They made their way to Sweet Apple Acres, where, with any luck, Ryan would have a job. He hoped that the job would pay decently; odds were, he wouldn’t actually be paid that much for library work or whatever thing Rarity did. On the way, though, he found out what that was; clothing design. At the very least, he could get an employee discount for some clothes. If he asked for some.

On their way to the farm, the trio had some mild small talk. The mares had been trying to get Ryan to tell them more, but Ryan was interested in learning about this town that he would be staying in. They had lots to tell him.

“Well, we have pretty much every service you could need.” Twilight said. It already sounded like a real estate advertisement. “We have restaurants, our own farm, books, various travel services, all kinds of fun activities, and relaxation activities.”

Rarity jumped in on that last one. “Yes, those relaxation services are absolutely essential! Without the spa, I would be much too tense to do any work.” Ryan remembered that spa from the previous day. He had no interest in it; plus, it was all females there.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“Well, I don’t know what else you could want." Rarity admonished. "Except the mane salon, the yoga and martial arts studios, or the bar if that kind of thing appeals to you.” Two things stood out to Ryan there; a bar and a martial arts studio.

“Well, I think I may have to look into some of this.” Ryan wanted to maintain his fighting skills if he was to survive in the woods.

Ryan took his beret off again, wrapping the scarf around it to keep them together. It was much too hot for them at the moment. “If you’re hot, you should take off that jacket.” Twilight recommended. “I mean, it can’t be helpful to wear it.” Ryan waved his hand up.

“No, I’m good.” Twilight was unconvinced.

“Well, I think you should at least take off that vest. You’re wearing way too much to be comfortable.”

Rarity joined in. “Or fashionable.” Again, Ryan waved his hand dismissively.

“No, I prefer to wear it. And I’d prefer to keep my reasons to myself.” The mares looked at each other, but accepted Ryan’s reluctance. He wasn’t intent on showing them his scars and explaining the true nature of his survival gear. Besides, it wasn’t that bad. The average soldier called this kind of setup “battle rattle”. If they could handle it, Ryan figured that he should try to be able to.

Wearing his own battle rattle, Ryan simply soldiered on after the mares, who were talking to each other about whatever it was that these ponies talked about. From what Ryan could hear, he figured that it must be about famous ponies or political figures.

“So, Fancy Pants said that he would love to have me up there and see my designs! It’s huge for me!” He guessed that this Fancy Pants character must be a designer too. Twilight smiled and congratulated her friend.

“I’m so happy for you!” she said. Ryan decided to ignore the rest of their conversation.

Not too far up ahead, there was the farm that he was found on. He hoped that all was about to go well.

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

Discord watched on as Ryan walked with Rarity and Twilight Sparkle. He could determine now that Ryan was publicly in town, not hiding himself the way Discord had expected. He was also interacting with the ponies, something else totally new. Discord felt a bit of happiness, but also a bit of apprehension. This had the potential to explode in Ryan’s face, if he wasn’t careful. But still, Discord knew that he could always help out by giving Ryan a little push when necessary.

Discord let the pair of eyes fall lower and cast a hearing spell so that he could hear what the mares were saying without Ryan, who stood a bit behind them. Ryan clearly wasn’t paying attention. “So do you think she’ll be alright with him being around? I mean, she hardly knows him. We hardly even know him, really.” Rarity said. Twilight held her head up, looking to the coming farmhouse.

“I’m not worried. I’m sure that she’ll find that Harkness is trustworthy.” If Discord could have blinked, he would have done so. In his mind, he laughed at the mares’ ignorance.

“Oh, wow! He didn’t tell them his real name!” he thought. “They have no idea if they can trust him. Oh, this will be interesting to watch.”

And he kept on watching, seeing no particular need to intervene in anything at the moment.

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

They were at the farmhouse, and Ryan looked around. He couldn’t see the Apple family anywhere, not that he minded. They could take as much time as they needed. Off to either side, he saw hundreds of apple trees. They had passed the trees that Ryan had hidden in two nights before.

“Applejack!?” Twilight called out. The mares started to walk around, while Ryan opted to lean on the wall of the house and let them find his potential bosses.

