Ryan’s eyes shot open and rapidly jumped around, checking the room. He forgot where he was for a moment and began to panic, only remembering that he was dying in a Vietnamese river. Then he remembered that he was in a hospital and relaxed. But wasn’t there something weird about this hospital? Something... off? Ah, yes. Ryan was either dead or crazy, because a unicorn had walked into his room and insisted that it was his doctor. By speaking to him.

“What on Earth is going on?” he wondered. His head was much clearer now than it was earlier. He could actually coherently think, now.

He sat up, remembering that he had been restrained earlier. It seemed that whoever it was that was taking care of him was confident enough that he was well that they removed his restraints. “Just as well.” he said to himself. The wires on his chest were still attached to the machine, and he opted to remove them, drawing a steady beeeeeeeeeeeep from the machine. Clearly, it was not happy with his decision.

“Alright, let’s see what we’ve got.” Ryan got off his bed and walked over to the corner with his stuff. Inspecting it, he found that everything was there; his gun, knife, hammer, clothes, Harris’ gun, and ammo were all present. His jacket and vest hung in the closet. “Looks like everything’s here.” he confirmed, not moving anything. He wasn’t about to leave the hospital, he was just checking to make sure he had his stuff. Happy that he did, he moved over to the window. Outside, the beautiful night sky stood in all its glory, even more stars present than in Vietnam.

“Definitely not in ‘Nam any more.” he said, taking in the sight. It wasn’t quite Galileo’s sky, but the stars were incredible. They shimmered in the sky like little candles, flickering in the wind.

Son, he moved away from the window, intent on figuring out just where he was. He remembered seeing the unicorn, but he figured that had to be a hallucination. Unicorns don’t exist. And if he did see one, clearly, he was not in his world any more, alive or not. Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Ryan walked over to the door. He opened the door slowly, like he was back in Narendra’s home, anticipating someone outside. No one, no unicorns. Concluding its safety, Ryan walked out into the hall and took a look down both halls and shut the door. If any nurses passed by, he didn’t want them hearing the heart monitor in “He’s dead!” mode. After looking down both ends, he decided to go right, since he guessed that way led to the back of the hospital. Being a hospital, there was a good chance that he would encounter visitors if he went went to the front. Being practically naked, he it thought better to go where no one would likely be.

As he walked through the halls, he thought about the possibility of the unicorn doctor. “I suppose it could happen.” he thought. “I mean, if Discord exists, then he could... have...” That cinched it. The unicorn doctor probably was real, as real as Discord. He remembered now; Discord had been floating over him before he was found, and disappeared before the little girls took him away. Wherever Discord had brought him, it was certainly far from home.

“Let’s just confirm.” Ryan figured, looking at a door. He quietly approached it, putting his hand on the oddly shaped handle. It looked like it was meant for something without digits. Upon pushing the door open, Ryan’s suspicions were confirmed; there was a horse, pony, or whatever, in the hospital bed. And it was awake, looking at Ryan. As quickly as he opened the door, he closed it again, not wanting to be noticed. Maybe the pony would think it was a dream.

Rather than continue through the hospital, Ryan went back to his room. He had gone a considerable distance, and he needed to get back anyway. Not knowing the layout of the hospital wasn’t very helpful, either.

As he got to be about thirty feet from his door, he heard voices from the room to his left. Panicking, Ryan whipped his head around, looking for anywhere to hide. When he saw nothing, he sprinted forward, hoping to get into his room in time. At his door, just before opening it, the door down the hall opened up, and Ryan froze. Staring down the hall, Ryan had trouble comprehending the sight of a pony in a nurse’s outfit leaving the room with an empty food tray. She took her sweet time, saying goodnight to whoever she was tending to. When she finished, she shut the door and turned away. Ryan took the opportunity and tore his door open, shutting it just as fast and rushing back to his bed, jumping in. He out all the wires back on his chest and shifted them until the noise came back, though it was faster than he would have liked. Oh, well. Nothing to be done about that.

