It was Friday night. Nothing particular had happened through the week after going to school with Sweetie Belle. Ryan went to work each day, and like before, the ponies weren’t too intent on talking to him. Which was perfectly fine by him; he had no desire to talk. At least that was being respected, in some way.

That night, he had decided to spend some money on trying to forget the past and went to the Salt Lick. He had enough that he could buy strong stuff that wouldn’t taste like absolute shit, and he could get as wasted as he needed off of that. His recent days had bothered him only in that his sleep wasn’t coming very easily. During the day, he could lose himself on work; at night, he was haunted.

When he walked into the bar on that Friday night, he was about to walk over to the bar and take a stool when he remembered seeing the Wraith. Odds were, the Wraith wanted to speak to him, but something had sent him away, and he likely wouldn’t be too happy about that. To ensure that he didn’t get snuck up on, he sat in a booth away from the door and facing it.

The bartender, Cinny, instantly saw him when he sat and trotted on over. “Hey.” she greeted nicely. She had a pleasant voice, one that helped the many stallions who came here to forget their problems. “What can I get you tonight?”

Ryan looked into the small bag that was serving as his wallet and counted out his bits. He had about forty with him. “Samaloco Adams, the stronger kind.” Cinny nodded and turned to walk away.

Before she did, though, she asked Ryan one thing. “To nurse, or down?” Her face had a bit of sadness in it, like she knew what the patrons of this establishment were here for. She probably did.

“Nurse.” Ryan replied. “I’ll switch to downing them at some point.” Cinny didn’t smile, which seemed odd, and walked over to the bar to retrieve Ryan’s drinks.

Nopony other than Macintosh and the other miserable patrons knew about Ryan’s coming here so often. The only nights where he didn’t come were the ones where he was paranoid that he was being followed or when he knew that going would get him in trouble. If he went too often, somepony would no doubt notice and send him to rehab or something, which could only explode. Ryan was grateful that it wasn’t like that.

Cinny returned with Ryan’s drink, a nice, tall glass with amber drink in it and foam on top. She set the glass down before him and asked, “Anything else?”

Ryan shook his head as he took up the glass. “No, I think I’m good.”

Cinny went back to the bar and got behind the counter to continue her job. While she was pouring drinks for the often rude and sad stallions that sat before her, she kept her eyes on Ryan more than her work. He was so odd to her; first, he wasn’t a pony. Then there was the fact that he had just showed up randomly, after it was rumored that something crazy happened in Canterlot. And he had that strange outfit; the green beret with “Airborne” written on it, the jacket, the knife and “L” shaped things, the necklace, the scarf. She had only caught a glimpse, but she would swear that there were some nasty scars on his arms. All together, it made for someone who went to Hell and came back to tell the tale.

Oktoberfest, at the other end of the bar, noticed that her attention was always on Ryan, and that she barely noticed the lewd remarks about her from the customers. As much as he wanted her to pay more attention to the other customers, he could see why she was looking at Ryan. As she thought, he wasn’t exactly a typical customer.

He took a moment from his own work to go over to Cinny. “Cinny,” he began. He managed to get her attention, making her turn her head. “We aren’t too busy tonight.” Truth be told, they were never too busy on any night. Blessing or curse, see it as you would. “Why don’t you take the rest of the night off?”

Cinny was about to object, but when Oktoberfest locked eyes with her, she understood. He was giving her the okay to go talk to Ryan. Before responding, she looked over at Ryan, who was halfway done with his drink. He just kind of stared at the glass, his dark, hazel eyes lost and sad. Whether or not they were sad because they would never find their way or because they might find their way was hard to say.

“Sure thing Fest.” She went to the back of the building and put away her small uniform and came back out to the tables.

When she returned, she noticed that Ryan wasn’t looking around for her, even though his glass was empty. He was still just sitting there, silent as death, cold and alone. She walked over slowly, trying to emphasize her steps to make him notice her approach, but he didn’t seem to. Or maybe he didn’t care.