“Applejack, are you around here?” Rarity called, putting on a pair of fancy sunglasses. Inside the house, Ryan could hear movement. He decided to just wait and see who it was.

“Big Macintosh?!” Twilight called. The sounds from inside were more clear; someone was approaching the door to his right. He got off the wall and waited. Meanwhile, Rarity and Twilight were still walking and calling.

The door opened, and Granny Smith walked out. “What’s all the ruckus?” she asked, looking for the sources of the yells. Ryan stepped out.

“Good day, Ma’am.” Ryan greeted. Granny Smith gave him a big, toothy smile.

“Well, howdy there pardner!” she said, walking forward and extending a hoof. Ruefully, Ryan extended his hand and got ready for a possible broken wrist. Sure enough, when Granny Smith got a hold of his hand, he was practically being lifted off of the ground. “How’re you today?” she asked. When she finished with her vigorous handshake, Ryan nursed his hand and tried his best to smile. It was fake, but he was pretty decent at that.

“I’m doing fine.” Granny Smith’s smile faltered; she could see that Ryan was not fine. Not pressing him, though, she asked,

“What brings y’all here, eh?” She walked over to a rocking chair on her porch. Ryan followed a bit and sat on the ground.

“Well, Rarity and Twilight brought me here in the hopes that your family might hire me as a farm hand.”

Granny Smith exhaled as she sat in her chair. “Well, I think that would be a fine idea.” she said. “But you’ll need to talk to Macky an’ Applejack about that. They handle the farm costs and work and whatnot.” Ryan nodded.

“Yes, Rarity and Twilight are looking for them now.” Granny Smith chuckled.

“An’ they’re in that direction?” she asked, pointing to the southern fields.

“Eeyup.” Ryan said. She chuckled again.

“You talk just like Macky, you know that?” Ryan gave another smile, but looked away. He knew that she knew. “But he don’t talk much.” Ryan shrugged.

“Well, I don’t really start conversations myself.” he said. Granny Smith kept on chuckling.

“Back to what we were sayin’, Macky an’ AJ are in the north fields.” Ryan looked in that direction.

“Well, then. I guess we’ll just wait for the mares to come back, then.” Granny Smith laughed, and they just sat in their place, waiting and talking a bit.

After about half an hour, the mares returned. “Well, we couldn’t find them. We’ll have to look in another field.” Ryan stood and stretched.

“They’re in the north fields.” he said. Twilight and Rarity looked at him for a moment, then frowned in perfect sync. “What?” Ryan asked.

“You could have found us and TOLD us that, you know.” Rarity reprimanded. Twilight looked frustrated.

“Well, that wouldn’t have been nearly as funny.” Granny Smith laughed at this, which also reduced the frowns on Rarity and Twilight. He took a mental note. “Score one for me.” The more popular he was with these ponies, the more he could make, and the more he could make, the sooner he could become a hermit. He would have to be careful though; too popular, and he might find himself having to be social. He couldn’t risk that.

He nodded to Granny Smith, who seemed to like him enough to have him around, and he and the mares went off to the north fields to get him a working job. Ryan had always liked labor jobs; he was intelligent, sure, but he liked to do mindless labor a lot. It gave him a good respite from his thoughts. Throughout his childhood, he had always been considering difficult questions. He started his Karate before he turned four, and as such, he had been learning to fight from the development stages of his brain’s growth. Even at age ten, he knew that he had the techniques to kill.

Now, he couldn’t have fought off most adults at the time, but he knew that he would be able to eventually. From an early age, he had considered the hardest of moral questions, and it took him years to come to certain conclusions about himself and morality, and acts that fit with either. Maybe that was part of what made it easier to do... some of what he did. Had he always been terrible then, or had he always been preparing himself for tragedy? He didn’t think about it much, nor did he wish to.

They approached the field, and already they could hear the sounds of trees being kicked and apples falling. Off in the distance, three little girls could be heard playing. “Oh, here we go again.” Ryan thought gloomily. He had no desire to be around children. Their innocence was heart shattering to him. Thankfully, though, they never came over.

