Pete watched the human Celestia from a fairly hidden spot outside of the gas station. She looked like an oddly proper punk with her bright pink hair and attendant uniform. He could tell from a distance that she was still taller than he was by a couple of inches, but the rest would have to wait. The young man hardly wanted someone to think he was creeping on the blatantly attractive cashier, and he definitely didn't want her to see him just yet.

He stepped across the street, thankful for thin evening traffic, and placed himself against an old stone building. Keeping his eyes on the front door of the station, Pete waited. He didn't know what exactly he would say, and his mind started to quickly pour through possible scenarios. They ranged from an outright argument to simple conversation. All he really knew was that he had to confront her about this.

You know it's because she lied, right?

Pete shivered at the voice in his head and looked around at the practically empty street. Assured that the voice was only in his mind, he pulled out his cellphone and placed it to his ear.

“And what makes you say that?”

The old on the phone trick, huh? Look, think about it, everyone eventually hurts you, lies to you, uses you, and you toss them aside. You're mad because that's exactly what Celestia is doing.

“How would you know that?” Pete nearly shouted.

Please, it's obvious. She was taking advantage of your generosity, you pay for everything while she builds up a nest egg. Twilight figures out her spell, Celestia gives you money and goes, “Oh, here, this was always for you. To repay you.” If Twilight doesn't, Celestia moves the ponies out and away from you. All those nice little emotional connections, gone.

Pete scoffed and dropped his phone back into his pocket, sneering at the empty air in front of him. The voice simply laughed and slowly went quiet, but not vanishing. Pete could feel the new entity lingering in his mind as he stood there, watching the gas station. Part of him wished the shadow would shut up and go away, but he knew that new voice would always be there, watching everything he did with snide commentary in tow. Apart from adjusting to his new “companion,” Pete let his mind wander on topics. Primarily, what was going to happen with the ponies this evening.

Normally they would all be getting ready for bed, but they had just slept for nearly 12 straight hours. On top of that, they had been knocked out less than an hour after waking up. It also occurred to him that Luna was probably exhausted from being up all night before and keeping her magic going all day. He expected tonight would be obscenely busy with all mane six awake and both princesses asleep. Vaguely, he also hoped that Celestia and Luna would be tired enough to not be bothered by the usual shenanigans that took place when the six were up.

Pete let out a small sigh and went to check his phone when the doors to the gas station opened. Glancing upwards, he saw another uniformed person enter, most likely Celestia's shift relief. Pulling his hand out of his jacket pocket and stepping away from the wall, Pete prepared to confront the wayward princess. Sure enough, after only a couple more minutes of waiting the pink haired human princess walked out of the gas station. Unlike Pete's plan, however, she spotted him from across the street. Recognition flashed on her face for just a moment, and she seemed to mull over what to do as the crossing light changed. Celestia stepped forward, a smile on her face.

“How did you find out?” she asked him calmly, once she had gotten across the road.

“Luna told me,” Pete replied, his previous thoughts on what to say quickly evaporating from his mind like a drop of water into a sizzling pan.

Celestia tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Certainly she didn't just tell you. She wouldn't have unless you confronted her.”

Pete nodded slowly, “Yeah. I noticed that some times you just aren't around. I also found the ticket the police left us.”

The human shaped princess sighed, “I knew I should have hidden that better. Well, now you know. The mighty princess god of the ponies, mopping up sick in a gas station bathroom and taking the money from people who seem quite ungrateful most of the time.”

“You didn't have to do this.”

“Yes, I did. Sitting in that apartment while you spend every last dollar you have ever earned is not right.”

“It's my money, I can spend it on what I want,” Pete retorted, finally making eye contact.

Celestia nodded in return, “On what you want, not what we need. If the situation was reversed, would you honestly sit around and do nothing while Twilight paid for everything?”

Pete felt the steam instantly drain out of his argument. Because he wouldn't sit around, it would feel bad. It would feel like those terrible fanfics where the protagonist does nothing, but gets all kinds of praise and awe just for existing. Pete wasn't worthy of that.

Quick witted as always, Celestia realized that conversation was done, and swiftly moved on by asking, “Now, what is this strange aura you're emitting? It's almost … sinister.”

With a long sigh as an introduction, Pete explained what had transpired that evening with what was supposedly Luna's missing darkness. Celestia stayed calm through the whole conversation, the pair eventually heading back up the street, towards Pete's apartment, midway through the story due to an increase in people on the street. At the end of the tale, however, when Pete revealed the true nature of the being, his own darkness brought to life by exposure to Luna's latent Nightmare magic, Celestia's facade cracked. The princess became visibly perturbed by this news, her eyes growing wide and her jaw almost going slack.

“So I cut a deal with the guy, said as long as he doesn't mess with anyone else, he can stay in my head,” Pete concluded.

Celestia was silent, but still noticeably upset. Pete knew that she had to be very deep in thought because the pair were walking up into his building and yet she simply followed his lead. Pete wasn't sure what the reaction of anyone that happened to be standing around would be if they saw him with a beautiful girl, considering the type of guy he was, and he certainly wouldn't care to explain to any of them that got curious why they hadn't seen her and would not see her again. Cautious as they entered the building, Pete quickly moved to the elevator, hoping it was empty, and pressed the button. Thankfully, everything on the lobby floor was empty.

“Pete,” Celestia began, “This 'darkness' is far more dangerous than you give it credit for.”

“Because it turned Luna into a force of evil? I know, but since I'm not capable of magic as long as it stays away from any of you it can be as destructive as it wants.”

Celestia frowned at the human, “You do not understand. This thing will eat you alive. Even without magic it will slowly influence you, cause you to make stupid decisions, things you won't be able to come back from.”

Pete shrugged, “That sounds like things I would do anyway.”

The human Celestia practically scowled at Pete. “This shade consumed my sister for a thousand years, do not simply shrug off its power!”

The pair were interrupted by the arrival ding of the elevator, Pete seizing his chance and stepping inside before Celestia could say anything more. His fatal flaw was that he was now trapped inside of a small box with her until the reached the top of his building.

“Well?” Celestia prodded.

Pete sighed, “Look, I know this is kind of a big thing to you and Luna, but people make stupid decisions here all of the time. Nightmare Moon was a threat because she had power, I don't. I'm a single human being with middle class income, no powers, no drive to speak of, no harmful knowledge, apart from some vaguely remembered college chemistry. This 'shadow' isn't going to be of any threat to the world at large, and that's what's important.”