She stopped a few feet from the table. “Hey.” she greeted. Ryan didn’t respond; he didn’t even look up. Cinny just stood awkwardly for a minute, waiting for him to speak. When he still didn’t, she took the initiative. “I’ve seen you here a lot.”

Ryan kept his eyes on his glass. “Yeah.” he replied. It was monotone and low. Thanks to the weakening of his inhibitions by alcohol, his real feelings were coming out. “Cinny.” It took him awhile to remember her name.

She stepped forward a little closer, just enough to have her head over the edge of his table. “Mind if I sit?”

Ryan shrugged. “It’s a free country.” Cinny smiled awkwardly, not really understanding where that phrase came from, and sat down.

They went silent for a moment. Cinny was beholding Ryan before her, this being her first time getting a really good look at him. His clothes were ragged, torn, and looked extremely old. His hands shook, almost violently, when he held his glass, but he was trying to gain control over that. Before, he was fine; his grip was strong. Now, it was faltering, weakening.

Cinny wanted to break the silence. “So, where are you from?” she asked, getting her front hooves onto the table to lean her head on them. Whenever she did that, the stallions always looked at her head on.

Ryan didn’t, though. He wasn’t exactly a stallion like the rest. “I’m from the United States.” he replied mechanically. “But that’s not... never mind.” He looked up and saw Oktoberfest walking around, called him over, and ordered another drink. “I don’t... Meh.” Cinny didn’t continue until Ryan’s next drink arrived.

While he drank his next glass, Cinny kept on asking questions. “What was life like there?” she asked.

Ryan grunted and pulled his face from the glass. “Good enough.” He downed the rest of it and set the glass back down. “It treated me well. Good friends, family, stuff.” He didn’t continue on the point.

Cinny was genuinely curious now. What had driven him here if his life had been ‘good enough’? “What happened?” she asked. “How did you find yourself here?”

Ryan ceased all motion. His shaking hands stopped, his breathing slowed almost to a halt, and he didn’t blink. From there, he slowly looked up and into Cinny’s eyes. “I died.”

His words brought Cinny’s mental train to a screeching halt. She had never expected to hear anything like this, let alone so seriously. But when she looked into his eyes, she knew it was the truth. She saw it all there; the suffering. The misery, the loss. He knew death; he saw it, experienced it... caused it. His eyes went from their dark, mysterious hazel to a sickening, decaying gray. It was like looking into a solitary confinement cell, where all the worst possible emotions and experiences were left to plague the air, while all the good emotions and memories were sent away and never seen by the warden of the mind ever again.

It perturbed her, like it had everypony else who had seen it. But where everypony else had feared it and not been brave enough to delve deeper, Cinny was willing to go in. She had to.

Still, she had no idea how to respond. “Oh.” she said, her smile already having waned and disappeared. “Well. That’s not a common experience.” Ryan nodded and went back to his silence.

Around them, the other patrons were starting to take interest in the conversation. The two at the table hadn’t noticed, but Oktoberfest had. It was why he was walking around. He was keeping them away from the table. When it became too much, though, he walked over to Cinny. “I think this might be a conversation for somewhere else.” he suggested.

Cinny looked around and nodded to her boss. “Alright.” she replied. “Ryan?” she asked, turning back to him. “Would you care to go for a walk with me?”

Ryan looked up at her and considered the proposition. He knew that they were being watched; by the patrons and likely the Wraith. He had known the whole time. To stay could be risky, but to go would mean remembering. But then again, if she kept asking her questions, staying would mean remembering anyway. “Sure.” he said. He stood up from the table and exited the booth.

Cinny followed suit, eager to get out of the bar and away from prying eyes. She couldn’t quite see why, but there was something about Ryan that she felt she had an obligation to. It was odd; she wanted to help him, but she really couldn’t care much less for the other patrons of the Salt Lick. She decided to think on it another time as she and Ryan exited the building.