“Let’s go, they should be just over there.” Twilight said. Ryan and Rarity followed as Twilight led them into past the treeline and towards the sounds. Naturally, passing a treeline, Ryan grew tense and scanned the area. The memory of the landmine almost taking his leg off was still fresh in his mind.

“Harkness, are you alright dear?” Rarity asked. Ryan looked around. He was visibly tense.

“Yeah.” he said casually. “Just checking for- things.” he caught himself.

Rarity was about to ask him about it when they heard, “Howdy, Twi! Rarity, and... uh, Harkness?” Ryan looked forward. Applejack was looking at him uneasily. Ryan put his beret under his left arm and raised his right hand.

“Hey.” Applejack hadn’t seen him with so little on, and took a moment to look at Ryan.

“Y’all look real... dirty.” Ryan shrugged.

“Applejack, please! Don’t be rude to our new friend.” Rarity responded. Applejack put her hoof to her hat.

“Sorry.”

Ryan didn’t care, seeing as that wasn’t what he was here for. he was about to try to get a job on a farm; he would be dirty most of the time anyway. That was, if he even found a way to clean himself.

Ryan extended his hand out. “No worries.” he said.

Applejack took his hand cautiously in her hoof. “Alrighty then.” They broke the contact. “So what brings y’all here?” Applejack asked. Ryan was going to respond, but Twilight beat him to it.

“We were hoping that you might be willing to hire Harkness as a farmhand.” Ryan looked back at Twilight, then back to Applejack. It looked like she was taken off guard. “He doesn’t have a job, so he has no money. We’re trying to work something out for him.” Applejack looked at him, then down at the ground. She was thinking hard about this.

“Well, shoot, Ah’d be glad to, but Ah don’t know about the farm funds. Y’all’re gonna have to ask Big Mac.” The mares looked delighted, but Ryan was watching Applejack’s face as she spoke. It spoke volumes.

“But are you alright with having me around?” he asked suddenly, drawing looks from everypony there. “That’s the main question.” Applejack looked like she had been slapped and didn’t understand why, while Twilight and Rarity were looking at Ryan, surprised.

Applejack took a moment to respond. “Well, Ah don’t rightly know you. So honestly, not really.” Ryan nodded. Rarity and Twilight, though, were not happy.

“Come now, Applejack! He’s trustworthy!” Rarity explained. “We’re already hiring him at the library and boutique. You won’t even have to hire him for that long.” Applejack’s expression changed from wary to contemplative in a moment after hearing that bit of news.

“Well, Ah guess that y’all’re just here for a little.” she said, mainly to herself. “Ah suppose y’all could work here. Just go find Big Mac to talk about the terms.” Twilight and Rarity made little celebratory noises while Ryan watched Applejack. She still didn’t seem too excited.

“Relax.” he told her. “I won’t cause trouble.” She looked up and into his eyes. Ryan could see mixed feelings in hers.

“Ah know you’re bein’ honest.” she said. “Ah just don’t know what Ah should think.” Ryan nodded.

“I understand, actually.” He turned around. “Guess I’ll see you around.”

Twilight and Rarity walked over to Ryan. “Well, I guess that we just need to find Big Macintosh now.” Twilight said. “Let’s go.”

While the group walked around, following the noises of applebucking, they talked about a work schedule for Ryan. “Well, I can hire you for two days.” Twilight explained. “And I’d love to learn more about you and your society.” Ryan looked at her funny. He hadn’t expected her to want to, but she seemed like she took Ryan’s words about humanity in general to heart.

“Alright, I guess that I can work in the library for a couple days a week.” he said. Twilight let out a big squee.

“Wonderful!” she exclaimed. Ryan turned to Rarity, letting Twilight celebrate the moment.

“And how about the boutique?” Ryan asked.

Rarity put her hoof to her chin. “Well, if you work in the library for two days, and I assume the farm for two days, you could just do one day at the boutique.” She seemed not gleeful, but not terribly unhappy. “It may be just one day, but all that means is that it’ll take more time to make you all new clothes!”

