silent quickly, “Look… I… I’m in bad shape… but we… we can handle this… Granny… d’you know how to… how to do a compress?”

The blur nodded, “Sure thing sonny, doin’ so now.”

“Good… good… get… get my legs first… AJ…” I turned to the orange blur, “Get… get some water boiling…” now to the red blur, “Mac… get some clean… some clean linens and towels…” finally, I turned to the little yellow blur. It was hard to think, but… but I had to… “Applebloom… I have… I have an important job for you…”

“O-okay…”

“I need you…” my fuzzy brain ran some calculations, “I need you to run to Rarity’s… tell… tell her I’m here and that… I’m hurt bad… that we need her to sew me up… okay?”

She nodded and started to move, but I wasn’t done, “After… after you tell her… I want you to run straight for the hospital… okay? You tell Rarity that and you go straight to the hospital and… and tell them that I’m here… and hurt… and… and that my blood type is EU positive… okay? Repeat… repeat that for me…”

My breathing was shuddering, and past the pain of the compresses on my limb as Granny worked, I noticed that the older Apple siblings weren’t in sight, “Ah– Ah’m supposed to go to Rarity’s, tell her y’er hurt and…” she audibly swallowed, “And to come sew ya’ up… then go… go to the hospital and tell ‘em the same thing… and, and that y’er blood type is EU… positive?”

I nodded my unbearably heavy head, “Yes… that’s right…” I smiled as warmly as I could manage, “Now hurry up. I’ll hold on, but the sooner you do that, the better. Okay?” The yellow blur nodded vigorously and I smiled, “Now get goin’…”

And she was gone with the clattering of hooves.

With a shuddering breath, I let my head fall back down, ignoring the pain in my injured cheek. I didn’t let my eyes close, trying instead to focus.

Well fuck, I was going into shock.

“Sugarcube…”

Huh? I looked up, and there were an orange and a red blur above me again, the light green one still nearby.

Oh, they were back…

“Al… alright…” I closed my eyes, trying to regulate my breathing past the repeating ache in my chest, “Big Mac… I want you to help… help Granny do those compresses… especially on my back…” the fuzzy red thing nodded, moving around me with the mass of white, “AJ… I… need you to… to tell me how my stomach looks, can’t exactly see it at the moment ya see,” I grinned a bit at the stupid humor, though I don’t think she did.

“It… it looks pretty bad sugar…”

I shook my head, “I know that, but specifically… how… how does it look? Red? Pink? Is there purple? Anything hanging out?”

It almost seemed like the orange blur turned a bit green at that, “N-No… just red… a… a lot of red… gashes… there’s… there’s a little bit of pink though…”

“Is it stringy lookin’…?”

“Y-Yeah…?”

I sighed in a bit of relief, “Then that’s just ligamen’s… just a flesh wound… nothin’ too bad… alrigh’…” I… I didn’t feel as much pain… that was bad… “Okay… I’m gonna need some compresses on there too… just watch the ribs… and… and raise my legs okay?”

The blur nodded and I struggled to remember more. I was going into shock. That had to be addressed first. How do you deal with shock again? I struggled to remember.

There was some pain in my stomach as they began to apply compresses, Granny walking the Apple siblings through it, “Alrigh’… look… once you finish that… make sure that…” a wave of black and multicolored sparkles overtook my vision and I nearly hurled… but I forced it all back down, “Make sure that my legs are up… and that I can breathe… and… and keep me warm until… until the doctors come… okay?”

Again, nods from the blurs, and a muffled echo that I assumed was Applejacks voice rang in my ears.

Yeah… this was fun. Fuck.

The world faded in and out, the blurs moving around even as they moved me.

Nothingness.

Something hot pressed up against me, a welcome warmth against my cold skin.

Blackness.

My breath caught, nearly stopping. I forced my lungs to work, the muscles of my barrel working the fleshy sacks and keeping the oxygen flowing no matter how shuddering the breath.

Sparkles of light. Silence.

Pinpricks of pain in my skin, my eyes opened to a white and purple blur that glowed. Rarity… my mouth slurred out what I knew needed to be said, “Mak’ sur’ the needles an’ thread ‘r sterilized… boil… boil ‘em firs’…”

The world faded away again.

Emptiness.

Pain!

I choked back a scream as a voice thundered in my ears. I couldn’t identify it as the world faded back into existence, “Wha–“

“I said stay awake damnit! Buck! Come on! You have a concussion and severe blood loss, you’ve got to stay awake! Come on!”

“Twi-… Twilight…?”

Purple… huh… black edged in on my vision…

Then there was the pain again.

“Buck! Stay awake! You can’t afford to pass out right now! Applejack! Keep him awake! Doctor! Forceps! Nurse, get another blood bag! Rarity, I’m going to need you in twelve seconds!”

There was a tug at my ear, that uncomfortable sensation drawing my eyes to the orange mare in front of me. How was her head level with mine when she standing…?