His door creaked open and Ryan closed his eyes to feign sleep. He couldn’t see anything, obviously, but he could hear as the nurse entered his room and walked up to him, her hooves clip-clopping on the tile floor as she approached. Breathing slowly, Ryan tried to calm himself to slow his heart rate.

“Poor thing. Must be having a nightmare.” Ryan felt relief, but there were two things he found interesting about her statement. One; his life as of late was a nightmare. Two; that had to be one of the scarier moments of his recent life, being in a bizarre hospital and nearly being caught out of his room. After taking a couple of readings, the nurse left, allowing Ryan to let out a huge sigh of relief.

He opened his eyes again, checking if the door was closed. It was. Sitting back up and removing the wires, he moved back to the window. Looking outside, he noticed a big forest in the distance. That was something he knew. He also knew, now, that he was on the first floor. He took mental notes of everything.

“Tomorrow, I’m getting out of here.” He would head to the forest. He could probably survive, and if not, oh well. He was supposed to be dead anyway.

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

Big Mac had gotten up early that morning. He didn;t know why, but something in the back of his head had awoken him. Or perhaps it was to the right of his head. “GAH!”

Applebloom was sitting right next to his head, her big eyes trained on his face, looking terribly excited. “Come on, big brother! Let’s get our work done now so we can see him!” Big Mac was a tad confused in his drowsy state.

“Who?” he asked grogilly. Applebloom rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh.

“The creature of course!” Big Mac remembered the creature that had been found dying on their farm. He had to wash the wagon, then throw it away because the stains were so bad, find the area where the girls found it, clean that, then wash himself off. It was a lot of hassle, even if it may not have been the creature’s fault.

“Alright, alright. Just let me get ready for the day, then we can get to work.” Applebloom squee’d and ran out of her brother’s room. He sighed. “It’s gonna be a long day.” he concluded.

The work went fast, much unlike Big Mac was expecting. He had been expecting his little sister to chatter nonstop about what she thought about the creature, and what she expected of it. Maybe what she didn’t know, or any fears she had about it. Nnnope. She just went through her chores, saying very little, intent on getting done as soon as possible. And when she continued after finishing her section of the chores, it became clear that she wanted Big Mac to be there for when they first interacted with the creature. Big Mac would go, of course; he had helped to save its life. But he didn’t share the enthusiasm of his sister.

Maybe the creature was dangerous. It could eat ponies. Or cows, like Bessie. His sister had said that it could talk, so it was clearly intelligent. What if it meant them harm? What sorts of things might it be able to come up with, in that area? Maybe it was nice, though. It could certainly be friendly, though with how they found it, it clearly hadn’t come from a nice place. Odds, were, the creature was not as friendly as they were.

He left those thoughts on the farm, though, as his sister dragged him away to go get her friends. “Good luck with yer new friend, little young’n!” Granny Smith yelled as they left. He hoped for the same.

His little sister finally started talking away about what she was expecting when they left. “Ah bet he’s got all kinds of stories and such from his home!” she started. “I wonder what the land he’s from his like? What if there aren’t any ponies there?” Big Mac actually started to think about that possibility for a moment. As far as he knew, no creature like this had ever been seen before, so it was a distinct possibility that this creature had never even laid eyes upon a pony before. How would it react to them if it had never seen them before? If Big Mac ever found himself in the custody of whatever this creature’s race was, he didn’t doubt that he would be freaking out.

“Ah hope he don’t lash out.” As long as the creature hadn’t fully regained whatever potentially notable strength it had, they would be totally safe.

It didn’t take long to get to Carousel Boutique to get Sweetie Belle, who was just as excited as Applebloom to meet the human. On their walk, the two little fillies babbled away about the creature, throwing out all kinds of theories about it. Some were simple, like he was lost and hurt himself. Others were totally outlandish, like him being a spy in Equestria that was found out and attacked. Big Mac mostly just listened, all the while formulating his own theories and plans for the first encounter.