Ryan sighed inwardly. He was never into fashion at all; put on a random grouping of clothes and wear it, that's how he does it. “I don’t think that’s all that necessary.” he said. Rarity gasped, causing Twilight to turn to see what was wrong.

“Not necessary?” she asked in what sounded like offense. “New clothes are exactly what you need! Just look at your clothes!” Ryan looked down at himself, as did Twilight. His clothes now were covered in dirt, stained by mud, torn, and smelled horrifying. He had to admit, if he was to not let himself die, he would have to avoid becoming a disease center.

“...Maybe.” he conceded. Twilight chuckled in front of them.

“When Rarity offers you something, you won’t be able to refuse her generosity. She won’t let you not accept it.” Ryan cocked an eyebrow at Twilight, then looked at Rarity.

“She’s right, you know.” Ryan sighed again.

“So long as I don’t have to take off my current clothes.” The mares looked at each other, seemingly suspicious of their new friend. Again, they let it go, not wanting to press Ryan for information that he would not likely give up.

The sounds of the applebucking indicated that Big Mac was just a little bit further ahead. Ryan remembered him. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other when they first met. At least, when they first met on good terms. If only Ryan could have had it like that with all of these ponies. Then, everything would be so much easier.

They went around a tree and saw the looming form of Big Macintosh, leaning forward and getting ready to kick a tree behind him. When he released the massive amount of energy in his legs at the tree, his hooves shot out like cannonballs. Upon being struck, the tree vibrated more than any tree should be able to, and every apple fell out. It was an impressive display of power.

“Big Macintosh?” Twilight said somewhat timidly. He turned and looked over at the group. Ryan stood behind the two mares and nodded to Big Mac, who nodded back silently. They would get along just fine. “We spoke to Granny Smith and Applejack about your family maybe hiring Harkness as a farmhand for a couple days a week.” Twilight explained. “Granny Smith said to talk to AJ, and AJ said to ask you, since you would know more about being able to hire him.” Big Mac looked at the mares, then at Ryan, then at them. He already knew that Harkness was a good enough guy. He had figured that from their previous interactions.

“So, will you hire him?” Rarity asked, batting her eyelashes. Big Mac just looked at her flatly, making her blush. Her charms had never really worked on him.

“Eeyup.” he said, moving to another tree to buck.

The mares shouted, “Hooray!” and ran back to hug Ryan from both his sides, something he hadn’t seen coming. It was a good thing that they hugged him really tight; his arms were kept from his weapons. After he realized his hands were trying to reach for his weapons, he made them relax.

“Awesome.” he said, trying to squeeze out of the hug. Both mares suddenly let go and Ryan almost lost his balance. They walked over to Big Mac.

“So, what days can he work?” Twilight asked. Big Mac kicked another tree, then looked up to the sky in thought.

“Thursdays and Fridays.” he said. The mares looked to Ryan, who nodded his approval.

“Can he start tomorrow?” Rarity asked. Apparently, it was Wednesday. Big Mac nodded. The mares both turned to Ryan, big smiles on their faces. “Well, I think we have a work schedule for you!” Rarity announced gleefully. “You can work at my boutique on Mondays, the library on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and here on Thursdays and Fridays.” Ryan nodded again.

“Sound good.” he said.

The mares turned to Big Mac. “Thank you Big Mac. I think you’ll like having him around.” Twilight said. Big Mac looked at Ryan again. They looked at each other, sizing each other up. This Harkness character looked like he could be either strong or weak, Big Mac had nothing to compare him to. He already knew that he wasn’t going to hurt anypony, and he didn’t seem very talkative. He would be fine.

Big Mac was clearly a beast of a pony. If ponies didn’t only eat plants, RYan would think that this guy ate a pound of chicken a day. He was huge. Other than that, Ryan could tell that he wasn’t into talking, from how he spoke to the mares before him. He was willing to hire Ryan. That was good. He could tell from Mac’s eyes that he was a peaceful guy. Though from his expression when they looked at each other, he could tell that Big Mac could see something in Ryan that he wasn’t sure about. That was fine though. Ryan wasn’t sure about himself, either.