Ryan made a motion for her to lead the way, seeing as she was the one who asked him to go for a walk. She took the lead and they went off. Neither spoke during the walk; Ryan lost himself in his mind, and Cinny scanned the area non-stop for anything that might make her uncomfortable about being near Ryan. Wanting to avoid being seen alone with him late at night, it was close to midnight, she lead him to the park, where there was a bench next to the pond for them to sit on.

Once there, after an uneasy ten minutes of walking in the dark, she invited him to sit, which he did obediently. Cinny took the spot next to him and lay down on the bench, her head towards Ryan.

She wasn’t sure how to start, but she didn’t have to worry about that. “I’m not the kind of guy you want to be seen with you know.” Ryan stated suddenly. It had taken Cinny off guard. “I’m not known for being... trustworthy. Or safe. Or particularly friendly.”

Cinny replied without really thinking, like it was a normal conversation. “But you aren’t known for being mean. Or super dangerous; you haven’t hurt anypony. And you haven’t betrayed anypony. So why tell me that?”

Ryan hesitated. “Because my friends don’t tend to end up happy with me.”

Cinny wanted him to continue, but he didn’t. She wasn’t going to let him sit here moping about his life. “Why wouldn’t they? You seem nice, deep down.” She wasn’t going to let him be alone.

“Because being my friend hasn’t ended well for them.” Ryan said. He was breathing a bit faster than normal, and his whole body had a very small tremor throughout. “My friends recently have almost all ended up dead. The one who lived watched me bleed out in a shit river. Any others that I had never found out what happened to me.” He let his head fall. “And I let it all happen; it was my choice.”

He began to sob next to Cinny on the bench. It hadn’t taken much for it to be too difficult for him to continue. Next to him, clueless and in unknown territory, Cinny just watched him cry. She had no idea of the suffering that the boy before her had gone through. She could never know the kind of pain that was inflicted upon him, the loss of everything that made him a human. She could never understand him.

It hit her, right there. She wanted to help him by telling him that everything was fine, that everything was okay. But she knew, and he knew, that she had no way of knowing that. The only being in Ponyville who could know was sobbing his eyes out on a bench in the middle of the night, alone, broken, and frightened. She understood that she couldn’t help him by trying to understand.

So what she did was she just scooted closer and rested her head under his chin and let him lean on her. He was drunk, in pain, and disgusted with himself. And he thought he had no one that he could ask for help, that he had to brave the storm alone. And he also knew that trying that would mean death. But Cinny just let him lean on her head, telling him in her own way that he wasn’t going to have to go it alone. That he would never have to go it alone.

Ryan opened his eyes slowly, body still bobbing from the sobs that escaped his lungs. He could feel his weight bearing down on the bartending mare under his head, and as much as he wanted to remove himself from her, he couldn’t seem to find the strength. He may have been a monster, some kind of demon, but one thing he would never do was drag the good down to hell with him.

His eyes snapped forward when they spotted the one thing he really hoped not to see here. On the other side of the path, leaning on a tree, was the Wraith. He held his book under his arm and looked expectantly at Ryan. In the dark, his eyes glowed a dark gray, nearly black, but still glowed. He flashed a toothy smile Ryan’s way, then turned and walked away into the darkness.

Ryan’s heart practically doubled when he saw the Wraith, and Cinny could feel it. Her head was on his chest, so she could sense that something was amiss. “Ryan?” she said, looking up. She noticed how intensely he was starting at the other side of the path. When she turned and looked, she saw nothing. “Ryan, what’s wrong?”

Ryan swallowed air as he tried to contemplate what to do. The Wraith had walked away, but that could still mean that he would come back. “Nothing.” he lied poorly. “Let’s get out of here.” Cinny looked sadly upon the human as he stood up and away from her and moved away.

She got up and followed after him. “Where are you going?” she asked. She hadn’t even heard anything about him having a place to live.

Ryan walked on. “To sleep.”

She was hoping for more than that. “Where do you live? I’ll escort you there.”

