Whiplash suddenly sneezed himself out of his sleep. His vision was blurred, and he had an incredible migraine. Groaning in pain, he forced his eyes to focus. It was morning, or at leas,t he assumed as such. The sky was brighter then when he had gone to sleep. It was overcast with a heavy mist, so his perception of time was a little shot. He groaned with pain as his headache spiked once more. He held still and decided to try and listen for any evidence of the time. Well, ponies were definitely talking. So it wasn't the middle of the night.

His ears flicked slightly when a voice spoke not far from him. It was accompanied by a pair of other voices. All female, and all very young.

“Ya think Fluttershy'll really take us on that trip?” A heavily accented voice said. Yeah, she was young. Probably no more than a filly. Whiplash didn't really care. He was trying to force his headache down.

“She might, but I'm not holding my breath.” Another, somewhat harsher voice said.

“If she doesn't, we'll find another way. I mean, this is a pretty big project. We cant afford to fail it.” A much softer voice said. Whiplash sighed. Suddenly, Whiplash almost cried in pain as his migraine shot to new heights. He hissed between his teeth, and felt sweat going down the sides of his head. But then, just as suddenly as the migraine had spiked, it was gone completely. He then noticed the ringing in his ears, which was beginning to die down, replaced by cries of surprise.

Glancing up, through the fog Whiplash saw three fillies. One with a bright yellow coat and a red mane was curled up in a ball, holding her head. A dark orange one with a vivid purple mane stood looking shocked, staring at one of her own hooves. And the third, a white filly with a medium pink mane looked dumbfounded. Something had just happened. Whiplash shrunk back a bit, and listened. “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Applebloom!” The orange one said, slowly walking towards the fallen filly. She reached out a hoof, which Applebloom swat away. Appleblooms had a blackened left eye.

“No, you're not!” Applebloom shouted, on the verge of tears. Whiplash then noticed something odd. The fillies were in the completely wrong place. Just a second ago the had been within spitting distance. Now they were a fair distance away, and the hoof prints in the grass made it seem as though they had been there for a while. He also spotted a popped ball a little ways off.

“Please, you two. Calm down. Let's just get back to the tree-house OK?” the white filly suggested quietly. Applebloom slowly stood. Whiplash watched this spectacle up to this point. At which point he promptly stood, and took his leave. He'd gotten himself involved with enough things in the past to know to just let them play themselves out. The more he interfered, the worse a situation seemed to get.

Whiplash meandered around for quite some time, trying to come up with some form of plan. Many of his ideas were fruitless, and he shot them down quickly. After some time of meandering, he realized he was snuffling, sneezing, and coughing a lot. “Perfect...” He grumbled. He must have caught a cold during the storm. A cool breeze blew by, causing him to shiver violently. Coughing again, he slowly wandered into the middle of town. Another chill breeze washed over him.

“Whiplash?” He heard a familiar voice say. He turned and saw none other than Twilight sparkle walking towards him.

“Oh, hello.” Whiplash muttered. He shied away slightly.

“Are you OK? You're shivering.” Twilight observed, looking him up and down. Whiplash groaned slightly.

“Ah, just caught a cold in last nights rain is all.” Whiplash said, sneezing a moment later. “Don't worry, I've been through much worse.” Whiplash said, remembering that horrible vine-covered whip. Twilight didn't look reassured, especially once an out of touch look entered into Whiplash's eyes, but decided not to press the matter.

“Well... Alright. The weather teams are supposed to be clearing up this fog and overcast later. Just try and keep somewhere covered until then.” Twilight smiled warmly at him, and then walked past. A spark of curiosity struck whiplash as he noticed the quickness in Twilight’s step. She was in a hurry. Whiplash, after a moment’s hesitation, decided that having nothing else to do, he'd follow her. And so he did. It only took two turns for her to notice this.

She paused and looked to Whiplash, who in return paused as well. “Why are you following me?” Twilight asked.

“Just curious to see what you were up to.” Whiplash replied. “It's not like I’ve got anything better to do.” Twilight looked at him questioningly.

“Well... Why didn't you just ask?” Twilight asked, turning to face Whiplash full-on.

“I didn't want to get involved.” Whiplash replied, tilting his head down slightly. Twilight looked at him skeptically.

“Still want to know?” Twilight suddenly asked. Whiplash looked up at her, a little surprised. He was honestly expecting her to call him a creep and keep wlaking.

“Uh... sure?” He half responded, half asked.

“Well, my friend Applejack's little sister, Applebloom was hurt by one of her friends. Apparently the whole situations a mess. I'm going over there to try and help resolve the matter.” Twilight explained, resuming her walk. Whiplash kept pace with her, though he still lagged behind a bit.

“What caused her friend to lash out?” Whiplash asked, not out of concern, as he had never conversed with this Applebloom, but out of curiosity, as he had missed it when his migraine flared.

“Someponys getting a little poky, now aren't they?” Twilight said, looking back at Whiplash.

“Well, I was just curious.” Whiplash admitted a part of his reason. Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Well, if the story I heard is anything to go off of, Scootaloo, Appleblooms friend, got a little aggressive while they were playing a game of ball, and accidentally popped said ball. Applebloom scolded her, and then Scootaloo struck her in the eye.” Twilights voice grew quiet as she spoke. “It's strange. Scootaloos attitude has always been the most aggressive of those fillies, but shes never actually attacked anypony before.” Twilight looked at the ground and seemed lost in thought.

“Yeah... weird...” Whiplash muttered. The two walked in silence for quite some time. The clouds were definitely clearing up. More ponies were starting to walk the streets. Twilight kept casting glances at Whiplash. Whiplash raised an eyebrow.