“Alright.” Ryan said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned and walked off, the two mares saying their goodbyes to Big Mac and trotting off to catch up to their human friend.

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

Luna hated having to hold her Lunar Court. Even after her angry tirade at the nobles for their petty squabbles, they came to her with the stupidest of problems. Right now, they were pestering Luna about what one of them was doing with his property. “What he is doing is abominable! It will ruin our home values!” the accusing one said. The other gave his rebuttal quickly.

“My home is valuable to people like me, yours is valuable to people like you! One won’t affect the other!” Okay, Luna had to admit that he was wrong there, but the whole thing was ridiculous. She had had enough.

“If I read the law right just before you came in here,” she said. “He may do what he wishes with his property, for that is his right. You are trying to infringe upon his right, and that is not to be allowed.” There was a groan and a “yay!” from before her. “And for wasting my time, you will also pay a fine of one hundred bits for harassing this stallion.” The accuser was about to protest, but Luna held up a hoof. “I care not for petty problems. And I am writing this into law as of now.”

She looked to the law keeper next to her, who already had a pen out and ready to go. “For any case that is petty or wastes the court’s time, the accuser shall pay a fine of one hundred and fifty bits.” As the law keeper wrote it down, Luna took in the expressions of her crowd. Most were shocked. A couple were outraged. All of the guards, though, wore triumphant smiles. Especially Starstep. “Consider yourself lucky that I am not giving you the full fine. Now, begone.” She waved them all out, expecting to see one or two stay for real cases that needed to be heard. None stayed. “Ugh.” she said disdainfully. She got up from her throne. “Let us depart.” She walked next to Starstep, two joined her as she went back to their shared quarters.

Once inside, Luna jumped over to her bed and groaned into her pillow. “Why must these nobles come to me with these pathetic problems of theirs?” she asked no one. “It’s ridiculous.” Starstep took a seat next to the bed and patted Luna’s head.

“I’m sure it is.” he said. “But at least they aren’t having real problems. That much is a plus.” Luna looked up from her pillow at her guard.

“I suppose so.” She hopped off of her bed and walked over to her window, looking into the night sky. Up there, she could clearly see the special star that she had made to remember Ryan by the previous night. “At least HIS problems aren’t here.”

Sensing her sadness, Starstep walked over and put his foreleg around his princess. “I’m sure he’s at peace now, Luna.” he said, forgetting about formalities for the moment. “You should try to move on.” He had been trying to encourage her to get away from this mindset since he learned about what happened. It wasn’t easy, and he wasn’t making notable progress. Luna shook her head.

“I can’t.” she said. “It’s my fault for not helping him to get home, and not trying to stop him from his pursuit.” She leaned into him. “It was my greatest mistake, even greater than a thousand years ago.” Starstep listened to her with a heavy heart. She had never been proud of herself for that first trouble, to say the absolute least. That this was worse to her meant a lot.

Starstep hugged her tight. “You did what you thought was right.” he said. “When a pony does their best, what else is there?” Luna looked at the ground.

“There’s living to continue doing their best.” Starstep was losing ground.

“Not always.” he said. He looked up to the sky. There were no stars for his old teammates. “My team did its best, and I was the only one to come away from that battle. There was nothing else to it. They didn’t live to keep doing their best.” A single tear came down from his eye. It moved slow as molasses, and at his chin, it hung for just a moment. While it hung, the moonlight shone and glimmered in it, like the souls of the fallen were inside it. When it fell, it continued to shine, until it hit the ground and exploded outward, losing the light of the night sky. “We did our best. There was nothing else for us to do. And there was nothing else for you to do, there isn’t now, and there never will be. You have to accept the past and move on.”

Luna looked up at Starstep. She could see that, while he was totally still like a statue, tears were flowing from his eyes like a drainage pipe. He hadn’t let go of what had happened to him. He didn’t want to see Luna like that. “Please.” he pleaded. Luna put her foreleg around him and squeezed tight.

“...I will try.” They sat like that for over an hour, until they finally went to sleep, still holding each other like a child holds a teddy bear during a thunderstorm.