“Yes, I’m sure that you would love to be my escort home. I can assure you, I don’t require any escort services.” Cinny flushed deep red at hearing his blunt twisting of her words, but rather than be offended, she looked at his face. He wanted her to leave him. “I can find my trench on my own.”

Cinny frowned. “Trench?” she asked. “You live in that ditch to the side of town?” Ryan nodded. “You can’t live there! It’s unsanitary!”

Ryan stopped. “I trekked through miles of dangerous jungle and forest. I shot, stabbed, and beat people to death and got blood all over myself. I nearly got my leg blown off. I got shot in the chest and bled out in a shit river. Sanitation means nothing to me.”

Cinny stopped as well and found herself incapable of responding. She hadn’t known any of that; and she wished that it had remained that way. Still, she couldn’t let him be on his own. “Well, your safety matters to the rest of us here. You’re coming with me.” She ran up to him and bit down on his jacket sleeve, trying to ignore the taste. “We’ll stay at my place!” she shouted through her teeth.

Ryan looked down at the mare biting down on his sleeve. He really didn’t have enough energy left to fight her; so he let it go. “Fine.” he said. “I’ll go.”

Cinny let go of his sleeve and looked up at him with a sad smile. “Good.” She turned around and swished her hind end; as if that would even work. “Let’s go.” And they went to her home for the night, the drunken, broken human and the kind, somewhat naive mare.

*********************************************************************

The next morning, Ryan awoke with a mild headache that wanted to keep him from getting up. He pressed on, though, unhappy with himself as he was. The previous night was a bit fuzzed, but he did remember leaving the bar with the barmaid, Cinny. He also remembered being outside a lot and talking about something, albeit not remembering what.

He sat up and looked around; he was in somepony’s house. Frozen in place, he scanned the room to try and find out who’s home it was. There were a few pictures around him, but of no one he recognized particularly well. The home was well kept, a bit on the small side. Just enough for one or two people or ponies to live comfortably in. Whoever had brought him home must not live with anypony else.

He swung his feet around and set them on the ground and stood. His back didn’t crack so much this time when he stood, and he felt a lot less stiff. He felt much less groggy than usual, and for once, he didn’t hate the idea of getting up.

A smell wafted from a room to his rear and tickled his nose, getting him to turn around. Behind him was the kitchen of the house, and from where he was, he could see somepony sitting inside, waiting for something. The pony wasn’t facing him.

He took a few tentative steps forward, not wanting to get the pony to turn around just yet. Why that was, he didn’t even know. Instinct at this point, maybe? He got nice and close, crossing the threshold of the kitchen archway and getting right behind the pony. As he stood there, he listened to her voice and concluded that it was a mare, humming in her seat before the stalker-esque human. Gently, like a hammer on a nail, he set his hand on her shoulder.

“Yo.”

She screeched and flew forward, landing on the ground on a display of great speed and lack of grace. Her head spun around to see her potential attacker, but when she saw Ryan, she calmed down and stood back up.

“Don’t scare me like that.” It was Cinny; she had brought him home the previous night. “It’s really not cool.”

Ryan looked at her, puzzled, then answered, “Okay.” Cinny sat back down and picked up a newspaper.

Ryan walked into the kitchen, figuring that he didn’t need an invitation at this point, and just looked around. The pantry didn’t exactly have a massive amount of food, but it was enough. The small fridge had some water bottles and an ice tray up top, plus some cold foods. Some was already bitten into, other stuff was still in containers. Ryan grabbed a piece of bread from inside and went to Cinny’s table.

She watched him the whole time, newspaper in hoof and a cup of steaming coffee on the table. Ryan sat on his behind at the table and started eating the bread casually, unsure of how to proceed.

“You know, in the future, you should probably ask if you can take something from a pony’s fridge.” Cinny commented. “It’s not that polite to just take something.”

Ryan swallowed a bit of bread and looked at his unexpected host. “Well, I have no intention of being in this position again, so the lesson is irrelevant.”

Cinny frowned. “What?” she asked. “You don’t plan on staying at anypony’s house until you get one of your own?” Ryan shook his head in response, enthralled by the bread. “Why not? You have no place to live.”

