The following day, Ryan still couldn’t go out into the forest, because the Wonderbolts had stayed in town that night instead of take a night time train home to Canterlot. Spitfire and Fleetfoot stayed with Rainbow Dash that Saturday, and as far as Ryan could tell, they had a fine time. Soarin’ stayed with the Apple family, where he ultimately had to sleep in the barn because Applebloom kept pestering him. Fancy Pants had a wife to get home to, so he left on the night time train after bidding his farewells.

As usual, Ryan had woken up early that Sunday and took the chance to go for a run. On his run, he ran by the edge of the forest, peeking in to check for prospects of paths to take. He found several in his passing and took note of them for later. He also ran by the farm, where he noticed Soarin’ was up and walking out of the barn, looking like he just came out of a pile of dust.

Ryan didn’t think he was noticed, and so kept running, but soon, he was joined by Soarin’. Soarin’ remained in the air as they moved, but they spoke as they went. It was a time to get to know his new drinking companion.

“So I guess that you must love flying.” Ryan said. Soarin’ nodded. “Is that why you joined the Air Guard?”

Soarin’ lowered himself to the ground and ran alongside Ryan. “I joined the Air Guard because I wanted to defend Equestria. During training, I proved that I can fly high, long, and fast, so they put me into the Seventy-first Strategic Recon Battalion. I liked getting that assignment; I was nice and safe up high, while I could relay information to my buddies on the ground that might save their lives.”

“Nice.” Ryan replied.

They kept on running, eventually getting back into town, just chatting away. They walked about their favorite drinks, foods, namely pie for Soarin’, their jobs, and mares and women. It was simple conversation, nothing heavy or complicated, nothing that required serious thought. It was a good way to start the day.

They hit the boutique and waited outside to cool down, not wanting to sweat up the place and be yelled at by Rarity. Thinking about it, Ryan realized that he had been stealthy in his returns at night as well, and Sweetie Belle probably still didn’t know he was living there. Maybe he should try to keep that going.

He and Soarin’ continued to chat for a bit, waiting for some activity to indicate that someone was awake inside. Throughout their conversation, both man and stallion looked into the window to see, and eventually, they were rewarded with several lights coming on. Taking that as the cue to go in, they got up and briskly walked to the door. As they opened it, they could hear someone rummaging through the kitchen.

They walked inside and were greeted by the sight of Rarity, not made up in the slightest and having just rolled out of bed. She gave them a tired greeting, mindlessly making her breakfast as she went along. Soarin’ and Ryan greeted her back, deciding that they should leave to let the lady have her own time.

They left, and soon enough, they ran into the other ponies who would be around town this early; namely, Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and because of them, Rainbow Dash. From there, they went around the town, checking the various stores and seeing what few sights there were. Rainbow had some new tricks to show the Wonderbolts, which Ryan had to admit were impressive. They liked them as well, hinting at a possibility of a career in stunt flying in the future.

The day went by relatively fast, with the Wonderbolts leaving at one for Canterlot. They had a training session to attend, and being highly ranked on the team, they couldn’t afford to miss it. As the fliers boarded the train, all said their goodbyes, some wishing to be more noticeable than others.

“Hey, Ryan.” Soarin’ said. Ryan turned his eyes his way, away from Spitfire. “It was good drinking with you. Think we could do it again sometime?” he asked.

Ryan shrugged. “Sure. Next Sunday work for you?” He had already gotten Mac and Fancy to agree to next Sunday, since he would try to spend the Saturday night in the forest.

Soarin’ grinned. “Sounds good.” With that, he waved goodbye, got on the train, and was off.

The rest of the week was fine. Ryan would go and drink by himself each night, served by Cinny, who always refused him after a certain point. After that, Ryan would pay, head out, and buy beer from a store. It was never as good though.

He went to the gym a couple of times, keeping his mind as empty as possible. He went over his checklist of things he would need, each time finding something small that he would need, like bug spray or a backpack. He checked his armor and weapons, making sure everything fit; the weapons were pretty much a given. He went over his plan of approach; look back frequently to check for followers, take an obscure route, be quick once behind the treeline. It was all very simple.

Now, Saturday was upon him, and he felt ready to head out into the forest. Since he planned on staying overnight this time, he wasn’t too worried about leaving too late. It would just mean that he had to watch for anyone who might see him head out.