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

Ryan awoke slowly in his trench. He let his eyelids open and close a little bit before getting up and stretching himself out. As he got up, his spine cracked over a dozen times, providing some much needed relief from sleeping on the ground two nights in a row. It wasn’t a problem, though. When he made his hidden home in the Everfree, he might even dig a ditch to sleep in. Beds are unnecessary.

He climbed out of the ditch and looked off towards Ponyville, sighing heavily. “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” That’s how the phrase goes. Never before had Ryan thought it such an apt phrase for himself. Still cracking in various places on his body, Ryan donned his beret and scarf and made his way to the farm. He didn’t need Big Mac to tell him to be there early. It was a farm, after all. Of course, also being a farm, the work would be long and arduous, so Ryan might be forced to shed some of his outfit. Preemptively acting, he removed the beret and scarf and wrapped the beret in the scarf like the previous day. He stuffed them in the back of his vest and walked on, the large lump giving him a Hunchback of Notre Dame look.

It was a little before five thirty, if the light in the sky was anything to go by. The previous night, he had been looking at the stars, seeking one that he would deem as his favorite. One in particular caught his eye. It was the strangest star he had ever seen. The star twinkled brighter than any around it, but then, it would fade, and become so black that one might still see its shape in the dark blue sky. No natural star appeared that way, as far as Ryan knew, but this was a world of magic. Someone may have created the star, and it just happened to match up with Ryan.

The stars were hardly visible now, though, as the sun would soon be rising. Using what little light was available, Ryan walked through the town and went to his workplace for the next two days. Around him, he could make out the various landmarks in the town; there was the obvious Town Hall, a large well, a hospital in the distance, and then the library. A quaint little town, and he was going to a quaint little farm.

“It shouldn’t be real.” Ryan said upon finishing his inspection. “How can a world without my atrocities even exist?” The concept was so alien to him, it didn’t even seem reasonable. These ponies had had their conflicts, to be certain, but it seemed very different from his home. They were much more peaceful.

Of course, Ryan had to think about the potential downsides to this. “Overcoming hardship is what makes humanity great.” he thought. “It is how we prove ourselves worthy to exist, how we know that we deserve to live.” These ponies, or at least the vast majority of them, had no such thing. Ryan knew the he didn’t deserve to live, but that was because he hadn’t overcome his difficulties. Harris deserved to live because he had maintained his morality against Narendra. He proved himself worthy of the life he had. What was it like, never knowing what you are really capable of, when there can’t be a way to prove it? Ryan actually felt a little sorry for the ponies, in a way.

He left his thoughts there, as he had done so much recently, and left the town, heading towards the farm. On his way, he spotted the farm early on, taking in its early morning appearance. It looked the same as it did during the day, only now, there were some lights on inside. They came from two rooms; presumably, they were Applejack’s and Big Mac’s rooms.

“I guess that I’m late.” Ryan said, stepping onto the property. Though the lights were on, the barn door was closed, as if no one was there yet. “Though maybe not.” He walked on down the little road and all the way to the barn.

He approached the barn as quietly as he could. New habits that saved one’s life tended to go away with difficulty. He sat down in front of the barn door and listened. “Ah’m guessin’ that he’ll be here in a couple of hours.” a female voice said. Applejack. “He don’t exactly come off as a farmer, so Ah can’t think of any reason for him to be gettin’ up early.” If she knew, she would see why he couldn’t sleep. She continued. “Ah’ll tell him his duties when- AH!”

She yelled loudly at the sight of Ryan crouched in front of the barn door. Big Mac ran around to see the ruckus; he relaxed when he saw it was just his new farm aid.

“I’m here.” Ryan said. Applejack was catching her breath, while Big Mac was just smiling at her. She looked at him.

“Y’all shut up.” Big Mac just chuckled and walked over to the barn. Ryan stood and got out of the way, letting Big Mac open the door.

Big Mac opened the door and entered, leaving Ryan with Applejack. “Well, I’m here. So, what’s my job?” he asked. Applejack looked at him, trying to size him up.

“Well, Ah’m guessin’ that y’all don’t exactly buck trees.” she commented. Ryan shrugged.