Celestia shook her head in exasperation, but kept quiet. What Pete did not realize was those exact thoughts were what made his race capable. He wanted to believe in all of the bad because he outright ignored the good. This technologically advanced planet would not have been possible if humans had only ever acted out of greed, self need, and spite, as Pete saw it. There were millions of people that had the same thoughts he did, as long as someone is safe, as long as the majority are bettered, but the question was how to make him see that.

They arrived at the top floor, Pete suddenly thankful for the silence between him and Celestia. As they stepped out into the empty hallway, however, there came a bright flash. Pete turned towards Celestia, the source of the light, and found her gone. He stood there, gaping for a moment, trying to comprehend how she had access to magic as a human, and then growled as he realized she was keeping up her ruse for the Elements of Harmony. She would enter the apartment from the roof access, once more looking like her pony princess self, and they would be none the wiser.

Pete trudged the last few feet to his door, accepting defeat and a long night of pony-sitting ahead. Shoving the key into the knob and twisting both the lock and doorknob open at once, he was surprised to find the apartment quiet. Entering his home, Pete discovered most of the lights were off, though the television was on, and almost everypony was in their normal sleeping positions on the floor. The exception to this was Luna, who was speaking with the recently entered Celestia, and Rainbow Dash, who was sitting on the couch with the remote wrapped in one of her wings.

With a newfound reason to be quiet, Pete carefully closed the door behind him, removed his shoes and jacket, then moved towards the couch. Sitting on the far end, opposite to Rainbow, Pete glanced at the five sleeping ponies, then to the sisters, and finally at RD herself. Catching her attention, Pete tilted his head towards the mares on the floor, silently asking what was up.

“The others didn't want to get their sleep patterns messed up,” Rainbow Dash whispered, “It doesn't really matter to me, I can nap any time.”

Pete smiled, in spite of his fallen spirits, and chuckled softly. He knew exactly the kind of skill, he possessed it himself. The ability to sleep any time, anywhere. It was a strange and wondrous power that often bothered those around him that couldn't find the time to sleep. He leaned back against the couch and sighed, his smile sliding off. Looking at the circle of mares on the floor something came to mind.

“Won't the TV wake them up?” Pete asked, rolling his head to the right to face RD.

Rainbow rolled her eyes and pointed at the screen with a hoof, “Subtitles,” she whispered back, “I can read almost as fast as I fly.”

Again, Pete chuckled despite his some what sour mood. He wasn't sure if it was her bright colors, or just her overtly positive attitude, but being around Rainbow Dash the past few weeks always seemed to bolster his own mood. The ponies quickly grasped the concept of movies, mostly when Pete compared them to incredibly high budget plays. Twilight, spending almost all of her time on the internet, had consumed many hours of documentaries, often checking their sources and cross referencing them with opinions that disagreed. Fluttershy and Rarity had been caught watching dramas or romance films more than a few times, Pinkie Pie was obviously interested in most forms of comedy film, and Pete was certain he'd caught sight of a certain farm pony eying the screen anytime Dash stopped on an old Western. As for the rainbow maned mare herself, she watched pretty much anything, mostly movies with lots of action, and she had taken quite the shining to super hero movies. She had a particular fondness for Spider-Man of all heroes.

Tonight, however, Pete was emotionally exhausted, but physically awake, so his mind barely registered what was on the screen. It wasn't until an elbow poked his side that his brain turned on. The TV was showing a rerun of the Terminator franchise, again, and Dash was facing him. What he had thought was an elbow had actually just been a hoof. Looking around quickly to make sure nothing was actually wrong, he tilted his head at the cyan mare.

“I'm hungry,” she stated plainly.

Pete hadn't thought about it, but the rest of the mane six had simply gone to bed, princesses included, and the lack of dishes meant they hadn't eaten. They'd slept for almost a whole twenty four hours, closer to eighteen by now, and they had not eaten a thing. At that moment, Pete realized his own stomach was growling, and he let out a half sigh half chuckle. He had slept twelve hours himself, with no food, of course he would be hungry too.

With a nod of his head towards the kitchen, Pete and Rainbow silently moved from the couch to the fridge. Pete was no chef, he could make very bare bones meals, but Rainbow Dash was not a terribly picky girl, and Pete did have a whole fridge full of fruit. Rather than making two items, the young man grabbed a fair sized bowl and started scooping random fruits into it. RD took a moment to catch on, thinking he was just going to serve whole fruits until Pete reached into a drawer and pulled out a large kitchen knife. With an amount of speed and finesse that belied his lack of actual cooking knowledge, Pete pealed, sliced, cored, chopped, and dumped many cubes of fruit back into the bowl all at once. Tossing the excess into the garbage, he turned around and displayed the fruit salad to his only conscious guest, with only a hint of a grin.

Rainbow responded with an unimpressed eye roll, taking the bowl from Pete and depositing it on the kitchen table before popping a few cubes of fruit into her mouth. It was around now, Pete having shrugged away from his melancholy, that he noticed something off about Rainbow Dash. He had only known her for a few weeks, and certainly the others would have known better, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was just … off. Leaning against the counter, Pete watched the pegasus for a minute, trying to see if there was anything visible that maybe he had picked up on.

Of course, one does not watch the backside of a mare without the mare in question noticing. Rainbow blushed slightly, a very faint blush that was well hidden by her fur, believing Pete was watching her backside for other reasons. It wasn't until she turned her head and saw his concerned expression that she fully spun around and faced him.

“Is everything okay?” Pete asked with a clear indication that he wasn't talking about the fruit.

Rainbow tilted her head slightly, “What's that supposed to mean?”

Pete shrugged in response, “I dunno. You just seem … jittery, I guess.”

Dash let out a short, faint chuckle. “Try being trapped in a box when you have wings for almost a month.”

The human rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then gently tapped the blue pegasus on the top of the nose. “Wait here,” was all he said before quietly tip toeing off towards his bedroom.

He returned moments later with his laptop, and a grin plastered on his face. Pulling a chair up beside his own and motioning for RD to take a seat, Pete opened the computer, entered the password, and started to browse his favorite online repository of old movies. His grin persisted in its size, and stupidity, as he typed Top Gun into the search bar. Rainbow Dash, having no knowledge of most human films, simply raised a brow at the name. Within minutes, however, she knew all too well why Pete had been smiling.