Rather than have to change later, Ryan just donned his gear when he awoke. He started with the jacket, then the armor vest, then the gear vest where his weapons hung. He stuck his helmet on and clipped it, getting a good feel for what it was like wearing it. As much as he knew it would draw some level of attention, he wanted to know what it was like to wear this for an entire day or two. He would end up like that in the future, so he should get it all under his belt now.

“If I attract too much attention, I’ll just go early.” he concluded as he went out.

Thinking it a better idea not to exert himself too much now, he decided to just go somewhere and sit down for a time. The park was the best choice, as few ponies would be there at the moment, and it did have plenty of benches that were out of the way for him to sit on. It would be a nice place to just sit and do nothing.

As he walked to the park, there were few ponies around; most don’t want to be up and about at half past seven in the morning. Lights in homes were off, windows were closed, and doors were locked. Everything was strangely quiet for a bustling town, but that’s how nighttime and early morning work; a bustling residential area can become a ghost town. As spooky as it was, it didn’t seem to bother the human.

When he arrived at the park, he looked for a bench that was out of the way and sat down. He didn’t really know what he was doing or why, he was just running on autopilot. He might have been expecting to see the Wraith, or to see things that weren’t there. Even he wasn’t sure, as he sat there on a cold bench, alone, awaiting an unknown event of unknown consequences.

“Ryan.”

His ears perked up and he looked over in the direction of the voice; to his left, tiredly walking toward him, was Cinny.

“Cinny.” he replied mechanically.

She walked up to him, bags under her eyes and hooves dragging on the ground. “May I sit?” She looked like she could use a place to sit.

“I don’t see why not.” he replied, again, mechanically.

Cinny dredged over to the bench and pulled herself up, making little grunts as she made her way up. Ryan just watched her as she went along, not moving to provide any aid or encourage her. He was like a statue, emotionless and unmoving in mind and in body. When she was finally up, she lay herself down with her face toward Ryan, a tired and genuine smile across her face. Ryan had nothing to return it with.

He turned his head and looked forward, empty of thought and devoid of care. “What brings you out this early?” he asked.

“I saw you pass by outside my house.” Cinny replied. “I’m not normally up this early, but I got up to use the bathroom and saw you outside my window, all dressed up and ready for something. I just came out to ask you what was up.”

Ryan considered how he would answer. She might worry about him if he told her the truth. But then, why should he care? He wasn’t going to be around that much longer. If he was going to leave them, why bother caring about what they feel? The only pony that mattered in the slightest to him was Luna, and she would always be able to find him. What was the problem with her knowing?

“I intend to check the forest for a few things.” he said. “I want to find out if there is some kind of magic that I can use in the future in there.” He straight up lied to her.

Cinny frowned for a second, but her smiled returned quickly with a little nod. “I think I see.” she said. “I’m sure you can handle yourself out there. From what I heard, you already did once or twice.”

Ryan didn’t really respond, he just grunted to acknowledge that something was said. Cinny took the cue and decided to give him a minute to think. She could clearly tell that something was on his mind, though what it was, she could not say. He stared off into the distance, thoughts playing out in his eyes faster than she could keep up with. He was an unusual one, this human, but then, his life had been rather unusual.

He spoke after a time. “Where are you from?” he asked, still staring off at nothing.

“I came here from Las Pegasus; grew up there.” Ryan nodded, then waited for her to continue. She took the hint and went on, “It was weird, growing up next to such a huge city with so much money going around. Those of us in the suburbs never saw it, or rarely did, but we always got to see the poor souls who lost everthing. It became the duty of the town to help them get back on their hooves and get back home to where they were safe from the vices of The Strip.”

Ryan could easily picture Las Vegas from that, but he kept it to himself. “Yeah...” he replied. “I grew up in a well-to-do Jersey suburb, close to New York City. Your is probably Manehattan.” Twilight had told him about some of the cities. “One of the problems with growing up next to one of the biggest cities in the world is that when you see any city with less than a million people, it doesn’t seem as much like a city.”

Cinny tried to process a city of a million ponies, but failed to do so, and instead, continued with what they were talking about. “Yeah, Las Pegasus was big. Not a million ponies big, but a good size. We saw ponies of all stripes go there to make or break their lives; rich, almost poor, zebras, griffons, ponies, dragons were especially bad. I learned that no one is safe from the dangers within us. That was why I was so ready to help them after they lost everything in that deathtrap of a city.”