Ryan finished the bread and scraped up the crumbs to eat. “Well, I don’t plan on staying. I never intended to make friends either. As far as I’m concerned, I still don’t have any friends. They all died a while ago.” Cinny looked sadly at Ryan as he spoke. “I desire no attachments to anyone here. Attachments caused me the worst kind of pain; I have no desire to experience that again.”

Cinny huffed. “Even so. You can always pay to live somewhere. There’s an inn on the other side of town.”

Ryan shook his head. “I’m used to sleeping outside. I don’t care one way or the other. In fact, it’s more comfortable for me to sleep on the ground now. More secure.” Usually.

A belle dinged, and Cinny stood up and walked over to her microwave to pull out her breakfast. “Well, I hope that you get that nopony is going to let you stay outside. We don’t do that to our own.”

Ryan chuckled. “Well, you’ll soon understand that in my world, we can do that to our own just fine. We do it a lot, actually. So forgive me if I don’t care about whether or not you actually care for each other.”

Cinny was mixed; she was frustrated, angry, sad, and hopeful at the same time. “Well,” she began. “We do. Everypony cares for everypony here. We love our own.”

Ryan shook his head. “That’s great for your world; you can actually have peace. My world?” He looked out the window. “There are over seven billion people in my world. I gave a damn about around thirty, maybe less. I don’t come from a particularly caring world.”

“How can you say that?” she asked. “Where is the morality, the love?”

Ryan didn’t give her a chance to continue. “I come from a world where everything fights everything to survive. Plants compete for sunlight and water. Animals fight over water supplies. Humans kill each other for precious resources. I come from a world that’s always been trying to kill everything that isn’t fit to survive, that’s been continually trying to snuff out life the life within it. So I’m sorry if I come across as not caring about the lives of those I don’t know when I’m trying not to die myself.”

Cinny didn’t have an answer to that one. She just looked down at her food and moved it around with her fork. She took a bite, trying to contemplate what Ryan just told her. It’s true, when your life is on the line, you aren’t to be expected to help others. And Ryan came from a world where there was a never ending war for survival with too many factions for there to be a winner. Maybe he was right.

Ryan stood up and walked back out of the kitchen. “Where are you going?” Cinny asked.

“I’m not staying here, if that’s what you’re asking. As much as I appreciate the help, I don’t really need it nor do I want it. Good day.” He walked out of the house and shut the door about as gently as a printer falls to the floor.

Cinny came out of that conversation much more unhappy than she had predicted. She had thought that Ryan would like having a home to go to, but he hated the idea of that. Why? She couldn’t answer that right now. Right now, she had to make sure that Ryan would have somewhere safe to live. But who would be generous enough to take in a dangerous, possibly suicidal alien that was prone to self-destructive behavior and be a potential threat to the safety of the house?

Cinny smiled and left her home. She knew exactly who to talk to.

****************************************************************************

Discord watched Ryan as he walked around the town that day. The previous night, he had seen him walking around with that... popular barmaid, Cinny. She didn't do anything with anypony, but she certainly swung her hips and walked with a magnetic swagger. But he had seen more than just that. He saw how Ryan stared at the Wraith, and the evil, black eyes of the creature as it stared on from the dark.

Discord was going to cast some magic to catch it; he could explain to Celestia after; but it had gotten away. When that happened, Discord scowled and cursed himself. How had he let that happen?

But something else happened after that really spooked him;

“I wouldn’t try anything if I were you.”

That was all he heard, but that was all he needed to hear. He wasn’t too familiar with the voice, but he already knew who it was. How he contacted him, he wasn’t too sure, but he knew that he didn’t want to be contacted again. The Wraith was a being beyond the understanding of Discord; it scared him.

He kept the being in the back of his mind so that he could ponder on it later, but right now, he was more interested in Ryan’s activities.