“Something bothering you?” Whiplash asked. Twilight halted mid step, eyes locked on Whiplash.

“Uh... yeah. What's with your Cutie-mark?” Twilight asked. Pointing with a hoof at Whiplash's flank. He looked over his shoulder, and shuddered as he saw the six crossed metal prison bars, forming what looked like a tick-tack-tow board. To him, it was a painful reminder.

“What about it?” he asked, slightly more harshly then intended.

“I was just curious as to what it meant. I've yet to see a mark quite like that. It doesn't tell me anything.” Twilight clarified. Whiplash snorted and looked away.

“Let me put it to you this way; It is no way a story I want to get into.” Whiplash said bitterly. His change in attitude caught Twilight completely by surprise. She caught the hint, though.

“Sorry, I won't ask any further.” She apologized.

“Good.” Whiplash said shortly, before turning and walking away from Twilight, his rotten mood made worse by a returning headache, and horrible memories he could just as soon forget.

<><><><><>

It was the afternoon now, and Whiplashes headache was getting much worse. He focused on not putting too much strain on his senses, so he situated himself under his new favorite tree. He had never really examined the area around it before. It was a large park area, with a cobble-stone road winding through it. There were other trees, but they were still relatively young. Whiplash's eyes slowly wandered back to his Cutie-mark, and resentment coursed through his veins.

Why? Why in Equestria did his special talent have to involve him being some sort of underling? Like the slave he once was? His headache spiked back into a migraine, and with a shout of frustration, he slammed a back-hoof into the tree behind him. He held that stance for a few moments, and then...

“OW!” He sat on his haunches and cursed at himself for being so stupid. He examined his hoof, and concluded it would simply ache for a few minutes. He watched as ponies filtered in and out of the park. A few of them cast him worried glances, but he payed them no mind. It wasn't their problem. With a sigh, and his migraine now gone, he opted to have it looked at. But before that, he needed to calm his nerves. He shut his eyes and let images of peaceful scenery dance before him, and took deep breaths, washing out the pain, and replacing it with a serene sort of peace and harmony.

He hadn't intended on falling asleep, however...

<><><><><>

I couldn't believe my luck, and yet hated my situation all the same. A number of the other prisoners and I had been freed by the Celestial rebellion, and brought to the castle I could never even look at under normal circumstances. It was an incredible feeling; the hay was fresh and aplenty, as was all the rest of the food, such as apples and other foods. But with it came a subtle realization. My life would not be spared now.

I was doomed to die at some point, I had accepted that a long time ago. But to die when I wasn't ready... I could barely control the fear I felt when I realized that it could happen any day. Reports were coming in; Hopelock had survived, and was seeking approval to besiege the castle. I sat in the castles large dining hall, munching halfheartedly at an apple. I was terrified. And what was more, is I knew the last of my friends hadn't made it. I was completely alone now. I swallowed hard as the last echoing cry for mercy from her echoed through my mind.

“Hey, are you OK?” A female voice asked me. I swiveled my neck to look. A mare whose colors were a lavender coat and light pink mane was looking at me, a look of worry in her eyes. I sighed.

“No. Why would I be?” I gestured to the room around me. “Everypony here has somepony. Even if it's just one, they at least have somepony they can honestly say has their backs.” I turned my eyes down ”And what am I left with? Me, Myself, and I, and that's pretty much it.” I returned to my salad.

“Why aren't you looking for somepony?” She asked.

“What's the point? Its Everypony for themselves. I'd just be a burden, so who'd want me to be in their small group?”

“Why call yourself a burden?” She asked me. I really didn't have an answer to that. I never had a particularly high self-esteem, and was so unused to this free-life that I was blundering about like a bat without ears.

“I'm like a deaf bat. I don't know much of anything of how to behave outside of those enslavement camps.” I sighed heavily. “I'm utterly lost.”

“Can you read?” She suddenly asked. I stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Uh... I recognize some basic symbols, like my barracks number when at camp, but... That's about it. Why?” I asked.

“Maybe we can help each other.” She suddenly held out a hoof. “I'm lavender stalk. Just call me Lav, though. Nice to meet you Mister...”

“Whiplash. What are you proposing?” I asked, genuinely curious to see what this Lavender had in store for me.

“Me and my brother need to know how to defend ourselves, and you need to know how to read. I heard that you were quite tough back at the camps, and figured you'd at least know something about fighting. All I ask, is that you teach us how to defend ourselves, and we'll teach you how to read and write. Sound good to you?” Lav explained, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. I was about to agree, but caught myself.

“How old is your brother?” I asked.

“He and I are twins.” She smiled warmly. I lowered my head. For a moment, I contemplated my options. I looked up at Lav, and spoke;

“You've got yourself a deal”

<><><><><>

Whiplash slowly opened his eyes, and shivered violently as a cold, night breeze washed over him. He tucked his legs closer to try and contain his body-heat, but it was for naught. His shivering continued. The sun had set recently, casting everything in the dark, ominous glows of dusk. Whiplash sneezed hard, and groaned at a new-found chest ache. “ugh, so that’s what lungs taste like…” He muttered, irritated. He sighed heavily as Lavender came back into his mind. He lay his head back down. “I’m so sorry, Lav…” he whimpered.

He tried to get more sleep, but images raced through his mind. Images he never wanted to see again. His face tightened in an attempt to hold back tears. “I should have… I just wish… Isn’t there something I…” He realized he must’ve looked stupid, talking to nopony. He sighed. “I’m just… I’m a coward, Lav. I left you, and I shouldn’t have. I just hope you can forgive me…”

And as he suspected, silence was his answer.