That must be why she was helping Ryan; she saw him as a victim. Well, as much as that could be true, he was much more the victimizer. There were ponies out there that really needed her help, yet she was here with Ryan, trying her damndest to make him human again. It wasn’t liable to work.

Ryan took the turn as an opportunity to keep the conversation away from himself for a while. “So what brought you out here?” he asked. “I can’t imagine why you would live here if you wanted to help ponies.”

Cinny gave him a look, the kind that asks really? “Did you not see the other stallions in the bar?” she asked. “Some found their wives cheating. Others lost a loved one to something well out of their control, or completely within it. They all have troubles, troubles that I can try to ease.”

“But not on the same scale as Las Pegasus.” Ryan replied. He finally turned to look at her.

“No.” she replied, sighing. “But they are on a much more managable scale. I can deal with simple problems, the kind that don’t involve potential life loss. But seeing so many fall and even die sometimes to the City of Tears... I couldn’t take it much longer. A lot of us couldn’t. So we left.”

It made sense to Ryan; the problem is too big for you to handle, so you step out of the way for more qualified or willing people to do it. Ryan should have done that in Southeast Asia, but he didn’t. He should have taken a page out of Cinny’s book and just gone off on his own and let someone like Interpol take care of it. They were more qualified... but then, they weren’t as willing. No, Ryan definitely had the most will to kill that son of a bitch.

“I see what you mean.” he replied after a time. “After a while, i just takes everything you have to give. Eventually, you need to move on, find new things, or it’ll take everything out of you.” He knew that way too well.

He couldn’t see Cinny’s sad look. “Yeah... I guess that it does.”

Ryan sat in silence for a minute, listening to the wind blow and the leaves rustle. It was so calm and quiet, like this was all just a dream. He would wake up in bed, no real memory of Narendra or the ponies in his mind. No pain, no scars, no new clothes. No plans to move into a dangerous forest, no nothing. Just life the way he was meant to live it. But he knew that this was no dream; it was a nightmare, a real one that would go on until the day he died and look like pleasant memories from the fiery pits of Hell.

“I think I should get ready to head out.” Ryan said, standing up. “I need to get out there in the in between time, when Hell goes to sleep and Shit is just getting up.”

Cinny winced at the harsh language, but didn’t make any mention of it. “Alright.” she replied. She looked at him longingly, wishing that she could talk to him more. “I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, see you around.” If he got out alive.

Ryan stood before the entrance to the forest, legs out wide and a scowl on his face. He figured that it was only one night, he wouldn’t need much. On his back, he organized a backpack with two canteens of water and some food, plus a sleeping bag for the night; no need to be scratching skeeter bites in the morning. He briefly considered taking the beret instead of the helmet, but decided that it would be foolish. He had his weapons and tiny sum of ammunition, a flashlight, and a flare gun he bought the previous day. All that over the armor and cloak, and he was set to go.

Without haste, he set off into the dark forest, opting to follow the path to the old castle for at least a time. Once he was far enough, he would deviate off the path and make his own way into the forest. He would try to break plants and branches on his way to mark his path, but with the magic of the forest, it was a safe bet that it wouldn’t work. Might as well try, though.

He walked about six miles into the forest before stopping and taking a look around. e had left Ponyville at eight, right around when everyone was coming out. Looking back and to the sky, he could see that nopony followed him out here. Deciding it was safe, he decided to start heading out into the forest.

The instant he crossed that treeline and left the path, he was plunged into darkness. He had to leave the trees, pull out his flashlight, and then continue on forward; the darkness was all encompassing. As he started to make his way through, he noticed that the noise was gone. Around him, nothing made any noise. He rarely encountered anything on the ground, roots, plants, or small animals. It was like he crossed into an empty zone, well beyond the darkness of the twilight one.

He kept the flashlight physically away from his body at arm’s length; if it was attacked, he would be fine. Mostly, anyway.

As he moved, the only thing that made any noise was the dirt crunching under his feet. That was the only thing reminding him that he wasn’t in a void or the vacuum of space. He looked up at the sky to see dense branches and leaves hanging from above, blocking any and all sunlight. Not even a single ray of light could get through that stuff.

He pointed the flashlight around him and was surprised to see that there were very few trees actually in the area. As he went on, they were beginning to become more frequent, but as of yet, there were still not that many. It was enough to make him wonder about the life in there.