What followed was two hours of the pair trying to stifle their laughter at horribly corny dialogue, avoid skipping the long talking scenes, and Rainbow Dash practically rocking her chair side to side in imitations of the fighter jet movements. Pete had seen the movie more than a few times, but his lack of avionic knowledge kept him from being really invested in the dogfights, though he was impressed at their scale and obvious skill. During the flying scenes however, his attention was far more drawn to the excited pegasus rocking in her chair and flapping her wings ecstatically. Naturally there was a moment early on when Rainbow in particular had to hold back a full on laugh as the discovery was made that the lead character's first name was also Pete. The Pete right next to her simply rolled his eyes and smiled, actually having forgotten the protagonists real name since Maverick was much cooler and more frequently used.

By the end of the two hour period the bowl of fruit was empty, and Pete was feeling surprisingly energized. Usually movies didn't do a lot for him, but tonight he felt like he needed to do something. He couldn't, of course, he had to keep an eye on Rainbow Dash, so he settled for quietly doing some dishes. Dash floated next to him, whispering animatedly about parts of the movie. Once Pete finished the dishes and the couple returned to the couch in the living room he noticed something again. This was much more obvious, and didn't take a genius to figure out. From the right side of the couch, closest to the big glass doors, Rainbow Dash was looking outside at the dark night sky. Pete had hoped that watching a movie about flying would help settle the urges, but he also knew that it ran the risk of doing the opposite.

”I can't take her outside,” he thought to himself, ”It's way too risky. Not to mention I've told them a dozen times that bad things could happen if they leave. I couldn't handle that burden.”

There was a long pause between that thought and the next. A long moment where Pete watched the dimly lit backside of Rainbow Dash's head, the glow of the TV almost draining the color from her mane and coat. The image stuck in his mind, but not as a simple trick of the light. He started to see it more metaphorically, the TV and generally static life draining away her color, her vibrancy. It was an almost infinite amount of time, at least in his mind, as this thought wormed through the whole of his consciousness. He tried to look away, but it was no use, the image had spread too far. Gritting his teeth, Pete stood up quickly, causing RD to spin around in surprise, and walked over to the door. Grabbing his jacket with one hand and pulling the door open with the other, Pete checked the hallway, grabbed his keys, and then motioned for Rainbow to follow him. The cyan mare sat on the couch for another half minute, dumbfounded, before a second, much quicker hand movement from Pete pulled her out of it. Her hooves not even touching the ground, Rainbow Dash floated over to the human and followed him out the door.

Once outside the room Pete abandoned all attempts to be silent. He broke into a jog, moving quickly but carefully down the hallway to the elevator. Stepping around the corner that led to the stairwell, he told Rainbow to stay there while he called the transport. Once it had arrived, empty, as Pete was hoping, he pulled Dash along and pressed the button for the ground floor. He had come this far, there was no point in turning back. Beside him, Rainbow Dash was breathing quickly and grinning wide. Clearly just the speed of going down the hall was a metaphorical breath of fresh air, but in a few minutes she would have a literal one. She had no idea what Pete was planning, but it involved getting her outside, so she was on board.

As soon as the elevator reached the ground floor Pete was out the doors and looking around, RD pressed up against a wall inside the elevator waiting for Pete's signal. Confirming the coast was clear, the pair bolted out the front door of the building onto the nearly empty street. Rainbow pressed herself up against the side of Pete's car, glancing around as he unlocked it. Once the door was open she slid into the backseat floorboard, knowing it was best to keep low, while Pete went around to the driver's side and pulled out into the thin late night traffic.

Both of them were nearly breathless with giddiness and giggles. Pete knew it was dangerous, so did Rainbow, but it was also forbidden, and in more than one way exciting. Pete checked the clock on radio and did some factoring. It wouldn't take him more than a half hour to get to the spot outside the city he was thinking of, meaning one hour round trip. He could give Rainbow Dash roughly two hours of free flying time, as long as she stayed out of general aircraft space, and have her back at the apartment before most of the city folk would wake up. Of course there was always a chance things would go wrong, but that existed with every plan.

Passing the city limits, Pete gave Rainbow the okay to sit up, which she did very cautiously. Outside the car was fairly dark, but a full moon was over head giving everything at least an outline. Most importantly, the sky was clear, meaning flying conditions would be optimal when the moonlight was factored in. Inside the car was actually much darker, the car's headlights seeming to remove light instead of add it. Rainbow Dash watched the outside world rush by, slightly impressed at the speed, but only for a while. Just a few minutes later she was more focused on arriving at their destination where she was positive Pete would let her finally spread her wings properly. The drive had become a waiting game.

“Are we there yet?” Rainbow Dash asked, only moments after losing her interest in the fast passing shadows outside.

Pete laughed hard at the very childish question, “Not quite. About twenty more minutes.”

Rainbow sighed and then wiggled her way up to the passenger seat. Pete glanced at her, but raised no objections. They were cruising past modestly lit suburbs, but the highway kept far enough away that no one would notice her in the front seat before she had a chance to hide. That assumed anyone would be on this lonely stretch of road after midnight, which Pete really doubted. Sitting right beside him now, Rainbow got a better feeling for how driving worked. It was often glossed over in movies, usually being delegated to showing the character shift a few dozen times before the car did some insane stunt. Up close, Rainbow Dash realized that it was much more methodical than that, and seemingly a bit more complicated.

The car wasn't the only thing she noticed. Over the last several days Pete had become somewhat more fond of a brighter color palette. While he still favored his black shoes and coat he had taken to wearing shirts in various blue hues, along with pants he referred to as jeans that were also often blue. RD had pulled Twilight aside that night, after Pete had left, and discussed it with the nerdy unicorn. Back in Equestria, various shades of blue would mean relatively nothing, but since they were all trapped on Earth there were only two mares with blue coats. Rainbow had been secretly apprehensive that Pete was trying to gain the attention of Luna, since most of his new wardrobe was darker blues, but Twilight mentioned that human mating habits were very different and it was certain that Pete didn't realize he was sending any kind of signals. Rainbow Dash needed more than second hoof certain though.

“So,” Dash started, slowly, “I- well, we, as in everypony, sorta noticed that you've changed things up in the clothes department.”

Pete glanced at her sideways with a raised brow, “Uh... what?”