Soon, they were at the CMC clubhouse, where they retrieved Scootaloo. Big Mac would have sworn that she lived elsewhere, but he didn’t know enough about her to say so. When they got there, Scootaloo must have still been asleep. “SCOOTALOO!!” the girls both yelled. From inside the clubhouse, something that sounded like a skirmish could be heard from inside.

“Coming!” the filly shouted back. After more noise was heard, Scootaloo finally came out, looking exhausted.

“Y’all good to go now?” Applebloom asked impatiently. Scootaloo nodded vigorously.

“Yup! Let’s go!” And they went to the hospital.

As they walked through the town, the townsponies kept giving Big Mac funny looks, like he had some kind of disease. He hoped that he didn’t, because he had no idea what this creature may have had in its blood. But then again, they might just be reacting like they did when Zecora first showed up in town.

“Mornin’.” he said to passersbys. Some returned his gesture with a nod, others just kept on walking, even speeding up as they passed. Couldn’t say that he was shocked, but he couldn’t say that he was happy with this. “Ain’t like Ah did anything wrong.” he said to himself. The fillies were hopping about, being a little bit annoying to a few other ponies. “Unless you count not controlling them.” Other than that, the walk was uneventful.

They reached the hospital in a short time, Big Mac trailing behind a little bit as they went. He was less enthusiastic about the creature, as was already quite clear, and the only reason that he was going was because his little sister wanted him to. He wished that Applejack was there.

“She’d be way more into this than me.” he thought, complaining to himself about going. Normally, he didn’t complain about anything, but when it was something strange like this, he let himself complain a little. “Maybe it won’t be awake. Maybe it’ll need more time to rest.” While he was lost in his mind, the girls were at the door of the hospital, urging Big Mac to hurry up.

They entered the waiting room, drawing looks from the only two other ponies who were there. Once they saw who had entered, they lost interest and went back to whatever it was that they had been doing. Just as well. Big Mac wasn’t the biggest fan of being the center of attention.

They all walked over to the front desk, where the nurse on duty had her head down on her desk, drooling. A light snore came from her. “Miss Redheart?” Sweetie Belle initiated the conversation. Nurse Redheart jumped up, eyes shooting out wide from the startling experience of a little filly’s voice sounding out unexpectedly. When she recovered, she put her head on her hoof and leaned her elbow joint on the table.

“Yes, how can I-*yawn*- help you?” Big Mac hid his snicker at her disheveled appearance. The three little fillies all got up onto the desk and started to bounce up and down, drawing a groan from the nurse.

“We’re here to see the creature!” they all yelled in unison. The nurse rubbed her temples.

“What?” The girls stopped bouncing.

“Y’know, that weird creature that came in before? Not exactly a pony?” Scootaloo tried to make it easier for the nurse. It didn’t work.

“What?” Maybe she didn’t know who they were speaking of.

The doctor walked out of the hall and into the waiting room, instantly spotting the little filles. A big smile crossed his face, and he walked over. “Ah, yes. I assume you’re here for the creature?” The girls nodded so fast that Big Mac would have sworn that their little heads would fly off. “Well, from his readings, I can say that he’s about ready for a little visit.”

The girls were elated. “YAY!” The doctor turned, signaling for them and Big Mac to follow.

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

Ryan hadn’t slept well that night. Of course, one can’t blame him for that. He had been tortured, cut, beaten, burned, shot, and killed. He thought. Still, after all of that, it wasn’t the easiest thing to get back to sleep.

He had awoken at around six in the morning, partly because of how much light there was outside. Summer tended to bring that. “Today, I leave.” He was preparing a plan as soon as he was fully conscious. He couldn’t just walk out the front door, seeing as he wasn’t exactly a local. He didn’t know what these ponies wanted, and he had no way to get out of the room without being seen. When the doctor came in just half an hour earlier, he had left a note.

“Today, you will likely get a visit from three very hyper little girls. Just a fair warning.”

Yeah. Only they weren’t going to get to meet him, since he wasn’t sticking around. He had searched the room for anything that he could use. Other than the one morphine syringe he had left, he had nothing to non-lethally take potential hostiles out of the game, and he might need it for himself later. As the sun peeked over the horizon, Ryan looked out the window.