But not for long. Off to his side, he heard something break a branch, creating a crash as said branch hit the ground. Ryan whipped out his Automag and spun around to greet his unwelcome visitor-

Nothing was there; not even a broken branch. Well, there was a tree trunk, actually. Though it was oddly bare, showing the wood underneath. Curious, Ryan walked over to it and investigated. The bark had been stripped, that much was clear. There were clear signs that something took the bark off this tree, and possibly just now. Walking around, Ryan followed a strange pattern carved into it.

Can’t run

Ryan read the message slowly, realizing that there was, in fact, something here. Hand growing sweaty, Ryan held his pistol tightly as he went back around the tree in the direction he had been going before. He didn’t know what the message meant, but he had an idea of who had put it there. He was not going to let that one win.

He continued on, and the trees began to grow thicker as he went. The trunks were getting bigger and the trees were more numerous, the branches got lower, and the roots became higher. Some of the trees looked fine; others had faces carved into them. they all had jagged looking teeth, like they wanted nothing more than to eat him. They had branches extending from their sides, right next to their faces, that looked like arms, with sharp fingers on the ends to grab at and rip apart anyone unfortunate enough to get too close.

Ryan nearly had a too close experience when he walked past a tree whose face was extra high. The branches shot down in an attempt to grab him, fingers trying to spear him and yank him off the ground to tear him in half. He ducked down and rolled away, splaying out across the ground in a heavy-breathing tussle.

He stood up and looked at the angry tree still trying to grab at him from its stationary position. “You think you can take me?” he said darkly, pulling up his pistol. “I’ll make you fucking firewood.”

The tree’s face suddenly contorted and closed up, dragging the deadly arms that nearly killed Ryan with it. As the face swirled away, Ryan only watched as it went, intrigued yet indifferent, and quickly lost interest in watching it. Unsure of why it went away, he decided to just keep moving.

As he continued, he noticed that the other trees like it were still moving, but made no move to touch him or attack. He got up close to them, investigating them to check if they were serious threats to him. He deemed that they were no threat to him, and so he could cross them off the list of things that made the area too dangerous. This place was looking half decent.

Can’t escape

The wind carried the words like a breath released from a dying man’s lips; soft and deadly, giving you more to worry about than you realize, signifying the end. Ryan stopped dead in his tracks, feeling a cold breeze go across the back of his neck. His grip on the pistol tightened even more, giving him white knuckles and generating pain in his palm. Slowly, he walked forward, looking for whatever made the wind.

He knew that there was nothing before him. In front of him, there was only more darkness until the end. There were no creatures around, and for a good reason. There was a predator here. More dangerous than anything else in the forest, more capable of killing. Whatever it was, it drove everything else away, and drove the trees to submission. Wherever it went, it could only bring death.

Ryan took in a deep breath and turned around slowly, waiting to see the Wraith. But as he turned, his eyes were graced with another of nature’s demons.

He had no idea what was before him. It looked like a pony, in body, at least. It’s hooves were a stark white again the black background, the light hitting, yet not really reflecting off of them. On its legs and torso, it wore a pitch black suit with a white undershirt, and it went all the way back to its rear, with a pair of pants to cover the hind legs. Its face was bare; no nostrils, no eyes, no mane. The pony before him was no pony at all; it was pure death.

Ryan stared it down for what felt like an eternity; it just stared back. Ryan could feel it tugging at his mind, trying to wrestle away his control over himself, trying to get him to go somewhere. He knew that it wanted to get him and do something to him; he was hopeful that he would never find out what. As it stared, the flashlight began to flicker. Each time it did, the pony-like creature got closer, inching its way up to him as he stood there, glued to the ground, starting at its eyeless sockets.

The flashlight went out for two full seconds. Ryan’s breath stopped, his heart rate increased rapidly. He could feel a tightness over his chest, a swelling in his head. His blood pumped in overdrive, making more noise than the rest of him. In the total blackness, he could feel it’s eye sockets boring into him, able to see what he could not. The temperature around him began to decrease, the air stiffening and going stale.

When the flashlight came back on, it was before him, staring at him with its expressionless face. It did not move, it did not make a sound. It just stood there, looking at him. Ryan stared back, raising the pistol to take aim at its forehead. The whole time, Ryan could feel it work its non-unicorn magic on him, trying to take control. Ryan’s arm twitched as he brought the pistol to point at the same thing that the light was.

