I woke up in a bed somewhere. All I could gather from my surroundings was that I was in a room of some sort, and according to a nearby window, it was pretty much the middle of the night.

As my eyes cleared, I looked around some more. I could see Twilight sleeping in a bed next to mine, and Spike asleep at the foot of the bed. Using my oh-so-brilliant deduction skills, I determined that we were either in a hotel or a guest room at a home, still in Fillydelphia.

Memories of earlier that day (or the previous day, depending on what time of night it was) flooded back to me, and I instantly felt rage surge through me as I remembered the dead colt. Just seconds later, the rage was replaced by sadness, then guilt, then eventually all feelings vanished.

I need to get over it...the more I think about it, the more it's going to affect me.

No longer tired, I rose from my bed and took stock. Whoever brought me in here had, thankfully, brought in Ihsoylr, my shield, and my bow and arrows. They also let me remain fully clothed (thank god for that), though they had taken my shoes off and left them beside the bed. My knives were still in them.

Inventory checks out. Don't know if the girls still have the stuff in their saddlebags, but that's not really my concern at the moment. I sighed and looked around. Definitely a hotel room. The rest of the girls are probably in other rooms. I guess they took me here when I fell asleep after Twilight saved everypony.

I pulled on my shoes and reached for my weapons, but stopped. I shook my head, figuring I didn't really need them at the moment. Turning towards the door, I turned the doorknob and stepped outside the room. Moving carefully so as to not make any noise, I headed to the stairs and went down a few floors, eventually reaching the lobby and making my way outside.

A surprising number of ponies were up and about outside. Some groups of friends were walking and talking; some young colts and fillies were sleepily following their parents; some couples were making out in dark corners...Okay, didn't really expect that.

I started walking, a little surprised at how the ponies were ignoring me. Maybe the girls had already explained everything to them or something. Fortunately, I wasn't being given the royal treatment. I could just be left in peace.

This place...it reminds me a lot of home... I thought to myself. Instantly, I shook my head vigorously. No, Rylan. Earth isn't home. Equestria is home...I hope. What happens when this is over? What if I die in the battle? What if me being in this world causes some kind of world merging, like in Sonic X, and I have to get sent back to Earth to fix it? Anything could happen...

I sighed as I sat against a building. I thought I had gotten away from Earth...that place was hell to me. What if I have to go back? I don't think I could stand it...if I had to choose between going back to Earth or dooming all of Equestria, I'd just kill myself on the spot. Why am I even thinking about this? I promised myself I'd stop thinking about Earth...

"Mr. Human?"

I jolted my head up and looked to the side. A young earth pony filly sat on the sidewalk, looking at me with a combination of awe, fear, and worry.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, trotting up to me. For a moment I considered telling her everything, but even I knew better than to frighten children with tales of a world of war and death.

"Nah, I'm fine," I assured her, giving her a gentle pet on the head. She nuzzled into my hand. Awww...

"My family thinks you're weird," she told me. "My mommy thinks you're evil...is that true?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. Who told your mother that?"

"She just guessed when she saw you," the filly replied. "The rest of us didn't believe her, but we don't think you're pure either."

I blinked. "Pure...?"

"You're a hero, right?" I paused, but reluctantly nodded. "But you're not perfect, are you?"

"I..." I stopped. I realized what she was getting at. "No...no I'm not."

"I think something's getting to you," the filly said, moving away from my hand and starting to walk away. "Something's corrupting you...it's making you angry and dark."

My jaw dropped. "Wha...who are you?"

The filly smiled mysteriously. "I'm just a normal little filly...but, like the rest of my family, I'm a little bit...strange."

"What do you-"

"You met my brother." I froze.

"Your...brother..."

"Tricked by the Changelings, killed by the Changelings...all in front of your eyes. You never even got his name. And you regret not being able to save him."

I felt myself getting angry. I rose to my feet and glared at the filly. "Who are you? Better question: what are you?!"

"My brother's name was Final Push," the filly continued, seemingly ignoring my questions. "My name was Pull Back."

Was.

"What the hell is going on?!" I demanded.

"My parents are disappointed in you, Rylan Watch. So is my brother. And so am I." Pull Back suddenly glared. "The hero of Equestria? You should be working on saving our world. Instead you're worried about whether or not you have to go back to Earth. It's fine to worry every now and then...but don't let it consume you. You're corrupting yourself."

"What. Are. You." I growled each world, my fists clenching.

"I'm a message. I'm a warning. Call me either. But the reason I'm here is to tell you that if you let everything get to you...just like back in Ponyville..." My blood almost literally froze. "Then we won't need True Force. You'll be dangerous enough to Equestria on your own."

Pull Back turned her head to the sky, closed her eyes, and disintegrated. I stared at the spot she had stood, mouth agape.

I...what...that... I couldn't even form a coherent thought, let alone spoken sentence. I decided to go back to the hotel and get some sleep before anything else happened.

Rylan...

Hello?

Hello.

...

...