The pegasus rolled her eyes, “You were wearing nothing but black clothes for, like, two weeks straight. Now you're walking around in a lota blues there, and we're not blind.”

“Oh, yeah. It's not a big deal really. I do have more than one color of clothing,” Pete shrugged, “I just preferred black.”

“And that's the only reason, right?” Rainbow pressed.

“Uh, yeah,” Pete responded slowly, “Why?”

RD took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, he really didn't know. “Okay, look, back in Equestria when somepony wants to get the attention of somepony else they wear something that matches their coat. A shirt or skirt, or mane ornament, or something.” She let that hang.

“So, what you're saying is...” Pete squinted a little bit as he thought. “You … thought I was trying to give you a sign?”

Rainbow Dash swallowed hard, but thankfully the car and darkness hid it well. “That's possible, but I'm not the only mare with a blue coat.”

The human paused for a while again before speaking. “Luna. I didn't even think of her.”

Rainbow's heart seemed to skip a beat. He thought of her before one of the royal princesses? Either Pete was incredibly dense or one of the smoothest humans on the planet. Dash didn't mind either way though, she wasn't known for planning that far ahead herself, and she silently added that to a list of things they had in common. Also on that list was headstrong, easily riled, straight forward about important things, but also generally laid back. Those were far from the only things she had taken a notice of, but they were the most prominent.

Pete sighed, breaking the silence that had fallen as RD thought about his last words, “Sorry about that. I didn't mean to cause any confusion. Here a shirt color is just a shirt color.”

“No worries,” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof, “Twilight kinda explained that to us. Pointed out that humans and ponies wouldn't have the same 'rituals' just because we used to live on the same planet.”

Pete gave a slightly nervous laugh and said, “Yeah,” blandly, Rainbow Dash's last words reminding him of Celestia's offer to take him to Equestria.

Rainbow might have noticed if she hadn't been so focused on her pounding chest. Her thoughts were running a million miles a minute. She knew it was pretty fast, but most ponies didn't spend every waking moment together. Ever since they had arrived Pete had been there every minute of every day, or night. Dash also didn't find him all that unattractive, she'd been known to look at the other races that existed in Equestria, and while television made it clear Pete wasn't handsome she found a certain charm in his off hand nerdiness. He wasn't as physically active as she would like, but the mare was also confident she could coax him out of a house if she tried. And she wanted to, the question was how to show him that she was interested?

“So...” Rainbow started slowly, a few minutes of silence later, “I-I gotta say, after being here for a while I can sorta see what makes human guys attractive.”

Pete's entire body tensed, his knuckles slowly turning white around the wheel of the car, “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah, like that Terminator, or Rocky, and in a goofy sorta way that Maverick guy,” Rainbow chuckled, again with nervousness, realizing she had just named three very fit, somewhat attractive men, all movie stars.

In the driver's seat, Pete deflated a bit. Of course she liked built action guys, strong, tough, fast men that would love to go out and show off how tough they were with a game of … football or something. It wasn't that Pete had a dislike of football or sports in general, he just didn't understand their point. He had fun on his own, he didn't need a dozen other people and a bunch of running around and slamming into each other to have fun. But it was clear that Rainbow would enjoy those sorts of games, or at least their Equestrian variants.

“They're pretty attractive dudes,” Pete replied, keeping his voice normal.

At the same time Rainbow was internally cursing herself, realizing that Pete now thought she was into nothing but buff action heroes. She knew that Pete would never be like that, and that was fine. She meant to imply that humans can have really positive qualities, like loyalty, and selflessness. The more Rainbow thought on that, however, the more she realized a robot and two men whose goals were completely self centered probably wasn't the best choice for that analogy. Try as she might to pick new people to compare before the ride was over the combination of her embarrassment and excitement at flying frazzled her brain. The pegasus promised herself that once she got back from her flight she would correct her mistake. A good mind clearing flight would get her brain juices flowing normally again and she would explain herself perfectly.

Almost fifteen minutes of complete silence later, Pete pulled over onto a dirt road and into a sparse forested area. He pulled into a little rest area, which was abandoned in the colder part of the year, and killed the engine. By this point Rainbow Dash was practically bouncing in her seat. The pair exited the vehicle and RD tailed behind Pete as he nosed around to make sure they were clear. He then sat on a bench and explained the rules to her. Two hours, maximum, and then they had to go back. She was to stay away from any lights in the sky or on the ground, and to fly right back to him if anything went even slightly off. Dash responded with quick nods and was soon off into the night sky.

Pete sat there and watched her as best he could, her outline zipping around quickly, doing loops and twirls in the air. Watching her fly, Pete suddenly realized two things. The first he locked deep inside of himself, as he realized, watching the rainbow maned mare fly up higher and higher, he could feel his heart soar with her. Somewhere during their unexpected visit, Pete had fallen in love with Rainbow Dash, and sometime in the near future she would be gone.

You could go with her, you know, the voice in his mind said. But that simply led Pete to the second realization.

He thought back on Celestia's words, that ponies were not as different from humans as he believed them to be. At first, he thought she meant that the ponies would wind up hurting him one day just as all his past friends had. Now he was thinking perhaps it was the other way around. Maybe, somewhere in Equestria, there was a pony that was like him, although much more adorable. A pony that had been hurt by their friends, that cursed the thought of interaction with its own species, and maybe all species. A pony that saw nothing but terrible lies on the faces of everyone they met. In thinking this, another idea formed.

The villains of Friendship is Magic never had friends. Not that Pete thought that would have helped them win, but rather what if that was the cause of their misdeeds? Celestia, by her own admission, said that Discord was once good. Maybe at some point in his past, Discord had been hurt by someone he trusted, a friend. From that action another happened, and Discord believed he saw a pattern, that others couldn't be trusted, should not be trusted. Thinking on this, Pete wondered how many others were like that. Beings of power, Luna or rather Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Discord, Sombra, all believing the same thing, that others are only out to hurt them and that they should strike first. Then maybe that was why Celestia sent Twilight to Ponyville, to prevent her from walking their paths, as she was clearly a very powerful unicorn.

More and more Pete wondered what path he was walking then. On his planet he couldn't become some sort of super villain, but he had struck first once. He had viciously torn into humanity with the intent of scaring the first interdimensional visitors it would have. To make them feel bad simply for existing, and that was messed up.