Ryan walked to the park, where he decided to simply sit on one of the benches off to the side where few might see him. When he sat, he dropped onto the bench like a brick; he looked dejected. His head hung low and he mumbled to himself, looking depressed about something. It didn’t exactly shock Discord, though. It was nothing new.

Suddenly, seemingly out of thin air, Pinkie Pie appeared behind him. Discord blinked; that pink pony was the only one who could come close to making less sense than him. She stood behind him with her front hooves held high, like she was a predator getting ready to pounce. Discord watched on, holding his breath.

Ryan slowly turned around and put his hands on her forelegs, gripping them firmly and not letting go. Without opening his eyes, he said, “You wanted me to catch you, didn’t you?”

Pinkie Pie snorted happily. “No, silly po- person. I wanted to surprise you!”

Ryan opened his eyes and cocked his brow at her. “And did you learn to step on every twig and branch possible while you sneak up on people?” he asked in partial seriousness. “That’s not how I did it.”

Pinkie leapt over the bench, somehow free of Ryan’s grasp, and sat down next to her. “Well, how did you do it?” she asked. This would be interesting.

Ryan took in a deep breath and thought. “Well, when I had to sneak, my life depended on it. So I guess that it isn’t quite the same.”

“Nonetheless, I wanna hear alllll about it!” She smiled brightly at Ryan, a smile that he returned not with another smile, but with a look of uncertainty.

“Alright.” He cleared his throat. “When I snuck up on people, I had to use everything at my disposal. I swam across a river in the heavy rain so I wouldn’t be seen or heard. Then I entered a building through a sewage pipe.” Ryan grinned a bit while Pinkie gagged at the thought. “Then I kept my pace even and my steps light as I made my way through the building. That’s about it.”

Pinkie got over her gag fit and considered the information. “But what if you were caught?” she asked.

Ryan looked up to the sky; it was a gorgeous day. Kind of like the day Catherine died. “I was.”

Pinkie waited for him to go on, but he didn’t. Sensing that this was what he had been so unwilling to talk about for so long, she decided to let it go and not pursue it. Discord couldn’t help but be impressed with this mare; she knew when it was okay and not okay to talk about things. It was more than Discord had. Not that he wanted it.

He waited for a good twenty minutes, but nothing else was said. The two just sat there, not moving, Pinkie looking at Ryan sadly. Discord figured he would leave now, since nothing seemed to be happening. He wouldn’t miss much, of that, he was sure.

****************************************************************************

Ryan kept his mind clear by trying to establish what he was going to do about moving into the forest. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to get building materials in there; he would have to build it with what was at his disposal. On top of that, while building it, he would still have to live here to avoid dying, like he promised Harris. Somehow, he would have to make sure he kept it secret while he did it. That might grow to be a problem.

His thoughts were totally derailed, though, when a loud, high-pitched yawn sounded out next to him. “Gah!” he shouted, startled. He looked at Pinkie, who was calmly sitting next to him. “What are you doing?” he asked.

Pinkie looked at him, confused. “I’m just sitting here with my good buddy Ryan. What are you doing?”

The question struck him like that brick he had taken to the face in the compound before he was taken into the forest and shot. Not so much the question, though, as the statement that preceded it. She barely knew him, and at that, she knew the worst part about him, yet she called him “her good buddy”. Why? Rainbow Dash hated him, and the others were clearly afraid of him. The Crusaders were fond of him, but they didn’t know about his past. Macintosh was cool; that was just who he was. So why did Pinkie call him “her good buddy”?

“Oh.” He didn’t say anything else. He was too confused to. “Okay.”

The two just continued sitting, both confused, both unsure, and both wishing for something to break the awkwardness.

****************************************************************************

Cinny wasn’t too familiar with the mare, but she did know about her from all the papers. She ran a store here in Ponyville, and she was actually already familiar with Ryan. More than Cinny, in fact. She felt a bit jealous of her for that, but kept it in check. She needed to help Ryan.

Rarity’s boutique was as big as the pictures had made it out to be. The spire on top and all the lavish decorations would be a striking contrast to Cinny’s home, a simple one floor house with five rooms; bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, living room, store room. This house probably had three of each, if not more.