It went out again, plunging the pair into darkness. When the light returned, Ryan blinked at the sight before him; nothing. It was gone. The pony had been replaced by a backdrop of trees and bits of grass, not the total blackness of before. He looked forward, spotting the beginning of the total darkness that he had just been in. Whatever that thing was, it didn’t want him around.

And he was fine with that. Ryan continued along his way, eager to get away from that area and stay in the lighted section of the forest. Now, he was in a less densely vegetated area, but he could at least see more than ten feet in front of him. There was a small river here, exactly the kind he would be needing in the future. Around him, there were plenty of small trees and bushes, good for building a house of some kind. Away from the river, he might be able to find some drier logs and whatnot for making fires. Of course, the safest place for that would be a cave.

Rather than continue and try to find a cave nearby, Ran decided to take a break and eat some lunch. Dropping his backpack, he fished around it for some food and a canteen to drink from. He had no idea if this water was actually drinkable, so he would down a canteen or dump it, then take some of this water into it. He would drink it back in town, and if he got sick, e would get to a hospital. Perfect plan.

He ate a protein bar and drank his water as slowly as he could. he felt exhausted after carrying so much stuff through that harrowing bit of forest, and he needed a chance to sit down. He needed his heart to slow back down and to regain control of his breathing. That thing may not have taken over his mind, but it sure as hell took control of his body. At least in some respect.

From his seat on the ground, he could hear the water running and little creatures moseying about. “I can tell you’re there.” he said, taking a swig of water.

The Wraith came out from behind a tree and leaned up against it, facing his longtime accomplice with an amused grin. “Well, aren’t you the observant one.”

“No.” Ryan replied, turning around to face his tormentor. “You just suck a sneaking around.”

The Wraith smiled. “I suppose that I’m not as good as some others.” A pause. “I see you’ve met the landlord of the forest.”

“I suppose that I have.”

The Wraith nodded slowly, gently closing his eyes. “Yes... he doesn’t like trespassers. But he always tends to listen to me, so I can come and go as I please.”

Ryan went to drink from his canteen, but noticed that it was empty. Now that it was, he got up and walked over to the little river and dunked it in the water, filling it up and capping it. When he came back to his spot, The Wraith was still just waiting for him there, only now, he had a book in his hands.

Ryan sat back down and looked at his watch; it was already half past three in the afternoon. He figured that he could spend another half hour resting here, then he would go up or downriver to see if e could find a cave or decent campsite where he was less likely to be killed in the night. He had his guns and knife, so as long as nothing huge came after him, he could handle anything that came his way.

The Wraith’s eyes were fixed firmly on his book as he spoke. “You know, this might not be the best place for you to go.” he commented casually.

“Why not?” Ryan replied from his spot on the ground. “It’s pretty far in; not many ponies would dare this journey.”

The Wraith didn’t speak for a second; he was enthralled with the book. “True; but that little area you just went through is too dangerous. If somepony were to follow you, they would certainly die in there. Not to mention,” His eyes shifted and he glanced at the river. “This river runs through the town. They might just follow it.”

Ryan cursed in his own head, but refrained from saying anything out loud. If that were true, then at least he had another way into this area of the forest. But at the same time, he would have to abandon the prospect of setting up here, for it was too risky for being found. All that trouble, and the area that he ended up liking was totally shot.

He would have to go upriver, since he knew that the river that ran through Ponyville didn’t come through the forest first. If he went that way, he might be able to find a little cave or open area where he could bed down for the night. The boy got up and decided not to wait any longer, and began to make his way upriver for better prospects.

Evidently, the Wraith had nothing better to do, so he followed. Initially, he didn’t speak, just kept his eyes glued to that book. Ryan tried to ignore him while they moved, but the quietness of his steps had a distinct loudness that Ryan could not hear, but knew was there. It was like incredibly deep bass; he couldn’t really hear it, but it resonated within his body.

Eventually, Ryan came upon a rocky area, which turned out to be the base of a mountain. He knew that the mountains were around nine miles away from Ponyville, so it was clear that he was extremely far into the forest. Farther than anypony would be willing to go to find him, and with enough... security, to prevent ponies from trying to travel through the forest. After looking around, Ryan could see that there was a series of caves in the mountain’s base, varying in size, shape, and even color. One of them emitted some kind of gas.

“Stay out of that one.” Ryan concluded.