“Meh. I can do other stuff.” Applejack nudged him to head into the barn, going in ahead of him. He followed.

“Ah guess that y’all can drag carts.” she said, pointing to a decent sized cart.

Ryan looked at it, then deadpanned, “I’m not sure I can drag that if it’s full of apples.” She looked at him.

“Ah don’t know, you might be pretty strong. Ah don’t have anything to compare you to, so we’ll just figure it out as y’all go along.” Ryan shrugged. If he died doing work, that was just what would happen. She slapped him on the back. “Ah’m sure y’all’re gonna do fine. Now, since you’re here, Ah’ll be headin’ back to bed and then into town for a day of fun with my friends.” She looked past him. “Big Mac, y’all be sure to help him if he needs it.” Big Mac nodded, and Applejack left.

Ryan and Big Mac were left alone in silence. At first, they just looked at each other. Big Mac then pointed his muzzle to the cart, which Ryan looked at, then went over to. He picked up the front, which would normally be attached to a yoke, and pushed forward. It was surprisingly easy. He turned to look at Big Mac and nodded, and the two set out to get to work.

They went out to the north fields first. Big Mac and his sister had been there the previous day, so Ryan just figured that they were going to finish what they had started. While they walked, Big Mac kept looking to Ryan, or Harkness, as he thought, who didn’t notice. From how easily he handled the empty cart, Big Mac figured that he must be strong enough for that, but not enough to buck trees. His body type didn’t seem suited for that anyway. The way his body was laid out, Harkness looked like he was meant to be able to travel in any environment and use all sorts of different items. This was on account of his hands, mostly, as they were like Spike’s, only they had five fingers. Harkness’ legs were clearly more flexible than any pony’s, as were his arms as compared to forelegs. The hair on his face and head indicated that he was mostly hairless, given its distribution.

The clothing was interesting. He had a vest on with several pieces of equipment, the only ones Big Mac recognized being the hammer and knife. He couldn’t see the blade in the sheath, but the size of the handle made it clear that it was a large blade. The hammer looked like it had been very used, having a couple of rusty spots on it. The spots were very dark red. The other pieces of equipment were very odd. They were both L-shaped, as far as he could tell. The one he could see had a wooden short length and a silvery long length. The silvery one was a tube with a little lip at the end on what Big Mac assumed to be the top. On the other end, there was a hammer-shaped piece. The items fascinated Big Mac; he would have to be sure to research them, if he ever got to the library.

Once they were at the fields, Ryan realized that Big Mac was looking at him, and more specifically, his torso. He could see from the wonder in Big Mac’s face that he was trying to figure out his weapons. When they stopped to get to work, Ryan dropped his beret and scarf on the wagon handle and moved over to a tree. Big Mac followed.

“Hmm.” Ryan said, looking up at it. Big Mac came up next to him and pointed at a red apple and nodded. Then, he pointed at a nasty looking one and shook his head. Ryan responded by nodding and moved back. Big Mac looked at him curiously as Ryan seemed to take measurements or some such. Before Big Mac could ask what he was doing, Ryan ran up to the tree and ran up it, grabbing a branch. Once there, he started picking the apples that looked good and tossing them down. Big Mac smiled and nodded, and made his way to his own tree. He would have to knock off all the apples and then sort them with his mouth. Not very pleasant, but it had to be done.

Ryan looked over at Big Mac as he worked. He had already cleared his tree, but because he had to sort the apples and individually put them into the buckets, he was going to take a while on his own. Ryan looked at his hands. He was glad to have them.

After a while, Ryan managed to get all of the apples off of his tree. It only took about forty minutes, much faster than expected. On top of that, he had put the buckets under the tree so that he could drop the good apples into them. Once finished with the tree, he dropped down and started putting his buckets in his wagon. When he finished up doing that, he looked over to Big Mac, who was starting to put his own buckets in his cart. When Big Mac finished with his, he saw Ryan looking over at him. He looked surprised that Ryan was already good to go.