The window, that was perfect. He was on the first floor, he remembered that from last night. As long as it wasn’t some kind of treated glass, he could just smash it and leave that way. Ryan moved his stuff over to the side of the bed and was about to don it when he heard a knock at his door. Rushing over to his bed, he jumped under the covers and lay still, pretending to sleep.

A nurse walked in, a light blue one with a lighter toned mane. No horn, so she was normal. Behind her she dragged a kart with several bits of food on it. She must have heard Ryan moving around, because she looked at him and said, “Come on, I can tell you aren’t asleep.” Ryan opened his eyes and looked at her, their eyes connecting. The nurse had gentle eyes, really big, like the others he had seen, and the held a lot of sympathy. As well as a nurse should have. To her, Ryan’s eyes just held mystery and confusion, drawing a little chuckle from her. “I have some food for you.” She pushed the cart forward.

“What is this nonsense?” Ryan thought as he took in the sight of the food. Did they honestly think that he ate hay and grass? Looking on the underside shelf, he saw some veggies and oats. He grabbed them with fast hands, getting a startled yelp from the nurse. As he munched on them, she looked at him, awestruck.

“Well, just buzz if you need anything.” Ryan pretended not to understand as she left.

A few seconds after his door closed, Ryan looked over to make sure that she was gone. No noise, good. He was definitely alone. Still munching and crunching on the oats, he looked to the window. “Maybe a little bit longer, to get up my energy.” He would eat all the food in front of him, then he would leave. Maybe. Probably not. After lunch, when his strength would be at one hundred percent again. Yeah.

He got out of the bed and walked around his room. It was a nice hospital room, he had to admit. A lot like the ones he had back home, only this was clearly meant for ponies. There were anatomical drawings of ponies, posters about pony health, and other non-human things. Still, this hospital room was probably better equipped than that one he had gone to before. And upon leaving, he doubted that he would be met by Luna, to whom he would have to... explain his actions...

Ryan froze completely. Remembering Luna, he thought about her compared to these other creatures around him. She was a horse. They were ponies. Her coloring was in a similar style to theirs, and she had a horn and wings. Could this be her realm? Did she have something to do with his being brought here? Maybe Discord knew her, though he never mentioned that he did. Ideas swirled around in Ryan’s head. Maybe they were like devil and angel, always at odds, trying to influence people to do the right or wrong thing? Nah, not likely. Maybe they were just generally enemies? Maybe. Ryan decided to think about it later, and decided that he would focus on his escape.

He noticed a mirror in the room, toward the corner. He walked over to it. He hadn’t taken a good look at himself in ages, and he couldn’t help but be curious about what the mirror held in store for him. When he got there, what he saw was hardly the Ryan that he remembered. He had lost weight, and non an insignificant amount. He still had muscle, more than before, even, but his body fat had dropped dramatically. On his face, he had a growing survivalist beard, the hairs being a quarter of an inch long. Removing his gown, Ryan looked at his body unhindered. His necklace still hung on his neck, he hadn’t even noticed. Under it, he could see a huge scar where the 5.45mm bullet tore through his chest. Tenderly, he put his fingers on the scar. The skin had hardly any feeling any more. His arms still looked like they had been melted and then poured back into place with the burn scars. He was bruised from his various encounters with people and nature. His right leg had a plethora of tiny scars from the mine that he had stepped on. Turning around, he looked at his back in the mirror. The letters, USA, were still there, forever carved into his skin. Under them, he saw a spot where it looked like a buzzsaw had attacked him, having been slashed over a dozen times in that spot. He took it all in soberingly.

He had never been invincible, he knew that. He went out there expecting to die. But he had also been expecting to gain something. What it was, he wasn’t even sure any more. Closure? Satisfaction? Redemption? No, he had nothing. Killing Narendra didn’t make him feel better, it didn’t make the problems go away, and his quest certainly didn’t redeem his decision on the boat and in the compound. For a second, Catherine and Joey flashed by in the mirror, prompting Ryan to spin around. No one. No one had ever been there for him, except for Harris.