...that's all?

Did you expect me to say something else?

Yeah...like, who are you?

I am you.

...

...

...what?

I am you. You are me. I am Rylan Watch, and Rylan Watch is me.

Can you be more specific, Yoda?

Ugh...fine. I'm your conscience.

...so, you're like that little angel on my shoulder?

That's a cartoon gimmick. It's not real, moron.

Well, you're certainly pleasant.

What can I say? I'm you. We share the same personality...though I'm a bit more cryptic.

Why are you cryptic?

It's in my nature. Anyway, you're probably wondering why I'm talking to you.

You think?

Shut up. I'm here because you're corrupting yourself.

Yeah, that Pull Back filly...or whatever she was...told me about that. Stop focusing on myself and start focusing on Equestria, got it.

It's not just that...you're not just corrupting yourself through thought. You're physically darkening your very soul.

How?

You're getting black paint on it.

...

...

...sarcastic joke?

Yes.

Okay then. Just making sure. How am I darkening my soul?

You should be able to tell...just watch. And wait. And you'll see.

Wait! Why do you have to be so cryptic? Why can't you just spell it out for me?!

It's in my nature.

...right.

After that weird night and weird dream, the next day, we finally continued our journey. We picked up some more supplies at the stores, just in case. The last thing we wanted was to show up at True Force's doorstep weak and helpless, begging for him to just kill us quickly.

I was kind of relieved to be leaving Fillydelphia. I thought it would keep me away from that creepy filly ghost...or whatever Pull Back was. Too bad I have a habit of being wrong.

That night, after we had set up a small camping area and the others had gone to sleep, Pull Back reappeared, just blinking in out of nowhere, standing in the fire.

"You still don't understand my warning, do you?" she asked rhetorically.

"Frankly, I don't understand anything about you," I replied nonchalantly.

"You don't seem very surprised by my sudden reappearance," she pointed out. I shrugged.

"I'll be honest, I kind of expected it." I sighed and began fiddling with one of my knives. "Just make your speech about corruption and go. I'm too tired to deal with you."

"I'm not here to make a speech, Rylan Watch. I'm here to warn you of upcoming danger." I stopped playing with my knife and looked at her, my interest piqued. "Do you know where you are going next?"

"Uh...Griffon Volcano...or something like that."

"Mt. Griffon, actually. But you're right, it is still a volcano, and it is home to many griffons. It's essentially the griffon version of Ponyville."

"Why do they live on a volcano?" I asked, going back to twirling my knife but still listening.

"Why do ponies live right next to the Everfree Forest?" she responded.

"Why ask me? Ask them. But getting to the point, what danger are you warning me about? Or rather, failing to warn me about?" Yes, I was getting snarky. You should be used to this by now.

"Mt. Griffon is normally a somewhat peaceful place, but you still must be very careful there," Pull Back explained, apparently not noticing my comment or just ignoring it. "The king of the griffons, Dyntos, is not exactly fond of ponies. The only reason he hasn't launched an assault on any pony-populated places is because he knows they are watched over by the princesses. However, he still does not like equines entering what he considers to be his own kingdom."

"So why does he live so close to Fillydelphia?" I asked.

"Because, normally, ponies know well enough to stay away. However, you have no choice but to go through, so he will likely not enjoy that." Pull Back began to rise into the air. "Despite this, you must take the others with you. Do not leave them behind under any circumstance."

"You say that like I was planning to," I shot back. "Dyntos may be king of the griffons, but I'm still a human. Even if he doesn't like the others, he still has to listen to me!" I paused. "...Right?"

"We'll see." Pull Back suddenly vanished. She didn't flash or disintegrate or anything, she just blinked out of existence.

...I need some goddamn sleep.

Mt. Griffon turned out to not be quite as close to Fillydelphia as I thought. The map made it seem like it would take about half a day to reach from the city, but instead, it took...three? Four days? I lost count.

Pull Back left me alone, finally...at first. On the fourth day of walking since leaving Fillydelphia, we could finally see Mt. Griffon.

"It's so close!" Rainbow cheered, sounding both excited and impatient. "I could just fly there in minutes! Why do we have to be so slow!" Scratch that, she was just impatient.

"Because not all of us have wings that break the sound barrier," I sighed. "Try showing a little patience. The rest of us aren't exactly trying to move slowly." Rainbow replied with a groan and just slumped in the air, clearly annoyed. I turned my attention to the path in front of us.

"We should definitely reach Mt. Griffon by tomorrow," Twilight said, reading from her map. "I don't know how long it'll take to get through, but hopefully it won't be too long."

I've played enough video games to know that something's going to happen at Mt. Griffon that requires our personal attention and ends in a boss battle... I thought to myself. Just like Fillydelphia, now that I think about it. Though Crystal or whatever her name was wasn't exactly that tough. I just had to kill a few of her idiotic minions and she ran away faster than you can say "swiss cheese legs".