Equestria sounded like paradise to Pete for so long, years nearly a decade, but it was dawning on him that he shouldn't go. Not like he was. He had been knocked down and eventually refused to stand up. He threw in the towel to humanity, declared from his limited experience that it was full of nothing but terrible people, and he was wrong. Of course he didn't know that, but he was pretty sure he was wrong and it wouldn't be fair to simply walk away without giving life his all. Equestria would wait, maybe forever.

As he watched Rainbow Dash zip around in the night sky, his last thoughts hurt deep inside of his heart, but he would endure. Eventually she would be a memory, as would he to her, and they would likely be better for it. They were completely different, Pete was a couch potato, and Rainbow Dash was a very clear athlete. But that was part of the charm, she was
something he wasn't and yet they had many things in common. He had always believed that people reach out for those that complete themselves. Partners that they have things in common with but are also different from each other, two sides of the same coin as it were.

After the two hours had passed, Pete grabbed a flashlight from his car and shined it up into the sky as a signal. Moments later Rainbow Dash came drifting down, her mane more messy than before and a big smile on her face. The two climbed back into the car, Rainbow getting into the back floor again, and Pete took off. Rainbow Dash had not calculated something into her earlier thoughts about correcting herself. Flying was exhausting. Within moments she was lightly dozing on the floor, and Pete was alone with his melancholic thoughts.

Getting back into the apartment was just as easy as it had been getting out, and by the time they were in it was about an hour before sunrise and both were tired. Rainbow Dash crashed on her usual spot on the floor, and Pete landed back first onto the couch. The young man laid there for only a few minutes before sleep took him, his mind and resolve settling into tackling the human world that lay outside his door. As soon as the ponies were gone he was making changes.

The next day dawned clear and chilly, but neither Pete nor Rainbow Dash would know that until the afternoon. The odd pair woke up around the same time and found the house lively around them. Pete noticed that, again, Celestia was missing, presumably at work. Luna, however, was newly added, sitting at the kitchen table with Twilight once more pouring over her spell. Pete yawned, stretched, and looked down to see Rainbow doing the same and then flashing him a smile. He chuckled and grinned back. Shortly after, RD took off for the bathroom while Pete lounged on the sofa and checked the TV.

“What happened,” the southern drawl of Applejack pulled Pete's attention to his right.

“What are you talking about?” Pete asked in response, legitimately confused about what he'd done wrong this time.

“Don't you play dumb with me. Ain't nopony here know RD like I do, and she hasn't slept that good since she's been cooped up.”

Pete's heart nearly skipped a beat. He hadn't considered this. He was an idiot for not considering this.

“Well,” he started slowly, “I don't know. We just stayed up last night and watched movies.” He put in a fake pause. “Oh, maybe it's because we watched a movie about fighter jets. It really got her going, wings flapping like mad, rocking in her seat imitating them. It might not have been like flying, but she certainly got a bit of a work out from it.”

Applejack stared at the human long and hard, until Rainbow came out of the bathroom and floated over. Once Pete explained things, a bit tensely, Rainbow Dash brushed off AJ's accusations as more paranoia and confirmed Pete's story. The farm pony was more than a little shocked, but she backed off. As she walked away, Rainbow sat down directly next to Pete, his position against the left arm of the sofa giving him no way to slide away, and she nudged his side.

“I got your back,” she whispered to him with a wink.

Pete tensed up slightly, smiled at Rainbow, and felt his face flush slightly. Suddenly he was more nervous than man holding a lit match in a room full of gunpowder. The conversation from the car ride slowly filtered through his mind, causing him to stop channel surfing on a romantic comedy. Of course to the other inhabitants of the apartment, this seemed like a conscious decision on his part and before long a few other ponies had gathered to watch. Romantic comedies being what they are, it didn't take long for Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity to understand what was going on, despite jumping into the middle of the film.

Rainbow, still at Pete's side, swallowed hard and looked sideways at him. The movie had seemed to be a conscious choice to her as well, and maybe a sign. As the movie progressed Pete thought and Rainbow Dash kept glancing at him. She tried to coax something more out of him, another signal, anything. She slid a wing across his back, nothing. A hoof on his hand, no response. Pete barely registered what was going on, everything was slowly crashing in on his mind as he churned a realization from last night. Rainbow had a crush on him. They had a crush on each other. He didn't know what to do, what the signs were, how to act. And then it hit him. He saw the screen, reality registered slowly. The climactic kissing scene in any romantic comedy.

Understanding what he'd stopped on, he turned towards Rainbow to apologize, but instead he found her looking at him. Her magenta eyes were focused on him, it dawned upon his nervous system that there was a hoof on his hand and a wing across his back, and it sent another wave of shock through is body. His mouth gaped open slightly as he tried to speak, but Rainbow spoke first, with actions.

In the midst of his near panic attack, Rainbow Dash leaned up and kissed Pete Powell square on the lips. It was like someone had dropped a flash grenade in his head, everything seemed to explode and Pete couldn't see. Sensory overload crashed any response he had, the sound of Applejack's jaw hitting the floor was almost audible, and Rarity's gasp was. Hooves and wings were suddenly wrapped around him as Rainbow tried to squeeze life into him, on her end he was completely solid, unresponsive. And that scared her.

As she broke the kiss, panting slightly, she saw Pete's face. It was frozen in pure shock, and that, to her, was not good. She started breathing hard and looked around, half of her friends were staring, probably all of them, and the princess. She had just made a fool of herself in front of the most important ponies in her life. Over a human. She looked back at Pete, who was still stunned, and she started to hover on instinct.

“Uh … I-I uh …” She had no words. She was flustered, embarrassed, scared. “I … I gotta go.”

Without any more explanation, Rainbow Dash darted to the glass doors that led outside, pulled them open, and flew off. This pulled Pete out of it. In a single motion he jumped off the couch and sprinted towards the doors, yelling after Dash. It was too late, and now the whole room was stunned into silence. The one thing they had worked to prevent had just happened.

Pete panted for a moment, his mind catching up, and then he growled in anger and punched the wall next to the door, cursing at the top of his lungs. He had always thought that when the chips were down he could be a reliable guy, that he could respond to unexpected situations and come out on top. He crashed and burned like the Hindenburg, over a kiss. That's what bothered him the most. It was a kiss, a simple romantic gesture from a pony that he felt that way about even! It wasn't Rarity or Applejack, somepony he would have second thoughts about. Rainbow Dash had been on his mind almost constantly for the past three days, in almost the exact same way he figured he had been on hers, and he blew it.