Ryan began to tremble, and fell against the mirror, cracking it. He had abandoned his best friend, the only one who could have helped him and tried to. Ryan had no redemption, he never would. Unsure of what to do with himself, Ryan went back to the bed and laid down. “I don’t even know what I’m doing.” he realized. He just lay there on the bed and waited for lunch to come.

Lunch came slowly, Ryan’s thoughts and memories haunting him the whole time. They threatened to make him do something. He was never sure what, but he had come close to doing it. The doctor walked in. “Hello, Mr...?” When Ryan didn’t respond, he nodded and brought the food over. This time, he had peanut butter, bread, and milk. “Here’s lunch.” Again, Ryan used fast hands to nab the food and scarfed it down. Unlike the nurse, the doctor just chuckled, non being startled. The nurse must have talked to him. “I’m sure that you got my note about visitors today.” he said. Ryan tore at his food and gulped down his milk. “Well, my guess is that they’ll be around soon, so be prepared. They’re going to be a bit excited.” Ryan looked up at the doctor, this time avoiding eye contact. The doctor took the hint and left the room.

Ryan wiped his mouth and looked around. If his “visitors” were coming soon, than now was the time to leave. He waltzed over to his things and donned everything. Keeping a check of everything, he donned the underwear, then the pants, then the shirt and jacket, then his vest and weapons and such. Once he had everything, he turned to leave. As he turned, he laid eyes on the mirror. He stared at it for a moment.

With a glacial expression, he pulled out Harris’ Automag and put a bullet in the mirror, aiming downward. The mirror exploded, bits crashing to the floor, spreading glass everywhere. He turned back around and looked to the window and got ready to run.

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

Big Mac and the girls were standing with the doctor just fifteen feet from the door to the creature’s room when an incredibly loud BOOM sounded throughout the hall. They all dropped and covered their ears. “What was that?” Sweetie Belle screamed. The doctor was just as confused as her, and he was looking around frantically.

“Is everyone alright?” he yelled A chorus of “yes” and “Think so” was sang through the hall. The doctor stood up, panic seeming to strike his face like a mare’s hoof. “The creature!” he shouted. As he ran forward, Big Mac got up and ran after him.

They were at the door in a couple of seconds. Once there, they heard a loud crash from inside. Immediately, the doctor kicked the door open and rushed in. All that was there was an empty room, a shattered mirror, and a shattered window. Outside, they could see the creature running away from the hospital, towards the forest.

“Stop it!” the doctor yelled.

Big Mac took the initiative and leapt out the window, getting into a gallop to catch the creature. Behind him, he could hear the doctor yelling out orders at his employees to get ready to treat someone. Real confidence builder, him not knowing who to treat.

Big Mac was getting close to the creature. Clearly, it wasn’t a species that was built for running like ponies. For a two legged creature, it was running on two legs, it was fast, though. “Stop!” Big Mac yelled out. The creature looked back for a moment, then sped up just a little. Not enough though. When Big Mac got in range, he grabbed the creature’s clothes with his teeth and stopped. With both of their considerable momentums, they crashed into the ground.

Big Mac took a moment to recover from his fall. It had been a while since he fell down during a full sprint. He rolled over, catching his breath. “Well, that was-” He was cut off by a large weight tackling him to the ground. Looking up, he saw that the creature was pinning him down. Who would have guessed that it could recover so fast? “Ah don’t want to hurt you.” he said slowly, hoping that the creature would understand tone if not words. “Ah just want-” The creature leapt off of him and moved back, letting Big Mac stand up. He noticed that it was pointing a shiny thing at him. “Ah don’t know what that is,” Big Mac said. “but Ah’d appreciate it if you didn’t point it at me.” The creature kept its item trained on him, making him uncomfortable. “Just calm down.” he said.

The creature moved back, pointing the weapon down. “Stay away.” it said. Before Big Mac could register that it spoke to him, it turned around and fled into the forest.