We continued walking, mainly in silence. Pinkie tried to strike up conversations with the rest of us, but Spike was the only one who'd entertain her, so the party mare and the young dragon chatted with each other while the rest of us just walked silently.

After several hours, as the sun fell and the moon rose, we decided to stop for the night. We were almost literally in the middle of nowhere; one giant field, with Mt. Griffon in one direction. We couldn't even see the giant skyscrapers of Fillydelphia anymore.

As per usual, while the others slept, I stayed awake a bit longer. I stared at the fire Spike had started for us, expecting Pull Back to appear and berate me some more. Nothing came, and I eventually began to nod off.

A growl woke me up. I looked up at the fire, only to see nothing out of the ordinary. Normally I would have just gone back to sleep, but I was smart enough to know that one does not wake up to imagined growls. I looked to the left and found myself staring right into a pair of glowing red eyes attached to a chicken's head.

"...Hi?" I greeted weakly. The chicken thing growled again, and its eyes widened. I suddenly felt my legs go stiff and numb, no longer able to feel them. I tried to look down, but the thing's gaze kept me staring at it, and I couldn't turn my head. Not good.

My legs went completely numb, and my lower body began doing the same. Mustering up all the strength I could manage, I reached with my left arm down to my foot, hoping to pull my knife out.

Instead, I hit solid rock. Crap.

Thinking fast, I tried reaching behind me to pull out my sword, but then remembered I had taken it off and left it several feet away. Double crap.

As a last resort, I tried reaching my hand out to the fire to try and grab a lit stick, but I was just a few inches too far away. So much crap it's like the world took a laxative.

I could just sit there as the chicken thing continued to stare, slowly turning me to stone. I couldn't move anything except my arms and shoulders, and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before those became rock as well. It was over. My life flashed before my eyes-

My eyes!

Realizing something, I lifted my left arm over my eyes, blocking the chicken thing's gaze. I felt my body regain feeling, and heard a shattering sound as the stone broke around me. The chicken thing growled, but I didn't look at it. I reached into my shoe, drew out one knife, and stabbed wildly, eventually connecting with something. Chancing to lower my arm, I saw that I had stabbed the chicken thing in the left eye, which filled me with an odd combination of disgust and relief. With one eye taken out, its power wouldn't work, so I was free to look it in the eye...which is when I saw something.

Now, I'm not an expert on dangerous glowing red eyes...but I'm pretty sure they at least have pupils. White, black, whatever. But this eye didn't. It was just pure red, and not exactly a bright red either. It was a dark red, almost brown. It looked lifeless...

...just like the manticore's eyes!

I reached an arm out and grabbed the chicken thing around the neck before focusing. I felt the darkness flow into me. When it finished, my watch glowed a light gray, before darkening to a somewhat darker shade, which worried me a bit. However, my worry was forgotten when I realized something.

I just used my healing power on a creature whose eye I just stabbed...uh-oh...

No, I didn't lose my eye. Sorry to disappoint those of you who don't like me.

Since my knife was still in the chicken thing's eye when I used my healing power, it couldn't fix the eye, so it just left it alone, and I didn't suffer any consequences. I'll need to remember that.

However, instead of losing my eye, I got to see somepony again. Guess who.

"You're still corrupting yourself."

I sighed and glared at Pull Back. "I'm trying to sleep after blinding a chicken thing that nearly got me stoned. Go away."

"You mean the cockatrice."

"Sure, the cocky trees. Whatever. Just leave me alone." I closed my eyes again, trying to ignore the ghostly filly.

"If you fall asleep to ignore me, your conscience will just tell you what I'm trying to tell you."

I sighed and opened my eyes, glaring at Pull Back. "I get it, I'm corrupting myself. Don't need to repeat it like a broken record."

Pull Back stepped closer to me, and I tensed up. "Can you really not see how you're corrupting yourself? It's plainly obvious."

"Let me guess," I sighed. "Taking the darkness from the manticore and chicken thing."

"Cockatrice."

"Yeah, that."

"While that would be the most logical conclusion...it is incorrect." Pull Back shook her head. "Taking their darkness is doing something completely different that you don't need to worry about quite yet."

"Then what am I doing wrong?" I nearly yelled, trying to avoid waking the others. Pull Back, rather than replying, just disappeared. Stupid ghosts...always so cryptic. I forced myself to go to sleep.

Hello.

Go to hell, conscience.

...Wow, way to greet someone. Love you too.

Seriously, get lost. I just want some freaking sleep.

Fine. Good luck tomorrow, then.

Wait, what about tomorrow?

You'll see.

...

...

...He left. Ugh. Confound these spirits, they drive me to insanity.

Next Chapter Preview:

"Listen, you, and listen well. We don't serve your kind here, so I suggest you just leave now."

"You know, that's a pretty neat coincidence."

"Excuse me?!"

"You don't serve our kind here. I find that to be a neat coincidence...because we don't serve your kind either."

"Are you trying to instigate a fight?"

"More like I'm trying to instigate a certain bird to shut the hell up before I get dangerous."