The group argued about what they should do. Pete informed Luna, who suggested they go get Celestia, that Tia the gas station attendant, couldn't just skip work when she wanted to. As far as they knew, Rainbow was still safe. Pete told them to watch the news, keep their eyes open for anything at all that would suggest otherwise. Just because Dash had flown the coop didn't mean it was time to let the ponies out. They had to play this closer to the vest than ever before. Pete, however, could do nothing. He had no idea where Rainbow would go, and he was in too much shock to do much of anything after telling Luna that Celestia couldn't ditch work. He slowly pushed himself into a corner and sat there, devastated. Even his new snarky inner voice was silent. No doubt he was even more upset at Pete's stupidity than the man himself was.

The group still found themselves trotting over to tell their host that no signs of Rainbow Dash had appeared on the news every hour, and Luna was thankful that soon Celestia would be off work. Celestia would come up with a plan, she would save the day. Pete curled himself into a tighter ball. He was useless. He was-

“Hey, girls!” Applejack shouted from the other end of the room, “I think I see her!”

There was a big shuffling as they all moved to look outside the doors. Sure enough, there was a little rainbow streak. Pete stood up and took a few steps forward, his body shaking with relief. She was safe.

“She is coming in rather low...” Luna said, stepping back slightly.

“And fast,” Twilight added, shock pouring from her tone.

The group managed to get out of the way just as Rainbow Dash exploded through the glass door like a brick. The glass sprayed everywhere, causing the other ponies to jump back, along with drops of blood. Fluttershy gasped at the sight and was the first to step forward. The yellow pegasus expected cuts, but what she found instead were oozing circular wounds that she wasn't familiar with. She screamed, quite loudly, and Pete's adrenaline kicked into high gear. He rushed forward, ignoring the glass on the floor, and dropped to his knees next to Rainbow Dash. The human recognized the wounds, shotgun pellets. Pete's sister was a vet, and she had explained to him many times the affect of shotgun spray on animals. Hunters would get drunk and accidentally shoot cows, or horses, they mistook for other game.

“Fluttershy, I need towels, now. Twilight, go whip up some kind of cold pack.” Pete's mind was moving a mile a minute. Fluttershy obeyed immediately and ran for the bathroom, Twilight for the kitchen.

“We should go find Celestia,” Luna said quickly.

“Can't you do some kind of healing magic?” Pete asked her, his mind still racing as Rainbow's breathing became more ragged.

Luna shook her head, “I am not nearly as well versed as my sister in the healing arts.”

Pete nodded as Fluttershy returned with several towels. “Go then, get Celestia back here as quick as possible,” he said, grabbing a towel and laying it over the wound before slowly applying pressure.

Luna nodded and vanished in a flash, as the pressure from Pete's palm caused Rainbow to gasp and groan in pain. Moments later Twilight came over and floated the make shift ice packs to Pete. The human carefully removed the first towel, checking the entry wounds and gnashing his teeth at the sight. Fluttershy nearly fainted and trotted away, swaying lightly. Pete grabbed another towel, laid it on the wound, then placed the ice pack on top of it before applying pressure.

“The pressure should slow the bleeding, and the ice will help close the wound. This is far from ideal though. Those pellets are still inside her, and they'll have to come out. Soon.”

Twilight nodded, familiar with basic first aid. “I might be able to buy her some more time.”

The unicorn stepped forward, her horn glowing. She touched the horn to Rainbow's flank and it was as if the pegasus gained a sudden burst of life, her breathing got better and her eyes were more alert. Pete looked at Twilight with curiosity.

“I multiplied her blood cells,” Twilight said calmly, “It should buy her a bit of time, but I can't do a whole lot at once and the more she looses the harder it will be to keep up.”

The act was clearly even harder than Twilight let on, as by the third time she was wobbling on her hooves. The bleeding had slowed, but not entirely stopped. Twilight rationalized that letting the wounds close entirely with shrapnel in them would probably be a bad thing, though Pete argued letting Rainbow Dash bleed out would be worse.

“I can keep her blood going with magic,” Twilight said back, the mare looking like she hadn't slept in two days now.

“You're about to pass out, Twilight, even I can see that,” Pete responded harshly.

“This takes a lot more magic than I was expecting. I can't just cast it, I have to focus on a microscopic level.”

“Well, if you want to keep her open you'd better find some way of getting that magic back, or else I'm gonna let these wounds close.”

Twilight sighed, “If Nurse Redheart, or any pony doctor were here that would be no problem. I could just borrow their magical energy.”

Pete sighed, “Rarity doesn't work?”

Twilight shook her head, “There's no time for a full discourse on this, but no. Magic is specific to a type, unless you're like me and your energy is undefined. My magic can become any magic, but any magic I get from Rarity is going to be specific to her talent.”

Pete bit his lip and thought. “What about me?”

Twilight looked at him, confused.

“Humans lived in Equestria, right? That means we'd have some form of magic in us. Maybe mine is useless, but maybe not. We don't know till we try.”

Twilight glanced at her bleeding friend, and then at the human trying to keep her alive. Slowly she nodded.

“Gently grab my horn,” she said with a slight blush.

Pete reached out with his right hand. A second later a glow spilled forth from Twilight's horn and onto his hand. Slowly the glow covered his whole body. It was like something deep inside of him was being pulled out. It was entirely uncomfortable, but Twilight's eyes slowly lit up as Pete felt his own lids sag. A moment later the glow stopped and the tugging at Pete's soul with it.

“Well?” he asked, his voice now tired.

Twilight nodded back, “I'm impressed. I should have more than enough now.”

Pete smiled and pressed his hand back against the towel. Rainbow Dash needed to live. She needed to know how he felt. That he was sorry, that this was his fault, that he loved her. Twilight kept casting her spell, Pete kept holding back the bleeding, and his sense of time left him. It felt like hours before Celestia arrived, the alabaster alicorn looked down at him, bags under his eyes, blood on his hands. She gently pushed him aside and took his place, removing the towel with her magic and inspecting the wound.

“You've both done very well,” the pony princess said, her voice low, “I think Rainbow will survive. Pete, I think you should go wash up. You look like you need a break. Twilight, Luna, I will need your help.”