With one down and what looked like seven to go, Ryan set about checking the remainder of the caves for potential dangers. The first one turned out to be just an indentation in the rocks, so it was generally useless to him. It would provide no protection from the elements, and in the winter months, that would be key. There were two other caves that he could check left.

He began to walk into one as the Wraith spoke. “You know, this is hardly a good thing for you to be doing.” he said.

Ryan tried to ignore him; although it never went particularly well for him. He decided not to continue the effort. “Why would that be?” he asked, not really wanting an answer.

The Wraith shook his head. “You’re just going to leave them all behind?” he asked, sounding disappointed. “Those ponies who helped you so much, who care about you? That hardly seems like something a half decent person would do.”

“Who ever said that I am a half decent person?” Ryan asked back, growing frustrated. He tried to cool himself down by breathing slowly. “You remember Asia.”

The Wraith sighed. “What about Luna?” he asked, giving Ryan pause. “She’ll still be able to come to you; but you know that she won’t approve of this. She’ll want you someplace safe, like the town.”

Ryan didn’t speak for several tense minutes. “Should I really care?” he asked. “All I want is to live out my life without anything to remind me of what I did out there. Without any kind of reminder at all. Luna will understand; I know she will.”

Ryan walked into another cave as the Wraith started up again. “And what about the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” he asked. “Would you so readily leave them behind to wonder if their new friend is even alive, or if he was ripped apart by the monsters of the Everfree? What kind of person does that to children?”

“I’m sure they won’t wonder about that.” Ryan said defensively. “I wouldn’t do that to children; I know they will be fine.”

“No, Ryan! You’re just telling yourself that in order to justify what you’re doing!” the Wraith shouted, getting Ryan to turn around, a scowl on his face. “You did the same thing in Asia, and look what happened! You’re just going to cause pain and suffering with what you’re doing!” His voice took on a dark tone, and his mouth twisted into a devilish smile. “But then again, you would have no problem with that, would you?”

Ryan snarled angrily at the Wraith, hand tight on his gun. “You shut it. I never wanted for any of that. I never wanted for any of this. I’m doing the best with what I have-”

“You are doing the worst possible thing with what you have!” the Wraith accused. He dropped the book where he was and walked forward. “You’re a coward and a traitor! You run away from your problems instead of dealing with them, and you abandon everything that matters when you think it’ll get you what you want! YOU ARE A COWARD, YOU BASTARD!”

Ryan’s fist connected with the Wraith’s jaw in an explosive shot to the face, sending the Wraith backwards just a tad. He blinked twice, unsure of how exactly Ryan just struck him. Ryan didn’t seem to notice as he railed.

“Fuck you, you twisted son of a bitch!” he shouted, in an absolute rage. “I tried! I tried, and I failed! Is that what you want to hear, huh?! I know that I failed! That’s why I’m out here!” Ryan was staring angrily at the Wraith as the man looked back at him. The Wraith did something unexpected then; he sighed, shook his head, and turned around. “Is that what you want to hear?” Ryan asked, getting close to tears.

“No.” the Wraith said, turning around and beginning to walk away. “I want you to acknowledge what you are. But I don’t see that happening tonight.” He turned around before going past the treeline; his face looked hard and stoic. “Think on your past sins, Ryan. Think, and understand.” Wit the last word, the Wraith walked off past the treeline and disappeared into the forest, leaving Ryan behind in an angry cloud of hatred.

Ryan spat in the direction that the Wraith left in and looked around. The cave he had walked into was small, but just big enough to accommodate him and anything he might want to bring. Looking at the entrance, he concluded that he should be able to build himself a makeshift door when the time was right. The cave went back about thirty-five feet, plenty of room for him to live well enough in.

Something caught his eye on the floor; it was the book. The Wraith had dropped it when Ryan punched him, and never picked it back up. Ryan walked over and tentatively picked it up, unsure of the magic within it. Upon inspecting the cover, he felt a chill run down his spine when he read the title; it was his full name. Nothing else was on the cover or binding, just his name on the front cover. Opening it, he found that the pages did, in fact, contain a log of everything that had happened since he first arrived. He flipped through the pages, eventually coming to the end, where he read about himself reading about himself in the book.

He shut the book and stuck it into his backpack; he was sure he could do something with it later. For now, though, he just knew that he wanted to rest up and get ready to head back in the morning. He had drinks with Mac, Soarin’, and Fancy tomorrow night, and he didn’t want to miss it.