Cinny walked up and knocked on the door. “Coming!” a voice sang from inside. There was a loud shuffling from inside, and suddenly, the door swung open. “Hello!” the alabaster mare announced to her guest. “How can I help you today?”

Cinny was unsure of how to proceed. “Hello. Do you mind if I come in? I need to talk to you about something really important.”

Rarity looked at her curiously, then smiled and shrugged. “Alright. Come on in.” She turned around and walked in, leading Cinny.

Cinny looked around; it was overly decorated, frankly. But being a store, that was basically necessary. There were frillies everywhere, and everything was some shade of purple. Fancy. There were loads of mirrors, and a spiral staircase leading upstairs. In the center of the room, a big red stallion stood on a pedestal with a suit on him. He was that one she had seen with Ryan that night.

Rarity took a quick look at him. “I Does it fit alright?” she asked. The red one nodded. “Great! Then you’re all set.” The big one stepped down from his place and bowed to Rarity, thanking her. “Oh, think nothing of it.” she said. “I hope that it helps, but knowing you, I doubt that you would need a nice outfit to impress her.” He smiled and thanked her again, then walked out.

Rarity pulled up two cushions to sit on, one for her, and one for Cinny. “Please, sit.” she said. Cinny obliged. “Now, I have a feeling as to why you are here.”

“Oh?”

“Yes; you want advice on a stallion, correct?” Half correct. “Well, I need to know a few things about him first, so tell me about him.”

Cinny figured that this was a good time to ask. “Well, it’s not for me. It’s for him.” Rarity looked intrigued. “You know Ryan.”

Rarity’s eyes widened like a diamond dog hole. “Yes.” She sounded nervous.

“Well, you don’t know that he’s homeless, do you?”

Rarity gasped, her eyes unable to get any wider. “No!”

“Yes.”

“But however could that be? He has jobs, he makes money. Why wouldn’t he have any place to call home?

Cinny shrugged. “Well, I offered for him to stay with me, but he refused. I think there’s a lot more going on in him than we know.”

Rarity looked a bit sick. “Trust me, there is. I know about some of... it.” She shook her head. “But why would that prevent him from finding a home?” Cinny shook her head, unsure herself. “I wonder what’s wrong...” Rarity trailed off, her mind taking the train from her mouth.

Cinny waited for a moment, but grew impatient, and spoke again. “I came here because I know that you’re the element of generosity. No one is even able to refuse your gifts or help.” Rarity came out of her stupor and beamed at the compliment. “I came to ask you to give him a place to stay.”

Rarity took in a deep breath and thought it over. If she took him in, he could very easily pay for himself; she knew that no matter how hard she tried, even she couldn’t get him to take free housing. She just knew it. But there were ways around that. The other problems revolved around Sweetie Belle and living space. How would Sweetie Belle react? She didn’t know, but if he stayed here, she might find out. Then she may have to send Ryan away, which was just cruel. But she knew ways to avoid that. The living space that would be available to him would unfortunately be the basement. He would certainly find that acceptable, but she did not know if that was a great idea. There was nothing down there but an old mattress, an iron bedpost, and some old sheets. She could easily replace those, though.

How might the town react? The scandal of bringing an alien stallion into her home would be interesting, but not likely that hurtful. It wouldn’t make sense.

But Rainbow Dash was a factor, too. She hated Ryan for clear and present reasons, albeit only partly reasonable. She was afraid of Ryan; he represented something that had taken Rainbow’s best friend from her, a stallion who had died fighting the Griffons. Rainbow denied having feelings for that stallion, but that was questionable. Still, she couldn’t tell Rarity who to allow into her home. And she would get over it eventually.

Rarity took everything into consideration and found no good reason to deny housing to Ryan. She looked at Cinny across from her; she was looking on nervously, hoping that Rarity would agree. Rarity felt a little smile creep across her face, and she leaned forward.

“I would be happy to help him.”