Oh… I was on a table..

“Sugarcube! Stay with us!”

I croaked, “Tryin…”

Her hooves clopped down on the wood hard, “C’mon sugar!” her eyes were frantic.

Those beautiful green eyes… like freakin emeralds made out of the leaves of trees…

“You… have such beautiful eyes…”

“Wh-What?!”

“Y’er eyes…” I slurred, “They’re beautiful… wish… mine were that green…” my eyes started to drift closed.

Another sharp tug on my ear brought me back to the land of the waking, my eyes snapping open. Applejack’s breath was hot against my ear, “C’mon sugarcube, you’ve got to stay awake.” My body did its best to shiver, and it was then that I noticed a warm power enveloping me, holding me still.

Huh… useful…

“Tryin’…” the world was going fuzzy again… wish… hey… “Hey… AJ… coul’… coul’ you tell me how earth ponies… how the whole farming works…? I haven’t… haven’t seen much of it yet an’ I’m curious…”

The orange blur with those beautiful green eyes nodded, “S-Sure… sugarcube… I’ll tell ya’…”

Words washed over me, explanations and tales. A pretty voice with a southern accent. Information, delightful, useful information. I tried to focus, I swear, but her words went in one ear, and right out the other. But between the words, the rhythmic voice, those bright green eyes… I had something wonderful to focus on. Something other than the yells and demands and orders of Twilight and the doctor as they tended to me.

Eventually, some indeterminable time later… the shouting stopped. The beautiful and fuzzy… beautifully blurry? Heh… mare… in front of me turned her head away from me. A little sadness filed my heart, why’d she turn away?

“Okay… okay, he’s stable…” Twilights voice.

I tried to lift my head, but the effort was futile, my muscles felt like jelly and my head like a hunk of depleted uranium.

“He’ll be okay?”

A sigh from the purple mare, frustrated and almost… resigned? “Yeah, he’ll be fine. It’ll be a while until he’s fully healed, even with magic, but he’ll be fine.”

I croaked out a hideous sound before swallowing, trying to wet my throat and speaking again, “So… I c’n pass out now…?”

Didn’t matter if I couldn’t see the look on her face, I could imagine the surprise and then the eye-roll, “Yes, you can pass out now.”

A soft chuckle escaped me, “Good… gonna do that then… g’night…” and then I stopped fighting to keep my leaden eyes open, letting them drift close and take the world with them.

Unconsciousness claimed me moments later.

Twilight glanced over the large comatose unicorn as the tension slowly bled out of the room. A blood bag was hooked up to him, bandages covered most of his body, and even then they couldn’t hide the stitches that Rarity had done.

Multiple hairline fractures in both his right foreleg and left hindleg, two cleanly broken ribs, hairline fractures in four more, his right foreleg had been dislocated, multiple lacerations, muscle tears, deep tissue wounds, acute exhaustion, acute magic depletion, Grade I concussion, Class III Hypovolemic Shock that had almost become Class IV…

Even with the trained doctor, nurse, Rarity, and herself as well as the surprisingly good on-site attention from the Apple family, Twilight was stunned that he had survived that.

Stunned, but thankful.

She wanted to prove that he was dangerous. She wanted him banished and taken as far away from Ponyville, as far away from her and those she cared about as possible.

But she never wanted him dead.

She’d been at the hospital, helping with some organizing when Applebloom had burst in, panting and going on about how Gary was in trouble, how he’d saved her and been hurt really bad in the process.

‘Really bad’ was an understatement…

Twilight had teleported all of them straight to Sweet Apple Acres. Her first thoughts had been to assess the situation and see if she’d need to protect her friends and if her help would be needed… but when she’d seen Gary… laying on his side, blood starting to pool beneath him as he struggled for breath, Applejack in tears, holding him close and trying to warm him up to stave off the effects of shock…

How could she not help?

She hated him for what he’d done, but…

Twilight shook her head to clear the thoughts. No. She’d saved his life because he’d needed it. Because even if she wanted him banished, she’d never wanted him dead. But saving one life at nearly the cost of his own didn’t make up for what he’d done. This changed nothing.

She’d prove that he was still the Gary before. She’d prove that Celestia was just under the effects of his magic. She’d prove that little had changed, and that Gary needed to be banished.

She had to protect her friends, she had to…

Author's Notes:

And that’s that chapter! Comments greatly appreciated!

Not the happiest I've ever been with this chapter to be honest, but hopefully it does it's job. Though it looks like it'll be one or two more chapters before I get to the next story arc... we'll have to see. I almost cut this chapter far shorter at 8,000 words, but I felt the cliffhanger would've just been unneccessarily cruel.

Hope you enjoy, and that this addresses any issues some of you might have had with the character!

Oh! Also! For those who haven’t seen and might be interested, here’s some of Emeris' observations of the world that he's in: Examinations of Equestrian Culture, Physics, Genetics, and Magical Theory

Anyways!

Autobots, roll out!