The collective nodded, Luna and Twilight following Celestia as she moved Rainbow Dash to the couch. Pete trudged to the bathroom, his body suddenly feeling as if it were made of cement. He pushed the door shut with his back, keeping his blood soaked hands off of anything until he reached the faucet. Seeing the blood broke him. He collapsed in the shower, clothes and all, and sat under the forceful, hot, pounding drops of the shower head. The blood slowly washed off of his hands, but he could still see it on his shirt. The amount seemed to multiply in his mind, eventually he cried as he realized Rainbow couldn't bleed that much. It wasn't possible. Her small body couldn't contain that much blood. She was dead. He had just spent God knows how long trying to save a corpse.

Pete curled up into a fetal position and cried, nothing could hold his tears back. He cried until the shower turned cold, and when it did he kept weeping. He couldn't bring himself to move. The bathroom had become a Schroedinger's box. As long as he didn't leave, Rainbow couldn't be dead. Unfortunately, he eventually started to freeze. The cold water soaked into his clothes, flesh, and bones. Forced by nature, he crawled out of the tub, peeled off his clothes, and stood up. Turning the shower off and wrapping one of the few remaining towels around his waist for modesty, Pete froze at the door handle. As long as he was in here, time was frozen. Rainbow was alive.

He clenched the door knob until his knuckles turned white, and then he sighed heavily. Slowly he turned the knob and walked out into the apartment. It was quiet. Deathly quiet. The glass doors were repaired, likely by magic, the mane six were all laying in the living room, none making a sound. On the couch was Rainbow Dash. From where he stood, Pete could imagine she was sleeping. He swallowed back a lump of fear and sadness before turning to the royal sisters at the kitchen table.

Celestia gasped as Pete walked over. It was the first time she had seen him nearly naked and there was a lot to process. As expected of someone that didn't exercise and lived a static life like Pete, his frame was nearly gaunt. Exacerbating this were the scars on his body, expertly placed. Celestia guessed surgery of some kind. They were thin lines, but very noticeable on his pale skin. Pete reached the table in silence, and didn't speak for a whole minute. When he did, his voice was cracked and his crying was evident.

“Rainbow?” was all he could manage.

Celestia sighed softly, and then smiled. “She will live,” relief washed over Pete, but it was short lived. “However, she needs proper medical treatment. If she remains here for much longer … I don't know if she'll recover properly. She needs a doctor, scans, rehabilitation. If not … she might not fly again.”

Pete stepped back, “What?”

“The shrapnel his close to her wing, too close. If it doesn't heal right she might not fly again. Or at least she'll never fly as fast.”

Pete took a deep breath and nodded. Knowing that Rainbow Dash was safe, for the moment, gave his faculties a break. He walked to his room, daring only to glance at the injured and sleeping pegasus. Once inside he quickly dressed and exited. As he passed back by the living room he nudged Twilight.

“Hey, c'mere,” he said, the purple unicorn standing up and following him in response.

He sat down at the kitchen table, the three most magically inclined minds around him, and he sighed.

“Explain this mass teleport spell to me like you would a brain addled child.”

Twilight blinked in confusion, while the royal sisters looked at each other.

“You … want to know about the spell because...?” Luna let it hang.

“Because Rainbow Dash is going to be infirm if you all don't get home, soon. I'm not going to let that slide. We're going to sit here all night if we have to, and I'm going to use my feeble human intellect to poke any hole I can in this spell. So, from the very bottom, explain.”

Pete was angry, the three could see that, and he was very serious. With a weary look at each other, the three ponies began to explain the spell, and magic theory in general, to Pete. The going was slow. He grasped general concepts, but anything close to upper level and he fell flat. It was hours before he finally put his foot down and told them to just explain the spell in as close to plain English as possible. What followed was Twilight giving a detailed explanation and Pete then trying to reverse engineer it into plain words. By midnight, Pete had a break through.

“Let me get this straight. Roughly, the spell involves a certain, specific, mass to magic ratio,” Twilight nodded at Pete's explanation, “So what would happen if that ratio was off?”

“Nothing this bad. We might over shoot our landing zone, but another reality?” Twilight scoffed.

Pete tapped his chin and looked at the sisters. “What … what if you were off by a lot. Like, the untapped potential to move the solar system?”

Twilight tilted her head, “Celestia and Luna didn't have any kind of magic involved.” She looked at them, frowning, “Did you?”

The pair shook their heads, but Pete disagreed.

“The manes,” he said plainly, “Oh, my gods, the manes!” The group jumped slightly as Pete sprung out of his chair. “You two are so used to it you completely forgot about it! Your manes are literally flowing with magic! Twilight's spell was fueled by her untapped potential, plus you two's!”

The royal sisters looked at each other and then simultaneously facehoofed. Pete was right. Magic naturally flowed from them, in order to achieve the balance that Twilight needed they would have to suppress their own powers.

“Which means returning home is as simple as unleashing our full capabilities,” Celestia surmised.

Luna nodded, “But, since this world lacks natural magic we'll have to wait weeks without using any to fully recharge after today.”

“Maybe not,” Twilight interjected, “Today, when I needed magic, I pulled some from Pete. He's got a whole untapped well of it inside of him, and it's potent. I think that because humans were once from our world they each carry a small amount of magic, and because they lack cutie marks to direct that magic it's completely unformed.”

Celestia tapped a hoof to her chin, “So, if we flood Pete with our magic we can transform any energy we have that isn't related to spacial relocation into undefined magic and use it as we want.”

Luna looked at Pete, “This would put a great deal of strain on you, but it should work. In theory at least.”

Pete just nodded, “Anything I can do to help. As long as you all get home safely and Dash gets the treatment she needs.”

“Go and rest then, Pete Powell,” Celestia said formally, “Tomorrow we will need your help more than ever.”

Pete nodded and slowly retreated to his room. He had no trouble falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. The stress of the day along with Twilight draining his apparent store of magic energy had left the human completely exhausted. His sleep was dreamless and empty as the void itself.

The night passed with no real issues, and Pete was up surprisingly early the next day. Exiting his room he found the mane six, Rainbow Dash included, awake and readying themselves. Rainbow was looking some what better, her color was coming back, and Pete desperately wanted to speak with her. However, Luna caught him first, and told him that Celestia was waiting to speak with him on the roof. He debated, internally, for a moment about ignoring the summons of the pony princess, but in the end he decided against that. With a sigh, he turned around and walked out onto the roof.