He looked over to the barn and jerked his neck in that direction to say, “Bring’em to the barn.” Ryan nodded and made to drag his apples to the barn. The cart was much heavier, but he could handle it, at least for now. He looked at his watch, which he just remembered he was wearing. It was about seven thirty, and he would be here for a while longer. This was the kind of work he could do, and this was definitely the kind of guy he could work with.

The stallion and boy went to the barn in silence, already having said all that needed to be said.

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

Luna was already awake when Starstep got up. She had moved off of the bed and went into her library, it seemed. “Princess?” Starstep called.

She called back. “I’m in the shower!” Starstep nodded to himself for a moment. Even a princess needed to clean herself up every so often.

While he waited for her, he decided to look through his old things, for memory’s sake. He walked over to his little pile of things in the corner. He hadn’t thought it necessary to give them an actual place, so long as they were out of everypony’s way. Luna had protested him, though. “Why don’t we get you a chest that you can put everything in? I’m sure there are spares around.” Starstep had shaken his head to that.

“No, that’s not necessary. I’ll just leave it somewhere that’s out of the way.” She wasn’t pressing the issue, but Starstep could tell that Luna was looking for that spare chest. He appreciated the concern, really, but he didn’t think he deserved it.

He sat before the pile and started to rifle through it. He wasn’t looking for anything specific, just old things that caught his eye. The first of these things was his old weapon. It was a retractable blade that he wrapped around his leg, just above the hoof, that he would will to extend or retract. The weapon had served him very well. Back in Saddle Arabia and that general region, especially in “The Triangle”, he had taken down a lot of enemy combatants using that weapon. In the pile, he also found his old armor. That single piece of gear had saved his life more times than anything else. Other than that, he encountered his old spear, his helmet, and some documents, Nothing much other than that.

Except one thing that really stood out. It wasn’t a big thing, and it wasn’t heavy. It was an old picture. He pulled it out to get a look at it. As he looked down at it in his hooves, he felt his eyes growing warm and wet. It was a picture of his team back in The Triangle, before the Nighthawks. Meteor, Stratofortress, Falcon, Eagle, Blazer, and himself. They all got their call signs from different aspects about themselves, but since they were long gone, that wasn’t really important. Starstep held the picture close to his heart for a moment, like it would bring his fallen friends back to him. He hadn’t been there when Stratofortress kicked the bucket. He had been hit by an explosion and sent home. He was DOA.

Meteor had been killed in battle, right alongside Starstep. He was a hardass at times, but he did care for his team. Falcon and Eagle appropriately died together, having been fireteam buddies. They were killed after Starstep and Blazer left the 35th Joint Strike Force battalion and joined up with the Nighthawks. And lastly, Blazer, who wasn’t yet confirmed KIA. He was still considered MIA. Starstep knew he was gone.

When he heard hoofsteps coming from the library area, he quickly stuffed the old photo back in the pile and wiped off his face. “Are you ready to face the day, your highness?” he asked, looking away. He heard her walk up behind him.

“Only if you are.”

She knew what was wrong. She could always tell if he was feeling alright, and right now, he definitely was not. She put her hoof on his back and rubbed. “Are you?” she asked. Starstep looked up.

“Yes.” he responded, barely able to hide his sorrow and loss. Luna felt truly terrible for him. She had lost her friend recently, but he had lost all of his friends. To top it off, the “nobles’ of Canterlot treated him horribly.

“You are not.” she asserted. She moved up and sat next to him. “...Is it the past that bothers you?” Starstep just nodded, closing his eyes and trying to stay calm. “A wise guard told me to let go of the past. It’s something that I think you may need help with as much as me.” She stroked his neck with her hoof. “And we will always have each other.” Starstep actually smiled a little bit.

“I know.” he said. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

They sat there for a while, their presences comforting each other in their troubled lives. Luan knew that there was nothing she could do about Ryan being gone; she just had to move on. Starstep, though, could have something. Luna knew that Blazer was alive and being held captive. She wanted to see Starstep happy and free of his guilt, and she knew that the only way for him to let go of the past was if she could release his guilt. And the best way to do that was to get Blazer.

She looked out the window, hoping that some miracle would come along to show her the way.