Celestia was not waiting on the top block today, but rather just outside. The morning was cool and Pete shivered slightly as he walked out to meet her. The Princess of the Sun was looking very stoic, her gaze cast long out onto the gray city. Her mane was flowing with the breeze, and the sunlight certainly made her look worthy of her title as the Princess of the Sun. She looked over at Pete as he approached.

“Are you ready?” she asked simply.

“Almost. I have one last conversation to have,” Pete replied, not willing to let Rainbow leave without talking to her first.

Celestia nodded and looked back to the city. “Rainbow Dash told us what happened. Where she went.”

Pete leaned to one side. “Oh?”

“Apparently she was led to believe there was a small resting area in a fairly wooded forest just out side of the city that was safe.”

Pete almost threw up, and Celestia took note of his reaction.

“You took her out, in spite of your own warnings. You risked all of us just so she could fly for a few hours, and look at where it led.”

“I know,” Pete replied, “It's my fault, and I accept that. She got hurt because I'm an idiot, in more ways than one. But it'll be okay.” The human turned his back to the rising sun and the princess. “I've decided to decline your offer, if I believed it still stood. I've realized that I need to face my life here, not just run away like a coward to some alternate dimension. … I'll be ready as soon as I finish talking with Dash, then you all can leave.”

Pete walked off without so much as a glance behind him. Celestia, however, turned and followed his path back into the apartment. When the door was shut she turned back to the sun and sighed.

“You also show proper remorse for your actions, shown swift thinking in the face of danger, saved her life, and though taking her outside was foolish your intentions were pure.” Celestia sighed to the air, “Is this why you can't see the good in yourself and others? Do you just walk away before anyone can explain anything more?”

Inside, Pete walked over to Rainbow Dash and gently touched her shoulder. The pegasus gave him a weak smile. She may have been doing better, but she was almost dead yesterday, and that was evident. Pete almost thought about just apologizing, but that didn't seem like enough. Instead he asked how she was doing and if she was good to move into his room for a private moment before the ponies left. Luna gave her the okay, and the two moved to Pete's room. Once the door was shut, Pete dropped down onto his bed and sighed heavily.

“This is my fault,” he began, and held up a finger to cut Dash's response off, “In more ways than one. I should have properly explained to you that that rest area was not safe. It was maybe okay because I was around, but those woods … people hunt there. You're lucky to have made it back, and it's my fault that you got hurt.”

Pete stood up, again holding up a hand to silence Rainbow's rebuttal, and crossed the room to the injured mare. He crouched down so they were eye level and continued.

“This was also my fault because of how I acted when you … when you kissed me.”

Pete pushed his words aside, carefully placed his hand behind Rainbow's head, and pulled her into a soft kiss. This time it was RD that was shocked, but unlike Pete she recovered quickly and kissed back. The kiss was not hot and heavy, it was barely even sexual. It was a return of the kiss that Pete should have done the day before. It was a first date sort of kiss, and that was fine. The two pulled apart shortly after and then hugged.

“It's not a lot, but thanks for helping us get home,” Rainbow Dash whispered to Pete.

Pete chuckled, “It's actually rather selfish of me. I couldn't bear it if you died, so I've got to get you home to a proper doctor.”

Rainbow chuckled back and the two slowly pulled apart again. Giving her a nod, Pete stood up and opened the bedroom door. Exiting back into the main room they found everypony gathered in the middle of the room. The bedding was put away, Twilight had her notes gathered up, and everypony was just waiting. As Dash walked over to the group Applejack broke away and intercepted Pete.

“Listen,” she said in a low tone to him, “I know what happened, Dash explained it. And, I know she got hurt from all of that, and that makes me all kinds of mad … but, you saved her life. Even if you sorta put her there to begin with if you hadn't been here she woulda … well, you know.”

Pete smiled, “Are you saying we're all right?”

AJ snorted, “Yeah, we're alright. You're a bit of a creep, but in the end you weren't as bad as I thought.”

“I'll take it. Now, come on. Let's get you all home.”

The farm pony smiled, “Now you're talkin'!”

At last the time had come. Pete stood with a royal alicorn at each side and Twilight in front of him. The plan was simple, Pete would grab Celestia and Luna's horns. They would flood him with all of their magic energies, and then Twilight would draw all of them out of Pete. Hopefully, the incredible amount of power the three held being fired at the same location would open a portal between the two realities.

Pete reached up and gently took hold of the two alicorn horns. Again a soft glow, blue from Luna and gold from Celestia, crept up his arms, but this time he felt energized. It was like having caffeine injected straight into your brain, or adrenaline to the heart. He felt awake, alive, powerful. Everything seemed brighter, more vibrant, alive. Soon after the glowing stopped and the sisters stepped away, spent. Then came the reversal. Twilight touched her horn to Pete's stomach and it was as if everything suddenly went monochrome. The vibrancy faded, the energy died. Pete felt cold all over, and tired, so very tired. It was like he'd been up for a week straight, and by the time Twilight had pulled everything out Pete was on his knees.

The purple unicorn stepped back, looking worried, but she had other things to think about. She turned around and aimed her horn at the nothing in front of her. Twilight's whole body started to glow, brighter and brighter until a beam of energy erupted from her horn. The light grew so bright everyone had to close their eyes, but when it faded the portal was there. It was just outside Canterlot, the mountain city was visible a short ways in the distance. Pete could see it as real as anything, the grass, the insects, the gate just up the road that led to the city proper. He smiled.

One by one the ponies crossed over, each excited to see their home again. Finally, they turned back to their host for one last good bye. Pete was smiling, the mares were smiling. And then he fell. The smile still on his face, Pete toppled forward. He landed face down on his carpet, and terror echoed through the group. Celestia suddenly realizing what had happened. Pete's heart condition. The stress had been too much, the magical build up and drain had stopped his heart.

“When was the last time he had is medication?” Rainbow Dash shouted, suddenly alerting everypony to what had just transpired.

The portal was closing, there was no time to deliberate. Celestia reached inside herself for the last ounce of her magic. Reaching through the veil, the princess took hold of Pete, raising him off the ground, and pulling him through before the portal closed. Pulling on her last bit of strength, Celestia began magic induced CPR.

“Luna, to the city!” Celestia ordered, “We need medical ponies, now!”

Luna was already off, her wings beating as she took off into the air towards the city as fast as she could. Like it or not, Pete was now in Equestria, but if she wasn't quick he wouldn't be for long.